Jessop's plan to have someone guard the library while school was in session went into effect as soon as he found some volunteers. His efforts saw three children return to class which seemed to please Miriam enough for the moment. The rest of the week was tense and by Saturday all who had taken part were relieved.

With dark clouds hanging heavy in the sky Heloise sought out Ottaline so they could put their own plan in motion. They met in the barn having volunteered to be the ones to move the animals in out of the potential storm. Heloise did most of the work as Ottaline was really only fond of the rabbits.

When the work was done they sat on the barn floor and Ottaline opened her bag. "This is my spy bag," she said. "It has everything we need for a stakeout." She reached in and pulled out her wears. "A magnifying glass, a note pad, a lantern and some matches. Oh and sandwiches in case we get hungry."

"It sounds like we have everything," Heloise said. "I'm ready."

"But you must remember, Heloise," Ottaline said as she packed the bag. "This isn't like one of your stories we have to be careful."

The barn door opened and Alifair entered with a bottle of milk. She looked curiously at Heloise and Ottaline who were still seated on the floor. "What are you doing?" she asked as she went over to check her hens.

Ottaline looked at Heloise. "Detective games," she said.

"Who are you after now?" Alifair asked as she went to Hydra's pen. "A jewel thief or a smuggler?"

"Uh, both!" Heloise said quickly. "And we had better get after them before they get too far. Come on, Ottaline." The two got up and headed to the door.

"You had better not go too far," Alifair called after them. "It's going to rain heavy."

"We'll be back before supper!" Heloise shouted as they ran out of the barn. They kept running until they got to the road then stopped to get their breath. "I felt terrible lying to Alifair."

"She would have just stopped us," Ottaline said. "Now we should hurry to the creek." They picked up the pace and cut across the field and into the woods to save time. They sky stayed dark but thus far there hadn't been any thunder our lightening and by the time they reached the creek Alifair's storm warning was well out of their minds.

They climbed into the rowboat and pushed off into the creek with Ottaline taking the oars while Heloise settled down. "The creek branches off at the old mangrove and the smaller course should take us toward the mill," Heloise said. "We can hide and the same corncrib that Providence and Miriam did."

"I just thought of something," Ottaline said. "We should have told someone else we were going out. At least we should have mentioned we were going to the creek. They won't know where to look for us if we get lost."

"We won't get lost," Heloise said. "The mill is just off the main road. At worst we'll have to walk back."

A shadow passed over them and they looked up. "It sure is getting dark fast," Ottaline said. "Maybe we should light the lantern before we can't find the matches."

"I'll light it," Heloise said so Ottaline could keep rowing. They lit the lantern and hooked it to the boat feeling like real adventures. They rounded the large mangrove and turned onto the smaller stream.

"I've never been this way before," Ottaline said looking up into the branches.

"Providence took me as far as the old mangrove at the bend," Heloise said. "We've never rowed as far as the old mill."

"What about the wheel and dam?" Ottaline asked.

"It's been out of work for years," Heloise said as she watched the minnows swimming around their boat. "It's probably rotted."

As the trees faded and grass grew up around them so did the sight of the old mill. It looked entirely different from the view on the water. They moored the boat then climbed out of the creek and into the field.

"I don't see any horses," Ottaline said as they walked toward the corncrib. "I don't think anyone is here. Maybe we could have a quick look inside."

Heloise wasn't so sure. She liked their first plan of hiding in the corn crib and seeing who came along. "A quick peek," she said and they hurried to the wheel house.

There weren't any locks on the doors and they were able to walk straight inside similar to the pigeons that flew in above their heads.

"Wow," Ottaline said as they looked up into the bowels of the wheel house. "This place is amazing."

"I could think of a thousand stories to tell of it," Heloise said. "Oh look, the gears!" They rushed over to the large gear amazed that the whole thing was powered by water. "I wish we could get as high as them," Heloise said looking up at the pigeons.

Holding the straps of her bag Ottaline tapped the floor with her foot. "The floorboards are loose; watch where you're stepping, Heloise."

Heloise was just spinning around and stopped at the warning. "I wish the others could see this."

"We had better look for clues while there is still a little light," Ottaline said taking out her magnifying glass. "I think we left the lantern at the boat."

"I'll go get it," Heloise said knowing she would be faster. "Watch my back." As she started toward the door there was a break in the light streaming in through the boards.

"Heloise!" Ottaline quickly grabbed her and put her hand over her mouth before she could gasp. Silently she pointed to the door as voices sounded just outside. "We gotta hide!"

"Where?" Heloise asked desperately. "The rafters." They looked up. "We'd never reach."

"Behind the wheel," Ottaline suggested.

"No space," Heloise said.

Ottaline looked down. With the toe of her boot she kicked a dusty board loose. "Quick, Heloise, the floorboards!" They managed to find two that came up side by side and with no further time to delay Ottaline slipped into the crawl space. Shimmying to the side she looked up. "Now you, hurry."

Heloise stuck her legs in and felt the ground sooner than she thought. The two boards however were not quite enough to handle her waist. "I'm stuck!"

Ottaline grabbed her legs and pulled on them. "Suck it in, Heloise!"

"I'm trying!" Heloise said looking toward the door as a sweat broke out on her forehead. She forced her hips down hard and with a little scrap through her dress and pinafore she slipped through the hole. Reaching up she haphazardly pulled one board across at an angle. It wouldn't do if someone came looking.

