Chapter One: Trouble In A Little Shop

A bored, miserable line of children shuffled and shambled their way slowly through the long cold corridors of the National Museum of Wales. It was eight in the morning. They were cranky and understandably rather discontented. Even though the orphanage wasn't too gorgeous, the children had possibly hoped to go somewhere more exciting.

Cardiff was not on the list of what they thought of as an exciting place to go for their yearly trip. There had been excited whispers all throughout the home when a ten year old had told another ten year old that he'd heard the word 'Disney' being tossed around. Compared to that, this was quite the magnificent letdown.

As the torturous tour continued on, at the back of the line of backpacked children, Ivy Regalson could barely keep her eyes open. Being older than most of the fifty other kids of the home however she had to keep vigil and keep an eye on them. Usually once boredom sets in with the younger ones, trouble starts to manifest. That was the last thing Ivy wanted. And even though she was not too happy with some of the destinations they ended up in, she wouldn't want Matron Hannigan to fulfil her promise of cancelling future trips if anyone misbehaved.

Wanting to ensure everything went well she looked through the mass of children checking everyone was still in the huddled group. This was all aided by the fact that everyone had to paste a sticker with their name on it on their respective shirt, which all the abiding children of the orphanage did. Well, except for Ivy and Matt.

"This is so boring! I thought we were going to go on roller coasters or something," moaned the thirteen year old trudging sorely next to Ivy, pouting as he did.

"Shut up Matt. And walk properly will you?" said Ivy as she nudged the back of his head forward lightly with her hand.

"Alright alright," he hissed back at her.

"Aren't you bored? I am. Look! Even the guy in this picture is bored," he said with his finger perilously close to touching it.

"Oi! Don't touch anything. I told you didn't I? If you get into trouble today the matron will make sure we never see daylight ever again. And remember, no nicking anything," she warned, tossing her light-brown hair out of her face. It was always good to have her line of sight unblocked by her treacherous hair when dealing with the kids.

"Don't worry. There's nothing fun here worth stealing anyways," he said quietly under his breath even though he was sure Ivy could still hear him.

Matt Thomas was like a little brother to Ivy. Ever since he was little and first brought to the orphanage, he had been under her close watchful supervision. People grew distant from one another in their particular gray dull and despondent orphanage but Ivy and Matt were different. They had always been close, for some odd reason or another, and neither knew why. Matt had only been three when his parents died, and from the lack of attention he received at the orphanage, he developed a need for it.

Whenever Ivy wasn't looking or wasn't paying him much mind, he would do something drastic. This included the occasional kleptomania that he was prone to. It was a sore spot for Ivy and he got the worst glare accompanied by a very long lecture if she caught him. That is- if she was looking. Ivy hated it because Matt was such a magnet for trouble of all sorts, and she still kept looking after him, as if there were a grudging blood tie between them.

Perhaps it was the orphanage, the desire to have someone to call family. Perhaps Ivy had always wanted a sibling. And maybe Matt knew that he needed a person like Ivy around.

The tour seemed to go on forever. It was only fleetingly interesting for the children when they went to the Glanely Discovery Gallery where they were able to get their hands on some artefacts. Pent up energy they had to keep within themselves burst gladly as Ivy watched some of the other kids try to turn some prehistoric rock into dust with their bare hands and the bottom end of their water bottles.

That was before Ivy stepped in and gave them her infamous glare. She was glad there was at least some fun to be had by the younger kids who all started chattering excitedly away. Matt though was strangely quiet. Ivy supposed he was simply following her instructions. She rolled her eyes upwards as she made a mental note to thank him later.

The hands on experience brought back some momentary excitement. That was before everything slumped back to its former dragging pace through a rather complicated talk about nineteenth century art. The plump grey haired guide then proceeded to drone endlessly about the architecture and the shows till even the adults could barely hide their boredom. Eventually the group made their way past a series of small shops within the Museum itself and onwards to the other half of the museum.

