When Olivia leaves the castle, she doesn't see Gunther waiting to pounce on her. But the garden is overgrown, and there are plenty of hiding places for a Kadie. Or, he may have actually gotten bored and left. Either way, the mouse's next goal is to get back to the dam, hopefully with Gunther in tow.

Olivia slows to a halt in the middle of the gardens, then makes a great show of looking all around her, as if she's worried that someone might be watching. After a few seconds of this, the Skeek pulls a folded piece of paper out of one of her pockets and holds it at arm's length. It's actually a page full of her most recent landscape sketches but from a distance… it looks rather like a map. She studies the page for a while, nods in a satisfied way, then replaces the paper and starts making her way around the cultivated plots of earth.

Naturally the brush explodes outward when Gunther leaps, arms and legs spread, prepared to grab Olivia! Oh, if only his timing were better. Instead of landing on the Skeek, he flies by right in front of her … and splats onto a nearby tree. So … he grabs that instead! "I meant to do that!" he claims. "The tree was about to grab you."

Given that this is Dr. Pike's garden… well, maybe the tree was going to grab the Skeek!

This time, Olivia squeaks dramatically and puts a little more distance between them. "Gunther, I really wish you'd stop trying to follow me!" she exclaims, trying to look surprised and suspicious all at once.

"You're following me!" Gunther claims as he slides down the bark and lands on the ground. His tail curls back and the Kadie rolls backwards, coming upright and standing before Olivia. "It's not like you have any place to go. You would never have a secret map, right?" he asks as he leans in and eyes Olivia.

"Map?!" Olivia squeaks again, wide-eyed, then tries to make her expression as blank as possible. "No, no, of course not. I have plenty of work to do at the Weaver's. So why would I ever go around following a secret map?"

"You see, that is what I would like to know," Gunther says as he leans in closer and tilts his head just so, so he's eying Olivia with just his right eye. "Just what are you up to, hmm?"

Olivia starts edging away from the Kadie boy now, toward the garden gates and the road back to town. "Nothing at all, Gunther. You're just… being paranoid again! Yeah, that's it. Paranoid."

"Oh, well, since I'm paranoid, you'll understand why I escort you back to town! The road is dangerous, you know," the Kadie claims as he follows Olivia. "And speaking of dangers, where has the rat been lately? The otters have been looking for him… "

Olivia does her best to appear frustrated by this turn of events but she's actually trying very hard not to laugh! "Why, has he been cheating at cards again?" she sighs, leading the way.

Gunther actually takes a hold of Olivia's tail … in case she decides to run or something. "Search me! I just know Emmett has been looking for him," he says.

"Ow! Hey, be careful! You're gonna put my tail to sleep, holding on so hard!" she scolds, swatting at the Kadie behind her. "Anyway, I don't know why Emmett's been looking for him. Djivan hasn't told me anything about it."

"So you do know where he is, then? Tell me!" Gunther says. Then randomly, the Kadie asks, "Do you shave your tail?"

The road is empty of other travelers, as usual. Why would anyone else ever have to come to the castle?

"No, to both questions," the Skeek replies. Then she quirks an eyebrow at him. "Why are you asking about my tail?"

"Aaaand, does the rat know you're off making illicit visits to that freak, Igor? He has a room full of body parts in the basement! One of the jars has my brother's name on it, even!" Gunther babbles. "Because I'm holding it," he says as answer to Olivia's question.

Olivia rolls her eyes heavenward. "I may be visiting Igor but it's not illicit! All we did was drink tea and talk, good grief!" She pauses for a moment, then adds, "What's this about jars and body parts, now?"

The breeze causes the trees surrounding the old manor hour to whisper, gossiping about Olivia and Gunther no doubt. The skeletal remains of the mansion keep any comments to themselves though.

"I just came from there! There's a cold room in the dungeon full of body parts in jars! It's really gross," Gunther explains as he wags Olivia's tail about … and at one point making it look like a giant worm. "There is also a room with a creepy table with drain holes in it … and rubber aprons and gloves."

