“Print me a wallet-sized one. See you kiddo.” Ashley turned to leave then stopped as if she just remembered something. She turned around and said, “by the way, I just have to borrow your jewelry sometime. Did Grandma E give those to you? They’re beautiful.”
“Oh, this stuff? It’s just some costume jewelry I found in Grammy’s attic,” Egg said desperately trying to get her sister to lose interest.
“Too bad, it’s really kind of cool. Okay, I’m gone.” This time she did leave.
Egg ran back to her room. Twice in one day, she nearly gave away her secret. “You silly, foolish goose” she said to herself. “You have to learn to be more careful” and made a promise never to wear the jewelry unless she was wearing her flying suit. Part of the magic of the suit was that whoever saw her in it would completely forget that they did after an hour.
But now that she was in the safety of her bedroom, she hurried over to her desk momentarily forgetting about the jewelry. She connected the camera to her computer, emailed the pictures to her friend, and printed off three copies for her mother, her sister and Grammy. Then she started to change out of her dress up clothes.
Egg took off the hat and gloves and the boa. Then she pulled off the ring and bracelet and put them back in the little chest. As she put her hands to the back of her neck to undo the necklace, she had a great idea. Why not take the rest of the half hour until her sister came back to do a quick little flying trip? With all this snow, maybe somebody would need rescuing. So she pulled off the dress and slipped into her flying suit. She closed the little chest and hid it under the bed for now.
As she walked over to the balcony, Egg wondered how it was that the suit kept her warm. She had flown last weekend and it had been just as cold outside. But she had felt very comfortable. Grammy had said the flying suit would protect her when she wore it. Apparently, it was just some more of its wonderful magic.
She stepped out onto the balcony and leaped skyward. And the same thrill of flying swept over her as it did each time she did this . . . the visual wonder of the trees and houses growing ever smaller, the amazing sense of freedom and the thrill of defying gravity. It was too bad that she couldn’t fly more often, but it wasn’t easy for a nine-year-old girl to be left alone for long periods of time. That’s why she had to make the most of every opportunity. And, in seven years . . . well six and half now . . . the suit would run out of its magical power. Then she would have to put it away for fifty years until the magic came back. When it did, she would give it to her granddaughter the same way her Grammy gave it to her.
Egg flew straight up until she was the size of a bird to anyone that might see her from below. She looked over the neighborhood from her vantage point but was disappointed. There was almost no one around . . . no one to rescue. In fact, the only people she saw were her sister and friends. They were walking arm in arm down the deserted street in front of her house.
Well, with nothing else to do, she swooped down and hovered just above a nearby tree so she could eavesdrop. She knew that was impolite, but she was feeling mischievous.
She heard Brad say something that sounded like “The pen red belongs to my aunt.” Wow, was that weird.
Then Ashley said “May I see the pen red of your aunt, please.”
‘Pu-leez’, Egg thought, ‘just because he’s your boyfriend is no reason to talk silly.’ She continued to listen for another few minutes but the conversation never improved. All four of them were talking like dumb first graders, which was freaky and disturbingly weird.
When the four friends turned around and started to head back to the house, Egg knew it was time for her to leave. She flew up over the trees and straight to her balcony. She hurried back to her bedroom and started to take off her suit when she realized she was still wearing the necklace. ‘Oops’ she thought, and then she undid the latch and slipped it back into the little chest she had put under the bed. Her suit went in next. She took her precious bundle back into the closet and hid it on the top shelf.
A few minutes later, her sister knocked on her door. “Come in, Ashley.”
“Hey Egg, just wanted to tell you everyone has left so it’s just me and you. If you’re hungry, I’ll boil us some hotdogs.”
“Thank you, now that you mention it, I’m really hungry.” Flying always did that to her. “By the way, did you finish practicing your Spanish?” she teased.
“Yeah, we did. In fact, the four of us just spent the last half hour without saying one word in English . . . and that’s not easy.”
“Not one word . . . ever?” Egg was confused.
