Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel]

by Robert Iannone

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t tell that big dufus, but that hurt my butt.”

  “Hameggattic Sisters are sworn to secrecy.”

  After another two minutes, only Nasty Nick remained alive for the other team. Ham and Egg were the last two for their team. The girls each had a ball in their hands but were using it for protection. Nick had the other eight and was throwing them one right after the other as hard as he could.

  When he ran out, Egg turned to Ham and they smiled at one another. Without saying a word, they each walked to opposite ends of the room. Ham looked at her friend and said, “alley-oop.”

  Egg yelled back “alley-oop” and threw her ball at Nick in a big lazy arc. Nick laughed and reached up to grab it at the same moment that Sylvia threw her ball at his big belly. Nick caught the first ball and turned towards Ham just as the ball she threw reached him. It hit his stomach with a loud thwack. Nasty was so surprised that he fell backward and landed on his butt and yelped.

  “Now we’re even,” yelled Sylvia. And all her new classmates came running over to congratulate her.

  Ham was embarrassed by all the attention. Besides, Egg deserved the praise as much as she did. She looked around for her friend and saw her standing a little ways off. When they made eye contact, Sylvia waved for her friend to come over and join the celebration.

  Egg shook her head no. She pointed at her friend, smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. Seeing her friend happy was reward enough.

  *****

  They rode home together with Mrs. Hampton. Apparently the mothers had decided that Egg’s mom would drive the kids in the morning and Sylvia’s would pick them up after school.

  The rest of Sylvia’s first week went flying by. Having each other in the same class, and practically as next-door neighbors, was everything they both had hoped it would be. And to top it off, they were going to have another sleep over, but this time it would be at Egg’s house.

  And Egg decided that the perfect way to end a perfect week was to fly her friend somewhere they had never been. This time it wouldn’t be France, but someday it would.

  *****

  It was five o’clock and the girls were in Egg’s bedroom. Egg’s mom had to go to the grocery store and had left Ashley in charge till she got back in about an hour. As usual, big sister was downstairs with her boyfriend and the girls were on their own.

  Egg locked her bedroom door. Then she turned to her girlfriend “I’m going to change. Stay here at I’ll be right back.” She went into the bathroom and came out as Flying Girl.

  “Wow, what is that?”

  “It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a fantastically unbelievable story . . .” and Egg repeated a conversation that she had with her girlfriend the first time she took her flying to Washington D.C. Of course, Sylvia didn’t remember any of it. Everyone forgot Flying Girl after one hour . . . it was part of the suit’s magic.

  When she was finished, and Sylvia was pretty convinced, she asked “but where do you want to go?”

  “How about Mount Rushmore?”

  “Oh, Egg, that would be fantastic.”

  So they walked to the balcony, held hands and leapt skyward. Sylvia was as excited this time as she was the last time. And in just a few minutes, they were over South Dakota. The sun had set and a bright moon was shining.

  “EGG…THERE IT IS,” screamed her friend. And sure enough, down below were four gigantic faces carved right into the mountain.

  They flew down and Egg landed them on the nose of George Washington.

  “Oh, Egg, this is so incredible.”

  It wasn’t France, but Sylvia was right . . . it was pretty awesome. “It is amazing. But poor President Washington . . .” she didn’t finish.

  “What do you mean?” asked her friend.

  “Now he has egg on his face” and they both giggled.

  Chapter 5 - Ski – Daddle

  It was a week later and, since it was Saturday, Egg was sleeping in. When the radio had come on, she reached over to turn it off but accidentally changed the station instead. The music turned to news.

  She was half listening to what the announcer was saying . . . most of her brain was still asleep. Then with a start she sat up and said “Oh, my gosh.” Something inside her head was screaming “Flying Girl . . . save those people.”

  Jumping out of bed, she made a mad dash for the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. When she finished she turned to go to her closet to get her flying suit then stopped. She turned back to the mirror and was horrified at how bad her hair looked. So, reluctantly she spent about fifteen seconds to brush it into some sense of order. Partially satisfied, she ran to the closet and pulled down the little chest.

  She hurriedly slipped into the suit then started to hide the chest under her bed. “Oops,” she said to herself and re-opened it and pulled out the necklace. If the skiers were Italian, they might not speak English . . . and Egg certainly didn’t speak their language.

  Just as she opened the doors to her balcony, her mom yelled, “Wake up sleepy head. Breakfast is almost ready.”

  “Oh no.” She completely forgot that she had asked her mom to have breakfast waiting for her when she got up. She and Sylvia were going to get together early and start to fix up their little attic room. Well, there was nothing she could do at this point, so she went and pulled on a pair of loose fitting jeans and a sweater to cover the flying suit.

  “Morning Mom.”

  “Morning, sweetheart. I made you some French toast and bacon. And here’s a cup of hot chocolate.”

  “Mmmm . . . scrumptious. As soon as I finish, can you please drive me to Sylvia’s?”

  “It’s pretty early. Are you sure her parents are up?”

  “Yes. Ham says they always get up early . . . even on weekends. Pretty weird, huh?”

  *****

  Twenty minutes later, Ham and Egg were up in the attic headquarters of the Hameggattic Sisterhood.