"Well, I've heard that Igor is a surgeon," Olivia comments. "And you know he's a patchwork of parts. Maybe that's where he keeps his spares? But that jar with Zahn's name on it… it didn't have anything in it, did it?"

"No, Zahn's name was under the 'loaned out' part of the label," Gunther says, "Maybe it was from when Bravil crunched Zahn like a nut."

Rootrunner Kadies work in the fields to the travelers' right, plucking weeds and pucks from the growing crops. They're all wearing big straw hats as well.

"Mmm, you may be right," Olivia says absently. "By the way, you want to be careful, snooping about inside the castle like that. Dr. Pike might not think too kindly of it and feed you to her tomatoes!"

"Her Creen attacked me! It tried to eat my head!" Gunther claims, "I must have it. I have a new goal in life! Aahahahaha!"

"That's nothing!" Olivia snorts. "One time, it screamed at Amelia to show us her underwear!"

Gunther blinks. "Did she?" he asks. "Hmmm … maybe that is how to catch him … Amelia's underwear!"

And speaking of Amelia – that might be her up ahead just outside of the hot springs, waving an arm in the air and holding something with the other.

So Olivia turns in that direction and starts leading Gunther towards her. "You might have a tough time with that, considering Amy doesn't wear any most of the time," she muses philosophically.

"Really? No wonder she's popular with the otters," Gunther muses, "They're always trying to pull off girls clothing … and she has less of it."

As they get closer, it's clear that it's Amelia… and that she's holding a pie.

Olivia looks confused by the pie but she keeps walking towards her. What in the world is she carrying that thing around for?

"The pie!" Gunther declares. "So it was really Amelia who stole it!" Since he's still holding Olivia's tail, he waves it at Amelia and accuses, "You stole the pie I rightfully stole!"

"There you are," Amelia says, as if she'd been waiting around for Olivia to show up, and then gives Gunther a cross look. "This pie has been in the kitchen cooling off," she claims. "It's for Secret Pie Club. I was just waiting for Olivia so we could go join the others."

"Secret Pie Club?!" Gunther blurts, "Why was I not told?! Everyone knows I'm supposed to be told of every secret club in town!"

Olivia takes the opportunity to snatch her tail back from the Kadie boy. "Well, we were afraid that you'd eat everything and leave nothing for the rest of us," she lies, only hoping that sounded convincing.

"You have to be able to bake a pie to get in," Amelia points out. "Can you bake a pie, Gunther?"

"I can do anything," the young Kadie claims.

"So what kinds of pie can you bake?" Olivia asks, folding her arms.

"Mud pies don't count," Amelia notes. "It has to be proper pie, like this… uh… " The Kadie sniffs at the pie she holds, and says, "Fruit. This fruit pie."

"Uhh," Gunther waffles. "Pie pie, of course."

"Which basically means… no, you can't," Olivia retorts, looking smug.

"Well, you go bake one and if it's good enough you can join Secret Pie Club," Amelia relents. "But today you can't come, so don't even try to follow us to the Ancient Tree, got it?"

Gunther's eyes narrow at the comment about the Ancient Tree. A few seconds later, though, Gunther grins in the sort of way that implies impending doom. "Oh, of course not!" he agrees. "I'll just go … make a pie!" And without even waiting for a reply, the Kadie darts off!

Once the Kadie boy disappears, Olivia turns to Amelia. "You have no idea what kind of pie that is, do you?" she asks in a low voice, sounding amused.

"Fruit," Amy claims. "Possibly all of them. Parsley made it." She then turns and leads Olivia towards the dam. "We're going to the old Wingnut territory. Did you learn anything from Igor?"

Olivia ahhs in understanding as she follows her friend. "A few things, yes. He is related to the ancient Igor Wrathbone I saw in Jesti's memories. In fact, he carries part of the original Igor's spirit within him."

"Hmmm, I wonder if it ever causes him to turn white, like mine makes me turn red," Amy ponders, leading Olivia across the dam. "How'd you get him to tell you that? Did you have to snog him or just come out and ask?"

The insides of Olivia's ears turn a bit pink at the mention of white fur but she doesn't talk about that part of her visit. Instead, she says, "We just treated it as a trade of information. I told him about the memories I saw and he told me about his connection to the original Igor. No snogging necessary… even though he wanted me to."