“Nope. Anyway, I’ll go boil the water. Food should be ready in about five minutes.” Ashley left, closing the door behind her.
Egg just stood. ‘How could that be?’ she thought. ‘I heard them speak English . . . well silly English.’ There was no reason for her sister to lie to her. Ashley would never do that.
Then an amazing thought came to her. She opened her bedroom door and yelled down to her sister “Ash . . . I gotta call Grammy. Don’t put my hotdog on for about five minutes.” She didn’t wait for a reply.
Running back to her room, she locked the door behind her. She went to the closet, took down the chest and put on her flying suit. Then she put on the necklace. Walking over to her desk, she picked up the phone and called her grandmother.
“Well, hello, Egg. How are you?”
“Grammy, you speak French don’t you?”
“Well, not as well as I did when your grandfather was still alive. Why?”
“Say something please.”
“Like what?”
“Anything.”
“Okay, ‘Je pense donc je suis.’
“No, in French.”
“I did dear.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“What is it, Egg?”
“You said ‘I think therefore I am.’
There was silence for a few seconds. Then her grandmother said “Yes, dear. How did you know?”
“Grammy, I know what the necklace does.”
“You do?”
“Yes, it lets me understand any language that people speak!”
Chapter 2 – Hey Ham, Move Over
“Bonjour Oeuf”
“Good morning, Egg.”
“Quelle merveilleuse journee.”
“What a wonderful day.”
“Ma petite-fille est trop intelligente.”
Egg giggled then said, “My granddaughter is too smart.”
The elder Eloise laughed delightedly. “This is so wonderful. I wonder why no one ever figured it out before?”
“Maybe no one ever spoke to them in a different language.”
“Well, you might just be right about that. Oh, I’m so excited for you, dear one. It’s really marvelous.” They were in Egg’s room with the door locked. “Now, you better get out of that suit before your mom or sister comes looking for us.”
“Grammy, I know just how I’m going to use this new power . . . I’m going to take a trip to France. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“Egg, remember you must be careful. You’re Flying Girl, not Supergirl.”
“Of course I will Grammy. Remember “Votre petite-fille est trop intelligente.”
“Oh my word” exclaimed her grandmother. “Do you realize what you just said?”
“Well, of course silly. I repeated what you said about me being too smart.”
“No dear, you didn’t. You said ‘your granddaughter’ not ‘my granddaughter.’
“You mean I can speak French?”
“Apparently the necklace lets you speak, as well as understand, any language. That is simply too exciting for words . . . English or French.”
*****
Later that night after her grandmother had left, Egg was in the living room watching something on Nickelodeon. The phone rang and Ashley ran to answer it thinking it might be Brad. It wasn’t; it was Sylvia.
“Egg, it’s for you,” yelled her sister.
Egg jumped up and walked into the kitchen. “Who is it?”
“Ham.”
“Ham?”
“Yes, doofus, ham as Hampton — as in Sylvia Hampton your best friend.”
Egg giggled, “That means we’re Ham and Egg; that’s just too cool.” She picked up the phone and said to her girlfriend “Did you hear what Ashley just called you?” Sylvia had heard and she, too, was giggling.
“What’s going on?” asked Egg when she and her girlfriend finally got control of themselves. Sylvia told her and Egg’s response was a very loud “OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH.”
Egg’s mom and sister came running into the kitchen, very concerned. “What is it dear?” said her mother. “Is everything alright?”
“She’s moving, Mom, Sylvia’s moving.”
“Oh, love, I’m so sorry. But you two can still call each other and maybe visit sometimes.”
“NO, NO, NO” Egg screamed.
“Please, Egg, you need to calm down. It’ll be fine, I promise.”
“You don’t understand, Sylvia’s moving to our town. Where’s . . .” but she couldn’t remember the name of the street. “Syl . . . what street again?” Turning back to her mother, she said, “Strato Drive?”
“Why that’s only a few blocks away. We pass it on the way to school.”
“Sylvia, it’s only a few blocks away. We can bike to each other’s house every day.” Egg was still screaming with excitement.
