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

by Robert Iannone

  “Oh, I forgot about the garage sale. I hope Mom won’t be upset with me?”

  “Not to worry. I’ll tell her it was my fault that we’re late. She’ll believe that.

  As they got out of the car, Egg noticed the license plate on the little pick-up truck in the driveway.

  “Oh, I can be so dumb, some times. I thought it was shoe fly, which made absolutely no sense. It’s shoo, not shoe.” She laughed at her mistake.

  As she walked to the house, she saw maybe ten people looking through all the junk that they were selling. Ashley and her mom were talking to everyone.

  “This wonderful dress is only ten dollars.”

  “I’ll give you five,” said a lady with long black hair.

  “Make it seven” and Egg’s old Easter dress was sold.

  A wrinkled woman, who must have been about a hundred and fifty years old, walked by with a big bundle of stuff that she had just bought. “Can I help you?” asked Egg.

  “Why thank you, young lady. Could you open the door to my truck?” It was the one with the silly license plate.

  “How come your license plate says Shoo Fly?”

  “Cause I make the best, dang Shoo Fly Pie this side of the Rocky Mountains.” The lady put her bundles in the truck then got in. “Thank you, honey. Got lots of good stuff for eBay.” She cackled an old person’s laugh, closed the door and drove away.

  “Egg” yelled her mother. “Come and help.”

  “I need to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back” and she ran inside and up the stairs to her room.

  As she made her way to her bathroom, she noticed the closet door was open and went to close it. Then she stopped. She looked down and couldn’t find her little chest. She tossed her shoes out of the way and frantically searched for it. But it wasn’t there. Her heart started to pound in her chest like it was trying its best to escape.

  She ran downstairs; her face was as white as . . . well, an egg. “MOM” she yelled, “Did you see the little chest in my closet?”

  “Yes dear. I figured you didn’t want that old thing anymore. It was just buried under your shoes. So I sold it. I got five dollars for it. You can have half.”

  Egg’s eyes grew wide in horror . . .

  . . . and she screamed like a banshee!

  Book 4

  Broken Egg

  Book 4 of

  Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

  © Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,

  All Rights Reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 – Dazzle

  Chapter 2 – Don’t Mess With My Sisters

  Chapter 3 – Doggone It

  Chapter 4 – Dizzy World

  Chapter 5 – Dear Diary

  Chapter 1 – Dazzle

  “NOOOOOOO.”

  Everyone looked up to see who or what was making that terrible sound. It was filled with such pain and sadness that anyone who heard it got goose bumps.

  “NOOOOOOO . . . you can’t sell it. Not my chest. Get it back, get it back.”

  “Egg, stop yelling please; you’re embarrassing me.”

  “NO, NO, NO . . . get it back. Mom, you have to get it back. Please . . . you have too. Please” and she started to cry uncontrollably.

  Mrs. Graystone was completely confused and befuddled by her daughter’s reaction. It was just a useless old chest.

  She picked the girl up and took her into the house. She had never seen Egg act this way before . . . never. “Egg, take a deep breath, stop crying, and tell me what’s so important about that chest.”

  But the young girl couldn’t. She couldn’t stop crying, she could hardly breathe and she certainly couldn’t tell her mother why the chest was so very important. She couldn’t tell her that Flying Girl’s suit and jewelry were in it. No one but her Grammy knew that. It was their secret and she swore she would never tell anyone else . . . ever. And now it was gone and it was her own fault. She felt like Humpty-Dumpty . . . broken into a million pieces and no one could put her back together again.

  A few days ago, Egg had used the suit and the ring to help rescue two boys. When she had returned home to change, she couldn’t find the little step stool she kept in her closet. Without it, she wasn’t able to hide the little chest on the top shelf. So when she heard her mother coming to her bedroom, she hurriedly placed it on the floor and threw a bunch of her shoes over it.

  Somehow, her mother had found it. Thinking it was just old junk, she had sold it at the garage sale they were having that very morning. Egg had just returned from her Grammy’s and discovered her mother’s tragic mistake.

