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

by Robert Iannone

  “Oh my gosh. What the heck was that?” she said to her reflection. She never talked like that. How weird . . . she must be really tired.

  She stopped squeezing, let out a loud breath and put her hands under the water faucet. Cupping them to catch the water, she brought them to her face and yelped in surprise.

  She stared and stared but there was no mistake. The poison ivy and the redness were gone. Apparently, Egg had cured herself. Well, to be more precise, she assumed the bracelet had cured her.

  When it all finally sank into her sleepy brain, she said those three famous words she always said in times like this . . . “OH MY GOSH.” And just for good measure, she added another “OH MY GOSH.”

  Egg did a little victory dance all the way back to her bed. “Wait till I tell Dazzle” she thought and was ready to jump under the covers and fall asleep right then and there. But of course she was still wearing her flying suit so she first had to undress and put her pajamas back on. She walked over to the desk, placed the suit and bracelet back in the little chest, and relocked it. Now she was ready to talk to Dazzle . . . except she wasn’t tired. The excitement of her discovery drove the sleep right out of her head.

  Trying to figure out what she could do to make herself sleepy again, Egg hit upon an idea. She turned on her computer, went to the Google search page and typed . . .

  . . . and clicked on images. Maybe she could find out why a snake (or was it a serpent?) would be used on a bracelet that could cure a person. And for the next thirty minutes, she studied the images and explored different sites all the while feeling very proud of her self. This is what Flying Girl should do . . . find her own answers.

  At the end of the half hour, she had done just that. But sometimes answers lead to more questions.

  The first thing she discovered was that doctors liked to use a symbol called a caduceus which showed two snakes wrapped round a rod with wings.

  So there was a reason that the bracelet had two snakes. But, after a little more investigating, she found that the original symbol had only one snake…

  . . . and since this one was more than a thousand years older, it seemed to her that it would be the one that Dazzle would have used. So if there should only be one snake, what was the other one doing on the bracelet?

  Egg never did find the answer to that question. But she did find an image that for some reason made her stop and stare. It was the image of a sea serpent thought to be like the one they call the Loch Ness monster.

  And the reason she stopped and stared was because she thought she saw the serpent twinkle at her . . . just like the bracelet had done.

  But by now, she was exhausted and couldn’t think very clearly. She turned off the computer, jumped into bed and in less than a minute she was asleep . . . and talking to Dazzle.

  “Pretty good for a scaredy-cat.”

  “I am unfamiliar with such a creature. None the less, very well done.”

  *****

  “Good morning, Egg.”

  “Morning, Mother.”

  “Hey, what happened to the rash on your face?”

  “Oh, it went away last night.”

  “Really. That’s pretty magical.”

  Egg touched her cheek just as she had done last night . . . and smiled.

  *****

  Ashley came down and joined her little sister for breakfast. “Hey, what happened to your rosy red cheeks?”

  “Oh, it’ all gone.”

  “I know it’s all gone; but how?”

  “Mom thinks it was magic.” To change the subject, Egg asked, “Where did you get that tee shirt?” She didn’t notice how red her sister’s eyes were.

  “You like? I got it at the new Hollister’s that just opened at the mall. It’s funky and surreal . . . don’t you think?” It had a big picture of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge covered with fog.

  “I do like it. Is San Francisco really that pretty?”

  “Never been there but I’ve heard it’s wonderful. It’s like one of the top ten cities to visit in the entire world. I’d love to go.”

  “Maybe Brad can take you for your birthday.” Ashley’ eighteenth birthday was next week. Egg didn’t see her mother give her a horrified look.

  “I broke up with him,” Ashley whispered with a look that said just the opposite.

  “WHAT?” Her sister had been dating Brad for almost two years. They were always together, which drove Egg a little crazy. But over time, she actually learned to like him.

  “He’s a big jerk, so I dumped him.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Egg, that’s enough” interrupted her mother. “Ashley’s a little upset right now. Please find something else to talk about.”

  Egg didn’t want to change the subject. She didn’t like boys, didn’t understand why girls had boyfriends and she certainly planned never to have one herself. But this was just so interesting. What could he have done to make her sister break up with him? She had to find out.

  “Well, Ashley, if you ever need someone to talk to, you may come to my room anytime you want.” Then she quickly added, “but be sure to knock first.”

  “Thanks, little sis, I appreciate that.”

  “Listen you two, Dad and I are going out for about three or four hours”, said Mrs. Graystone to her daughters.

  “Antiquing?” asked Ashley.

  “Of course. So finish your breakfast then clean the kitchen, please. I’ll have my cell phone if you need to call.”

  “Morning, ladies of mine. Are you ready, sweetheart?” It was Egg’s dad and he had his car keys in his hand.

  “Morning, Pop.”

  “Morning, Dad.”

  “Yes, dear, I’m ready. Goodbye you two. Behave yourselves,” and with that Mr. and Mrs. Graystone swept out the door.

  *****

  “He left me for another girl.”

  “Who?”

  “Phoebe.”

  “NO WAY.” Phoebe was one of Ashley’s best friends.

