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

by Robert Iannone

  “Of course.”

  “Well . . .,” she pretended like she was trying to make up her mind, “I guess that would be okay. I’ll call Syl and then call you right back.”

  Grammy smiled at the phone. It was so much fun to watch her precious granddaughter start to mature. And her acceptance of Zeke and his brother as friends was a big step in that process. “I’ll wait for your call, dear.”

  So Egg hung up the phone, and then dialed her friend. “Morning Mrs. Hampton, may I speak with Sylvia.”

  “Of course, Egg. Hang on a second.” Mrs. Hampton gave the phone to her daughter.

  “Good morning. I had such a wonderful time at the concert. Didn’t you? I can’t imagine anything being more fun.”

  “I can.”

  “Like what?”

  “How about flying a kite?”

  Sylvia laughed, “Egg . . . you really are just too weird. Why would I want to fly a kite instead of going to a Fandango Sally concert with you and Ashley?”

  “Cause Zack invited you.” Egg was grinning from ear to ear.

  “REALLY and TRULY?” But before her friend could answer, she decided it wasn’t true. “Egg, don’t you dare tease me like that.”

  “Oh, well . . . if you don’t want to go, I’ll call Grammy and tell her we can’t make it.”

  “You’re not teasing me? He really did invite me?”

  “Actually the two Z’s invited me and you.”

  There was a pause for about three heartbeats while Sylvia digested the news. Then, “What should I wear? Do you think I can wear the same outfit I wore last night?”

  “I don’t think a short skirt works well when you’re flying a kite.”

  “OH, rats. I guess you’re right.” There was another pause while Sylvia reviewed her wardrobe in her mind. “Well, I have those red shorts. Whatd’ya think?”

  “I think a pair of blue jeans would do nicely,” Egg responded in a very prim voice.

  “Ohhh . . . you’re just impossible.”

  “ME? I’m not the one who’s going all gaga over you-know-who.”

  “You know something, when we’re sixteen and we both have boyfriends, I’m going to remind you what a party-pooper you used to be.”

  Egg laughed. “Well, that’s only fair. I’ll make a note in my diary to remind you. So, I guess I can tell Grammy that you’re available.”

  “Ummm . . . I really should check my social calendar. Let me see. Oh, I did have a tea party scheduled with the Queen. But, I’ll just call and tell her I couldn’t possibly disappoint my best friend.” They both laughed.

  *****

  They planned to meet at the park in front of a statue of The Avenging Angel. It was one of those things that had been there forever and nobody ever took notice of it any more. But if you did, you might be impressed by its size and beauty.

  “There they are,” squealed Sylvia. She started to wave and was about to run towards them when Egg grabbed her arm. “Hey” she said annoyed.

  “Don’t you dare run over there.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not right . . . right Grammy?”

  “Well, in my day, a lady would never show that she was too eager to meet a young man.”

  “See?” said a very satisfied Egg.

  “But now-a-days,” Grammy added, “such enthusiasm seems to be more acceptable.”

  “See,” said Sylvia triumphantly . . . but she stayed by her friend’s side anyway.

  They picked up their pace to a ladylike and dignified fast walk and were soon where they wanted to be.

  “Hello, ladies,” said the always excited Mrs. Z. “I’m so glad you could make it. It’s such a wonderful day for kite flying and my sons are eager to show off their handiwork.”

  “Aw, Mom” said an embarrassed Zeke.

  “That’s okay, Zeke. My mom is always saying things that embarrass me.” Egg felt sorry for the boy.

  Since the twins were wearing exactly the same clothes, there should have been no way for Egg to know which one was which. Strangely enough, none of the kids realized what she had just done. But Mrs. Z looked at Grammy and smiled. The other woman put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh or say something that would embarrass her granddaughter.

  “Well, don’t just stand there like that statue behind us . . . show your guests the kites.” Even though the boys really liked the girls, they were just as shy as Egg and Sylvia. Getting the conversation started was always the hard part. Once the ice was broken, they could calm down, relax and just be themselves.

