Roscoe and Tina were excitedly exploring their room. They had just arrived after a really looooong flight. There were two beds, one for each of them, a writing desk, a coffee table and two chairs, a wardrobe and a cupboard with a mini bar and on top of it loads of goodies including chocolate. The siblings loved chocolate. The cupboard was quite high, so the kids couldn't reach it. "Let's get the chocolate fast, before Mommy or Daddy come to check on us." Tina suggested. They wanted to have it now, so they pushed one of the chairs to the cupboard. Roscoe climbed on it and was in reach of the sweet, when somebody knocked on the connecting door. Fast Roscoe jumped down, but it was too late to bring back the chair. Their stepfather Sam entered, taking the situation in with one glance. Knowing the kids passion for mini bars, he was glad this one had a key.
The kids had been clearly told what they were allowed to take. The parents and kids had had a serious talk after Roscoe and Tina had swiped all sweets from another mini bar. Sam smiled. "I see you are already exploring. Do you like the room?" Roscoe and Tina nodded and told Sam what they liked best. Sam explained to minimize the temptation for the kids; he was locking in all the sweet stuff into their mini bar and was going to keep the key. To Tina's and Roscoe's dismay the chocolate vanished. They still had the muesli bar and the nuts. It stung, but Roscoe swore he would get the chocolate bar. He only had to work out a plan how to do it.
Roscoe was falling asleep, when he had suddenly an idea and was awake within seconds. The longer he thought about it, the better it seemed. He worked on the details.
A day later the parents brought the kids to bed. Sam sensed something was wrong. They didn't seem tired at all and an excited undercurrent ran between them. Well, Hue, his wife, and he would find out soon enough, if the kids were up to some mischief.
When Roscoe and Tina were sure their parents were in their own room and fast asleep, they switched on the lights. Roscoe retrieved the key from his hiding place and opened the mini bar. There was the chocolate! The kids were jumping up and down in excitement.
"Shh!” Roscoe shushed Tina. "We don't want Mommy and Daddy to wake up." Impatient Tina grabbed the chocolate and tore open the wrapper. They shared, managing to smear the melting chocolate around their mouths and on their nightwear. "Uh, oh!" Tina was unhappy. She knew they were in trouble. Tina hoped it was Daddy, who was going to find out first. He wasn't as tough as Mommy and had a sense of humor. "Maybe we can wash it out." Roscoe suggested after thinking for a while. It couldn't hurt. If no evidence was left, Mommy and Daddy never needed to know.
They undressed and filled the bathtub with hot water and shower gel, soaking their dirty clothing. They slept naked and didn't think further about their pajamas.
When they were woken the next morning by Sam, he asked suddenly stern: "Where is your nightwear, Roscoe, Tina?" "In the bathtub." Roscoe answered before thinking. "What does it there?" "We ... We had a little accident." Tina replied. "And what kind of accident?" Sam asked with a frown. Tina and Roscoe exchanged glances. Tina shrugged. They better told the truth. If they told Daddy they had made hot chocolate during the night, he was going to be upset, because they weren't allowed to handle hot water. If he found out later they had lied to him, his reaction would be more unpleasant than it would be now. When Sam didn't receive an immediate answer, he asked: "What have you been up to exactly?" Sam's voice was stern. "I want an answer, and I want it now!" Roscoe squared his shoulders. "We ate chocolate and made our clothing dirty." He replied. "Chocolate? Where did you get the chocolate from?" "From the mini bar." Tina answered. It left Sam puzzled. Obviously he had taken precautions, so that the kids couldn't get to it. "Okay, if you tell me how you managed to get into the mini bar, I'll let you escape without punishment, but I expect that you tell me the truth, and that you keep to the rules from now on. Otherwise I'm going to tell your mother and let her deal with you." The kids swallowed hard. Their mother was strict. Last time they had emptied the mini bar, because they had been hungry during night, Mommy had explained what they should have done, why it was wrong to stuff one self with sweets and threatened to ask a hotel employee to remove all items from the mini bar, no matter where they were staying. That wasn't all. The kids weren't allowed any dessert, chocolate or other sweets for the next two days. It was a tough punishment and seemed to last for ages. Tina had been four, Roscoe five, when the incident happened. Now they were two years older.
"Do we have a deal?" Sam asked. The kids nodded vigorously. It was a good offer, and it looked like Daddy wasn't going to tell Mommy. Roscoe started: "I found out where you kept the key..." "I diverted your attention..." Tina added, and Roscoe finished: "And I took it from you unnoticed." Sam didn't know how to react. He was impressed by the kids' creativity and their determination to get what they wanted. Sam didn't like they had stolen from him in order to break a well known rule. Sam hadn't promised he wouldn't scold them, so he did just that, letting them know how displeased he was and stealing was unacceptable as well as breaking sensible rules. Sam explained again why healthy eating was important and made it clear there were going to be repercussions should they repeat the offenses. The kids felt bad about disappointing their beloved stepfather, so they promised to be good.
There was only one question remaining. "Roscoe Stephen, where did you learn how to pick pocket?" Sam had a fair idea, but wanted to be sure. "Casey taught me, when we were in Guatemala." The Richards' and the family of Sam's best friend Coldham Fintan Noose III, nick named Fin, had been on vacation together the previous year. Fin was a master burglar, and one of the first things he did, when starting his career was to hone his pick pocketing skills to perfection. It seemed Fin had passed on his talent to Casey, who was the same age as Tina. The siblings and Casey had a good relationship, but Roscoe and Casey were closer.
Sam made Roscoe promise he was never ever going to use his pick pocketing skills.
Sam didn't leave it at that. He had a quick chat with Fin. Sam asked him to prevent Casey from teaching Roscoe more of what she had learned from her father and to be careful, whom Casey trusted. It could easily lead to Fin's downfall, if the wrong people found out about Casey's skills. Fin gave his word Casey would refrain to educate Roscoe further in certain subjects. As always Fin kept his word.
©2011
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