Ivy briefly wondered how long the tour would continue. It hadn't looked to be that big until now. She sighed and willed her feet to keep walking. They were starting to get tired. She looked down and noticed one of her shoelaces was untied, so she immediately took that as an excuse to rest a bit while re-tying them.

She knelt down and started tying, expecting Matt to wait for her as he usually did (mostly to tease her or something to that effect), but he didn't wait. She looked ahead and realised he wasn't at the back of the group, either...

Ivy frantically looked around from her spot on the floor, but there was no sign of him. She sighed, standing once again.

'Well, that leaves a few places he could have gone off to. One being outside, which really doesn't help,' she thought shaking her head, 'Oh, he is so dead.'

Matt was still chuckling as he gave Ivy the slip. He was grateful just to be out of that ridiculously boring tour. He was hungry, tired, and just wanted a chance to breathe. And he could fix the hungry bit. He spotted a store up ahead. A nice, forgettable, ordinary little shop. And, most advantageously, it was packed.

'Perfect,' he thought, speeding up his pace a bit.

He hadn't had a Mars Bar in what felt like forever. The Matron forbade them, and what with Ivy watching him constantly, he hadn't had the chance to nick one, either. He made his way, edging cautiously into the shop making sure no one there paid him much attention.

He squeezed pass a bumbling man in pinstripes and a long, thick coat nodding animatedly, saying, "Nice! A lovely little shop. I like little shops…"

Matt wasn't too sure the shop being packed was a good thing anymore. It was maybe now too packed; Matt couldn't get near the shelves. He stared around, looking up at the shelves dazzlingly full of an assortment of sweet delights.

Matt's eyes began to water just looking at it and his stomach rumbled approvingly. He glanced at the label of prices and frowned slightly before it vanished from his young round face. He had not intended to pay for them anyways, seeing as he hadn't brought any money with him. Not that he had much, being an orphan.

He moved aside pocketing several things along the way to the sweets rack including several small packets of differing sorts of crisps. He swiftly stuffed them all under his jacket making sure he managed to secure everything in place.

Matt had been caught several painful times before when his loot fell out of his clothing at the most inopportune moments. He also had to put back a few bulky items. Too much and everyone would know what he had underneath. Ivy always lectured about how stealing was not the smartest thing to do.

But stealing smartly was always a good habit Matt decided. Doing something stupid stupidly and doing something stupid cunningly were two different things altogether; getting away and getting caught.

Matt often got very enthralled during his "covert raids" as he called it. Sweets were his favourite items to take. On this occasion he did not want to miss anything so he got some of everything. Mars Bars, Snickers, Bluble's Tastiest Chewing Gum, Chupa Chups Lollipops and Mint Aero Bars. He deposited these goodies in his empty pockets he always reserved just for the "good stuff".

Once he thought he had enough and made sure that nobody had seen his act he began to casually sidle furtively towards the exit, glancing coyly at the shop assistant who was busy shuffling money into the cash register.

Whenever he caught someone's eye he craftily pretended to look for someone, as if he had lost sight of where his parents had been. A perfectly innocent behaviour for a child. He was almost at the exit when a voice from behind called out to him.

"Hey. Hey! Kid. Hold on!"

Matt turned to see a huge face an inch from his own, beaming a huge smile straight at him. It was the strange man in the dark brown suit he bumped into from before!

No chance of running away now that this man was in his face. He'd been caught. Miss Hannigan was going to slaughter him. He could see her raging mad eyes and her shrill screeching voice and the long wooden cane she used to punish him. Then after that, he was sure Ivy was going to kill him. That was if he didn't have to go to jail for theft first. A long future of misery sprawled out in Matt's mind...

"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna be murdered. I'm gonna be killed. Killed. Killed. Killed...to death! Aw man..." he said quietly to himself through clenched teeth as he smiled back timidly.

"I think you dropped something," said the man still beaming his great big smile at him. His brown wild messy hair poking in Matt's face. He seemed not to have heard him.

"Huh?" said Matt puzzled.

