Gatecrashers

The boys watched the guard let the carriage through before the eagle-engraved gates banged shut.
Cai pointed to a grove of trees well outside the high garden walls, but close enough to reach if anything were to go south.
That's where they fastened the horses and Cai gave Dacio a pat, more to reassure himself than the horse.
“We'll be back to get you, don't you worry, boy,” he whispered and nodded at Trandav. They took down the saddle bags
and struggled into their contents, which were ill-fitted to both of them, especially Cai. He groaned as he stuffed his
legs into the ridiculous, powder blue pants. The oversized coat bedecked with frills and flaring cuffs wasn't much better, either.
After he'd finished doing up the gaudy gold lion heads meant to serve as buttons, he shook his head and looked at Trandav.
He was admiring the sleeves of his dark emerald jacket - oversized as well, but at least nice in design- and his pants didn't make his legs look like someone had taken two sticks and bandaged them with clingy cloth that resembled fabric stolen from an opera singer's wardrobe.
“How come you got the nice stuff?” Cai huffed. Trandav shrugged and the smug look that Cai had always hated bloomed on his face.
“Evantai must like me.”
Cai rolled his eyes and gave him a shove.
“Come on, we got business to do,” he said and started lifting his feet through the knee-deep snow.
Perhaps tying the horses that far from the road hadn't been a brilliant idea.
Soon the two rascals arrived at the wall, which stood before them so high and mighty it could as well have been the Great Wall of China. Cai put his hands on his hips and Trandav scratched his head as they stared at the dense stone structure, topped off with unpleasant metal spikes.
“Well,” Cai began. “There's nothing that can't be crossed by going either under, over or through, which is one of my founding principles.”
He started circling the perimeter and Trandav followed.
“My boots are wet already,” he whined. “I don't like this.”
Cai ignored him and ran his hand along the frigid stone. It was surprisingly smooth for something constructed from natural rocks, but there were some footholds. He estimated the height of it to be no more than two and a half meters. If it wasn't so icy, he could easily have run up it himself.
“You need to boost me up,” he said to Trandav. He frowned.
“Why do I get the crappy job.”
“Because I'm the one with the climbing expertise, duh?”
Trandav shut up and came to stand by Cai, with a great sigh.
“Hurry up, then,” he muttered. He put his hands on his knee and Cai stepped on the foothold, feeling for purchase in the wall.
Trandav boosted him up, but his arms wobbled and Cai collapsed straight on top of him. He spat snow from his mouth and glared at Trandav, who lifted his face from the powder. The snow had stuck to everything, and his attempts to scrape it off only made it worse.
“My beard, my beard is wet,” he wailed. Cai nudged him with his boot.
“Get up,” he growled. “Fix your wig, it looks like it belongs to a troll.”
On the second try Trandav did get Cai high enough for him to grab one of the spikes at the top. Cai pulled himself up onto his elbows and examined the situation on the other side.
Mr. Stapini's mansion was as lofty as the gate suggested. The three-storied affair was built in the stately vein of French counts' villas, but the gold motifs and eagles everywhere bordered on desperation. The middle level had high, wide bay windows where Cai supposed the main entertainment area might be. Even now a couple of guests ambled through the prim hedges and neatly kept rose gardens to the main door, which was like a smaller oakwood version of the main gate. Cai sunk every detail and possible entry or exit point into his mind. The side of the house closest to them was obscured from view by high bird cherries and cypresses, some of their branches grazing the windows.
Cai felt a tug at his foot.
“Are you done sight-seeing yet?” Trandav blared. “I'm freezing.”
“Shhhh, keep it down,” Cai hissed. “I'm doing reconnaissance.”
“Reco...what?”
Cai decided this wasn't the best spot for crossing, and dropped down. Trandav didn't even attempt to disguise his frustration.
“This spot offers no protection from view,” Cai explained. “Let's go to the back.”
“Now I have to do that again!”
“It's great exercise.”
After much grumbling and wading through the snow they repeated the performance and Cai managed to haul Trandav over the back wall without anybody being impaled on the spikes. Trandav dropped into a bush on the other side and fell on his face again. Cai rested his hand against his forehead. Whatever Trandav's successes, with his level of stealth skills this mission was already doomed.
“Trandav, your beard.”
He fixed the black bunch of hair that had slid halfway across his face, and they set to finding the best way in.
Numai's every secret would soon be free game to them.