"Did you think I wouldn't be able to tell that you were telling fibs?"
"We did telling a fib!"
"That's right! We just kept it from you… That's better, isn't it?"
The Gnome that they called Chief came over with an even larger hammer than the one that Bobby and Henry were carrying, and with a mighty thwack, he hammered them both so hard on the head that their tall pointed hats flattened right down to their noses.
They both dropped, and Oliver's mouth sat agape. He feared that they were dead. But then one groaned, and then the other, and holding they heads, they rolled to their feet. "Sorry…"
"Sorry…" They said one after the other.
"I should think so," the Chief said, crossing his arms. His beard was a deep dark black. For some reason he carried an aura of strength, despite being so small. Oliver found it all rather confusing.
"I suppose we had better introduce you…"
"This is Tempest," the other finished for him. "He's King of the old Emerson lands."
