“Come with me.”
“Oh, my,” said a horrified Grammy.
“What is it?” asked a frightened Sylvia.
“Mo’beye,” said Sassi and that was one word that they both understood.
“Come with me.”
“What do we do, Grammy?”
“One thing’s for sure; we don’t go with that thing. You two get to the boat . . . NOW.”
But Sassi and Sylvia were so scared they couldn’t move.
“NOW,” screamed Grammy.
The Mo’beye moved towards them and his intentions were painfully obvious. He was going to grab as many of the girls as he could.
“SYLVIA . . . drop those baskets. Take Sassi . . . hurry.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“Do it Sylvia . . . for me, PLEASE,” Grammy pleaded.
Sylvia dropped her baskets, pulled the two from Sassi’s hands then grabbed the other girl by the arm and dragged her to the boat.
“STOP.”
That was the one thing the girls had no intention of doing. They ran for all they were worth and reached the boat.
Behind them, the Mo’beye raised a staff of some kind and pointed it at the fleeing girls. But before he could do whatever it was he had intended to do, Grammy leaped forward (with more agility then she thought she had) and knocked the staff away. The Mo’beye was furious.
As she got to the boat, Sassi untied the rope then jumped in. She turned around to see where Sylvia was. The other girl had stopped at the end of the dock to wait for Grammy.
“You can’t help her. We have to go back and get Egg and the Princess. Hurry.”
Sylvia turned to look at the girl who was gesturing frantically with her hands. Though she didn’t understand the words, she still had an idea what Sassi was saying. She answered by shaking her head “No” and started to go back for the older woman.
The horrified Sassi jumped back on the dock and ran to the other girl. She wasn’t sure if she was going to drag her to the boat or help her save their companion.
As she reached Sylvia, she stopped and looked at the man in the black robe. He had just touched Grammy with his energy weapon and there was a brilliant flash of light. The older woman sank to her knees then fell face down in the damp street.
The Mo’beye picked her up like a sack of potatoes, flung her over his shoulder, turned and began to walk back to town. He had captured Grammy and there was nothing the two young girls could do to save her.
Book 9
Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz
Book 9
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
© Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,
All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Little Red Riding Hood
Chapter 2 – Fl’axx in Fl’uxx
Chapter 3 – Jay-Ee-ELL-ELL-Oh
Chapter 4 – Dangerous Curves
Chapter 5 – Go Fly a Kite
Chapter 6 – Oops, I Did It Again
Chapter 7 – Summa Cum Loudly
Chapter 8 – Magnificent Seven
Chapter 9 – Shady Lady
Chapter 10 – It’s Time
Chapter 1 - Little Red Riding Hood
“OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH,” screamed Egg over and over again. Her face was white as an egg and she was running around the big room like a chicken with its head cut off.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” cried Sylvia. Her face was soaked from tears, her hands were trembling and she felt nauseous.
Sassi sat on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chin and her face cupped in her hands. She was sobbing uncontrollably.
“What’d she say; what’s going on?” asked Soo’ to no one in particular.
“I don’t like it when someone’s unhappy,” declared a very unhappy K’ssss.
Sassi managed to calm down long enough to tell the serpents what had happened. “Grammy’s been captured by a Mo’beye.”
Soo’ summarized the prevailing thought when she declared, “Well, that pretty much stinks.”
“I don’t like Mo’beyes. They scare me,” added K’ssss unhelpfully.
“By the way, I suppose you must be Sassi. I’m Soo’ and this dithering doofus is K’ssss. Who’s Grammy?”
“Grammy is Egg’s grandmother.”
“I didn’t even know she had a grandmother. And who’s that girl?” asked Soo’ pointing at Sylvia.
“That’s Sylvia, Egg’s Feminion from Earth.”
A cloud of white mist appeared in front of Egg and out stepped Dazzle. Doing something she rarely ever did, she took charge. “Everyone . . . stop. Tears will not help Eloise.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t crying. Was I supposed to?” asked the confused K’ssss.
