Extra Note: Please read the author's profile! This is another one-shot by Lola. We hope you enjoy it! Also note - nobody owns the Hardy Boys but Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Syndicate. They are just being borrowed for a short while but will be returned when finished. Thanks for reading!
Princess Fifi Tinkerbelle
by Copagirl - Original Post Date: May, 2006
Joe Hardy sat on the floor, his legs crossed; he shifted a little as he tried to get more comfortable. He couldn't believe that he had let himself be talked into this situation. A five-year-old had cowed him! A sigh escaped his lips as Joe shook his head. He felt a small hand cup his face. Joe saw a pair of gray-blue eyes staring at him.
"Don't move Joe, not finished yet! You gotta stay still!"
"Sorry, but you don't know how hard that is for me to do."
Joe watched as the little girl walked over to his bed. Her golden blonde curls had been pinned up. She wore a pink leotard, a pink tutu around her waist. While her back was turned, Joe glanced down at his watch. It had to be time for his mom and Mrs. Collins to be back now! Joe let out another sigh; he still had another hour to go.
"Tammy, how long is this going to take?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she came back with a brush. "I told you my name's not 'Tammy', it's 'Princess Belle Strawberryheart'!"
Joe wondered if an hour had gone by yet.
As Tammy brushed his hair, Joe thought back to his first meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Collins and their daughter, Tammy…
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
One week ago
The day had started out hot and humid; dark clouds filled the sky. A rainstorm had been forecast, but the weatherman had been predicting rain for several days now. All they got was the heat and humidity.
Joe was at home watching television; Frank came into the house and found his brother in the family room lying on the couch. Plopping down onto the floor, Frank grabbed the remote from Joe's hand and changed to the weather channel.
"Hey! He who holds the remote, controls the TV!" Joe tried to snatch the remote back.
"That's right, I'm holding the remote so I control the TV!" Frank replied as he held the device away from his brother. "Hold on a second, I promise to give it back. I just want to check the weather. I heard there's supposed to be a tropical storm on the way."
"Oh all right, but you better give it back!" Joe grumbled.
"Quit being such a big baby. Besides, you've seen that Bugs Bunny cartoon a million times!"
"Bugs Bunny is a classic I'll have you know! You can never get enough of Bugs!"
Frank didn't comment, he did up the volume on the TV. Joe scooted up to a sitting position, then carefully got off the couch. Making sure not to hit Frank, who was leaning against the couch. Joe went into the kitchen to look for a snack. He came out a few minutes later carrying a sandwich and two cans of soda.
"Here, you look like you could use this," Joe said as he handed Frank one of the cans.
"Thanks! I don't know which is worse, the heat or the humidity."
"Careful there, you're starting to sound like Aunt Gertrude!"
"Ha, ha….you are sooo funny. And by the way, what happened to my sandwich?"
"You looked thirsty not hungry."
"Finally, here's the Bayport weather report."
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
Earlier the next morning the storm came; it brought in hurricane-like winds, hail and a torrential downpour. The wind and hail caused a lot of damage. A third of Bayport was suffering power outages; several homes suffered roof and car damage from the wind and hail.
Mrs. Hardy was busy helping out at the Red Cross shelter. The following day she came home with a young woman and a little girl. Ellen Collins, who was twenty-seven years old, tall and slim with blonde hair and blue eyes. She held the hand of a little girl with a heart-shaped face. The girl had just turned five, she had golden blond curls, and her gray-blue eyes reminded Joe of Vanessa.
Laura ushered Ellen into her home, making the young woman feel as comfortable as possible.
"Mrs. Hardy, are you sure your husband can help me?"
"Yes, and call me Laura, please. I know he will want to help. And as luck would have it, he isn't working on anything at the moment."
While her mother spoke with her new friend, little Tammy went exploring. She walked slowly around the room, watching her mother to see if she was going to get in trouble. Tammy looked over at the staircase, wondering what was upstairs. Glancing back at her mother and Mrs. Hardy again, Tammy very quietly climbed up the stairs.
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
Joe had just finished taking a shower; he wrapped a towel around his waist and went into his room. He had spent a good part of the day helping to clean up the debris from the storm and was now getting ready for a date with his girlfriend, Vanessa.
