DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARCTERS FROM THIEF LORD BUT I DO OWN PENELOPE AND BELLADONNA AND BIANCA!

Chapter 2

Prosper Discovers a Shocking Truth

Griffin held on tight to her guitar which was slipping off her back and her shoes were falling off her delicate feet as if they were too big for her and her cloak was getting under the heels of the tall, black boots. She had to get to Belladonna's hotel quick because her clothes needed to be repaired. The cloak and the shoes needed to be mended to fit her, because she kept slipping out of the clothes.

Griffin also almost lost the electric guitar because she was too skeletal. Well, if you looked at the girl, you would have seen nothing than skin and bones, because she never ate at the orphanage, for the food at the orphanage was absolutely sickening, from her point of view. Although her diet gave her a gorgeous and slender body with long, curly black hair that went all the way down to her knees, she still hated her skeletal look in the mirror.

She reached the hotel and walked in. Belladonna raised her eyebrows and said, "I am not even going to ask. The clothes are too big for you, eh?" Griffin nodded slowly and serenely, as if nothing had happened while she was gone. Belladonna sighed, "Listen, I will mend them to fit you perfectly. You can, if you want, of course, order room service and eat all you want, because my goodness, you're basically nothing but skin and bones. What did you do at the orphanage?"

Griffin replied, "They gave us horrible food, but my sister seemed to like it. I hated it and so I didn't eat. During lunch, I hung out a lot with Ida Spavento, the photographer who came once in a while to the orphanage."

Belladonna was puzzled, "Listen, wander around Venice tomorrow but make sure you bring something back to me. I don't go out very often and while you're wandering the city, I will take your shoes in to the shoemaker and get new ones made."

Belladonna gave Griffin a light of hope about her dreams, and she asked, "What about the cloak?"

Belladonna responded, "Now, my dear, all in due time. Your cloak will be taken care of by a dressmaker that I know. She does gorgeous cloaks, dresses, shoes, even. When I get your shoes from the shoemaker, I will bring them to her and she will decorate with sapphires and diamonds so then your boots will be the most expensive boots in Venice." Griffin's eyes got huge like dinner plates.

Meanwhile Griffin was talking nonsense about diamond boots, Scipio and the rest of the gang were back at the Stella with Scipio carrying a bag filled with gold and jewels. He dumped the bag on the small, wooden stage in front of the movie screen. Bo picked up a silver soup spoon and asked, "Is it gold?"

Scipio grinned and said, "Gold, silver, glittering jewels plucked from the grown-ups."

Prosper came up behind Bo and looking up at Scipio who was now standing up, looking at Prosper with an innocent grin, said, "Put it down. They stole it." Mosca and Hornet came up to the stage to examine the stolen treasures and suddenly Mosca said, "Boy, they're going to catch you one day, Scip."

Scipio looked at Mosca with a serene expression and replied, "Take this stuff to Barbarossa and try to get a decent price this time."

Mosca responded, "How? He just laughs at us."

Hornet added sarcastically, "The fat pig."

Bo, who quiet up until now, whispered, "Prop can do it. He's great at selling things."

Prosper, who seemed to know where this was heading, nudged his little brother and said, "Hey."

Bo continued, obviously not paying attention to Prosper's nudge, "One day, when we were selling my old toys at the second- hand shop, they tried to give us peanuts, so Prop went like a stone, so they gave us lots more money." Hornet, Riccio, Mosca and Scipio had been listening intently to the 6 year old and all of the sudden, Scipio said to Prosper, "Ok, you try. And if you can outfox the old scoundrel, you and your brother can stay here for as long as you like."

The next day, Riccio was carrying the bag filled with the stolen treasures, leading Prosper to Barbarossa's. As they neared the souvenir shop, they could hear two voices. "I said three thousand or no deal." This voice was an angelic voice veiled with anger and sarcasm.

"And for the five hundredth time, I am not offering a penny higher than two hundred, Signorina DeLuca." This was the voice of a greedy business man with too much money in the safe. They walked in and Barbarossa saw them and said, "Wait here, Signorina."

Griffin looked at Barbarossa and she replied, "I don't wait." But he had all ready gone out of the office to meet Thief Lord's negotiators.

He smiled and said, "What are you smiling at, Hedgehog boy? Never mind. Go to the office and don't touch anything."

Prosper raised his eyebrow at Riccio and whispered, "What a rude man."

Riccio snickered, "I call him fat, oily, slaphead slimeball." Prosper tried to hold his laughter, but then he looked at Riccio and saw the desire in his eyes. Riccio was looking at a diamond earring, but before he could pocket it, a hand reached out and that same angelic voice said, "Scusi! Watch your fingers." Then Barbarossa came back in, swaggering past the cluttered-up shelves. He sighed, apparently exhausted, "Signorina DeLuca, my final offer for this exquisite pair of earrings is 2,000. Agreed?"

The girl sitting beside Riccio replied angrily, "NO! I said three-thousand or no deal. Understood?" Her voice sounded very angry and she was emitting negative waves that Riccio turned around and recognized her from last night, only now she didn't have the cloak, the shoes or the electric guitar. Prosper recognized her also and said, "Hi, Griffin."

The girl turned to face Prosper and her temper had cooled down and she said, "You're Prosper and you. You're Riccio, the poor kid with bad teeth."

Barbarossa said, "Signorina DeLuca, I'll take the offer but in exchange…"

She had cut him off and responded, "Oh, no, I am not exchanging anything or anyone, Signor Barbarossa. I want the money and you want the earrings."

