Miss Miller accepted the five grieving children into her home immediately. They had knocked on her door late at night and when she heard the news, she hastily pulled them into her old arms and made them dinner. They decided not to tell her the tree was chopped, they didn't want to frighten her any more than she would be. They told her it was struck by lightning and caught the house on fire by a brief storm. Miss Miller believed them, for she was very naive to children, and gave them a place to sleep. But the children didn't sleep. They discussed and cried and thought together. "Who would want to kill Mama and Papa?" Eliot murmured. "And what did that message mean? 'The Lits will pay'. What are the Lits?" Ocean asked. Davis replied, "In history class I remember Dr. Dov talking about the oldest war in history. The Ember's Fight. Ember was a kingdom with loads of power until the Lits came along and destroyed everything. A few hundred year later, they revolted, and forty more years later they won their freedom. Well, not really. The blew up the last lit fort and killed all their men. No one survived." Ocean asked, "But then who wrote the message? It had to be a descendant of a surviving Ember." Davis shook his head. "I told you, no one survived." This was followed with silence. After a while, Rupert asked, "Then who documented the war?" Davis shrugged. "At first someone who lived in it. Then it was finished by future humans who discovered the document and finished it off." More silence. And more. A few tears fell, but other than that the room was still. "I suppose we need to do more research and ask the oldest person in the village what he knows." Collins noted quietly. Everyone gasped. Eliot whispered, "Ask Old Jake? Your mad!" Rupert shook his head and sided with his brother. "He's right. We'll do it in the morning." Everyone turned to Ocean. I had been silently ruled that the two eldest made the final choice. Ocean shrugged. "I can't think of a better idea. Now let's get some sleep." And with that, the four children attempted to doze off on the small mattresses Miss Miller had made for them.
