The story so far: Nikole and Darklis, on the track of seven treasures for the Thieves' Guild, have just defended themselves against armed robbery. Intact but shaking, they flee for the safest place they know: the shop of Mindy the Fence.

Mindy's is still right where you left it. By happy chance, one of the pitch-soaked torches on poles is right in front of it, so you have a clear view of the entrance in the darkness.

Nikole peers in cautiously.

Darklis elbows Nikole. "He *said* he'd be open all night."

The room is dark, the large desk empty.

Darklis adds, "Eep."

Nikole looks around for the bird.

Darklis whispers, loudly, "Mindy?"

Nikole whispers, "This is bad, I reckon."

From the doorway, no bird is visible. But a harsh voice squawks, "Awk! Mindy!" in response.

Darklis whispers, "Maybe he's gone to the necessary."

There's a faint clattering in the darkness, growing louder.

Nikole whispers, "Maybe, but why'd he light the torch?"

Nikole shrinks back around the doorframe, only nervous eyes visible around the edge.

Darklis whispers, "'cuz it was dark?" She edges forward. "Mindy?"

Tuneless humming grows louder as Mindy stumps into view, carrying a cup of tea. "Mm? What's this?" He stops, suspiciously. "Who's that?"

Darklis lets out a startled shriek, and then, completely unexpectedly, bursts into tears.

Nikole jumps! "Yeek!"

Nikole then stares startledly at Darklis!

Violetta jumps. "Awk!"

Mindy jumps. "Yeek!" He drops his teacup with a clatter.

Darklis shrieks again when the teacup crashes. "Yeek!" And then she sits down, splat, and puts her face in her hands.

Mindy looks deeply started, and more than a little annoyed, "Politeness would suggest _knocking_, young ladies." His manner softens a bit as he reaches the front of the room and sees Darklis. "Well, phfm, hm, what has happened?"

Nikole leans over Darklis and pats her back awkwardly. "It's all right now..."

The gnome waves a hand. "Come in or go out; don't sit on my doorstep drawing attention, please."

Darklis looks up, all teary, at Mindy, and snivels, "I'm s-s-s-orrriieee. I just d-d-didn't want to be out th-th-there any mooore." She's inside. Just.

Nikole helps Darklis up and to a chair if one's visible.

With a deep, exasperated sigh, Mindy turns on his heel and disappears back into the darkness.

Nikole says "We got bushwhacked by someone who reckons he can be a thief even if all he knows how to do is grab people from alleys."

There's a single chair, a rough wooden one, in front of the desk. And of course Mindy's worn but padded chair on the other side.

Darklis, not very happily at all, wails, "He was gonna cut my *throat*."

Nikole gets Darklis settled in the chair and hunkers down next to her. "But he didn't! You stopped him!"

Darklis gets settled in the chair and wipes her nose on her hand. "Yeah." Sniffle.

More clattering.

Nikole says "And he didn't even get anything! Boys. Hmph."

Nikole says "Um. It didn't get broken in the fight, did it?"

A battered silver tray with a china pot of tea and three cups appears out of the dark, followed by Mindy and some tsking. "Tsk. Unfortunate, but a not uncommon event in your chosen profession, m'dear."

He sets the tray down on the desk, and eases himself into his chair with a grunt.

Darklis wipes her nose again. "No," she sniffles, and sticks her lower lip out at Mindy. She mumbles something about learning how to fight better, and sniffles again, but digs out the little vial of holy water.

Nikole sniffs the tea dubiously (they don't have real tea in the mountains, just horrible herbal stuff your grandmother gives you), but it seems to be what city people drink, so she pours Darklis a cup.

A suggestive cough comes from Mindy's chair. He has his eyes closed, as usual.

Nikole sets the vial on the counter, then, and pours Mindy a cup of tea if he doesn't already have one.

Darklis takes her cup of tea obediently, and takes a sip. "Thank you." Sniffle. She's stopped crying, though.

Mindy's previous cup of tea is still lying broken on the floorboards, so he accepts the replacement with a phfm. "So. Which of our young newts was it this time?"

Darklis, in a voice of doom, says, "Job."

He chuckles. "A dedicated young man, but a little narrow in perspective. Did he relieve you of a treasure?"

Nikole, possibly under the delusion it will be helpful, says, "That wasn't really bad. Did I tell you about the time I had half the Darraidou chasing after me waving swords and shooting arrows and everything? One of them almost got me right in the head!"

