Wik's head met the muddy wall with a firm thud. He dusted his dark red curly hair as he pulled away and took the time to inspect the fine oval shape he had just made. Similar to an egg, if it were standing upright and had the size of an adult's open hand. Within the oval dent, were two small holes, which were close to either end. Feeling confident he placed his pinkie finger in one of the small holes and pulling it out he turned towards his playmates who were now gathering around him; each boy eager to show the rest how far their little finger had gone. The kids made a circle, and in the centre, placed their fists with outstretched pinkies and carried out their intense inspection. Each of them was wide-eyed as they held their breath. They soon discovered that this method wasn't working and so they gathered themselves in groups of two. Using the length of dirt as a victory point, the winner would then proceed to judge himself against another winner until the only two boys left were Wik and Roe. The latter was older than Wik and slightly taller.

"See? I told you," said Roe. "My horns are the longest."

Wik folded his arms and pouted. "They aren't that long," he whispered. At that moment, his drifted to Riz, Roe's twin sister. I hope her horns are longer than his.

Are you jealous, little one?

The low gentle voice startled him and made him feel guilty. But before he could try to figure out who had spoken to him and where the voice had come from, Roe spoke up with an air of authority.

"From now on we are a gang, and am the captain."

"What's the name of our gang?" one of the boys asked.

"Uhm, let's see." Roe took on a posture that many adults did when they were in deep thought. The only thing that ruined this nearly-perfect adult-like image was the fact that his big tail kept swinging from side to side. Silence filled the air as all the boys waited for their leader but just as he was about to speak, someone shouted, "Wiiiiik! Wiiiiik!"

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw Ada, Wik's little sister, standing under a tree. "Can we go home now?! Am bored."

Wik felt sorry for her. The last time she had called out to him, she still had some of her friends with her and he had promised they would leave after a few minutes. But now, she was lonely and he was hurting her by not keeping his promise. That was something they both had in common, they took promises seriously, pinkie promise or not.

"Hang on Ada, am coming." She gave him a beaming smile. Wik turned around, faced his friends, and started to jog backwards. "I gotta go guys. See you tomorrow," he said with a warm smile as he waved his hands.

"We aren't finished," Roe replied with a fierceness in his voice, forcing Wik to stop dead in his tracks. "You didn't ask if you could go and am the captain, you have to get permission from me."

"Alright. Can I please go home?"

Go, little one.

There it is again, he thought.

Though he had never heard the voice before, he was sure it sounded like an adult. However, the more he thought about it the more he became unsure of whether it was one of the elderly people with grey hair and with their eyes half opened or the adults who still had all their natural hair colour, loud voices and eyes filled with life.

"You can go," said Roe. "I know how angry your mother gets when you get home late. And I don't want her looking for me tomorrow. Just make sure you come here after lunch, you got that?"

Why is Roe giving me permission after an uncle told me to go? Wik wondered. Hung on. Was that an uncle or an aunt? He proceeded to look around for the adult who had spoken but he didn't see any nearby. The voice he had heard seemed close, very close. Almost as if someone was talking right in his ear.

"Wik!" Roe shouted. "Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" It took a few seconds for Wik to remember what was going on. "Oh yes, I heard you."

"Then what did I say?" Roe gave folded his arms and gave Wik a stern look as if to say, "I don't believe you."

"The last thing you said was that I should be here tomorrow, after lunch. Right?"

A non-verbal response in the form of an angry stare was all he received.

Did I miss something? Wik asked himself. I know I heard everything he said.

Sometimes Wik couldn't understand his friend. Roe would easily shift from being happy to being angry, very quickly, and on such occasions, Wik learnt it was best to make Roe feel as if he was in charge or was right all along, even though he was rarely right. More often than not, the decisions he made either put both of them in trouble or one of them in trouble and it was mostly Wik who would be left alone to deal with the consequences. He was glad to notice that in this situation, he wasn't going to get in any trouble. At least not with any elderly person. There was still the possibility of being kicked out of the new nameless gang, looming over his head. If he got kicked out today, then where would he play tomorrow? Who would he play with? He decided it would be in his best interest to make his friend feel better and so he said, "Tomorrow, I will be here Captain Roe. You can count on me Sir." He went on to, salute his captain.

Please don't kick me out, please don't kick me out! He begged, though only in his mind.

Roe smiled, and his tail begun to wag again. "Yes, from now on everyone should call me Captain Roe."

"You are free to go Wik."

"Can I also be allowed to go, Captain Roe?" another gang member asked. "It is getting late and my parents don't like it when I get home after the sun has set." After this, all the gang members started asking for permission to leave and the poor captain was forced to let everyone go but not before he had the final word. "You can all go, but come here tomorrow after lunch and we will have our first mission."

"What is it?" one boy asked.

"Will it be a treasure hunt?" asked another.

"You will have to be here to find out. Whoever doesn't come won't go with us and I will kick him out of the group."

With those final words the gang split into smaller groups, each heading in a specific direction while Wik run up to Ada. "Sorry I took long."

She shook her head. "Don't apologise to me," she said. "Apologise to mom."

"I won't have to if we get home before sunset."

"But am too tired to walk fast. Can you carry me?" she asked as she threw her arms up at him.

"Alright, no problem. I will walk for the both of us." He turned around and got down on one knee. When she had climbed onto his back and was settled, he stood up and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Wik didn't move.

"What's wrong. Why aren't you moving?" Ada asked as she pulled her head closer to his.

"Because you haven't said the pledge."

Ada squealed in delight as she kicked her feet which were dangling by Wik's hips and supported underneath by his arms. She knew what 'the pledge' was and she loved what followed after. It had been a while since Wik had run with her on his back. They only did it when they were away from their mother, because she complained that it was too dangerous and that they might fall and get hurt. Their father, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind at all. Probably because they hadn't fallen yet.

Little Ada cleared her throat and made the pledge.

"I promise to hold on tight with all my might,

and to hold my tail up in mid-air.

Not to scream in fright or block your sight,

For this moment that we share."

As soon as she finished he took off as fast as he could, heading for home. All the while, Ada's happy laughter filled his ears as she stretched her arms above them with the wind blowing her dark red hair.