Ben sniffed and looked up again. "You really weren't hiding from me?" he asked, feeling the grumpy part of his chest go away a little. "Really, truly you wanted me to come here?" That brightened him up, because if a big boy like Faus wanted to play with him, things were all bad.
He shrugged when Faustus asked what was wrong. He didn't really want to talk about it. "Nuthin," he said, just a little grumpy now. "I couldn't find anyone, and I was all alone." He didn't tell Faus about his tree house, and Tilson, but maybe he would later.
"There's lotsa people out there," he said, frowning a little. "Think there are any pirates?"