Usually when I read a sequel, I find it not as great as the original. This might be another case of the not-so-great, but I left the previous story at a cliffhanger in case readers wanted more. In answer to the readers who want more, here it is. If you are confused, you probably haven't read the first story. Here's a link to the first chapter of Unexpected Alliance. s/9290790/1/Unexpected-Alliance
I don't own Ib or the Mama Llama books
Unexpected Offer: Chapter 1
Sarah skipped to the bus cheerfully after the final bell of school rang. Her kindergarten teacher had praised her for reading a Mama Llama book aloud without needing too much help and she couldn't wait to tell her mommy.
But then she remembered that Mommy wouldn't be at home until dinner time. She had lots of work to do, so she would be coming home late for the next few days. But Sarah wouldn't be alone. The man who lived next door would be babysitting her until Mommy returned.
Sarah got off the bus at her stop and walked the short distance home. Her neighbor was waiting for her at the doorstep.
Her next door neighbor had moved into his house 4 months ago, a few weeks after Sarah's visit to the art gallery. He looked oddly familiar, but Sarah knew that she'd never met him before.
He was a young man with messy brown hair and coal black eyes. He wore a jean jacket over his long sleeved grey shirt. He also wore tattered jeans and running shoes.
He stood when Sarah approached, giving her a friendly smile. "Hi Sarah. It's good to see you again."
Sarah folded her hands behind her back shyly before answering, "Um, hi Mr…?"
"You can call me HM." The man watched for her reaction. When she showed no recognition he opened the door, hiding his disappointment in a small smile. "After you, little lady."
Sarah giggled and lead the way into her house. She brought HM to the living room, where she usually spent her after-school time doing homework, watching TV, and playing.
HM was a very helpful babysitter. He didn't overwhelm her, but he also didn't neglect her. Even so, while he was helping her with a puzzle, he seemed to be lost in thought.
"Can you read a Mama Llama book?" Sarah asked when they finished the puzzle.
HM's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, "I'm sorry Sarah, but I don't know how to read."
The little girl gave a puzzled frown. She didn't know that it was possible for an adult to not know how to read. But she also had the feeling that she had been in this situation before.
"Then I'll read it for you." Sarah found one of her books and sat next to HM. She read the book out loud to the best of her ability.
HM listened patiently as she read, even when she struggled with a word. When she was done, he gave her a thumbs up. "That was really nice. You can read well."
"Thanks!" Sarah flushed with pride at the compliment.
"Could you read something for me?" HM reached into his pocket for a piece of paper.
"I can try…" Sarah accepted the paper he handed to her. It was a page torn from a book. On it was a familiar picture of a lady with brown straight hair and blue eyes.
"'Lady in Blue'" Sarah said slowly. She stared at the familiar page. "Have I seen this somewhere before?"
"Please try to remember, Sarah. I've shown you this page before a long time ago." HM watched her with a desperate expression on his face.
Sarah thought as hard as she could. She recalled that someone showed her the page before, but she didn't know when and where.
"Remember the gallery we traveled through. We met Lady in Blue and the man with the black rose. There were hands that shot out of the wall and a talking caterpillar. Please remember!"
Sarah listened to him as she thought. What he said didn't make sense, but somehow it sounded familiar. She remembered a dream she had a long time ago.
"Were there roses and monsters?" she asked.
"Y-yes!" HM's eyes lit up hopefully.
As Sarah stared at the picture, her memories flowed back to her. What she had thought to be a dream was in fact reality. "I thought you and Lady stayed in the gallery."
"She pushed me out. I didn't really have a choice in the matter."
"So that means Lady is alone."
"No. The man with the black rose is there with her." HM frowned in worry. He didn't like thinking of how frightened she must be with that guy.
"He was scary and mean." Sarah said.
"That's the reason why I wanted you to remember. It was scary to be there alone, but with him there it would be a nightmare. I have to get Lady out."
"Okay, but what can I do?"
"I don't know yet. We're going to need help, though. She can't leave if someone doesn't take her place."
"That sounds like it's going to be hard." Sarah complained as she handed back the torn page.
"Don't worry too much, Sarah. I don't plan to bring you to that place." HM assured her.
Sarah smiled, but she didn't feel happy. "I won't be helpful if I'm here."
"You will be safe though."
-With Lady-
Lady in Blue placed her violet rose in the vase she found on a low table. Petals grew on the rose until there was a total of 7 on her stalk. She mentally noted that there was no more water in the vase as she placed the rose in her hair.
She turned back to the hallway she was in. The hallway seemed to surround a room, but the walls were too strong for her to break. She had been there for a long time.
She once tried to go down the hallway beyond the part surrounding the room, but the hall got narrower and darker until she almost got her frame stuck. It seemed hopeless to escape.
The creak of a door opening startled Lady out of her thoughts. She scrambled backwards into the table and prepared herself for the worst. When a headless statue turned the corner and stumbled her way with an angry snarl, Lady dashed at top speed in the opposite direction.
She was glad it was only a statue and not the man with the black rose. She could easily manipulate the creature behind her if she played her cards right.
Lady paused in her crawling outside the first door she came to. She dodged the statue's grasp, but the statue didn't run into the door with as much force as she hoped it would. She crawled away with it chasing after her.
"Come on, dear! Is that really all you got?" Lady called to the statue. "You gotta be quicker if you want my rose."
The statue roared and increased its speed. Lady led the statue in a circle and stopped again in front of the door. When the statue went to tackle her, she dodged, causing it to smash into the door with enough force to bust it down.
Lady crawled over the fallen statue and hurried down the hallway of the dark gallery.
-With Sarah-
Sarah looked up from her math work when the door to the hallway opened. The fourth graders who came regularly to help the kindergarteners entered the room, much to the delight of the younger kids. The kindergarteners claimed the fourth graders and started including them in their games.
One fourth grader didn't get pulled into the play. She had straight brown hair that fell past her shoulders and ruby red eyes. She was observing the classroom until Sarah waved her over to her table with a desperate look.
"Do you know math?" Sarah asked when the girl came over. The girl nodded. "Can you help me with this?"
"Sure." the older girl said in a soft voice. She sat in an empty seat next to Sarah and assisted her with the addition problems. It didn't take long to figure out why this math work was so hard for Sarah.
"Two plus four doesn't make twenty four…" the older girl pointed out.
"How do you solve it then?" Sarah glared at the problem in frustration.
The older girl took a red crayon and drew two circular shapes. "Two red," she said before drawing four circular shapes in blue crayon. "Four blue. If you add these together, do you get twenty four?"
Sarah hesitated then counted the shapes. "Is the answer six?" she asked.
The older girl nodded. "Thanks for helping me. My name's Sarah."
"I'm Ib."
"So Ib… will you draw with me when I'm done with this?"
"Sure."