Merianna was once again tired and groggy from sleeping on the cold ground. It was if she slept on the hundred mattresses hiding a single pea...if she was that fair a princess. She and Meirin kept their adventure a secret from the rest of the staff. There was work to be done...if she could find any. Being the newest addition and thus the lowest ranking, she didn't have anything to do.

She figured Bardroy would have something for her to do and like a good scullery maid; she made her way to the kitchen. On the way there, she heard a large explosion that rocked the house and she fell on her derrière with a yelp. Heavy black smoke arose from the kitchen and she heard coughing coming from inside. Some creature appeared and advanced to her with glowing eyes and sharp claws, although most of it was veiled by the smoke.

"What have you done to Bardroy?" She screamed.

The creature laughed and took off its goggles. He switched the kitchen utensils from his hands and offered a hand to help her up. It was just Bardroy, his white chef uniform a charred black and his messy hair looking even messier. She took his hand and stared in amazement at the kitchen...or what was left of it...She pulled a rag from her pocket and wiped some of the black soot off his uniform.

"Ah, don't worry about it" He said. "We can wash all this off later."

He stepped back into the burned-out kitchen once the smoke dissipated; starting to rummage through whatever survived the blast. Pots and pans lay on the ground screaming in pain and it looked like a brontosaurus confused as a stegosaurus rampaged through it. Merianna wanted to ask what and how this happened, but she didn't want to lower whatever dignity Bardroy had left and helped clean up. By the end, her uniform was as soot-covered as his was. They looked at each other and laughed good-heartedly.

"So, how do you like this mansion so far, Snowy?" He asked. "Maybe…apart from cleaning after me."

"I don't mind." She replied kindly, "I like having someone to take care after. It makes me feel useful, needed."

Bardroy fetched a broom and was sweeping the floor, although some of the sticky ashes clung stubbornly to the ground. Merianna arrived with the cavalry: a bucket and mop. After a good washing, the kitchen looked the way it always was, but it was an improvement. Bardroy slumped into his chair and sighed, passing a glass of water over to Merianna. She took the seat across from him and gladly accepted it.

"I'm used to cooking food as quick as possible, which isn't easy on the battlefield. Sebastian's warned me thousands of times not to use dynamite inside the house." He recalled, lighting up a cigarette. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks though."

Merianna stared warily at the small wrapped up tobacco.

"You don't smoke, do you?" Bardroy asked.

She shook her head, looking away. "It makes you cough."

"Good thing you don't then..."

Merianna held a hand up to cover her mouth, as if she could block herself from saying anything more. She was recalling memories again, but now was neither the place nor the time. She examined the web-like cracks on the walls, to distract herself. No doubt some were there for a long time.

"Do they make you into bad people?" She whispered.

Part of her wanted to know but she wasn't sure if the answer would make her feel any better. He gave her a questionable gaze and a mumbled 'huh?'

She sighed. "Nothing..."

Perhaps she was asking too many personal questions.

Bardroy scratched his head. "I hope it doesn't. Why? Are you scared of me or something?"

She shook her head feverently. "I knew someone that did...that's all."

She smiled at him to make up for the awkwardness.

Bardroy understood without a word and smushed the half-used cigarette on the table. He got up and asked her if she was busy or had anything else to do. When she replied no, he handed her a folded piece of paper.

"You can read, right? I have a list of ingredients we need for dinner today, and was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the town to pick them up."

He dug into his pockets and took out a handful of coins, slamming them on the table, telling Merianna to hold the money.

"Put them in a safe place, now." He warned. "We don't want to have that...incident...happen again."

Merianna stayed close to Bardroy while they manoeuvred the market. People were shouting everywhere and bustling around, searching for the best deals. Merianna held the shopping list and followed Bardroy, occasionally shouting out the next item on the list. So far, they had potatoes, leeks, parsley, mutton and oranges. Merianna couldn't imagine these ingredients together in a meal. They were now on the search for some haddock fish.

Suddenly someone bumbling around the streets crashed into Merianna, who was blown off onto her butt. She groaned as she got up, looking at the person who collided into her. It was an old woman wrapped up in dirty, thin clothing. She apologized profusely to Merianna while bending down to pick up some of the apples that fell from her basket. Her wrinkled hands shook as she slowly tried to bend down to reach them, but it was visibly difficult for her.

