Penny Saga 5: Penny's Amazing Adventure

by Riina K

Penny gets drugged by M.A.D. and gets lost in the woods. Meanwhile, someone from her past tries to kill her! Will she make it out alive?

PENNY'S AMAZING ADVENTURE (OR, PENNY'S CHEMICAL ADVENTURE)

"I'm sorry girls, that's just all there is to it! I know you don't like one or

the other, but unfortunately we really have no choice," Inspector Gadget told

his nieces Penny, Cassie, Cammie and Cricket

"Why? I don't want to go to private school!" Penny said authoritatively.

"And why can't we go to the Virgin Islands?" Cassie asked.

"You girls have been inundated already with the news coverage from the England

fiasco, and going to public school for a few days afterwards just further

confirmed my fears. Everybody hounding you, wanting to know who Cricket was,

trying to get your autographs, sneaking home behind you and trying to see the

house! A private school will be much more conducive to education. And I told

you, we can't go on vacation yet because the chief is sending me on a business

trip to Washington, D.C., to deal with JFK Jr.'s plane crash," the Inspector

explained.

"All right, I can deal with a later vacation..but a UNIFORM?" Cassie cried.

"It's what girls wore to school when I went! White shirt, navy sweater, green

plaid skirt, navy blue kneesocks and t-bar shoes! What's so bad about that?"

Gadget said.

"Oh fine," Penny and Cassie said. Penny noticed Cammie was being unusually

quiet and Cricket was visibly shaking.

"Is anything wrong?" Penny asked Cricket after Inspector had left the room.

Cricket was actually an android stolen from Gadget's arch-nemesis Dr. Claw's

laboratory.

"No, n-n-nothing," she stammered.

"All right," Penny said.

Later that night, Penny and Cricket were in their top floor room in the Gadget

household. Penny, Cassie and Cammie's father, Mr. Ralston, was already in bed

in his room next to his brother's, Inspector Gadget. Cricket was lying on her

bed looking up at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking, Cricket?" Penny asked from across the room. She was

throwing her jeans and blue t-shirt she wore that day into the laundry chute.

"N-n-nothing," Cricket said.

"Really? You've been acting strange since Uncle told us we were going to a

private school," Penny said.

"Well, it's just that, well, I don't want to wear a uniform," Cricket said

shakily.

"I don't either, but it's no big deal--hey, do you know you haven't changed

your outfit since you've been here?" Penny suddenly asked.

It was true. Cricket was still wearing her white shirt, blue denim shortalls,

tights and sneakers. Her hair was in a simple ponytail.

"I don't have any other clothes," Cricket said.

"Well that's not true! First of all, my sisters and I don't look like ninth

graders! We're a lot smaller!"--Penny stifled a giggle--"so anything that fits

us shouldn't be too much bigger on you. And, you're forgetting Uncle bought you

a few new things, like the plaid jumper, and the jeans, and the few t-shirts and

sweatshirts," Penny said.

"Listen, I don't want to talk about it, ok?" Cricket said fairly defiantly.

"All right, all right!" Penny said and resigned herself to getting her pajamas,

pale pink satin pants and shirt, out of her dresser and on her body. She

slipped on the items carefully, as her side was still a little sore from an

arrow wound at the troll cave. As she did this, she felt the wind slam up

against the Gadget household, causing it to shudder momentarily. Penny decided

to leave on her socks as the night would be cold.

"Do you need the light on?" she asked Cricket.

"No, you can turn it off," Cricket said.

Penny did just that and gingerly got into bed. She pulled the covers over

herself and realized she had forgotten to take her hair out of her two

ponytails. She sighed and thought it wasn't worth the effort to take them out.

"Huh, what?" Penny said as she stirred in the early morning hours of the next

day. She looked at her alarm clock on the nightstand. It said 2:30 A.M. on a

Saturday. She and her sisters and Cricket were to start at St. Mary's Academy

on Monday. They would be fitted for uniforms today. "Hooray!" Penny thought to

herself, sarcastically. Penny looked over at Cricket on the next bed over.

This wasn't the first time she had gotten up late at night, but usually she had

been too groggy to care about anything and had fallen back to sleep quickly.

Last night was the first night she was really cognizant of anything besides an

acute pain in her side. She had stared over at Cricket and realized that

Cricket was STILL in the same clothes! As Penny looked over at Cricket this

time she saw the same thing. Cricket in the same clothes.

Penny thought for a good five minutes on this subject, her side aching too much

to let her fall asleep. Then she noticed something else. Cricket still had her

SHOES on. "Why would Cricket fall asleep with her sneakers on?" Penny asked

herself. Then it hit her: "What if she CAN'T take her clothes off?" Penny

propped herself up against her pillows and blew a few strands of hair from her

now less-than-perfect ponytails out of her eyes. She thought a minute, and then

decided to do something. Cricket was lying on her back, on top of the covers.

Exactly as she was laying when Penny turned out the light earlier that night.

Her feet dangled off the bed. Penny decided to take off Cricket's shoes, for as

each minute passed she was being driven wilder and wilder with curiosity as to

what Cricket might be hiding. "Even I took my shoes off sometime!" Penny

thought to herself as she ran her hand across the soft white cotton of her left

sock.

Penny got up--slowly--and made her way over to Cricket's bed. There, she

crouched down and slowly undid the laces on both of Cricket's now quite dirty

white sneakers. Once the laces were undone, she covertly slipped both of them

off. The white of her tights had faded, and the material encasing her feet was

a few shades whiter than the rest. One other thing Penny noticed right away was

that the arch of the foot was much lower than normal. In fact, when Penny

crouched even lower for a better look, she could see that Cricket's feet were

almost completely flat, with relatively no arch present at all! "She CAN'T WALK

without shoes!" Penny said out loud. Cricket stirred but did not awaken. She

was in energy saving mode, programmed to come out of it only when a certain

level of noise or light was reached. Penny carefully placed the shoes next to

each other near the window seat, directly across from Cricket's bed. Then,

knowing she could never fall asleep now, Penny took a seat on the window seat.

As the sun came up the next morning, spreading bright rays into Penny and

Cricket's bedroom, illuminating Penny from behind and glinting off her

golden-orange hair, which now hung loosely around her shoulders. Penny let her

imagination take her away for a minute or two, having grown quite bored sitting

in one spot for four hours. A noise on the bed snapped her back to reality.

Cricket woke up. She immediately hoisted herself off the bed and onto her feet.

She took one step and fell to the floor in an extremely awkward position.

"Looking for these?" Penny said as she held the shoes directly above Cricket's clear, translucent blue eyes, wide open with pure fear.

"How-how-how did you get those off my feet?" Cricket sputtered nervously.

"I'm quiet and careful. I wouldn't be here today if I wasn't. Cricket, why

didn't you tell me?" Penny asked.

"I don't know! Maybe a remnant from my old programming code or maybe I'm

actually experiencing human feelings," Cricket said.

"Well, at least I know now. We don't have to tell anyone else, but I want to

do something first. However, my top priority is to help you up. I am pretty

sure you can stand without shoes on," Penny said as she rose into a standing

position. She placed the shoes next to her on the window seat and bent down with

her hand extended. Cricket, with considerable effort, outstretched her hand as

well. Penny grasped it and hoisted Cricket up to an upright position. Then,

Penny took the shows and tossed them on her bed and told Cricket to sit down.

Cricket did and Penny explained.

"Listen, Cricket. We went through quite a lot together, and I have to tell you

I AM a little disappointed you didn't tell me. Though, as you mentioned, it

could have been remnants from old programming and therefore not your fault! So,

therefore, before the house wakes up and we go downstairs to eat--which, by the

way, you do very little of--we have to do something to change you. Otherwise,

while we're being fitted for uniforms today everyone, including the school

staff, is going to get very suspicious. So, I'm gonna help you get changed,"

Penny said.

"I-I-I don't know, Penny," Cricket said, looking a little scared.

"Listen Cricket. I want to help now. We're SISTERS. We stand by each other!"

Penny said.

"O-O-OK," Cricket said.

"All right. The first thing we're gonna do is teach you how to walk without

shoes. Now, you won't be able to do this for anymore than very short distances,

but it's good to know how to do," Penny said.

And with that Penny proceeded to start the process of teaching Cricket to walk

with no shoes on. Basically, she had to walk as if she had braces on her legs

that preventing her ankles from bending, as that way she could walk without

worrying about her toes bending, which the sneakers did for her. Cricket took a

very many tries to get past two steps. She would attempt it, fall, get hoisted

up by Penny, and then try again. Finally, after two hours, Cricket was able to

walk to the Penny's bed from the window seat to retrieve her shoes. The two

"sisters" hugged joyously and Cricket sat down and began to put her shoes on.

"Oh, no you don't!" Penny said jokingly. "We have more to do!"

Cricket looked surprised. "What? What more?"

"We're gonna try on some clothes. I've got plenty. After I stopped wearing

the same clothes all the time, like you've been doing, I sort of went on a

spending spree," Penny said as she giggled. "Now take off your shirt, overalls

and tights.

Cricket did as instructed. She carefully pulled her tights down and put them

on the bed. Penny saw Cricket's legs were stark white, almost unnaturally so.

Cricket explained that was because she had always worn tights, never socks.

Cricket then unhooked the suspenders of her overalls and gingerly stood up and

let them fall to the ground. She sat down again and, very slowly, as if she had

never done the motions before, took off her shirt.

By that time Penny had brought over a large amount of clothes from her walk-in

closet. The first thing she did was to give Cricket a pair of white socks,

which she put on. Penny noticed how flat and devoid of any markings Cricket's

feet were. After that was done, Penny gave Cricket one of her "classic" olive

green pants with off-white patches on the knees. Penny instructed Cricket to

stay seated and pull the pants on, and then to make sure she wasn't standing on

the end of the pants and stand up slowly and pull them up. It took a few tries

but Cricket got it. Penny gave her one of her red and white shirts then and

Cricket put it on. Penny went around in back of Cricket and expertly did her

hair up into two ponytails.

"Hey! You look like a blonde me!" Penny said.

"I do, kind of," Cricket said as Penny showed Cricket her reflection in a hand

mirror.

"Now get out of the clothes...we have more to try on!" Penny said happily.

They went through overalls, jumpers, jeans, rainbow-striped shirts and tights,

dresses, skirts, tank tops, knee socks, everything. Finally, Cricket put on

Penny's old "uniform", with kneesocks underneath the pants as they felt a little

more comfortable to her than ankle socks. They felt more like tights. Then

Penny gave Cricket a pair of shoes she used to wear with the outfit Cricket had

on. Cricket put the shoes on.

"I like the feel of these! Much slicker than my old sneakers," said she. She

took a few tentative steps and said, "It's even a little easier to walk in

these!"

"Well I think walking in any shoes would be much easier for you than walking

barefoot!" Penny said and they both laughed!

In another corner of the house, Mr. Ralston was making breakfast at the time

Cricket and Penny finished their "lessons". He had already set the table, and

set the kitchen door open so he could carry the tray with the pancakes and

french toast into the dining area. Also on the trays were five tall glasses of

orange juice.

Mr. Ralston hoisted the tray onto his shoulder and glided into the dining area,

where he set it down on the large dining table. Then, he strode back into the

kitchen, letting the door shut behind him. He had gone to retrieve condiments,

such as cinnamon and sugar, and ketchup.

When the door shut, a figure from the shadows swiftly crept up to the table and

sprayed the plate belonging to Penny with a thin film of a sheer substance. The

figure then used an eyedropper to slip some drops of the substance into her

drink as well. The figure then looked up, and seeing the door slowly opening,

dove back into the hall where it came from.

Mr. Ralston strode through the door, just catching a glimpse of the figure that

was just there. "Hmm...I wonder who that was?" he said to himself.

"MMM! Dad! This is a good breakfast!" Cassie said to her father as the

remaining five people in the house sat down to breakfast.

This was Cricket's third breakfast in the two month that she had been at the

Gadget household. This was her second in a row. Other things were changing

too. For one thing, the weather had undergone a metamorphosis. Instead of

being quite cold and wintry, they had come up the early spring season, and that

meant RAIN. Today was partly sunny--an exception. For that past two weeks, at

least four of the seven days included rain, mostly moderate, with a few days of

drizzle and a few of downpours. Also, cold fronts that had slammed into

California's coastline that earlier in the year had brought snow and high wind

now brought rain and high wind, and the Gadget household had actually lost power

briefly during the last storm.

"Pass the syrup, Cammie," Penny said as she took a large gulp from her orange

juice. Her mouth puckered slightly as she tasted the juice. It was a little

sour.

"Anything wrong?" Cammie asked as she handed Penny the syrup.

"No, just not ready for the acidity, I guess," Penny said, though in truth she

felt weird all over.

Cricket appeared to be thoroughly enjoying her meal. Apparently, she didn't

NEED to eat, but LIKED to eat. She had told Penny that she had a "flash

processor" in what should be her stomach. It incinerated her meals as she ate

in a totally insulated chamber, leaving a very fine white powder which she took

care of by appearing to go to the bathroom. Cricket also noticed Penny was

acting a little different. Up in the room she was very down to earth and hard.

After drinking and eating, she appeared giddy and flighty.

"Thanks for the compliment, Cassie! I try, you know," said Mr. Ralston.

"Dad, I know you were a cook before you applied to the police force!" Cammie

said.

"You're right," he replied.

"Did you do it?" an evil man called Claw said as he sat atop a castle in some

obscure part of the world.

"Yes, the drug is in place," said a cloaked figure.

"When will it take effect?" Claw asked.

"Well, the drug should have immediately caused a light-headed, flowy sensation.

Tonight, she'll probably have the first of many disturbing dreams, probably

triggered by some event today," the figure replied.

"How long before she needs another dose?" Claw inquired.

"Well, she needs to have a fairly complete stream of the drug in her body, or

else we'll be back to square one pretty quickly. If I give it to her at every

meal, of which we eat breakfast and dinner together, than it should remain at a

constant level," the cloaked one said.

"Now, what exactly will happen?" Claw asked.

"She'll gradually retreat mentally. Basically, she'll become withdrawn---she

MIGHT confide in someone. I hope if she does, it'll be me. It'll make things a

lot easier. She'll revert to old behavior, become isolated, depressed, angry,

frustrated. She'll be useless against you," the figure said.

"Good work Agent!" Claw said. "Now--"

He was cut off by the cloaked figure. "Someone's coming. Next time," it said.

As the figure quickly hid the remote radio-video link, Mr. Ralston came into

the laundry room, where the figure had stolen off to after breakfast.

"Whom were you talking to?" he asked.

"Just looking for Penny. We have to leave soon for our uniform fitting," the

cloaked one said and vanished through the door.

"Hmm...I always thought she was the different one..." Mr. Ralston said to

himself.

After dressing and hair-combing and teeth brushing and all other preparations

were completed, the five Ralstons climbed into Mr. Ralston's new minivan, bought

to accommodate the rather large family the Gadget household had become. With

Penny sitting in front, they navigated the approximately twenty minute ride to

Saint Mary's Academy.

Saint Mary's Academy was originally a Catholic Girl's School, with the main

building being erected in 1916 during WWI. After the war, more buildings were

added, and it became one of the premier Catholic Girl's Private Schools on the

West coast. Then, WWII happened and the school lost most of it's funding. To

gain some back from the government, it was made co-ed to accommodate the influx

of immigrants to California. That's how the school stayed until the recession

in the late 1980s. The last head of the school connected with the original

family died, and it was bought out by the government, who auctioned it off. The

high bidder kept the name but did away with the religious requirement. It was

now a non-denominational school. It did, however, now cater exclusively to

girls.

Penny's first impression of the building was one of curiosity. The original

building was now strictly for administration. It was a large black stone

building with high windows. To the left were the dormitories, which Penny and

the other Ralstons would have no use for, as they were not boarding here. To

the right were two more modern buildings which housed classrooms. Both were

about the size of a normal high school, making the total area the buildings

covered rather impressive.

