Author's Note:

Ok, it's the same day as when I wrote Chapter Three.  I just finished Chapter Three, switched off the computer and switched off the computer.  Then as I walked past Hannah, she handed me another bloody plot ladder!  She's like a – a – a plot ladder machine or something!!!  WAAAAA!  I officially don't have a life! L

Anyway, I asked her if she carried them around with her and she opened her jacket pocket.  There were about three of four more slips of paper in it. That must be how many more chapters she's planning.

Well, that means we're about halfway through, my wonderful readers!  Hannah reckons she's great now because of all the reviews we've had!  I'll just give her a Chinese Burn later on to teach her not to get cocky – although she could probably beat me up…

I'm in a pretty bad mood today because I met a girl from my class called Tasha in town and she was picking on me cos of my freckles… I mean, freckles aren't a bad thing!  She just needs to grow up!  Thing is, she happens to be perfect.  She does ballet and she's skinny and pretty and she's so annoying!!!!  BLAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

I'm okay lol.  She ain't worth it anyway.  Ok, in this chapter, there's gonna be an attempted jail-break, a spider impersonation and something to make life seem a lot more difficult – and much shorter in one case – for the gang.  I'm gonna get started now, so here we goooo!

Ack I just got off the net uploading Ch 2.  My mate Carla found out I'm writing this fic DAMMIT!  I hate people I know reading my material!  *Cringes* It's embarrassing!  (Sigh) I deleted all my other work and started again with other ficcies, then Carla, who was looking to read on of my old ones, clicked on my name (it was in her reviews section) and Voila!  Trudi Frost is officially BUSTED!!!

Oh and by the way, Hannah wants the kittens in the story so we'll write what was happening meanwhile to the kittens and try and weave it into the plot somehow.  I've also weaved Saog more into the plot so he's going to get into a fair bit of trouble too.

Chapter 4

Yakumo sighed as her eyes traced the footprints again.  On closer inspection, some of them were hers – The were longer and thinner.  They were also less muddy and faded off quicker.  She kept her mind occupied for the rest of the way to her room by pretending she was following imaginary footprints on the carpets.  It led her mind away from everything else that had happened during the last few hours.  No matter what way she looked at it, there was no way to get Mushra out.

As she was about to go upstairs to her room, she heard a funny noise Coming from outside.  She rushed to the window to see if it was Kutal or Sago, but there was nobody there.

She continued her train of thoughts as she carried on up the stairs to the second floor.  The only hope now was for Sago and Kutal to come up with something.

As she climbed back into bed, she suddenly heard a thunderous crash that rattle the windowpanes and shook the floor.  Yakumo sat bolt upright and looked out her bedroom window, but again there was nothing.

"Either I'm imagining things or someone's trying to break in," she muttered as she lay back down again.  Suddenly a thought struck her.  "Or out."

The stared at the wall, wondering if perhaps Mushra had managed to break out of his cell, but she doubted it.  He was a mess.  There was no way he'd have the energy to go hyper in order to break the chains of the handcuffs, or to bust out of the cell.

"It must be, I dunno, the wind or something…" Yakumo thought as she fell asleep.

"YOU DID WHAT???"

"I just wanted to see if he was alright!  Honestly, I promise, nobody saw me."

Sago glared at her.  "I thought we had an agreement!" he sighed and kicked the wall.  Yakumo had never seen him this mad before.  "I can't believe this!  And as if this thing with that idiot Mushra isn't bad enough, Kutal's gone too."

"Sago!" Yakumo was shocked.  Usually Sago and Mushra got on considerably well together.  "You'll calm down this minute!  You'll take back what you said about Mushra, and then, when you stop being like this, we can find Kutal and then sort Mushra out."

Sago sighed.  "Yeah.  I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it… I guess - I thought we were finally over the final hurdle.  But now this has happened, and it's like we're never going to go back to normal…"

"I know.  It's not the way I'd planned our last meeting to be either.  Listen, Sago.  We have to find Kutal.  The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get everything sorted."

"Right," Sago said decisively.  "I'll look around for Kutal out here.  He can't have gone far.  You carry on

normal, but try to find out anything you can about security here.  Try to see if there are any weaknesses in the system.  Tonight we'll try and get a hold of Mushra again.  What time did you go down last night?

"About 2am."

"And nobody was around?"

"That's right."

"Ok, so I'll meet you here at half past one tonight, Okay?  We'll go downstairs and bust him outta there.  You can continue living here like you had nothing to do with it.  I'll deal with Mushra.  And Kutal will help."