The girls suddenly felt very hot as the lie flat on the dank earth. They could hear whoever had come into the mill.

"Remind me not to eat so many pies," Heloise said rubbing her flesh.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ottaline said. "We need to find a way out of here before they discover us."

Heloise looked around and took in where they were. The ground beneath them was earthen and extended the whole width of the mill. She soon realized that they could just about sit up as long as they kept their back and necks bent. "We could push the boards loose," she suggested. "They have to lead to the outside."

Ottaline crawled over to the wall and examined the boards. "If we get to banging on these whoever is up there will hear us. Look, it's the same board that makes up the wall up top."

Heloise let out a hot breath. "So we are stuck here."

"They have to leave eventually," Ottaline said.

"But what if they don't?" Heloise said. "What if they find the boat?"

Ottaline hadn't thought of them finding the boat. It would certainly give them reason to look for them. She held her finger to her lips as the voices overhead became clearer.

"I've never hated a man so much," Andrew said. "Last night I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was getting even with Jessop St. Cloud. I hate him!"

"We have to keep this clean for Charles' sake," Rothschild said lighting a cigarette. "He's put his neck out for us enough."

"Charles can take it easy because he has everything he wants," Andrew said. "Jessop is part of the reason my father drove me out. He was constantly trying to turn me into a man like him. You must understand just how much I hate Jessop St. Cloud."

"Easy, Addams," Rothschild said taking a drag on his cigarette. "You'll make monsters out of all of us yet. Anyways our focus is supposed to be on Sumner Woodrow." He tilted his head back and blew smoke rings up to the pigeons.

"Can't we just drive him out of town?" Cleve said. "I mean...it is Sumner after all."

"I want to draw blood," Andrew said. "I still owe him for humiliating me."

"You take everything far too personal, Andrew," Cleve said. "We are supposed to teach him a lesson but we can't kill him. Those were the orders."

"So what will we do?" Rothschild asked.

Ottaline and Heloise moved closer together at the sound of his shoes creaking above their heads as he moved about the room. They felt his weight would send him through the weary boards.

"I say give him a good beating and leave him," Andrew said. "We won't kill him but that doesn't mean we can't get close. And then...these girls and their little school..."

"I have plans of my own," Rothschild said.

"Well perhaps I do too," Andrew said. "Is it possible to consider anything I suggest?"

"Your ideas have always been no short of...wild, Andrew," Cleve said.

"Oh I see," Andrew said. "You two and Charles don't think I can control myself. You all think you are better than me!"

"That's not it, Addams," Rothschild said. "Stop being stupid."

"I knew I shouldn't have bothered coming here," Andrew said. "To think I thought you might actually defy Charles and do something of consequence. Well you two can pussyfoot around the issue all you will, but I'm doing things my way. And you just watch. I will have fruitage." He turned quickly and walked away from them.

Cleve sucked his teeth. "Andrew!"

"Let him go," Rothschild said going over to the gears. "Charles can deal with him later." 

As Andrew's horse galloped away the rain began to hammer on the rusted tin roof of the mill. Below the floors the sound of it drowned out the men's voices. They could still hear them walking around as their riding boots thumped on the boards making some wobble.

"This place is a mausoleum," Cleve said as he came to the gap in the floor where one board lay askew. From where they lie Heloise and Ottaline could just see him standing over the hole. "I can't believe it's still standing after all these years. I remember the nights in the summer when we'd fill it with ghost stories while we filled ourselves with wine from your father's cellar."

"Yes," Rothschild said. "You'd drink yourself into a coma. It's no wonder you married Magdalene of all women. No other could stand a lily-liver like you."

Cleve narrowed his eyes. "Why do you have to be such a cretin?" He gave Rothschild a shove.

Rothschild swiftly hooked his arm around his neck and bent back violently. "Remember when we were boys," he said and released him with a shove leaving Cleve to rub his neck.

"I am a lot of things, Burnstead my friend," he said. "I'm not a coward like you and I'm not a beast like Andrew. I balance perfectly in between with all the qualities I need for a man as ambitious as myself. And I'm loyal to my friends." He patted Cleve's shoulder. "Come let's quit this sore place, supper is at my residence."

Cleve took a step forward bending the board just above Heloise head. It pressed her down causing a small gasp to escape her. "Did you hear that?"

Heloise scooted from under the board and huddled with Ottaline.

"Something moved beneath me," Cleve said.

"It's probably rats," Rothschild said, "This place is crawling with them."

"It was too big to be a rat," Cleve said.

"A cat then," Rothschild sighed.

"I know it was something," Cleve said.

Rothschild rolled his eyes and in one fluid motion pulled out his gun and shot the boards beneath Cleve's feet. The gun blast erupted in the room sending the pigeons scattering madly into the rain and the horses whinnying in fear. "Happy?"

Cleve looked at the holes in the board and bent forward to pull one up to further his inspection but Rothschild called to him in impatience. "I know I heard something," he said as they left the mill.

"Your imagination," Rothschild said.

In the darkness below Heloise could feel her heart rocking her chest as it pounded her breastbone. They waited a while to be sure the men had gone then they climbed out of their hiding place on wobbly legs.

"Come on," Ottaline said. "We have to tell Mr. St. Cloud they are planning something." With Heloise staggering after her they ran into the rain and down to the creek where the boat still waited. It only took a minute for them to be soaked, but through the heavy haze they rowed home.