A/N: It's canon – and, really, the most logical thing - that the orphans would be invited to Warbucks', but this starts how they'd have come anyway, because of their suspicions. (And Miss Hannigan had to have a phone, though it could be in her room. Having it disconnected is possible – but would raise more red flags, likely making orphans leave Christmas Eve! As you'll see, they could make this call and still go on their own the next day, even in Annie Live!

Annie Live! Is different, orphans come on their own like the '82 movie and a few play scripts if tmeant to follow a movie. The next chapter will have part showing how they'd have gotten there on their own. Nightmare relating to '82 movie from "Do You Want To Build A Snowman."

Chapter Three – Deck the Halls with Wary Orphans

Part of the cellar included a coal room. We'd get coal dumped from a truck through this window so we'd have it for the furnace.

. We expected the usual jokes about stocking stuffers as Tessie and I shoveled. In fact, we were ready with our own.

"There's one thing less likely than presents," I said in reply to Miss Hannigan's usual cutting remarks about presents. "Annie finding her parents."

Miss Hannigan turned from her path upstairs to check on the others' chores. "Don't be too sure of that. They might show up now."

Tessie liked to stick by me. She didn't have nightmares like Molly, but did a little. July was a great comfort then. Of course, Molly's were about her parents vanishing, though after we got out she did have a few about Annie being kidnapped and having to rescue her.

Sound weird? If you haven't read Annie's biography of her dad, I can understand why. You'll see why that makes sense soon.

Anyway, Tessie was getting more confident talking to Miss Hannigan. "Oh, my goodness. Miss Hannigan, you're not just saying that to be contrary?" Tessie asked evenly.

"Yeah, Miss Hannigan, we know you'd rather think of someone else adopting her," I added. "And, this is the second time you've said that today." The first hadn't even been prompted.

"Bert Healy's show goes around the country, even to Canada. They could have gone anywhere and forgot about her till now," Miss Hannigan snarled. She finally went upstairs.

Tessie looked oddly at me. "If she says they're anywhere, she always says Annie's parents are the man and woman in the moon."

"Yeah, then she says we'd have to go to the moon to have someone care about us." I leaned on my shovel. "July's right. Something's odd here."

Tessie shoveled some more coal. "Molly said Miss Hannigan seemed nicer getting the nits out of her hair, too. You and July watched."

"That could have been in case someone came and asked if she was nice to us. No, this seems different," I said as I began to shovel again, too.

The regular routine continued, with the exception of Miss Hannigan ordering us all to take baths. It had been a while, so that in itself wasn't odd, but then she told us to start making sure we had "all those silly skits and songs ready," in her words.

"Miss Hannigan, will we be performing somewhere?" I dared to ask that Saturday in our dorm area. I could feel Pepper's eyes rolling behind me.

"The details are being worked out. You girls know 'Deck the Halls,' right?" she asked. We did. "Good, I'll direct you in it. See if you can stay clean, I've got some nice dresses that hopefully you won't ruin." She then left our dorm area, allowing us to think and "practice."

Christmas would be Monday. Tessie worried that something might jeopardize it, but Miss Hannigan had been in there even more than usual the last couple days. And, July had a great plan to see if she could peek in and see Miss Hannigan's quarters.

When we did "Never Fully Dressed," we had one of two ways – normal chorus line or with some of Miss Hannigan's clothes, sometimes more than others. July knocked on Miss Hannigan's door and begged Miss Hannigan to let us borrow some. When Miss Hannigan hastily pushed a box with some out a door after a couple minutes, Molly and Kate, from their angle, saw what could be a suitcase. And, July could tell there were clothes on the bed.

Our dorm room discussion was low and intense after that. "Look," I said at one point, "she might just be going on a trip, but there has to be a reason why she's asking us to be ready to perform."

"Aw, don't get so excited. There's no way she's gonna get a talent scout to watch us," Pepper snapped.

"Maybe she'll leave us with Mr. Warbucks," Kate suggested.

Pepper scoffed. "And I thought Duffy was dreaming! No way we'd get close to there. It's probably a dump anyway." This was Pepper's way of not getting her hopes up that we could have better lives, though deep down she knew it was possible. She even thought it was possible for her someday. It's just that – trapped in that orphanage – she escaped the only way she could, through the comics and stories we did. Because she didn't want her hopes dashed.

July knew what Pepper was thinking. "She's too young to think about how rich he is as part of that. All she's thinking about is we'd get dumped somewhere," July declared.

"It's still true," Pepper snapped back.