Mr. Ralston parked the van and then ushered everyone out and up the stairs into

the administration building. There, they encountered a young woman about

twenty-five with blond hair. They asked her where to find the dressing area, as

they were there to be fitted for uniforms. The lady replied that she was

heading there at the moment, so the clan followed her, with Cammie taking a

quick drink of water from a fountain on the way.

They arrived at a staircase, and after descending, found themselves in the

basement of the old building. They were one of the first ones there, so there

were few other girls. There was a gray haired lady perched behind a desk on the

far wall underneath a window, however, and that was where Mr. Ralston

approached.

"Excuse me, Miss? I'm Mr. Ralston and my daughters will be starting in the

school here when the new semester starts on Monday. We're here for the

uniforms," he said.

The lady, who the nameplate on her desk identified her as Mrs. Deacon,

explained, "Over there on the far wall are complete uniforms sans shoes--I

suspect each of your daughters can supply their own t-bar shoes, Mr. Ralston--in

different sizes. One navy blue sweater, one white dress blouse, one navy blue

skirt, one pair of navy blue kneesocks, one navy blue blazer. The blazer is to

be worn during spring and autumn, the sweater during winter and inclement

weather. Once each of your daughters has found a size that fits---and by the

look of them one size should fit them all---they should take five---one for

every day of the week. What grade are they entering?"

"The orange haired triplets are in the middle of ninth grade, and the blond

haired one is in the seventh," Ralston replied.

"Excuse me?" said Ms. Deacon, aghast. "Are you sure you don't mean they're all

going into the fifth or sixth?"

"Nope. The triplets are fourteen and Cricket is ten," Ralston explained.

"Ten years old in seventh grade? Impossible!" Deacon exclaimed.

"Certainly possible, MS. Deacon. All of my daughters are intelligent, albeit

one may be a little taller than her age and the others a bit short," Ralston

said.

"Well, I never!" Ms. Deacon said contemptuously as she motioned for the four to

get their uniforms.

Alessandra Maise was what many would consider to be a cute girl. She was

fourteen but a rather short for her age. She had wide green eyes that sometimes

would change colors, to blue, brown, purple and gray. Her orange-golden hair

was pulled back into two tight ponytails. On her body were the clothes she had

been found in, lying in a ditch on the side of the road and covered in filth,

when she was eight years old. She remembered nothing of her life before her

ninth birthday, when she was brought here, and had lived ever since. The

clothes, olive green pants with off-white patches at the knees, a red t-shirt

with a fat white stripe running through the middle, white ankle socks and red

sneakers. It was surprising the clothes still fit her, but they were big on her

at the time. The only reason they knew her name was she had on a dog tag around

her neck stamped with the information. Her name and a six digit number, which

Allie, as she liked to be called, knew by heart. 551552.

On this Saturday morning in a suburb of Denver she sat on the front steps of

the orphanage she called her home. She could see the majestic Rockies from her

vantage point. Every other child had gone to the neighborhood playground,

leaving only two caseworkers in the building. Allie didn't want to go, as she

was always a sort of a loner. Plus, she limped on her right leg. If you knew

her, and not many did, it was barely noticeable, but if you met her on the street

you would definitely know it. She was told her leg was apparently twisted when

she was apparently thrown out of a car at a high rate of speed and the muscle

had torn and not healed right. Most of the other orphans thought she was

strange, kind of mysterious. She did talk to a few of them, but not many talked

to her.

The four Ralston girls did as Ms. Deacon had directed. They all figured they

were approximately the same size, so they too identical uniforms into the back

changing room. When they entered the rather cold room, they saw there were two

benches. Cammie and Cassie took the front bench, facing the door. Cricket and

Penny sat on the far bench, facing the wall.

Penny started out by helping Cricket with her uniform. She took Cricket's

shirt, pants, shoes and socks and placed them in a pile next to them. Cricket

pulled the white dress blouse over head with no problem, and did likewise with

the kneesocks. Then, Cricket put both her legs in the skirt and hesitantly

stood up. Penny stood as well, helping Cricket maintain her balance. She

pulled up the skirt and admired herself in a small mirror in front of her.

"Looks good," she said.

"Why don't you check it out in the full length mirror over there?" Penny

suggested with a grin on her face.

"Oh, I don't think I need to..." Cricket started, but when she saw the

determined look in Penny's eyes, she figured she had no choice. She walked a

few paces and fell.

Her eyes showed fear, but that was allayed a quick minute later when Cammie,

who had on a complete uniform sans shoes and was standing on the slick tile

floor, said, "You all right Cricket? These floors are pretty slippery!"

Cricket laughed and said, "I'm fine, but you better watch out if you're coming

this way. I almost lunged headfirst into the mirror!"

Cammie laughed a little uneasily. Penny sat down, this time next to Cassie on

the front bench. She removed her blue denim overalls and white t-shirt and

sneakers. Then, she bent down to pull off her white socks, brushing an errant

strand of hair from her eyes. She noticed that Cassie was doing the exact same

thing.

"Ooh! That's cold!" Cassie said when she took off her dark blue socks, which

really looked like ankle sock versions of the kneesocks they would be required

to wear.

"Yeah! That tickles!" Penny said, feeling the frigidness of the stark, black,

old tile floor.

As Cammie made a motion to join Cricket at the mirror, Cassie said, "Oh, you

think THAT tickles. I'll show you what REALLY tickles," Cassie said with a

devilish grin on her face. She lunged at Penny's feet, toppling off the bench

and landing with a thud on the plain floor. Her fingers tingled the soles and

heels of Penny's feet, cracking Penny up. She tried to shoo Cassie away, but

then Cammie and Cricket turned and saw what was going on. They cracked up, and

Penny was too busy trying to yell "stop" then trying to get Cassie's fingers

away from her feet.

Penny was laughing so hard she was gasping for breath, begging for Cassie to

stop, but Cassie said, "I'll only stop if you promise that you'll show me around

Metro City. I've been here for over a year and all I've seen is the school!"

Before Penny could answer, she tried to lean to the side to get her feet out of

Cassie's range but instead of her hand resting on the bench, it rested on air,

and Penny was on the floor next to Cassie. Before too long both girls were

rolling on the floor while the other tickled their feet. Penny needed to get

back at Cassie, so she tried to hold Cassie's feet in place, but as soon as she

got a good hold Cassie would focus her tickling in the arch of the foot, which

turned out to be Penny's main weakness. She would immediately drop Cassie's

feet and prepare herself for another onslaught.

That was bad enough, but when Cassie pulled out a little bird feather she had

picked up in the parking lot out of her pocket and started using it as a

tickling weapon, Penny was done for. Her sides were heaving and her stomach was

rising and falling very quickly, her body doing all it could to retain the air

she so desperately needed at the moment. She just collapsed on the floor in

laughter. Cassie did the same, and soon both Cammie and Cricket were joining

them, as another breakthrough was reached. Cricket knew humor.

As they were all laying flat on the floor in the Saint Mary's school uniform,

Cassie began to wonder. "There's definitely something strange about her. That

time when she---"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Girls, are you ready? Quite a

line is starting to build out here," Mr. Ralston said.

"We'll be out in a minute," said Cammie, and all four struggled to get up. The

put on their original clothes, socks and shoes and walked out into the main

area.

"We found a size that fit," Cassie said plainly.

"Where am I? You can't hold me here!" Allie screamed at no one. She was in a

bright white-walled room, with no markings on the wall at all.

"Come on! What is this, some kind of a joke?" Allie screamed again.

Then, on one side of the room, an invisible door in the wall smoothly slid

upward, revealing a middle-aged man. He left a wooden tray with what looked

like macaroni and cheese and a glass of water. He silently turned and walked

through the hole in the wall and the door shut soundlessly behind him.

Allie ran and pounded on the site where the door was, but it was no use. It

wouldn't open. She stared at the tray. She moved toward it, but then suddenly

moved away.

"I would eat, if I were you," a dark, hoarse voice came from somewhere. Allie

thought she was going crazy.

"Who are you?" she called.

"You can just call me CLAW," was the reply.

"Okay, CLAW. Why am I here?" Allie demanded.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you that now. Are you sure you won't eat?" Claw asked.

"You drag me here against my will and expect me to EAT? YOU must be crazy!"

Allie spat out.

"Suit yourself. Sweet dreams, Allie!" Claw said as a pale pink gas hissed

itself into the room, soon engulfing the room in a fog. Allie could barely see,

but that was no matter. Ten seconds later she was in a drugged out sleep.

The four Ralstons had arrived home an hour ago. Penny and Cricket were in

their room, while Cassie was watching television and Cammie was reading. Penny

had told Cricket that she hadn't felt "herself" recently, ever since that

morning.

"It was after I drank that juice when it hit me. This giddy feeling," Penny

said.

"What do you think it is?" Cricket said.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm coming down with something. Just my luck, startin' a

new school in two days," Penny said with a frown on her face.

"I don't think so. Maybe a nerve problem?" Cricket wondered.

"Gee, Cricket, don't get my hopes up," Penny said sarcastically and Cricket

smiled wryly and left the room.

"Agent, report," Claw said.

"Everything is status quo here at the Gadget household, Boss. Got back an hour

ago," the cloaked figure said.

"From where?" Claw demanded.

"Trying on uniforms at the Academy. Scheduled start is on Monday," the figure

said.

"That's good. An added stress will make the drug act faster..." Claw said

while rubbing his metal-covered hands together.

"True, true. Have you sequestered the other one?" agent said.

"Yes. We have her in custody. She'll rendezvous with you when this plan is

complete. Basically what we have is our target, but she's working for us!" Claw

said and laughed maniacally. The cloaked one joined in on a softer note.

Cricket looked in the TV room. No one. "Cassie must be doing something else

now," she thought. As she passed the library, she didn't see Cammie either.

"Hmm...I wonder what they're doing..." Cricket wondered.

She turned the corner into the hallway and thought she heard laughing at the

other end. She walked a little faster and came across someone at the end of the

hallway near a potted plant.

"Who were you talking and laughing to?" Cricket said in the slightly mechanical

tone she sometimes adopted when she was suspicious.

"None of your business," the figure said and walked off.

"Gee, what's HER problem?" Cricket wondered.

Penny lay in her bed late that night, tossing and turning. She had helped

Cricket into a pair of her own PJs, ones she had worn in Ireland, no less. She

tucked Cricket in, feeling a little like a mother would tucking in her daughter.

She even kissed her forehead! Then she turned out the light and got into her

own bed. She could see Cricket's motionless shape on the bed next to her,

seemingly at peace. But no matter how hard she tried she simply could not get

to sleep. She stared at her ceiling, trying to make sense of the little dots of

the plaster. Gradually, her vision began to double and her eyelids became

heavy. She drifted to dream land.

When she woke up, she was in a car.

"Are you ready for your interview?" her father said.

"What interview?" Penny said.

"'What interview?'...you've always had a sense of humor!" Mr. Ralston said.

"You've been looking forward to this for a good week now."

Penny just smiled outwardly, but inwardly she was getting very confused. What

interview? I'd known about it for a week? What about school?

She looked at her outfit, and realized it was her "classic" outfit, olive green

pants, red sneakers and a red t-shirt with a white stripe in the middle. She

felt her hair and realized it was in two ponytails. She felt a strange sense of

deja vu.

The car slowed and parked in a lot near a large building. The marquee in front

announced proudly this building was home to a firm known as "KidVid". Mr.

Ralston got out and then unlocked Penny's door and literally dragged her out of

the car. No one else was in the car so Penny reached back and shut the door.

The two walked inside to find an air-conditioned waiting area where a

mild-mannered man was sitting at a desk.

"Penny Ralston here to see Olive McCarthy," Mr. Ralston said.

Immediately, a thin Mediterranean woman came out of a door on the right and

said, "Thank you, Mr. Ralston. I'll take it from here."

She held Penny's hand with a firm, even pressure as they walked through the

door Olive had come through and down a dimly lit hallway. Olive then opened a

door on her right and led Penny through it. When it closed, she could have

sworn she heard it lock.

Penny took stock of the room. It was divided in half. The half she was in

looked like a normal office. There was a mahogany desk with a nameplate on it

that said "Olive McCarthy", two blue and green upholstered chairs, and a nice

teal carpet. There was also a frosted window behind them. The other half of

the room almost looked like an operating room. In the middle of the half held a

flat steel table with clamps on each end. Above it was a circular metal

structure which looked like it was attached to a hydraulic arm. All along the

far wall were various electronic medical instruments.

"Have a seat," Olive said as she motioned for Penny to sit.

Penny sat.

"Now, we know you've been looking forward to this interview, so we took all

liberties to make this enjoyable. Good service so far?" Olive asked.

"Umm, yeah, very good," Penny said, still confused.

"Ok..rapid fire question time...age?"

"14"

"Medical problems?"

"Allergic to celery"

"Favorite music?"

"Everything"

"Sisters?"

"Three"

"Brothers"

"None"

"Any step siblings?"

"None"

"Any other relatives?"

"Only my uncle"

"Favorite food"

"Chicken Teriyaki"

And that's how it went for a good twenty minutes, before Olive stopped.

"That's the 'rapid-fire' round, as we like to call it. Now, the formality. To

make sure everything here is done under free-will," Olive said,

"Ok..." Penny said hesitantly.

"Some people like to tickle. We here at KidVid want to make a video of kids

tickling each other, on feet, sides, legs, etc. that moms and dads can have

their younger ones watch and laugh at while they have downtime. You have agreed

to do this previously. Do you still agree?" Olive stated.

Penny thought for a quick second, and, remembering vaguely some event in her

past, recalled that tickling had always made her feel vulnerable, which is

something she did NOT want to be. She changed her mind. "No."

"No?" Olive looked stunned. "Well, I was hoping you'd do it freely, but since

you apparently won't..."

Olive rose behind her desk and walked over to a now frightened Penny. She

picked her up easily and carried her to the table, where she strapped Penny

down. Then, she went to the door, opened it, and called "Kids!"

Leaving the door open she went to the foot end of the table and pressed a

button. A camera came out and clicked on. At that moment, what seemed like

fifty kids, ages seven or so to ten, came in. "She's all yours," Olive said.

They rushed Penny, first grasping her shoes and tearing them off and then

slipping her socks off, throwing them over their heads, and immediately, with

feathers, started tickling her. Penny smiled at first, and laughed a little,

but gradually, all the tickling was making her short of breath. The children

near her feet gripped the ends of her pants and slid them off and started

tickling her legs, making her gasp for air. Her toes curled and uncurled, her

heels twitching, and her entire foot was launched into spasm after spasm.

The ones that had gravitated to near Penny's head ripped off her shirt, and

started tickling her sides and stomach. Then, one kid had the bright idea to

start tickling under her chin, which made it harder for Penny to breath and

impossible for her to swallow. Blackness spread around her eyes and she began

to shut them. Her ponytails were a mess, undone by the children as best as they

could in their frenzy and the hair was in her eyes, and she could not get it

out. Suddenly, Olive kept yelling, "Penny, breakfast! Penny, breakfast!

Penny, breakfast! Penny, breakfast! Penny, breakfast!..." over and over.

Finally, Penny woke up with Cricket standing over her. "Penny, you look like

you've seen a ghost! And why are you gasping for air? I thought you were having

a seizure! All that shaking! Well, whatever. Breakfast is ready," Cricket said

and bounded out of the room.

At breakfast, Penny was withdrawn and skittish. She spilt the orange juice

twice, and hurried to clean it up, embarrassed. Everyone noticed.

"Agent report!" Claw said.

"Well, boss," the cloaked figure said, this time in a well hidden place, "I

think she had the dream. The drug has begun to take effect. She is OURS!"

"Good…good!" Claw said and laughed a strange, hollow laugh devoid of any compassion. Bats careened in and out from their alcoves in the dank castle. Their master was happy.