  Ashley stood up. “I’m sorry,” she muttered and ran upstairs to her room. Egg followed her but stopped at the closed bedroom door when she heard the sound of her sister crying hysterically.

  Standing there feeling just terrible for Ashley, the Fandango Sally song “Don’t Mess with My Sister, Mister” popped into her head. “I’ve got to do something.” But, what?

  Thinking furiously, a great idea came to her. She ran to her room, put on her flying suit and the jewelry (she decided that from now on she would wear all three pieces of jewelry whenever she went flying) and hurried back to her sister’s room.

  “Ring, make me small” and she shrank herself so she could slip under the bottom of the door. “Ring, make me as big as my sister.” This was a new sensation for Egg. She had made herself small but never larger than her regular size. And Ashley was almost a foot taller than she was.

  Her sister was still crying uncontrollably, and noisily, with her pillow over her face. Egg tried to get her attention by clearing her throat but that didn’t work. Finally, she shook the older girl on the leg.

  Ashley sat up expecting to see Egg. Instead, she saw Flying Girl and started to scream. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m sorry I frightened you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “A friend.”

  “How did you get in here?”

  “Umm . . . I just kind of slipped in.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Egg sent me. I’m to give you a birthday gift.”

  That made Ashley relax and she wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood up. “Oh, how sweet. Is this like a singing telegram?”

  Egg had no idea what that meant. “Not exactly. Can we walk out on your balcony for a second so I can show you?” Ashley had one just like Egg’s.

  “Well, okay I guess.” She was now very curious.

  They walked out and Egg said, “Take my hand,” and Ashley did. A moment later, they were airborne. Ashley’s expression was exactly like Sylvia’s had be
en . . . eyes wide, mouth opened.

  “What . . . what . . . how . . . but . . .” she couldn’t quite find the right words to make a complete sentence.

  “We’re flying because I’m Flying Girl. And, you and I are going to San Francisco. Would you like that?”

  “But . . . umm . . . umm . . .” she still couldn’t get the words out.

  “Trust me. This will be fun.”

  *****

  . . . and it was. The first thing they saw was the Golden Gate Bridge and the famous San Francisco fog . . . just like on Ashley’s tee shirt.

  . . . and Lombard Street, the most crooked in the world.

  Then they rode a cable car . . .

  . . . to Fisherman’s Wharf, ate crab and saw the docks covered with dozens and dozens of lazy sea lions.

  Their final stop was to Coit Tower, a monument to the city’s firemen.

  Then they flew high over San Francisco Bay and took one last look . . .

  . . . before flying home.

  They landed back on Ashley’s balcony and Egg let go of her sister’s hand. “I hope Egg’s present was okay.”

  “I can’t believe it happened. Who are you and how can you fly?”

  “That’s a long story and maybe someday I’ll share it with you. But, before I go . . .” she reached out and put her hands on either side of Ashley’s head . . . “may all the pain that you are feeling in your heart over your lost love be replaced with joy and happiness.” She hadn’t meant to phrase it like that; it sort of just came out that way.

  Ashley looked at her little sister, not recognizing her of course, and smiled. They hugged and Egg flew away.

  *****

  “Egg, open up, open up.” Ashley yelled as she banged on her door.

  Egg was still slipping out of her suit. “Just a minute, I’m in the bathroom.” She completed changing then walked to her door and unlocked it. “How are you feeling?”

  “Oh, absolutely, fantastically wonderful. Thank you for that birthday gift. It was . . . umm . . . mind-boggling. I still can’t believe it happened.” She hugged her sister – again.

  “How was San Francisco?”

  “It was dazzling (Egg giggled at her sister’s choice of words). But where did you ever meet that flying person? Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

  “You wouldn’t have believed me.”

  Ashley laughed. “Boy, you can say that again.”

  “Speaking about . . . boys . . . are you feeling better about you know who?”

  “If you mean Brad the Jerk – forget about him. I have. Besides, it’s his loss, not mine.”

  Egg smiled; she really hadn’t been sure if the bracelet’s power could cure a broken heart. “Sit on my bed and tell me all about San Francisco.”

  So the sisters sat on the bed and Ashley talked and talked for an hour.

  “Umm . . . what were we talking about?” she asked when the memory of her adventure with Flying Girl finally faded.

  “You were telling me what big jerks boys are.”

  Chapter 4 – Me, Myself and I

  It’s kind of funny in a very sad sort of way that when things are going so, so well, something so, so small . . . like a single sentence in your diary . . . can make it all go so, so wrong.

  *****

  Thursday, June 13th: Dear Diary – today was the last day of school and the first day of summer vacation!!!! What a wonderful school year it was. So many unbelievable things happened:

  Ham moved two blocks away and was assigned to my class and we started the Hameggattic Sisterhood. I saved a cat in a hat, two very cute puppies, two very nice skiers from Italy, two incredibly rude boys, a balloony and a rag doll. I discovered the magic of the necklace, the ring and the bracelet (though I think there’s something else that the bracelet can do). I lost my mind and my flying suit and my diary – but I got them all back. I flew to Mount Rushmore, Disneyworld and San Francisco. I helped Grammy get her best friend back. I cured my poison ivy and Ashley’s broken heart. Oh my gosh – it’s hard to believe all this could happen to one nine-year-old girl.

