As the three girls watched their friend, they saw her face turn from bewilderment to utter horror. They all jumped when Sassi started to scream . . .
“NOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!”
At first, they thought she had seen another D’ing Bat and they looked to the sky. But there was nothing there.
“What’s the matter? What happened?” asked a confused Egg.
The girl didn’t answer. She just dropped to her knees, put her head in her hands and began to sob hysterically.
Egg and Sylvia rushed over and knelt by the grieving girl. But when Egg put her hands around her shoulders, Sassi knocked them away.
“It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me,” she cried over and over.
“What’s you?”
“Sassi, you must control yourself and tell us what is wrong,” commanded the Princess.
But instead of answering she stood up, put her hands on the strange pendant she had been wearing . . .
. . . and ripped it from her neck. Holding it up for the others to see, she managed to say through fits of crying . . .
“He made me wear this. He said if I didn’t he would make my mother into a Mo’beye. I didn’t want to . . . you have to believe me. But I couldn’t let anything happen to my mother. Not after all those years. I thought if I told you we could find a way to trick it. I was trying to get up the courage; I didn’t want to be thrown out of the sisterhood. And then . . . and then . . . I just forgot. How could I forget? How could I?” She was horrified at what she had done . . . and deeply embarrassed.
At first Egg and Sylvia had no idea what the girl was talking about. But Dazzle understood.
“First, throw it away. As far as you can.”
Sassi took the pendant and with all her might flung it deep into the woods.
“Dazzle, what the heck is going on?”
“Mobius was spying on us through that pendant.”
“WHAT?” She and Sylvia stared at Sassi in total disbelief. Without realizing what they were doing, they both stood up and stepped away from the other girl.
“Sassi . . . who gave you the pendant?”
She looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks and said, “My father.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“Tell us what happened.”
So Sassi told how she had stopped at her father’s cottage to say hello on the day she had shopped for food in the little town down river from the Sisterhood.
They had only recently been reunited after many years. He had disappeared from her life when he had been turned into a Mo’beye by Mobius. And though he was still dressed like one, Egg had used her bracelet to make him normal again.
Only he wasn’t normal anymore. Mobius had found out and made him a Mo’beye again.
And he made his daughter wear the pendant. If she refused, he threatened to make her mother, his wife, into a Mo’beye.
So she had put it on, and when she returned to the Sisterhood, she could hardly talk to any of the other girls. She was terrified . . . for her mother, and for her sisters. And though she was going to tell Egg and Dazzle about the pendant, somehow she had forgotten. It sounded unbelievable but it was true.
When she finished, Egg remembered something she had done that night. Worried that her sister was not feeling well, she had used her bracelet to make her forget whatever it was that was bothering her.
“Oh my gosh. It’s my fault, not yours. I made you forget. I said something like, ‘Don’t be sad. Forget whatever is causing you to be unhappy until you can make it better.’ I was just trying to help you. Sassi . . . it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
Sassi wasn’t buying it. “But I was the spy. If it weren’t for me, K’ssss would still be here. And Aeri’elle. And maybe Soo’ and Bl’azzz. It’s all my fault. I’m the traitor. I let you down. I can’t believe it. I would never hurt any of you . . . but I did. I did. I did.” And she collapsed in a heap and cried uncontrollably.
Egg looked to Dazzle for help. Sassi was hysterical and there was nothing Egg could say or do that would change that.
“Sassi,” commanded Dazzle in her most royal voice, “stand up and look at me.” The girl instinctively obeyed even though she was still crying.
“I’m so sorry, your Majesty” she managed to say.
“You must leave us. Please go.” If it was possible, Sassi cried even harder; but she didn’t argue.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” but she didn’t have the courage to look at her two sisters as she said it. Her head was hung low and her tears continued to fall . . . making little splat sounds when they hit the colorful path. “I love you, both. Maybe you can forgive me . . . someday.” And with that, she started to walk away . . . the sounds of her crying echoing amongst the crystal trees.
*****
They had found a place to make camp. Exhausted by all the walking and all the spent emotions . . . it had been just a terribly trying day and they desperately needed to rest.
“I’m starved,” said Sylvia as she lay down on her blanket.
“Yeah, me too. Dazzle, do you think it be okay if we made a fire?”
“You deserve a hot meal . . . just keep the fire as small as you can.”
So the girls struggled to their feet, found some wood and started the fire. It was strange how the crackling flames brought them comfort.
“What should we have?’
“Let me surprise you . . . okay?” asked Sassi.
“Absolutely. I just love everything you make. I wish my mom could cook as well as you do.”
“Thank you, Sylvia.”
“My mom’s a pretty good cook; but she could learn a thing or two from you. I wish you could meet her.”
“Maybe I could visit earth someday.”
“That would be too awesome. Dazzle, do you think she can?”
“Perhaps; though the color of her skin may prove a little difficult to explain.”
“Why?” asked a confused Sassi.
“No one on earth has your skin color. It is very sad, but earthlings only come in a very few shades of beige and brown.”
“Oh, that is sad.”