Penny came home from her first day of private school upset and she didn't know

why. Her life was good--she had three sisters (sort of), a father and an uncle;

she was attending an excellent private school; her uncle didn't need her to go

with him on cases anymore so she had more of a life; and she finally had filled

in her memories that she had forgotten. As soon as she came home she rushed up

to her room, peeled off the blue sweater, skirt and kneesocks and the white

shirt and put on a lighter white t-shirt and red overalls that were a little

tight. Penny drew up her hair, which was down, and put it in a ponytail. She

looked at herself in her body-length mirror and was disappointed with what she

saw. She certainly knew she was more mature than anyone in her grade mentally,

but what about physically? The red overalls hugged her body, accentuating the

baby fat that was still evident, especially on her stomach. She couldn't

remember Cassie or Cammie, or even Cricket having baby fat. She let her hair

down and put it up in different styles, but each one she tried only made her

look more like a kid. She put it back in a ponytail and lay on her bed on her

stomach, the bottoms of her white sock-covered feet pointing skyward.

"Agent, report!" Claw barked.

"Yes, things seem to be moving along nicely. She hasn't come down from her

room since school let out," the figure said, once again cloaked in shadows.

"Good. Any personality changes?" inquired Claw.

"She has been a little more withdrawn," the cloaked agent said.

"This drug works wonders!" Claw expounded.

Suddenly, the cloaked figure turned to the right, and looked upward. The door

of the cellar had been cracked open letting a sliver of light shine down.

"Who's down there?" Mr. Ralston asked.

"Me!" the figure replied.

"How long have you been down there?" Ralston asked.

"Not long, why?" the figure said.

"Dinner is about ready, and you gave me a start. That's a deep voice you have

sometimes," Ralston said.

"He must have thought I was impersonating Dr. Claw!" the figure thought and

laughed inwardly. "Thank you!" the figure said. "I'll be right up!"

The door shut and Claw said, "You go have dinner, agent. You have earned it!"

"Thank you boss," the agent said. "But first, h-h-ow i-i-s th-th-the oth," the

figure tried to say, but she gradually slowed down, as if a robot low on power.

"Agent! Agent report!" Claw shouted. When the figure did not respond, he

initiated the emergency charge button. "How many times must I tell her to

charge at night! She shares a room, but her partner always goes to bed in a

sound sleep!" he said evenly but angrily as he pounded his fist on the table.

Suddenly, the cloaked figure shot upward. "Thank you, Boss. It's hard with

someone else in the room to charge!" the figure said.

"This time it's okay, but I won't always be communicating with you if your

batteries fail! And, the other one is sedated. She is about ready to begin

part two. Now go!" he yelled.

The cloaked figure nearly fell rushing up the stairs, a side effect of the

energy jolt she had just received.

"Well, Cricket! There you are!" Mr. Ralston said as Cricket appeared at the

table. "Where have you been?"

"Nowhere...just around," Cricket replied.

"Well, sit down. I made pizza!" Mr. Ralston said. "By the way, have you seen

Penny or Cammie? Before you came it was just Cassie and me!"

"Penny's in her room doing something. I don't know where Cammie is," Cricket

said and sat down.

Penny had fallen asleep. She was lying head down, her back gently rising with

every breath. The tightness of the overalls restricted her breathing slightly.

The door behind her opened. Cammie peeked in. "Gee, she must have had a long

day! I'll let her rest," she said. Before she closed the door, however, she

noticed something that made her do a double take. Penny had something on that

she hadn't worn since they came back from England. She was wearing her watch.

"Alessandra! Wake up!" Claw ordered.

"Huh? Where am I?" Allie said as she rolled on the floor groggily.

"You are in M.A.D. headquarters," Claw announced.

"How did I get back HERE?" Allie said as she pulled herself to a sitting

position and flipped her hair back. It was still done in two ponytails, and her

outfit hadn't changed at all either.

"I had an agent take you. You've been attending school in Denver's suburbs.

Now, you have come home. You need to do a mission for me," Claw said.

"What is it?" Allie said.

"I have an agent, an android actually, placed in the Gadget household. She is

currently administrating a drug to our dear friend Penny, who as you know killed

your sister. Now, the drug will alter Penny's emotional state, making her

useless against me. However, the android has one flaw--she cannot age or grow.

Therefore, it would look very suspicious if she does not grow in tandem with the

other children at the Gadget house. We need someone to pick her up, to walk

with her, so to speak. Someone who can use their body as a weapon. Someone

like you. She is a valuable piece of hardware and we do not need her stolen!"

Claw explained.

"Consider it done," Allie said. "When do I go?"

"We are not far away from the large expanse of woods that borders the Gadget

household. There is a meeting place in those woods, twenty miles away from

here, ten miles from the Gadget household. Not reachable by any car, this a

fairly secluded place I have used with agents before. You will be travelling

along a well-known trail, which is frequented by many people. That is why my

agent needs you. To get there from her location, my agent will be not be using

traditional trails. However, water being her one fatal enemy, we must use a

route to get back here which includes bridges, and the trail is the only one,"

Claw explained. "You will go when I tell you, which is when Penny is severely

incapacitated enough so that stoppage of the drug or commencement of any other

medication can do nothing for her. We are, in a sense, frying her brain from

the inside," Claw said, and laughed. Allie joined him.

"Have you noticed Penny's been kind of acting weird at home?" Cammie asked

Cassie when they adjourned to their room after dinner.

"Kind of," Cassie replied. "I mean, she DID sleep for five hours--more if

she's still asleep."

"I know. It's so different of her. Usually she's so upbeat and happy," Cassie

said. "I hope she gets back to being her old self."

"I hope so too," Cammie said. "I don't know if she will."

"Huh?" Cassie said.

"Oh, nothing. Just a feeling. I think she's going through some changes. We

might see a new Penny emerge," Cammie explained.

"I guess, but I hope she's as nice as the old one!" Cassie said.

Penny got up and looked at the clock. 9:12. She had been asleep for over five

hours, and she felt no better than when she had closed her eyes. "What's wrong

with me! I suddenly feel so depressed, like I could cry!" she said softly.

Suddenly she heard a sound, a buzzing on the window. She turned her head in the

direction of the sound, wide-eyed with fear. Her eyes were a translucent gray.

"It's just a fly! Penny, get a hold of yourself!"

She got of bed, her red overalls and white shirt wrinkled and a bizarre

impression on her left hand, which had come from the overall snaps pressing on

her skin. She took off the overalls, let the white shirt hang freely. It was

rather long--it came to her knees. She went into her closet and pulled out a

pair of black silk pyjama bottoms and slipped them on. She took her hair out of

the one ponytail, and then, feeling a strong, strange desire, put it into two

ponytails. She put on a very cute face, and said, "Where's my Uncle Gadget?",

looking very coy and lisping her "s"'s.

She felt a pang of hunger in her stomach, and realized she hadn't eaten in

awhile. Not since lunch, anyway. She recalled school that day, and that she

usually didn't feel too bad in school. At least she could keep these feelings

under control there. She saw her vase with the artificial flowers on her desk.

She picked up a daisy and held it in her hands. "I picked this super daisy for

you, Uncle! Can I have my supper now?" with the lisp. She liked how it sounded

and said a few more things that she remembered saying when she was much younger,

probably only a year after she had come to live with Uncle Gadget. She had

lisped a little then, but now she was exaggerating it for the cute effect.

She said, "Where's my little Brain? Where's my puppy?" she said, exaggerating

her speech impediment even more.

"Penny? What are you doing?" Cricket said as she silently walked into the

room.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm safe and secure," Penny said laughing, and realizing

too late she still was talking with a lisp.

"Umm, okay. Here, I brought you some food. I hoped you were feeling better,"

Cricket explained. Penny thought the slice of pizza and glass of soda looked a

little more "shiny" than usual, but she said, "What the hell?" in the same cute

voice and ate it all in less than two minutes.

"Wow, you must have been hungry!" Cricket said. Cricket noticed, however, that

Penny's eyes looked dull, didn't have a shine. "Penny? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Penny said.

"Are you sure?" Cricket said.

"I just haven't been feeling myself lately. Kind of sad, mad, frustrated. I

don't know why. My life is so perfect right now!" Penny responded.

"Why did you sleep for so long when you got home?" Cricket asked.

"I just felt so exhausted, emotionally and physically, you know," said Penny,

who felt the hot tears in her eyes.

"Is that why you were talking like a six-year-old?" Cricket asked. It came out

more sarcastic than light-hearted, which was not what Cricket intended.

Penny's eyes overflowed. With streaks of tears running down her face she ran to her light, shut it off, jumped into her bed and let her pillow run damp with the flood of tears.

Penny sensed a presence over her. She awoke and found Cricket staring at her,

looking at her while standing near her bed. "What are you looking at?" she

asked.

"Just seeing how long you'd sleep if no one awoke you. School was cancelled

today. Wind knocked the power out," Cricket said.

"Yippee," Penny said sarcastically.

"You know, you've been sleeping a lot over the last two weeks. Ever since we

started at that private school. Is there something in the water?" Cricket

asked, hoping for a response.

"I didn't wake up so you could be sarcastic," Penny replied bitterly. But it

was true. Not only had she slept much, but her emotional state had been going

downhill from just around the time they started at Saint Mary's Academy. She

had become increasingly paranoid, so much so that sometimes she would stay up all

night; other times emotionally exhausting herself so much she could barely get

up, if at all, in the morning in time for her father to give her a ride to

school. She found herself going through a multitude of mood swings, from being

very manic to almost despondent over something.

She felt lost emotionally, feeling compelled to go forward but missing a

childhood that she never had, rushing all over the globe to help her uncle crack

cases. She would go a day trying to be very mature and demure, doing everything

proper, to being totally childlike, stubborn, and at the same time cute and

naive. Her bond to her childhood had been so strong over the past week that a

fervent desire gripped her to dress up in what she called her "classic outfit",

which consisted of olive green pants, which were not really jeans; a thin

texture red t-shirt with a fat white stripe around the middle; white socks; and

red and pale pink sneakers; which to her chagrin she could still fit into. She

also always had her hair in two ponytails now, which was another throwback to

her so-called childhood. She had long since traded in her computer book for a

more advanced laptop, but she still had her red digital watch, which she used to

communicate with Brain and in place of her computer book every once in awhile.

It was always on her wrist when she was tailing her uncle. It collected dust

for a time on the nightstand near her bed and then saw action in England. Now,

it was never removed from her wrist. And since it was waterproof she now

showered with it. Brain, her dog, was not around anymore, as since he was not

required to tag along with Penny anymore spent his days outside doing typical

doggy things, only coming in at night to sleep in the cellar.

Penny came out of her reverie to find that Cricket had given up on her and left

the room. She looked at her watch. It read 5:15 P.M. She had slept for six

hours after Cammie woke her up for breakfast, and then six more after Cammie

woke her up for lunch. She supposed Cammie would wake her up for dinner too if

she was asleep. She had become her "meal messenger", telling her when meals

were ready, as if she didn't, Penny would have slept right through them.

Sometimes, she would have to be coaxed out of her room, especially in the

mornings to go to school. She was so relieved that school had been cancelled

today. A coastal storm had moved in last night, and she had been so paranoid

that it would destroy the Gadget household because it had been sent by Dr.

Claw's weathermachine that she stayed up all night until 4:00 A.M. "guarding"

the house from it, and then she fell to sleep, exhausted. Another front was

coming in tonight, and this time she was looking forward to it in hopes that it,

too, would cause school to be cancelled.

Penny heard footsteps on the stairs. She figured it was Cammie come to get her

for supper. She rose herself up out of her bed, as she was starving. She walked

to the door, opened it, and came face to face with Cammie, who was about to

knock.

"Don't worry, sis...I'm coming," Penny said as she left her room and started

downstairs.

"Oh, but I do worry, Penny, I really do...," Cammie said under her breath as

she followed Penny down the stairs.

At about the same time, Allie and Dr. Claw were seated in a large, ornately

decorated dining room deep in the bowels of Claw's castle. He had a full feast

laid out, as was custom for him at dinnertime. Allie often joined him, and

they talked about ways to get back at Penny. They agreed that this was one of

the best plans that Claw had ever come up with, due to the strategic placement

of an agent inside the Gadget household. Allie was told by Claw that the time

would come soon when she would meet the agent/android to accompany it home to

the castle. There, it would be worked on to find new ways to use it to

annihilate Gadget.

Allie now lived in a room on the top floors of the castle, which, didn't look

like a castle on the top floors. All the modern technological conveniences were

installed and all comforts were included. The castle itself was hidden in the

woods, deep within the massive redwoods and sequoias. It was impossible to

sight by air, and someone would have to come right up on it to know that it was

there. Allie did think it was strange, however, that her only outfits to choose

from were the clothes she had come in, and Claw insisted she wear her hair in

two ponytails. When Allie questioned him about it once, he said that he once

knew someone special, someone very special to him who used to wear that all the

time after her mother was killed and her father was kidnapped...by him.

Later that night, the figure was in the basement of the Gadget household, in a

storage room that held simple gardening and handyman tools. The figure was

shrouded in shadows as it sat on an old box full of old screws destined for the

scrap heap. "She had to be awakened at each feeding," it said.

"But she did get the drug?" Claw said.

"Yes, we figured for this and knew that somehow or another she would eat," the

figure said.

"Good," Claw said. "You seem worried."

"Well, the power was out, and I didn't think I'd get my charge and I'd fail in

front of everyone. And going to school in the morning with all that rain...all

that WATER!" the figure said.

"Well, you know I charged you this morning, and momentary exposure doesn't hurt

you. How long till we know if we've been successful?" Claw asked.

"It won't be too long now. There'll be some sort of a breakdown and her body

won't be able to tolerate anymore. But she won't need it--she'll be firmly

wasted," the figure said.

At this Claw laughed, and then said, "You have done well." The transmission

ended and the figure opened the door and ran into the laundry room, which is

where the supply room was off of.

The figure was about to open the laundry room door when it opened from the

other side, slamming into the figure and knocking it to the floor.

"What are YOU doing down here?" Mr. Ralston said. "Would you like to help me

with the laundry?"

"Umm, no. Gotta run. Homework, y'know," the figure said quickly and ran

upstairs.

"Hmm...strange, that one is sometimes," Ralston said while putting the dirty

laundry into the washing machine.

"We have to talk about Penny," Cassie said, mincing no words.

"What about?" Cammie asked.

"She has been going completely crazy! I walked upstairs to the kitchen to get

a drink early this morning and she was pacing the floor, and she had this real

bizarre look in her eyes. She startled me, and apparently I startled her cause

she just jumped sky-high. Got real unfriendly with me, if you know what I mean.

I got my water and hurried back down here to our bedroom real quick," Cassie

explained.

"Yeah, I know. I've had to wake her up for meals. Otherwise, she'd have

wasted down to nothing. Plus, she seems really cold and distant to me," Cammie

said.

"But what could be--" Cassie started to say but was interrupted by a chirping

sound.

"Huh?" Cammie asked.

"I was going to say, what was caus--" Cassie was interrupted again by the same

sound.

"What is causing this?" Cammie asked. At that moment something chirped and

jumped on to the bed. It was a cricket. Cassie and Cammie stared at each other

and wondered.

"I've HAD it!" Penny said when she got home from school. It was a drizzly day.

The front had fizzled, meaning she had to go to school. She had worn the same

hairstyle for three days in a row and was beginning to get flak for it. "That

is the last time I am going to that place!" she screamed.

"What?" Cricket said.

"They are ANIMALS there! Cause I like my hair this way they make fun of it.

Cause sometimes I don't talk right they make fun of it. Because I'm short, they

make fun of it. I can't TAKE it anymore," Penny shouted.

"It can't be THAT bad," Cricket said, trying to console her.

"Well, it IS. And not only that, around here everyone acts like I'm some sort

of alien. Avoiding me, trying not to upset me. Everyone is so DAMNED CAREFUL

around me. Even you!" Penny said, pointing at Cricket.

"Me?" Cricket replied.

"Mostly others, but you too. Dad doesn't even bother waking me up to go to

school, but for some reason I do anyway, and I always find Cammie standing over

me telling me it's time for some meal or another. Cassie is too quiet. She's

keeping something from me, I know it," Penny raved.

