On the day that I was ready I knelt down at the campfire. I knelt down before my elfin chief Mama K. I said, I’m ready to go back, and Mama L was like, Oh, Piglet, not to school, and I said, Yes, to school, and the Mean Aunt was like, School, I thought you’d forgotten about school. Mama L was like, You don’t have to go back to school if you don’t want to, Piglet.

I want to, I said.

But Mama K didn’t say anything she had her knife out and she was whittling the last leg of the chair we were building.

Then Mama L said, I called them and told them you were sick and I can call and tell them you aren’t coming back.

I am coming back, I said, I have to go back.

He’ll fall behind if he doesn’t go back soon, said the Mean Aunt.

Then Mama K finally said something she said, Fall behind what, fall behind the regimented brainwashing schedule? I could tell she didn’t think I was honorable and that all the time we had sawed with the Japanese saw and countersunk with the quarter-inch paddle bit didn’t matter to her. It didn’t matter to her that we were almost done whittling the legs for the chair. It didn’t matter to her that she knew the password. It didn’t even matter to her that I was her wolf pup and she was my wolf.

I could tell the Mean Aunt liked it a lot better now that Mama K and her were getting along because she looked at Mama K and she looked at me and then she said, You know, Perley, you do seem a lot happier not being in school.

I said, I have more training now and my power has only increased.

What I thought about was that I finally had my trick which was my new toxic face. And what I thought about was Rudy saying, Now you’ll finally get some respect.

Mama K still wouldn’t look at me and I could tell Mama L was worried because she kept looking at Mama K and waiting for Mama K to say something but Mama K just whittled and frowned at the campfire and didn’t take Mama L’s hand so Mama L started talking.

Mama L said, We respect you here, my Piglet. We respect your skills we admire you we love everything that you do. How can you prefer to go back to a windowless room instead of roaming in the woods?

But I said, Of course you respect my skills, of course you admire me, of course you love everything that I do. That doesn’t prove anything. You are my women and you have to do that it’s the law.

I don’t have to do anything, Mama K said.