He ran his fingers through his still wet blonde hair; he opened the closet to look for a nice shirt. Not liking what he saw, he wondered if Frank would notice if he borrowed one of his. Joe never heard the door to his room open; it wasn't until he heard the small voice that he realized he wasn't alone.
"Hi, how come you only got a towel on?"
Joe spun around and found himself staring at a little girl who smiled up at him, two little dimples appearing on her face.
"H-hi. W-who are you?! How did you get in my room?!"
"I opened the door. Are you sick? Your face is turning really red."
"Mom!"
"Are those your muscles? You've got big muscles."
"Mom!"
"My daddy has bigger muscles, he's real strong. Are you real strong?"
"Mom!"
"Why are you yelling?"
"MOM!"
Three minutes after Tammy climbed up the stairs, Ellen realized that her daughter was missing. She and Laura went to check the kitchen first, thinking that Tammy went in search for some cookies since she had been promised some. When Laura heard Joe yelling out for her, she chuckled softly.
"I think I know where Tammy went."
Laura led Ellen up the stairs and into Joe's room, where they found him trying to hide behind some shirts in his closet.
"I'm so sorry, I hope she wasn't bothering you. Come here, Tammy."Ellen beckoned to her daughter.
"Joe, this is Ellen Collins and you've already met her daughter Tammy."
"Uh…Mom, could we do the introductions later?!"
"Oh, sorry. I guess we can," Laura laughed.
It took Joe twenty minutes to get dressed after his mother and Mrs. Collins left his room. It took him another fifteen minutes to gather enough courage to go downstairs. He heard his father's voice once he reached the bottom step. Joe hurried into the kitchen to get something to drink then he was on his way to get Vanessa.
When he walked into the kitchen, Joe found Frank eating a slice of apple pie. There was a mischievous twinkle in Frank's eye; a wicked grin crossed his face.
"What?" Joe asked, watching his brother warily.
"I sure hope Vanessa doesn't find out."
"Find out about what?" Joe gave Frank a puzzled glance.
"I heard about that little peep show you gave." Frank shook his head sadly, then a huge grin appeared on his face.
Joe began to choke, he spewed out the juice he had just swallowed and it landed all over Frank.
"I…I did…I never…She walked in on me!"
"Say it, don't spray it, Joe." Frank picked up a kitchen towel and wiped himself dry.
"Serves you right." Joe finished the rest of his juice.
Just then, their father, Fenton Hardy walked into the kitchen. Joe started to blush when he saw the grin on his father's face.
"Does everybody know about my encounter with Tammy?"
"Not yet," replied Frank, "But once the Bayport Gazette publishes it in tomorrow's paper the whole town will know!"
Taking pity on his youngest son, Fenton gave Joe a pat on the back. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you mother doesn't tell anyone else."
"Thanks, Dad. At least someone in this family cares for me!"
Frank stood up and ruffled Joe's hair. "I care, little brother! I care so much that I'll make sure that Callie understands she's not to repeat a word when I tell her about it!"
"Frank!" Joe, his eyes wide, turned to Fenton. "Dad, tell him not to say anything to Callie!"
"Frank, stop teasing your brother," Fenton chuckled.
"You take all the fun out of being a big brother, Dad!" Frank pretended to pout.
"All right, I need you two to get serious now. I'm going to New York for a few days and I need you boys to take care of your mother and Mrs. Collins."
"Is she going to be staying here? I thought I heard Mom say something about Mrs. Collins using Aunt Gertrude's room."
"Yes she is, Frank. Mrs. Collins has been staying at the Bayport Inn but she can't afford to stay there much longer. And unfortunately there isn't any room at the shelter."
"Did she ask you to work on a case, Dad?" Joe asked.
Fenton nodded but the boys could tell that he seemed worried.
"What's wrong, Dad?" asked Frank as he rinsed off the plate and fork he had used.
"Well…*sigh*…Seems Mr. Collins is missing. He left a few days before the storm hit, for New York. He went there for a job interview, and Mrs. Collins hasn't heard from him since."
"Do you think he made that job interview up and just left his wife and child?"
