THE FIRST STEP
Two weeks had passed and the best escape ever had slipped between the paws of many. Shen had recovered and had no intention of giving up. They would have dealt cards face up against Derek. He intended to defeat him in an equal fight. Once ready, the various weapons were distributed. All the peacocks had received what they wanted, while many of the animals had decided to fight using Kung Fu. Rather than hurting a human it was better to stun him, it didn't rain on this, but not having the brute force and having to be on the front line, the peacocks had preferred to take their weapon and use it against the enemies without the intention of killing them or hurting them too much seriously. The hope was that, seeing their strength, without irreparable consequences, humans would decide to leave them free once they ran away. According to many, vain hope, thought also shared by Shen. With the arrival of the snow they were again segregated in the castle so, unconsciously, the humans started their plan! Just two weeks after their confinement, Gan, Mu, Zhu, Wen and Liang headed to the dungeons to free the escape passage from any guard who could raise the alarm by seeing them flee. Sam had indicated to them a point from which, without the guards, they could have passed unharmed. Once the first group started, the others moved immediately after. The spies had increased and in addition to the usual ones there was also the melanic rabbit Xun and a silver fox named Wan. The two females had the task of supervising the work of the mustelids and squirrels, intervening only in case of need since their size made them easily visible. Cong, Dishi, Ju, Genji and Cheung had spread out to place various firecrackers around the palace. Some were meant to distract humans, others, having greater explosive power, would have made some corridors impractical by giving them valuable time. The birds followed the first group into the dungeons, exiting, however, in pairs of two conscious that Derek observed them. As we do not know, but he was sure. Once out, they would have been the first to explore the area in search of any dangers.
Hua returned from the trap door and landed in front of Ning. He too, along with everyone in the dark, smelly room, made sure that humans thought he was still inside. The plan was elementary, but it seemed to have worked: it was an unusual time to sleep, but by stuffing the beds with pillows and going out wrapped in a big cloak, as if they wanted to warm up more because of the cold, they had managed to get out one after other. This technique had proven effective, but extremely slow. It was mid-morning and Shen hoped that by lunchtime they were all out, so that they could have many hours to reach the mountains where they would hide, without risking getting lost due to the dark. "Go ahead!" Hua said "Are you sure?" Ming asked terrified like many others. "There are no guards on the windows, are there?" Asked Bao, who as usual ate in an attempt to allay the anguish that was making him bowel. "No, we are in a Czech place, damn it! This is precisely why Wen and Liang chose this release! The first windows are on the fourth floor and there are no guards! "Hua replied exhausted by all that tension. The cattle, along with others, after a good ten minutes of afterthoughts, finally went out immediately hiding in the dense vegetation. Kang paced nervously back and forth in the room where they had gathered. For added security, they would wait for large animals to be safe before going out. Going all together would have been a big risk! But letting too much time pass from one group's departure to another was even more dangerous, but they knew they had to wait for the signal! All the cats, together with the peacocks, were still in the wing of the building reserved for them. The air was tense, not only because of fear, but there was also a hint of euphoria at the thought that soon they would be free! "Once out we could do what we want!" Guo said electrified "What are you going to do? I still don't know! "Kuen asked that he had decided to indulge his friend. Speaking was definitely a way to ease the tension. Shui, the melanic tiger decided to join the conversation "I will open a pastry shop in honor of my dear parents and my husband!" He said looking with melancholy eyes at the emptiness in front of him in remembering his family.
"Good for you!" Manchu said, crossing his arms over his chest "I don't know who I want to be yet!" The serval complained. "Life is not finding yourself. Life is creating yourself! "Said the Master approaching the felines. "Master, you make it even more complicated than it is!" Xu said amused by the confused faces of his friends at Jingjing's statement. That anteater always managed to hit everyone's nerves with positive implications! His wisdom was yes, tedious beyond imagination, but also very heartening and useful sometimes ... okay, always! Gan entered as if he should warn them that lunch was ready "There is snow outside!" Said the snake and everyone understood the signal. The first part of the plan had succeeded and no alarm had gone off yet. Now we had to wait for Sam.
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"The ancient Egyptians developed in depth a system for acquiring information, to the detriment of the Hittites after the Battle of Kadesh in 1296. Or ... the Phoenicians also used a vast network of military spies under the cover of merchants, present in every port of the Mediterranean Sea. They also operated in Rome, the capital of Italy, think a little! "Teo had gone mad since the plan was started! "The Assyrians were constantly informed of what was going on in Egypt thanks only to spies! Even the Ionian revolt against the Persians seems to have started through a secret message, according to the story of the historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus! "The boy continued while writing codes on codes, even faster than the computer could be able to type. "During the Peloponnese War both Athens and Sparta often made use of spies but it is during the reign of Alexander the Great, between the. 356 BC and 323 BC that espionage made a qualitative leap, as demonstrated by the suppression of the revolt of General Parmenion and his son ... " "Are you going to tell me the whole story until you get to the contemporary one !?" Sam asked angrily. "Sorry, I thought you might be interested in learning more about the culture of our ancestors!" Teo said disappointed by his friend's reaction.
