Smiley Tie - 2

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I have to be out of my mind Anton said to himself as the slipped back through the door he'd just escaped through. The three children followed closely behind him on tiptoe. They were headed for the back stairs when Gertie blew through the kitchen door on a mission. Anyone else would have continued about their business and not given him a second thought. But Gertie had been with the family for decades and had a soft spot in her heart for the rogue son of the manor.

"And what are you hooligans up to now?" she asked, hands planted firmly on her ample hips, elbows akimbo.

Anton stood up straight. "My friends here wanted a peek at the festivities, so we were going upstairs to the balcony to watch for a few minutes."

"I see." She looked the children up and down. "Herman, Joseph, and Pauline I believe your parents would skin you alive if they knew what you were up to."

How she knew everyone and everything still amazed Anton. The children froze in their tracks, and Anton imagined how their hearts were racing. They were so close, and she was going to send them packing without a glimpse. Pauline's eyes were already clouding.

"Go and be quick. But not so quick as you're gone when I send Celia up with your cake and punch."

Now there was a woman who never forgot what it was like to be a child. Of course his father would be quick to point out she was nothing but a servant, but Anton got the feeling she was perfectly happy doing what she did, and didn't find the work demeaning or any less fulfilling than his father's. One thing was certain. She smiled a lot more than his father did.

"Bless you Gertie!"

"Oh, and maybe those shoes should stay here," she said, looking down at the children's feet which still had a bit of flowerbed clinging to them where no doubt they'd been trying to tip-toe high enough to see through a window. Anton shucked his pinching shoes with joy, the others lined their's up beside his, and they were off on their adventure.



A few minutes later the four of them were lurking in the shadows of one of the balconies upstairs that overlooked the ballroom floor. Anton knew exactly where the lights were dimmest; he had spent many a boring party doing some entertaining of his own in those same shadows. Tonight's escapade seemed a bit more...wholesome. Forbidden but wholesome.

"Will the cake be chocolate?" Herman asked.

"I don't really know," Anton said. "If it's not we can always send it back."

"Isn't it simply gorgeous. Oh, Mr. Anton." Pauline was awe struck from the moment she caught her first glimpse of the festivities. "Someday I want to know how to dance like that." She started moving closer to the railing.

"You should start now," Anton replied. "They're waltzing. It's easy. Your feet go like this."

He was in the midst of getting his toes thoroughly trounced when the goodies appeared and dancing was immediately abandoned. They settled into seats to eat.

"Looks like you got your wish, Herman," Anton said as he cut into the cake. The chocolate was deep, smooth and rich, and the buttercream icing--Sarah in the kitchen had outdone herself with that batch.

"Did I ever!" he said after he swallowed.

Pauline was still drawn by the activity below. The waltz had changed to a livelier beat. She craned her neck to see over the railing.

"Pauline, you can move up to the railing and watch if you want. Just leave the drink here, okay? It won't get spilled that way."

"I can take the cake with me?"

"Sure, just try not to get sticky fingers on anything if you can help it."
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Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting episode of Smiley Tie.