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

by Robert Iannone

  “Bingo.”

  “I suppose Brad is coming over, then.”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Not as long as you do your kissing where I can’t see it,” teased Egg.

  “I can’t wait till you have a boyfriend.”

  “You’ll have to wait a very long time . . . say a hundred and fourteen years and three days.”

  “Why three days?”

  “You simply can’t rush these things. It wouldn’t be proper” and they both laughed.

  “Did you want to invite Ham over?”

  “Ummm . . . maybe later. I think after breakfast I’ll just lock myself in my room and do some homework.” What she really wanted to do was fly.

  So the sisters had a pleasant meal talking about school and music and clothes. When they finished, big sister washed the plates while little sister dried.

  Then the doorbell rang and Ashley’s face lit up. “I’m out of here,” said Egg as she rolled her eyes.

  *****

  Up in her room, she took out her little do not disturb sign and posted it on her door…

  The sign was a gift from Sylvia and replaced the silly, hand-printed one she used to have. Her girlfriend knew how much she loved cats but since her Mom was allergic to them, she couldn’t have the real thing. So this was Snoozy – the closest thing to a pet cat she would probably ever have.

  After locking her door, she went over to her desk, took out the key, which was now taped to the bottom of the top drawer so no one would find it, and unlocked the little chest. She pulled out her flying suit and put it on. Then she took out the ring . . .

  . . . and went to place it on her left hand.

  “Oh, my gosh” she said when she realized her splint made that impossible. “Well, why not give my right hand a chance” she thought and slipped it on her other ring finger. And so, after a quick look in the mirror to admire herself, Flying Girl was ready. She walked over to her balcony, opened the door and stepped out. The sky was littered with dark ugly grey clouds . . . but at least it wasn’t raining.

  Egg wanted to head towards the mountains. She had heard on the radio that all this rain was causing flooding and mudslides and she thought that maybe she could help. She had put on the ring because it allowed her to change her size and that might come in handy if she had to rescue people. It was her ability to make herself as small as a butterfly that had enabled her to rescue two boys trapped in a mine.

  So, she leapt skyward and into a big puffy cloud that was overhead. She just loved the way they made her seem to disappear. This one was so thick with water that she couldn’t see her hands right in front of her face. About a minute later, she flew higher and out of the cloud . . . after all she had to see where she was going.

  And in a blink of the eye (well, maybe it was fifteen or twenty blinks) she was at the base of the mountains. She flew lower and headed for a small town nestled right against the foothills. What she saw was horrible. First, a gigantic boulder had rolled down the mountain and was blocking the main road into town . . .

  There was a fire truck right next to it but there was really nothing they could do to move it. She flew past and down into the town, and saw where a river of mud had slid into a bunch of houses . . .

  She had never seen so much destruction. It was just terrible. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. They probably all left when the mud started to slide. So she landed next to one house that was half buried and yelled, “IS THERE ANYONE IN THERE? DOES ANYONE NEED HELP?”

  She yelled again, but no one answered. Then a dog came running from somewhere, came right up to her, and started to bark and bark.

  Egg bent down to pet it. “Did your owner forget to take you? Poor doggy . . . I’ll find them for you.”

  But the dog started to bark at her again. “Calm down, doggy, I said I would help you.”

  Then the dog did the most unexpected thing. It grabbed Egg by the skirt and started to pull her. Surprised, she yelled, “Hey, stop that” . . . but the dog refused to let go.

  “Okay, okay . . . I’ll go with you.” It was obvious the dog wanted Egg to follow her somewhere. ‘Maybe its owner is trapped in the house’ she thought. “Come on doggy; let’s go find your master . . . hurry.”

  The dog led her to what might have been the rear of the house, but it was pretty much destroyed and covered in mud. “Oh my gosh, I hope no one’s in there.”