“Who the heck is Eloise?”
“That’s my Grammy,” Egg managed to answer Soo’ after she took a couple of deep breaths.
“I have a Grammy, too. Maybe they can be friends like we are. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“K’ssss, you sad sack of slithering stupid, shut-up. You’re not helping.”
“Sorry, Soo’.”
Sylvia was looking from one serpent to another. Under different circumstances, she would have been both frightened by their appearance and excited that they were to be Hameggattic Sisters. But with Grammy captured, she wasn’t thinking or reacting like she normally would.
She also had no idea what they were saying. Because she had a drop of Egg’s blood in her from the blood oath they had taken, she could see Dazzle. And since the princess spoke English, she had no problem communicating with her. But she couldn’t understand, or speak, the three languages of Aerianna. So when it came to Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’, she was dependent on Egg or Dazzle to translate.
“Are they saying anything important?” Syl asked Dazzle.
“No.”
“Dazzle, what are we going to do? We have to help Grammy now. She must be so scared. What if she’s hurt? What if he’s going to hurt her? What . . .”
“EGG, you must stop."
“But, but . . .” she looked and sounded desperate.
“Put away your fears. Spend your time thinking of a solution.”
Just because it was good advice didn’t make it any easier. “Sorry, I guess you’re right. But we’ve got to do something; we should go help her now.”
*****
A few minutes before Sassi and Sylvia had arrived . . .
“Hellllooooo,” Soo’ called. “Anybody home?”
“I’m hungry,” declared K’ssss. “Could you make me dinner? I’d just love some boiled eel. Pretty please.”
“Shut up you overweight wonky sea snake.” Though it may have sounded like she was angry with the other serpent, it was just Soo’s sarcastic way of talking.
“Am I really overweight? I am, aren’t I? My sister tells me that all the time but my Mom says that I’ll outgrow it. But I think she’s wrong because if I keep outgrowing I’ll be even bigger. Isn’t that right?”
Soo’ stared silently at her friend with an expression of total disbelief mixed with a large portion of humor.
“Hi,” yelled Egg who had come flying down the spiral staircase from her bedroom when she heard the serpents enter the castle.
“Hey Ho, Egg-O,” replied Soo’.
“I thought her name was Egg?”
“Did you bring the food?”
“Of course. We already put it away. There’s a storage bin down there.” Soo’ pointed with her tongue.
“Great. Sassi went shopping with the others. They should be back any minute. Did you see a sailboat out there?”
“Yeah, we did. They were right behind us.”
“Well, as soon as they get here, we’ll make dinner and get to know each other. Are you hungry?”
“Would you boil me some eel?”
Egg made a face. “Yuk. Is that what serpents eat?”
“Not all serpents . . . onl
y fat, overweight, dumb ones.”
“Be nice.” It really was hard to tell if Soo’ was being mean or just kidding.
“Nice is my middle name.”
“Really? I didn’t know that. Mine’s En’telll.”
Egg giggled. “Your name is kiss and tell?”
“No, K’ssss En’telll,” corrected the serpent.
“Oh, right,” said the Earth girl trying very hard not to laugh.
And then everything changed from happy to horror . . .
“EGG…EGG…EGG,” screamed Sylvia over and over as she and Sassi came running into the house. “EGG…EGG…EGG.”
“What’s the matter?”
“He got Grammy. He got her and we couldn’t stop him. Egg . . . he got Grammy. The guy in the black robe got Grammy. She made me and Sassi run away and she stayed to fight him. But he knocked her down then picked her up and carried her away. I didn’t want to leave her . . . but she made us. She made us. She said we had to go . . . for her. Egg, she made us leave but we didn’t want to.”
*****
“It will be dark soon. We cannot do anything until morning.”
“We can’t leave her alone with him all night. Dazzle we can’t do that.”
“We have no choice. And, we have no plan.”
“And we have no food. We had to drop all of our supplies when Grammy made us run away. I’m sorry . . . about everything. It’s my fault.”
