Mira rounded the corner in the upper city on her way to the Smith’s house with Bandit trailing a bit behind as always. Ever alert for danger, what she glimpsed on the other side of the house made her jump back around the corner. Kromwell and Sethor were around that corner with their attention focused on someone next to the house. She took out her little mirror from a pocket, and while casually leaning against the house, she used the mirror to peek around the corner. Bandit had a look also, her little nose wiggling as she sniffed.

  Kromwell and Sethor had cornered the Bakers’ daughter, Fayorette. As Mira watched, she surmised they were trying to get her to come with them, though she couldn’t hear their words. Kromwell extended his hand, but Fayorette shied away. She tried to turn a different direction and walk away, but Sethor was always blocking her way. Mira’s eyes narrowed. She spared a look down at Bandit, who returned her narrowed gaze. Mira nodded, then walked around the corner with Bandit.

  Bandit was a thirty-pound raccoon and was roughly equal to a one-hundred-pound dog in a fight. Raccoons were ferocious little critters. Bandit made a growling noise, which Kromwell and Sethor heard loud and clear, then she charged Sethor. Their eyes got very big when they saw Bandit charge. Bandit grappled Sethor’s calf and bit him hard on the shin. Kromwell tried to kick Bandit, but instead kicked Sethor on the outside of his knee. Sethor howled in pain, jumping and kicking his leg, but couldn’t throw Bandit off. He yelled and cursed, then tried to grab Bandit by the neck and throw her off, but Bandit turned and bit his hand hard enough to draw blood. Kromwell fled, leaving Sethor to his bloody fate. Fay ran the opposite way that Kromwell did, back toward her family’s house. Sethor hurled himself against the closest stone building, trying to crush Bandit. Though he didn’t seem to hurt her, Bandit let go and stood on her two back legs, claws outstretched to make herself look bigger, and snarled at him. Sethor wanted nothing more to do with this and fled. He cried in pain, awkwardly holding his calf as he ran down the street after Kromwell. Bandit settled back to all fours and padded over to Mira’s side to the amusement of several onlookers.

  “That was well deserved,” an older woman said with a cackle. She watched with glee as the bullies fled.

  “Yeah! That was great, Bandit,” Mira said. “I wish I could bite them like that.”

  Bandit stood on her hind legs, her paws scratching at the air before her, and made a little growling noise. Mira couldn’t help but giggle. For her part, Bandit made her equivalent of a smile, which showed a lot of sharp teeth, clearly pleased with herself.

  As Mira passed the bakery, Fay was in the window with a smile and wave for Mira. Fay held up one finger in a “wait a minute” gesture. She disappeared for a moment, then reappeared in the doorway with a fresh honey bun held in a napkin. She held it out to Bandit, who notoriously loved honey buns. In fact, the Bakers had suspected for some time now that they had a furry little thief stealing a honey bun or two each morning.

  “Thank you both so much!” Fay exclaimed with a smile, holding out the treat.

  Bandit scampered quickly over to Fay, took the honey bun in both of her little front paws, then hobbled on her back legs toward the side of the building, out of the way of passers-by. Mira always liked to see Bandit hobble around like that. It was funny to watch. Bandit began devouring the treat.

  “Bandit says thanks, Fay,” Mira said.

  “You’re welcome. Kromwell’s the most loathsome person I know, and he just won’t stop. It’s been getting worse, and not just with me.” Fay actually shuddered a little despite the noon sun. “I wish I had a protector like Bandit.”

  “Yeah, Bandit’s pretty awesome. You should get a dog or something.”

  “How many trained animals have you seen in Stonekeep lately?” Fay asked, one brow arched.

  “Um, none. You’ve got a point. I guess I was pretty lucky to have found her,” Mira said.

  “Yeah.” Her expression changed to one of deep thought. “Maybe I should buy a crossbow,” Fay mused.

  “Yeah, that would work! I doubt the prince would care for it, but you’d have popular support before you’re hung for manslaughter.”

  “It’d be worth it,” Fay said.

  Bandit was already done eating her treat, and was licking her paws.

  “Sure would. Thanks again for the honey bun,” Mira said.