  The dog started scratching at the remains of a wall and barked. It was now very obvious that someone was inside. So Egg yelled again . . . and again no answer. She looked around but there didn’t seem to be any way to get in. There was one small opening but she could only fit through it if she made herself small. So that’s what she decided to do . . . “Ring, shrink me down.”

  But nothing happened.

  “Hey, ring . . . shrink me down to the size of a mouse.” Nothing happened.

  Just then, the mud began to move again. As it did, the wood of the house started to moan then splinter. “Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh”. The dog barked frantically . . . and started to whine.

  That’s when she heard it . . . little bitty barks. It was obviously the puppies of this dog and she was desperate to save them. But now the house was collapsing under the weight of the mud . . . and Egg couldn’t shrink herself to get inside.

  She didn’t know what to do. But she was Flying Girl and she wasn’t about to let those puppies die. The mud shifted again and the house began to disappear under it. Time was running out.

  Without thinking, she flew up to the roof, put her hands under the top of what was once a window . . . and pulled. To her amazement, the entire piece of wall peeled away like the skin from a banana. She found another section of collapsed wall and pulled again . . . and again . . . and again. She cleared all the debris and there below her in the corner of what was probably the remains of the kitchen were two little puppies in a wicker basket. She jumped down, picked it up and flew back out the way she had come.

  She landed next to the mother dog and set the basket down.

  The dog barked excitedly and sniffed each of her pups. Then she licked them both. They yelped in their tiny voices obviously very excited to see her again. Egg watched them and she felt incredible joy. When the mother dog came to her and jumped up and licked her face, Flying Girl decided that it was more rewarding to save dogs than boys (but not really).

  She picked up the big dog in one hand and the basket in the other and leapt into the air. Finding the big boulder that was blocking the road, she landed next to it and walked over to the firemen who were still trying to figure out what to do.

  “Excuse me. Can I leave these dogs with you? Someone must have left them behind in all the excitement.”

  The firemen stared at her in disbelief . . . something she was very used to by now. “Before you ask, I’m Flying Girl. Now if you’ll just step back a little bit, I’ll move this boulder.”

  The firemen continued to stare at her in total astonishment . . . but they did as she asked and took the dogs and stepped back.

  Egg walked over to the gigantic boulder and pushed it. It groaned . . . then rolled about ten feet which was more than enough to clear the road. “There. I think that should do it. Have a nice day.” She blew them a kiss and flew away.

  The firemen, with eyes wide and mouths hanging open, watched as she disappeared out of sight.

  *****

  On the way home Egg thought about what just happened. “Curiouser and curiouser,” she said to herself. “If I wear the ring on my left hand, I can change my size. If I wear it on my right hand, I become incredibly strong. Who would have guessed? Grammy is never going to believe it when I tell her.”

  *****

  The next day there appeared an article in the paper…

  Chapter 4 – Dizzy World

  “. . . and then I gave the boulder a little shove, and it rolled about ten feet. Grammy, I just know that I could have picked it up if I had tried.”

  Her grandmother was so
stunned with this news, that for a moment she couldn’t even talk.

  “Grammy . . . are you still there?”

  “Yes, precious one, I’m still here. I am just so overwhelmed by this newest revelation. Superhuman strength . . . it’s incredible. At the chance of sounding like a doddering old woman, I’ll repeat what I said before . . . How in the world did any of us who wore the suit and jewelry before you not find out what it did?”

  “I can’t answer that, Grammy.”

  The older woman chuckled “you weren’t supposed to. It’s a rhetorical question . . . one that isn’t meant to be answered.”

  “Oh,” responded Egg not really understanding.

  “And I’m forced to repeat something else I said . . . It’s as if the suit and jewelry were made just for you.”

  For some reason that reminded Egg of her dream conversation “Grammy, I talked to Dazzle last night.”

  Again, there was a moment of silence. “What did she say, dear one?”

  Egg repeated the conversation as well as she could remember it.

  “My, oh my.”