  I’m so excited to see what else will happen this year and for the rest of the 6 years and 2 months that I’m Flying Girl. But when the flying suit loses its power, I have to go back to being just boring old Egg . . .

  . . . and that makes me very, very, very, very, very, very sad.

  If Egg had shown that diary entry to her Grammy, the older Eloise would have been dismayed and would have sat her granddaughter down for one of her famous life lessons.

  You can probably guess at the things she would have said. For starters, the ‘unhappy face’ had no place on the same page with the list of all the wonderful things Flying Girl had accomplished. Nothing could ever take away the pride she should always feel for having done them.

  What else? Why worry about the eventual loss of the suit when she still had more than six years left to enjoy it? If the first ten months were any indication of what was to come, Egg was in for ‘the ride of her life’ . . . even if it wasn’t going to last forever.

  Keep going – you know there’s more. How about the fact that she, Egg, was one of only a handful of people in the entire world who got to experience being Flying Girl. Just because it came with an expiration date didn’t make this amazing gift any less amazing.

  Grammy would probably have come up with a bunch more. But there was one that was more important than all the others . . . and perhaps not so obvious. Egg was beginning to be torn between being a normal nine-year-old girl on one hand and a virtual superhero on the other. This conflict would be hard to figure out if she were twenty-nine . . . impossible when she was only nine. So what followed between her and her friends over the course of the next week (now that the distraction of school was over) was probably to be expected.

  *****

  Friday, June 14th: Dear Diary – The first full day of summer vacation and it was a beautifully warm day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and I really wanted to go flying, but never got the chance. So I called all the Sisters and suggested we get together at my house and sell lemonade. All the money we made would be used to help buy tickets to the Fandango Sally concert. Everyone loved the idea and they all got here at noon.

  Ham and I built a darling stand while the other three made the lemonade.

  We only made one dollar and forty cents. I wanted to charge a quarter for each glass, but the other four said that was too much. I guess I’d have to agree . . . the lemonade they made wasn’t very good.

  Saturday, June 15th: Dear Diary – It was pretty cloudy today. When I called the other four this morning, I suggested we all go for a nice bike ride at the park. They have a wonderful bike path and it’s very safe. Sylvia wanted to go to the movies and Melody wanted to bake cookies and Presley and Angela wanted to have a tea party. I explained to them why their ideas weren’t very good. They finally agreed with me and we met at the park and had a wonderful time . . . which proves that my idea was the best one.

  Sunday, June 16th: Dear Diary – I just don’t understand why it rains in the summer. But – it did today. So, what can you do on a wet day? The answer is obvious; go to the movies. And I was just dying to see the new Harry Potter movie.

  When I suggested it to the other four, they naturally didn’t like the idea. They all wanted to do something different. I reminded them that it was my idea to do the lemonade stand and go biking. They should just trust me.

  Well, the movie was wonderful. Oh my gosh, I wish the flying suit came with a magic wand.

  Monday, June 17th: Dear Diary – I could just scream…it rained again today. Worse yet, there were no other movies to go to. Who wants to see space wars or love stories…yuk.

  Lucky for my friends I had another great idea. Today was just perfect for baking cookies. I explained to Melody that when she suggested it two days ago, the weather was too nice.

  Mom was just terrific – she said the girls could come over and she would help us. So when they got here we had to
decide what kind of cookies to make. As usual, everybody had her own ideas – none of which were very good. I finally had to tell them that since it was my house, we would bake my favorite – chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with coconut. Yummm.

  They were delicious . . . even if Presley did throw up when she ate hers. I’m sure she must have already been sick.

  Tuesday, June 18th: Dear Diary – rain, rain, go away, little Eloise wants to play. But it didn’t – go away that is.

  Ham invited us to her house and we went into the attic for an official meeting of the Hameggattic Sisterhood. We talked about all the usual stuff – music, television, clothes – then we got bored (at least I did).

  I suggested we play a card game then maybe we could build the jigsaw puzzle that Ham had. She really doesn’t like doing puzzles but I thought it would be a lovely way to spend the afternoon with friends. We argued, of course. In the end, I was outvoted…so I left.

  Wednesday, June 19th: Dear Diary – The weatherman promised that today would be the last rainy day for awhile. I’m not sure that I trust him.

  Mom and Ashley went shopping so I was home alone with Grammy. I asked her if I could invite my friends over for a tea party and she said of course.

  So I called Ham – but she said she was busy.

  Then I called Melody – but she said she wasn’t feeling good.

  Presley said she was helping her mother.

  And Angela said “No, thank you.”

  It’s kind of strange that none of my sisters were able to come over.

  Thursday, June 20th: Dear Diary – The weatherman kept his promise . . . I might just send him a thank you card.

  The first thing I did today after I got up was to send out an email to Sylvia, Melody, Angela and Presley. Maybe I was being a bit too bossy these last few days. I don’t think I was but they can be like little children sometimes and get their feelings hurt for no reason. Anyway, I really didn’t want to but I’m sure Grammy would say it was the right thing to do . . .