Now Cricket was confused. "What do you mean?" she said.

"Oh, so now you're in it too? Everyone is keeping secrets from me! They

probably are feeding me something. That's why I'm going through all these mood

swings. THAT's why I'm talking like a six-year-old," Penny screamed, imitating

Cricket.

"Ok, listen, calm down. Why don't you take a walk and cool off," Cricket

suggested.

"You know, I think I'll do that. I can't stand to be in this house any

longer!" Penny screamed.

She took off her t-bar shoes and threw them at the wall. She ripped off her

navy blue kneesocks and rummaged through her top bureau drawer to find white

kneesocks, which she rudely slipped on. She took off her white shirt and threw

that as well, missing the hamper by more than a few feet and pulled her

"classic" shirt over her head. She literally ripped off her skirt and threw it

at Cricket and forcefully pulled on her "classic pants". Her hair was already

in ponytails and she had her watch on. She pushed her feet into her sneakers

and stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind her.

She walked into the back yard, the wind now picking up, whipping her ponytails against her face. Tears streamed from her eyes. She ran, her eyes blinded by the saltwater. The wind blew harder. Penny didn't know where she was. She fell countless times. Finally it started to rain lightly, so she took shelter under a tree for a moment. It dawned on her that she was lost. As soon as the realization struck her that she could not find her way back, a huge gust of wind pushed over the tree---which was rotted---and Penny fell. She fell on her back, and the heavy tree fell on her right leg, crushing the bones. She was trapped, alone, scared and confused. And she thought she was going to die.

Penny's reaction as soon as she saw the tree fall and heard the bones in her

right leg crushing under the giant weight of the tree was, "Oh, shit...". Her

second reaction was, "I'm gonna die." Her third was, "I am exhausted," and she

fell to sleep, raindrops puddling on her face and dampening her ponytailed hair.

"Girls? Have you seen Penny?" Mr. Ralston asked Cammie and Cassie later that

night, around dinnertime.

Both seemed innocent in their replies when they said, "Gee, Dad, we don't know.

Have you checked with Cricket?"

Mr. Ralston did just that. He marched upstairs and knocked on Penny and

Cricket's door. Cricket opened it with a troubled look on her face. "Cricket,

have you seen Penny?" Mr. Ralston asked.

"No, but she did tell me she was going for a walk after she got out of school.

And she looked pretty upset," Cricket replied.

"With what?" Ralston asked.

"I don't know," Cricket replied.

"Well, thanks for the information. I guess she'll be late," Ralston said and

sighed as he shut the door.

Later that night at supper, Ralston told the girls that Penny had gone for a

walk. "She's spent nights out of doors before--she's not in any danger. But if

she hasn't surfaced by mid-morning tomorrow I'm calling the police," Ralston

told his daughters.

Late that night, Cricket lay in bed, about ready to go into sleep mode. Her

human brain was working overtime, wondering why Penny would suddenly leave. She

knew that Penny had been feeling emotionally unstable, but never guessed it

would get this bad. Cricket remembered her time at the laboratory, where a

mysterious man named Dr. Claw would often visit him. She would never forget

his face. He always had something to say about Penny. At first it was nice,

and then it was mean. She knew Claw didn't like Penny's uncle or her father.

Maybe he didn't like HER as well.

Cricket hadn't seen any signs of forced entry. She knew no one had gained

entrance to the house to do anything to Penny. So she figured it must be

someone on the inside. But who? Penny's father had been reunited with her after

about ten years. Why would he want to hurt her? Or maybe Claw or Mrs. Larson

had brainwashed him? Uncle Gadget was gone...or was he? But he had no motive,

and had really never been in Claw's power long. Cassie? There was a

possibility. She HAD been brainwashed with a computer chip in her brain before.

Was it still there? Cammie? Cricket didn't think so, but she was the only one

whose time without knowing any one else in her family had no alibi. She had

been raised in different conditions, a different atmosphere. Could she have

been kidnapped by Claw? And lastly, Cricket thought--what about her? Could

Claw be controlling her as she spoke? And blocking it out from her main memory?

It was a painful thought, after what she and Penny had been through together.

But it was a real possibility. A real possibility.

Later that night, Cassie and Cammie lay side by side on Cassie's bed. Cassie

had asked Cammie to sleep next to her and Cammie had reluctantly agreed. Cassie

said she was scared for her sister. What was going on with her? She had been

acting very strange and now she could be lost. What was going on? Cammie had

been no help. She couldn't come up with anything either. It seemed there was

no hope. Maybe Penny finally suffered a nervous breakdown, after losing so much

of her childhood and being under so much stress. Maybe. But probably not.

Cassie turned out the light. Cassie and Cammie were both wearing identical pink

nightgowns and had their hair down---basically looking exactly alike. But on

this night you could easily tell them apart--Cammie and Cassie were both

worried, but Cassie looked it.

Even later that night, the figure was once again shrouded in deep shadows, deep

in the Gadget cellar. "Listen, Boss, I think now's the time. She has gone

straight off the deep end. Really fried this time," the figure said.

"Where is she?" Claw asked.

"You should know. Just zoom in on the homing transmitter you put in her

watch," the anonymous figure said.

"I'm not getting a reading. It must have been damaged somehow. But no matter.

You say she left and hasn't been seen from since?" Claw asked.

"Yes. I figure the wolves finished the job for us," the figure said.

"Unlikely, but possible. More likely she's trapped somewhere. But no matter.

You say she's had her breakdown? She shouldn't need any more of the drug?" Claw

asked.

"Nope. Her brain must be FRIED," the figure said.

"Good. Leave the house tomorrow. I guarantee there will be a search. Leave

to search and meet at the predetermined place. The other one will be there for

you," Claw said.

"Excellent. I trust there will be rewards when I return to you, my leader,"

the figure said.

"Oh yes, there will be plenty," Claw said while smirking---but the figure

couldn't see that.

"From my judgement, Penny has been taken care of," the figure said with an evil

grin.

"Good. Very, VERY good...," Claw said and laughed. And he laughed so loud and

with so much evil that the figure turned off her radio to be sure no one heard.

"My little girl. Allie. It is time for you to go. Tomorrow morning you will

meet my android at the predetermined location. You have the latitude and

longitude programmed into a GPS system you will take with you. It is handheld,

very lightweight. You will bring some food and water, but no overnight supplies

as that will most likely not be necessary," Claw said.

"Oh, good. I can't wait. Because you're sending me to pick her up it must

mean that Penny has been finished. For good?" Allie asked hesitantly.

"Yes, my precious. For GOOD," Claw said, and laughed. But this was a

different kind of laugh. It was a laugh that actually had a touch of happiness

in it. But only if you listened very carefully. VERY carefully.

Early that morning, as soon as the sun shone it's rays over the great sequoia

forest, Alessandra Maise left the castle and struck out on her own into the

woods. Sunlight glinted off of her golden orange hair, which was done up into

two ponytails, as usual. She also had on the same outfit. Unchanged. The only

difference was a backpack on her back, which contained the GPS system, some food

and water, and a blanket, which Allie had asked for and received, with some

slight prodding, from Dr. Claw.

The night before had been a ferocious storm, that had struck after dark, with

no warning. All the meteorologists had thought the storm had petered out off

shore. No such luck. Allie's face showed pure amazement at some of the damage

wrought by the storm. Branches, limbs, even whole trees down everywhere. In

most spots, not enough to bat an eye at...but in some isolate places, there were

spots of bare wood, where the sun shone through in full force, where yesterday

had stood mighty redwoods. Allie continued her twenty-mile journey.

In her sleep, Penny envisioned many fantastic sights. Memories from many a

time gone by, feelings once thought lost. She saw hallucinations of brilliant

colors, blinding lights and heard breath-taking sounds. She thought this was

her time. She let herself be swept up in the emotions. She let her soul be

washed over by these pure feelings and sensual landscapes.

The white light beckoned and she answered. Gingerly walking in her dreamland

she made the journey from infant to child to the teenager she was now, and

headed toward her destiny.

Suddenly, the light was shadowed by a girl slightly taller than herself. She

had long golden hair, down to at least her knees, that was flowing in a silent

breeze. She had on a nearly translucent white dress, but it was impossibly to

see any skin beneath it as her skin was so pure, so light.

"Why do you impede my way?" Penny asked, and it echoed in the vast expanse of

no place.

"Because now is not your time," the mystery girl said.

"May I ask who you are?" Penny asked.

"My name is Rhiannon," the girl answered.

"And why is it not yet my time?" Penny dared ask the child-like goddess.

"You have people to love, and lives to enrich. And you have the power to stop

an evil entity, of whom the name is Claw," Rhiannon said.

At the mention of the name, Penny shuddered. "I don't see why he is against me.

What have I ever done to him?"

"You must find that out for yourself. All I can tell you is that once, you and

him were very close. You and he knew each other well. And then, something

happened that hurt him deeply. And whether it was your fault or not, he blames

you," Rhiannon replied.

"But what? What might not be my fault? What does he blame me for?" Penny

cried.

"It is not my place to tell you. Now it is my duty to transport you back to

the material world," Rhiannon said. "Take my hand."

Penny took the outstretched hand. Rhiannon led Penny slowly back down the

tunnel, Penny being aware of more pain the farther she went. She dug her heels

in, wanting to stay in the light. Rhiannon pulled harder. And harder. And

pulled her through.

She opened her eyes. Penny was back in the world of the living. The sun was

shining, meaning she must have been out the entire night. All around her trees

were down, and her clothes were soaked through. The top of her hair had dried

somewhat but the bottom was still damp. A second tree, this one fairly rotted,

had come down upon the top of the first one, crushing her leg further. Her left

leg was now twisted away from the trees. She was in pain, and cried out as

such. While physically she felt wretched, emotionally and mentally she felt

better than she had in weeks. Her mind was clear, and her emotions were in

order. For the first time in a month she now felt in control. But before she

could lapse into another reverie, more pain she felt, and more cries she

shouted.

From a ways away, Allie heard the cries of someone injured. She decided to

take a quick jaunt out of her way, as was in her helpful nature. Through a

clearing, she spotted someone, someone that made her heart stop. Someone that

looked just like her!

She made her way through the clearing and asked the girl, "What is your name?"

Penny, frightened by the noise, turned her head gingerly toward the source.

There, she found someone who looked identical to her, right down to outfit and

hairstyle. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Allie. Allie Maise. Who are you?" Allie asked again.

"My name is Penny. Penny Ralston," Penny said.

Allie reacted as though she had been struck physically. "Penny? Penny Ralston?" Penny nodded the best she could. "Penny Ralston---you killed my sister. Prepare to die."

The morning dawned mostly sunny with a few broken gray clouds drifting across

the sky. Cricket was the first one up, mostly because she really hadn't gone

into sleep mode at all. She had actually been worried, something she had never

felt, and it disconcerted her verily. She didn't know where her best, her first

friend was. Was she all right? Was she safe? Was she living?

Cricket didn't want to lie down and contemplate this. She just had to believe

as best that she could that Penny was alive and well somewhere. She got up and

went downstairs, looking for any sign that Penny had come in during the night,

as the bed next to Cricket's was undisturbed. She made her way to the kitchen,

and without thinking poured herself a bowl of cereal and milk. Cricket's human

brain was going on autopilot, and there was nothing her robotic body could do

about it.

While Cricket was munching away, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for the

slightest noise, Mr. Ralston came downstairs. "Hey, Cricket," he said, trying

to sound cheerful but it came out sounding depressed. "Have you seen Penny?" he

asked hopefully.

"No," said Cricket between mouthfuls, very regretful she had to dash his hopes.

"Will we search today?"

"If she doesn't come back by mid morning. I've already woken up Cassie and

Cammie and told them they're not going to school today. You aren't either. We

have to find her. I've lost her once, and I won't lose her again. Not to Claw

or anyone," Ralston said, determined.

"She was the first friend I've ever had. She stood by me. I won't let her

just wait out there in the wilderness. We've got to do something!" Cricket

said, determined as well.

"You got that right, Cricket. If Penny does not return by 9:00, we search!"

Ralston said.

"You look far too cheerful," Cammie said dryly.

"I'm dressing colorful to offset my extremely depressed mood," Cassie said.

Cammie had referred to Cassie's outfit for the day, a floral print dress, lilac

kneesocks and sneakers. "You, on the other hand, look dressed for a hiking

trip."

Cammie had on khaki shorts, a dark green shirt, and a khaki vest with a

multitude of pockets in it. She also wore hiking boots. "Well, we ARE going on

a hiking trip, aren't we?" Cammie asked.

"Well, how do you know? Penny could be coming in the door at this very minute,"

Cassie argued.

"Oh, come on now! You heard about her and Cricket's adventure in the English

woods! If Penny was able to she would have been home by now," Cammie said.

"But her emotional state! What if she doesn't even realize she's lost?" Cassie

asked fearfully.

"The forest air probably cleared her hair," Cammie said, while adding, "but I

don't think so," under her breath.

"What was that?" Cassie asked.

"Nothing," Cammie replied. "Let's go and see how Cricket and Dad are doing."

"I what?" Penny said, still getting over the shock of seeing her double, or

quadruple, for that matter.

"You killed my sister. Now, you will pay," Allie said in a deathly serious

tone. She slowly placed her backpack on the ground and in a flash jumped upon

Penny with a rather large hunting knife brandished.

"Ahh!" Penny screamed as Allie brought the knife down near Penny's face. She

twisted her head to the side, but much movement was not possible due to her

injuries and the fact that Allie was sitting on top of her. With a shot of

adrenaline, she used her arms to throw Allie off of her, but with Allie also

high on adrenaline she fought right back, nicking Penny at least once in the

arm.

"Stop! Stop! At least let me explain!" Penny cried as she once again threw

Allie off of her, this time with considerable pain.

"Explain what? How you brutally murdered my little sister? You threw her into

whitewater! You know when they found the body it was so badly mutilated they had

to use her dental records to identify her?" Allie screamed.

"What whitewater?" Penny asked, even more confused. "I've never been near

whitewater with anyone except my dog Brain! And why do you look so much like

me?"

"Oh, lie lie! Why don't you accept the fact that you're a murderer!" Allie

screamed as Penny twisted out of the way of a blow that would have surely

lacerated her kidney. "And why you look exactly like me, that's one thing Claw

never told me!" Allie said this as another thrust came perilously close to

Penny's neck.

"Claw? Dr. Claw? Are you working for Dr. Claw?" Penny asked wildly.

"What's wrong with Dr. Claw. He gave me a life! He was THERE for me!" Allie

said as she plunged with the knife once again, hitting Penny in the hip.

Penny screamed out in agony as blood reddened her olive green pants. "Stop!

Claw is my ENEMY! And I have two sisters that are my identical triplets! My

mother only gave birth to THREE of us!"

"Three? There are two others that look just like you?" Allie said as she

calmed down a bit, but remained firmly seated on top of Penny.

"Yes, three of us. Cammie, Cassie and me," Penny explained.

"Then who am I?" Allie asked.

"I don't know. I don't know at all. All I DO know is I don't remember killing

ANYONE, let alone your little sister. And if you were smart you'd let me live

so you could get an answer to your questions," Penny said forcefully.

"My questions?" Allie said.

"Yeah, who are you? And my question--who are my sisters?" Penny said.

"9:00. She's nowhere to be found! I looked all around this place," Cammie

said.

"Are you sure?" Cassie said. "I don't remember seeing you go outside."

"I did it when you were in the bathroom brushing your teeth," Cammie explained.

"But that doesn't matter. Our sister is lost, and we must find her!"

"That's the attitude Cammie!" Mr. Ralston said. "Now, we're gonna split up.

Cassie and I will go first, and Cammie, you and Cricket follow. Don't leave

until 10:00. I'm gonna give Penny an extra hour."

"Good idea, Dad," Cammie said.

"Yeah, good idea. So how is this going to work?" Cricket asked.