"You charmer, you," Amelia says with a grin. "Next, you'll have that snake Qing knocking on your door with flowers in each hand. What was he able to tell you about Jesti?"

"Nothing more than we already know… although he did tell me what happened to the original Igor and their children," Olivia replies. "The children were taken above ground and raised by a local family, so they may be many of the Stonebarrow Skeeks' ancestors. He founded the House of Wrathbone, where all the Igors come from. And from the way our Igor talked, it sounds like all of his descendants have a part of their founder's spirit within them."

"Weird," Amelia comments, as they move past the Millers area and further up from the dam. "I wonder if it's natural, or if they literally all have a piece of the original in them."

"I'm not sure," Olivia admits. "But he couldn't explain certain things to me, like the machines Jesti and the original Igor worked with. He said he didn't have enough of the spirit to provide that kind of detail. But it sure woke him up when I mentioned Jesti's name!"

"What'd he do?" Amelia asks, as the inhabited areas around the dam fall away behind them. Up ahead are abandoned Kadie tree houses… and one truly massive old tree that looks like several trees simply merged and grew together.

Olivia takes a few moments to admire the new scenery before replying, "Dropped his teacup on the floor and grabbed my shoulders. Then again, I'm sure it was the last thing he expected to hear out of me!"

"Whoa, he actually grabbed you?" Amelia asks in shock. "Why? What did you do?"

Olivia blushes again but says evasively, "Well, I assumed it was because the spirit in him was reacting to the shock! And I just let him… it's not like he hurt me or anything. It kinda scared me at the time but afterwards, he calmed down and we just talked it through."

"So… he didn't do anything inappropriate?" Amy digs, just to make sure, as they come to the base of the great tree. Olivia can see actual windows in the sides, and the trunk is so wide around that right up next to it it's hard to see around it at all.

Olivia gives her friend a crooked half-smile. "Unless you count the part where he suggested I could seduce him into helping us take out the Master Control System… "

"Well?" Amy asks, as she enters the tree. "What did you get out of him that way?"

"Not a thing… considering I didn't take him up on it," Olivia says in a matter-of-fact tone. "I try not to play with people's feelings."

"You'd make a terrible witch, Olivia," Amy notes, as she leads the Skeek through a crack in the roots, and down a staircase (that seems to have been made by weaving smaller roots together) that leads to a corridor under the tree. What light filters through shows another stairwell ahead, this one going up.

Olivia looks all around, admiring all the work it must have taken to put a living space inside the tree. "Then it's a good thing I'm not planning on becoming one, isn't it?"

The stairs turn out to be a spiral stairwell going up, and up they go, past a very squeaky door that leads to a long room taking up a good bit of the curve of the tree. It's big enough to be a meeting hall, and has open windows looking out over the old compound.

"I guess it just seems weird to me," Amy notes. "I'm used to guys going ga-ga over me. Now that you've got a guy interested in you, others will follow, figuring there must be something to it! No wonder Emmett is sniffing around you now as well… "

"Wow, this is really cool, Amy!" Olivia exclaims. "I'd make a sketch of this place but I'm guessing you wouldn't let me leave with it… " Then she turns to the Kadie girl and adds, "Nah, Emmett's just sniffing around me because he's interested in my inheritance, that's all."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you had money now," Amelia notes. She walks over to the windows and looks outside, even leaning out a ways, perhaps to make sure she's visible.

Amelia spots some underbrush moving around outside. Something is darting about, anyway.

"Okay, we can move on now," Amy says, heading back to the stairwell and going up!

"Heh, then I guess Gunther took the bait," Olivia says cheerfully. "This ought to be entertaining!"

Amelia hurries up the stairs, past several more doors – and what might be diagrams carved into the wooden walls as well – until she gets to the top landing and waits for Olivia to catch up.

Olivia puffs up the stairs behind Amelia but manages to wheeze out, "What are all these plans for?"