Nikole says "Nope!"

Darklis glares balefully at Nikole, and then points with her teacup at the vial on the desk. "No. We got the holy water."

Nikole indicates the vial triumphantly! "All that and he didn't even get anything!"

Mindy opens his eyes,and blinks at the vial.

Nikole picks up the bits of teacup and puts them somewhere appropriate.

He blinks at the vial some more, and pfhems rather hesitantly.

Darklis, nervously, says, "What?"

Nikole says "It's holy water!"

Nikole says "...isn't it?"

Mildly, "You appropriated this from one of the alchemist shops, I take it?"

Nikole nods...

Darklis says "Sort of."

"Mm-hmm. Phfm."

Nikole pats Darklis on the shoulder again.

Darklis smiles weakly at Nikole, then takes another sip of tea, lifting a hand to rub at her throat. "Nasty boy," she mutters.

Nikole says "I reckon he'll fall off a high cliff someday. High building I mean. Terrible shame."

After a minute of eyeing Darklis keenly, Mindy reaches out a gnarled finger to tap the vial. "Not to denigrate your achievement, but perhaps you should have allowed him to take it."

Nikole says "It's not holy water?"

Darklis wipes her nose a final time. "Nikole pointed that out after we chased him off. I didn't, um. Think of it."

"If it is," says Mindy dryly, "it's the leftover dregs from a service, which may as well be well water for all the use they are in ritual."

Darklis says "Well, shit."

Nikole says "I reckon someone got robbed all right!"

He chuckles. "Oh, my. You _paid_ for it?"

Darklis shrinks down into the chair. A neon sign flashes over her head: mark!

Nikole looks guilty. "It seemed fastest! We haven't got all night!"

Nikole says "Well, we do, but we have a lot of things to get yet."

Mindy eyes Darklis again, and visibly decides not to deliver a lecture. "Well, phfm, no harm done. But time is passing, and I've work to do. You'd best be off."

Nikole says "And we got the money from stolen stuff, so it's almost like stealing."

Nikole holds out her hand to Darklis. "I reckon we're back down to two. We better get moving."

Darklis, bitterly, says, "Well, at least we got the stupid pearls."

Nikole says "We did! And we'll get some more holy water."

Darklis finishes her tea, and mutters, "It was a *good* idea."

Nikole puts her arms around Darklis. "It'll be all right. You'll see."

Mindy tilts his chair back and starts to snore.

Nikole says "Thanks for the tea, Master Mindy."

Darklis nods. "Thanks for the tea."

Nikole guides Darklis out the door.

Darklis goes out, muttering and rubbing her throat.

Outside, it's almost full dark now. There are still a fair number of people about, walking or riding.

Nikole says "Do we still want to go to Aspasia's, or do you reckon we should get some real holy water first?"

Darklis rubs her nose grumpily. "Temples are open all night, aren't they? Probably we should go to Aspasia's."

Nikole says "Aye."

Darklis starts back that way again, hrmphing. "What's the plan?"

Nikole says "Scout it out and see what kind of people are there. Maybe we can dress as servants and get in or something."

GM: Decision time again. Are you going south and around past the Crucible again, or straight north past the Guildhall?

Nikole is not going near the Guildhall. She doesn't want to have to explain about the spoons.

Darklis nods. "Okay. They'll never let me in," she warns.

Nikole says "That's why we'll have to dress you as a servant."

South it is, then,and east. The Crucible is shut tight and dark. The Mint Mark, past it, is open and noisy, with light streaming out.

Darklis, hopefully, adds, "The gold bar'd be more impressive than the holy water anyway, right?"

Nikole says "I reckon so, but we haven't seen how the holy water's guarded."

Darklis hmphs, and nods. How far is Aspasia's?

Nikole says "The temple might be guarded by insane cultists and living statues and gorgeous but devout holy warriors." Obviously she's been listening to the wrong sort of stories.

Nikole says "Up Lavender Street, they said."

Darklis stares. "No temple *I've* ever been in has gorgeous holy warriors. Most of 'em have warts."

Nikole says "Oh, then you can have them."

Darklis says "Gee. Thanks."

As you walk north, you pass closed and dark shops. There's one lone light in the printing/clothing shop where Nikole bought her hat.

Nikole notes that, since they might need to buy more clothes soon.

Darklis isn't buying anything else ever again as long as she lives. She paid almost a full gold for a bottle of fake holy water. She's DUMB.