The old woman watched helplessly as some were trodden by careless passer-bys and even a carriage ran over them. The young girl she crashed into bent down to pick up two apples that rolled over near her and offered them back to her. Although it was only two, it was better than nothing.

Merianna knew how it felt to be poor, to have food in your hands snatched away by fate itself and crushed-even by something as simple as an accident. She managed to find one more uncrushed apple for the old woman before making sure she was unhurt by the collision, and then wished her a safe journey back. Turning around, she realized she lost Bardroy in the crowd.

She pulled at her apron anxiously. Only Bardroy knew where Tanaka had parked the carriage and the way around the bustling market. She stood on the tips of her toes trying to oversee the area. The last item they were looking for was haddock fish, so she reasoned to find the fish stalls.

"'Scuse me ma'am but could'a spare a few coins for a small child?" a raspy voice asked.

The kid kept his head bowed under his beret, but Merianna recognized it as Trip-Links, pulling at her apron and making his way to the pocket, an old a word, she took a step back cautiously. Confused, he looked up at her.

"It-It's you!" He realized.

Frightened, he ran off and disappeared with the crowd. Merianna found the edge of the market, where the vegetables were being sold and attempted to walk around until she found fish…or smelt it. There was still no sign of Bardroy though and she was beginning to wonder how she would get back to the mansion. Suddenly, her ears pricked up. Did someone call her name?

She wasn't sure if it was Bardroy or not, but she ran towards where she heard her name being called. A small crowd was gathering around something in the distance. She clearly heard her name now, and it was Bardroy's voice. Merianna pushed between people muttering apologies and made her way to the center.

Bardroy had a basket of groceries in one hand, and in the other, Trip-Links, wailing to be let go and put down on the ground. Merianna flustered at the sight of them both in the same place.

"Oi, Merianna! You know this kid?" He yelled.

She felt numerous eyes suddenly turned as he addressed her and grew hot. She silently hoped Trip-Links didn't say anything embarrassing or awful about her to him.

"Hey, you little brat, you better apologize to her right now!" He growled menacingly.

Trip-Links looked at his reproachfully. "I ain't apalojizing for saying the truth! She's a witch I tell you! She's a white-haired witch! That's what they all says!" He screamed.

"What's that?!" Bardroy yelled back. "Listen, you puny twerp! I'll kick your little bum all the way t-"

"I-It's okay." Merianna said, tensing up from all the bad publicity. "It's okay, Bardroy. Just let him go."

Bardroy seemed to understand her embarrassment, and slowly let Trip-Links back on the ground, giving him a whack on the head before he straightened his hat. This was not how Merianna expected to find him. She could feel Trip-Links and Bardroy staring daggers at each other. The crowd seemed to lose interest, although the two boys kept their stances and grimacing faces.

"Ey! Whoever's messin' with my cousin gets a beef of me!" A voice suddenly yelled.

The crowd was against pushed away by three more young men. Merianna unfortunately, recognized Cuffs as the speaker, followed by Step-Strings and Oliva. They glared angrily at Bardroy while Trip-Links ran up to him. He whispered into Step-String's ear and pointed at Bardroy. Step-Strings punched a fist to his palm, a gesture of aggression. Bardroy unconsciously took a cigarette and lit it.

"This your bastard of a cousin?" He asked.

Merianna had a feeling this was going to turn into a fight, but her feet and fists were paralyzed with anxiety that already struck her when she walked here. Apparently the others had yet to notice her presence. Both sides looked ready to go at each other's throats and she could tell by the expression on Step-String's face that he was not amused by the question. The other two beside him bristled, ready to fight.

"Ya got a problem, bud? We'll settle it raight here, raight now."

No, don't fight! Her mind yelled. Although nothing came out of her mouth, she felt her body shaking with the will to move, battling against the instinct to stay put.

"We aren't afraids of you." Cuffs growled.

"Yeah? What's a scrawny kid like you gonna do?"

She had to react, was she going to stop Bardroy or the others? He was outnumbered and what was she supposed to do? Her voice went dry and a stone sat in it.

