arn making was just as boring the next morning. It didn't help much either that they dreamed up a a lot about their future tent and K.O.'s new balloon. Even the giant molecules were not interesting. To make them some fun, K.O. let all the tanks be refilled by the twins, and that they also gather the skeins of yarn. He also programmed the machines, that every one of them worked with a slide, that wouldn't be empty all in one time, but one after the other. This made the time of the activity longer. K.O. and Conrad tried to play football with the girls, but Elie and Valerie were not good in that game. The twins were busy with the hangman game for the longest time. Elie and K.O. made the puzzle, all of the words the twins had learned during the traveling in the Island. Fortunately the game lasted long enough to making all the yarn, they wanted.
"This is the last one!" Conrad held the last yarn victoriously, because his sister was better in hangman than him. He needed some victory, so if it was getting the last yarn, he was satisfied with such a tiny one.
"Okay, do you want to go to the manufacturer now?"
The kids erupted in cheers.
"Let's go now!"
"Hey, what about lunch?" Elie protested.
"We'll eat during the ride!" The other three said in unison. None of them would have wanted to waste a minute.
"Who will take a bath?" The former nun asked in a sharp voice. This effectively made the others stop.
Half an hour later they were on the road. Clean and happy.
"Why are we driving normally?" Valerie asked, because the ride on four wheels seemed slower to her, than flying.
"Because we don't have enough molecules to fill up the balloon. So we can't fly." K.O. said a bit sad. "I also prefer flying!" He winked at the girl.
Fortunately the kids didn't have enough time to be bored. They were partly excited to finally buy the tent, and partly the Kingdom of Coal had a lot of interesting sights. As they left the area blackened by coal residue, the road was framed by dense vegetation where little ones were hiding. Sometimes they even rolled across the road in front of the car. The twins could hunt for molecules from the car. They were competing, of course, although they had to ask for help to recognize the hunted molecules. Sometimes they caught an old acquaintance like Methane, Ethene and Ethane. They had real fun.
But this fun stopped after they had reached the edge of the city. It was a real city, not just a small town, like the Capital of Lithium Kingdom.
"Whoaa! This Capital is gorgeous!"Conrad said stunned.
"It is not the capital, it is just a small city!" K.O. corrected the boy.
"If it's just a small town, what can a capital look like?" He said, amazed.
"I don't think you want to see!"Elie smiled.
"Of course I want to see the Capital! Why wouldn't I like?" He asked in disbelief.
"Because there are at least three resizing barriers are between us and the Capital."
"Oh! Then it is not so urgent to visit." The boy backed out, and just silently watched the familiar, modern town. There were cars, traffic lights, multi-storey buildings, parks, and people everywhere. This made him to feel some homesickness. He regretted a little the decision not to go home for another three weeks. "K.O.! Are there schools here?"
"Yes, there are. You just don't want to stay here forever, do you?" The old man bantered.
"Why not?" Valerie asked enthusiastically. "It would surely be more interesting than at home!"
"Studying is as a hard as in the real world!" Elie smiled.
"Did you go to school here?" Conrad asked. Elie shook her head.
"Look Conrad!" Valerie pointed out the window. "Carousel!"
She was right. There were a little amusement park in a small square for children, with carousels, games, and food stalls. It was not more than side-show, but it seemed interesting. The twins had never been such a festival.
"It probably came here for the Firework Festival. Once we bought what we wanted we can come back!" K.O. offered, and the twins nodded.
The company they sought was not far from a small festival. K.O. parked in front of the company.
They all entered to the fancy hall. The door was made of glass and opened automatically in front of them. The twins felt themselves at home immediately. Fortunately there were no one befro them, so they went directly to the counter.
"We want a balloon and a tent!" Conrad ordered.
"Do you have the required thing for them?" The salesman asked him politely.
Conrad nodded, and handed over his hand device. Valerie added hers to him. They both looked at the seller impatiently, who were examining and adding their required goods with a small notebook.
"Sorry, but you don't have enough yarn for the tent!" He told to the twins.
"Pardon?" Elie asked, noticing the twins' anger.
"Since Fireworks Festival is held this week, prices are higher everywhere. We also have to raise the prices at this time." The salesman said politely.
"Don't worry! We just have to come back after the festival to buy the tent and the balloon, do we?" She asked the salesman, and the kids looked at him hopefully.
"Of course." He replied, and opened a big book."I could give you a reservation for… 19 September. Is it meet your requirements?" He asked, but the others were staring at him, shocked. "I suppose, this is a no."
"We need the tent now, we will be in school again in September!" Valerie cried.
"Well, you can either pay the higher price and get the ingredients you need, or stay on the September date." The salesman said. "If you choose to order now, your tent will be ready on the day after the festival."
"Come with me for a while!" K.O. patted the kids' shoulders, and led them to a corner.
"It is a good offer." He said. "You should accept it."
"We don't have enough yarn!" Valerie shook her head. "And you also don't have enough yarn for your balloon. We can't give them what they want!"
"Since I also don't have the required amount of yarn with these high prices, I will give you the remaining yarn." He said. "So at least you can buy the tent, and I'll buy a balloon in September."
"No." Valerie shook her head again.
"If you don't have a balloon, you won't be able to work!" Conrad also refused K.O.'s offer. He was afraid that K.O. would starve, if he didn't get a new balloon soon.
Conrad looked at Valerie, and she looked back to her brother. They both nodded.
"Could you hold your hand device?" Conrad asked K.O..
"What do you want?" Th eold man asked.
The twins swiped the screen at once, and gave all their yarns to their old friend.
"Go and buy your balloon!" Conrad smiled to him.
"We would rather fly instead of plying on the roads!" Valerie smiled at him.
"We are going to the carousel, and wait for you!" Conrad hugged him, and run out the entrance door with Valerie.
"What's happened?" Elie asked, when K.O. returned to the counter.
"They are great guys, believe me! Whatever rascals they are at times, they are also great kids!" The old man sniffed a little from being touched.
An hour later Elie and K.O. joined to the kids in the small amusement park. Valerie and Conrad were sitting on the carousel horses. The adults waved to them, and they waved back.
"This is their twentieth march!" The operator told the adults.
"Then it's time to get them out of there!" Elie said as she was taking pictures of the kids.
Valerie and Conrad were thoroughly dizzy on the carousel, so Elie and K.O. held them on their feet. After eating some ice cream their stomach calmed down. Calmed down enough to eat cotton candy and caramel apple. They were playing with games, K.O. tried to shoot them something, but his only success was a plush bunny. Valerie gave that to Elie.
"It is high time to go home." K.O. told them, and although they all wanted to stay, they saw and tried everything.
They obediently followed K.O. back to the car. They all were surprised, when they saw the well-known vehicle. The balloon was missed from the top of the caravan. It was very normal, so it looked really strange.
"Come on! The night train won't wait for you!"
"What kind of night train?" The kids asked, surprised.
"We have to collect thing for the rockets." K.O. replied. "We have to catch the night train to travel to another kingdoms."
"Why don't we use the car?"
"We left it for Valerie and Elie."
" Don't they come with us?" Conrad asked him in surprise.
"No, we have to make our project, and going to the registration office for the festival, buying some little things for the rockets. So we have to split into two groups." Elie told them, and invited them into the caravan.
"We have to do the works in two, divided groups or else we couldn't finish everything in time." K.O. told to the boy.
Elie drove the car to the station. During the short travel the twins were in silence. Neither of them asked, or said anything. They arrived to the station in time, so there were no time to speaking about anything. K.O. and Conrad waved from the window of the train, and the girls on the platform waved back.