Ashley had about enough of this yelling. Besides, she needed the phone to call her boyfriend. “Egg . . . stop screaming, hang up and go instant message or email Ham.”
“Syl . . . or should I say Ham . . . I’ve got to hang up now. Log on to your computer and I’ll ‘I.M.’ you.” Sylvia agreed and Egg ended the conversation with “Oh, this is just so wonderful. Bye. I mean see you on the computer in fifteen seconds.”
“Thank you” said her sister. But Egg didn’t hear her; she was flying up the stairs to her room. When she logged on, there was already a message from her girlfriend . . .
Egg … check your email. I just sent you a picture of our new house.:-) Ham
So Egg clicked on the internet and logged into her email account. Sure enough, there was the message from Sylvia. She opened it and clicked on the attachment. And the picture of her friend’s new home appeared…
She sent a message that said . . .
Ham…it’s beautiful. When do you move in? Do you have your own room? What color is it? :-) Egg
Egg… we move in three weeks!!! My room is an ugly blue but Mom says I can paint it any color I want. What color do I want? :-) Ham
Ham…three weeks is too long. That’s twenty-one days. I think you should paint your room yellow or pink. Maybe you could do both colors. That would be really pretty. :-) Egg
Egg…I don’t really like pink but yellow sounds good. My mom and I are going to visit your school on Wednesday. I hope they put me in your class. Who’s your teacher? :-) Ham
Ham …Yellow is good. Just don’t make it like a banana. Maybe more like that blouse you wore at camp. My teacher is Mrs. Sparks. She’s very interesting. Maybe if you ask, they’ll put you in her class with me. Wouldn’t that be just too cool? Oh, I just can’t wait until we’re neighbors…and classmates. :-) Egg
Egg…If they put me in your class I just might faint. I gotta go now. I’ll call you tomorrow. :-) Ham PS – I just love my new nickname. Thank Ashley for making it up.
*****
On the way to school on Monday morning, Egg made her mother stop in front of Sylvia’s new house. “Oh, it’s very nice; don’t you think so, Mom?”
“Yes, dear. It’s very nice.”
“Did I tell you that it has a swimming pool?”
“Really? Well, that will be fun for you two this summer.”
“Do you think they’ll put her in my class?”
“Sweetheart, there are only two third grade classes . . . so the odds are pretty good.”
“Wouldn’t it be just fabulous? We could study together and do projects together and . . .”
“Egg, dear, that’s all well and good. But what about your other friends? Don’t they deserve some of your time?”
“But I want to spend my time with Ham. She’s my best friend.”
“Will you do me a little favor? When you get home from school, I want you to call your Grammy and discuss this with her. Would you do that for me?” Egg’s mom knew how stubborn her daughter could be. So instead of arguing, she would have her daughter talk to her grandmother. Egg always listened to her. Sometimes daughters just wouldn’t take advice from their moms. This was an important subject and she wanted to be sure Egg understood.
“Okay, if I have too. Sometimes, Mother, I just don’t understand you. Weren’t you ever nine years old?”
*****
“Hello, Egg.”
“Hi, Grammy.”
“Your mom asked me to talk to you about Sylvia and your other friends.”
“I know. I just don’t understand why. Ham is my best friend and I just want to be with her. Why is that wrong?”
“Ham?”
“Isn’t that just a perfect nickname? Ashley came up with it . . . it’s the first three letters of her last name.”
“Why, that is just perfect. Ham and Egg . . . almost sounds like a title from a Dr. Seuss story.”
“So you see, we’re just meant to be best friends.”
“Who was your best friend before Ham?”
“Well, I guess it was Angela. Or maybe Presley.”
“Have they changed in some way?”
“What do you mean? They’re just the same.”
“If Sylvia had moved to South Dakota or some other faraway place, would Angela or Presley still be your best friends?”
“Umm . . . I guess so.”
“Do they consider you as their best friend?”
“Uh . . . I guess so.”
“Will they be hurt if you stop spending even a little time with them?”