"Well, Cassie and I will go into the forest and then head east, while Cricket

and Cammie, when you go, you head west. Keep a compass on you at all times so

we do not get lost. All I need now is TWO lost daughters. Bring some food, I

don't really want to break too long for lunch. If you haven't found anything by

six o'clock, by dusk, come right back. The night is dangerous out here in these

parts sometimes," Ralston said.

After the meeting broke up, Cassie slathered bug repellent on any exposed skin,

as did Mr. Ralston. They did a quick packing job of food and water plus a

compass, and a few other items. Then, they left. They traveled slowly, and

kept their eyes open, looking for the slightest movement or straining for the

slightest sound. They knew they were looking for red, an uncommon color in the

forest. They too looked at the spots of destruction, which made for harder

going. The sun shone and made Cassie's hair almost glow as its two ponytails

bounced along as she tried to keep up with her father.

"Let me stop the bleeding, P-P-Penny," Allie stammered, struggling to think she

was helping the girl who had killed her sister to LIVE.

"Is there anything in your pack?" Penny asked.

"Let me check," Allie said and went over to where she had placed it down. She

came back a few seconds later with the blanket she had brought. She tore a

square out and then a strip. She gently pulled the side of Penny's pants back

enough to see the deep slit. She placed the square---after she folded it in

half---over the open wound and then took the strip and circled it around Penny's

leg and tied it tight.

"Thank you," Penny said.

"Don't think I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this for me. If what you say

is true, and I don't know how I'm gonna verify this, but if what you say is true

then something seriously wrong is going on here. Someone has been lied to, and

I sincerely hope it was you," Allie said.

"What if it was you?" Penny asked, wincing at the pain from the wound on her

hip.

"Well, well, well then I don't know what I'm gonna do. All I know is that Dr.

Claw has been nothing less than a father figure to me from the time I was in his

care," Allie said.

"I noticed you limp," Penny said. "Why?"

"I-I-I don't know," Allie stuttered. And then, in bits and pieces, it came

back to her. She had been thrown from a car, left for dead on the side of the

road, with a dog tag with her name and number. But what happened after that?

"I remember...I remember being thrown from a car, being left for dead. But I

don't know where I went after that. I only had these clothes on, my hair done

like this, and a dogtag. It had my name, Alessandra Maise, and a number."

"What number?" Penny asked.

"551552," Allie replied.

"Hmm...what could that mean?" Penny asked rhetorically. She thought out loud,

"Birthday? No, there's no 55th month. Social Security number? No, too short.

It must be some identification number...OH MY GOSH! I KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER IS!"

"What?" Allie said looking hopeful.

"It IS birthdays, but different. See, 5 5, May 5th, is my mother's birthday.

I'd never forget that. 1 5, or January 5th, is my dad's birthday. And 5 2? May

2nd? That's my birthday. And Cassie's. And Cammie's!" Penny said ecstatically.

"May 2nd is the day Claw celebrated my birthday on...the only one I can

remember. We had a small cake, no real presents, but very meaningful. I can't

remember anything after that...until a month or so ago. May 2nd. My birthday.

And yours. But why would it be around my neck?" Allie asked.

"I don't know, but we have to be related somehow now. This proves it," said

Penny.

"How do I know you're not just making this up?" Allie asked cynically.

"Have you ever seen your mother? Mine died while giving birth to me. My

father used to tell me all about her while I was young," Penny said.

"I've never seen my mother. Only Claw and…and…oh!" Allie said as more bits and pieces began to flitter through the gas haze she had been under. Pieces of a memory from an orphanage. Viewing the mountains. Singing around a piano. Putting up Christmas decorations. Sleeping in a large room with all the other orphans. Never really being played with because of her limp. Being shoved into a truck and then gassed in some sort of institution. And with the memories came the realization that although Claw might have taken care of her, he had used her, and lied to her. And when she realized that, she looked skyward and just cried. And she cried. Her whole world had fallen apart, and she was lost. And Penny, who was lost, now in a different way, held her hand and cried with her.

Cassie and her father traipsed through the mountains of brush and the fallen

timber and the thick tree growth. They called out for Penny for a half an

hour--their voices were getting hoarse. Cassie was constantly pushing down her

kneesocks to scratch bug bites that had somehow penetrated the material and

pulling them back up again. She had sprayed herself with repellant that was not

working.

They didn't really stick to one trail, as the assumption was that Penny didn't

either when she made her "mad dash" from the house that afternoon. They were

beginning to get very discouraged. Cassie realized very early that the attire

she had chosen was not suited for this type of work, and wished she had worn

what Cammie had worn this morning. "Wishing won't get ya anywhere," Cassie said

softly as she tried to keep up with her father.

Mr. Ralston was dressed for the activity, and was constantly forgetting his

daughter was behind him. He had to slow down every few minutes to let her catch

up. In the time after he was freed from captivity in the Larson basement,

Ralston had spent most of his time getting back into shape, which he had

accomplished in a quick manner. His middle daughter, Cassie, on the other hand,

was not in quite as good a shape, and needed to hurry up and catch her father on

occasion.

They ascended a steep incline, crawling over more fallen timber to reach the

top. Cassie got her foot caught between fallen boughs and her father needed to

wrench it free. They reached the top to find a flat plain between them and the

next incline free of fallen timber. A flat ground to walk on and easy going.

Cassie checked her watch--9:45. Her father nearly ran ahead of her, still

calling out Penny's name. He stopped at the base of the next hill and waited

for his daughter to catch up to him. He then took off again climbing up the

hill, this one higher than the last. Cassie, from a lower position on the

embankment, could view her father rapidly ascending. She saw him near the top,

and then saw him reach it. And then, as he kept going, saw him disappear from

view, and scream.

At 9:55, Cricket and Cammie were both pacing back and forth in the TV room at

the Gadget household, both waiting for the clock to strike ten so they could

leave the house. Cricket's mind was racing, fervently hoping that Penny would

just show up with Cassie and her father and it all would be over.

"Cricket, can you come downstairs to my room with me? We have to bring our

packs upstairs to bring with us," Cammie explained.

Cricket agreed and followed Cammie downstairs. When she got there she saw only

one pack. "Who's is that?" Cricket asked.

"Oh, I forgot," Cammie said while slapping her head. "Cassie's pack, the one

you will use, was a little dirty so I took it into the laundry room to clean it.

Why don't you just go get it."

Cricket acquiesced and ran down the hall to the laundry room. She went into the

room, which was a windowless den completely underground with a heavy mahogany

door. A dryer and washing machine were stacked up against the far wall along

with other clothes-cleaning accessories. Cricket strode in, and, seeing no

pack, looked around. Halfway through her surveillance of the room, a sharp

noise startled her and she whirled around to find the door shut. She tried the

handle--it was locked. She rammed into it a few times, but it was no use. She

was built for intelligence, not for strength. Her only hope was to pick the

lock, which was something that she didn't know how do to.

She pounded on the door. "Cammie! Cammie! Let me out of here! You don't

have to do this!" Cricket screamed.

Cammie, on the other side of the door holding the key, heard Cricket screaming

and replied in a tone soft enough so Cricket could not hear, "Oh, but I do. I'm

programmed to do it." And she strode away, throwing the key back over her

shoulder. It struck the door and fell not far from it.

"Dad!" Cassie screamed and ran as fast as she could up the hill.

"Slow down at the top!" Ralston screamed from below.

Cassie slowed down as she was told and saw the reason. A sharp drop off,

though not high, it was steep. And at the bottom were rocks that must have

fallen from a mudslide. Cassie's father was lying askew with one leg bent at an

unusual angle underneath him.

"I think it's broken," Ralston said.

"Oh no!" Cassie said. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Mr. Ralston said. "I can't move my leg."

"Hold on," Cassie said. "I think I see something!" She followed the top of

the hill down for a few yards until the trees were upright again, and, barely

hidden in the leaves, was a fairly easy descent. Cassie made it quickly and

made her way slowly over the rocks to her injured. She thought, "Now what would

Penny do in this situation?"

Cassie gingerly opened her father's pack and got the blanket out and made him

as comfortable as possible. She knew Cricket and Cammie would have a radio, so

she took the walkie-talkie out of her pocket in her dress and called, "Cricket?

Cammie? Come in!" No answer. She called again, "Emergency! Cricket!

Cammie!" Still no answer. She put the walkie-talkie back. She checked her

watch, it was 10:30. Cricket and Cammie should have left already.

"Dad, Cricket and Cammie aren't answering the radio," Cassie said.

"Maybe they forgot to put it on," Ralston said.

"No, Cricket doesn't forget," Cassie said.

"Hey, you know how Penny has a watch that she uses to communicate?" Mr. Ralston

said out of the blue.

"Yeah," Cassie said, thinking that her father might have internal injuries that

were escaping her notice and affecting his mind.

"A couple of times I happened upon Cammie doing the exact same time. But who

would she talking to? There was no case or anything at the moment, and Penny

was not up to talking to anyone," Mr. Ralston said.

"Hmm," Cassie said as she thought. Could Cammie have been talking to someone

else? Not someone in the house? Or could she have just been playing? "Great,"

Cassie thought, "more unanswered questions."

Ralston moaned in pain, and Cassie put her hand on his forehead, and said,

"Don't worry dad, I'll think of something."

"Allie? Allie?" Penny said hesitantly after she had experienced a good cry.

Allie was still sniffling rather heavily.

"What?" she said between sniffles.

"Are you okay?" Penny said.

"You're lying on the ground with your legs completely useless and a huge

knife-wound on your hip and you ask ME if I'm okay? Wow, you really are

concerned with others," Allie said with something between a laugh and a cry.

"Tell me about your sister," Penny said. "If she has a sister, she'd be my

sister too," Penny thought.

"Well, she was two years younger than us. She had reddish-brown hair with

freckles, and, you'll never believe this--purple eyes. She was very similar to

me, but I tend to be loud and confident. She was soft and shy. But we were

great together. I remember you used to come over to my house--that's one thing

I can't understand, why you didn't live with me if I was your sister--but and

play with her and I. She had a unique ability to empathize with anyone. No

matter how far out your point of view was, or how you were feeling, she knew

where you were coming from. One day, I couldn't play because I had a piano

lesson--I play piano, you know--and you and her went off to the river near our

houses. According to Claw, whom I'm not sure if I believe now, he was passing

by and saw you two in a heated argument. She was five and you were seven, but

all of us were mature beyond are ages. He said he saw you push her into the

river, and the current carried her away," Allie finished.

"Who did I live with? Who did you live with?" Penny asked.

"You lived with your father, who was probably my father too. He was always

real nice to me, calling me his "little darling". You were his "little

princess". I lived with this man who I called Uncle Scott, but I think that was

his middle name. I could remember my last name--Maise--but I don't think that

was his last name. I wonder why we didn't live together," Allie asked again.

"What was her name?" Penny asked.

"Kyrie. It was from the Valkyries, figures in Norse mythology. I remember my

Uncle Scott being really into that at the time," Allie said.

"That's a pretty name. I wish I could have known her, but I don't remember any

of that. Something just doesn't fit," Penny said.

Allie replied, "You're telling me!" and her face brightened a little.

"Good news boss!" Cammie said into her watch-radio. "Cricket is captive, Penny

hasn't returned, and I am heading toward the rendezvous point. Everything is

going to plan," Cammie said.

"It's good that things are going well on your end because there are a few

inconsistencies on mine. For instance, I can't get in touch with Allie, I can't

find Penny's watch beacon/signal from the chip I implanted in it, and apparently

Cammie and Mr. Ralston are searching. Avoid those two at all costs. If you

come across Penny, chances are she is totally incapacitated, but it is not a

good idea for her to see you since I figure she'd wonder why you wouldn't save

her!" Claw replied.

"Don't worry boss! Nothing can go wrong! I'll be at the rendezvous point in

two hours," Cammie said and logged off before Claw could say anything else.

Cammie entered the woods, not knowing she would instead rendezvous with her

destiny.

A redheaded, freckle-faced, blue-eyed boy stood before Dr, Claw. His mission: to take the shortest route through the woods to the Gadget household, which would take him at his top speed about an hour. His objective: to kidnap Cricket and return her to Claw's laboratory. His name: Jamie.

Jamie was very similar to Cricket in most ways. He had been kidnapped long before from a source unknown to him, all of his biotic parts save for his brain had been replaced with bionic ones, making him, like Cricket, a cyborg. However, two things differentiated Jamie from Cricket. One was that Jamie was not built for intelligence, as was Cricket. He was built for speed, strength and endurance. That's not to say he wasn't smart--far from the contrary. However, all he had to rely on was his human brain. Cricket had a multitude of information programmed into her. The other thing that was different between the two cyborgs was that Jamie had been more open to Claw's ideas--what he wanted Jamie to know and to believe. Cricket resisted, Jamie acquiesced.

Jamie left the Claw Castle and headed toward the Gadget house at a high rate of speed. What would take the average person five hours to walk would take Jamie only two, and, using his superior hand-eye coordination was able to make half the trip in one hour, avoiding all obstacles on his way.

Cricket didn't waste time trying to pick the lock. She used all the skills available to her trying to figure out how to do it. She was failing. She kicked the door a few times, and it didn't budge. There was no windows, and the concrete was rather thick.

Cricket wore overalls the same color of Penny's pants with a red shirt with many white stripes going horizontal. She had on white kneesocks and the white sneakers she had come to the Gadget household wearing. Until she had been trapped in the laundry room, she had been feeling much like a normal pre-teen. She didn't have to worry about charging anymore--the sun and sleep time took care of that. She just had to be concerned with water. Rain was no big problem unless it was pouring heavily, but no swimming or taking normal baths or showers. She had to use a damp sponge and soap to clean her skin. She looked and acted "normal". But this situation was anything but.

"Cammie must have trapped me in here so I wouldn't follow her to warn Cassie and Penny. But she could have just as easily clubbed me over the head and taken care of me for good. That means that Claw still wants me back, and I have a feeling he's probably sent someone to get me now. I HAVE to get out of here!" Cricket cried. As she said that, it crossed her mind that she was sounding a lot like Penny

Cricket decided to try ramming into the door for one last time. She made a running start on the far wall and slammed into the heavy wooden door. She ricocheted back, but was undeterred even as the door stood firm. She did this fifteen times in fifteen minutes. She had been in the room now for twenty-five minutes or so and nothing was working. One more try, running at the door, she hit with such force it seemed like the whole room rocked, but the door did not budge. Cricket fell to the floor in defeat. Her head hit the hard cement floor with a bang.

While lying temporarily immobilized on the floor, Cricket could barely see underneath the door. As her eyes moved across the view, a glint caught her eye--the key.

"She threw the key at the door! I remember! But how do I get it?" Cricket wondered. Then it hit her. "I'm made of metal! I can magnetize my hand and make the key come close enough to grasp!"

She immediately set in action the programming code enabling her to do it. She stuck her hand as far as she could under the small slit at the bottom of the door. They key moved slowly at first, then a little faster. It crawled along the rug to the door, and then stopped. It was impeded by a hill in the carpet. "Damn!" Cricket said. She reached, and strained, but she couldn't grasp the key. Then, she noticed that while she was straining to reach it, she had flattened out the carpet. The key came freely, and she eagerly took a hold of it. She slipped it underneath the door and unlocked it.

"Freedom!" Cricket shouted. She went into Cassie and Cricket's room and found Cassie's pack stuffed in the closet. Next to the pack, she saw a box. It was ornately decorated metal and had a lock that had been rusted shut. She recalled Cassie telling her about it, that it was Cammie's and someone had given it to her, but she couldn't open it. Cricket, not really caring about the box as she had assumed everyone else had, took it down the hall to Mr. Ralston's workshop. There, she took the metal-cutting saw he had in case he needed to make emergency repairs on Uncle Gadget, and sliced the top off.