"Who knows? Haven't had time to clean them all off," the Kadie says, and heads down a short hall. Up here, things seem a lot cleaner – no moss or debris. The hall ends at a door with no handle. Amy pauses and takes out a pendant, which she manipulates until it unfolds like a flower – if flowers were triangular.

Olivia watches this performance with more than a touch of amazement. Kadies get all the cool stuff, she thinks enviously.

"Here, hold this," Amy says, handing over the pie. She fits the pendant into a triangular depression in the center of the door – which has some separate circular sections, it seems. There's a click, and two rods fold out, which Amy then grabs and rotates through a half turn before there's a louder noise of bolts releasing. Then she pushes it open half-way, just enough for one person at a time to fit through. "C'mon in, it's my secret lair," she whispers to Olivia as she slips inside.

Holding the pie carefully so she doesn't spill it all over herself, Olivia squeezes through the doorway after Amelia. As she does so, she sniffs the pie curiously… then grimaces. Yeah, there are all kinds of berries and fruits in this thing… plus a few spices I don't recognize. Sounds like something a Lapi would eat, for sure!

Amelia retrieves the pie, before whispering to Olivia, "Turn around really slowly and don't cry out."

Both of Olivia's eyebrows threaten to vanish into her hairline but she does just as she's told. What could Amy have in here that's so weird… ?

Sitting just behind the door on top of a picnic basket is … a troll! It's one of the large ones too, all blobby, misshapen, and with really huge claws and a nasty scowl on its face. The troll menacing lifts one of its clawed hands … and waves cheerfully at Olivia! "Nice pie," the troll whispers in a Zahnrad-sounding voice.

Olivia gasps softly, but in delight more than fear. "Wow, that suit is really lifelike!" she whispers back. "Where did you find it? Is it comfortable to wear? I have to admit, it looks kinda warm in there to me… "

"It smells like an old sock in here," Zahnrad complains quietly, "and the skin is made from rubber tree sap, so yes, it's hot."

Amelia sets the pie down out of the way, then returns to the central, sheet-covered device. She flops down in front of it, her legs sticking out oddly, and lets her arms and tail hang limp before tilting her head to one side and letting her tongue hang out to look like… well, like a Kadie pretending to be dead.

"So, um, should I pretend to be dead, too?" Olivia asks, observing Amelia's odd performance. "Or should I scream about there being a troll in the house?"

"Uh, your choice?" Zahn says helpfully.

"Okay, I'll do that!" Olivia decides. "Then you can chase me around, I guess. Are you prepared for Gunther to attack you, though?"

"I'm tougher than him," Zahn claims quietly and thumps his chest. The suit jiggles like a balloon full of fat.

Olivia gives the Kadie boy a look of disbelief but it passes quickly. "We're about to find out!" she teases. Then she takes a deep breath… and SCREAMS as loudly as she can! "Oh no – Amelia! What have you done to her! Stay away from meeeee!"

Zahnrad gets to his feet (which is a feat in that suit!), and lumbers towards Olivia, arms outstretched. "Grrr," he growls loudly. One does have to wonder, though; is he a troll or a zombie? Yeesh!

Amelia rolls her eyes a little, while keeping everything else still.

"Stay back! Don't touch me!" Olivia screams next, now running around the room. Her feet strike the floor as sharply as possible, to make it sound like she's really being chased!

And if right on cue, Gunther blasts through the doorway in a blur of gray fur and trailing tail! He doesn't even slow down as he zooms around the room, as if trying to get a 'lay of the land'. He's also surprisingly supple, as the Kadie leaps into the air, bounces off the wall, and lands on top of the blanket-covered device. "Stand fast you disgustingly fat … troll … thing!" the young Kadie shouts at the costumed Zahnrad. He even points at the faux-troll and sets his chin, trying to look intimidating.

Olivia whirls in Gunther's direction and yells, "We have to get out of here and find help! That troll's hurt Amelia!"

Amelia gurgles dyingly.

"I do not run from something that looks like what comes out of a drunken otter!" Gunther declares. The Kadie crouches down onto all fours and his tail flicks all about. Then his butt wiggles in a tell-tail butt-wiggle-pounce.

Reaching back, Amy grabs the blanket and tries to yank it… and Gunther… down before he can attack Zahn!