  “Here’s mine,” said Zack. He held it up for everyone to see.

  The girls looked at it and hid their disappointment. It didn’t look like much.

  “It’s very nice,” lied Sylvia as convincingly as she could.

  “Thanks. I know it doesn’t look like much . . . it’s a simple design but really maneuverable. I’ll show you what I mean when I fight my brother.”

  “Why are you going to fight your brother?” said a slightly horrified Ham.

  All three Z’s laughed. “Not with my fists . . . though I could since he’s such a wimp.” Zeke responded to that with a playful punch to his brother’s shoulder. “Just kidding . . . anyway we fight with the kites. The one who can cut the other’s string wins.”

  “That sounds exciting.” Sylvia’s high regard for Zack was back in full force.

  “It’s still a stupid design,” kidded Zeke. “Now this is what a fighting kite should look like . . .” and he held up his creation.

  “Wow,” said Egg. “Now that is really too cool. What’s it supposed to be . . . a bat?”

  The boys laughed and Egg blushed. “It’s a dragon,” said Zeke trying hard not to add “you silly girl”.

  “Oh, right. Sorry.”

  “No need to be sorry, dear” said Mrs. Z. “I think it does look more like a bat. Besides, who ever heard of a red dragon . . . other than in fairy tales?”

  “I’ve met one.”

  Everyone turned and stared. Egg couldn’t believe what she had just said. "How stupid can I be?" she thought to herself.

  “You met a red dragon? Where?” demanded Zeke.

  “My granddaughter is referring to a float that she saw in a parade. It was a huge red dragon made from roses.” Egg looked at her grandmother with a sigh of relief.

  “Oh,” was all that the boy could muster in response.

  “Okay, you two. The wind is just right. Why don’t you launch those things and may the best man win.”

  “Good luck, Zeke.” Egg smiled shyly at the boy.

  “Zack, my money is on you . . . if I had money.” Sylvia wasn’t so shy.

  So the boys picked up their kites and ran into the wind. The kites caught the breeze and started to rise. When they got to about seventy-five feet, it was time to fight. Zack’s strange looking kite swooped down and attacked the red dragon.

  “LOOK OUT,” yelled Egg.

  “Not to worry,” said a very confident Zeke. Just before the other kite struck, he let out some more string and it flew out of reach. “Maneuverable, maybe . . . slow, definitely,” he yelled teasingly at his brother.

  “Come on Zack. Don’t let that stupid bat beat you.” Sylvia was so excited that she was clapping and jumping.

  “I was just giving him a chance to show off for Egg. Now watch how a real master handles his kite.”

  The two kites attacked each other head on. Then they did a kind of dance . . . one circling the other. As they did, they began to get closer and closer until it became a blur of red on red.

  The girls were screaming excitedly . . . each encouraging one boy or the other. Then suddenly Zack’s kite began to drift away.

  “YEAH,” yelled Sylvia thinking that Zack had won. Then she stopped as the kite slowly began to fall to earth. A last gust of wind caught it and drove it right into the outstretched wings of the Angel statue.

  “Oh, rats . . . I thought you won.”

  The kite fell off the statue a
nd settled to the ground. Zack ran to retrieve it and Sylvia followed to offer her condolences.

  “Great job,” Egg told Zeke.

  “Thanks.” The boy slowly reeled in his kite and when it got close to the ground, Egg grabbed it. As she held it up, she happened to glance through the red paper and at the statue . . .

  . . . and it made everything look like it was ablaze with fire.

  “Oh my gosh . . . that’s too cool.”

  “What is?”

  “The way everything looks through the kite.”

  “Yeah . . . all fiery-like.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Hey, bro . . . I claim a rematch,” Zack yelled out.

  “Glutton for punishment. What do think Egg . . . should I give him a second chance?”

  Egg smiled . . . and just nodded.

  *****

  That night she dreamt. There was a flying dragon, an angel who seemed to be breathing fire and behind her, the sky was all ablaze in brilliant red.