  With a wave, Mira and Bandit walked the short distance to the Smiths’ front door. She could hear the ring of hammers on steel, so she knew she wasn’t late for lunch. This was shaping up to be a really good Twoday, Mira thought. When she walked into the smithy, Dortham and Elric were pounding away at their anvils, and Hituren was there helping Dortham with the bellows, never taking his eyes off of what Dortham was working with. Dortham was explaining something to Hituren as he worked.

  “Hi, everyone!” Mira said happily. A chorus of greetings came back at her as she and Bandit went up the stairs.

  Nora, Juleen and Elle were making sandwiches in the kitchen. Greetings were exchanged all around. It had only been four weeks since Elle’s parents had been murdered, and Elle still wasn’t her old self yet. She wasn’t completely withdrawn anymore, at least, so some progress had been made. Mira was glad to see she was doing better. The men came upstairs and washed up, then everyone sat down at the table, which had to be exchanged for a larger one last year. Now everyone got their own seat rather than crowding together on the bench. Hituren was a nice person, but Terrans were very wide, and he took up a lot of space on the bench. Sitting on a chair by herself with Bandit right below her was a welcome change. The family made small talk for a while as they helped themselves to the food.

  “Has there been any word from the constables?” Mira asked nonchalantly.

  Dortham shook his head with a sour expression. “Nothing new as of yesterday.” To his credit, Dortham had taken Elle’s tragedy very personally and had never let it go. His eyes lingered on Nora’s eyes briefly, but her reply seemed to be the stony and unyielding look she returned to him. Dortham’s brow furrowed deeper, and he ate his sandwich angrily, if the suffering of his sandwich was any indication of his mood.

  “It’s been four weeks,” Mira mumbled around a bite.

  She knew then that Elle would never get justice from the constables. It seemed everyone else knew that now, too. It was time to take another tack, Mira thought. Unknown to everyone but Juleen and Elle, Mira had been scouting the area around Elle’s old house ever since the murders, and she’d had no luck in finding the three thugs. She wasn’t ready to give up, though.

  An idea started to form in her devious little mind. If she couldn’t find the people directly responsible, maybe she could hurt the person indirectly responsible. She knew from watching the criminals of the city for the past three years where a cache of drugs was hidden. It was at a warehouse with the blue door on Wharf Street that was owned by Sivash Surekeel. She’d been wanting to get a look inside but was afraid to try to sneak in because the place was always so well guarded. Now that she had mastered the Shadowmeld spell, though, she thought she had a good chance. That and the fact that Kromwell was fresh on her mind. Maybe sometime soon she’d sneak into the warehouse and wreak a little havoc. On a Threeday or Sixday it would be raining, and no one would be loitering outside or watching the window in the second-floor office. She knew Sivash didn’t bother to go to his grimy, old warehouse when it was raining, so he and his bodyguards wouldn’t be anywhere near the place. She just needed to acquire some things first, and she didn’t have any money.

  Lunch was pretty quiet after Mira asked about the thugs. She used the time to plan. When everyone left the table with full bellies, Juleen, Mira and Elle went upstairs to Juleen and Elle’s room to talk for a while as was their custom. Many times in recent days they talked about boys, but no one seemed to be in a talking mood after she told them about Fay’s encounter with Kromwell today. After a short time of the girls comparing his attributes to things like slugs, gutter rats, and dung heaps, Mira excused herself.

  “I’ve got to run for now, ladies. See you tomorrow!” Mira said as she abruptly stood.

  Juleen and Elle weren’t fools. They had the feeling Mira was cooking up something juicy, and they shared a suspicious glance at Mira’s quick exit. Bandit scampered along behind her. They didn’t question her, though.

  “All right. See you tomorrow,” Juleen said to the empty doorway.

  “Thanks for the sandwich, Mrs. Smith!” Mira called with a wave as she veritably flew across the room and down the stairs.

  “You’re always welcome, dear,” Nora replied to an already empty room.

  When Mira exited the smithy, she walked three blocks away where she knew of a small alley that no one travelled because of the tight confines. Shielded from spying eyes and listening ears, Mira outlined her plan to Bandit. She grinned and nodded, her beady eyes bright with mischief. Bandit loved chaos and had been on her best behavior for far too long a time. Watching people react to the unexpected was one of the reasons she was here in this human city rather than in her hidden village in the woods. Pixies absolutely loved to play practical jokes on people, and Stonekeep was a target-rich environment.