Somehow Amelia is able to pull the blanket just as Gunther has initiated his pounce! Instead of launching at the costumed Zahnrad his arms and legs start flailing! "Whoa, whoa, the floor is alive!" the young Kadie blurts just before he falls off the other side of the machine. There's a thud, a small cloud of dust, and the Kadie on the other side says, "Ouch."

"I knew we should have just played dead, and had Zahn grab him from behind," Amelia notes as she gets up. "You can't scare him head-on."

Olivia says defensively, "But he did think Zahn was a troll, anyway! Or at least, some sort of monster!"

Zahn struggles with the mask and finally pulls it off. "Olivia is right, the suit passed the test!" he notes. "Gunther thought it was real."

"He also talked at it though," Amelia notes, rubbing her chin. "Oh well, I guess it was good enough. Time for pie. The plates and stuff are in the basket… "

"Wait … this was some sort of a trick … in the old Wingnut home?" Gunther says weakly from the other side of the weird machine.

"We were testing something, Gunther," Amy replies. "It wasn't a trick. You test inventions before using them, don't you?"

"No! I'm a Wingnut, they always work the first time," Gunther claims from where he fell.

"Do you want to argue, or do you want some pie?" Amy chitters back.

Olivia goes over to help the younger Wingnut to his feet. "I'm sorry if we scared you, Gunther," she says apologetically. "But at least you get some pie out of it."

"I just want out of this thing. My fur is curling," Zahnrad complains as he dances in a circle trying to release the back-catches.

Amelia goes to help Zahn out of the troll-suit.

"Wow… it wasn't that long ago you were helping me out of that horrible corset during the Frog Festival," Amy recalls as she works the catches.

Gunther gets to his feet with Olivia's help. "Sure, the pie Amelia stole from me after I rightfully stole it first!" he complains and starts rubbing his butt.

"Oh, right! I fixed that so you can wear it again," Zahnrad says cheerfully. "I even added locks!"

Amelia pauses in helping. "What? WHY? I hate corsets!" she notes.

"You do?" Zahnrad asks. Apparently he forgot that part.

"Every girl hates corsets," Amelia claims, but then amends, "Except maybe Liliana. She's… into weird stuff… "

"Well, it serves you right for trying to steal it in the first place!" Olivia tells Gunther with a grin. "Even so, you still get to eat some. I'd, er, just be careful. Parsley made it, so I'm told."

Gunther's answer to that is to cross his arms and stick out his tongue.

Olivia just shakes her head and moves toward the basket, so she can get the plates and utensils out.

Once Zahn is free of the suit catches, Amy retrieves the pie. "First rule of Pie Club: you do not talk about Pie Club! The Cake Cabal can never know the location of our secret headquarters."

Olivia smothers a laugh at this as she sets out plates for everyone.

"And speaking of a pie picnic, should we do it under the stars?" Zahn asks and thumbs towards the now uncovered and odd-looking machine made up of hundreds of small glass ports.

"I'll get the lamps going," Amy says, after she sets the pie on the picnic blanket. She goes to the central device, which looks like it's made of spheres and sticks, and opens a panel in the side before taking out her flint and striker and lighting the lamp inside.

"Why were you wearing that troll costume?" Gunther asks Zahn as he literally stomps towards his older brother.

Olivia eyes the device curiously as she puts out the forks next but says nothing, preferring to wait and see what happens.

"Because it excites Amelia," Zahnrad claims, "And an excited girlfriend is … well … "

It takes a bit of time for the old lamps to slowly come to life. When it does, the pinholes all over the central sphere start to glow with a bright yellow color in the dark room. As pretty as it might be, the side effect is more interesting; on the domed ceiling all around them the pinpoints of light are reflected in the glossy ebony surface. Streaking across the center of the dome is the Procession? Well, it at least looks like the Procession; a band of blurry color and light. Other familiar constellations can be made out on the dome above as well. The smaller spheres that stick out from the center now also glow with a soft light. Nowhere near as bright as the center, of course, but they are visible.

Gunther thinks about that. "Oh ew!" the younger Kadie declares and waves his arms wildly. "I've heard enough! If you say any more I won't be able to eat any pie."