Inside the box were a multitude of papers. One was a birth certificate for an Alessandra Moiré Ralston. Another was a death certificate for a Moiré Daphne Ralston--Penny's mother. Penny had another sister? There were some newspaper clippings of Inspector Gadget with Penny and Penny's head was circled and crossed out in every one. There was a cassette tape--no time to play that now--which covered up a few more folded pieces of paper, and a hardbound book, that stated it was "Alessandra's Diary" on the front. Judging by the birth date Alessandra had written on the cover and the date she put for the "current date" heading, Alessandra had gotten the diary as a present for her sixth birthday. Cricket opened it up and did a quick job of speed reading the 150 pages or so, an entry about twice a week. When she was done, she looked up wide-eyed. She ran and put the box up in her room, underneath some old shoeboxes of Penny's.

Hurrying as fast as she could she packed some supplies, and some extra food for Cassie and Penny, if they (hopefully) should find her, and ran out of the house as fast as she could calling, "Penny! Penny!"

Alessandra and Penny had their hands clasped together as the day wore on and no one had heard them. Penny had suggested Allie go for help, but she would not leave Penny's side. They had screamed until they were hoarse. No one had answered. Penny had tried to use her watch but it had been damaged in the fall, apparently, and would not work for communications.

Penny occasionally got lightheaded, as she had lost a lot of blood both externally and internally. Allie told Penny that she would go for help only if night started to fall and no one had rescued them. They had used the remainder of Allie's blanket to cover up during the cold spells when the clouds momentarily covered the sun. While they sat, they talked about stories, Allie's mostly from the orphanage but some from when she was with "Uncle Scott", and Penny's mostly from traveling around the world with her Uncle, but some with her father as well. Within a few hours, they had made an inseparable bond. At that time, even if she wanted to, Allie did not think she could kill Penny.

Cricket had wandered the woods for an hour and a half---long enough for Cammie to find the spot ten miles from the Gadget household where she was to meet Allie. Cricket lightly stepped over fallen trees and through the shadows of the forest floor. She had found no sight of Penny, Cassie and Mr. Larson, or Cammie. She had resigned herself to looking for them alone when she heard a call from far away. It sounded like "help". Thinking it might be Penny, Cricket zeroed in on the sound and followed it through the woods.

She ascended an incline over fallen timber and appeared on a plain. She sprinted across the plain, tripping twice. She raced up a second incline, and nearly fell off the top when she realized that it ended abruptly. She clung onto a root while she dangled over a rocky valley that she figured must have come from a landslide. From below her she heard the "help" call and looked down.

"Cricket?" Cassie said from the bottom of the valley.

"Cassie? Mr. Ralston? Is that you down there?" Cricket said as she dared to look down. She noticed Mr. Ralston's leg. "What happened?"

"I fell, as you were about to. I think it's broken," Mr. Ralston said.

Cricket let go of the root and let her hydraulic legs cushion the impact of the fall. It got a round of applause from Mr. Ralston as he said, "I wish I could have done that!"

Cricket grinned and went over to the stranded man and his daughter. Her grin quickly disappeared when Cassie asked, "So what do we do now?"

Cammie was in a happy mood, if you could call it a mood. She had accomplished her mission. She had taken care of Cricket, wasted Penny, and had arrived at the meeting place ahead of schedule. It had taken her an hour and a half to reach it, an hour less than had been expected. She sat down on her pack and waited for Allie. She hoped Allie would not be late.

Jamie arrived at the Gadget household two hours after he had left Claw's castle. He kicked in the front door, and saw no sign of life. That was how he was expected to find the house--devoid of all life. He had been told by Claw that Cricket was locked in a downstairs laundry room with an unpenetrable door. It took Jamie five minutes to find the door to the cellar stairs. He ran down a few and then jumped to the bottom, knocking a few figurines off the shelves on the wall in the hallway he found himself in.

He marched down the hallway, ignoring the broken porcelain on the tile floor. He got to the end of the hallway, a nice carpeted sitting room with a few wide but short windows near the ceiling. He saw a large mahogany door wide open. He looked in, and, as suspected, saw no Cricket. He wildly opened the other doors on the hallway, trying to find another laundry room as had been described to him. There was a storage room, a workshop, a large bedroom, a slightly smaller bedroom, a bathroom, and what appeared to be a study. No laundry room.

He ran up the stairs and checked both the first floor and the upstairs twice, ransacking the bedroom he assumed correctly was Penny's. Luckily, he did not find the metal box with the diary. He then went up to the top floor, and went through Gadget's room and walk-in closet, finding nothing there either.

He ran back down the two flights of stairs and went back outside. He communicated with Claw the simple message: "Cricket not found in house. Probably escaped. Entering woods to search with FQF!"

"I really don't know," Cricket said when Cassie posed the question. As she said this, a quick shower was unleashed by the clouds. Cassie covered Mr. Ralston with a blanket and ran over to the dirt overhang Cricket had hung from moments before. Cricket, without thinking, lifted Mr. Ralston up and supported him and almost dragged him underneath the overhang.

"Cricket? You're strong enough to do that?" Cassie questioned as Cricket wiped the rain off of her forehead.

"Yeah, but not for long," Cricket said.

"What if I helped you? That way you don't have to exert so much and there is an easy way to get back up the hill there," Cassie said.

"That's a great idea!" Mr. Ralston and Cricket said at the same time and Cricket giggled.

"Can we go now?" Cassie asked.

"Won't the rain bother Cricket?" Mr. Ralston asked.

"No, not rain as simple as this. It really has to pour to affect me adversely," Cricket explained.

"Fine. Let's go!" Cassie said.

A little over an hour later they were home, missing Jamie by about half an hour. The rain had stopped very shortly after they had gone. Cricket wanted to go right back out and search on her own while Cassie stayed with her father, but Mr. Ralston would hear none of it. "Cassie, you're mature, and with Cricket, nothing can go wrong. I want my daughter, and you two want your--sister. I'll dial 911 and get to the hospital so I can have this set. You go now. If she hasn't been found by tomorrow morning then we'll call the police," Mr. Ralston said.

The girls reluctantly agreed and restocked their packs. Then, they went back out and hit the trail.

Three hours later, at 4:30 in the afternoon, Cassie and Cricket were walking in an unfamiliar part of the forest. Neither had been near there before, and they had to be careful, as they were skirting the rim of another crater caused by a landslide. At the bottom of this one were many jagged rocks, so they kept a watchful eye on the edge.

Cricket suddenly said, "Ahead of us, about fifty yards through the trees. I see hair your color! I think it's Penny! Or Cammie...it has to be one of them."

Cassie and Cricket immediately broke into a trot, anxious to find out who this was, but wary of the consequences if it was Cammie. They came very close to the area, but as far as they could tell the girl hadn't seen them. Cricket remembered that Penny was wearing her "outfit" when she disappeared. This girl was wearing what Cammie had on. They hadn't found Penny. They found Cammie. And she was waiting, but for whom, they didn't know.

The wind started to change a little, and Allie tried to cover as much of Penny as possible with the blanket. During the day, Penny's legs had started to throb, as the shock of the injury was wearing off. Allie had brought an ampoule of morphine in a syringe, something she had sneaked in her backpack in case she had gotten into trouble. Like an expert, Allie injected this into Penny's legs, numbing the pain within fifteen minutes. Penny couldn't feel her legs at all, her sensation stopping abruptly just below her waist.

Both of them lay back, watching the clouds pass by. Occasionally, they would get hit with a shower. Most of the times they would be light, but sometimes they would be rather heavy with some lightning and thunder with them. When Cricket and Cassie were caught in some of these they had to huddle under a tarp Cricket had packed for just such a purpose. When Allie and Penny were stuck under one, all they had for shelter were the trees and Allie's waterproof backpack.

It was after one of these showers--one of the lighter kind--had cleared that both Allie and Penny heard movements in the bushes. They held their collective breath, hoping it was someone to rescue them. Both were surprised when out of the underbrush came Jamie. He immediately recognized Allie, but he saw someone who looked exactly like her caught next to her.

Allie cried out, "Jamie!"

"Allie?" Jamie said hesitantly.

"Yeah," Allie said.

"You two know each other?" Penny asked.

"This is Jamie. He's a cyborg Claw built as a prototype," Allie said.

"Yup," Jamie agreed. "And who are you?"

"My name is Penny Ralston," Penny said.

At that, Jamie's programming kicked in. Penny Ralston = KILL. He drew a gun from his pack. He aimed at Penny. Allie screamed, "NO!!!!" and charged Jamie. The gun went off.

As Jamie fired the gun, Allie ran into him, throwing off his aim. The bullet

ricocheted off a nearby tree and Jamie lost control of the gun. It flew out of

his hands with amazing power and disappeared in the air, a tribute to Jamie's

strength.

"Allie! Why'd ya do that? I could have killed her! Then you would have been

free of her forever," Jamie said.

"No, Jamie, no! I've met her, actually TALKED to her, found out what she's

like. There was no WAY she could have killed my sister on purpose," Allie said.

"But didn't Claw say that she pushed Kyrie in accidentally," Jamie asked.

"That may be true but I don't think she remembers. Maybe she was traumatized,"

Allie said.

"But my programming says to kill her! I mean, for you, I'd do anything, but my

human brain can only be so strong," Jamie said.

"Umm, I hate to interrupt, but can someone explain to me what's going on here?"

Penny said.

"I'd like to know a little, too, y'know. Like why I can't shoot her!" Jamie

said.

"Ok, cool down, cool down. First, let me say to Jamie that there are now more

unanswered questions in my life than ever, and Penny may hold the key to some of

them," Allie said, and began to tell Jamie what had happened between her and

Penny that day.

"That's amazing. You mean, there are at least two, maybe three more of you?" he

said to Allie.

"Yeah. Now Penny, the first time I remember being at Claw's headquarters, the

earliest memory I have, was talking to Jamie here. He might only look ten to

twelve years old, but he's actually our age, 14. His brain is, anyway. He's a

cyborg, a human brain trapped in a robot body. And he doesn't grow. He'll

never be taller than he is now. Everytime I remember being back at

headquarters, he and I would always be together. I hoped that when I was old

enough to go on missions, like now, he'd be there with me. And so he is. I'm

sorry he tried to kill you---he's programmed to!" Allie explained.

"Well, see that it doesn't happen again," Penny said.

A few miles away, both Cammie and Cassie and Cricket heard a shot fired.

Cammie looked up for a second but figured it was hunting season and returned to

concentrating on waiting for Allie. Cassie and Cricket exchanged worried

glances, fearful of what it was. Cricket was about to speak when a voice said,

"Cassie?"

It was Cammie. She had seen Cassie, but not Cricket, hiding in the trees.

"Cassie? Is that you?" Cammie asked.

"Uh, yes, Cammie. It's me," Cassie said as she came into the clearing, wary of

what Cammie might do after Cricket told her what she had done to her.

"Have you had any luck?" Cammie asked with a grin on her face. She had decided

to take care of Cassie while she had the chance--no sense waiting to see if

Cassie took over for an incapacitated Penny.

"No, unfortunately. How about you?" Cassie said as she turned to look at the

steep hill they were up against.

"A little," Cammie said as she raised a heavy stick she had picked up on the

ground and prepared to push Cassie over the edge. Cricket saw this from her

hiding place and immediately sprang into action. She ran like lightning and

rammed her body into Cammie's, sending both of them tumbling into the chasm

below.

Cassie barely had time to move out of the way when she saw Cricket's swiftly

moving body emerge from the shadows. She saw Cricket slam into Cammie and fall

down the hill into the deep valley, studded with sharp rocks. Cassie screamed.

After hearing an ominous thud, she dared to look over the edge. Cricket had

landed on top of Cammie, who was on her back. Both weren't moving.

Claw wasn't happy. He had lost contact with all his agents. Allie wasn't

reporting in, he had heard no more from Jamie after he informed him that Cricket

was not in the Gadget household, and he had just lost his signal beacon from

Cammie. Claw pounded his desk in frustration. "You will not WIN this one

LITTLE GIRL!!!" he screamed.

Allie had convinced Jamie to stay with her until Penny was found. Three was

better than two, she said. Jamie reluctantly agreed. As much as he was in

Claw's control, Allie was his true friend, the one who had befriended him when

he was feeling very alone in his new surroundings, and his new body. It was now

around 5:30, and the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. The low rays of

the sun glinted off the orange-gold hair of Penny and Allie, and the fiery red

of Jamie's. Jamie, this being on of the few times he had been outside, lay back

and stared at the sky.

Outside, he may have looked tranquil, but inside was a different story.

Jamie's complex programming code of his animatronics and CPU were trying to

override his complex brain, with human coding no one could decipher. He and

Allie were friends---the only one he had. He would do anything for her. But

Claw's programming had said to kill Penny on sight, which he had tried to do,

but Allie had foiled him. That was probably what kept him from killing Penny

the most--that Allie would put her life at risk to save her. But thousands of

electronic messages were being sent saying "KILL KILL KILL". The best

comparison would be someone nearing a nervous breakdown. Right now, his human

brain had the edge, but one small thing could send him over the top, and his

programming would take over, and someone would not leave that clearing alive.

While the turmoil was going on, and Allie and Penny held hands, they all heard

a piercing scream. All three sat up instantly, ears tuned to any additional

sounds. There were none from that direction, but Penny shouted, "Cassie!"

"Cassie!"

Cassie was in a reverie. Staring at two apparently lifeless bodies on top of

one another, but did they have life to begin with? She stared, to the point of

double vision, until a shout about a mile away broke her concentration.

"Cassie! Cassie!" the shout came.

"Penny! Penny!" Cassie screamed.

At this moment, there was movement from down below. Cassie stared in horror as

Cammie was struggling underneath Cricket. She struggled to a standing position,

casting Cricket to the rocks in front of her. She lay with unblinking eyes

staring at the sky.

Cassie gasped when she saw what had happened to Cammie---her skin had fallen

off from abrasions suffered in the fall and when she hit the rocks, now showing

gleaming metal muscles and pumps, and the steel frame. She had a very evil

gleam in her eyes. She advanced to the steep hill to claw her way back up. But

before she could, Cricket moved.

First her eyes blinked, then her head moved, and then she got up. Her skin had

been scratched but it had not fallen off. She pushed Cammie backwards. She

stumbled backwards. Cammie was caught unawares, as that had all happened within

five seconds. Cricket, using abilities she didn't know she had, quickly

scrambled up the hill.

Cammie fell to the ground, making her lose her sight for a moment. When she

regained it a few seconds later, she was staring at a gun. She grabbed it and

quickly made the climb up the hill as well.

Cassie and Cricket had started to run, but Cammie yelled, "Stop! I have a

gun!"

Cassie and Cricket froze. "What--what will you do?" Cassie asked.

"I don't--" Cammie started to say but was interrupted by screams. "Cassie!

Cassie!" The trio had been so preoccupied that they didn't hear Penny.

Cammie's mind immediately identified the voice as Penny. Her CPU reasoned that

Penny had not had enough of the drug and had come out of her haze. Cammie

realized she had a perfect weapon to complete the job, and decided to have Penny

lead her death to her. Cammie did a letter-perfect imitation of Cassie's voice,

which really wasn't all that hard to do, "Penny! Where are you!"

"About a mile south!" came the faint reply.

"Keep shouting. We'll find you!" Cammie said as Cassie.

With the sharp scream every thirty seconds, Cammie used the gun to herd her captives toward Penny.

As Penny, Allie and Jamie waited for Cassie to find them, a light rain began to

fall. It soon grew heavy. Thunder boomed in the distance, and occasionally

lightning would flicker in the sky. Jamie looked concerned and Penny asked him

what was wrong quickly before she shouted again to give Cassie a location.

"Claw can't make skin that behaves like normal human skin. If it rains too

much, or I'm submerged, the water will leak through the skin and cause my

circuits to short out," Jamie explained.

"Here...use this," Penny told him as she handed him her blanket.

"But, you'll need this. As much as my programming is telling me to get rid of

you, I have to protect you for Allie's sake," Jamie said.

"Don't worry about me. If they're gonna find me than I won't need this too much

longer, now will I?" Penny said.

Jamie accepted the blanket gratefully and said, "Thank you."