"I can take any punch from you kids without even flinching!" Bardroy challenged.

She didn't have to use her voice at all. Instead, she managed to free herself from paralysis and stepped in front of Bardroy to yell at the boys for causing so much trouble to him. A hard object suddenly crashed into her forehead and sent her reeling backwards. She felt hands around her shoulders steadying her before she fell backwards.

"Merianna?! What the hell?!" Two voices yelled in unison.

She held a hand to her forehead, which felt warm. When she retracted her hand, fresh blood was oozing out and staining it. Bardroy had managed to catch her before she gave herself more injury with the ground.

"Sorry…I-I'm…getting blood on your…all your clothing…" She muttered as she got back on her own feet.

Cuffs was looking bewildered at her. Everyone else was looking at her, surprised how she appeared out of nowhere. Mutterings and even a lady's scream erupted from the crowd around them.

Merianna couldn't stand how much her forehead was hurting and dropped to her knees, clutching the wound with her two hands and groaning in pain. She doubted it cracked open her skull, but it felt like a lightning bolt struck it a dozen times in the same spot.

"I-I-I didns't know…I uh…!" She heard Cuffs stutter. "I didns't mean to…"

Merianna saw him get to his knees in front of her and drop the metal handcuffs he used as a weapon. She bit down hard to stifle the screaming that was happening inside of her head. She could tell her face was going red and she was threatened by tears…again.

"Great going, asshole!" She heard Bardroy yell.

"I didsn't think she'd intervene outta nowhere!"

Step-Strings joined in: "Why is Blood-Eyes even here in the first place?"

The fighting and accusations continued sailing over her while she still clung her head and calmed her raging body down. She didn't expect to get hit in the head by Cuffs, but just hoped that she wouldn't be again. She knew that if she relaxed her body, the pain would cause her vocal chords to rip themselves screaming.

"Who the hell even uses metal handcuffs for a fist fight?!"

"Bloody hell…the bobbies are coming here!" Oliva warned.

Using all the muscles she had, she slowly got on her hands and onto her feet. The blood ran from her forehead down her eyes and past her nose, almost reaching her lips and chin. It had a sour, bitter smell and it was dripping uncontrollably.

"Cuffs, that hurt! You didn't even mean that!" She accused, wiping the blood and tears that flowed over her eyes.

Cuffs held up an oversized coat sleeve to cover his face, which was growing red in a silent response at the accusation. The way Merianna said it sounded like a child demanded their candy back from another child. Oliva tugged at Step-String's sleeves annoyingly, whispering that the policemen were arriving in their direction.

"Of course I didns't mean it!" He yelled back defensively.

He muttered an embarrassing apology to her, muffled by his sleeve before they took off on swift feet in the opposite direction. Merianna had to keep clearing her eyes of blood, although the pain was steadily dulling.

"Geez, Snowy! What were you thinking, tossing yourself into a man's fight like that?!" Bardroy barked.

He softened up when she turned around and revealed her blood-soaked face.

"I…I thought I could stop it…" she admitted.

"Dammit…let's just get you to a doctor and go home before we get into anymore trouble…"

"M-Meri! Wh-What happened!" Meirin cried in surprise, almost dropping the stack of dishes she was about to put away.

Merianna came back with her head wrapped up in bandages, most of it covering her eyes. She couldn't argue with the doctor, but she could tell he did not have experience in the finer arts of wrapping. Bardroy had to shamefully explain the events that unfolded at the market and how it led it Merianna having yet another head injury. Although she was wounded, Merianna still offered help with the chores. Eventually, they managed to have her settle down and lie on the couch to help heal the wound. She was initially worried that she would bleed on the cushions and create more housework, but she eventually drifted off to sleep.

Bardroy felt awful that he wasn't watching Snowy more carefully. If she didn't get lost, she would've been spared the injury and embarrassment. He still wondered how the four thugs knew her though. She shouldn't have gone between them anyways. The handcuffs one was aiming for his chest, a respectable target for his issued challenge, but with Snowy suddenly stepping it, it became a fatal blow to the forehead.

