It was still very cold but the mark on the calendar at the school was the first day of spring. That was a week ago and whenever he was sent into the mountain village to retrieve things Hero noticed a change of attitude among the dwellers.

                Flowers were imported into the shops and females wore fancier hats and brightly colored coats. The school also took on a change. No more foreign students were brought in. Instead by order of the emperor of Mount Lions it returned to its old original function as a boarding school.

                There were no foreign children remaining after the spring auction and the program was cancelled.

                The Mount children were of course treated better and spent afternoons learning songs and etiquette as well as Impa. Head Mistress' school which Hero learned had a proper name: His Imperial Majesties School of the Pure, climbed back to the top list of boarding schools.

                Maringa never made it to auction and traded in her uniform for a gray pinafore and took up cleaning indoors which pushed Hero to more outdoor activities.

                "I hate cleaning china," Maringa pouted as she spun her rag around the plate and passed it to Hero to put back in the curio.

                "Stop complaining." Awash told her as he cleaned forks. "Would you rather be polishing the floor...stairs included?"

                Hero shook his head at the two. They were like brother and sister when it came to arguments. From the dining room they would hear the singing of the Mount children.

                "They do have beautiful voices," Siloam said as she walked in. "How are you all today?"

                "We're cleaning the devil's china, how are we supposed to feel?" Maringa blurted out and the goat laughed.

                 "Well I'd rather clean her china than make her bed and clean her other dwellings." Siloam said picking a spare rag and plate.

                "Would you rather clean forks as well?" Awash asked and poked her with the utensil.

                "Stop" she giggled.

                Hero smiled. He was happy to see them getting along better. He leaned forward on his ladder and listened to the children singing. "Their voices may be nice but the lyrics make me cringe. How can anyone believe that one nation of people is purer than another?"

                "All this time you've been here Hero," Maringa said as she held a plate up for inspection. "And you still haven't learned that what Mounts do makes no sense." She handed the plate up to him but released it before he had a grip on it.

                The plate seemed to tumble to the ground in slow motion. It hit the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

                They all looked to the door then Siloam ran over to get the pieces. "We'll arrange them in the curio so she'll never notice one his missing," she said putting the pieces in the pockets of her pinafore.

                Awash shook his head. "She'll know."

                "It's always my fault," Maringa said.

                "Hush now," Siloam said, "I'll be in town tomorrow and I'll look for something similar."

Just then they heard footsteps up the hall and not a moment later Head Mistress appeared, ruler in wing. "Well, I hope you little brats aren't breaking anything." She looked them over one by one and her eyes lingered on Siloam before focusing on her pockets.

                Hero felt his heart drop for her.

                Head Mistress grabbed the girl and emptied her pockets on to the floor. "Trying to hide things from me, eh?"

                Siloam kept her head down and Head Mistress snatched off her maid bonnet. "Look at me you little ingrate!" She hissed grabbing her by the ear and making her yelp.

                "Head Mistress it wasn't her fault." Hero interjected and all eyes went up to him. He looked at his friends knowing the outcome was not going to be good. "I was careless." He came down the ladder with his tail lowered and stood before the emu. "I broke the plate. Siloam was collecting the pieces to show you." He bowed his head.

                There was a long silence in which Head Mistress looked at each of the children.

                "Well," she finally said with a smirk. "You just keep digging yourself deeper in debt." She grabbed hold of Hero's ear. "I'll teach you some respect." She dragged him from the room.

                Awash shot Maringa an angry look. "You should have been more careful."

                "I'm sorry," Maringa wept. "I'm sorry Hero."

                Hero was marched into the kitchen were Cook was sleeping, her head on the table. The swinging door slamming against the wall woke her up.

                Kidron had been sitting in the corner and ran over to the table when Head Mistress entered.

                "Stretch him out!" She ordered and with that Cook grabbed Hero's arms and Kidron his legs. Then they lifted him onto the table and held him there. Head Mistress went over to the fireplace and Hero prepared to be fed hot food.

                "I'll teach you to respect this school and it's property." Head Mistress said jabbing the poker into the coal."Gag him." Head Mistress said and Cook grabbed a rag off the table. "We don't want to frighten the children." In went the rag and down came the iron. 

He thrashed and tried to cry out but to no avail.

                Head Mistress threw the Iron to the brick floor and Cook and Kidron released Hero's legs. Any ounce of movement brought Hero pain.

                "Get him up to the attic before anyone sees," Head Mistress said. "Hurry up," she snapped and Cook and Kidron got moving.

                They left Hero on the floor of the attic where it was still very cold. For once Hero welcomed the chill against his burning skin.

                He was aware when night came for the floors below became deafly quiet. He heard the attic door creak open and little paw pats come his way.

                "Oh, Hero," Maringa wept. "I'm sorry Hero, forgive me."

                "I'll be all right," He spoke in a whisper. "We still have to escape remember." He tried to reach for her but didn't have the energy. "You'd better go before the agents catch you. And I think you and Awash should avoid me for now. Tell him I said that."

                "I will," Maringa said and she hurried out of the room pulling the door closed gently behind her. Hero sighed and rolled over on the floor to see out the window.