Allie was busy worrying as well. She had already met one person that looked

exactly like her---she didn't know if she was prepared to meet a second. But she

was also eager to learn more about her past, of which she knew rather little.

She had memories of playing with her sister Kyrie until a day near the fast

moving Sweetwater River, which she only remembered the very beginning of. She

remembered her Uncle Scott up to a point---he had always been a rather feeble

man, though not particularly old.

Then her memories switched to the orphanage, where at first she was treated as

an oddity, due to her limp, which Penny hadn't noticed yet. When she ran at

Jamie her limp momentarily disappeared, as she willed the leg to work right.

But it hurt like hell, and she sure wasn't prepared to do it again. As she

began to get accustomed to the people at the orphanage, she was talked to a

little more, but when she became adamant at wearing the same clothes over and

over again, the other children once again shied away from her. The staff was

forced to come up with identical garments so that they could wash the clothes

weekly.

When the staff saw Allie limped, they brought her to a doctor, who designed a

large, cumbersome metal brace for Allie to wear on her affected leg. She was

teased once again for it, and finally she kept it off as it didn't help her

limp, but only exaggerated it. She did not find, as was hoped, that the limp

would be lessened by her wearing the brace. Allie hoped, that no matter what

happened, she would be accepted--but after enduring so much isolation and

realizing the one person she was accepted by, deformities and all, had betrayed

her, Allie wasn't sure SHE could accept anyone ELSE.

"How can we get away?" Cassie whispered to Cricket as they were herded through

the woods.

"I don't know--" Cricket started to say but Cammie quickly cut her off.

"No one is to talk! March!" she commanded.

As they walked, a light rain began to coat the three bodies. Cassie viewed it

as a minor annoyance, but as the rain grew heavier she noticed Cricket's

movements became a little more jerky, and Cricket explained very succinctly and

quietly that the rain was seeping through her skin and causing mild short

circuits. Cassie looked back and saw that the rain was affecting Cammie as

well, but not nearly as much. While keeping the gun trained on her captives,

she had donned a raincoat from her pack, which she had grabbed where she dropped

it at the top of the hill.

The constant directional shouts provided by Penny were more than sufficient to

keep the three on course. While en route, Cricket's mind was thinking the best

it could under the circumstances. She knew that something had to be done, as if

it wasn't, her, Cassie and Penny were all in deep trouble. Cricket was startled

by a clap of thunder and a fork of lightning off in the distance. A short time

later, another thunder/lightning combination occurred. Cricket reasoned that by

the time they reached their destination, the storm would be near or directly

overhead. Cricket had an idea.

Cassie was also thinking, but her mind drew a blank. Cammie had the upper hand

strength wise, and also had her trump card--the gun. Unless they could somehow

diminish the gun's usefulness, Cammie would be unstoppable. Cassie looked back

at Cammie. On her legs large patches of her metal frame were visible, and also

some showed through her lower arms, which were not covered by the raincoat.

Cassie noticed also that for the first time in awhile, Cammie's hair was in

ponytails, just like hers, and just like Penny's was when she ran away. While

in thought, Cassie noticed a group of people in a clearing through the trees.

Cassie was sure one of them was Penny, but was torn between one on the ground

and one sitting up against a fallen tree. There was also a third person there,

whom Cassie could best make out was a boy. "What is a boy doing there with

Penny...and who is the other girl?" Cassie wondered.

"Look! There they are!" Allie cried as Cassie stumbled through the clearing,

followed by Cricket. Cammie came last. Even though Cassie had beat her to the

trio, Allie first laid eyes on Cammie and gasped. Metal showed through her

motley get up of a bright yellow raincoat, khaki hiking shorts and hiking boots.

On her legs, on her lower arms, and even a through a badly scratched piece of

the skin on her neck there was the shiny visual signature of steel. At first,

Allie thought that Cammie was an cyborg like Jamie, but then realized that

Cammie had a gun. Allie figured that if the three sisters' relationships were

as close as Penny had said, Cammie could have fought her programming. Instead,

she was threatening to kill her other sister, and a blonde-haired girl Allie had

never seen before. "Could it be possible she is an android?" Allie wondered.

Allie also saw Cassie, dressed in her floral print dress and badly scratched

and torn lilac kneesocks. Her hair was in ponytails, as was Allie's, Penny's

and Cammie's. There was a warmth about her that told Allie she was someone who

would always be there for you. The vibe reminded her of Kyrie, and a small tear

fell amongst the raindrops. But Allie didn't know who was who.

Cammie walked through the clearing last, and first saw Penny, lying helpless.

She knew this would be an easy job--to take her out. She saw a young boy with a

blanket wrapped around him next to her. It was at this sight Cammie got

confused, as she had never seen him before in her "life". She saw someone

identical to Penny next to the boy, which her programming told her was Allie,

the agent that was supposed to meet her a mile or two away. Had she turned to

the enemy?

Penny twisted her head to see Cassie and Cricket come through the opening in

the trees, and felt relieved. The feeling was short-lived, however, when Cammie

came through the opening with gashes all over her body and a metal frame showing

through. And she saw the gun. Her first thought was that Cammie was a cyborg

like Cricket built by Claw to kill her. But then, she took a look at Cricket,

who looked a mix of fear and cleverness. When she looked at Cammie all she saw

was cold-blooded evil. Penny realized Cammie was probably an android, with no

soul, no conscience, no heart. Even if Cammie wanted to fight Claw's

programming to kill her, she couldn't. She had no way to.

But Penny had no time to think. While Cassie and Cricket were made to sit near

Allie and Jamie in the now intense rain, Cricket looking more uncomfortable with

each second, Cammie--with her gun still trained on her captives now numbering

four--came over and rudely pulled up Penny's left arm and ripped off her watch.

With Penny's fearful eyes betraying her feelings, Cammie threw it into the

woods. She let Penny's arm drop with a thud.

Jamie saw Cammie, and saw the metal. He did an electro-scan on Cammie and

realized she had no biotic parts at all. She was completely artificial. Jamie

also saw Cassie, and his human mind was astounded at how alike Penny, Allie and

Cassie looked.

But Jamie's biggest shock was when he laid his gaze upon Cricket. Cricket was

dressed in overalls the same color as Penny's pants, and a red and white striped

t-shirt, which was soaked through. Her blond hair was tied up into two

ponytails, like Penny's hair, and her blue eyes looked like they were windows

into her soul. Jamie was in love. His human mind, once torn between killing

Penny and letting her live, was now fully concentrated on Cricket. Jamie did a

scan on Cricket, per his programming, and realized she was a cyborg like him.

Jamie's blue eyes, once depressed and troubled, began to light up. But

internally, love was just another complicated emotion to add to his complex

state.

"All right, let's have a little introduction party, shall we?" Cammie said as

she dropped Penny's arm back to the ground. "My name is Cammie, and I will be

your doom today!" Cammie said and laughed.

"Here's my sister, Cassie. Foolish girl, she thought she knew everything about

me. How wrong she was!" Cammie said as thunder boomed overhead.

"Here's my other "sister", Cricket. She's not really my sister, she's another

one of Dr. Claw's creations, like me! She has a human brain though--fatal flaw!

And can barely walk without shoes! Poor design!" said Cammie as lightning

illuminated everyone.

"And this," Cammie said while stepping on Penny's forehead, "is my dear sister

Penny. Penny has been a thorn in Dr. Claw's side for years. She killed his

daughter and severely disfigured his face, and now, she'll pay!" Penny was

looking wildly in all directions, trying to figure out any sense in the

android's ravings.

"This," Cammie said while pointing at Allie, "is obviously my contact that was

supposed to bring me back to Dr. Claw. Apparently, she has switched sides.

Roped in by Penny's conniving ways. Alessandra Maise, attached to Kyrie Maise

not by blood, but a close bond nonetheless. Care to revisit the time when Penny

pushed her into the Sweetwater River?" Cammie cackled as more lightning and

thunder lit up the sky.

"No! I never killed anyone!" Penny cried as Cammie removed her foot from

Penny's forehead.

"Sure ya didn't. Sure ya didn't. Next, I bet you'll tell me you don't

remember anything," Cammie said.

"I don't!" Penny shouted over the thunder and pounding of the rain.

"Ha! PostTraumatic Stress Syndrome, I suppose. Now, the one I don't know who

he is. What is your name, young man," Cammie asked Jamie.

"Don't tell her Jamie!" Allie screamed, and then realized what she had said.

"Oh, Jamie, is it then?" Cammie said, and a quick scan told her that he was a

cyborg like Cricket.

"Y-y-yes," Jamie stuttered, concentrating on Cricket.

"Well, my little cyborg. I wonder if you can walk without your shoes?" Cammie

asked in a sinister tone while rain fell around her and lightning flashed.

"I-I-I never tried," Jamie said.

"Well, you're not going to. Not here anyway. I'm here to kill Penny, Cassie,

and, hell, we'll throw in Allie for good measure. And I will shut you two

down," Cammie said, motioning to Cricket and Jamie, "and bring you back to

Claw!" Cammie laughed maniacally.

Cricket had watched Cammie's tirade under the stormy sky. Apparently, the

water had finally gotten to her. Until Cammie had mentioned her, though,

Cricket's main concern was Jamie, whom she had gone deep for as soon as she saw

him. And when Cammie revealed him as a cyborg, she felt a deep connection, as

she knew no other one like her.

As lightning flashed and thunder boomed, Cricket knew the time was now. The

storm was directly overhead, and it was now or never.

"Hey, Cammie!" Cricket shakily stood and yelled.

"What! Hey, aren't you supposed to go inside in the rain? Too bad! Not this

time!" Cammie cried.

Cricket ignored her and said, "You know, you're forgetting something!"

"What," Cammie said as thunder crashed.

"We're both literally standing lightning rods," Cricket yelled and ran over to Cammie and grasped her hand. Cricket reached her free hand, her right, up to the sky. Lightning flickered, and the fork traveled right from the sky into Cricket's body. She channeled most of the electricity into Cammie's body. Cammie shook violently for a few seconds and then exploded, causing everyone around to duck as pieces of metal and wiring fell around them. Then Cricket, parts of her charred black and her human brain severely shocked, fell to the ground lifeless.

"Cricket!" Penny shouted as the rain poured. Penny, caught under the tree, was

unable to move.

"Oh no!" Jamie yelled and rushed to Cricket's side, looking frantically for any

signs of life. There weren't any. Jamie looked up hopefully and asked, "Can

anyone help her? What can I do?"

"Nothing now," Allie said. "But we can do something to help Penny."

"What?" asked Cassie.

"Jamie and I will lift the tree, which was probably semi-rotted. You gently

pull Penny out," Allie explained.

"Ok," Cassie said and motioned for Jamie to come. He did so reluctantly.

Jamie bore the brunt of the load and Allie lifted the lighter top end of the

tree. In the short amount of time the tree was in the air Cassie reached under

and gingerly pulled Penny out of the way. Jamie and Allie then let the tree

drop gently. Nevertheless, it shook the ground.

The four coherent remaining members looked at each other in silence until

Cassie said, "Well, I guess we'll have to find our way back. I have a compass,

and I think Allie does too. I'll help Penny." Cassie crouched down to Penny's

level and took her body in a firm grasp and lifted her up. Penny divided her

weight between her one semi-good leg and Cassie, while keeping her broken leg as

elevated as possible.

Jamie, looking rather hurt, said, "But what about Cricket? We can't just leave

her here!"

"You and I will have to carry her," Allie said moving toward Cricket's head.

Jamie moved to Cricket's feet. He noticed that some of her clothes were charred

black and smelled of burning electrical parts. The rain lightened then, leaving

only a mist, which permeated the burning, scorched smell.

The four made their way with Cricket in tow slowly toward the house, which

would take them a good two hours to get to. They stepped carefully around

pieces of Cammie, some still steaming in the cold mist. Cammie's head had split

in half, and her hair had completely burned off. Her clothes had caught fire

but it had been put out quickly in the rain. The rest of Cammie's body had

fallen in various places in the woods, and the group traveled a mile before

seeing their last remnant of the evil android.

As soon as Cammie had exploded a warning signal flashed and a horn sounded in

Claw's lair. Claw punched in a few codes on his terminal to ascertain how

serious the damage was to his android, hoping she had gotten in a small scuffle

with Cassie perhaps. When he saw that she had been obliterated, Claw screamed.

He pounded the table in frustration.

"Why? Why Penny must you continue to destroy me? This pain you have caused...

Why?" Claw lamented.

After resting his head on his desk for fifteen minutes. He rose his head

slowly. He said, in a very even, drawn out tone, "Little girl--you may have won

this time. But next time, and there WILL be a next time, you will NOT win. And

I will make you suffer gladly for all the torment you have caused me. And when

I finish with you, you will curse the day you ever heard the name

CLAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" As he finished the sentence he pounded his desk with such

force that half of it broke off, leaving a gaping hole staring up at him.

The group made steady progress through about six o'clock, having traveled about

half the distance. Then, as the rain had now stopped and the sun was shining,

albeit dim as sunset was near, the group needed to rest. Penny was exhausted

and Allie had experienced an emotionally cathartic day. Jamie still was

struggling internally between what he was supposed to do, and what he wanted to

do. He didn't WANT to lead a life of crime or to further Dr. Claw. All he

wanted was to be with Cricket, his fallen love, and to know Allie, whom he had

been taken away from many times in the past. But his programming was telling

him to kill Penny and her sister Cassie, and to take Allie and Cricket back to

Claw. "I won't allow him to do it!" He thought adamantly.

"I think it's time to rest for a moment," Allie said.

"Yes, I agree," Cassie said.

"And I need a rest," Penny said.

"But we can't! Cricket could be saved! We need to hurry!" Jamie said.

"As much as it hurts me--as much as I want her to be all right---Jamie, I don't

think she's coming back," Penny said with a tear in her eye.

"She's right, Jamie. I was never close to her, but damage that bad---it can't

be righted," Cassie said.

"Well, if she had gotten prompt help, but there is no way she could have.

We're ten to twenty miles away from civilization. It's---it's Claw's fault,"

Allie said.

Cricket had been placed on the ground with Allie seated at her head and Jamie

at her feet. Her unblinking eyes stared skyward, her body unmoving. The four

stared at her, realizing that she had made the ultimate sacrifice--her life.

And it also proved to them that Claw was light years ahead of anything

conditional science could hope to create in android/cyborg technology. She was

as much as living creature as they were, yet had her own set of problems--half

of her was artificial. She had programming, yet she had free will. As they

were staring at her, Jamie's eye caught what he thought was movement.

"There! She moved!" Jamie said.

"What? No, Jamie, I know...it's just your imagination," Penny said consolingly.

"No, I SAW her move!" Jamie said.

Cassie looked close. She was about to turn away when she noticed one of

Cricket's fingers. It was moving slightly. Trying to grasp the air. "I see

it!" Cassie said.

Allie and Penny scrutinized Cricket, and they, too, saw. "Oh my gosh! She's

not dead!" Penny said.

"But how much of her is still there?" Cassie said. "She was struck with

tremendous voltage."

"We won't know until someone looks at her," Allie said.

"And I know just the person. But come on! We have to hurry!" Penny said, and

leaned upon Cassie, who had just stood. Allie and Jamie took their positions

and they moved as fast as they could through the dense wood.

A half-hour later they crossed a rather run down trail which was used by Park

Ranger jeeps to occasionally patrol this part of the forest. Out of breath and

hearts racing, they forced themselves to stop and take a five-minute break.

Jamie was not tired at all, it seemed, and wanted to proceed. His completely

human counterparts, however, needed to stop, or they would end up like Cricket.

As Jamie begged them to recommence their journey, a sound was heard approaching

from approximately the direction they were headed in. A sport utility vehicle

with a large flashing blue light atop it was careening down the path. Allie,

who had placed Cricket's head gently upon a rock, ran into the road and began

frantically waving her arms. The jeep screeched to a stop and a rather plump

man with brown hair and a mustache came out. "Penny?" he said.

"No, I'm Allie," Allie said.

