“Nuoh! What’s this?!”

“It’s duck, you dolt, didn’t you see Old Yeller yanking one around today?”

“Bleh duck, I don’t believe it. Ducks are stringy and stinky.”

“Nom nom, it’s still chewy, but so fragrant, I must have more!

“Hey! Keep your fork away from my plate!”

“So fragrant, so chewy, the more I chew the more flavourful it is!”

“Aria! You’ve outdone yourself!”

Aria laughed heartily. She snagged Bert, who was trying to creep away quietly, by the collar and thrust him in front of the busily chewing crowd.

“Here’s the one responsible for those new dishes we have today. Ah, what’s your name, boy?”

“It’s Bert,” Bert mumbled.

“Three cheers for Bert!”

“Hip hip hooray!”

Bert was…overwhelmed.

A large crowd of smiling faces with puffed out cheeks greeted him. It was unlike the times when he had to face crowds on the stage, playing tall dark accessory to Roberta’s drama of the day.

They were…cheering for him. Bert.

It actually felt…really good.

“Um,” said Bert.

Aria took pity on him, “Now, now dears, let the poor young man go. You’ll see him around later.”

Bert took refuge next to Rick, who was pretending not to see Fly’s puppy’s eyes. They could both be silent and stoic together.

Almost all the campers were eager to speak to him, or at least take a look at him from afar. Since all were talking at the same time, Bert wasn’t sure who to answer first. Luckily, Old Yeller was there to tell the story of how he had encountered Bert in the tree, surrounded by ducks.

There was laughter, but interestingly, none of it was malicious. They laughed because, now that he thought about it, it was a rather funny situation. As long as the person stuck in the tree wasn’t you.

For an accidental transmigration, it was actually pretty pleasant.

He even got to meet Lucinda Mavis, who was rather a rather cheerful person, and her sister Lucretia. They were twin girls that did not look alike. What was that word? Oh yes, non-identical twins. Lucinda has darker hair and eyes, while Lucretia was much fairer with hair that was closer to silver than blonde and eyes like sharp glass.

Lucinda smiled, “Thanks for the lovely dinner.”

Bert shrugged, “It was nothing.”

“Where did you learned to cook like that?” asked Lucretia, her glass like eyes narrowing.

“Um,” Bert swallowed. This Lucretia reminded him of his senior in the accounting department. A sharp, no nonsense aide to the teacher who was always narrowing her eyes at people and somehow getting ten different things done at the same time. Scary…

“Is it a secret? Can’t you tell us?” Lucinda was leaning in, her dark eye lashes fluttering as she blinked rapidly a few times.

“I learnt it from-” the internet. Can he say that? Do they have internet here? Wait no, this was a steampunk society, or at least there some parts of it were. The rest was fairly eighteenth century European style artistic flavour in terms of building construction and clothing.

“-from a friend.” he finally said.

“Friend.” Lucretia quirk an eyebrow. “Does this friend have a name?”

“Google,” Bert said without thinking.