  And now she was so upset, she thought she would throw up. Her mother handed her a glass of water and said “drink this dear, it will calm you down.” Egg drank it, hiccupped once, and then threw up . . . all over her mother.

  “Oh my” yelped Mrs. Graystone as the unexpected and unwanted little gift landed on her lap and feet. She picked up a dishtowel, cleaned her daughter’s mouth then did her best to clean her skirt and shoes.

  “Egg, sweetheart, you have to tell me what’s wrong. What was in that chest that’s so important to you that it’s making you sick?” Then a horrible thought came to her “Your diary wasn’t in there, was it?” As far as she knew, it was her daughter’s most valuable possession.

  “It wasn’t her diary.” Mother and daughter looked up to see Egg’s Grammy standing in the doorway. Egg ran over, buried her face in the older woman’s stomach, and continued to cry softly while her grandmother stroked her hair.

  “Hi, Mother. What in the world was in that thing? Your granddaughter is making herself sick but she refuses to tell me why it’s so important.”

  “Rachelle (that was Mrs. Graystone’s first name) it was a gift from me to Egg. What was in that chest is our little secret.”

  “Well, I apologize to both of you. How was I to know? But I’m sure I can find another chest just like it. And whatever was in it, I’ll replace.”

  “That’s very generous . . . but you can’t.”

  “And why not?”

  “Just take my word for it. Now who did you sell the chest to?”

  The way to fix the problem was so obvious now that the question was asked. “Silly me . . . all we have to do is find that nice old lady who bought it and I’ll buy it back.”

  “Well . . . who was it?”

  “It was, umm, well I actually don’t know her name. Let me ask some of the other people outside . . . maybe they know who she is” and Mrs. Graystone went back out leaving grandmother and granddaughter alone.

  “Egg, my love, we will get it back . . . I promise.”

  “Grammy, you can’t make that promise. What if we can’t find her or she won’t sell it back?”

  “Sweetheart, do you think this is the first time the suit was ever lost in all those hundreds of years? It was created for some great purpose that is still unclear, but it surely can’t end because of a garage sale. Somehow, it will be returned to us . . . to you. I can feel it in my bones.”

  Egg desperately wanted to believe her Grammy. She felt so empty knowing the suit wasn’t upstairs in her room. She felt like old Egg . . . just an ordinary nine-year-old girl. If she couldn’t fly, or couldn’t do good deeds, her life would be ruined. Once you’re Flying Girl, how could you ever go back to being just a third grader?

  Then a random thought popped into her head and she said something that totally shocked her grandmother. “Dazzle wouldn’t have lost her flying suit.”

  “WHAT?”

  Egg was startled by the loudness of the question. She looked up at her Grandmother who was staring back at her.

  “Grammy, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry to have frightened you, dear one. Please repeat what you just said.”

  “I said Dazzle wouldn’t have lost the suit. She’s . . .” but her grandmother interrupted her.

  “She’s a warrior princess in your dreams. She has long blond hair and she has a pet dragon named St
orm.”

  “Oh my gosh,” was all the wide-eyed girl could say. “Oh my gosh”.

  Before they could say another word, Mrs. Graystone came back in the house. “I’m sorry, Egg, but no one knows who she is.”

  “Did anyone see the car she was driving?”

  “No, Mother. Oh, wait. Egg didn’t you help that lady put her stuff in her car?”

  “SHOO FLY . . . it was the Shoo Fly truck.”

  “What?”

  “Her license plate said Shoo Fly . . . I always thought it was Shoe Fly which of course made absolutely no sense. But it was shoo not shoe. And I asked her why she had that on her car and she said it was because she made the best shoo fly pie in the entire world.”

  *****

  Egg and her grandmother decided to ride up and down the streets to see if they might spot the truck with the goofy license plate. And, as importantly, they both needed to talk about Dazzle.