  Mira used the rest of her time that day to scout around the warehouse with the blue door from the rooftops with the help of the G.A.S.P. Whizzbang had given her. The warehouse showed a lot of activity now compared to when she first found it. As always, she noted all the people who came and went. They were all known dealers, she thought. There were still no drug users in there and no one was working among the wares stored there. Good. It was getting close to dinner time, so Mira snuck out of the area and went back to her family’s home.

  Maureen Porter was working in the kitchen preparing dinner when she got back, so Mira helped her mom. Dinner that night with her family was very predictable, with conversation centering on what kind of loads her father and brothers would be moving tomorrow. Predictable up to the end, at least.

  “I’ve come to an agreement with Lorond Washman today, daughter,” Myhan said. “This Sevenday you’ll join his wash maids, and you’ll work hard at whatever tasks he sets before you. It’s high time you started working instead of running the streets as an urchin.”

  Mira’s heart sank. She knew better than to argue, though. Her father wouldn’t take any backtalk. “Yes, father,” Mira said. “At least I’ll be earning some money of my own now.”

  “Ha! What’s that you say? ‘Money of your own’?” Myhan laughed out loud. “No, I’m afraid the wages you earn will be paid directly to me. And it’s about time you started paying me back for all the food and shelter I’ve provided all these years, too.”

  Mira’s face turned red in outrage. It was just like her father to treat her as a tool. A slave. She made up her mind right then that she wouldn’t let this indignity stand. She would have to accelerate her plans for the warehouse, too. Mira chewed her food slowly, carefully considering her situation. No one would suspect a wash maid of anything beyond a little sloth at her work. Maybe she could make this work to her advantage. The best part was that wash maids didn’t work on Threedays or Sixdays when it was raining. She could still learn from Whizzbang on those days as usual and avoid suspicion for anything unfortunate that might possibly arise. She went to bed that night with renewed confidence in the things to come.

  -----

  Mira’s rough spun dress and hair were soaked by the pouring rain as she walked along nearly empty streets to Whizzbang’s house on Threeday. Bandit looked less than enthusiastic to be in the rain as she padded along beside Mira. Only people with urgent need were out and about when it rained like this, but the rain didn’t bother Mira at all. She looked at it as a blessing. Without it, she wouldn’t be allowed in Whizzbang’s shop on a regular basis. Mira did have an urgent need, though. She had a plan, and though it was a simple one, she ran through the details in her mind over and over again.

  The two soggy adventurers finally reached Whizzbang’s shop, and Mira let herself in the front door as usual. Whizzbang had thoughtfully left a couple of towels by the door for her and Bandit to use, so she dried herself off the best she could before tracking water everywhere. Bandit transformed into her natural pixie form as soon as the door was closed, and the water that covered her was suddenly left in a little pool on the wood floor. Mira hurriedly toweled up the rainwater from the floor as Bandit flew up the stairs. When Mira got to the top of the stairs, Bandit was hovering above the little metal plate that caught her pixie dust, munching on a few cookie crumbs.

  “Hiya, Whizzbang,” Mira said.

  “Good morning, Mira,” Whizzbang said. They exchanged a few polite pleasantries.

  “Can we work on locks today, please?” Mira asked.

  “Maybe. What are you planning to do?” Whizzbang asked her.

  “Who, me? What would make you think I had plans? I’m just a lowly street urchin minding her own very common business,” Mira said with a little too much sarcasm.

  “Oh, the complete absence of even a single spell being cast, for one, and not pestering me about learning some new form of killer magic, for two. It’s completely out of character. It makes me think you’re saving your energy for a task today. You’re planning to do something interesting, aren’t you?” Whizzbang asked with a moderate tone, his little eyes noting everything.

  Knowing the secret was out, Mira dove in headfirst. “Yeah, you know, I was just about to ask you if I could borrow these little lock picks for today. And maybe that filleting knife. No particular reason, of course. Completely legit,” Mira said, trying to hide her smirk. Even Bandit smirked a little as she hovered but tried to look innocent with a shrug of her little shoulders when Whizzbang shifted his gaze.

  “Let’s hear your plan,” Whizzbang said with certainty.

  “Oh, all right,” Mira said. She paused for a moment in thought. “I refuse to let the Chandlers’ murders stand unavenged, even as worthless as that abusive bastard of a father was. I’m going to hit the warehouse with the blue door on Wharf Street. I know they have drugs and probably money inside, and today’s a light pedestrian day.”

