Sorry. I've been really busy lately.

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Morning exercise was not Bark's favorite thing in the world. Let's put it another way: Bark's idea of morning exercise was raising one eyelid followed within the hour by raising the other. Sometimes if he was feeling really ambitious he would roll over in bed.

When he raised both eyelids, he saw that rolling over was not going to cut the mustard today. The bedroom door was open, and in the living room was everyone: Nack, Bean, Natalie, and all the guests. The Beaver was holding several shovels and a rake. What the? Why do we need a rake for digging? Bark wondered as he slowly climbed out of bed. "Finally you're up." Nack muttered darkly.

"You could've woken me up." Bark pointed out as he turned off the TV as Bean yelled in protest.

Nack opened his mouth to respond with some snide comment, but Natalie interrupted him. "It doesn't matter." She took a shovel from the Beaver and handed it to Bark. "You'll need this."

Bark blinked sleepily and groaned. He had a full day of digging ahead of him. Just what he needed. Yeah, right.

Bean snatched shovel away from Bark. "Hey this looks like the shovel that we found in Eliah's limo!" He exclaimed.

"It's not." Bark said dryly as he took back his shovel.

Bean reclaimed the shovel. "Yes it is. Look, it has the same dent in it that Eliah's shovel had!"

"You can't tell that!" Nack snapped.

"Yes I can! I can prove it!" Bean shouted.

"How?" Nack asked skeptically.

"Bark get me a phone!"

Bark rolled his eyes and took his shovel from Bean. "Bean, you aren't calling who I think you are, are you?"

"Yep!"

"Bean, give me the phone." Bark said.

"But-"

"Bean..."

"Aw, okay..." Bean sighed with disappointment and handed the phone to Bark.

"Thank you." Bark said as he placed the phone back on the receiver.

"Who was he going to call?" Natalie asked out of curiosity.

Bark shook his head. "No one. Bean's been watching a little too much TV lately..." Natalie nodded her head understandingly.

"Whatever, let's just leave now." Heather snapped impatiently. "I want to get this done with quick so I can-" The black and white cat's mouth sealed shut when Shade Hunter shot her a look that could have burned through a safe. Bark and Nack exchanged curious glances.

Ferra slowly opened up the door and stepped out into the hallway, followed closely by Bark, Bean, Nack, and the others. Nack nudged Bark in the ribs none to gently. "What?" Bark asked.

"Have you noticed anything strange about those two...?" The sleazy purple weasel asked in a quiet voice as he indicated to Heather and Shade Hunter. Heather was looking very shifty and nervous. Either she was up to something, or she was expecting the Boogieman to jump her. Shade Hunter was creeping along the hallway. Occasional she would turn and glare at whoever was in the vicinity.

"No," Bark said, "They look normal to me..."

"They're definitely up to something." Nack whispered, his eyes darting over to the cat and the foxbat. "I wonder if they have something to do with the secret of Chateau Royal." Bark shrugged. "I know one way we could find out..."

"What's that?"

"You."

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to pal around with them, Bark. When you ain't busy digging our tunnel to freedom, that is." Bark started to protest, but Nack was already ahead of him. "It'll be easy. You're gonna to be hanging around on their turf anyways. Just see if you can get them to leak some info."

"What are you going to be doing, if you don't mind me asking, while I'm looking for leaks?" Bark asked as he and Nack reached the bottom of the stairs.

The weasel lifted his head and stared off over that the mysterious door that lead to the office. "I'm going inside." He said dramatically.

"Ah," Bark said as he looked over at the office window. All he could see was a flying advertising Emo grass. Yes, apparently Bobbie had been too lazy to hire a gardener... Beyond the flyer, all Bark could see was darkness.

"And how do you think you're going to get in there, Nack?" Bark asked, "It's not like you have an appointment." He pointed out.

"True, but I do have charm." Nack said. Bark cocked an eyebrow at this one. "And if all else fails," the weasel added, "there's Bean."

"True."

---

An hour later, Nack found Bark digging under the fence. "What did you find out?" He asked.

"That charm without an appointment only gets you as far as the door. And Bean says 'hi'."

Bark nodded. Nack looked at the hole. It was not very impressive, but then again he had not been digging very long. Natalie was still on a break that had begun a few minutes after they had started; she was with Ferra and Snyder having smoked Gouda... flavored chips. The Beaver and Bean were trying to see if they could get Mandy talking again. And as for the two burglars...

"What did you find out?" Nack asked Bark.

"Talk about forthcoming." Bark said as he dumped a shovelful of dirt onto the lawn. "I kept track of their answers. There were three 'What's it to you's', six 'What do you wanna know for's', five 'Mind you own business's', and one 'What are you, a police officer?'"

"What kind of questions did you ask?" Nack inquired as he made himself comfortable on Bark's small dirt mound.

"Nine out of fifteen were about the weather."

Nack shook his head, "Where are they now?" He asked.

Bark shrugged, "Either looking for trouble or making it," He stated, "They didn't let me in on their plans."

"Hmm..." Nack said, somewhat frustrated, "This is going to be tougher than I thought... Let's see how Bean and the Beaver are doing."

Bark was pleased to stop digging. Not even halfway through the job and he was already wondering if he would ever get the dirt off his hands. Lucky Bean, Bark thought, Not having to dig at all. But then Bark saw the usual dazed, confused look on the duck's face and realized that perhaps Bean was not so lucky after all.

The Beaver looked up from where he and Bean were haunched over what Bark assumed were the remains of Mandy and headed toward Bark and Nack like an express train. He was out of breath when he announced, "Oh, dear, oh, dear."

"Calm down," said Bark, "Come on, take a breath."

The Beaver sucked in air with such force that Bark felt his fur tingle. "Oh, my, oh, dear, oh, my," he exclaimed as he exhaled. "This is terrible, just truly awful."

"What?" Bark asked, not sure that he wanted to know.

"You tell them Bean." The Beaver said as Nack and Bark approached the frightened duck.

"It was a warning!" Bean shouted so loud that Bark was sure the people in China heard.

"We asked her about the secret," The Beaver continued, "At first she wouldn't talk. Then when she did, it was more of a riddle than an answer: 'My fate is a mirror in which to see. One look in and end like me'."

Nack nodded slowly as he repeated the words. "My fate is a mirror in which to see. One look in and end like me." He looked of towards the hotel. It appeared that Eliah was now where to be seen. "This is my chance. Maybe I can find something. Like treasure..." Nack added under his breath.

"But Nack," Bean said, "The warning." The weasel was halfway across the lawn when Bark said the rest. "What if Mandy means you?"

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Please review. I'll try to update again before Friday.

-Dandylions