The Trifle siblings were excitedly playing a game of “whack-a-mole”, a word which here means “bopping the head of a wood-land creature”, when they were approached by Mr. Alan.
“I’m sorry to inform you,” he began. Mannie, Flori, Dan, and Rupert turned around. “There has been a gas leak. Your mother happened to be lighting a candle at the time.”
“Where are they?” Asked Dan with a stony face.
“They’ve perished.”
It is common knowledge that you cannot expect people to be sympathetic. I recently visited a coffee shop and asked the clerk to make my drink with soy milk. The clerk grew so angry, I am surprised I made it out alive.
Without any sympathy at all, Mr. Alan took their siblings to their nearest relative.
“What does Countess Edna do for a living?” asked Flori apprehensively.
“I do believe she manages a small business. A bakery, I think.” And so, the Trifle siblings moved the on toward unknown.