  “And the whole city won’t burn in the rain.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Yeah, maybe that, too.” Mira tried unsuccessfully to distract him from thoughts about fires. “As a side note, I was just indentured to be a wash maid starting on Sevenday, so my time of freedom has about run out.”

  “Unfortunate, but not unexpected. You’ll still be coming here on rainy days?”

  “Yeah.” Mira could see he wasn’t convinced. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

  Whizzbang considered a little longer. “I was wondering when you would do something like this. I happen to think the drug dealers in this city are in need of a black eye, myself. You should realize that I’ve had you watching the bad elements of Stonekeep for a long time so you’d learn their habits and know how to avoid them. These are lessons that’ll serve you well in any city you go to. Though I would‘ve waited a couple years for you to mature more, I think you have the skills you need to pull something like this off.”

  Mira was wide-eyed and blinking slowly in stunned amazement. She expected to have to argue, reason, or even cry to get him to understand her motives and not forbid her foray to the dark side. The last thing she thought she would get from Whizzbang was his blessing. She decided she liked Whizzbang a lot more for that. She smiled happily.

  “You can use the knife and lock picks, of course. In fact, I have something else for you that I thought would come in handy,” Whizzbang said. “A sort of coming-of-age present I’ve been sitting on.” He went upstairs and Mira heard him open a footlocker, then shut it. He walked back downstairs with a big, paper-wrapped parcel. Well, big for him, anyway. He was only three feet tall. He handed Mira the package.

  Mira’s eyes started to shine a bit from unshed tears. No one ever gave her presents. In fact, the G.A.S.P. was one of the only things she’d ever been given, and it had moved her deeply. Now here he was giving her something else. Mira untied the string and opened the paper carefully. Inside was a folded pair of dark gray pants, a lighter colored gray shirt, a slim leather belt, and a black leather vest with little pockets in various places. She thought it was perfect, and she’d wanted clothing like this for a long time. She looked down at her shabby brown dress, and her lower lip stuck out a little bit.

  “Thank you so much, Whizzbang,” Mira said softly. Her lower lip trembled slightly. Then she smiled brightly. “Can I try them on?”

  “Of course, you can. They’re yours, Mira.”

  Mira went into the other room and shrugged out of her itchy dress. She put on the new clothes and found that they fit remarkably well, even if they were a little loose. She liked the freedom of movement that the pants gave her. No wonder men liked them. She walked back into the other room as she checked out all the little pockets in the vest.

  “I don’t know what to say, Whizzbang. Thanks again.”

  “There are two hidden places to put a lock pick in the seams of your pants, one in the front and one behind,” Whizzbang said. “You can never be too careful.”

  “Oh yeah! I didn’t even notice those,” Mira said, finally feeling the little wire tools that were hidden in the seams.

  “Hey, that’s a good look for you!” Bandit said in her little voice. She gave a thumbs up sign of approval.

  Mira did a little dance, testing out her range of movement. It felt right somehow. She wanted to throw the dress in the fire, but she held back. She couldn’t strut around the city in a new set of clothes after doing what she planned to do tonight. And she knew she couldn’t bring the new clothes back to her home, either. It would instantly arouse suspicion, as everyone knew she had no money.

  “This outfit has to be kept here, I think,” Mira said.

  “Cool logic. Good,” Whizzbang said. “Let’s get to work on those locks for the time being. It’ll make time go by faster as you wait for dark and improve your skillset at the same time.”

  Mira nodded and got to work. She and Bandit ate a little bread, cheese and fruit for lunch, but other than that, she kept working at her practice locks for the next several hours. She could almost open one blindfolded now. She looked out the window and knew it was time to get started on the real work of the day. It was after dinner time, but she wasn’t hungry. She stood up and stretched. She picked up the slim knife and put it in the sleeve of her shirt. It was very awkward there, but she didn’t have a sheath to put it in. She put the lock picks in various pockets where they fit best.

  “Good luck,” Whizzbang said where he worked. He looked up from his workbench to give a little wave.

  “I’ll be back here later tonight sometime to let you know how it went. See you then!” Mira said excitedly.