"This! Your chocolate! Don't want you to forget your chocolate. Just don't forget to brush your teeth later on... Then you can have nice shiny healthy teeth like mine. See?" chattered the man excitedly pushing his smile further forward into Matt's face as he handed him the Mars bar. Matt nervously smiled a bit and took the bar from him, stuffing it back into his pocket.

"Oh...right. Thanks, mister," said Matt as the man ruffled Matt's hair and turned happily back to admiring the shop.

This man was clearly one of those weirdoes Ivy had warned him about. He was completely mental. Wearing sneakers with a suit on? He decided to simply just take the chocolate and walk away before he caught anyone else's attention. Who knows what the mad bloke was going to do next? He was lucky, but his luck wasn't going to last forever. He moved quickly for the exit. He was almost there...

"Oi! Wait a minute little man," boomed another voice as a big hairy hand fell on his shoulder.

"Y-Yeah?" said Matt turning and regretting not just running straight out. He saw the large pink faced shop assistant staring down at him. His cavernous nostrils flaring and a vein was pulsing horribly in his temple.

"You gonna pay for that? And all the other stuff?"

"Uh..."

"You're coming with me boy," said the shop assistant as he took Matt by the scruff of his neck.

"No! No! Wait! I can explain! Really it was..." started Matt as his eyes darted around looking for away to get free.

"HIM!" shouted Matt excitedly. Matt pointed straight at the weirdo in the coat.

"What?" said the man his eyes wide turning around to see what the excitement was all about.

"What? What's he got to do with this?" asked the giant of a man who was still dangling Matt with just one arm gripping him tightly.

"It was him! He...he told me to take it. H-h-he made me steal and stuff!" explained Matt as earnestly as he could pointing furiously. It was a far-fetched story Matt realised and he wished he could think faster on his feet. Well, he wasn't on his feet at the time, but still. Not even the thickest child would believe him. You'd have to be a right moron to do so.

"What? Well really! If that isn't the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," said the moron, as he promptly released Matt, who fell to the cold, hard floor on his hands and knees. "Shame on you! Getting a kid to steal petty snacks for you?"

"I...what?" The strange man said, increasingly confused.

"I'm calling the police," the assistant snapped back.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, I didn't do anything. I just gave him the chocolate bar he dropped! That's all! I didn't know he was stealing anything."

"Sure you didn't!" the angry man barked louder. He seemed to have completely forgotten about Matt and let his focus rest entirely on the absurd looking man standing in front of him.

"It was just a Mars Bar! He just dropped it and I picked it up for him! Besides, I wouldn't ask him to steal Mars Bars! I like Cadbury! Look!" he said. Pulling a Cadbury bar out his coat pocket.

"YOU WERE GONNA STEAL THAT!" boomed the shop assistant as his face turned a horrid tinge of purple.

"Wha-? No no no! It's just my pockets! I use them to carry ...You know... I was gonna pay for it! I found a note and... Really! Honest! I'm just a tourist…" babbled the man manically waving his arms trying to prove his innocence.

Matt looked back, triumphantly sneaking his way out of the shop and down the long, stony hall. He'd made it away from the only person who could have caught him-

"Matt!"

He heard a loud, angry whisper as he rounded the corner. He gulped and met the very displeased brown eyes of Ivy Regalson herself. She was standing there, shooting him a look of absolute fury. Matt could almost feel her gaze penetrating his skull. He looked down at the floor, for fear that if he looked at her eyes for too long, his own would melt.

"I. Have. Been. Looking. For. You," she said through clenched teeth. Ivy glanced around, as if the matron would appear any second. She looked back at Matt, who was avoiding her eyes.

"Sorry," he said quietly, risking a quick glance back up at her. She'd know where he was and exactly what he did, anyway. It was no use.

"Come on, we're going back right now and if Matron Hannigan finds us missing, -you- can explain," Ivy stated.

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, "And if she doesn't, you're splitting half of whatever you got from that store with me. Bloody starving."

At that, she put a hand at the back of his jacket and forced him to walk down the hall with her. Matt glanced back at the chaos behind him. At least that guy hadn't caught him. Weirdo.