Once again, I had to play peacemaker. Pepper was my good friend, and July needed some mothering herself sometimes, so I related to them each in special ways. "Look," I said, "if she's thinking of skipping the country, it's possible. Annie did say in one letter she'd like us all to come visit her. So, there could be a party."

"I hope she skips it and stays skipped," Tessie proclaimed wearily. The others agreed.

"Yeah," Pepper said, "good riddance if she leaves. But, why isn't she boasting about it if she's going somewhere?" she asked skeptically. She remembered those Coney Island trips Miss Hannigan took on occasion far too well. At least Mr. Bundles had brought us something.

"Maybe so we don't let anything slip till she's gone. Okay, once we're done cleaning up after supper," July reiterated just before Miss Hannigan called us for dinner, "we'll take our baths. We have a lot to think about-" We heard the whistle calling us to dinner, so we all went quickly into the kitchen.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, Miss Hannigan came into our dorm area just before breakfast. "All right, sing 'Deck the Halls.'" We did it – nobody complained. Hey, at least we weren't cleaning. It was a nice break. But something seemed odd about this shift in attitude. Everyone could feel it.

Finally, something really, really bizarre happened after supper. Or, rather didn't happen..

"All right, you rotten orphans," Miss Hannigan clamored as we finished eating her bland cooking on Christmas Eve. "Get to your dorm area, this kitchen can get cleaned later. I've got something important and I don't want any interruptions!"

"Yes, Miss Hannigan," we all said cheerfully. Inside, we all wondered what that could be. Miss Hannigan, telling us not to clean up after supper? That made no sense.

"What do you think it is?" several of us whispered among ourselves as we sat on our bunks.

July called an emergency "meeting" to order. We had to get to the bottom of this.

"Maybe she has a boyfriend over," Molly suggested.

"She's never had them come in here, though. Just met them in her office for a minute and left. Even she knows some types of guys might be too dangerous," Pepper reminded her.

We spoke for several minutes till Tessie announced that Miss Hannigan was coming.

Then, Miss Hannigan walked in and dropped the bombshell – "Annie found her parents."

Our mouths flew open. Annie found her parents? I thought Pepper's jaw would drop to the floor. Even Molly, who was too little not to believe Annie, sensed our wariness and was a bit subdued in her excitement for Annie.

"I'm as shocked as you," Miss Hannigan said.

"Are we still getting picked up to go there tomorrow?" I asked.

Miss Hannigan confirmed it. "I said you're all invited, and you'll get picked up tomorrow." Then, she poked fun at us. "Practice your skits; performing like that's all you rotten orphans are good for, unlike Annie who has real parents!" She left.

"That last wisecrack is the only thing that doesn't seem odd about this," I said.

Others echoed my concerns, but Pepper scoffed at first – till she realized what July and I had caught on to right away. "You sound as worried as Tessie," Pepper teased. "Why can't it be as simple as a couple hearing the Bert Healy show and coming to- oh!" she suddenly realized, her scoffing tone gone.

"Right. If they just went there, okay. That's what the show said to do. But then, why would Miss Hannigan know they showed up? She signed Annie over to him. If they didn't hear the show, but came here, why weren't we allowed to see them? Why is she hiding things? Before I thought Miss Hannigan might just leave for who knows how long. And, maybe it's not about Annie. But Annie's parents showing up out of the blue at the same time makes me wonder."

"Plus," Tessie noted in frustration, "when she went to Coney Island, she bragged about it."

"Good point. She'll rub any trip in our faces," I said. I sighed. We had to figure out if Miss Hannigan was even here, and what she was doing.

I decided the best way to solve this was, of course, to dance. July and Pepper were each too important to lose – even if they'd only be in the cellar a bit or forced to clean everywhere.

"I can use the excuse that I need a bigger area to do cartwheels and things. Tessie, follow close behind, just in case." I said. I didn't really think she'd put me in the cellar, but her screaming was fairly likely, and Miss Hannigan was being erratic enough the cellar was possible.

I knew I could start my moves at a moment's notice. I wanted to peek into Miss Hannigan's quarters first, though. So, I didn't start dancing right away. Then, we could go downstairs and see if she was there. That suitcase seemed very important.

We'd have been suspicious even without it, though – or without her bragging about Annie's parents. We'd have been doing what we were doing now regardless, if only to see what she was doing. These were just, as I had predicted, little ways in which she slipped up.

