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It was dark when I got back Mr Crepsley ake I told hiht away, but didn’t tell hiathering our stuff

"We didn’t sayhow much it stunk to be a half-va with me, but didn’t bother rouchy He was getting used to s

We found an abandoned church to sleep in Mr Crepsley lay out on a long pehile I made a bed for myself on a pile of moss and weeds on the floor

I woke early and spent the day exploring the church and the small cemetery outside The headstones were old and a lot of them were cracked or covered eeds I spent a few hours cleaning soot froame

A family of rabbits lived in a nearby burrow As the day went by, they crept closer to see what I was up to They were curious little guys, especially the young ones At one point, I pretended to be asleep and a couple edged closer and closer, until they were only a few feet away

When they were as close as they would probably co away like wildfire One fell head over heels and rolled away down the mouth of the burrow

That totally cheered ht soot back to the church, then grabbed the pots and pans bag froh the contents until I found what I was looking for It was a small pot I carefully laid it upside down on the floor, then pressed the e on the top

The pot mushroomed out in size, as folded-in panels opened up Within five seconds it had become a full-sized pot, which I filled ater and stuck on the fire

All the pots and pans in the bag were like this Mr

Crepsley got thehed the same as ordinary cook-ware, but because they could fold up small, they were easier to carry around

I ht everybody should kno to cook

I took leftover pieces of the carrots and cabbage outside and dropped them by the rabbit burrow

Mr Crepsley was surprised to find dinner - which was breakfast fro for hi pot and licked his lips

"I could get used to this"He sh the short crop of orange hair on his head Then he scratched the long scar running down the left side of his face It was a faot his scar, but I never had One night, when I was feeling brave, I would

There were no tables, so we ate off our laps I got two of the folded-up plates out of the bag, popped therabbed knives and forks I served the food and we ate

Toward the end, Mr Crepsley wiped around his hed aardly

"The stew is very nice,"he complimented hed "I never was very good at being subtle,"he said, "so I will co yesterday? Why were you so upset?"

I stared at my almost empty plate, not sure if I wanted to answer or not Then, all of a sudden, I blurted out the whole story I hardly took a breath between the start and the finish

Mr Crepsley listened carefully When I was done, he thought about it for a et used to,"he said "It is a fact of life that we are stronger than huher If you play with them, they will be hurt"

"I didn’t mean to hurt hied "Listen, Darren, there is no way you can stop this froain, not if you interact with humans No matter how hard you try to be nor to happen"

"What you’re saying is, I can’t have friends anyured that out byused to the idea of never being able to go back home to see my old friends, but it was just yesterday that I realized I’d never be able to make new ones, either I’m stuck with you I can’t have any other friends, can I?"

He rubbed his scar and pursed his lips "That is not true,"he said "You can have friends You just have to be careful You -"