"Ancestors?" Asked the confused boy. "We are spies, and although we have no blood ties with the first spies on earth, we owe them what we know so far about espionage!" Teo explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I have always hated this matter! So talking to me about the amazing adventures of "our ancestors" will not help me at all, neither for the piano, nor to ease the tension that I feel I am accumulating! "Sam said starting nervously to turn around a table. "Quiet, I will broadcast this video ..." Teo said showing the recording in question in which we could see poor people who made falls to say the least absurd and sometimes even very painful "... in a few minutes, so the whole surveillance system will temporarily go into tilti! "He finished explaining his friend. "Did you put the music boxes in the various rooms?" Teo asked, remembering only at that moment. "Sure! My cell phone is connected to one of them, as are yours! "Sam replied, selecting the recording of the verse of some animals on the smartphone. "It is fortunate that he did not throw away the old one! Now we have other elements of distraction! "Teo said crossing his legs waiting for the video to load. Hearing some music and with the cameras temporarily out of order, the guards would panic. Maybe at the beginning they would have thought of a failure, or that someone was trying to tamper with their systems, but Sam was hoping that even if elementary, the plan would work! Unfortunately he had not been able to ask the animals for advice, as it was better that they did not know such technology, so he had managed as best he could!
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"Sir, the guests have arrived," said Mrs. Carmela to her boss. Derek was in his office, intent on filling out documents on documents regarding supplies for both animals and his home. "Make them sit down! I'll be there soon! "Said the man, getting up from his chair and heading for his daughter's room. Rose was sprawled on the bed. Waiting for his beloved Caleb to arrive to go out together. It was fortunate that they didn't go to school on Saturday, so there was an extra day to have fun. All the euphoria faded as soon as she heard the door open and instead of finding her dear boyfriend she saw her father looking at her grimly. Another lecture had arrived. Not about his relationship, no! The parent didn't seem to care at all about his daughter's life, he only showed interest in its usefulness. "Rose ..." Derek started talking, wandering around the room not looking at her "... this situation will not last forever!" He said sternly. "Your friend Sam ..." "He is no longer my friend!" The girl screamed in a fit of anger. He had shown her not to be such when he decided to turn against her. Helping those flea clusters and ignoring how they broke her heart by using it at will! "... will not be able to keep peace for very long! He is unable to communicate with them and this represents a problem that over time could become too heavy to avoid some confrontation and as you know I want to avoid things like that! Losing even one animal would be a tragedy for our economy! "Derek said as if his daughter hadn't spoken. "What do you want me to do?" Rose asked, surrendering to her father's authority. "I know you won't forgive them, but pretend you are. Do this for a few more years and I promise to send you to study in Oxford, "said Derek, drawing his daughter's attention with a simple promise. Beatrice and Caleb dreamed of going to study there. He medicine and she literature. Rose still didn't know what she wanted to do, but there was still time to choose. "Why would you deprive me of my skills in the future, even if you had me by your side now? What's going on? "The girl asked wary. Her father sighed and she swore, even if only for a moment, that she could see a veil of fear in her parent's eyes. "A guard, probably driven by curiosity, did not respect the round of the patrol. What he saw ... worries me! "Derek said, remaining frozen as he informed his daughter of the serious situation looming on the horizon. "What?" Asked the certain daughter to know the answer. "The animals ... were fighting! But it wasn't a fight for the territory or for the females, the guard swears it was a workout! If true ... we would risk losing many lives if we let them continue! They are different from other animals and I am afraid I have underestimated them! "The father explained before leaving the room to go to the guests who were waiting for him. "Sir!" A guard said running towards Derek. "Not now!" Replied the man hurrying towards the large hall. "But sir!" Protested the poor guard "Not now!" Derek yelled before disappearing beyond a large door, slamming it in the face of that poor fellow sent to warn him of a problem with the various security systems. In a large room located on the first underground level, a group of people was busy checking the various shots of the security cameras. During such an important reception it was a priority to carefully supervise the situation to prevent anyone, armed with bad intentions, from hurting the guests or the great collector! More than once, madmen, or assassins, or animal rights activists had attempted to injure or even kill Derek or simply create unrest, and their job was to make sure that didn't happen! For a few minutes almost all the screens had started to give problems, as if there was a failure in the electrical system, they flashed like light bulbs. "Send guards to preside over the hall and others to put on the Collector's side! Someone is trying to tamper with the systems! "Said the second in command, as well as Derek's close friend. Then, out of nowhere, all the screens started to project a strange video which, if it hadn't been for that delicate situation, would have also made us laugh. "Sound the alarm!" Agent Smith said running out of the room.