The pie suddenly forgotten, Olivia gasps and lies down on the floor so she can see the constellations better. "What will Kadies come up with next?" she breathes. "Who made this machine, anyway?"

"Zahn's older brother, Stephan," Amy explains, lying down to watch as well.

"He must have worked on this forever… it's so detailed!" Olivia says.

Zahnrad sits down and Gunther plots his butt down near him. "This was Stephan's lab," Zahn explains, "I never knew about it, too young. Amelia found it somehow, though. It's impressive that he built this on his own, he wasn't that old when he died. I can't even imagine what he would have accomplished if he hadn't died in the bowels of the dam." That last part causes Zahnrad to blink a few times, as if remembering something.

"He really liked the sky, and this is the only place you can see it all, without the overcast," Amy whispers. "He even built a telescope so he could see all over the place."

The Skeek falls silent for a while, thinking about what Zahn's just said. Then she blurts out, "You'll make a flying machine one day, Zahn. It might take you a while but I bet you'll get there. You've got the Wingnut smarts, after all."

"The boat sure flew across the reservoir using Zahn's propeller and engine," Amy notes. "It was really something!"

"If I live that long," Zahnrad says, his voice taking an overly serious tone. "Amelia, I don't think Stephan's death was an accident. The family journals go back a long ways and many of my ancestors died in the dam. But … none of them were accidents, it was the trolls coming for Abner … or at least who they thought was Abner."

Olivia cranes her head around so she can look at Zahn. "Wait, what is this about?" she asks, frowning.

"I think Stephan's death was an accident," Amy says quietly.

"Wait, what?" Gunther now asks as he looks between all those gathered. "What is this about our relatives being mistaken for that fiend, Abner? That's beyond gross."

"Because we're his great-great grandchildren, Gunther," Zahnrad notes and pulls his knees up so that he can set his chin on them. "It's all in the family history. He raped our great great grandmother. And … somehow managed to annoy the trolls. They've been trying to 'get' him ever since. Our family has been … collateral damage."

"Some of that is Jesti's fault," Amy murmurs, and then gets up and cuts a slice of pie.

Gunther, for once in his life, looks lost for words. The young Kadie just shakes his head for a moment then points at the pie Amelia just cut. "Maybe we should just have the pie?" he offers. An oddly sedate thing for him to say, really.

Amelia hands that first slice to Gunther.

Olivia suddenly remembers what Zahn said earlier about trolls coming for Amelia's children and pales. Jesti sent trolls to kill members of Zahn's family… because she thought they were Abner? she wonders. She doesn't say anything in front of Gunther, however.

"Thanks," Gunther says as he accepts the pie. That may be the first time he's ever been polite. Well, at least in non-family company!

"So, what do you plan to do with this place, Amelia?" Zahnrad asks, possibly an attempt to change the subject.

Amelia cuts more slices. "I'm going to come here to… think. Plan," she says. "I have to design a cabin still, and this is the place to do it."

The girl gets a weird look on her face, then shakes her head and hands out the other slices of pie."I'm not going to keep a harem of male slaves… " Amelia hisses, then blinks and says, "Ignore me. Arguing with the voices in my head is all."

Olivia takes one bite from her slice out of politeness before sinking into her thoughts again. Yet she does manage to ask Amelia, "Building a retreat for yourself?"

"Elsa thinks I should build a cabin of my own," Amy notes. "It's a Wingnut tradition."

Zahnrad finally collects his slice of the pie and takes a bite. "Yes, this tastes like a Parsley creation," the Kadie agrees after chewing and swallowing.

Olivia ahs and nods. "I hope it all works out, then." Inwardly, however, the Skeek is thinking, Have to find a safer way underground… must lay Jesti to rest. This can't go on.

Gunther, after a few bites of his pie, suddenly blurts, "Oh man, you have to loan me that troll costume! I could raid the otter parties at the boathouse! Heheheheh! And kidnap the twins! Yes! They'll see I'm better than some lame dragon," the Kadie babbles. Hm, looks like Gunther is back to normal. At least for him, anyway!