  “Syl . . . I have something to show you, and a favor to ask.”

  “Of course, that’s what Sisters do.”

  So, Egg pulled off her sweater, slipped out of her jeans, and stood there in her flying suit.

  “Wow, what is that?”

  “It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a fantastically unbelievable story . . .” and Egg repeated the same conversation as before. “So, I need to go find those two skiers. Will you cover for me?”

  “Oh, Egg, you’re so wonderful . . . risking your life to save two perfect strangers. I wish I could go with you.”

  “Not this time. But someday I’ll fly you to where ever you want to go . . . even Mount Rushmore.”

  “You know what’s so strange . . . I had a dream that I flew there at night.”

  “Syl . . . I really have to go. Those skiers are in big trouble.”

  “Go . . . hurry. And, Flying Girl . . . good luck.”

  *****

  She didn’t know exactly where to look, so she just headed to the nearest mountain. And within minutes, she saw what she was looking for…

  “Wow” she thought, “that is really pretty.” As she flew closer, she looked around for the most likely place a cross-country skier might be. Obviously, they would have to be on flat ground . . . like in a meadow or valley.

  After crisscrossing back and forth, she finally spotted someone. As she flew lower, the someone turned out to be a bunch of people on snowmobiles. It was probably the rescue party. At least she was in the right area.

  She continued in the general direction that the search party was headed. But flying above the treetops gave her a big advantage. She could see for miles in every direction. But she couldn’t see the two skiers.

  Then off in a clearing she thought she saw something out of place. Swooping down to get a better look, she realized it was a water bottle. Picking it up, she found a name printed on the side in black ink…

  . . . it read “Giovanni Sacco”. Well, that certainly sounded Italian. Looking around, she spotted wha
t looked like tracks made from skis. Maybe it was theirs.

  She leapt up and followed the tracks, and in just a few minutes, she spotted the two skiers on a small path in the middle of a bunch of trees.

  She landed in front of them and they let out a loud yell and almost fell down. “Sorry, about that. But everyone’s been looking for you two. Are you okay?”

  “Madre Maria, che sèi tu? Un angelo.” (Mother Mary, who are you? An Angel?)

  Egg laughed. “No, I’m not an angel. My name is Flying Girl. Are you okay?”

  “Non troppo male. Ci sono assetati, col e affamati. Ma siamo in buone.” (Not too bad. We’re thirsty, cold and hungry. But we are in good spirits.)

  “Well, see that big tree over there. I want you to go and sit by it and I’ll bring the rescue party. Okay?”

  “Si. Ma, per favore, che cosa è una ragazza volante?” (Yes. But please, what is a Flying Girl?”)

  “That would take too long to explain. I’ll be back in a few minutes with some food and water.” And she leapt skyward and the two skiers fell to their knees at the sight of such a miracle.

  Egg flew to back the way she came and found the rescue party. She landed in front of them and the snowmobiles came to screeching halt. “I found your lost skiers. See that tall tree over there, I asked them to sit under it until you got there. They said they weren’t injured, but they’re thirsty, hungry and cold. Could you give me some water and candy bars to take to them?”

  The four men stared at her in total disbelief. After about twenty seconds, the silence was getting embarrassing. “Come on, you guys. Stop staring at me like I was from Mars. I’m just your ordinary Flying Girl doing a good deed.”

  “Hey, lady, how did you do that . . . you know fly?”

  “It’s the suit. I would love to stay and chat, but my mom told me never to talk to strangers. So, if you would give me some water and food, I’ll take it to them.”

  “If you really found them, what are their names?”

  “Uh . . . one was Giovanni something. I didn’t get the other person’s name. Sorry.”

  “Mike, give her the rations.” So, one of the men took two water bottles and a handful of chocolate bars from his backpack and gave it to Egg.

  “Thank you. Now just go to that big tree.” And she flew away.

  “What the heck did we just see?”

  “Don’t ask. Just do what she said.”

  *****

  Egg flew back to the two skiers and landed. “Here you go guys. The rescuers should be here in a few minutes. I hope you liked your visit to my country. Maybe someday I’ll visit Italy.”

  “Ringrazio, battenti la ragazza. Per favore, veniteci atrovare in qualsiasi momento desiderate. Sarebbe stat oil nostro onore. (Thank you, Flying Girl. You saved our lives. Please, come and visit us anytime you wish. It would be our honor.)

  Egg blew them a kiss, leapt into the air and flew home.

  By the time the two Italians and their rescuers made it back to safety, they had completely forgotten about Flying Girl.

  *****

  Egg flew back to the attic and to the waiting Sylvia.

  “Well . . . did you save them?”

  “I did. Syl, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to help people. It makes me feel so good inside.”

  “Oh, Egg, I wish you had another flying suit so I could go with you.”

  Egg’s face lit up at that idea. “That would be absolutely the coolest thing ever. What would we call you?”

  So as Egg slipped her jeans and sweater back over her flying suit, the two girls thought about names. They tried all the super heroes first . . . Wonder Girl, Super Girl, Bat Girl . . . but none of them really worked.