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"Done! I think they can have a good laugh for ten minutes, too bad the video lasts longer! "Teo said slightly annoyed. "Well! I'm going to check the situation out! You stay here and as soon as one of the informal spies arrives that those who are left can go! "Sam said before leaving the door of the room. The boy had to make an enormous effort, once he arrived in the lounge, not to go to the buffet which sent out extremely inviting smells. This time was the time for the rich. People wearing clothes that were worth a fortune argued amiably among themselves. Some were foreigners, while others had already seen them. The rich nobles, after a first visit, returned several times in the company of relatives and friends in order to find an excuse to readmit the treasure of the famous "collector".
He saw guards positioned at each door and others who took up positions spreading around the hall. Matching the escape with a reception had been a brilliant idea! In this way, the guards would immediately concentrate on the guests as he had expected and as had actually happened, giving the animals time to get as far away from the building as possible. Apparently Derek had not yet been informed given the calm and confident expression on his face. Sam returned to his room and barely had time to greet the spies. "Boy, we can never thank you enough!" Dishi said shaking the young man's hand. Custom to say goodbye, learned during their stay at the castle. "And we could never repay the debt!" Cheung added. "But thanks to you we have changed our opinion on humans! Not everyone is evil! "Cong said" This also applies in our world, I think! "Ju said, looking out the entrance of the air duct. "You know he doesn't understand a single word of what you say, do you?" Genji asked barely holding back the laughter at the lost expression on the boy's face. "Goodbye friends! I wish you luck! "Sam said before seeing them disappear through the pipes. "If this plan goes through and we don't see them again, we should seriously consider becoming real spies in the future!" Teo said as he opened a packet of potato chips. The friend just couldn't relax. Derek wouldn't have given up even after seeing them escape! This was only the beginning!
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"Cheung, I was starting to believe you wanted to stay here!" Gan said to the squirrel who had just come out of a large pipe. "We have to hurry!" Mu replied frightened. "Those idiots think he's one of the guests who set up their surveillance system! They do not suspect us in the least! Just think that ... "" Don't say it! "Cong said interrupting Dishi" But I am the same! "Protested the squirrel" It doesn't rain on this! "Ju replied. "Come on, hurry up!" Genji said pointing to the last peacock tails that disappeared beyond the door.
"In the end our training didn't help!" Sheng complained as they headed towards the exit "What do you mean?" Shen asked confused. "Not having fought the chance to play" Guess who I am? "It didn't show up!" Xian replied approaching the brothers. "You joke about it, but when I try hard I can't tell them apart!" Xing said that she didn't seem upset at all, but only amused. It was the older peacocks who insisted on avoiding fighting and as most animals took each word they uttered a lot of consideration, Shen found himself forced to change the initial plan. "Maybe once out of a fight it will be inevitable!" Said Lien, Juan's girlfriend. "What do you mean?" Asked Dong, the opal peacock. "Derek won't give up so easily!" Chao explained. "We can only hope that in the end someone really manages to escape!" Wei said while helping some young peacocks to go down an extremely slippery high step. Tai and Kang came shortly thereafter. "Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, Mr. Chao!" Said the Master, descending with much more agility than his slender structure showed. "And Shen, despite his young age, is familiar with such operations!" He finished explaining the anteater. In the meantime, the rest began to emerge from the large trap door, divided into small groups at intervals of time. With three or four peacocks there were one or two felines for greater safety against possible dangers. Shu was nervous and made it clear that she wanted to stay by Shen's side, as did Mei and Xu. "By the way ..." Feng began to speak "... how do you know the fireworks if you're just a humble mercenary? Isn't that a kind of knowledge belonging to the social class of nobles? "He asked with an inquiring look. Shen felt freezing from the tip of his tail to that of his beak. How did they know about such things if they had lived all their lives in the reserve?
"Guo told us about a noble family of peacocks who seem to have invented the fireworks. How did you manage to ... seize ... their ... secret? "Kueng asked frightened, arriving at the realization that perhaps he had stolen it! It was even worse to wonder ... how? "Could it be worse than that?" Shen wondered mentally, unable to find an immediate answer and probably increasing the suspicions that had already arisen! A metallic noise diverted the general attention from the young peacock and made everyone turn towards a metal container that had fallen between them. "What did you hit this time?" Yong asked angry to his brother Hong. "Nothing, I swear! ... maybe the fault, for once, is yours!" The poor man attacked him. "Is it ... catching on fire?" Chu asked, seeing smoke coming out of the container. Shen felt the back feathers rise in alarm! Something was wrong! He had suspected it since he had not seen any birds coming to meet them on the way out and now this was the confirmation! The burning fire releases a smoke with a particular smell and black color, while this was white and had a strange smell ... different. He couldn't think of what reminded him that everything went black!