  Mira cast her Shadowmeld spell and faded into the darkness within the closed shop. With that preparation made, she slipped out the door. Bandit flew to the doorway and faded into invisibility just before she got to it. Mira knew Bandit was close by. She always shrugged off her raccoon disguise when Mira was scouting or spying. Mira made sure no one outside could see her, then chose a shadowy house and walked up the side to the roof. She was getting drenched in the rain, but she was exhilarated to finally be doing something, especially something so sneaky and conniving.

  It was very easy to get around the upper city by the rooftops with Whizzbang’s necklace. When she jumped from one roof to another, the G.A.S.P. seemed to make gravity go sideways towards the next roof she was jumping to rather than down towards the ground. That way she only had around ten or fifteen feet to fall sideways, and then suddenly the necklace would change gravity’s direction again when she got close to the next roof. Her landings were always very soft on her bare feet, too. While she was blending with the shadows, no one would see her, even if someone did decide to look upwards in a rain shower. With that knowledge came surety.

  Mira came within sight of the upper city gate. The guards were inside the gatehouse except for two that were standing in the shelter of the gateway. She moved down the side of a house, across the darkened street, and put her foot on the city wall. Gravity did not change direction for her, and she almost fell in a puddle in her surprise. She tried it again. The G.A.S.P. didn’t work on the walls. They must be warded against magic like this, Mira thought. Time for a slight change of plan.

  Mira crept towards the gate in the shadows of the wall, safely hidden from sight. The light from the guards’ lantern wasn’t too bright, and since they were slumped against the walls with their heads bowed, Mira guessed they weren’t very alert, either. Mira made a little noise like the squeak of a rat and a clattering sound come from the other side of the wall behind them. When the guards turned their heads, Mira darted forward and was through the gatehouse quickly and quietly, then immersed in the shadows on the other side. From there she found it easy to navigate the lower city to Wharf Street where her targets waited, completely unaware of the coming calamity.

  When Mira got to the roof across from the warehouse, she stopped to listen and watch for a while. Seeing and hearing nothing beyond the rainfall, she patrolled in a circuit all the way around the warehouse, looking for trouble. Finding nothing amiss, she leapt across the street to the roof of the warehouse above the second-floor office window. As dark as it was outside in the rain, it was as dark as a tomb inside. At least there was no one in there. Mira crept carefully across the surface of the side of the warehouse towards the window. Taking a better look inside, she saw nothing alarming. At the door to the office, a very dim light could be seen coming from under it. Mira checked the latch to the window and found it locked. She took the knife out from her soaked shirt sleeve and slid it between the two window halves, working the knife to unlock the latch with ease. She gently pushed the lower window up and slipped inside. She stepped next to the window before closing it partially to keep both the rain and her silhouette out of the window, then waited a minute or two for her eyes to adjust to the darkness within.

  With the rain and the lack of the moon’s dim light, it was too dark for her to see clearly, so she had to risk a little light. There was a desk lamp in the office, of course, so she moved it to the center of the desk. Before lighting it, she carefully took some of the books from a shelf and laid them on the floor against the door, then cut the seat of the chair at the desk and hung it over the lamp to shade it a bit more. Then Mira cast a little spell to light the lamp, and she was in business. She took a look around, careful to shine the light only on the things she was looking at and shaded from the direct view of anyone outside.

  The office was a very large one, about the size of a single floor of a whole house. Most of the space was empty, though. There was a large but shabby table on one side of the room with some wooden chairs around it that looked like they had seen better days. There was a short bookcase on the wall to the left of where the window was with an iron bound chest sitting on the other side of it. Mira decided to look in the bookcase first. She quietly checked every book, which seemed to be shipping manifests and inventory reports of unnamed items. They had code words assigned to items that she didn’t understand, and she knew it had to be something illegal. She left all the books in a stack on the floor by the window, but she kept the most recently dated book on top. She’d bet Whizzbang would like to have a look at that.

  Mira checked the desk next. In it she found the usual ink, quills, blotter, wax, seal and sand. She didn’t find a key to the strongbox, though. Well, it was worth a try, Mira thought. She checked the drawers for hidden compartments and found a false bottom in the larger lower drawer. Mira smiled cleverly. Inside the secret compartment Mira found some letters and a pouch of some kind of ground up herb with an ornate ivory pipe. She put the papers inside the cover of the most recently dated book on the pile, intending to take them with her. Then she dumped the contents of the pouch out the window into the rain. She knew from Elle’s parents’ lives where the future of drug abuse ended.