  When she woke up . . . she remembered every last detail.

  *****

  The next morning Egg summoned Dazzle and described her dream.

  “What do you think?”

  “I believe that you will find the last two sisters in Fire’s Breath.” Dazzle showed Egg a mental picture.

  “Oh my gosh . . . That’s a dragon town, right? But why there?”

  “The kite that made the statue look like it was breathing fire was obviously telling you that this is the place you need to visit.”

  “What about the rest?”

  “Egg . . . your dreams are truly amazing. They give so much more detail than anything we on Aerianna ever encounter. I believe one of your sisters will be named for an Angel and the other for Fire.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “The sky was ablaze . . . as you described it . . . when seen through the kite. And you were looking at the statue of the Angel when you did it.”

  “I just love this dream stuff. Well . . . when should we go to Aerianna?”

  “As soon as you can make arrangements to leave.”

  Chapter 6 - Oops, I Did It Again

  “Hey . . . watch it.”

  “Sorry.”

  “You’re always saying sorry. Why don’t you go see a doctor and get that stupid problem fixed before you fry somebody?”

  “I did see the doctor. She said I just have too much gas and I should change my diet. But I hate eating meat.”

  “Who ever heard of a vegetarian dragon?”

  Poor Bl’azzz. She was such a nice dragon . . . full of life and laughter. But she had almost no friends because of her problem. Since she only ate vegetables and fruits, she developed a terrible case of gas . . . so she was continuously burping. Unfortunately, she was a F’yre Dragon – a relatively rare line of dragons that could breathe fire. And when she burped . . . the gas ignited into a ball of flame. She just couldn’t control it. It was so embarrassing . . . and a little dangerous.

  “You know what, Bl’azzz; this just ain’t working for me.”

  “What’s not working?”

  “Me and you. I’m sorry, but I just can’t handle your hot breath anymore.”

  “Furn’o . . . are you breaking up with me?”

  “Yeah, sorry.”

  “But I thought . . .”

  “Sorry, Bl’azzz. I gotta go.”

  “But . . .”

  “See ya,’” and Furn’o flew off without so much as a look back.

  Bl’azzz sat there for a few moments watching her ex-boyfriend not so slowly disappear over the horizon. When he was completely gone from sight, she dropped her head and began to cry. The soft sobbing gave way to great gasps of uncontrollable weeping. She cried so hard it made her nauseous. Unfortunately, that made her more gaseous and she burped. The gas ignited into a roar of flame and her tears hissed as they evaporated in the great heat.

  She sat there perched on the park bench for what seemed like a very long time. A few passers-by would have offered to help her but the fire from her mouth made that way too dangerous.

  Eventually the tears and the gas subsided. She dried her eyes, licked her somewhat scorched lips, picked up her Booyah and began to walk down a path that meandered through rows of hedges and flowers. She put the Booyah to her mouth and began to play a sweet, sad melody . . . one that fit her mood.

  The Booyah was an ancient musical instrument of the F’yre Dragons. There were three variations – tenor, alto and base. Bl’azzz could play all three, but her favorite was the Booyah-base.

  It was played by blowing fire through one end. If the round pouch on the bottom was filled with water, the music sounded something like a teakettle at full boil. If it was played without the water, the music sounded more like a fire of dry leaves and popping logs.

  When she finished her song, Bl’azzz felt much better. Her music could always cheer her up. “I guess Mom was right . . . for a change,” she thought. “I am too young for a boyfriend.”

  She knew in her heart of hearts that she really didn’t love Furn’o. In fact, he was a pretty dull-witted dragon without any sense of humor or adventure. Like any girl, she didn’t like the idea that the boy broke up with her. She should have broken up with him weeks ago but missed her chance. And now he had the nerve to dump her. “Boys” she thought. “Who needs them anyway?”

  What was worse was that she was faced with the one thing that all teenagers hated – boredom. Now she had nothing to do and no one to do it with. She had graduated from high school just last month but had no job. Most of the kids her age had none since there weren’t any to be had.