He found her snoozing away on the couch as he was going to tell her that dinner was ready downstairs, but opted to lend her his chef coat as a blanket for the meantime. He leaned over to take a look at the bandages and noted that they needed to be changed…once she awoke. He figured he'd let her sleep for ten more minutes until he would wake her up. Bardroy thought he heard her say something, watching if her lips were moving.

"…sirscunus…Vaint…"

After that mumbling, there was no more. He shrugged it off as sleep-talk, as Meirin informed him that Merianna was prone to doing and waited for another two minutes. Suddenly, the coat was flung off and Merianna got up, feeling the wound on her head.

"Hey, Snowy. How're you feeling?"

She did not reply, but instead turned to him with cold, unwavering eyes peering from underneath the bandages. It was as if she was looking into his soul and working up a good insult to throw at him.

"Don't you regret it?" She asked, in a clear voice.

He was at a loss of words. What did she mean? He had no time to ask before something felt warm dripping down his head. It was blood.

"You have a niece you left behind in America. Will she repent for your sin?"

Merianna seemed to have sprouted multiple wings from behind her and Bardroy felt himself falling backwards. The world became a mixture of white and the red of blood…

"Bardroy…Bardroy…"

He muttered a 'go away' and turned onto his side. There were multiple fingers jabbing into his shoulder and arm. He swiped them away and got up, his eyes burning at the sudden light.

"Geez, Bard." Meirin said. "We send you to fetch Meri and what do you do? Take a nap on the ground without even waking her up before!"

He looked around and saw an annoyed Meirin poking him awake. Finny and Merianna stood next to her, smiling down at him. He must have woken up from a bad dream. His chef coat was strewn over him, although he swore he lent it to Merianna. His friends helped him get up off the floor and to the dinner table.

The resulting meal was supposed to be a 'beef stew'. It had the ingredients for a 'beef stew' and had the consistency of 'beef stew'. However, the colour was not similar to 'beef stew' and certainly the flavour was very unlike 'beef stew'. A cheap imitation was not even the correct term for the meal Bardroy piled together in their five bowls. Not even Tanaka could give him friendly standard 'hohohoh' at such a meal.

"I wish Sebastian were back!" Finny whined, poking a spoon at a piece of cracked bone. "Even the leftovers from his meals were good!"

Merianna ate a spoonful, and another. It didn't taste as bad to her, but any food was tasty food for her. Meirin choked down several drops at a time, not wanting to offend her friend. Bardroy too, had no problems eating his own cooking, except for adding a bit of salt to flavour. Merianna noticed how the others looked at her in surprise when she was eating the stew.

It tasted okay to her because of her experience with hunger and starvation. Where any kind of food tasted good.

After dinner and the subsequent dish-washing, the servants all had leisure time to spend. Finny had gathered a small bouquet of lavender flowers to present to Merianna. Her head injury looked bad and he heard that bad fumes would cause disease to spread inside her cranium. Lavender should drive away the bad spirits. He asked Meirin where she was, and headed to the library. He had never gone there himself, simply tolerating its existence. Along the way, he caught up with Bardroy, who had a roll of bandages in his hands, intent of re-applying Snowy's.

Merianna was in the library, sitting in a small chair in front of the fire. A footrest stood in front of her, servicing her in holding books instead of feet. She seemed to be deeply entranced by the novel in her hands, not even noticing her two friends coming in. She gave a small giggle, most likely from a funny scene in the book. Finny looked at Bardroy, who returned the uncomfortable gaze. He walked to the seat opposite to her and sat down, directly watching her. She still didn't seem to notice. Finny walked to the side of Merianna's chair, close enough that he could read over her shoulder. She still didn't notice.

"Hey Snowy." Bardroy greeted.

She suddenly jolted from her book and yelped when she found Finny at her side. She apologized shyly for not noticing them and buried her nose in the book

"You weren't thinking of falling asleep here again, were you Meri?" Finny joked lightly.

Bardroy helped her unravel the bandages, which showed all shades of red as it soaked up the blood. Despite the heavy bleeding, it was healing well with no sign of infection or dirt. She continued reading while Bardroy wrapped them. Finny found a vase to place the flowers in and brought it close to her. When he was done, he stepped back to admire his handiwork, and then sat down in the chair across from her, meaning to have a discussion with her.

"Who were those ruffians back in town?" He asked in a direct manner.