  There were still no sounds from the door. Mira turned her attention to the iron bound chest. There was a big padlock on the clasp in the front. She sized up the lock, trying to guess what the mechanism inside looked like. She had a pretty good idea and pulled out the best pick for this lock. In a few moments, the lock clicked and released, and she set it aside. She carefully opened the chest, lest it squeak. Inside was a goldmine. There were bags and pouches with all sorts of substances in them. Mira took them all out of the chest and dumped them out the window, happy to ruin a villain’s livelihood. She saved the best for last. It was a leather sack full of gold coins, more than she had seen in her whole life.

  “Taking this will hurt,” she said, grinning fiendishly. Mira lifted the heavy sack out of the chest by a strap on it that was meant to be worn over the shoulder.

  “That sure is a lot of gold,” came Bandit’s barely heard whisper from somewhere close by. “I’ll bet this’ll really set them back.”

  “I sure hope so,” Mira whispered. She stifled a giggle. Doing sneaky things really excited her.

  Mira considered her options. She had to take a look at what was in the main floor of the warehouse. Her curiosity wouldn’t let her pass that up. She put the logbook with all the papers into the leather money sack and put it next to the window. It was really heavy with the book plus all that gold in it, but she’d drag it across every roof in Stonekeep if she had to. Mira lifted her makeshift lampshade and blew out the lamp. She tiptoed over to the office door, moved the books, and tried the handle. It was secured with a nice door lock, something only rich people could afford to put inside their homes. The mechanism to unlock it was on this side of the door, so she turned it and carefully opened the door a crack.

  Down a staircase with wooden rails was the flagstone floor of the warehouse. There were crates and bundles and things stored in orderly rows. She saw a room in the corner behind where the blue outside door was in the front of the building. Through a window in the inner wall of that room, she could see that there was a small table with four unsavory looking men sitting at it. They were drinking and playing a game with dice. There was a small pile of silver and copper coins in the center of the table. Mira scanned the contents of Sivash’s warehouse. It seems he traded a lot of household goods like porcelain dishes and bolts of cloth. In fact, there was a table set up in the center of the warehouse that had several bolts of cloth carelessly unfolded and heaped on one side.

  “Why would anyone unfold the cloth before a tailor bought it?” Bandit whispered.

  “Cuz Sivash is bringing the drugs into the city hidden inside the bolts of cloth,” Mira whispered back.

  “That makes sense. There’s a lot of it in the warehouse still wrapped up on pallets, too.”

  “We’re not about to let all this stuff continue to enrich a snake like Sivash Surekeel, either.”

  “What’re we gonna do about it?” Bandit asked.

  “Watch and see.”

  Mira scanned the warehouse again, which was only dimly lit by the lamps in the guard room. She saw some crates of expensive, fragrant lamp oil close to the bolts of fabric. She checked herself and saw with satisfaction that she was still merging with shadows. Her mind made up, she went into action. Mira opened the door a bit more and stepped outside. Instead of going down the stairs, she stepped up and over the railing, then walked down the stairs from underneath them. There were a lot of cobwebs under there, but no matter. She snuck through the shadows towards the center of the warehouse, and started quietly moving the expensive oil boxes around, putting them next to the bolts of fabric, and opening the tops of each box. She poured out at least one flask of oil inside and outside each box, and all over the cloth. She almost giggled, she was having so much fun.

  Mira peeked over the goods to check the guards, who were still drinking and gambling on their dice game. One of them was picking his overly large nose. She paused to see if he would eat it. She just couldn’t resist. He looked at his finger, then wiped it under the table. Mira sighed in disappointment. She poured out one last flask of oil on and around a box of oil, then on the floor in a line along the row of merchandise leading back to the office stairs. She checked everything one last time, and finding everything to her satisfaction, she set the oil aflame with her little spell. She quickly scurried up the underside of the stairs again, then flipped around the railing and into the office. She kept the door open a crack and peeked through the doorway to make sure the fire would spread as far as expected. The guards hadn’t noticed the flame yet, and the fire had reached the first box. It started burning brightly as the fire spread to the other boxes and then on to the bolts of fabric. It was definitely time to leave. She heard Bandit giggle. She must have been hovering just above Mira’s head, looking out the door.

  “Oooo, this is so much fun! I’ve never burned down a city before!” Bandit whispered.

