Chapter 22: First trial

A few minutes later, the sound of stomping feet can be heard from Madam Theresa's room. All the children immediately get up and prepared for downstairs.

"Where is Mr. Zwalinksi?" Madam Theresa looked around and did not see Mr. Zwalinski at all.

Not long after, a brown hair woman walks towards them. "Mr. Zwalinski is waiting at the training ground." The woman slowly opened the door. "I'll take you there."

"Very well then." Mrs. Theresa immediately followed the woman, but after only a few steps, she suddenly stopped walking. "Wait, I don't see Nigera at all," Madam Theresa furrowed her brow. "Where is she?"

Suddenly, a woman with hair enters the room through the back door with hurried steps

"Madam, I apologize," Madam Nigera walked over to Madam Theresa's group. "I am just taking Wolfy for a walk because he is bored in his cage."

"Oh, all right." Madam Theresa nodded. "Now, we must hurry because Mr. Zwalinski is waiting for us."

They all continue their journey until they come to a large tent and not long after, Mr. Zwalinski comes out from inside the tent.

"Gosh, it's so hot today," he said as he wiped the sweat from his face. "Hey come on, get in."

Mr. Zwalinski invites them into the tent and there is Isabella who is having a conversation with some people and also Markus as he plays with a dog.

"Markus!" Mr. Zwalinski patted his hand causing Markus to immediately turn his head and run towards Madam Nigera's group followed by a dog behind him.

"Hello, I'm so glad you're here." Markus smiled broadly while showing his white, neatly arranged teeth. "Oh, yes, this is my favorite dog, Mala," he said as he stroked the dog's neck.

"Oh, what a lovely name." Mrs. Theresa smiled. "I also have a dog very similar to yours."

'Yes, I've met him. His name is Wolf, isn't it?" Markus scratched his head.

Madam Theresa's eyeballs are wide for a moment. "Oh, how do you know him?" she asked curiously.

"I met him in the park and well Wolfy is a cute and nice dog." Markus smiled back at her.

"Ah, thank you I'm very happy to hear that." Mrs. Theresa continued to smile while doing her hair.

Madam Theresa tries to touch Mala, but Markus has warned her the dog does not like to be touched by strangers. However, she ignores Markus' words and keeps her fingers closer to the dog.

"Calm down Mala, I will not hurt you." Madam Theresa's voice sounded unfamiliar to Mala, making the dog immediately show its canine teeth and tried to bite Madam Theresa's hand.

"Mala, stop!" Markus pulled Mala's leash as fast as he can. "Bad dog, what are you doing!" Markus patted Mala's body repeatedly, making her bow her head.

"Oh, my gosh." Madam Theresa could only remain silent with a tense face. "You see, I almost lost my fingers." Madam Theresa glared at Markus and walk out of the tent.

"Madam Theresa, wait." Madam Nigera immediately ran to follow Madam Theresa's footsteps. "Madam, we need to hear Mark's explanation first."

However, Madam Theresa did not move at all and continued to walk, causing an instant silence.

Mr. Zwalinski just shakes his head. "Markus, you should lead Bradley and the group to meet the coach." He patted his son on the shoulder. "I'll try to talk to him, but after this, we have to talk one-on-one."

"Yes, Dad." Markus bowed his head weakly. "I will teach Mala to be a good dog."Tuan Zwalinski kemudian mengejar Madam Theresa yang telah ke luar dari tenda tersebut meninggalkan Markus dan Mala.

"Damn! I feel like I messed up," Markus said in a weak tone.

Bradley walks up to Marcus and pats him on the shoulder. "Hey, calm down it's not your fault." Bradley patted Mark's shoulder." You have warned Madam Theresa, but she didn't listen to you."

Markus only sighs and then he leads Bradley's group to meet the coach, who turns out to be Markus' uncle. Markus says his uncle will be the one who determines their position.

"Uncle Grunt!" Markus ran up to a fat man who seemed to be organizing the uniform line.

Uncle Grunt turns around and sees Markus with Bradley's group and he is shocked to see the group.

"Wow, Markus, who are they?" asked Uncle Grunt while furrowing his brow. "Why are there so many children?"

"Uncle, they are children from the orphanage and they are going to the parade."

"Oh, interesting, I'm very happy to see them all."

Uncle Grunt walks up to each child and strangely sniffs their scent one by one. Bradley and Caden find Uncle Grunt's behavior strange, but Markus clarifies that it's always the first thing his uncle does when he meets a stranger.

"Alright children, we'll practice on the wooden bridge at the front entrance." Mr. Grunt twisted the white staff in his hand. "Let's go there."

Markus then leaves Bradley to work with Mala while Bradley and the rest of the boys walk out of the tent following Mr. Grunt. The bright sun makes the air feel hot, but fortunately, a few minutes later the sky suddenly clouds over and the surface of the sun is slowly covered by clouds.

"Come on, hurry up!" Mr. Grunt clapped his hand. "Gather here, everyone."

After all the groups have gathered on the bridge, Mr. Grunt turns on the music, and one by one the groups walk towards Mr. Grunt. While waiting for his group's turn, Bradley spots something black flashing between the trees not far from his position.

"Cad, do you see that?" Bradley's patted Caden and his forefinger pointed towards a group of shady trees not far from their position. "I have seen something passing by."

"Huh?" Caden furrowed his brow. "I don't see anything." Caden craned his neck but nothing was in sight.

"Brad, I'm not lying. There's something there," Bradley said trying to convince Caden.

"Alright, we need to focus on listening to Mr. Grunt's directions." Caden turned his gaze back to the front.

In Bradley's mind, he suspected that it might be a night catcher, but there is no way to talk nonsense with Caden.

"I'd better tell Madam Nigera about this after this exercise is over."

A few minutes later, Bradley's group slowly moved. He tries to forget about that and focus on Mr. Grunt's directions while keeping a close eye on Bradley's group. Mr. Grunt scolds the group several times for being disorganized and decides to change the order of the rows and puts Caden in the front while Bradley is in the back row.

"Alright, I think this lineup is correct. " Mr. Grunt snapped his fingers. "Let's try one more time."

Mr. Grunt's smile slowly forms on his lips as the rows slowly begin to settle. Then he starts combining some groups to make sure Bradley's group will not mess things up.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today." Mr. Grunt clapped his hands. "Tomorrow, we'll regroup here and start practicing."

Everyone leaves the place and all the children including Caden return back to the resort for dinner and rest.

"Cad, I'll catch up," Bradley said as he walked away from the group. "I want to find Mrs. Nigera first." "Oh, okay." Caden nodded. "It's pretty dark outside, be careful." The cold air is slowly coming Caden and the other kids planned to return to the resort for dinner.

"Cad, I'll catch up," Bradley said as he walked away from the group. "I want to find Mrs. Nigera first."

"Oh, okay." Caden nodded. "It's pretty dark outside, be careful."

Bradley walks outside and immediately the cold air slowly pierces the surface of Bradley's skin, but that doesn't stop him from searching for Madam Nigera's presence. He's sure Madam Nigera may be around the tent.

"I feel like she should be here." Bradley turned his head, looking around.

However, after a few minutes of looking around, he does not see Madam Nigera and decides to head back to the resort. However, while walking back towards the resort, he senses a different gust of wind from behind him and quickly looks back but there is nothing there.

"What the hell is that?"

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