“Enough” cried Sylvia. “I admit we’re not as pretty as you guys. But we do get hungry. Stop talking and cook, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.” She of course was kidding . . . mostly.
*****
It had worked as Dazzle thought it would. When she had commanded Sassi to leave, Egg and Sylvia went crazy.
“NO. Absolutely not,” yelled Egg.
“She’s not going anywhere . . . except with us,” shouted Sylvia.
“She has betrayed you.”
“No she didn’t. I believe her when she says she was going to tell us about the pendant. If I didn’t mess things up by doing my stupid Flying Girl thing, none of this would ever have happened. It’s my fault not hers.” That actually made Egg feel terrible; she might have been the cause of losing the other girls.
“She’s our sister. We stick together like . . . like . . . ummm . . . oh, yeah the Three Musketeers.”
“Who?” asked Egg.
“It’s a book my dad made me read. Oh, never mind; it’s not important.” And she ran after Sassi and caught her by the arm, spun her around and hugged her.
Egg joined them; then she and Sylvia each took one of Sassi’s arms and dragged her back to where Dazzle was standing.
“Sassi, your sisters believe your story. They do not wish you to leave.”
“I betrayed them,” she answered in a whisper.
“No, my sister; you did not.
“But…”
“You were put in a terrible position by the Mo’beye.” Dazzle purposely didn’t say “father”. “Egg and Sylvia believe you when you say you would have told them of your encounter. And, I do too. You are a trusted member of the Sisterhood. And I add my voice to theirs and ask that you continue on the Quest. They need you, I need you and most importantly, Aerianna needs you.”
“Please, Sassi,” begged Egg.
&
nbsp; Sassi looked at each girl and the Princess . . . her eyes were still dripping tears. “I love you . . . all of you. If you can forgive me, then of course I’ll stay.”
“There is nothing to forgive.”
She began to cry even harder . . . and Egg and Sylvia joined her.
*****
After they had finished their wonderful meal, Egg reached into her backpack and pulled out her diary.
“What is that?” asked Sassi.
“It’s my diary. My Grammy told me to write down everything that happens to me so that someday I can tell my children about all the stuff that I did in my life.”
“That’s wonderful. Would you share some of it with me?”
“Sure. So Egg opened her diary and thumbed through it looking for something interesting to share . . .
. . . but what she found was just silly stuff written by a very young girl who didn’t know anything about anything.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that I wrote this stuff. It’s so . . . so . . . childish. Well, at least the things before I became Flying Girl.”
“That’s okay. My childhood wasn’t very good . . . after my parents left. I would love to hear about yours. Please.”
“Come on Egg,” chided Sylvia. “Besides, I want to hear what you wrote about me.”
“What makes you think I would write about you?” Now it was Egg’s turn to tease her friend.
“Eloise Grace Graystone,” said Sylvia in a pretend huff, “there better be pages and pages and pages about me in that silly little book.”
“Well . . . maybe I did mention you once or twice. Let me see if I can find something. I wouldn’t want you to feel left out.” And she thumbed through the book until she found one particular entry . . .
Chapter 7 – Days of Our Lives
“August 19: Dear Diary. I can’t believe what happened this afternoon. I’m so mad. There’s a girl named Sylvia and she is such a witch. She thinks she’s so much better than everyone else because she won both games of dodge ball. Afterwards she pretended that it was nothing special; that she just got lucky. Ha. Well, I guess it’s better to be lucky than good because I played really well and I should have won.”
“You called me a witch” exclaimed Sylvia in pretend horror. Then she laughed.
“I don’t understand? You didn’t like Sylvia when you first met?”
“Absolutely not; I thought she was horrible. We were at the same camp last summer and she had the nerve to be better than me at everything. I was so furious.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought I was the best. I used to take everything as a competition . . . and I hated, just hated, to lose.”
“You don’t feel that way anymore?”
“My Grammy had a long talk with me about this stuff. So, no, I don’t take everything as a competition. But when I do compete, I want to give it my best effort. As long as I do that, if I win . . . that’s just a bonus.”
Sassi was enjoying this immensely. Her childhood . . . at least the part after her parents disappeared, wasn’t very pleasant. She had so few friends and most of what she did was work . . . her aunt didn’t believe in playtime. “Please, read some more.”
“Sure” Egg was beginning to enjoy this as much as the other two girls.
“August 20: Dear Diary, I can’t believe she beat me again. We had canoe races and somehow she managed to come in first. At lunch, we took a bunch of pictures of all of us. Then SHE tried to get into my picture but I told her there was no room. If she was as nice as the other girls…well then maybe. But she is always smiling like there’s nothing wrong. I just don’t understand why the other girls like her so much.”
“EGGGGG” said Sylvia indignantly. “I really wanted to be in that picture.”
“My bad” said Egg . . . then giggled at the memory. “I’ll just read two more entries from camp . . . ”
“August 23: Dear Diary: Only one more day of camp. It would have been a really great time except for you-know-who. Today they asked us what we wanted to do. I raised my hand first and said I wanted to play dodge ball again. Then Sylvia said that canoeing was fun and convinced everyone else. So that’s what we did.
