The plan began without much fuss. A few children set loose in the dining hall, while others were directed to where the adult had gathered in the library.
Much ruckus and mayhem began, with the adults and servants driven nearly out of their wits at how much trouble children could cause. Books sent flying through the air with inexperienced hover charms, fine silverware turned to toads and fluttering bats.
A spectacular distraction, greater than any other that had graced the walls of Wittingful.
With the adults fully occupied, the next phase could begin.
For that, the hounds were unleashed.
Along with one terrified cat.
Frightful yowls and tremendous barks brought chaos to the kitchen. Cooks were forced to abandon their fine delicacies in an effort to protect those same delicacies from certain ruin.
All might have gone well for the cooks, if not for one long-legged mutt with a penchant for chewing hats.
The short chief cook swelled in furious outrage as the kleptomaniacal hound leapt and snatched his tall white hat off the cook's meticulously groomed head.
"After that hat!" The chief cook bellowed, leading the charge out of the kitchen and after the hat-snatching mutt. The other cooks had little choice but to follow, for they had no desire to work with a chief cook who'd be enraged at
them for not getting his hat back.
So the cat and the hounds were left to themselves in the kitchen.
Until a warbling whistle brought the hounds to a halt.
Quickly, a small figure shot into the kitchen and directly to the dessert table.
Cookies, cakes, glazed candies, and other delectable treats were sent flying down the hall and into the open dumbwaiter, carefully stacked to allow the most to fit without being crushed.
Once filled, the small figure closed the dumbwaiter's door and gave two more warbling whistles.
The hounds still in the kitchen resumed their rampage.
On the third floor, another figure with long braided hair saw a light flash twice out in the starlit garden. Moving to the dumbwaiter, she opened the door and began hefting on the rope.
Up, up, the dumbwaiter rose, until it finally arrived to the third floor.
Another hover charm saw the tasty treats again flying through the air, this time to slip into a dark playroom.
There, the desserts were skillfully hidden in various caches, until no trace of the pilfered delectables remained.
Much later, when the hounds had been herded, books shelved, and the toad and bats restored to silverware, a group gathered in the play room. Youthful faces displayed devious delight as the children of the house distributed part of one cache to each member of their little group.
"Excellent plan, Jack." The girl with the long braid told a small boy.
The boy smiled, a cunning smirk that would have any adult cautious should they ever see it. "'Twas child's play, Margaret. Training the hounds without their handlers catching on to the new commands was the hard part."
"Still, brother dear, the plan was a success." Margaret lifted her little cake, and the other children around the room lifted their treats as well. "To our next plot."
"May it play out just as smoothly." Jack said, lifting his cookie for just a moment before taking a bite.
