The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Dev shook his head, staring from Vernon to the little girl. Of course, the resemblance was not what he was looking for because if that was it, it sure wasn't there.

Vernon had strong features with a flat forehead while hers was more protruded and there was no denying how pretty she was. There was also the fact that they had the same skin tone but that was the only resemblance as far as he was concerned.

Maybe they both had a generous amount of hair but Vernon's was dreadlocks while hers was the prettiest hair he had ever laid his eyes on. It was so curly that all he wanted to do was touch it.

Of course, he had no plans to call Vernon crazy but he had half the mind to do so. However, Vernon had informed him there was a very high chance his sibling would be sent here, the problem was he did not know when.

He swallowed, thinking carefully about his choice of words before he spoke. "What makes you sure she is your sister?" He asked softly.

"The earrings," Dev replied in excitement.

Dev felt all his hope that Vernon was not crazy go out the window. He had expected a mole, some family resemblance but his idea was an earring. He sighed and once again, carefully phrased his words. "This could be both at the market, I am sure. Any marketplace for that matter, it doesn't mean anything."

"No, no, you're wrong. They totally do. My father was a woodsman. These earrings were handmade for my mother. I am sure she wanted me to recognize them." Vernon muttered in excitement and once again got down on his knees so he was eye to eye with her.

"Are you sure though?" Dev asked again, still finding it hard to believe. It wasn't that he didn't think that Vernon's sibling would be sent here, actually, he didn't think of it, and now that it was finally happening his brain was finding it hard to process the idea.

"With everything I hold there," he was studying the earrings as he spoke, afraid that if he touched her she would burst into tears after she had finally stopped crying. "What is her name?" He asked, realizing that he didn't know it, they had a couple of guesses but his parents never decided on one before he left.

"Penelope," Dev said slowly. He still thought Vernon was crazy but was willing to go along with it, if it was true they would be signs eventually but if it wasn't somehow he hoped

Vernon would figure it out.

"Penelope," he muttered slowly and then chuckled. "I can't believe they settled with that."

"Penn!" Screamed the little girl. "Penn!"

"Penn?" He repeated, slightly confused but realizing immediately that she wanted to be called Penn, not Penelope. "Penn, is that right?" He asked, and she nodded her approval.

He wasn't sure what he should do next and he wasn't sure how else he should react but she was not crying again which was good. "Are you hungry?" He asked. He remembered Dev saying something about the fact that she had refused to eat.

She nodded and then her face contorted as if she was about to cry again. "No, no, no, don't cry." She stuck out her lower lip and Vernon knew all she needed was a little trigger and she would be over the edge. He had finally got her to not cry, he was not about to make her cry again but if she had not eaten since she came he was a lot worried.

"Do you want to carry you?" He asked unsure of what to do, he had been with quite a number of kids but for some reason, he didn't know how to handle this situation.

She shook her head and then blew bubbles out of her mouth. They grew slightly bigger and began to float upwards. He poked one and it popped, apparently, he wasn't the only one with the idea, and the next thing he knew there were no more bubbles left.

"She has water," Dev announced proudly.

Vernon was proud but then he was sad at the same time. Proud that she was adept at such a young age. Only a few kids could do magic and even then it was an unconscious act and they could not do so much but he could tell that's he did it on purpose.

"Can you do that again?" He asked, feeling proud for some reason and at the same time feeling a little sad because if it wasn't for the magic she would not be with him at the moment.

She nodded but didn't make any attempt to, he didn't try to force her. He was trying to get her to forget crying, forcing her to do what she did not want was the quickest way to remind her about crying and he wanted to avoid that.

"That was really good, though." He returned, wondering if praising her was the way to go but he did not know what else to do or say.

She just looked at him without saying a word but he was certain she understood every single thing he said. He wasn't sure how good she could speak but he figured, she could say common words.

"Vernon," she said suddenly and Vernon felt all the air in his body being sucked away. He didn't believe his ears, of course, he was just wishing she had said that because there was no way she could have, she and only heard his name one. Getting it once either met she was really smart or she had heard it before now.

She repeated his name and this time pointed at him as she spoke. He pointed back to himself, nodded vigorously, totally agreeing with her. "Come listen," He yelled at Dev. "She said my name."

Dev rolled his eyes from where he was seated with a bunch of kids and said, "No way, you must be hearing things." He then returned to his business without another word, Vernon did not need to guess that he did not believe a word he said, it was pretty obvious.