Once you pass the intersection of Wizard's Avenue, you're farther north than you've yet been in Carbuncle, and it shows: big houses, gleaming with whitewash and paint, several of them two or even three stories tall.

Nikole presumes they'll notice gates and things if they're about to leave the quarter where the test is.

All the houses are lit, and couples in evening dress, in carriages or on foot, promenade the streets.

Darklis peers up at the houses. "Did they say what it looked like?"

Nikole cranes her neck at the tall houses. "Those don't look safe."

To the left, you can hear the sound of deep-voiced chanting.

Nikole looks over at the chanting.

Darklis does too.

Nikole says absently, "They didn't say. I reckon they thought it was obvious."

The voices are coming from a large, one-story whitewashed building, with colored lights in the windows. The ornately carved double door stands slightly open; as you watch, a man and woman walk up to it and step inside.

Darklis says "Maybe there's a sign on it or something?"

Nikole tries to get a look inside as they enter.

Darklis says "Or maybe it's that one."

Inside it's lit, but that's about all you can see.

Nikole says "That sure sounds like a temple!"

Darklis nudges Nikole. "Go look."

Nikole has a better idea. She buttonholes a passerby (young, cute, male, if possible), and asks, "Who's that temple to?"

Nikole beams brightly if her victim matches that profile, of course.

The young man looks startled, but not offended. "Why, that's the Church of the Apogee, m'dear."

Darklis hangs out in the shadows, since Nikole's the bosomy one. Besides, Darklis has had her throat cut recently. Not good for attracting boys.

Nikole beams some more. "What kind of ceremonies do they hold there?" Maybe some subtle (for a thirteen-year-old) heaving.

He attempts to look worldly and sophisticated, but keeps getting distracted by Nikole's chest. "Oh, very dull ceremonies. Not at all the sort of thing you'd be interested in. On the other hand, I know this bar..."

Darklis, over there in the shadows, rolls her eyes. *Boys*.

Nikole looks apologetic (and secretly smug; they still work! Job's just a git). "I have to be going! Sorry!"

Darklis, all growly and grumpy, asks, "What kind of ceremonies *do* they have?"

He blinks, surprised. "What? But...what's wrong?" Quickly he glances down at his pockets in sudden suspicion.

Nikole has not stolen anything, not being Darklis.

Nikole scampers away to report back to Darklis, "He didn't say! He just tried to take me to a bar."

At the sound of Darklis' voice, the young man starts, and begins to back away. "Nothing unusual good evening." Hastily, he disappears down the street the way he came.

Darklis sighs. "Maybe I should try talking to somebody..."

Nikole says "You know city folk better than I do!"

Nikole says "Anyway, he said that's the Church of the um. Apagi?"

Darklis wrinkles her nose, and asks, "What's an Apagi?"

Nikole says "I dunno!"

Darklis says "Oh."

Nikole says "Maybe it's like a lethe snifter."

Darklis looks around. "You think so? They can't kick us out of a temple, can they? I guess we could look..."

Nikole puts on what she imagines to be a pious expression. "Let's go!"

Darklis eyes the pious expression, and grins. "Okay." Hiho, hiho, it's off to the temple we go!

Nikole peeks nervously through the crack of the door.

Nikole absently makes sure all her hair is scrunched up under her hat. She'll have to brush it for *hours* after this.

From the crack in the door, you can see straight down an aisle, lined with benches full of people on either side. Guttering candles on stands are everywhere, casting a smoky glow.

Darklis whispers, "Do you think there's holy water in there?"

That looks just like the temples in the stories! Nikole peers around for insane cultists, animated statues, and warty holy warriors. And dishes or fountains or bottles of water.

None of those things are visible from Nikole's angle of vision.

Footsteps approach behind Darklis, and there's a polite cough.

Nikole jumps and quickly goes inside, just as though she had been doing that all along!

Darklis yeeps and stands up straight and bumps Nikole inside and hurries in after her.

Nikole moves off to one side to avoid getting run over, and look the place over before going to get sacrificed.

The footsteps follow you inside, where you can see all the way to the end of the aisle. An altar of carved marble looms there, flanked by copper basins on stands. The man behind it is declaiming in compelling tones, "Blessed are my people, for they do not want. Theirs are the golden days, filled with warmth and plenty."

Basins! Nikole tries to get a look at what's in them.

Slightly behind and to either side of the man are several figures in robes, standing with downcast eyes and clasped hands. Two children in white wait beside them.