  “What’s the matter, Grammy?”

  “It’s hard to put into words, love. But it certainly seems that there is a greater mystery surrounding the flying suit and jewelry than I ever imagined. And where it will lead . . . I can’t even hazard a guess.”

  “Grammy, are you trying to scare me?”

  “Oh, no, no . . . not at all. In fact, just the opposite. It seems that there is a grand and beneficial design to all this. Grander than anything I could even conceive.”

  “What the heck does that mean?”

  Again, there was a moment of silence. “Whoever created the suit and jewelry probably did it for some very great purpose. I think it goes beyond just doing good deeds like saving animals or boys trapped in a mine. And . . . (again she paused as she searched for the right words) . . . somehow you are the key that makes it all work. From the first time you flew, it was obvious to me that something special was happening. And now with all the magic you’re discovering . . . well, it’s certainly no accident. In fact, I think it’s the tasks Dazzle talked about.”

  “You mean I have to discover all the magic, then she’ll tell me what’s going on?”

  “I think so.”

  “So, I guess I should try on the snake bracelet.” She shuddered at the thought. That thing scared her, and she didn’t know why.

  “Yes . . . but not now. That thing always frightened me.”

  “GRAMMY . . . me too.”

  “Oh, my.” Again, there was silence for a moment, “Egg, promise me you won’t try it on until you talk to Dazzle.”

  “Why?”

  “Just promise me.”

  “Okay, Grammy, I promise.”

  “Enough about this for the moment; let things unfold as they will. So what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

  “I’m not sure . . .” all this talk about flying and magical powers and stuff was making her head spin. Then a sudden thought came to her. “Grammy, I have a wonderful idea, but I’ll need your help.”

  “And what might that be?” The older woman listened to her granddaughter then laughed. “Why that sounds perfect. Call Sylvia and I’ll be over in a half hour to pick you up.”

  *****

  Her grandmother honked and Egg yelled good-bye to her sister and went out the front door. Slung over one shoulder was her small backpack.

  She skipped to the car, opened the door and slid in. “Hi, Grammy.”

  “Hello, love. I’m so glad you asked me to join you and Sylvia on this little adventure. I was getting pretty bored sitting home because of all this rain.”

  “It is exciting, isn’t it? I’ve never been to the one in Florida before. They say it’s much bigger and nicer than the one in California.” But since it was only two blocks to Sylvia’s house, they didn’t have much of a chance to discuss the upcoming trip. And, they couldn’t talk about it in front of the other girl . . . well, not just yet.

  They pulled into Sylvia’s driveway and honked. The girl came running out while her mother stood in the doorway waving. Grammy and Egg waved back.

  “How’s your finger?” were the first words out of Ham’s mouth when she got in the car.

  “Almost as good as new.”

  “So what’s the big surprise that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?”

  “You’ll have to wait till we get to Grammy’s house.”

  “Why?”

  “Because.”

  “That’s no answer.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then trust me.” With that, Ham stuck out her tongue.

  *****

  As Ham and Grammy sat on the couch in the living room, Egg took her backpack and went to the bathroom. When she came out, she was wearing her flying suit.

  “Wow” said Ham, “That’s a cool costume. What is it?”

  “It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a fantastically, unbelievable story . . .” and she told her friend the same story she had told her twice before. Of course, Sylvia would forget it again an hour after Egg changed back to her regular clothes. But for now . . .

  “Are you telling me that you can fly us to Florida?”

  “Yes.”

  Sylvia looked at Egg’s grandmother who smiled and nodded yes. “That’s too cool. What are we waiting for?”

  So they walked out the back door and Egg took hold of her friend’s hand and her grandmother’s and said, “Ready?” But before they could answer she flexed her knees, pushed up and they were airborne.

  The older Eloise smiled contentedly as the old sensation swept over her. She was flying again . . . just like she did fifty years ago. And the years melted away and she felt like she was sixteen.