Barbarossa replied, "Oh all right. Here's the money and go now." But Griffin stayed where she was. Barbarossa rolled his eyes and turned to Prosper and Riccio and said, "All right, let the dog see the bone." Prosper dumped the bag's contents on the mahogany wooden desk and sat back down. Barbarossa picked up the sugar tongs, examined them and said, "There are a couple of decent items here, so I am going to offer a hundred, which is very generous. Let's just say I'm in a generous mood today.

Prosper replied serenely, "A thousand or no deal."

Barbarossa looked baffled and he responded, "Have you lost your mind, boy? I make you a generous offer-too generous and you insult me with fanciful nonsense. Tell the Thief Lord to send the boat boy or the hornet girl if he wants to continue doing business with Ernesto Barbarossa"

Prosper said, "I am the Thief Lord's official negotiator now." He began gathering the stuff into the bag and Barbarossa, watching everything vanish into the bag, said, "300 for the lot. Most of it is rubbish."

Prosper stopped and leaned on the desk and replied, "Eight."

Barbarossa remarked, "Four."

Prosper responded, "Seven."

Barbarossa said, "Four seven five."

Prosper grinned and replied, "Six eight seven and a half."

Riccio and Griffin, who were watching this, were both puzzled. Riccio whispered to Griffin, "I wonder what he is going at?" Griffin shrugged, mystified by the action unfolding before her eyes. Barbarossa laughed, "You're a clever lad. So I am going to give you five hundred. That is the last time I'll let you treat me like a child."

Griffin tried to keep her laughter and she said, "Signor Barbarossa, you are a grown-up shopkeeper and still you act like a child. You are a disgrace. You, Signor Barbarossa always explode with temper tantrums like an atomic bomb." Riccio and Prosper exchanged looks as they walked out of the office. What was Griffin up to? Barbarossa frowned and said, "Fine, boy, your friend has just convinced me that I act like a child. So I will give you six hundred." Riccio's eyes went big in disbelief. Griffin stood there, smirking behind Barbarossa. As they headed out, Barbarossa grabbed Riccio's and Prosper's shoulders and chuckled, "One more thing. A client of mine is looking for someone who will procure a certain item for him."

Riccio remarked, "Well, if he's sick, why doesn't he go to the doctor's?"

Barbarossa replied, "He's looking for someone to steal something for him. Is that clean enough for your mucky ears?" Riccio nodded but Barbarossa didn't notice and continued on talking, "And tell the Thief Lord, there's big money in it for him. Ok?" They were walking all together, Prosper chatting with Griffin and Riccio staring excitedly at all of the pasticceria shops that they were passing. "So, how did you manage to trick the scoundrel to give me more?" Prosper asked Griffin.

She replied, "I have my ways of capturing a person's heart and make them believe me."

Riccio heard that and he inquired, "Scipio might want to meet you, perhaps, Griffin?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders and replied mysteriously, "Maybe we've met before." Riccio exchanged glances with Prosper. He shrugged and Riccio, not convinced, turned back to face the most beautiful cake in the whole world. He yelled, "Hey, Prosper, Griffin, take a look at this. We should celebrate." The two walked back to Riccio, but what they weren't aware of a detective watching them. Victor Getz was hired by Esther Hartlieb to find her nephews. He was standing behind a telephone booth, watching them. Victor saw a spiky-haired kid standing with the nose on the window of the pasticceria across the street. The kid yelled something to the two kids in front of him. Victor stopped writing and decided to listen to what the kids were saying. Riccio said, "Look at this gorgeous cake."

Griffin replied, "Riccio, that is a gorgeous cake, indeed! What do you think Prosper?"

Prosper responded, "I think, we should get the money back to the others." They stood there, admiring the strawberry cake, and since they were so engrossed in the cake, they didn't hear Victor come up behind them and put a hand on Prosper's shoulder and said, "You are Prosper, son?" Prosper looked at Victor in horror and ran as fast as possible away from Victor. Riccio butted Victor in the stomach and followed Prosper. Victor looked at the black-haired girl standing in front of him and he asked, "What are you going to do me?"

Griffin scrutinized the detective and replied, "Nothing, for I would get in trouble with my guardian, Signor."

Victor sighed and ran after Riccio and Prosper with Griffin following him. Meanwhile Riccio and Prosper were exhausted from all the running and Riccio said, "I think, you were trying to nick our money."

Prosper scoffed, "And what? Leave my brother behind?"

Then they heard a whisper, "Prosper? Riccio? Where are you guys?"

Riccio whispered back, "We're hiding from the snoop. Why are we whispering anyways, Griffin?"

She said, "Because the snoop is after you. I thin he spotted you. Hurry up!" Riccio pulled Prosper along and they saw Griffin standing there, checking her nails. When she saw them, she said, "Andiamo! Who is that anyways?"

Riccio answered her question, "Victor the snoop, they call him."
Prosper was amazed, "A real detective?"

Griffin said, "Come on, let's go on that vaporett that's leaving. We have to jump!" They jumped, leaving a confused Victor on the shore. Riccio yelled, flailing his arms, "Hey! Hey!" Griffin and Prosper tried to keep his arms down for they were afraid of the snoop remember voices very easily.

Glossary for the Italian Words

Andiamo- Let's go!

Vaporett-waterbus

Pasticceria-pastry shop

Signor –Mr./Sir

Signora-Madam/Mrs.

Signorina-Miss.