Yakumo smiled.  "You're an angel, Sago," she said and blew him a kiss.  "If you find Kutal, tell him I am so grateful for both your help."

"I will.  Now, you'd better go down to breakfast.  People will suspect something if you don't turn up.  And this is going to be all about discretion."

After Sago had gone, Yakumo closed her window and tidied her hair.  Then, for the second time since midnight, she walked down the stairs.  The place was much brighter than it was last night.  She wandered into a pale pink hall, which seemed to be where meals were eaten, as there were people chatting and eating at a long table piled with food.

She looked around shyly for a place to sit.  As she got nervous and decided to skip breakfast after all, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Good morning, Miss Clara!" she heard Ken's voice flow cheerily from behind her.  "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Sir.  Thank you." She turned round and smiled at him.  Everything seemed fine so far.

"Good.  Welcome to the Rosebud Hall."

"It really is lovely," Yakumo replied casually.

Ken smiled and looked around.  "Yes, it is.  It's dedicated to Rosie Takashi, a baby who was born in this room on the floor.  She was the first twin baby to be born here.  Her brother came four minutes later, his name was Bud."

"How cute!" Yakumo squealed, forgetting her troubles for a second and marvelling at the story of the baby twins.  "That's really sweet!"

"It sure is.  Oh, if I were you I'd hurry and get something to eat before the hall shuts till lunch."

"Thank you."

Yakumo took some toast and coffee and sat down beside a man in Guards uniform.  "Good morning!" she chirruped.

"Hey," the man said.  He looked friendly enough.  On closer inspection she recognised him as the man who had been with Benjamin in Mushra's cell last night.  She quickly steered him into conversation.

"I heard there was an Enterran here last night," she began off-handedly.

"Yep.  Don't worry, though, we got him."

Yakumo faked a relieved smile.  "Oh, good.  I was worried that he still might be running around the halls somewhere.  There would be so much trouble-"

"I wish they'd give him his trial already.  Then they'll either kill him or let him go.  My mate Benjamin's torturing him.  In fact-" he looked at his watch.  "He'll be on prison rounds right now.  I'm glad I'm not a prisoner down there.  Benjamin sure teaches them a lesson.  I'm Isaac Duffy, by the way."

"I'm Clara.  Before I went to bed, someone told me that you guards have to stay up awfully late to watch the prisoners."

"We're usually gone by three," Isaac replied.  "By then they're all asleep.  If they're not, Benjamin deals with them.  Then they sleep."

"He sounds awfully scary."

"He is."

Yakumo had a sudden thought, and she decided to investigate.  "Do you mean to say that someone is always down there?  Amazing!"

"Not always.  After breakfast we all take fifteen minutes to get our rounds.  Other than that, and after 3am, there's always somebody there."

Yakumo finished her toast and a bell rang.  "That's breakfast over," Isaac said as he stood up.  "Time to get to work.  Later, Clara."

As soon as the hall was empty, she ran through to the purple room and downstairs to the dungeon.

"Mushra!" she whispered as she saw him struggling pointlessly with the handcuffs.  He still looked pale, but he didn't look so bad in the grey light filtering in through the few tiny windows.  "We'll be here tonight at three thirty!  We'll get you out in no time!"

Mushra looked up and grinned.  "Really?  How are you gonna manage that?"

Yakumo blushed red.  "Well, I don't know.  I'm gonna talk to Sago tonight.  We will get you out of here, though!  Just pretend you're asleep before three, okay?"

"Why?"

"Don't ask why.  Just do it."

"Uh…Okay, Yakumo."

"See you tonight!"

Yakumo ran up the steps again and into the purple room.  As she walked out, as security guard walked in and down into the prison section.  Yakumo heaved a sigh of relief and went to her room.  From her window she could make out the path and the gate.  Outside the gate would be the camp.  She wondered if Sago had found Kutal yet.

She began to get slightly bored waiting for the night to come, so she decided to look around.  She washed quickly and left the room.

So far, all she'd seen was the blue hallway, the purple room, the entrance hall and Rosebud Hall.  She wondered what else there was to see.  After all, children would have to be educated, and people obviously had jobs.  Adults would have places for social gatherings.  It was unlikely to just be a building with rooms to eat and sleep.  She saw it as more of an indoor town, or maybe a city.  She managed to trade things she had found on her journey (such as rare stones, herbs etc) for new sets of clothing.

"Hey!  Can I have a turn soon?!"