Darklis whispers, "How can you tell holy water from other water?"

Nikole whispers, "I don't know! Mindy can tell, though."

Darklis says "You wanna spend the whole night running back to Mindy to see if we got holy water?"

The couple who came in behind you walk down the aisle and take a seat in one of the back pews, very quietly. They're dressed in sober black clothes, and so are most of their neighbors. By contrast, the people in the front pews shine in bright colors, resplendent with furs and gems.

The basins are too far away and too high to see.

Nikole says "Well, maybe it'll look different!"

A couple of heads turn towards you in reproach.

Nikole hushes embarrassedly.

Nikole watches the people in robes, who are near the basins.

Darklis chews her bottom lip. "I don't think this is Aspirator's place."

The priest continues, "But 'ware ye of those who covet the blessings of the Truth without its discipline. 'Ware thieves, and women of immodest demeanor, and followers of the Dark Temples. They will lead you into want and hunger!" He points directly at Darklis and Nikole, down the aisle.

Every head turns to peers at you, curiously.

Nikole starts indignantly! "Hey!"

The robed figures are all men, some young, some old. They stand patient and unmoving.

Darklis yelps, and steps away from Nikole. It's her! Not me!

Nikole says "What kind of thing is that to say about someone?"

Nikole looks quite offended!

Darklis hisses, "Ni*kole*." She starts backing up.

"By their manner shall ye know them," chants the priest, "by manner, look, and words. No grace informs their walk; no modesty has their glance; no obedience in their actions. Shun them!" A wave of satisfied tsking sweeps through the audience, as they stare at you with increased interest.

Darklis ducks her head, and backs up rapidly. Just what they want. Everybody knowing their faces.

In a slightly more normal tone, the priest continues, "Here endeth the lesson. Take hands, and sing the Appeal for the Blessing."

Nikole, having an excuse to be looking toward the front of the building, looks it over for back doors, overhanging balconies, any alternate route of approach to the basins. But what she says, "Oh, this is one of those churches where they don't admit women are superior to men. Sorry to disturb your thinking."

Several women glare at Nikole, before turning demurely to face the front and taking each other's hands. The men in robes start to sing: "Oh holy Lord at highest point--" and the congregration repeats it, much less tunefully.

Nikole walks out.

The singing is, fortunately, loud enough to drown out any conversation.

Before leaving, Nikole spotted a small door in the back of the altar area, but no other interesting features.

Outside, Nikole says, "I reckon it's holy water in those basins, but it might be oil or blood or something. Maybe later we can get in the back way and look."

Darklis, head still ducked, follows Nikole. "Argh," she pronounces quietly. "Great. Holy blood. I think we should go find Aspiration's place."

Nikole says "Aye."

Nikole looks around for a big sign saying, "Wicked evil poetry-mocking floozie lives here".

The street stretches on for several hundred yards to the north, ending in a high wall. Palatial houses line both sides, but most of them are on the right. The left has some houses, but mostly dark and locked shops. And the church.

The only sign you see is one a little further up on the left, proclaiming in carved wood, "Soft Shadows".

Nikole finds someplace to lurk out of direct sight and hearing with Darklis, to Plot.

Nikole says "City people get kids to run messages and stuff, right?"

Darklis squints. "Um, sure. If they're rich."

Nikole says "So tell someone you have a message for someone named Aspasia, and ask where she lives."

Nikole says "Hm!"

Darklis blinks. "Oh. Good idea."

Nikole says "I wonder if we could make a message that would get her out of the house?"

Darklis looks up and down the street. "Like what? 'Your house is on fire'?"

Nikole says "I reckon it'd be easier to go through her bedroom if she's not in it. Unless you want to be a boy again."

Darklis shoots Nikole a horrified look. "I can't act /that/ well!"

Nikole giggles.

Nikole says "If we had some kind of present to put in the message we could say, 'Meet me in the park at nine bells, signed, your devoted admirer' or something."

Darklis uhms, and frowns. "Something cheap. Like ... one really pretty flower. I wonder if we can buy one..."

Nikole looks around at the stores.

In fact, a young girl is standing by one of the torches, holding a large bundle of flowers and offering them to passerby.

Nikole says "If you're going to take the message, I'll get the flower."

Hah-hah! Darklis sets out towards the kid. "Do you have any paper, Nikole?"

Darklis stops. "Oh. Okay."

