~```~```~

J oss and OtR pelted down the dim passage as fast as they could. Faintly, Shadow Dragon could be heard bellowing down the dirt chute, concerned for her friends. Without stopping, Joss and Over the Rainbow piled up a mound of dirt, packing it it up breathlessly. Their minds were a whirl, and it didn't occur to them to solace Shadow until they were halfway up the pitch-black burrow. 

"We're fine, we're right here, Shadow," Joss shouted up wearily. 

Slowly but surely, the CBettes' tired limbs were hauling them closer to the light. Grab foothold, step up. Grab foothold, step up. Grab foothold, step up. The monotonous pattern swam through their heads for a good ten minutes until they felt strong claws help to heave them up and out of the earthen mine shaft. 

The sweaty, dirty CBers laid down and closed their eyes on the tall grass for a few moments at the edge of the hole, catching their breath and cooling off. Shadow sat anxiously watching them, pacing back and forth over a well-worn thatch of flattened grass. When OtR finally rose into a sitting position, she was pummeled with fretful questions by the dragon.

"What happened? You asked me to blow fire and disappeared! I thought I'd burned you. I was careful, but still! And I yelled and yelled and yelled but you didn't answer! I think the others already went back to the house for lunch! They'll be looking for us! So, what did you see? You look haunted, like you saw a ghost."

Joss sat up next to OtR. "We did," she said, much to Shadow's surprise. 

"Was it, like, from a book or anything? Marley's ghost? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"It was Micearenice, Will, Chip, Holly, Joan, Hotairballoon, Cho Chang, Abigail. All of them. They were working for the murderer, but they couldn't talk, so I asked them yes-or-no questions and they said they weren't doing it on their own free will."

Shadow looked blank. She sort of half-smiled, and then pursed her brow, then frowned and looked at them. "Seriously? Can I see them? Where were you? Rrrg, there's so much I want to know!!!"

"We'll tell you when we tell everybody else at lunch. But it was in the murderer's hideout,--"

"Woah. The murderer's hideout?! You should've been more careful!"

"Yeah, we were in and out really fast, no worries. Anyway, how how are we going to keep the murderer from hearing this when we tell everyone?" Joss realized the need for secrecy with a deep frown. "I guess we'll have to tell the farmer only. These are dark times, guys. Dark times. Let's just go back to the house and say we were exploring the mines. If we get in trouble, oh well."

Shadow scouted the quickest route to the farm house and led them to the tall grass. It was then she noticed something odd. The farmhouse didn't look like a farmhouse anymore. It was a beautiful white castle standing on top of a hill.

```~---~```~---~```

Apparently, the magical 'veil' would be lifted slowly, considering the fact that the house had turned into a castle while the CBers' backs were turned. Over lunch, the returning exploration parties had marveled over the new outside of their temporary home. The odd thing about it was that the inside was the same as it had ever been. 

All the dust bunnies, creaky floorboards, and dilapidated mattresses were in the same places they'd always been. The only different aspect on the inside were the quartz stairs that led up to the farmers room.

"So, Farmer," Rufus began, mouth full of tender chicken breast seasoned with delectable rosemary and pepper. "Our report on the forest is nothing out of the ordinary. We had no animal attacks, and no sighting of the murderer."

"Good," the farmer replied as he tucked neatly into his double-helping of lunch. "Agatha, this chicken is impeccably cooked," he praised the fat maid with no eyebrows, who slid her head out of the kitchen and scrunched up her face in a very grotesque smile. Princess Icicle lost her appetite. Luckily, half of the table was facing away from the kitchen and thought perhaps Icy had eaten some chicken fat or something.

Poetic Panda looked lost in thought. She poked at her meal, resting her head on her cheek in deep thought. She didn't notice Toto steal a lick at her food, and even allowed Puck to make faces right over her shoulder. The other CBers noticed her face and watched her intently, sensing an idea coming on. Her eyes unfocused and her face clouded up... Mortif screamed something about poison...plates and chicken legs flew everywhere...and Poetic Panda leaped up and cried, "I've got it!" 

Turns out Mortif was wrong about the poison. Agatha shot her a dirty look after grabbing a mop. "Why is there carpet in here, anyway," she mumbled, beginning to steam the floors and taking no notice of Panda's breakthrough.

"I've got it!" She said again, looking brightly into everyone's eyes--even the maid's. Her face, a lightbulb of hope, brought a smile to everyone else's faces, and they sat down, relieved that Panda was okay and relieved that she'd formulated a plan.

"I-I'm not sure if I should say this to everyone...Maybe I should discuss it with the farmer first. I mean, the murderer is sitting right here with us, and--"

"She sure is!" Dragonrider agreed. "She's probably really excited about this plan of yours. She's most likely learned something terrible just from knowing you have a plan. Say no more," she said with a decisive wave of her hands, "we understand if you want to talk to the farmer first."

The nervous CBette looked relieved. She swung her head to the farmer, who rose swiftly and replied hastily, "Come on, I'm interested to hear this plan. I'm sure it's great." 

With that, the two walked out of the dining room and into the quartz hallway that led to the farmer's bedroom. The others were left with the assistant, who they were sure was about to say something overly-cheerful or lovey-dovey, and thus promptly excused themselves into the living room to watch T.V.

Joss, Over the Rainbow, and Shadow Dragon shared a secret glance. They would have to tell the farmer of their discoveries another time. They settled down on the crowded couch and snuggled up with their CAPTCHAs and the lonely ones without owners. Sydney turned on Little House on the Prairie, a very fitting show for their current setting, and they all stared at the T.V. for the next thirty minutes--during which they were never joined by Poetic Panda.

```~___~---~___~```

   The murderer sat idly on the lumpy sofa, squished between Joss and Sydney with Dolphin (in her tank) on her lap.She was brewing a plan...She'd need to bide her time...But for now, she'd enjoy a little bit of normal person time while she wondered: What was Poetic Panda's plan? 

She also found herself wondering when the next time would be when she could sneak away and see how her ghosts were doing with their training sessions. The bicorns needed to be ready in two days. And the lions had snapped at her once last night--they'd need extra training on how not to bite their master.

   Other than that, her underground army was almost compete. She needed to acquire just one more species...A small, slimy species. And the dragon egg. A dragon in her army would be...useful.  

   Then she could get revenge on Poetic Panda. No one foils her plans like that. But it was all in good time...She'd strike when the time was right.

That was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! DO MORE! DO MORE! DO MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

This is so exciting!

@Shadow Dragon: It can't be OtR because she's not in the Dining Room (unless that was a false clue). It could very well be you, but if it was, I doubt that you would have deliberately lead OtR and Joss to the tunnel, because you'd know where it leads and wouldn't want them to find it (if that makes any sense). 

I still think it's Puck, but I'm probably wrong. I have my suspicions about Dragonrider, but I think she would've tried to kill Turgon by now, out of jealousy if nothing else.

Wait a minute... Dolphin, come tell me whose lap you're sitting on!

Mhwm!

*sigh*