Darla Gets Lost in Paris

chapter 14

The next day soon came. It was a beautiful day that came after the night of rain. Miss Clavel and Charlotte walked out of the boarding school to get some work done to find Madeline and Darla. Pepito snuck out from the bushes as he saw the women leaving to the police station. Urchin joined him. Miss Clavel and Charlotte left the house just the same as before. Pepito carried his cage with Urchin as they snuck into the boarding school so they could scare their temporary caretaker so they could sneak out to help find Darla and Madeline again. Unfortunately, they didn't count on Pepito's cat. The mouse yelped from the sight of the cat and fainted inside of his cage.

"Carumba!" Pepito yelped. "She's borrowed my mother's cat!"

"What do we do now?" Amber frowned.

"Looks like we might need to scare this feline." Urchin said as Atticus came over.

"Please, allow me." Atticus volunteered.

"Oh, by all means." Urchin smiled to the older boy.

Atticus soon used The Stare on the cat to scare it away. The cat soon yelped through mews and ran away.

Atticus then smirked as that worked. "Good kitty~"

"Now we can send in our little mouse." Urchin smiled.

Pepito opened his cage and set it down on the floor.

"Mousey... Mousey..." Atticus knelt by the cage. "Cheese..."

"WHERE?!" The mouse suddenly woke up.

"In the kitchen." Amber smiled.

The mouse soon scampered out of the cage and ran into the kitchen. Miss Murphy soon shrieked and panicked at the sight of the mouse.

"Now?" Urchin asked.

"Now." Pepito nodded.

Back in the workshop, Madeline and Darla were working together to make special knots in the laces and Fifi nodded to them to show her approval of this and where one of the other girls nodded to Fifi. LaCroque and Henri then walked by which made the girls get to work so the adults wouldn't suspect anything. Non seemed to have a suspicion about the girls.

LaCroque inspected the girls and swiped one lace from a blonde girl with glasses. Henri looked with her as they noticed something strange about the lace. Non saw this as well and saw what each lace spelled. Henri spotted what the lace spelled out.

"I can read!" LaCroque scoffed at him. "Come up here, all of you!"

"Yes, ma'am." Darla said.

"Aha!" LaCroque smirked as she showed the lace which spelled out cries for help from the girls so they would have a way out of here and she mocked the girls for their efforts to become free at last like they deserved to be instead of trapped in here. "'Elp, I am a prisoner in a lace factory', you vill stand 'ere all day, all night, all year, 'til I find out who is responsible for zhis sackerage!"

Non nodded with a firm look.

"Perhaps a spool and thread, ma'am?" Darla suggested.

This made the girls giggle.

"You zhink this is a 'oliday?!" LaCroque glared before she took out her scissors. "Get back to your bobbins, brats!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Darla gulped.

The girls soon rushed back to their tables, but Madeline stayed put. Henri and LaCroque were on their way up the stairs and Madeline snuck a piece of cheese and hid it in her apron before going back with Darla and the others. Non didn't understand why she did that so just decided to not do anything about it.