A/N: This story takes place about six months after "The Thief Lord" ends. It focuses mostly on Renzo and Morosina, though it shall be necessary to use other points of view later on. The Mrs. Grimani mentioned in the story, is, as you shall see, the Mrs. Grimani that lives next door to Victor.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Cornelia Funke. I may or may not own the characterizations of Hornet's Evil!Parents and the legend of the Valaresso murder.

The Grimani Affair
By Belgaer's Voice

Chapter One: Unexpected Visitors

Renzo steered the boat deftly through the lagoon, heading for the canals of Venice proper. The tops of the magnificent towers and spires were faint in the distance, lit by the pale yellow glow of the rising sun. They grew steadily higher as the sailboat clipped along.

"Have you thought at all about how we're going to explain this?" Morosina asked from behind him. "What is Bella going to say when two children turn up on her doorstep claiming to be her long-lost cousins?"

"I think she'll believe us if we just tell her about the merry-go-round," Renzo said. "She always used to be one to believe in fairy tales."

"But how do we prove that we're her cousins?" his sister asked. Renzo pulled a delicate locket from underneath his shirt. Morosina gasped.

"You remember Mother's locket?" he asked. "Bella gave it to her years ago. She wore it all the time, and always when Bella came to visit. She'll recognize it."

"Where did you find it?" Morosina asked, awestruck. "I thought it had gotten lost years ago!"

"It was in the mistress' jewelry box," answered Renzo.

Morosina looked as though she had been slapped. "That horrible woman," she breathed. "She stole it! And we never knew."

Renzo turned his attention back to steering. It was more difficult now that he had such small arms, but he managed. He thought about his favorite cousin, Bella Grimani. Her visits had always been the bright spot of their Christmas holidays, because she always brought them presents and snuck them into their rooms while the master was preoccupied. The cousins had not seen each other since Bella went away to college in Rome. She had promised them she'd come back to Venice, and Renzo was sure she was still living there. A careful search of names and addresses had revealed that a woman by the name of Bella Grimani was in fact living in Venice. Now, as Morosina took down the sail and the boat glided into the Sacca della Misericordia, Renzo wondered for the hundredth time whether this Bella Grimani could be the right one.

Morosina started up the boat's engine, which quietly putted into life and pushed them gently into the canals of Venice. She sat on a bench near the rail and gave directions to Renzo as he steered. As they moved slowly along, people on the banks gave them odd looks. I suppose we must look like orphans, Renzo mused. Orphans who own a sailboat.

By the time they reached the right canal, the sun was up, faintly warming the city and bathing the rooftops with a bright golden glow, as if to announce: Spring is here. Morosina switched the engine off and the boat settled and stopped, rocking with the canal water. Renzo looked around almost nervously at the houses, and quickly spotted the one whose door was marked number five.

As Morosina tied the boat to a striped mooring pole, it occurred to him that he might have made some sort of contact with Bella before turning up at her front door. But they had taken the boat trip all the way back into Venice, and they might as well go and see her. Besides, Renzo had been looking forward to this visit for weeks. Why turn back now?

As the two adults-turned-children stepped carefully out of the boat and onto the bank, a man in his forties walked out onto the balcony of number six and spat into the gleaming canal water near the boat. He seemed not to see the two siblings, which suited them just fine. Morosina climbed the stairs of number five and knocked boldly on the door.

It was opened a moment later by a plump, cheerful-looking woman who looked to be in her seventies. When she saw Renzo and Morosina, her expression immediately changed to one of mingled shock and terror.

"Who- who are you?" she asked. "I think I'm going crazy- you two look just like my cousins- but I haven't seen them since- well, since they were your age." she stopped suddenly, staring at them confusedly.

"You haven't gone crazy, Bella," said Morosina consolingly. "It's us. Renzo and Morosina."

Bella Grimani looked from one of them to the other, disbelieving. "You can't be," she said. "They were younger than me, but not that young… they should be seventy years old by now!"

"We are seventy years old," explained Renzo heavily. "Or we were. How we got this way is a long story. But we are your cousins. I'll prove it to you." He unfastened the locket from around his neck and held it out to the old lady, who took it with shaking hands and looked it over.

"I don't believe this," she breathed. She opened the locket to find a picture of herself as she had been at twelve years old. "I gave this to my aunt years ago. It was her favorite piece of jewelry. How did you come across it?" She suddenly looked suspicious. "You didn't steal it?"

Alarmed that his only piece of evidence might be suspected as a fraud, Renzo explained: "No, of course not. We've been living on the Isola Segreta for many years now, and I recently found it in the mistress' jewelry box."

"The mistress?" asked Bella.

"Yes," answered Morosina angrily. "The mistress of the Valaresso household. She stole it from our mother, the stupid woman."

"Morosina, be quiet," said Renzo forcefully. He turned back to Ms. Grimani. "She did steal it from our mother, though. It's the only thing I have that could prove we're telling the truth."

The elderly woman turned the locket over in her hands with a frown, presumably thinking. Then she looked up at Renzo.

"So, how did Renzo and Morosina turn into children?" she asked. "Do come in; I'll make you something to drink and you can tell me the whole story- oh, good morning, Signor Getz!" She waved to the man emerging from the door of number six. He was the same man who had spat into the canal a few minutes ago.

"Buongiorno, Ms. Grimani," replied Signor Getz. He walked over to her front door, examining the children curiously. "Are these your grandchildren?"

"Actually, they're my c-"

"We're just some neighborhood kids," interrupted Renzo quickly. "We came to deliver some groceries."

Getz looked suspicious of his excuse, but did not say anything. Instead, he turned about and called to a young man standing at the top of the stairs of his house. "Scipio, hurry up!" The man bounded down the stairs and over toward Getz.

"All right, all right, I'm ready-" he stopped abruptly as his eyes met Renzo's.

The children and Scipio all spoke at the same time: "What are you doing here?" they asked.

Ms. Grimani and the older man looked at them quizzically. "You know these chil- these people?" Ms. Grimani asked Scipio.

Signor Getz turned towards him, a stern look on his face. "Yes, Scipio. Do tell. I think we'd all like to know."

Scipio moved to stand behind Morosina and Renzo. "Victor, this is Renzo and this is Morosina. Renzo, Morosina, this is Victor Getz, my friend… and my boss."

There was an expectant pause. When Scipio did not continue, Victor said, "And? How do you know them?"

"Well, it's a long story," Scipio said.

"Renzo and Morosina were just about to tell me a long story," Mrs. Grimani said. "If you have time, why don't you all come in and we can hear all about this."

Victor checked his watch. "All right," he said. "I suppose we can put off researching our case until this afternoon. In any event, I want to hear what this is all about."

Mrs. Grimani turned and led the way inside, and the group of people on her doorstep followed her. Renzo, tarrying on the stoop, shut the door behind them.

A/N:Here's hoping you enjoyed your read!(Raises glass) Please review; I would be much obliged if you did. Constructive criticism welcomed with open arms.