  What to do . . . what to do. “I need a great adventure,” she thought. But exactly what that would be, she had no idea. She put the Booyah back into her mouth and started to play a very lively tune called Razzle-Dazzle. It was a song about a legendary princess and her valiant, but ill-fated fight to defeat that stupid Mobius. It was against the law to play it . . . but she didn’t care. What kind of dumb king would make a dumb law against playing music? That was just plain dumb.

  *****

  Meanwhile, back on earth Egg asked her Grammy to pick her up. She had put Sylvia’s ring back on her hand so that Dazzle could fix it. When they got to her grandmother’s house, she changed into Flying Girl and flew to Loch Ness.

  *****

  “Which way is Fire’s Breath?”

  “That is not our destination. We go to the Sisterhood.”

  “Why?”

  “So I can instruct Sassi how to make the needed changes to Sylvia’s ring.”

  “Oh, that’s just wonderful. I can’t wait for her to become my Feminion again. Will it take her long do you think?”

  “No. I have the needed crystal. I believe your sister has the required skills and can easily perform the change.”

  So they flew the now familiar route to the headquarters of the Hameggattic Sisterhood, landed and entered through the front door. They looked around but saw no one.

  “HELLO,” yelled Egg. “Anybody home?”

  They heard footsteps on the stairs that led to the bedrooms of the second floor and in a moment, Sassi appeared.

  “Hi,” said the girl in her soft voice. “I’m so glad you’re back. I was getting a little bit lonely.”

  “Sorry about that. I finally had the dream about the last two Sisters.”

  “That’s great. Will they be dragons like you thought?”

  “Yes. And they live in Fire’s Breath. We’re going there in just a little bit.”

  “Oh,” she responded disappointedly. “I thought you might stay for a little while. Maybe you could have lunch before you go. I have been stocking the cupboards with all sorts of delicious things.”

  “Sorry . . . again. But we really need to find the other two if we can.”

  “I understand. By the way, where is Sylvia?”

  “That’s the reason we stopped here first. Dazzle will explain.”

  “Before I do, did you return to you
r home and retrieve your tools and supplies?”

  “Yes. I did it while my aunt slept. It was no problem at all.”

  “Very good. And have you made the jewelry as I asked?”

  “Yes. Would you like to see them?”

  “Please.”

  So Sassi ran back upstairs and came down with her creation…

  “Oh, that’s too cool. A fried Egg with the Hameggattic SisterHood initials.”

  “Very creative. You have done well.”

  Sassi blushed at the compliments. It was so very good to be appreciated. “Thank you” she managed to say.

  “As to the new project, Egg’s grandmother has forbidden Sylvia to return to Aerianna unless we can modify her ring. I have a small supply of Crystals in my bedroom. One of them needs to be mounted on this ring.” Dazzle pointed to the ring on Egg’s hand. “The Crystal will give Sylvia the power to return to Earth instantaneously. If she is ever in danger and Egg is not around to protect her, she will be safe.”

  “Dazzle, can you make it so she could come back too? You know . . . like after the danger has passed.”

  The princess gave that some thought. “Yes, that is possible. Come Sassi and I will show you what needs to be done. You will also need to etch out a place for the translation crystal should your Sea Sisters be successful in obtaining one.”

  “Oh, I am so forgetful. K’ssss and Soo’ brought the crystal days ago. I have it upstairs on my work bench.”

  “Very, very good. I will say it again . . . Egg you have chosen your sisters well. They have already proven themselves to be brave, resourceful and talented. Come, Sassi, and I will instruct you on the ring; then Egg and I must visit Fire’s Breath.”

  Egg slipped off the ring and handed it to the other girl. Then she gave her a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re with us.”

  “And I am so glad you chose me. I have not felt so much a part of a family since I was very young . . . and those wisps of memories have all but faded.” She returned Egg’s hug. “And Egg . . . Sister . . . good luck with the dragons.”

  *****

  As they approached the castle-city, Dazzle asked Egg, “What is your plan after we enter the city?”