“Umm . . . I guess so.”
“If Ham decides that by the summer, she would rather spend all of her time with someone else . . . maybe Angela or Presley . . . would you feel bad?”
“Uh . . . I guess so.”
“Sweetheart, you have the right to decide who you want for a best friend. All your mom is asking is that you spend a little time with your other friends. They were there for you when you needed them. Be there for them if they still need you. You can have three best friends or one best friend and two very good friends. But having one best friend and two ex-friends who think you’re not very nice isn’t good. Do you understand?”
Egg thought about that for a long moment. “I guess there’s no such thing as too many friends.”
“Oh, my darling, you never fail to amaze me. Never.”
“Grammy, did you have the same conversation with my mom?”
“I tried, but she was too stubborn to take advice from her mother.”
*****
After she hung up with her grandmother, Egg called her girlfriend to find out how her visit went. The phone rang and rang about a million times before the answering machine picked up. “Hi, we’re not available at the moment; please leave a message at the beep and one of us will call you back as soon as possible. Thank you and have a great day” . . . beeeeep.
“Ham, it’s Egg. Call me when you get home and tell me everything about your visit. Did you get into Mrs. Sparks class? Did you like the school? Aren’t the teachers nice? Did you get to see the . . .” beeeeep. The machine had cut her off.
“Stupid machine; I had a lot more questions.” Egg stuck out her tongue at the telephone just to show it she wasn’t at all pleased. When it didn’t apologize, she hung up and started her homework.
Tonight she had to write a page about her most exciting adventure. It couldn’t be a made up one; it had to be something that really happened to her. As she sat there with her pencil in hand looking at the blank sheet of paper, she
let out a loud sigh. She desperately wanted to write about her flying but of course, she couldn’t. Compared to that, everything else seemed so . . . so . . . uninteresting.
Little girls didn’t normally get to have great adventures. Riding bikes, playing sports or going to birthday parties were about all that ever happened. Sometimes they would go on an interesting vacation like camp or to the beach. But compared to the thrill of flying, it all seemed so boring.
“Oh, well” she thought “I better choose something . . .”
This summer I spent a week at camp. It was very exciting to be on my own for a whole week. There were a lot of things to do like canoeing, and archery and . . .
Chapter 3 – Hello, Dolly
Five days till Saturday . . . email from Egg to Ham: “I simply can’t sleep because I’m so afraid. I don’t know what I would do if something happened and you didn’t move.”
Four days till Saturday . . . email from Ham to Egg: “Now I can’t sleep . . . I’m so excited about the new house and the new school. I just can’t wait.”
Three days till Saturday . . . email from Egg to Ham: “It’s just not fair that they won’t tell you which class you’re in until Monday. Now I’m so nervous that I can’t eat.”
Two days till Saturday . . . email from Ham to Egg: “My mom says we can have a sleep over the very first night if you don’t mind all the moving boxes.”
Friday, one day till Saturday . . . email from Egg to Ham: “I’m so tired and hungry. But now that it’s only one more night till you get here, I’m going to have a big dinner, two desserts and go right to sleep. See you in the morning.”
Before she went to bed, Egg posted a little sign on her door that read…
And below that was a cardboard clock with adjustable hands…
. . . then she set her alarm for seven o’clock, turned off her light and began to dream, but not about flying. It was about a beautiful young woman . . .
. . . but her mind couldn’t quite bring the image into focus.
She was dressed in a stunning black outfit that set off a red body stocking. It was cinched with a belt sporting a large gold buckle. Engraved on it was a rose crossed with a sword just like the one on her flying suit. Her hair was long and blond and hung over her shoulders. You could tell right away that she must be a princess or maybe even a queen. For a pet, she had a fierce looking dragon. He may have been very mean to everyone else . . . but not to her. She called him Storm because wherever he went his wings created a powerful wind that could knock down all of her enemies. As he settled next to her, she put out a hand to pet him on his head. Storm just loved that. And then he started to buzzzzzzzz.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 14