Nikole roots around in her satchel. "Aye. My ma gave me some to write letters home."

Nikole comes up with a sheet of paper only a little the worse for its tribulations.

Nikole says "Do you have a quill?"

Darklis stares at Nikole.

Darklis says "What the devil would I be doing with a quill?"

Nikole says "Oh."

Nikole says "Okay, so we need to get a quill and ink. This never ends, does it?"

Nikole sighs.

Nikole says "Maybe you should just carry the folded up paper, and ask directions, and we'll just sneak in through a window and not try to be clever."

Darklis says "It was a *good* idea."

Darklis sighs. "I'm sorry I don't have a quill. I guess we'll have to try the not-clever way."

Nikole says "We can find a quill and some ink, I reckon. But I dunno how long it'll take."

Darklis says "Well, let's try to break in and if it doesn't work we'll go find some ink and we'll pay the flower girl to deliver the message and then we'll break in. how's that?"

Nikole says "Aye. But we still need to find which house it is."

Darklis reaches out for the piece of paper, then goes marching up the street in search of a passer-by to accost and ask which damned house is Aspatia's.

The closest person in the street is the flower girl, actually, although others walk into view now and then.

Darklis marches to the flower girl, then. "Excuse me, could you tell me which house is Aspatia's?"

She looks tired, and shifts from foot to foot while singing softly, "Red roses, white roses, two- yes, miss?"

Darklis looks mopeish. "Aspatia's house?" she asks hopefully.

The girl looks up at Darklis with big eyes. "Aye, miss, two houses that way." She points down the right side of the street.

Hopefully she holds up her basket. "Flower, miss?"

Darklis smiles gratefully. "Thanks." She digs the change from the stupid vial of holy water - two coppers -- out of a pocket and offers them to the girl. "Maybe later for flowers. They're awfully pretty."

Her face lights up, and she doesn't look quite so thin and starved. "Oh, thankew, miss!" She takes the coins and tucks them into a pocket. "Here, have a rose - they're near wilted anyway."

She offers a long-stemmed red rose, with only one petal falling off, to Darklis.

Nikole slinks along the side of the street in the direction the flower girl pointed, to meet up with Darklis.

Darklis smiles and takes the rose. "Thanks." She heads down the street towards Aspatia's, and goes, "Hey!" at Nikole. "Does it have to be a *written* message?"

Nikole stops. "I reckon not, except then how do we tell her to leave the house?"

The house thus indicated is one of the largest on the street, white and square, with an imposing entrance up two steps and through a pair of marble columns.

Windows of thick bubbly glass run along the sides of the lower part of the house, and a few more decorate the upper story. There's even a balcony under one of them.

Darklis rubs her nose. "Well, I have this flower now, see?" She plucks the droopy petal off it. "I could just go knock and present the flower and tell her that it's from a secret admirer who'd like to meet her at nine bells at, uh. The fountain." She wrinkles her face hopefully.

Nikole says "I thought city folk did everything in writing! But if you reckon it'll work, we might as well. You know she's going to ask you about this admirer, though."

The roof of the house is dark slate. Smoke rises from a stone chimney.

Darklis clears her throat. "I'm kinda hoping she'll have an idea who it is already and sort of assume it's him, whoever him is." What the hell. She goes up the stairs to the imposing entrance, and knocks, then looks for a bell to ring.

Nikole stays out of sight, but nearby.

There's no bell.

Darklis knocks again, then.

Some distance to the right of the imposing entrance, near the corner of the house, is a much more ordinary-looking door.

Darklis waits a few moments, then chews her lower lip, and edges down towards the more ordinary-looking door, trying to keep an eye on the fancy one, too. She knocks on the second door. And looks for a bell.

Still no bell, but this door is opened promptly by a young girl in a dark dress. "Aye?"

That's probably not Aspatia, is it? Darklis' eyes widen, and she bobs a little curtsey-thing. "I've a message for Mistress Aspatiam, miss."

"Oh." The girl looks rather confused. She can't be any older than Darklis, although her clothes are much neater. "The mistress's at dinner, I don't think-" She looks around for inspiration. "Ye'd better coom in."

She opens the door a little more, and stands aside.

Darklis smiles. "Thanks." Geez, she's a mess next to this girl. She brushes at her trousers a little, apologetically, and comes in. Bye, Nikole!

