Meanwhile, Flynn was busy dealing with the Stabbingtons. They had reached the castle and were currently on the castle roof.
"Hey guys, there should be a vent or loose tile coming up. We can pull it out and one of us can use a rope and drop down to grab it." Flynn announced.
"I'm thinking you should be the one to go down. We can hold the rope for you," one of the Stabbington brothers responded. "It's safer if we aren't all seen. That and they know that we work together. They won't be expecting you to be there."
Flynn thought it over. "That could actually work. Then we could split up and it would be harder to track us. Once we get away, we can meet back up and can see about getting rid of the crown in favor of actual money or gold."
"Enough talking. Let's do this. Patch, head over here and help me drop Flynn down once he has the rope secure around his waist."
"It's tight. I'm ready," said Flynn. With that, the Stabbingtons removed the loose tile and slowly lowered Flynn down into the crown room below. Right after Flynn grabbed the crown, he heard a guard sneeze violently.
"Bless you. Hay fever?" Flynn asked.
"Yeah," the guard responded, turning around and seeing Flynn. The guard turned back around only to realize there was an intruder behind him. "Huh?" the guard mumbled to himself. He looked around not seeing the man who had spoken to him. Just then, he heard a sound and looked up to see Flynn disappearing through the open roof tile.
"Hey, wait!" the guard shouted.
Not waiting for the guard to alert others to the theft, Flynn replaced the roof tile and took off running. The Stabbingtons followed Flynn down from the roof and into the forest beyond the castle. After a few minutes of running, they came to a stop. There in front of them was a cliff.
"Give us the crown, Flynn." Flynn handed the satchel containing the crown to the brothers.
"Now, give me a boost up." The Stabbingtons helped Flynn up to the top. Once there, Flynn looked down on the Stabbingtons.
"Ok, now help us up, pretty boy."
"Um, sorry, can't. My hands are full," Flynn replied, holding up the satchel. With that, Flynn took off heading away from the Stabbingtons. Flynn ran for a while before he was attacked by one of the palace horses. After a brief struggle, where the horse appeared to have the upper hand, the satchel went flying. Flynn was too busy trying to get away from the horse to see where it landed or to look for it. Once he managed to get away, he decided to head back to the agreed upon spot to meet up with Eugene.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Arabelle was fuming. How dare they not let me know what was going on. I was supposed to be a partner. I- Arabelle's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from the hall. She was unable to distinguish the voices but could clearly hear the words being said.
"There was a fire at Colton's house. Most of the guards have headed over there. I don't know if his daughter was home at the time."
"I heard the crown of the lost princess was taken too."
"Yeah, I'm not sure how they managed to get by the guards."
The guards' voices trailed off as they moved further away down the corridor. Arabelle's thoughts were racing. She remembered meeting the guard Colton's young daughter. Leila was such a sweet child. I hope she's ok. Arabelle thought to herself. And they lied. They said the crown would be taken tonight. Ugh. I better go check to make sure Leila is ok – kind of expected of me being the princess and all.
With those thoughts in mind, Arabelle took off running to the spot where she could leave the castle unseen. Racing away from the castle, she headed towards the fire as fast as she could without raising suspicion if she were seen. Arriving at the scene of the fire, she noticed Eugene sitting across the street from the house, holding a little girl. As she moved closer to them, she was able to see that the girl Eugene was holding was Leila. Glad to see that the girl was ok – she hurried over to the pair.
"Eugene, I'm glad I ran into you. I just heard about the fire and had to come check to see that this little one was safe. So how did you end up over here? I thought you would avoid anything to do with fire after what happened when you were a kid," stated Arabelle.
"True, but when I heard that there was a little girl that may or may not have been in the house – I had to come. I couldn't let the fire kill anyone. Not if I could stop it." Eugene answered her quietly.
"That was really brave, Eugene. Were either of you hurt?"
"No, just a little shaken up, I think."
"Aww, Leila, were you scared, sweetheart? Arabelle asked the girl quietly. "Want to come here? I can help you find your daddy."
"Find Daddy?" Leila asked.
"Yes, sweetheart. I saw him back this way a bit. Come on," Arabelle told her, holding out her arms. "Let's go find him." As she was walking away with Leila, she turned back to Eugene. "Oh, I almost forgot. I just heard that someone took my sister's crown."
Eugene looked up startled, scrambling to his feet. How did she know that? He wondered.
"I don't have any details, just that someone came and took the crown maybe an hour ago."
"Really? Was anything else taken? Who could have done it?" Eugene asked, not wanting the crowd to realize he knew anything about the theft.
"No, I don't think so. Just the crown."
Eugene nodded. "That's good. Do the guards have any idea who took it?"
"I don't think so. I came here as soon as I heard about the fire but I haven't heard anything about who could have done it."
"Oh. Ok. I guess I should be getting home now. Goodbye, Princess."
"Goodbye, Eugene. Take care. Tell your brother I said hello."
Eugene turned and made his way towards home. Once out of sight of the fire, he changed direction and headed back to meet up with Flynn.