"Allie? Where are Cassie and Cammie and Penny?" the man asked.

"Chief Quimby!" Penny said from her spot on the side of the road. "Penny?

Cassie? Cammie?" the man questioned.

"Chief, you know me!" Penny chastised him.

"I'm Cassie," Cassie informed him.

"Where's Cammie," the Chief inquired. "And who's Allie?"

"First of all, let's get into the jeep. We need to go to University Hospital,

stat! And I'll explain on the way!" Penny shouted.

While enduring the poorly maintained trail, Penny explained how Cammie was

actually an android controlled by Claw who drugged her and made her emotionally

unstable, which caused her to run away. She explained why she could not walk,

and who Allie was, as best she could. Then, she told of Cricket's heroics, and

how they believed her to be alive. Penny told the Chief where she wanted to,

and the Chief agreed that the person Penny mentioned was the one most likely to

offer her help.

As they turned on to a back road, the Chief explained how he came to be

involved. After Mr. Ralston had been picked up by the ambulance and brought to

the hospital, and his leg was set in a cast, the first thing he did was to call

Chief Quimby. He explained his predicament and at that time realized that Penny

was probably in more danger than he originally thought. He convinced the Chief

to lead a search into the woods for his daughter. The Chief agreed, and by pure

coincidence ran into the group on his fourth ride up that trail today.

Once they got onto the highway, Penny and Cassie started to explain to Chief

their own theories on Allie and explained who Jamie was. The Chief mentioned

that where they were going, the person who could help Cricket could help Jamie

as well. Penny and Cassie agreed. Meanwhile, Allie was looking around through

the tinted windows, seeing all the sights on the scenic California highway. It

was all a new experience for her. Jamie, however, was still in deep turmoil.

While wondering what Cassie and Penny were talking about, he was staring at

Cricket, lamenting a true love. He caressed her hair and lightly touched her

face, hoping she would come back and all would be fine. He felt her wet

overalls and shirt, and wrung some of the water out. He and Cricket were in the

far back, while Allie and Cassie squeezed into the far left behind Chief Quimby

in the middle seat, and Penny had the front seat reclined fully back to keep her

legs elevated. It made for some cramped but necessary seating.

Approximately a half an hour later, they arrived at University Hospital. As

the Chief had radioed ahead, there was a gurney standing by for Penny. Allie,

after making sure Jamie would be okay with Cassie and the Chief, followed Penny,

telling her she would sit with her father and explain as much as she could while

she was in surgery.

After parking, a second gurney was brought out by the science department in the

University. Jamie and Cassie hopped out of the Jeep and helped the staff rest

Cricket upon the moving stretcher. The Chief, Cassie, and Jamie ran with the

two members of the staff into the hospital building. They took an elevator down

to the lowest level and passed through many security measures. The Chief

provided special emergency clearance for Jamie and Cassie. They finally passed

through a thick metal door and found a rather old man huddled over a test tube.

He had grayish white hair with a short moustache.

"Dr. Slickstein? We need your help," Chief Quimby said.

Five minutes later, Cricket was lying face down on a steel table. Slickstein had made an incision and had accessed Cricket's circuitry. A special saline fluid was being supplied to keep her brain and other biotic parts components moist. Dr. Slickstein took his tools and began to sift through her electronic components. Jamie looked at him apprehensively and then said, with his first tear forming in his eye, Doctor, is there any hope?"

Penny lay on a hospital bed in the same room as her father. Penny would be staying there for the next two weeks---her father would only be there for the next two days. Penny lay flat on her back, one leg in a plaster cast, the other in a brace. While Cricket was being examined by Dr. Slickstein, Penny had been in emergency surgery, getting her re-hydrated and setting her broken leg. She had broken the fibula and tibia in her lower leg near her angle. She would need to be in a cast for a good six weeks. The other leg had a badly strained muscle and several ligament links and tendons had been torn. For the next few years Penny would be in leg braces that came up to her knee on the broken leg, and on the other one, up to her waist. Penny took the news stoically, while Mr. Ralston, who was sitting near, asked quietly if there was any other way---the doctors said no. Penny would need a wheelchair to get around for awhile---both of her legs were very weak. She would have physical therapy twice a week to help rebuild her muscles---but not for awhile, as now she was tired and needed rest. The doctors left the room.

"Dad? How am I gonna deal with this? I can't follow Uncle around on cases in a wheelchair, or in big leg braces!" Penny said with worry in her eyes.

"Penny, I think your uncle is a good enough crime fighter that he doesn't need too much help," Mr. Ralston said.

"But you don't understand---all his accolades, all of his trophies---that was all Brain and me. We did it! We were the ones who found out what was going on!" Penny said.

"Penny? Are you sure? Is it just the medicine talking?" Mr. Ralston asked.

"No, it's NOT the medicine, dad. I've looked at death more times than I can count, out in the field. That's what I want to DO, to be a detective and bring down Dr. Claw. How am I gonna do that with clunky leg braces?" Penny asked.

"Well, you won't have to wear them forever. Just until your legs get better," Mr. Ralston said.

"I KNOW that, but who knows how long that'll be? Uncle is in Washington, D.C. right now with no one to look after him. Luckily I don't think Claw was involved in that Kennedy plane crash," Penny said.

"Neither do I, Penny. And I called your Uncle---he's on his way home on the next flight," Mr. Ralston said.

"Wow, the first piece of real good news I received all day, save for finding out I had another sister," Penny said.

"Speaking of that, Penny, I think there is something you need to know," Mr. Ralston said.

"What?" asked Penny.

Mr. Ralston explained, "Well, I didn't want to bring up any old memories, but there IS something you need to know. It was when you were seven. A few months before I was kidnapped. I had long suspected your mother's other babies were not stillborn, and I was proven right when I found one. She was the spitting image of you. I checked her birth certificate, and other official documents, and it all checked out. I couldn't remember her name, but I knew it had a long "E" sound at the end of it. When you showed up with Cassie and Cammie, I thought for sure at least one of them was the girl I had found. Now I know that it's Allie. You see, after I found them, they were living not too far away, in San Francisco. I met her adopted father, a Mr. Scott Johnson. He had another adopted daughter too, Kyrie. Once he knew that I wasn't going to try to take custody away from him, he eagerly encouraged that you three play together.

Even though you were twins, you seemed to gravitate more toward Kyrie. She looked really beautiful, even at her age. She was five when I found Allie. Many times when Allie was at her piano lessons, you two would go out and play around the neighborhood. At the end of Mr. Johnson's street, not too far from the house, there was a river. The current was fairly strong there, but there was a fence between the end of the road and the river, and there were benches set up there too. It was a favorite spot for you two to play pretend and such. You dreamed you were sailors searching for lost gold. One day, however, something went wrong. Apparently, the night before, some kids had cut holes in the fence to vandalize it. When you two wen the next morning, you apparently went through the holes to the bank, and Kyrie fell in. After hearing her scream, many of the neighbors went to the window, where they say you just stood there, staring at Kyrie, frantically trying to swim to shore. She was taken away by the current. Of course, you couldn't swim at that point, and you knew going out in the water was suicide. But you didn't go for help---you must have been too stunned.

The people who saw called the police. They found you unconscious on the ground. They awoke you and took you to the hospital. I checked you out an hour later. They never found the body. Strangely, Mr. Johnson was not really disappointed. But soon afterwards, he disappeared. With Allie. Not a trace of them I had found since. Of course, a month or two afterwards, I was kidnapped."

Over the course of the story, Penny's face had slowly softened from the worry and melded into sadness. By the end of the story, Penny was crying. "I remember that day, bits and pieces. A little girl and I. She wanted to get closer to the water. I followed her. She slipped on a wet rock!"

Allie was astounded that Penny could remember. From reliable sources, she had found out how a girl she thought was her sister had died. But now, after all this, Allie doubted if Kyrie WAS her sister, by blood or adoption. Or was she something else?

Instead of answering Jamie, Dr. Slickstein immediately grabbed a magnifying glass and went in for a closer look at Cricket's circuitry. "This is incredible!" he said with wonder. "Apparently these circuits are constructed with a mix of bionic metal and electronics and biotic nerve endings and other natural body parts. Cricket was more human than she probably thought."

"Doctor! Is she going to be okay?" Jamie asked frantically.

"I can't tell. A lot of the circuits are damaged, some blown completely. Most of them that are dead controlled her lower body, her legs, her lower trunk area. But I haven't had a lot of experience with robots or cyborgs of this caliber. I don't know how much of a shock they can take!"

"So she COULD survive," Jamie asked with hope.

"It is possible. But we shall see. You, the orange haired one! Hand me my tools!" Dr. Slickstein said. "And while your at it, prep this one here for surgery. I'm going to look at him."

"Dr. Slickstein hooked up computer monitors to Cricket, and monitored her progress. There were still electrical impulses being fired, but they were missing their marks. The human brain was nearly disconnected from the main computer board. The doctor fashioned replacement parts for the blown ones as best he could, and hoped that if this worked, the damaged parts would be able to repair themselves. Slickstein worked hard into the night, while Penny and her father were reliving old, buried memories. When Slickstein was done, it was well into the night. Allie, Penny, and Mr. Ralston had felt the pull of sleep and drifted off, hoping Cricket and her friends were in good hands.

Jamie had not been prepped for surgery. He wouldn't sit still for Cassie. He paced and paced and paced and paced. He never sat down. When Slickstein announced he was done, he sewed up the incision and redressed Cricket. Then, he took her hair out of the two ponytails and let it hang loose. He figured she needed no more stress. He turned her over on her back and carried the girl over to a more comfortable hospital bed. Her flaxen blonde hair spread out over the stark white hospital-issue sheets. Her eyes stared upwards. Jamie rushed behind the doctor, and took up the left side of the bed, while Slickstein was on the other. Cassie was at the foot.

Cricket's eyes blinked. Her arms and fingers moved a little. She moved her head from side to side. She awoke, her eyes fluttering as she tried to regain her consciousness.

"Where am I? What happened?" She said in a slightly softer voice. Jamie and Slickstein explained---Jamie with a very large smile on his face. "But, I can't feel my legs! How will I walk? They won't work! I tried going to my brain, and my CPU, but no matter how much I tell them to they won't move," Cricket said with a very worried and scared look on her face.

Slickstein explained, "Cricket, you sustained massive damage when the lightning hit you. Jamie explained to me you channeled it into Cammie. I could follow the path it took, how it decimated some of your circuits. I was able to rebuild some of the totaled ones along the route, but you still have many damaged circuits in you. Some might never rebuild, but some could. Most of them affected your legs. Therefore, you will be in a wheelchair. I gave Cassie some exercises to put your legs through each morning and evening, to help them "remember" what they're supposed to do. But, Cricket, you're a delicate---girl. You need to be extra careful. You have had one scare already. In your wheelchair, you'll be like any other disabled girl, unable to walk, to move her legs. You'll notice some of your upper body strength is not what it used to be either. You'll have to learn to deal with it."

"I don't care, as long as I have Jamie!" Cricket said, and moved her arm gently to him and grasped his hand. Jamie smiled.

"I hate to take you away from him so soon, but I have to look at Jamie. I have a feeling there may be more programming in him from Claw than from you, and that could be dangerous if he is to live with you," Slickstein said.

Reluctantly, Jamie left Cricket's side and walked over to the same metal table. Slickstein set Jamie on his back and undid his overalls and pulled up his shirt. He made an incision, as with Cricket. He attached more computer cables, and was able to see the code that Jamie was running. Most of it he could understand, but there was some code that baffled even Slickstein. After a half an hour of searching, Slickstein had found and eliminated all code from Claw detrimental to him being a good, human being. He warned Jamie, after setting him right, that there could be renegade code still in his system and to always be alert for it. Jamie agreed.

In two weeks, everyone was back at home. Due to the fact that Allie had very little to her name, nor did Jamie have anything or a place to sleep, and Cricket and Penny could not walk up the stairs to their room, the huge sunroom became a large slumber party.

During the first night, before everyone went to bed, Cassie went up to Penny's room to get her slippers for her while Allie was in the Kitchen getting food. She rummaged in the closet and came across an old, metal, desecrated box. When she saw some of the newspaper clippings contained within, she ran down the stairs as fast as she could. Cricket, who was lying on her back in a light, white pair of pyjamas, her hair flowing around her, stared at it and uttered, "The box."

Cricket explained how she found it and what was in it. And then she mentioned the journal. Cassie took it out and read aloud the first words: "I, six year old Alessandra Maise, declare this journal private! No one is to read it!" Allie entered the room at that moment, and upon seeing the box and the journal, dropped the glass bowl she was carrying, shattering it on the floor.

"Oh my gosh! That's my journal! I thought it was lost FOREVER! What does it say in it?" Allie asked.

The group frantically read each page. It detailed a year in Allie and Kyrie's life, and contained some very stunning information. Kyrie, Allie's thought-to-be sister, was not what she appeared to be. According to Allie, during the description of her family, she says that Kyrie was actually her cousin, from a mysterious uncle with only one hand. His nickname in the family was Claw. Kyrie was Claw's daughter. It revealed that Penny had come to their house many times, and usually played with Kyrie, but also with Allie. It described Scott Johnson, whom Cassie and Penny identified as the man Cammie had described to them. At the very end, the journal took on a somber tone. Allie described that her cousin had drowned, and her father wanted to get away, very quickly. He was very afraid of what his brother (Kyrie's father) would do to him. He has also repeatedly mentioned the name Cammie, saying he had seen Cammie and Allie and could not tell the difference. And wondered what Claw would do.

******EPILOGUE******

In early May, the five celebrated their birthday. On May 2^nd, Penny, Cassie, and Allie were born. Even though Cricket and Jamie's birthdays were unknown, on their legal birth certificates, it was listed as 05/02/1988. Penny, Cassie and Allie celebrated fifteen years, while Jamie and Cricket celebrated eleven, though Jamie was much older.

In late May, Penny got her braces. One was a simple plastic affair that came up to her knee. The brace on the other leg was a complicated metal and plastic structure that went up to her hip. It was to help her muscles to grow right. She had crutches, a walked, and a wheelchair, and she used one of them depending on the distance needed to go. Kneesocks became a part of her wardrobe, being necessary to prevent the braces from sticking to her skin.

Around the time Penny was fitted for her braces, the Ralston brothers purchased a house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Their chief goal was to escape from California, and bad memories there, and Claw. Allie, Penny, Cassie, Cricket, and Jamie all had a say in the way the house was built, and it was built right on the water. It was completely wheelchair accessible. The beach was right in front if it.

In late June, they made the move. It was difficult, with Cricket using a wheelchair all the time and Penny mainly braces and crutches, though a wheelchair was a necessity for long distances. Gradually, she was working toward walking with braces alone. Allie, Jamie and Cassie did most f the work, but it was worth it, for when the unpacking was done, the house looked just like home. A perfect time and place to make a fresh start.

Also, Penny continued physical therapy at a hospital near their new house. It was well maintained and ranged as one of the finest in the country. She arrived twice per week for two-hour sessions. They were exhausting, but worth it. She was making great progress.

One day, when Penny did not have physical therapy, a girl who was a resident at the hospital came down from her room to receive her physical therapy. The girl wasn't very social, which the staff attributed to her accident years ago which resulted in the cerebral palsy, since her brain was deprived of oxygen for a long time underwater. She had a beautiful face that was filled with freckles. She had fiery red hair that was drawn back into two braids, and she had no bangs. This accented her rare purple eyes. She had on a white shirt and Kelly green skirt with suspender straps that buttoned at the top of her skirt. She also had on Kelly green kneesocks and wore plastic leg braces that came up to just below her knee. There was a footplate to the braces but they were obscured by old, torn up white sneakers. She also walked with the help of two, shiny, metal hospital-issue forearm crutches.

She approached the reception desk. The receptionist on duty was new---he asked, "What's your name, little girl?"

"I have a 3:30 appointment with Dr. Clark," the girl said in a lispy voice, "and my name is Kyrie. Kyrie Maise."