  “Grammy, how did you know who Dazzle was?”

  “Because, my love, I used to dream about her too — way back when I was your age.”

  “You did? Why would we both dream about the same person?”

  “There can be only one answer . . . the magic of the flying suit. I only dreamt about her during the seven years that I wore it. When the suit’s power died away, so did the dreams.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  The older woman didn’t answer right away; she was lost in thought. After a minute or so, she said, “It obviously has to be connected to the suit. But, like you, I just don’t know why. However, I think you’ll find out.”

  “Me? Really?”

  “Yes, just like you discovered the magic in the ring and necklace. That’s something no one else ever did. And, remember the first time you flew . . . you were able to control the suit like you had been doing it for years. Again, no one else ever did that.”

  Now it was Egg’s turn to lose herself in thought. “Grammy, why am I so special . . . you know, when it comes to the flying suit and jewelry?”

  “Like I said before, sometimes I think the suit was made just for you.”

  They continued to drive in silence, each looking out the window on her side of the car. Up and down the streets they drove, but it was no use. The truck could be anywhere. After about two hours, they were tired and discouraged and headed home.

  “Grammy” Egg said in a very quiet voice “what are we going to do now?”

  “Tomorrow, I’ll call the Department of Motor Vehicles. Those are the people who issue the license plates. Maybe they can tell us who owns “Shoo Fly.” But the older woman knew that the department would never give out that information.

  *****

  That night at dinner, Egg was very, very quiet. She hardly ate anything but her parents didn’t say a word. Sometimes it’s better not to try to convince someone everything would work out when there really was no reason why it should. Her mom felt just terrible for having sold the little chest and completely helpless to get it back. If Egg’s grandmother said it was special, there was no telling what treasure it held. Those two were so close that if there was a million dollars or a . . . a . . . magic wand in there, she wouldn’t have been surprised.

  When dinner was over, Egg told her family “I’m going to bed now. Good night.”

  “Egg . . . I really am sorry about the chest.”

  “That’s okay, Mom. I shouldn’t have left it on the floor. That was a stupid thing to do.”

  Her father said, “If your grandmother can’t get the information from the license plate people, I’ll put an ad in the paper asking for the lady to call us.”

  “Thanks, Dad. Good night.” Egg simply couldn’t get her hopes up.

  She went upstairs, washed up, put on her pajamas and went to bed. Her last thought before she fell asleep was “Dazzle, I need your help.”

  “Egg, I am here.”

  “Dazzle, is that you? Where’s Storm?”

  “Egg Itsonebay.”

  “What? Sorry, I can hardly hear you.”

  “Itsonebay.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re telling me. And you sound so far away.”

  “I am far away. We should not be speaking. I endanger the plan by helping you.”

  “What plan? Where are you?”

  “You have yet to prove yourself.”

  “What does that mean? You’re not making any sense. Besides, you’re just a dream. You’re just my dream.”

  That seemed to amuse the Princess. “A dream . . . perhaps. Your dream, perhaps not.”

  “Dazzle, I lost the suit. Help me get it back, please.”

  “Itsonebay.”

  “I don’t know what that means. Just tell me how to get the suit back.”

  “I have. But know this; if you fail, I must go away forever. If you fail, then you are not the one . . . and my wait will continue.” She sounded very sad.

  “I’m sorry, but I just don’t . . .” but she couldn’t finish. Dazzle had faded away.

  *****

  When she got home from school the next day, she called her grandmother to tell her about the dream.

  “Grammy, I almost never remember my dreams, but I remember this one very clearly.”

  “Tell me what Dazzle said.”

  So Egg told her everything she remembered about the conversation. “What do you think she meant when she said ‘Itsonebay’?”

  “Hmmm . . . that doesn’t mean anything to me, either. Hang on a second; I want to write it down.” The older woman got a pad of paper and a pencil. “Okay, say it one more time exactly as Dazzle said it.”

  “I could hardly hear her. It sounded like she said . . . Itsonebay.”

