Chapter 4: Birds of a Feather

Penny walked the way she remembered the bus going from the morning. She walked a little while, when she saw it. She saw the alleyway. It was the same exact one that the five boys were in that morning. She quietly tiptoed closer, and could hear voices. She very quickly glanced into the alley to see if it was them, and sure enough it was. She very carefully and casually walked to the middle of the entrance of the alleyway to confront them. When she took a step closer, she stepped on a can, making a noise, and making them jerk their heads up.

"We've been caught! Hightail it outta here!" One of the boys said, and the five of them ran the other way out of the alley, with Penny running after them. The swerved on every block and sidewalk, trying to outrun her, but Penny kept following. Finally, they hit a dead end, and Penny finally cornered them, and was able to get a good look at them. The five boys were all African-American with black hair, one of them having longer hair than the others. They all wore black pants and yellow shoes, but they also had different looks to them. One of them, the leader, wore a denim vest with a gold button over a lavender and fuchsia striped t\T-shirt, wore lavender spats on his shoes, had a brown bowler with red band, and blue feather on his head, and a cigar was in his mouth. The smallest and youngest one wore a red turtleneck sweater, a blue Dixie cup hat, and white-rimmed glasses with pink lenses. He was hiding behind the tallest and oldest member, who wore a white T-shirt with a high collar, a grey vest with black buttons, a floppy grey hat, and a pair of rectangular pince-nez glasses. The one with the long hair wore a blue and magenta striped T-shirt and a yellow straw hat with no top, so it slid down his head. The last one was slightly plump, with a sleeveless magenta jacket with a blue button, and a blue fedora.

"Okay, ya got us! Whatcha gunna do with us?" The leader asked, looking nervous.

"Nothing." Penny said.

"What?" All five of the boys said at the same time.

"I'm not going to do anything to you." Penny said. "I just wanted to meet you."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" The little one said, getting out of his hiding place.

"You guys ran away before I could talk to you guys." Penny said.

"We panicked…" The straw hat wearing one said, pressing his index fingers together.

"So, what are your names?" Penny asked.

"Jim." The leader said.

"Glasses." The little one said.

"Preacher." The tall one said.

"Fat." The plump one said.

"Straw Hat." The straw hat wearing one said.

"Okay, I believe Jim, but those other names? Come on!" Penny said, full of disapproval.

"Fine, it's Nigel." Preacher said.

"Toby." Glasses said.

"Billy." Fat said.

"Tommy." Straw Hat said.

"There, now that wasn't so hard, now was it?" Penny said.

"It was!" Preacher said.

"Why?" Penny asked.

"No one but us, and our parents know our real names!" Fat said.

"Why?" Penny asked again.

"Because…because we don't have any parents…" Jim said, choking up a little.

"Or a home." Glasses added, a few tears streaming down his cheeks, and catching some dirt.

"Or hardly anything to eat." Fat said, rubbing his stomach.

"Or any other clothes." Preacher said, attempting to dust off his clothing, with tons of clouds of dirt coming of, with tons still on them.

"So, you're orphans…" Penny said. "I know how you feel…"

"You do?" Glasses asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Yeah." Penny said. "My dad sent me to a boarding school when I was only five. I never got to see my friends and family for ten years. I just came back yesterday. I sorta don't feel like I belong in the family. Or in this town. Or this world even. I-"

Penny's story was interrupted by crying. It was the boys. They were really upset. Penny automatically sympathized them, and gave them a group hug, not caring about getting dirty or cried on.

"Come with me, boys." Penny said, leading them to McDrayke Manor.

"Where are you taking us?" Straw Hat asked, trailing behind the others.

"A special place." Penny said. That's all she said until they arrived. When they did, Penny did her doorbell reverb, and this time, Donald opened the door.

"Penny! What are you doing here with…Jim, Straw Hat, Fat, Glasses, and Preacher?" Donald asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You know these guys?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, but they're vagabonds!" Donald said. "Why are you helping them?"

"Donald, don't you remember that one video with the talking vegetables?" Penny asked, and then started to preach. "Not helping someone that needs help is just as bad as hurting them. And I think these boys need all the help they can get!"

"…You're right Penny." Donald said. "Come on in, boys."

Penny led the boys into the manor, and they stared in awe. They had never seen a place so huge, so clean, so fancy. They felt like it was an honor to even be standing in the foyer. Suddenly, Scrooge came into the room, very quickly.

"Penelope? Well, it's about time that you showed up! I can't believe you-" His conversation was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the boys.

"Penny?" He asked, trying to hold in his anger.

"Yes?" Penny asked, slightly expecting something bad.

"What are these rapscallions doing in my house!?!?!?!" He suddenly bursted out in rage.

"They are my guests, and they'll be staying over night." Penny said, with a sassy undertone.

"No, they're not!" Scrooge said, with even more anger. "They are below me in society, and I will not stoop so low as to have my house become a boarding house!"

"Well, I will!" Penny shouted. "They're my friends, and I don't want to see them starve in front of me!"

"Brothers, she called us friends!" Jim said, whispering to his other friends in his small group.

"Friends should be in the same class of society as you!" Scrooge said. "That's why I payed Mr. Vazalé to send Maria to your boarding school!"

"Maria knew I was your daughter! I knew she was Mr. Vazalé's daughter! We didn't care! We didn't measure our friendship by money! We measured it by how much we cared for each other! If height was measured by how much we cared for others, you wouldn't be the size of a germ! No, you'd be smaller than an atom! You wouldn't even exist!" Penny ranted.

"Um, how about I show you guys another room of the house?" Donald asked the boys.

"Way ahead of you!" Jim said, and they left the room.

"I didn't raise you to talk back to me!" Scrooge shouted.

"You didn't raise me at all!" Penny cheeked back to him. "You shipped me to the boarding house when I was five! I just made friends with Gyro, Launchpad, and Fenton! Donald was becoming closer to me! What kind of father are you, leaving me to take care of myself in a world where I only have one friend?"

"Not your real father!" Scrooge finally said. "You're adopted! Gyro, Launchpad, and Fenton found you, and forced me to you! I never wanted any part in your life!"

"In that case, I can say something that I'll never say to anything else." Penny said. "I hate you!"

After that, Penny ran out of the room, floods of tears coming out of her eyes as she ran to catch up with the boys. Scrooge was left there. All alone.