I spun pretended to stumble against the door, then acted clumsy as I opened it. One benefit of learning from an early age to be so nimble on my feet was that I could pull off an act like that and make it look very natural. I looked pretty silly grabbing the door handle while perched on one foot and then stumbling inside, but I began talking just as I opened the door, so my act looked very real.

"Oops, oh, clumsy me! I am so sorry, Miss-Miss Hannigan?" I finished as I braced myself against her bed. As Tessie drew closer, I quickly scanned the room and left in a flash. "She's not here; follow me." We sped down the stairs as I tried to think of excuses. I supposed I could just ask permission to do those wide-ranging moves in the big halls and not our little dorm area.

There was no need. "She's not here, either?" Tessie spoke for me.

I picked up the phone, which was tucked away in the office. "Tessie, run and tell them Miss Hannigan left and her suitcase is gone. I'm calling Mr. Warbucks."

"What are you gonna say?"

"I'll think of something, maybe act like a big shot," I said. Tessie heard me as she ran back to our dorm area, but as I heard a voice, I realized that might be the wrong strategy. I just hoped I had the right one.

"Operator," a kind woman's voice said. Yes, direct lines are becoming common here in 1953, but in 1933 even Oliver Warbucks couldn't get a direct line without an operator switchboard.

I tried to sound professional. I'd known about dialing zero for the operator from Miss Kathy working with us on basic skills. She'd taught us enough that we could function once we got into the real world.

"Yes, this is the Hudson Street Municipal Orphanage, I need to reach Oliver Warbucks. He was helping Annie, who used to live here."

"Does Mr. Warbucks know you?" the operator asked.

I felt I had to go for broke. "He does… because of Annie. We have very important information he is looking for," I said authoritatively. "It's about a couple who claim to be her parents."

Despite my stumble, unsure of whether I should say we were Annie's friends or act like I was calling on behalf of Miss Hannigan, the operator felt confident enough to let me through. I could always give the operator more details if she needed, but perhaps she'd listened to Bert Healy. Or, I'd just said enough things that sounded right that she felt comfortable letting them sort it out.

I beamed. I hadn't thought of Nona much aside from when I was singing or dancing. However, I could just imagine her looking down and smiling as I was put through at the same time as the other girls all came rushing into the office.

Yes, hello. This is Annie's friends at the orphanage. We have something important to tell you. Miss Hannigan left with a suitcase." No, not the parents yet – I was still a little uncertain of how I wanted to explain things, but this in itself seemed strange enough they should let me continue.

I shall tell my employer," the man - whom I later learned was Drake, the butler – said as Pepper watched out the door. "I'm afraid Annie is-"

His mention of Annie distracted me, allowing Molly to grab the phone. I'd begun to wonder, like July, if the likely impostors had left with Annie already. At least we're talking to the Warbucks' people now, I mused.

Molly was very eager to talk to Annie and said "Hi, Annie" right away. When told who it was on the line, she replied: "Hi, Mister The Butler." She recovered nicely, though, as she said, "Miss Hannigan left with it." Surely this was in response to a question or comment about what I'd said about the suitcase.

July silently applauded as Molly asked if they would pick us up. Then, I heard Molly tell the man on the other end: "They might not be Annie's parents." We just hoped they didn't have Annie.

July showed why she was our best caregiver. I'd have been more verbal back then. July, on the other hand, gave Molly a one-armed squeeze, whispered "Great job!" in her ear, and used that distraction to kindly swipe the phone from her and speak into it herself.

"Annie's up in her room," Molly told July, though loud enough all of us could hear.

"Thanks," July said with obvious relief before returning to the call.

"Yeah, good job," I repeated warmly.

Did we think Annie could be in grave danger? At that time, it could have just been a couple out for the money. But we definitely had a sense of foreboding, especially with Miss Hannigan seemingly involved.

I'd say the best way to characterize it is this: We all felt like Molly had when emphasizing that they might not be Annie's parents. It was a simple, childlike understanding that "something's not right" was all we needed. We had shared this on the fly, but Molly had caught on well to the two important things we had wanted them to know.

Now, July was answering questions - from Mr. Warbucks himself as it turned out. July also got in that Miss Hannigan had broken her pattern by not making us clean up after supper tonight. Which, had we not known anything else, once we knew she was gone, still would have prompted a call. July also asked if we'd be picked up. Milly had, too, so Molly quickly said "yes" when she heard July ask over the phone, since she'd been told we would be. July also affirmed that Miss Hannigan would have known about the locket.

As July began to describe Miss Hannigan's meanness, Pepper looked back from her post. "She's pulling up," Pepper barked.