He caught her twitch in her seat and her hands clamped the covers of the book tighter.

"Just a bunch of boys, I'm sure."

He persisted. "It sounded like they knew you…and you knew them…"

She stayed silent.

"Meri, are these people after you?" Finny asked innocently.

She stayed silent. Bardroy could tell this was going nowhere and fumbled for a cigarette. He lit it using the fire in the room and held it to his mouth. Apparently that caught Merianna's attention, and she was staring angrily at it.

"Bard!" Finny scolded. "Don't smoke in here, it'll make Merianna sick!"

He scoffed and threw the fully-usable cigarette into the fireplace, the pack still on his lap. His mind was already stressed when suddenly a hand snatched the carton away from him. Merianna held it away from him and looked down at it with a pained look.

"H-Hey!" He objected.

"I don't want you smoking these…" She said. "They make you fight people and make you do bad things!"

She clutched them close to her body while Bardroy stood up to get them back. As if she were putting a last wish into them, she threw the carton into the fireplace. Finny have a loud gasp as it burned up. Bardroy was just about to yell and shake Merianna by the shoulders. Instead, she took the hard-covered novel and started hitting Bardroy's chest with it.

"I don't want you to become like them! I don't want you to be coughing all the time and then needing to have to do bad things like fighting and yelling!" She squeaked. "Why don't you stop when it makes you cough and doesn't taste good at all?!"

She kept hitting him, but not in a way that would seriously hurt him. She was like a little child trying to knock some sense into him in the way only an innocent child knew how. She continued like this, but Bardroy didn't object to it. She was usually a quiet person, and now might be the only way she expressed how she felt about it.

She stopped when a sudden pain hurt her head, and she stepped back, holding a hand over the sore spot. Her eyes were shimmery and her hands were shaky with agitation.

"I'm sorry." She huffed. "I don't want to see you becoming like the others. They told me they were thieves because they needed the money. They spent the money on those smoking sticks…they died thin and pale because they didn't buy food…They were kind to me and cared for everyone, but their hearts only belonged to spending the few coins they had on the smoking sticks…cigarettes…"

"…Alright…" was all he could say. "I will if you tell me about those guys. I don't want them on our backs every time we have to go back to town. What happened back there?"

The three of them sat back down into the seats. Merianna wiped her eyes and fidgeted nervously, trying to make her words and sentences connect.

"The little child…He was trying to pick my pocket, but I recognized him and stopped him. When he recognized me too, he went running off. That must have been when you ran into him…His name is Trip-Links…"

"Trip-Links? Is that a sort of nickname or something?" Finny asked.

She nodded. "On the streets, we usually give each other names…based on a memorable event or innovation the individual made. It's a way of being defined, a fairy tale for every person. His name came from the time he stole a link of sausages from the butcher's one day, and he was successful with his haul until he tripped on the links, dropping the sausages where it was quickly eaten by strays."

Merianna stopped to stifle a small giggle.

Finny still wanted to hear more "So then what's yours, Meri?"

"My first…was Ghost-Walker…They said that I was so light I could step pass people without them even noticing the wind move…just like a ghost. The second…you've probably heard…Blood-Eyes…because my eyes and face become red when I cry…quite frequently…"

The latter was obviously an insult which made her uncomfortable.

"So…you used to hang around with these people…" Bardroy commented, crossing his arms and leaning back.

She took a deep breath and exhaled a positive response. "Our small group…started out small but I suppose there are more who have joined…we work together to live on. There are only two or three adults who help us, mostly just for bargaining price sales on the things we steal. We called each other cousins, no matter what we were…even though"

She gave a small smile.

"Even though I was the only girl, they took me in and cared very much for me. Even though the winters were cold and so were the people, we shared everything. Food, heat, space… In a sense we were a family…"

Bardroy nodded. "So they did know you…that guy that hit you with the handcuffs and the red-haired boy…"

"Please don't hold it against them…!" She pleaded. "The red haired one who first approached you was Step-Strings. He is a summer younger than me, but he already has ingenious ideas and is taller than me. It was he that devised a fishing technique to pull hooked pouches and money-bags from pockets. Oliva was the young boy, simply a new addition to the family who had yet to have a title, so we call him how he calls himself…Oliva. The one that tried to attack you was someone…"

The door burst open and in a frantic sight, Meirin appeared, holding a letter in her hands. She called to him and put at letter in his hands. It seemed to have been frayed, folded and have travelled a far away land. He looked at the front and on the back at the envelope awaiting opening.

