Secrets in the Snow

Chapter 1

21 years later

The silver crescent moon shone brightly in the sky as the wind began to pick up, sending the already fallen snow into little flurries. Shaemus stood squatted down in front of the slim wooden door in the back of the house. His best friend, Gryffell, and the rest of his band of thieves waited anxiously just a few paces behind him. Shaemus had the most important task of picking the lock so that he and his gang could get inside the wealthy home. This score was going to be big. If the gang could successfully pull this robbery off, they'd have enough money to buy food for weeks. Shaemus could already picture the fat ham lounging on his plate, just waiting to be devoured. A sudden gust of wind tore through the area, knocking Shaemus's black hood off of his head, exposing his white-blonde hair.

"Goddammit," Shaemus cursed under his breath as he madly tried to spit the erratic wisps of his hair out of his mouth. He almost had the lock picked, but with his loose strands of hair flying around in his face, he couldn't see the stupid thing.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by his hood and pulled it over his head with a great tug, "Would you hurry up, Shaemus? We're freezing our asses off!"

The blonde haired boy instantly recognized the playful voice as he brushed the hood up slightly so it wasn't covering his eyes, "Piss off, Gryffell. I've almost got it."

And with a few more twists and turns of the pick, he heard the million dollar click and slowly pushed the door open. His friend buffaloed right past him, shaking and rubbing his arms. He looked like he'd just walked out of a blizzard. Gryffell had many more layers on than him, but Shaemus never seemed to feel cold. Like right now, everyone else was shivering, but he was completely fine. After everyone had filed inside, Shaemus quietly shut the door behind them.

Now the fun began. Several weeks ago, the gang had heard rumors about a most expensive object being delivered to this very house. After doing some digging and using forms of "persuasion", the gang had been able to confirm the rumors as true. Now all they had to do was find it. Shaemus took a moment and scanned his surroundings, trying to figure out where exactly they were in the house. Small wooden bowls lined the countertop, a table with three chairs surrounding it stood in the middle of the room, and what looked to be an icebox sat pushed against the corner. He assumed they were in the kitchen.

"Alright now listen up, all of you," Shaemus whispered as he faced the four members of his gang who had come along on this mission, "Our target object is a golden horse statue with rubies encrusted into it. We leave here with that and nothing else, got it? We get in and then we get out. Gryffell," Shaemus flicked his radiant blue gaze to his curly headed friend, "You and I will head upstairs. The rest of you stay on the main level," Shaemus turned to leave, but halted and spun back around with a fearsome look in his eye, "And not a word from any of you. If I so much as hear one peep, I will cut out your tongues and feed them to the wolves. Understood?"

With a few fearful nods, the gang split up in search for the statue. Shaemus waved his arm for Gryffell to follow him as he silently ascended the staircase. This family was loaded, one of the royal family's favorites as he recalled. There were three of them total, a husband and wife and their only daughter. He had scouted this place for several days now, trying to map it out the best he could. With any luck, his assumptions would be correct. As the two reached the top of the stairs, Shaemus silently veered left with Gryffell on his heels. The house was deathly quiet, its occupants fast asleep. Shaemus circled in on the first door and he motioned for Gryffell to go down to the second. The two carefully placed a hand on their door's knob. Once the knobs were secured, they raised up their other hand while looking at each other. They held up fingers in unison. Then counted silently, 1....2....3. At the same time, both boys slowly turned the knobs on the doors and opened them up. Shaemus poked his head in to take a look around. A large bed with fluffy pillows was the first thing he saw. The walls were painted a light lavender and a dainty white night lamp set perfectly still on its nightstand. This was a bedroom, more specifically the daughters, he gathered. The horse would not be in there, besides it was too risky to search bedrooms while the occupants were still asleep in them.