Darklis is shown into a well-scrubbed scullery, lit by firelight. Several empty chairs stand around the table. The girl fidgets in indecision. "I don't quite know, everyone's at evening service - maybe the footman - "

She makes a wait-here sign at Darklis, opens a door, and leans out, gesticulating and whispering.

Darklis waits, looking around, big-eyed. Anything interesting?

After a minute, a boy about the same age, in similar dark clothes, sticks his head in the door. "Oy, right. What would Cook do?" They hold a whispered conference.

Only if you find cooking implements interesting. There are spoons, and knives, and pots and pans, and a sink full of dirty water. A cat skulks about, brushing at ankles and furniture legs.

Darklis looks very nervous. They're dressed a lot better than she is. Eyebrows wrinkled, she takes a little step forward. "Um," she says.

Finally, the girl turns back to Darklis, and straightens up. "You're to give us the message and we'll take it to butler," she announces.

Darklis clears her throat, and presents the rose. "A secret admirer would like to meet Mistress Aspatia at the fountain at nine bells." She tries to say this like Mistress Aspatia would know who the secret admirer is.

Her eyebrows shoot up, and she takes the rose carefully. The boy looks similarly impressed. "Another one? Coo!"

Darklis' own eyebrows shoot up. "There's another one?"

The boy waves a hand at the door he came in. "She's having dinner with 'im right now, how can she be at the fountain at-" An elbow from the girl cuts him off.

"It's none of our business what Mistress does," she says primly. "Will you wait here for a return message...miss?" she adds rather dubiously.

Darklis claps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Oooh," she says, and then nods. "Sure. Dara, my name's Dara."

Nikole fidgets. Darklis's been gone a long time. Maybe she needs to be rescued.

The girl hands the rose to the boy, who disappears out the door with it. She eyes Darklis nervously. "Well, Dara, t'won't be long."

The sound of a whispered altercation comes from beyond the door.

Nikole looks around warily and then slinks toward the windows.

Darklis studies her toes. Her bare toes. What a mess she is. "'m not much of one to be deliverin' messages to fine ladies, am I," she mumbles.

Golden light flickers behind the windows; nothing more is visible unless you press your nose to them.

Nikole doesn't mind getting noseprints on other people's windows!

The girl coughs embarrassedly. "S'not your fault." She waves a hand helplessly at the chairs. "Um...Cook'd get mad if she found us sitting, see..."

Through the windows, Nikole can see a lush dining room. The table is set with silver and a white cloth, and covered with dishes of steaming food. Aspasia (presumably) sits at one end, and a portly man with a mustache at the other.

"Oh no," Darklis says, and shakes her head. "I wouldn't want to make a mess of anything. He thought it'd be qu, uh, quaint, see, to have someone like me deliver a message...you know, all properly secretive with nameless street kids delivering romantic things. Except I've got a name, of course." She's babbling.

Nikole's stomach rumbles! She claps her hands over it, hoping no one heard!

Nikole doesn't see any sign of Darklis being tied up and tortured, so she moves along to the next set of windows.

The girl grins. "He'd do better with di'monds, for her. Mistress's not the quaint sort." Starting to relax, she waves a hand at the scullery. "er...would you like a bun?"

Aspasia, by the way, is dressed in a low-cut purple gown, with elaborately dressed hair set off by a diamond tiara and earrings. She's wearing more makeup than you have ever seen on anyone in your life. But her companion seems to like it.

Nikole stops for a moment to admire the clothes and jewelry. When she gets into the Guild, she'll be able to dress like that!

Darklis, drolly, says, "I've got the diamond in me pocket," and winks. Then her eyes light up. "If you wouldn't get in trouble? It'd be very nice."

The next set of rooms is darker, but you can see a lot of red velvet, on chairs and couches and things. And some gilt.

Nikole hms. What are the windows like? How difficult would it be to get in?

The door opens, and the boy tiptoes back into the scullery. "Mistress says," he says self-importantly, "how dare he and not to speak to her again."

There's two joined windows, hinged to open outward but latched from the inside.

Nikole hms and keeps going around the house, keeping an eye out for dogs, guards, and similar obstacles.

Darklis blinks. "Oh dear." She squints suddenly. "I guess I'll be telling him to take those pearls back to Master Frond, then."

He grins, gap-toothed. "Nah. When the Admiral weren't looking, she give butler this." He holds out a hand, a small iron key in his palm.

Darklis' eyebrows go up. "Ooh." What the hell is this to? "He'll know what it's for?"