"It's a train, Estee.  Trains are for boys.  Everyone knows that.  Why would a girl want to play with a boy's toy?" Rei snorted, giving the "train" (which was really four round rocks stuck to a thick bundle of twigs) a push.  It trundled reasonably well over to his brother, who pushed it back, making "Chugga" noises.

"Yea, trains are for big tough men like me and Rei.  Why not make a dolly or something?" Sei added.

"But you aren't big tough men!" Estee screeched.  "I'm way tougher than you!"

"No way!"

"As if!"

"Children, please calm down.  I know it is hot but this is not the time to get cranky.  I am afraid that I have no experience with childcare, so I would like you to be more cooperative."

The three kittens sighed.  "Sorry, Hakuba."

"Sago, Mushra and Kutal should have been back now.  I do hope nothing's wrong." Hakuba continued.

"Don't worry Hakuba!" Estee replied, clamouring into a bush and pulling out a squirrel.  She gave it a cuddle and let it run back into the bush.  "I'm sure they're taking their time because Shinzo's so good!"

"This is not good!"

Yakumo looked at the clock on her wall.  It was a quarter to two.  And there was still no sign of Sago or Kutal.  She threw herself onto the bed and sighed.  She blinked as she heard a tap on the window.

When she opened it, she saw Sago and Kutal waving at her from the ground.  "Hey!"  She whispered.  "Where were you?"

"Sorry, we dropped off," Sago replied.  "And Kutal came back.  He found a fire alarm round the back.  He'll set it off to distract everyone.  We'll get Mushra."

Yakumo grinned and opened the window all the way.  Then Kutal gave Sago a leg-up into Yakumo's room. "The guards leave at three, normally, but if Kutal sets it off in fifteen minutes, they'll leave early; then we should have time to sort through the keys and find the right one," Yakumo informed them.

"Good work," Sago replied, and Kutal nodded and went round the back.  It would take fifteen minutes to get all the way round the huge building.

Yakumo led the way to the purple room once more, and again the place was empty.  "We have to be totally silent when we get down here," Yakumo whispered as they reached the steps.  "Every sound is magnified like a million times down here."

"Don't worry.  I can do silent."

They tiptoed as silently as possible down and hid in the shadows, listening for the time to run for the keys.  Like last night, Benjamin and Isaac were on duty.  They listened to their conversation as they hung around the different cells, making sure everyone was secure for the night.

"I talked to the new girl this morning."

"So?"

"Just making conversation.  She seemed awfully nice."

"I'm sure she's wonderful… anyway, everything seems in order.  We're not allowed to leave till three.  Want to tease the prisoners?"

"Not really, no."

"You're a total woman, Duffy, do you know that?  Anyway – Hello, my little friend.  Ready for another ass-kicking?"

Yakumo tried not to laugh as Mushra retorted with some extremely rude comments about Benjamin's mother.

"I wouldn't talk about other people's parents, lad.  At least mine weren't mongrels."  There was a rattling of chains as Mushra kicked out at Benjamin.  "Ooh, I'm so scared the mean shrimp is going to get me.  Look, kid, don't try it.  I'm bigger than you, stronger than you, smarter than you, better than you and I'm not the one chained to the floor."

There was a funny "Ptt" noise and Benjamin let out a huge bellow.  Isaac laughed.  "Hey, the little bastard's got good aim – spat right in your eye, he did!"

"Shut it, arsewipe, I can hurt you," Benjamin growled.

Suddenly, an awful wailing noise blared out from all directions, and a spray of water hit their faces.

"Oh, perfect," Benjamin groaned.  "A fire.  Let's go check it out, Duffy," Benjamin and Isaac bolted past them and up into the purple room.

Yakumo moved first, but Sago stopped her.  "I'll handle this," he said.  "People will notice you're not at the count.  They'll know you had something to do with the fire alarm."

Yakumo nodded, her hair dripping by now.  "Good luck, Sago, and be careful."  She ran up the steps and off to get counted.

Sago darted around until he found the right cell.  "Mushra!  It's me!"

Mushra looked up and smiled as he saw his friend.  "Sago!  How-"

"No time to explain.  Do you know where the keys are?"

Mushra pointed to a peg that hung on the wall behind Sago.  Sago grabbed the seven keys and looked at the lock.  The water spray was beginning to annoy Mushra, as it was directly over his head and flattening fringe over his eyes. Sago wasn't bothered by it, having power over water.