“Sassi, why is it your fault?” asked Soo’.
“We were looking for food because I asked to live here. If I hadn’t been so selfish, none of this would have happened. Egg, I am so sorry. Maybe tomorrow we can trade me for your grandmother. Maybe the Mo’beye would do that.”
Even though Egg would do anything to get Grammy back, Flying Girl knew that Sassi’s idea was wrong. It wasn’t her fault and the Mo’beye would never trade one for the other . . . not if it could have both. And that’s exactly what she told her new friend. “Sassi, you did nothing wrong. Besides, giving the bad guy you in exchange for Grammy isn’t the right thing to do.” Egg walked over to the girl and gave her a reassuring hug. Sassi smiled in appreciation. ‘How odd,’ she thought to herself, ‘Aunt Fl’emm would have blamed me in a heartbeat’. Having people who cared for you was not something the green-skinned girl was used to.
“So what’s your plan?” asked Soo’.
“I don’t have one . . . yet. But I will in the morning.” She said that without much conviction . . . just a lot of hope. “So let’s eat so I can go to bed early. I have a lot to think about.”
“You can have some of my eels,” offered K’ssss.
Everyone turned to look at the silly serpent to see if she was serious. She was . . . K’ssss was almost always serious in a bizarre sort of way.
Dazzle had been translating all of this for Sylvia’s sake so the girl was able to ask, “Did you bring anything besides eels?” Just the word made her shiver in disgust.
Egg translated and Sassi nodded approval at the question. Like Sylvia, eel didn’t sound that tempting to her either.
“Sure,” said Soo’. “We’ve got all sorts of stuff . . . deep fried sponge, deviled fish eggs, kelp salad with sea cucumbers, salted barnacles, puree of coral, pickled crustaceans . . .”
“Stop . . . please,” begged Egg. “I think Syl, Sassi and I will just have the salad.”
So they prepared their meals and ate quietly. The only conversation was about possible ways to rescue Grammy. They were all pretty depressed. They hadn’t even begun the great quest and already one of them had been captured by the bad guys. How would they ever defeat Mobius?
“I guess you don’t want to tell me a nursery rhyme,” K’ssss finally asked. Egg had promised to tell her one when they got to the castle.
“Sorry, K’ssss.” Then after a little thought, Egg said, “But how about I tell you a fairy tale? It’s called Little Red Riding Hood.”
“I didn’t know fairies had tails.” K’ssss really wasn’t very bright.
As usual, Soo’ had to explain. “Not a tail like a fish tail. A tale like a story . . . you koral-brained krustacian.”
“Oh. If you say so.”
Sassi had to put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. When Dazzle translated for Sylvia, the earth girl just shook her head. She still wasn’t completely convinced that K’ssss could help with the Quest. On the other hand, she liked Soo’ and her goofy sense of humor.
“Anyway, it’s the story of a little girl and her grandmother and a very bad wolf,” and Egg began to tell the tale . . .
*****
Sylvia and Egg slept together in the big bed in Egg’s room. Neither one wanted to spend the night alone.
“Egg, I shouldn’t have left her. Even when she yelled at me to run away, I should have said no.”
Egg had given this a lot of thought. “Syl . . . if anyone is to blame, it’s me. I shouldn’t have let her come to Aerianna. And I should never have let Dazzle talk me into sending you guys shopping without me. I’m still Flying Girl. I could have done something to save her. I should have been there.”
“It was her choice to come here, so you can’t blame yourself for that. And, you have so much to do for this quest that you can’t be everywhere. Especially food shopping in a sleepy little village where no one knew there were bad guys.”
“I guess so,” said her friend who desperately wanted reasons not to blame herself.
“So what do you think we should do?”
“Ask me in the morning.”
They were quiet for a few minutes then Sylvia said, “I like them.”
“Who?”
“Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’. They’re so different from each other . . . and from us. But I like them. You made three great choices . . .”
