Previously, in Gregoropolis: The kids have discovered that an unknown boy has been camping out in the backyard the past few days, and it appears that the mystery boy and Nicholas Sahara have a shared past...
Scot-Michael: Nickels, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?
Nicholas Sahara: Please don't call me that. You know my name is Nicholas.
Scot-Michael: But Nick--
Nicholas: Please.
Scot-Michael: >sigh< Okay. But you can still call me 'Scout.'
Nicholas: Scot-Michael, may I present Peter, Benjamin Roy, Tyler, and Mikko. Gentlemen, this young man is Scot-Michael.
Scot-Michael: Hi, again. Please call me Scout. Thank you for use of the tent!
Tyler: Oh, no problem! C'mon, we'll show you around.
Once Mikko and Tyler have taken Scot-Michael to meet the rest of the Gregoropolis gang...
Pete Dakota: I thought you might be hungry. I brought your favorite.
Nicholas: Dear Peter, you've gotten to know me too well.
Pete: And I want to know a little bit more, Nicholas. So, how do you know Scot-Michael?
And at the same time, BR has got the new boy alone...
BR: Okay, spill.
Scot-Michael: >sigh< I was traveling through Nickels's, er, Nicholas's country--that was my goal, to hike around the world--when his father, the king, hired me as a companion for the prince. Nicholas had no siblings and was lonely. I was to also help him with his English; he was learning it from a very prim & proper British nanny.
Nicholas: >sigh< We got on like a house on fire. Then came the revolution. My father, the king, is a good man, but he was deposed by a nefarious band of insurrectionists. One day, Scot-Michael was just...gone. I learned later that those loyal to the king spirited him out of the country for his safety. We never had a chance to say goodbye.
Scot-Michael: I had no way to contact him; I never knew what happened to him. So, once I got back to the States, I resumed my travels.
BR: I see...
Scot-Michael: Tell me, how is he fitting in here?
BR: Everybody loves him. Even Stephen Orange, and he doesn't like anybody.
Nicholas: I was sent to America to live and to be safe.
Pete: Why do you call him 'Scout'?
Nicholas: ...It's how I first pronounced 'Scot' as I was improving my English.
BR: And 'Nickels'?
Scot-Michael: Ha-ha, it's how I first pronounced 'Nicholas' while learning his language. 'Scout' and 'Nickels' became our nicknames for each other.
Pete: You don't seem very happy to see him.
Nicholas: I thought he'd just gone without telling me. I was angry and thought I'd never see him again. I was frightfully taken aback when I found him in the garden.
Later...
Scot-Michael: So....
Nicholas: Yes, so...
Scot-Michael: Are you safe here? Are you happy here?
Nicholas: Well, I do miss Papa and Mama, but yes. They've all been terribly kind.
Scot-Michael: Good.
Nicholas: Are you still on your sojourn around the globe?
Scot-Michael: I'm...tired. I'd like a place to call home.
Nicholas: Then you must stay here. The Daddies will be pleased.
And I will be, too...Scout.