  “How about Flying Girl and Sister Syl?”

  “Not bad . . . but I think we can come up with something better.” And for the next hour, they tried about a million names. Then Sylvia excused herself and went to the bathroom. When she returned she had completely forgotten about Flying Girl . . . again.

  *****

  Later that day, Egg was back at her house with her Grammy. Her mom and dad were out for the night and so was her sister. So Grammy and she were going to have dinner together.

  Egg spent the whole meal reading from her diary about her good deeds and about she and Sylvia and the Hameggattic Sisterhood. She mentioned the idea about a second flying suit but her grandmother said she didn’t think it was possible. But, you never know.

  After dinner, Egg went to her room to put her diary, suit and necklace away. Smiling from ear to ear because she couldn’t have been any happier, she said to herself, “I’m sure lucky to be me”. Life couldn’t get much better than it was and she was mature enough to appreciate all that she had.

  *****

  Egg pulled out her little step stool and climbed to the top. She took down the small chest and laid it on the floor. Using her key, she unlocked it and placed the flying suit and necklace inside. After locking it, she climbed back up the step stool and with her arms outstretched, she returned the chest to its secret hiding place. Almost . . .

  As she climbed down, the chest, which hadn’t been pushed all the way back on the shelf, slowly tilted forward . . . then fell. It hit Egg squarely on the head and she blacked out.

  When she finally opened her eyes there was a nice lady bent over her. “Oh, Egg, are you all right?” asked the lady.

  The girl put her hand to her head and gingerly touched a large bump. “My head hurts a little, but I think I’m okay.”

  “You had me so worried.”

  “Thank you for caring . . . but, I’m sorry, who are you?”

  Her Grammy smiled – if Egg was able to joke, then she certainly was alright. “That’s really funny, Egg.”

  “Why do you keep calling me egg?” The young girl was very serious.

  “Sweetheart, please don’t tease me.”

  “I’m not teasing anyone. Tell me who you are.” She sounded annoyed and perhaps a little frightened.

  “Child, do you know your name?”

  “Well of course I do. It’s . . . umm . . .” but she didn’t finish. She scrunched her face as she tried her hardest to answer the simple question but to no avail. “Isn’t that so weird, I can’t remember.”

  Apparently the box had scrambled her brain. Egg had lost her memory.

  Book 3

  Scrambled Egg

  Book 3 of

  Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

  © Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,

  All Rights Reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 – Humpty-Dumpty

  Chapter 2 – Sisters of the Hood

  Chapter 3 – Balloony Bye-Bye

  Chapter 4 – Alice in Wonderland

  Chapter 5 – Shoo Fly

  Chapter 1 – Humpty-Dumpty

  “ . . . however, the egg only got larger and larger, and more and more human: when she had come within a few yards of it, she saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth; and, when she had come close to it, she saw clearly that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY himself. `It can't be anybody else!' she said to herself. `I'm as certain of it, as if his name were written all over his face!'

  It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that enormous face. Humpty Dumpty was sitting, with his legs crossed like a Turk, on the top of a high wall — such a narrow one that Alice quite wondered how he could keep his balance — and, as his eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite direction, and he didn't take the least notice of her, she thought he must be a stuffed figure, after all.

  `And how exactly like an egg he is!' she said aloud, standing with her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to fall.

  `It's very provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from Alice as he spoke, `to be called an egg — very!'

  `I said you looked like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained. `And some eggs are very pretty, you know,' she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of c
ompliment.

  `Some people,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as usual, `have no more sense than a baby!'

  Alice didn't know what to say to this: it wasn't at all like conversation, she thought, as he never said anything to her; in fact, his last remark was evidently addressed to a tree -- so she stood and softly repeated to herself:

  “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

  All the King's horses and all the King's men,

  Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.”

  “. . . and see here is Alice shaking Humpty’s hand.”

  Egg leaned closer to take a look. She smiled politely at the nice lady not really knowing what to say.

  “This is from one of your favorite books. Can you remember its name or who wrote it?”

  “Sorry, no.”

  “Think about it for a minute. Maybe it will come to you.”

  So the young girl did as she was asked but she really had no idea. Instead of saying that, Egg thought she might as well guess. “I think it’s called ‘Alice and her friend Humpty’ and it was written by Mr. Eggs Benedict.”

  Grammy stared at her granddaughter for a moment to see if she was joking like her old self. Unfortunately, she wasn’t. “That was a very good guess. It’s entitled Through the Looking Glass and was written by a man named Lewis Carroll. Does that sound familiar?”

  “Sorry, no.”

  “That’s okay. Do you like the story?”

  “Umm . . . it’s a little silly, isn’t it?”

  “Well, dear, it’s meant to be a little silly. That’s why you like it so much.”

  “Is this why everyone keeps calling me egg . . . because I look like Humpty-Dumpty?”

  They were sitting on the sofa in the living room . . . grandmother and granddaughter. The older woman was very worried, while the young girl was very confused. Had this been Alice in Wonderland, one of the weird and whacky characters, maybe the Mad Hatter or perhaps the Cheshire Cat, might have asked, “When is an Egg not an Egg?”