Eventually he found the right one, and the door clicked open.  "Yes!" Sago whispered.  He ran over to Mushra and undid the catch on his handcuffs.  He looked up as Mushra yelled in pain.  "What?"

"I think that big guy did something to my arm when he flattened me last night.  It was swollen last night, but it went away after a bit.  It's fine – just don't touch it."

Sago helped him up and they left Sago's cape where Mushra had been chained and locked the cell door.  "They won't suspect Yakumo now that I've left a calling card, and we'll be miles away."

"Thanks, Sago."

"Don't mention it."

However, as they were about to get into the hiding place that Sago and Yakumo had found until the coast was clear, the wailing alarm was suddenly silenced.  They both ducked into the corner and stayed as low as possible.

"Little hooligans," Benjamin grumbled as he stomped back down the steps, Isaac trotting behind him.  "A total waste of time, that was.  Still, we have a half hour left on duty.  So where was I?"  The two Enterrans watched as the guards stopped outside Mushra's ex-cell.

"Oh, for Pete's Sake, Duffy, the kid's gone.  He'll have the place in ruins."

"I doubt it.  He won't have gone far.  He's probably still down here."  Isaac passed them swiftly and shut the trapdoor to the purple room.  "We'll catch him."

Benjamin strode past them and began to look around other cells.  He froze as he heard a sneeze.

Sago looked around at Mushra, who was obviously panicking at his mistake.

They both squinted as Benjamin shone a powerful flashlight in their faces.  "Oh, very cute," he drawled.  "A jailbreak."  He sighed as both Enterrans gave him the fingers.  "Look, this has all been very entertaining, but I would like to go to bed soon and this isn't helping."  Benjamin called to Isaac and took two pairs of handcuffs from a peg on the wall.  After a lot of fighting, kicking and on Mushra's part, some biting, they were subdued and taken up the steps.

"I'm sorry," Mushra whimpered, feeling like a total loser for giving them away.  "I didn't mean to get us busted."

"Hey don't worry about it.  We'll get out of this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Because you were also sure that Hakuba would win the Grand National."

"When did I say that?"

"In your sleep.  Ask Yakumo."

"I don't know if I want to… Is your arm okay?"

"I don't know – but I have a feeling we have a little more to worry about.  Believe me, they're definitely not fair when it comes down to Enterrans."

They stopped outside a large door of Mahogany.  Benjamin gave it a loud rap.  "Who is it?" a voice filtered out sleepily after a minute.

"Benjamin.  I'm afraid this is important."

"………Come in."

Benjamin left the Enterrans with Isaac and went in.  They could here the two men talking.  "I'm sorry Sir, but you know that Enterran we caught the other day?"

"Yes?"

"Well, he escaped.  And when we caught him, he was with another one."

"Oh, dear."

"Exactly.  All they need is one female and they'll breed like rodents.  Before we know it Enterrans will be flocking all over the place.  I think if we are going to solve this, the best thing to do is to destroy the two we found."

Mushra's face was practically purple.  "Hey!  We're not rabbits, you know!" he called in furiously.

"I was thinking more along the line of rats," Benjamin replied dryly.

There was a silence as "Sir" considered the facts.

"Yes, well, we certainly can't let them go, now that they know where Shinzo is.  And they are expendable… Fine.  They die at noon.  Thank you for your bravery in handling them.  You and Isaac will be rewarded."

"Thank you, Sir."

Benjamin came out, beaming.  "He'll execute them at noon.  Hear that, vermin?"  With that they were marched down to the dungeon and thrown into a cell.  As they heard the two guards ascend the steps, Mushra turned to Sago.

"I'd really hate to say this," he said clearly.  "But Boy, are we fucked!"

And there you have it, guys and dolls!  As you can see I've made Hannah change her plot as Sago wasn't involved enough.  Kutal gets his own hand in the escape plot later on in the story.  And uh, so will the kittens.  *Cries*  Poor old Mushra and Sago!  †  Hannah had better have a good way outta this one!  She's only giving me hints right now.

I just realised how long this chapter is!!!  Wow!  I can sure blab what I want to!  I'm going to watch Bedazzled, I think… and Shinzo should be on in twenty minutes.  I will also wash my hair and then go to bed.  Tonight I shall beg Hannah to give me the top bunk.  Yes, that's what I'll do.

Excellent.

Next Chapter : Escape attempt number two, the kittens learn to drive (they'll probably lose their license though – they're way underage), and – Kutal in a tutu???

Uh… Till next time – See Ya!