Although he was half an hour late, Randy still managed to meet up with Jombo and the others at Fairytale Land.
When Josh and Venus saw him, they greeted him from a distance. "Randy, are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay, " replied Randy calmly. "What do you mean?"
"I heard Mr. Thompson say that you had diarrhea. Maybe the food didn't agree with you."
Josh's response was quick, and he even found a way to make up a more believable excuse.
"Did you eat too much ice cream?" asked Venus, maintaining the charade. "The mini-bar in your room has too much of it. You should be more careful next time!"
"Got it." Randy rubbed his belly gingerly. "My tummy still feels off. However, I was delayed because Dori flew out of the car and I had to go look for it."
"So you went to find Dori?"
Jombo sighed inwardly as he heard this. He knew that Randy was intellectually more capable than Josh or Venus. Randy had an IQ that resembled that of an adult.
You said it was diarrhea the last time and you slipped away. Using the same excuse twice? I've got my doubts.
But since Randy explained that the delay was caused by Dori's attempted escape, it sounded much more credible.
Dori had been raised by the three children and was a little spoiled. He often flew around the home, uncaged. However, it was not unlikely that Dori flew out of the car. After all, if the windows are not closed properly; accidents can happen.
Polka nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. Randuwell was indeed looking for his pet. It gave me such a fright!"
"That settles it then." Jombo nodded and looked at Randy. "Are you hungry? Let's eat."
"I need to use the bathroom first." Randy raised his dirty hands at Jombo. "Need to wash them."
"I'll go with you, " said Josh hurriedly.
"Alright, off you go." Jombo gestured at the two boys.
"Why don't I hold onto Dori?"
Randy handed Dori over to Venus's outstretched arm, and off the pair went to the restroom.
The restroom was deserted. Josh took Randy inside urgently, and in a low voice, asked, "Have you seen Mommy?"
Randy shook his head. "But I have already talked to the owner of the house, and I can be sure that they did have Mommy's ring."
"Then they should know where Mommy is, right? What did they say?" asked Josh anxiously.
"Nothing at all." Randy furrowed his brows. "The adults are usually a bit more complicated. It could be that there were other complications, but that doesn't matter for now. I left my number with them. If they find out anything, they'll contact me."
"Okay." Josh sighed. "I hope they can tell us where Mommy is. I'll even give them all of my pocket money."
"Don't be silly. They live in a villa at Northridge. Money is the last thing they need right now." Randy was exasperated and even wondered if Josh was particularly dumb.
"Then what do we do?" Josh looked helplessly at his brother.
"We'll just act according to whatever comes our way. First, we have to figure out exactly who's living there."
I remember Great-grandpa saying that they are the Liergers, " said Josh. "The Liergers are supposedly arch-enemies of the Giblos. Do you remember the car ride with Great-grandpa? He also warned about them then. They're dangerous, and we should stay away from them."
"The enemy?" wondered Randy aloud. "So, that means that the Liergers equal the Giblos in power?"
"I would assume so." Josh nodded tersely and continued. "At the time, Venus thought that Daddy was the most powerful person in the world but didn't expect that there would be other people to rival him. Great- grandpa always said that there are stronger people out there in the world."
"Alright, here's what we'll do then. When the opportunity arises, maybe you should ask around about the Liergers. I think Great-grandpa wouldn't suspect it if it came from you. But if I asked him, that would definitely raise alarm-bells."
"Okay!"
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