  “Not the whole city, I hope. Time to go,” Mira whispered.

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely time to get out of here,” Bandit whispered back.

  Mira shut the door softly, then picked up the sack and was out the window in a blur of shadowy movement. She quickly crept up to the roof, scanning for people in her prepared escape route. There were none there, as expected. The rain poured steadily down as Mira leapt across the street and quickly snuck across the rooftops. She heard the first shouts when she was a block away, but she didn’t pause to admire her handiwork. She made her way steadily back to the gateway to the upper city and snuck through it the same way she did before. After that, it was easy to get back to Whizzbang’s house.

  Mira tried the shop door, which was unlocked, and let herself in. She paused to use the towel to dry off, then walked to the door of the stairway where she ended her Shadowmeld spell. She knocked out of simple courtesy and heard Whizzbang bid her enter. Just like that, she was back in the safety of Whizzbang’s study, grinning like a fool. Bandit popped into view on the arm of a chair, grinning also.

  “Oooooo! They’re gonna be so mad!” Bandit said with laughter. Mira joined her.

  “Oh, yeah. They won’t forget this anytime soon! Ha!” Mira said with a grin. She set the heavy sack down on the floor with a loud jingle of coins.

  “I take it your mission was a success?” Whizzbang asked nonchalantly.

  “Sure was! We raided their office and got this stuff.” Mira opened the leather sack and took out the book and the papers. She set them on the work bench. “This should teach us about their operation once we figure out how to read it.” She shook the sack with both hands to make the coins clink and then set it on the floor next to Whizzbang’s little chair. The floor had a couple little wet footprints next to the sack, and looking back, she could see them lead to the fireplace. Those prints weren’t hers. A calculating look came to Mira’s face.

  “Nuts. I forgot to dry off the floor when I dried myself off, didn’t I?” Whizzbang asked.

  “Looks that way,” Mira said. “You were there the whole time?”

  Whizzbang nodded. “Of course. One false step and you could have been skewered. You were dealing with professional killers, after all. Besides, I wanted to see for myself how you did. You performed admirably, Mira.”

  “Thanks! I need to be getting home, but I think I’ll go spend the night at the Smiths’ house instead. My parents won’t care, and I need an alibi. Can I leave this money here for safe keeping, please?” Mira asked.

  “Sure. Sounds reasonable. If my ears don’t deceive me, you have as much gold as an average laborer will earn in several years in that bag. Be careful how you spend that,” Whizzbang warned.

  “I don’t think I can spend any of it right now. I’m not supposed to have a copper coin to my name, after all. We’ll see how things go. It’ll come in handy one day,” Mira said.

  “I’m sure,” Whizzbang said. “Come. Let’s put your ill-gotten gains in my secret stash.”

  Intrigued, Mira followed Whizzbang up to his bedroom. Even after all the time she spent here, she had no idea where he kept his money. The only other door in the bedroom led to a closet, Mira knew. Whizzbang walked right up the wall next to the closet to the vaulted ceiling, and Mira followed. He pressed on a part of the trim in the wood paneling of the ceiling, and a secret door popped open. She wouldn’t have found that in a hundred years.

  “Very clever spot. Hey! You made yourself another G.A.S.P.!” Mira said.

  “Of course. It’s one of my favorite things. I made the first one, so don’t you think I could make another one if I wanted? Granted, they are pretty expensive.” Whizzbang stepped into the revealed space, which was like a closet in the ceiling on top of his real closet. He had a lot of expensive looking things in there, including small, gilded chests, and a couple bags of money just laying around. Mira handed him her sack, and he put it down next to one of his. She had had no idea he was this rich.

  “Thanks, Whizzbang,” Mira said. “Now I just need to change, and I’ll be off. Here are your lock picks and knife.”

  She handed them to Whizzbang, and they closed up the secret stash and went down to the living room. Mira’s dress was folded on the side of a chair, so she picked it up and went into the other room to change out of her new clothes. She really hated to do it, too. Putting on that dress was like putting on a scratchy shackle. They bid each other good night, and Mira invoked her Shadowmeld spell. Despite having to fade back into mediocrity without being able to tell anyone of the black eye she just dealt to the criminals of the city, Mira felt like she really made a difference today. Out into the rain she went, tired but elated, one with the darkness.