  Sylvia’s face held the same expression as it did the last two times . . . first fright at being so high, then awestruck at what her friend could do and finally joy with the thrill of soaring above the earth, playing hide and seek with the clouds.

  And in no time at all, they were over Florida and heading for Disneyworld.

  For the rest of the afternoon and right into the early evening they went on ride after ride, attraction after attraction, ate cotton candy and hot dogs, and just had a magical time.

  There was the Pirates of the Caribbean . . .

  . . . and Alice in Wonderland

  . . . and A Small World

  . . . the best ride in the whole world (at least Disneyworld) unless you were older than a kid . . . the Tea Cups.

  When the ride finished, all three of them were dizzy enough to fall down. It felt like the world was spinning like a top. It took quite awhile for their eyes to regain their focus and the blurry world to regain its shape. Then they did it again.

  As the sun finally set, the best attraction of all began . . . the Electric Light Parade. All three kids were mesmerized by the spectacle . . .

  When it was over, they walked out the front entrance, looked back one last time at the Magic Kingdom…

  . . . and flew home.

  They went back to Grammy’s house and Egg changed out of her flying suit. Then all three sat at the kitchen table, drank hot chocolate and relived every minute of their adventure.

  An hour later, Sylvia couldn’t remember what they had done all afternoon. Egg told her they had played a game of make believe.

  “Oh, of course” said Ham. “And we pretended we went to Disneyland, right?”

  “Umm . . . actually it was only Dizzy-land.” And as usual, Egg felt sad that she wouldn’t be able to share the memory of their adventure with her best friend. She looked at her Grammy who gave her a knowing smile of encouragement.

  Chapter 5 – Dear Diary

  Grazella Grackle wasn’t a very happy person. It was hard for most people to understand why that was. Her husband had been a successful doctor and well respected by everyone. Her four children, who were all grown up now with families of their own, had been well
-behaved kids with lots of friends. And Grazella herself had been a very popular girl when she was in elementary school.

  Back then, her best friend had been her next-door neighbor . . . Eloise Earhart – Egg’s Grammy. They were still neighbors, but they were no longer friends.

  When they were young, they shared everything – very much like Ham and Egg. Nowadays, the only thing they shared was their mailbox . . .

  . . . well, not actually the mailbox, but the post that held them up.

  It all started when Grazella was eleven years old. She would never forget that day. It was the day she was overwhelmed with jealousy, the day everyone started to laugh at her and call her Crazy Grazy, and the day she became what she was today . . . not a very happy person.

  It was a Saturday late in May. The sun was out and the sky was a beautiful clear blue. If she could have climbed to the top of a mountain, she would have been able to see forever. But she wasn’t headed up . . . but down. Down to the lake almost a mile behind her parent’s farm. She and her dog Sparky were going fishing for trout. Her daddy loved to eat that fish and every time his daughter caught him one, he give her a big hug and a kiss.

  She had asked her best friend to join her, but Eloise said she had chores to do. So Grazella went by herself (if you don’t count Sparky).

  She hiked down to the lake. And what a wonderful lake it was . . . clear blue water that perfectly reflected the sky and surrounded on three sides by rocky cliffs about thirty feet high.

  Since it was so warm, Grazella would have liked to fish closer to the water, but the best fishing holes were underneath these cliffs. So she hiked to the top and found her favorite spot. She placed a blanket and her lunch pail under a tree, took out her fishing pole, hooked a worm, and cast out her line. Then she did what all good fishermen do, she sat down and waited.

  About fifteen minutes later while she was staring down at the lake, she was startled by her best friend’s reflection in the water. Eloise’s arms were outstretched and she was wearing a funny costume. She watched the reflection go from one side of the lake to the other then disappear. That’s when she looked up . . . but for the life of her, she just couldn’t remember if she saw Eloise up in the sky. But it didn’t matter. Her girlfriend could fly and she had seen her do it.