“Four,” interrupted Egg.
Sylvia gave her best friend’s hand a squeeze. “Thank you. But, Egg, I do worry about K’ssss.”
“She’s going to surprise everybody. I just know it.”
“Then I won’t worry.”
And Flying Girl and her Feminion fell into a fitful sleep.
*****
When the sun streamed through the window early the next morning, Sylvia reluctantly opened her eyes. She sat up, stretched and yawned, then looked over at her friend. But the bed was empty.
She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change out of her nightclothes. When she went downstairs, both serpents and Sassi were already there. When Syl came into the room, they all greeted her.
“Good morning, Feminion.” Soo’ was a lot more formal than she normally would be. She didn’t really know Sylvia so she showed respect for the girl’s honored position as Egg’s Feminion.
“Hi-de-ho, Syl-vio,” said K’ssss trying to sound like Soo’ without much success.
“Did you sleep well, Sylvia?” asked Sassi who hadn’t slept well at all.
Sylvia didn’t understand a word they said . . . but understood that they were greeting her. She responded with a smile, a wave, and a “Good Morning.” The three Sisters smiled back.
Looking around, Syl didn’t see Egg. She tried, “Where’s Egg?” and put her arms out in front of her like a girl flying.
“I think she’s looking for Egg?” Sassi told her companions.
“They slept in the same bed . . . why is she asking us?” Soo’ was sounding more like Soo’.
Sassi shrugged an “I don’t know” while Soo’ shook her head “no.”
“You don’t think she went to save Grammy by herself?” asked Sylvia forgetting that she couldn’t be understood.
“Now what’s she saying?”
“I recognize the word ‘Grammy’. She probably was asking if Egg went to save her Grandmother by herself.”
“How come I can’t understand her and you two can?” asked K’ssss.
“We can’t . . . we’re just guessing,” replied Soo’.
“I love to play guessing games. Tell her to ask another question.”
Soo loo
ked at her companion and shook her head in disgust. “If you say one more stupid thing I’m going feed YOU to the eels.”
“Nooooo.”
“If Egg went to town, we should go to. She may need our help.” Then Sassi made her two finger walking sign to Sylvia, pointed to herself and the serpents, and then pointed in the general direction of town.
“You think that’s a good idea?”
“We took an oath to be Hameggattic Sisters and to protect each other.” Sassi was determined to be the best sister she could be.
“Okay, count me in.”
“K’ssss, how about you?”
“Mo’beyes are scary . . . but they shouldn’t have done that bad thing to Egg’s Grammy. Let’s go.”
So Sassi pointed to all four sisters and then to town. Sylvia nodded her understanding and agreement. The two humans headed for the sailboat while the serpents made their way out the stream and to the river.
They launched the boat and started to float down to the town. But it was too slow for the serpents.
Soo’ finally yelled to Sassi – “Throw me a rope and we’ll pull you.”
*****
Egg had slipped out of bed before her friend woke up. She changed into her flying suit, opened the door to the balcony and leapt skyward. Grammy had been in the clutches of that thing for too long. It was time Flying Girl did what Flying Girl was supposed to do . . . save people.
To her disappointment, she didn’t dream any good dreams that night. So she had to admit that she didn’t have much of a plan. The best she could come up with was an idea from Little Red Riding Hood. If Red was recognizable to the bad wolf because of her hood, then maybe Flying Girl was recognizable to Mo’beyes because of her suit.
If they were, maybe the one that got Grammy would try to get her. Then she would go with him until he brought her to the place where he was keeping Grammy. Then she’d . . . do something. That’s where the plan became a little hazy.
So she flew to the little hamlet that Dazzle said was named Fl’uxx, found the town square, and landed. If anyone wanted to watch the townspeople, they would come here sooner or later.
At this time of the morning, there were few people up and about. A couple of shopkeepers were readying their stores for the day’s trade. Some stopped and stared at her but then hurried on. They probably thought she was one of Mobius’ creatures.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 44