No dogs or guards yet. The windows continue, looking into darkened rooms, until just past the corner of the building, where an iron gate stands.

The girl makes an "o" of surprise, putting her hands to her mouth. The boy grins. "I reckon so."

Nikole looks up at the top of the gate. Is it climbable?

Probably, although the top's jagged with spikes.

Darklis shrugs helplessly. "I told you, he just hired me to deliver his message. I'll bring it back to him, then, straightaway." She smiles brightly. "Thanks for your help!"

Nikole makes a face. She doesn't want *her* throat cut either!

Recovering herself, the girl shows Darklis to the door, pressing a hot bun into her palm. "Luck to you, Dara!"

Darklis beams. "Thanks." She scoots out, key in hand. When the door's well and goodly closed, she hisses, "Nikole?"

Nikole hears the door open and doubles back to meet up with Darklis.

Nikole whispers, "How'd it go?"

Darklis scoots off the property, so they're not in direct line-of-sight. "She knew who 'he' was, and, um, she gave me this to give to him." She displays the key. "Think it's for her bedroom?"

Nikole says "I bet it's for the gate!"

Nikole waves back toward the corner of the house.

Darklis grins. "Well, let's go see."

You can hear footsteps coming up the drive, towards the corner of the house with the ordinary door.

Nikole shrinks back into the bushes!

Darklis holds her breath!

Quiet conversation. "Well, that was a well-thought sermon, Leavin, was it not?" "Very much so, Mrs. Ruddle. And beautifully illustrated. Very timely."

Darklis yeeps silently and squishes back into the bushes more.

The door opens. "Ah, Lina!" The woman's voice rises in pitch. "Are the dishes done? Pots scrubbed? Fire banked?" A clamor of voices, and the door shuts again.

Nikole whispers, "I reckon that means the church will be empty soon."

Darklis whispers back, "I think we should try to get the papers first."

Nikole whispers, "Aye! Let's go try the gate."

Darklis nodnods and hurries that way.

Nikole leads Darklis to the gate.

Darklis, veeeeery veeeeeery carefully, tries the key in the gate.

This time, footsteps are audible a little ways beyond the gate.

The key fits!

Nikole stifles a squeak and squeezes into the bushes again!

Darklis pops the key out and hides in the bushes again, wide-eyed and holding her breath!

There's a sigh in the distance. "Hurry up, old boy," says a man's voice.

After another minute or two, the footsteps recede into the distance.

Darklis peeks out of the bushes.

All is quiet and still.

Nikole nudges Darklis.

Darklis, still holding her breath, or perhaps holding it again, sneaks out of the bushes and puts the key in the keyhole again. Tries turning it, veeeery carefully.

The lock clicks, and the gate opens, with a long squeeeeeeeeeak.

Nikole flinches!

Darklis' entire face squinches up and she holds her breath more. Holding your breath means nobody heard you!

Silence.

Darklis keeps her face squinched up, and tip-toes through the gate.

Nikole lets out her breath slowly, and peeks through the open gate.

Nikole oopses and follows Darklis.

A lawn stretches out beyond the gate, with bushes and trees and flowers. It's a sculptured garden, of sorts, and it stretches around the corner of the house.

Darklis closes the gate almost all the way, and then looks around. Hm. "Around the house?" she whispers, and starts that way, hugging the edge of the bushes.

Nikole whispers, "Look in windows for a bedroom" and presses her nose to the nearest window.

There aren't any windows on the side of the house you're on. If you peer around the corner to the back side, you can see a maze of paths and flowers and statues and, yes, a fountain. A watchman is strolling along one of the paths, a leash in his hand.

The back side of the house has no windows on the ground floor, but several higher up. One of them has a balcony underneath it.

Nikole looks to see what's on the end of the leash!

Darklis elbows Nikole, and nods at the fountain. Look! That must be the fountain she's meeting him at! Very quietly, she breathes, "If we can find a place to hide until nine bells, she'll be out here ..."

The other end of the leash is hidden by plants. But if you wait a minute you'll all have a good view of each other, as he rounds the corner...

Nikole jumps up, reaching for the balcony.

Suddenly, the other end of the leash barks, loudly!

Nikole's hands grab the balcony railing!

Nikole pulls herself up and leans down to pull Darklis up!

Darklis reaches up for Nikole's hand!

A fat dog with long floppy ears runs out of the bushes and straight at Darklis, followed by an alarmed watchman. "Hey!"