part0063

A nnika wanted to shriek and run, but great bandits never shrieked and ran, although there were occasions where one of those two might be warranted, such as shrieking to confuse an enemy in a fight or running away from the law.

As soon as the werepenguin transformations had completed, fighting broke out again. Blackburn’s sword whistled and his cries of “Borscht!” thundered across the room.

Bolt lay on the ground, the Earl-penguin standing over him and about to bludgeon him with that egg. The Earl-penguin sneered and the Bolt-penguin quivered and, despite her desire to be the world’s greatest bandit, Annika shrieked.

Glass shards rained down, and with them, a giant winged creature swooped into the room followed by dozens of dirty white birds.

Annika had never seen a were-gull before, but she knew that’s what it was. The creature was a little shorter than Gentoo had been, with the face of a seagull but also large green eyes. Gentoo’s wings flapped, whipping air through the room, swaying drapes and blowing Annika’s hair. She wished she had brought more bobby pins.

Gentoo swooped down and collided against the Earl’s unguarded backside. He dropped the egg, which narrowly missed Bolt’s head and instead fell on the Earl’s foot. “My toes!” he yelped in a half-human and half-bird yowl, hopping and cursing.

An injured foot was the least of his worries. The were-gull fell upon him, pecking at his head with her long yellow beak. Seagulls also flew in and pecked. The Earl swung his iron wing. The birds flitted out of the way.

Gentoo hovered above the Earl, her beating wings sending currents of wind around the room. But she was unable to dive closer without being thwacked by the Earl’s mighty iron wing.

Annika didn’t see the beak jutting toward her own head, but she heard Blackburn cry, “Duck!” which was odd, because there were no ducks in the room, only penguins and seagulls. But Annika ducked, and Blackburn’s swordfish whistled over her head and struck a penguin who had been creeping behind her. “Don’t just stand there, missy! Free yer father!”

Annika nodded. Everyone was distracted watching the seagull fight, and a great bandit always took advantage of distractions. That was the secret to pickpocketing—nudging someone gently on the shoulder and when they turned, deftly sticking a hand into their other pocket.

As the battle continued all around her, Annika stepped sideways, gritting her teeth as her ankle throbbed. She moved slowly enough so no one paid attention to her.

As the Earl swatted his wings at the were-gull hovering above him, Annika eased her way to her father’s cage.

When she reached it, her father ran to the bars. His eyes were wet. “Annika,” Vigi said. “I love you, but you must go. Quickly, while no one sees you.”

Picking locks wasn’t the only thing Annika did well. Instead of reaching for a bobby pin in her hair, she lifted a set of keys from her pocket. She had deftly swiped them from the Earl’s pocket during their fight. “I knew I’d never beat him,” she said. “But I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” She then reached through the cage bars and pulled a gold coin from her father’s ear. “See?”

She and her father embraced. For a moment, Annika completely forgot about murderous werepenguins and flying human seagulls, even though those are not the sort of things that are easy to forget.

“I am now.” He gave her a final squeeze, one that Annika wished could last forever. But they would have time for further hugging later. “Let’s find Felipe and get out of here.”

Annika and her father kept to the side of the wall as they inched their way toward the main door, still unnoticed by the penguin soldiers. They could leave this cursed city. They would be a family again. They would be safe.

But what of Bolt? And the people of Sphen? Weren’t they part of her dreams now, too?

“No,” said Annika. “I’m stopping.” She knew how un-bandit-like her next words were, and that the greatest bandit the world has ever known would never say these words. But she wasn’t just a bandit, but a loyal friend, too. “I told Bolt I would help. And a bandit never breaks his or her word.”