And SHE did it again. This time they put two of us in each canoe and Sylvia asked if she could go with me. How dare she? She obviously was just trying to make me feel bad that she beat me the last time. Well, I was about to say no way when the counselor said it was okay. So we canoed and maybe she was pretty good. But I just know if we raced again, I’d win.
“August 24: Dear Diary: Just before dinner we took some more pictures. Sylvia insisted that I take one with her. I had to pretend to smile. She said she would send me a copy but I don’t really want it. If she sends it, I’m not sure I’ll keep it.
Anyway, camp was definitely a good time. And maybe Sylvia wasn’t so bad but I would have had a much better time if she hadn’t come.
“Here’s the picture,” and both Sylvia and Sassi leaned over to look at it.
“How did you two ever become friends?”
“When Syl sent me this picture, she also sent this letter,” and Egg unfolded a piece of paper that was stuck between the pages of the diary. “I’ll read it to you.”
Dear Egg,
Here is the picture I promised to send you. I think it turned out really well. I’m sorry that we didn’t become good friends at camp. I’m sure it was my fault. But I thought you were the most interesting girl there. You certainly were very good at sports and I was very lucky that you didn’t win.
If you ever want to talk or something, here is my email address:
[email protected]
Hope you have a good year at school. Maybe I’ll see you at camp next summer. Your friend, Sylvia.
“Oh, that’s the sweetest letter I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah . . . after I read it, I cried.”
“You cried?” asked a surprised Sylvia.
“It made me realize what a jerk I had been to you.”
“So that’s when you became friends?”
“Yes. We started to write and call each other almost every day. Syl didn’t live in my town. Then about a month or so later, she calls me and says she’s moving two blocks away from where I lived. Isn’t that the strangest thing?”
“Very.”
“I never gave it much thought. But now . . . it does seem a little strange.”
Egg turned to Dazzle, “Did you have something to do with it?”
Dazzle smiled mysteriously . . . but didn’t answer.
Egg looked back at Sylvia who just shrugged.
“I would love to hear more . . . if you don’t mind sharing. Besides, you two never told your stories like the rest of us did.”
“Sure. Let’s see . . .,” and Egg thumbed through the pages. “Oh, yeah. Here’s the first person Flying Girl ever rescued. Well, it’s a cat not a person . . .”
Sassi examined the photo. “Do earthlings always dress up their pets?”
Sylvia giggled. “Only weird old people do that.”
“Hey, look at this picture . . .”
The girls leaned over to see. “What is that?”
“That’s Mount Rushmore. Some guy carved the faces of four Presidents right into the side of the mountain. This is the first place I ever flew to that was far away from my house. Syl went with me . . .”
“But I never remembered, because of the magic of the flying suit.”
“Sassi, look at this. This is Syl’s house and the place where we started the Hameggattic Sisterhood . . .”
“Do you think they should make that into a National Monument . . . like Mount Rushmore?” teased Sylvia.
“It’s the least they can do.”
“You two are very close.” It was an observation, not a question.
Egg smiled at the thought. “Yeah, we are.”
“Though she did break up with me.”
“Really? Why? What happened?” Sassi wanted to hear every last detail.
“It’s about a boy that can fly,” explained Egg.
“After it was over, I said I thought it was pretty silly to think anybody could fly.”
“And I said take it back.”
“But I didn’t, and she got really, really angry. I had no idea why.”
“She didn’t know I was Flying Girl.”
“So I and the other three girls in the Hameggattic Sisterhood started our own club.”
“And I was heartbroken.”
“But I secretly wanted to get back together, but I didn’t know how . . . because I didn’t understand why Egg had become so upset.”
“Then we went to camp again and Crispy Bacon and Fandango Sally got us back together.
“Bacon? How did a breakfast food do that?”
The other two girls laughed. Sylvia explained, “Crispy Bacon was a friend Egg met at camp. And when somebody played the Fandango Sally song called Best Friends, she made me go find Egg and make up.”
“I was standing out in a thunderstorm and she ran up to me.”
“And we hugged and cried. It was wonderful.”
“It must be incredibly special to have a best friend.”
“Like you and K’ssss,” Egg said, forgetting that the serpent was gone.
“Yes,” said Sassi quietly.
Dazzle, not wanting the girls to fall back into their sadness, said, “Sassi, since you are so talented as an artist, would you draw some sketches of our Sisters in Egg’s diary?”
“Oh my gosh, that would be super. Would you?”
“I would like that.” And the girl found her backpack and pulled out some charcoal and chalk. “Who shall I do first?”
“K’ssss, of course.”
So Sassi took Egg’s diary, found a blank page and began her sketch. It didn’t take her very long to finish.
“Is this okay?”
“It’s wonderful,” exclaimed Sylvia.
“Wow,” was all Egg could say.
“Now I’ll do Soo’.”
“And Bl’azzz…”
“And lastly, I’ll do Aeri’elle.”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 67