They were met at the door by a somewhat drunk made who let them in. The maid had taken to stealing a few bottles late at night, to 'make up' for low wages, and on this night she started early. In the same motion to close the door, she tipped over and fell on the floor. It was there that she finally passed out, and it was there that she remained until quite a while later.

Annallee led the way up the stairs and wondered where Pico and Alberto could be. The mansion was a huge place, and Annallee certainly hadn't explored all of it. To add to it, most of the servants were either asleep or as drunk as the maid at the door. The number of people ending the day with a bottle of wine was increasing just as fast as the rumors of battle to the east did. "Maybe you two should wait in the library while I find my friends. They might take things better if it's just me."

Neither had any objections and Annallee left them there as she began to look. After several minutes, she reached the room she had been staying in. Might as well gather my belongings now, she decided and entered.

The huge room had been straightened up to the point it was almost painful to the eye to anyone not obsessed with cleanliness. Her carry-bag sitting on a small table next to the bed was the only thing in the room that was second-hand. Her clothing she retrieved from the closet and packed it away, and a ragged little book that had been hidden in a drawer, her journal. It all took less than five minutes to be done. A wanderer never did own more than she could carry on her own back, after all.

As she started back down the hall from that wing of the mansion, she noticed one door that was closed and locked, although the key was still in the hole, as if to keep something from getting out. It might be something that should rightfully stay locked, Annallee recognized. She knew quite a few stories about gates into other dimensions disguised as normal doors, and ones about doors that were actually living beings with really sharp teeth. But she was curious. After all, unless Pico's mom was even more evil than she acted, it was probably nothing really sinister. She slowly unlocked the key and turned the handle...

A small fuzzy mass lunged out of the room, which turned out to be a broom closet, right into Annallee with such force it knocked her over. "MUI!!"

Annallee giggled as the chipmunk's whiskers tickled her chin. "Aw!" she exclaimed, "Those mean ol' servants musta locked you in there!" Muimumui chittered, happy to be out of there. Annallee took that as a 'yes.' "Well, we certainly won't let them do that again, will we? Will we?" She didn't notice the sweat drop on Muimumui's head forming as she switched into 'cute-little-animal-baby-talk.'

Annallee got to her feet. "Do you know where Alberto and Pico are?" she asked the chipmunk.

Muimumui sat straight upright, sniffed the air a few times, and then bolted off down the hall. Annallee darted after him, struggling to keep up. "Wait for me, Muimumui!!"

Berty paced back and forth in the library, every so often an object 'falling' into a pocket. This was boring. They were in the middle of a gold mine, and they were waiting for Annallee to get back?! What kind of thieves were they? If they were to pick up a few 'souvenirs,' that wouldn't be wrong, would it? That's what Robin Hood did. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. Except the poor would be them, in this case. After the crown Incident, they certainly didn't have much capital. Yeah.. that was good reasoning.. "Bart, I've decided we're going for a walk!"

Bart looked up from the Comfy Chair that he'd settled down into. "But Berty..."

"No buts! We're thievin' thieves and, by golly, we're gonna thieve!"

Bart knew there had to be something very wrong with that sentence, but he wasn't sure what. Oh well. He got to his feet and joined Berty in going for a 'walk' around the mansion. There were a lot of very pretty things. A lot of it wouldn't be too easy to transport, but other parts would work. He spotted a very nice urn that he wanted to take, but Berty said it wasn't real. An imitation Celadon Urn. Not that Berty's real good at spottin' fake things anyway, Bart thought but didn't say it out loud.

After a while of looting fun, they came across the fanciest room so far. Unfortunatly, someone was sleeping in that room, so they had to be very careful not to make much noise. As anyone who has been robbed by this particular duo can attest, they are not the most skilled at being careful, and they are even worse at not making noise.

"You're leaving?!" Alberto asked, eyes wide with surprise. "B-but your aunt - Your aunt entrusted you into my care! What if something happens to you? I'm legally responsible, you know!"

Annallee frowned. She just knew Alberto would be this way. If dad was still alive, he certainly wouldn't be this bad, she just knew. "I'm sixteen years old! Almost seventeen! I can make my own choices and I can take care of myself. And if you think for even one minute that Aunt Chloriss would care one way or the other what happened to me, you haven't been paying much attention at all!"

Pico was trying his best to melt into his seat, hoping no one would remember he was there. When those two argued, nobody wanted to be caught in between, or even nearby. It was almost like they were related. He was surprised by Annallee's choice, but couldn't think of a good reason to stop her that wouldn't backfire on him. He'd run away from home even younger than Annallee was now.

"And who are these 'friends' of yours?" Alberto demanded, "What kind of people are they to lead a young girl away from her real friends? Are they in a gang? That's it, isn't it? You've joined a gang! No, a cult! There've been plenty enough of those around lately to drag anyone in. Well I won't let you go!"

Annallee's eyes flashed in anger. "You can't order me around! You're not my father!!" she screamed.

Alberto couldn't find the right words to respond. Pico looked at him and knew that those words had cut deeply. Alberto had thought of Annallee as the daughter he never had, a lot like how Pico thought of her as a combination of little sister and the girl-next-door. Before anyone spoke another word, there was an explosion from the floor directly above them, and two people fell from the newly created hole.

Berty shook his head violently, blinked twice, and then noticed Annallee standing before him. "Sorry 'bout the mess, the boomin' bomb was a tad bit stronger than we thoughts."

Bart looked upset for some reason. "B-B-Bertha! Berty, you made me panic and now Big Bertha's gone! She sacrificed her life for us when one of the babies would have been able to do just as well!!" Tears streamed down his face. It took another few seconds before Annallee figured out he was talking about a bomb. Berty knew before hand who 'Bertha' was, but Pico and Alberto will probably never know what the strange little red-haired man was talking about.

"THIEVES!!!" shrieked Mrs. Delario from the floor above. "Someone help! Call the guards! Catch those thieves!!!"

Berty and Bart jumped in unison. "Come along, little 'llee, I think it's just about time to flee!" Berty rhymed as he grabbed her hand and started to run. Annallee managed to keep the pace after just a stumble or two through the debris scattered on the floor. Okay, she later reflected, So they aren't the most honest people in the world. But they're certainly more fun!

Pico scratched his head in wonderment. What kind of friends did Annallee find? They certainly didn't fall into any category of normality that he'd ever heard of.