  Her Grammy wrote it down and studied it while Egg waited impatiently. When the tension got too much for the girl, she said, “Well . . .”

  “Love, you didn’t get it quite right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I believe Dazzle said, ‘It’s on Ebay’.”

  “EBAY . . . that’s what the Shoo Fly lady said.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Something about having good stuff for eBay. What’s an ebay?”

  “eBay is an internet site where you go to buy and sell things . . . like old chests.”

  “GRAMMY . . .” Egg screamed. “Go buy it before someone else does. Hurry.”

  “Of course, dear one. But I want you to go to the eBay site and you can watch me do it. Just get on the internet and type ‘www.ebay.com’ then . . .” and her grandmother told her how to get to the proper place.

  So Egg ran to her computer and did what her grandmother instructed. Sure enough, there was the chest . . .

  There was only six minutes left and someone named LoveOldStuff was bidding $19.99.

  Then there was a bid from FARMGIRL . . . that was her Grammy . . . for $21.00. And only five minutes to the end of the auction. Egg clapped excitedly.

  The auction clocked ticked down to three minutes and LoveOldStuff placed a bid for $25.00. Egg yelled “NO” at her computer screen, which didn’t have anything to say in return.

  A moment later FARMGIRL bid $35.00. “Go, Grammy.” The clock showed only one minute to the end of the auction.

  LoveOldStuff placed a bid for $50.00. Egg’s face turned white. “Come on Grammy.” The clock showed 35 seconds.

  FARMGIRL bid $100. Fifteen seconds left.

  As the clock ticked to one second, LoveOldStuff bid $110 . . . and won.

  Egg stared at the computer waiting for her Grammy to out bid the other person. But the auction was over. When it finally dawned on her that they had lost, she ran to her bed, covered her head with her pillow and cried for all she was worth.

  Buried under a foot of down-filled pillows, she didn’t hear the phone ring. It was her grandmother calling to talk to her. Her mom picked it up.

  “Hello, Mother. I have wonderful news . . .” but she didn’t finish.

  “I’m sorry to cut you off, daughter, but I
have to talk to Egg. Her chest was on eBay and I tried to buy it. Unfortunately, someone outbid me. Egg is probably beside herself.”

  “Are you FARMGIRL?”

  “What . . . well, yes I am. How did you know?”

  Mrs. Graystone started to laugh and laugh.

  “Rachelle, what in the world is so funny?”

  “FARMGIRL, I’m LoveOldStuff.”

  Chapter 2 – Don’t Mess with My Sisters

  Three days later at about four in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was the most wondrous sound that Egg had ever heard. She ran out of her bedroom, sprinted through the hallway and bounded down the stairs two at a time. Mrs. Graystone was already at the front door and was just about to open it.

  “I expect this is for you.” She opened the door and there stood a man in a brown uniform . . . holding a package.

  “I have a delivery for Eloise Graystone.”

  “OH MY GOSH” Egg cried in pure joy as she carefully took the precious package. “Thank you, thank you, thank you” she repeated over and over.

  “Must be a birthday gift.”

  “Birthday gift? Oh, no it’s my fl . . .” Egg caught herself just in time. “No, it’s just a special gift from my Grammy. Thank you for delivering it.” The man smiled and walked back to his truck.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s in that chest now?” asked Egg’s very curious mother.

  “In this silly old thing . . . absolutely nothing of importance. Just a little magic that Grammy said I might need.”

  “Magic is it? Well, I’m very glad you got it back.”

  “Thank you again, Mom. That was so exciting watching you and Grammy bid for the chest. When she lost, I thought I was going to die.”

  “Sweetheart, there’s nothing so important in this world that its loss should make you so upset. The only thing that really matters is your health, your family and your friends.”

  “Now you sound just like Grammy.”

  “Well, I should. She’s my mother, after all.”

  *****

  That evening after everyone went to bed, Egg had to go flying . . . just to reassure herself that she was really and truly Flying Girl again.