"It was delivered by a different postman than usual. He said it was urgent and be read by you." She reported.

She fetched a pen knife for him, although by that time, he was already tearing at the envelope, a worn paper emerging. It had nothing interesting, but Bardroy had his eyes glued to it, reading it with wide eyes.

"W-What's wrong, Bard?" Finny asked, worried.

He squeezed the paper in his hands, visibly agitated. "It's my sister's daughter, Ceceila. She fell unconscious and had to be taken in to a hospital…She has something wrong with her head, and it's causing it to bleed heavily…She might die if my sister doesn't have the funds for the surgery they need…she needs me to write her some money for the treatment…"

He crunched the letter up, dropped it and held his head in his hands. "I don't even know if I have enough money from my wages! And how am I supposed to send that much money over to the New Worlds?"

"We'll share!" Finny shouted. "I don't need the money Young Master gives me! I would gladly give it to you, Bard. Please take it!"

"Me too!" Meirin added. "Your niece might be in danger if she doesn't go through with it!"

"How are we going to send it though…? I have no idea how to…do these things…"

Merianna spoke up. "I can write. I can write a letter and I know how to mail it across the countries as well. It might have to cross France and Spain before being sent across the ocean…but I know how to write in those languages too."

Bardroy extended his arms and managed to catch his three friends in them, pulling them in to a group hug. He grinned and felt a loving warmness spread inside him. He thanked them for their kindness.

Enclosed in the envelope were many bills, all were large numbers, a note to the postmen about the amount enclosed and enough money for the fare across the ocean. There was also a letter to Bardroy's sister and niece, consoling them and assuring them that all will go well. Now it was up to Merianna to deliver it to the post office and sign whatever was necessary for the transfer of funds.

Since all her wages went directly to the payment for breaking the rose bush (aka she has no money), the least she could do was write the necessary documents, letters and deliver it to the post office. Although the servants could read, none of them had the penmanship skills other than Tanaka, although he was already asleep at the time.

As her heels clacked on the stone road, she wondered how far the letter would go. For sure it would have to pass into French borders. Maybe she should have written the directions and address in Italian as well as the French and English already included. For a second, she imagined using a magic spell of potion to shrink herself to fit into the letter and setting off to explore America, meeting Bardroy's niece and then returning back to England through another letter.

She hummed a small tune to herself. The roads were bare as most people went to church that early morning. Since there were no people, she sang a little louder and skipped along the roads. A young man sitting on a bench nearby suddenly got up and blocked her from going further.

"Step-Strings!" She gasped.

His rusty hair was tied back and his clothes were especially dirty today. His hands were casually shoved in the pockets of his trousers. The freckles on his face matched his eyes, the ones he used to examine her.

"What're ya doing, Blood-Eyes? In that fancy get-up. Is this anoth' ploy or did ya suddenly deecide to go an' buy a nice dress for yerself?" He questioned. "I thought you were ones of us, Blood-Eyes."

She took a step back, feeling a little guilty and compassion. "I can't…I stopped running around with you guys. I have a working job now…and I think it's better like this. You…You guys too…should stop before something bad happens…"

She turned to leave, but he stopped her.

"Wait!"

He brought out a small patch of white-coloured flowers. "From Cuffs. He says he's sorry fer yesterday, that he didn't means to hit ya'. He says he heard that bad fumes are gunna make ya feel worse than that punch did."

She pulled away the bandages on her head. After washing her hair free of the red staining, it was healing like magic. Step-Strings took note of her much better condition. She thanked him, and showed him two coins, which she put into her apron pocket and continued walking, swerving around him.

"I found them on the road. Someone must have dropped them…Thanks for the message."

He smiled as he let her walk past him.

"He calls 'em Snowdrops or something like that."

While the two walked away from each other, she reached into her apron pocket and found not the two coins, but a small patch of Snowdrop flowers tied together with a string. Although their smell was not as strong, the message he gave her came across clearly.