Richard saw Adalene faint, and Peter yelled, “Adalene!” Peter and Alice rushed to Adalene, who lay on the ship’s floor in a heap.
Helping her down below deck, Richard turned away and laughed silently.
“Richard,” Helen warned looking up at Richard from her spot.
“What?” Richard protested, still laughing under his breath, “It was funny. ‘Oh no, I’m fine,’ then bam! Down she goes! ‘Oh no I’ve fainted, Peter, help me up!’” Richard mocked his laugh growing louder.
Helen gave Richard a look, one of the few times he’d seen her angry or frustrated. Richard immediately stopped laughing, knowing Helen was serious.
“Remember you were the one who screamed like a baby when I saved you from goblins,” Helen said with a smile, turning away from him.
Richard’s cheeks turned red, and he remembered. He’d never wanted to be a part of this quest, so after they’d escaped from the Dueglesteiners the first time he left the others immediately.
And was immediately kidnapped by goblins.
The next thing he knew he was hanging over a boiling pot of water, about to become Richard Stew. He’d screamed and screamed, begging the goblins to let him go.
And then one of the goblins disappeared. And then another and another. The next thing he knew, Helen had saved his life. And Richard would always be indebted to her.
Richard and Helen never told anyone what happened with the goblins, and now he was embarrassed that Helen said it aloud.
“Wait, you what-” Luke turned around at them, his mouth wide open, “That’s what happened after the first time all of us met? Helen saved you from goblins?”
Richard’s cheeks turned redder, and he didn’t look at Luke. “So what?” he asked, his anger rising, “You would be scared if you were about to become a stew.”
Luke shrugged, turning back to rowing as Richard sat, embarrassed.
A little while later, Alice and Peter came back above deck, rowing with the others.
“This is going to be a long ride,” Peter muttered under his breath as a lot of the children sat, tense. It seemed like everyone was on the brink of an argument, just like at the beginning of this quest when Richard had eaten a little more food in the middle of the night than he was supposed to.
Richard had been caught by Peter, and it started a huge argument between everyone, only ending when Luke said if they continued to argue the Dueglesteiners would find them.
Now Richard had made fun of Adalene fainting, Helen was mad at him, Luke heard about Richard screaming like a baby, and Peter kept glaring at him.
Richard couldn’t help but feel like a problem.
It wasn’t like he meant to be mean, it was just how he was brought up. Without a mother, Richard had been brought up by his father and a few servants who barely spoke to Richard. Richard watched since he was little how his father ordered the servants around, constantly yelling and arguing with people. Richard had just assumed that was the right thing to do.
But now spending time with the other children, he was slowly learning that that was not how you treated people. He thought of how sweet Helen had been to him, despite Richard being a jerk and arguing with people constantly.
Now Richard was beginning to realize that you treated people with kindness, that you treated them better than yourself. Helen had taught him that, and he wondered if he’d run away from the group that first night and didn’t look back if he would learn that at all...
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