"I don't know, Joe. But I have seen it happen before." Fenton sighed sadly.
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
Two days later, Mr. Hardy still hadn't found Mr. Collins. He did, however, find out that Mr. Collins had made his job interview. He had interviewed for a teaching position at PS-13. Principal Webber had been very distressed to hear that Mr. Collins was missing.
"Please let me know if….no, when you find him, Mr. Hardy. He was a very nice man. He would…will make a great asset to our school."
"I will Mr. Webber and I'll be sure to tell him that."
As Mr. Hardy sat in his car, he tried to imagine what Mr. Collins would have done after a successful job interview. "I know I'd want to share the news, but Mrs. Collins hasn't heard from her husband." At that moment, his cell phone rang. Taking the phone out of his pocket, Mr. Hardy had a sudden thought. The Collins's didn't own a cell phone! Which meant…"He had to look for a phone!"
Feeling elated, Fenton quickly answered his phone.
Four blocks away from PS-13, Fenton found a small coffee shop. What interested him the most was the pay phone he saw in the back. He sat down at the counter; when he saw the waitress, Fenton smiled. She looked like she had worked there since the coffee shop first opened.
"What can I getcha' hon?"
"One coffee and an answer to a question."
"You a cop or somethin'?"
"No, I'm a private investigator." Fenton gave the waitress his card. He then took out a snapshot that Mrs. Collins had given him. "I'm looking for this man, he may have been in here several days ago?"
The waitress studied the photo; it showed a handsome man with light brown hair.
"Yeah, I remember him. Good tipper. He wanted change for the phone but I told him he had to order something from the menu. I felt kind of bad cause our phone wasn't working. Some bozo from the utility company accidentally cut the line."
"Do you remember in which direction he went to when he left here?"
"Yeah, I told him there was another phone around the block. I let him know that if he went back down the alley, he would get to it a lot faster."
"Thank you for your help. Oh, could you make that coffee to go?"
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
Frank sat looking miserable on the couch. Things were not going as he planned.
First, his mother took Mrs. Collins out shopping and he was now babysitting Tammy.
Second, as if he knew what was about to happen, Joe had magically disappeared. Frank didn't believe for one second his brother's excuse of having to go to the library to do some research for a school project!
Third, he had to call Callie to let her know that he wasn't able to go over to her house. That hadn't turned out too badly, Callie hadn't minded and even volunteered to help Frank baby-sit.
Now Frank sat and watched as Callie and Tammy were having a tea party.
"Here's your tea, Mr. Peabody."
Frank looked up and saw Tammy smiling at him; she held a tiny teacup in her hand. Taking the cup, Frank didn't see anything inside it.
"I don't see any tea in here."
Tammy let out a sigh. "You got to use your 'magination."
"You mean 'imagination'," corrected Frank.
"That's what I said, your 'magination!" Tammy looked sadly at Frank. "Don't you have a 'magination?"
"Yeah, Frank, don't you have a 'magination?" teased Callie.
No, this was not going the way Frank planned.
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
As Fenton walked inside the New York police station, he couldn't help but notice the vast difference between it and the small Bayport station. The station was crowded: police officers bringing in suspects, citizens reporting a theft or complaint and lawyers who were waiting to see their clients.
Fenton smiled when a door opened and there stood his former partner, Sam Peterson, who was now head of the New York police department.
"Fenton, you old dog! What brings you here—business or pleasure?"
"A little bit of both, Sam. I need a little help."
Ushering Fenton into his office, Sam sat down at his desk. Fenton explained about searching for Mr. Collins and how far his search had taken him. Taking out the photo of Mr. Collins, he gave it to Sam to study.
"I was wondering if you had any 'John Doe's' matching his description."
"You say he may have been mugged?"
"That's what the manager at the deli said. He saw someone fitting Mr. Collins description at the pay phone. Two men approached him, there was a scuffle, the police and an ambulance were called to the scene."
"I know that area, let me find out who was on patrol on that day and time. Hopefully the responding officer will still have his notes."
While they waited for the information, the two friends had some coffee and reminisced. Fenton also updated Sam about his family. An hour later, Officer Tom Labine knocked on the door.
"You wanted to see me sir?"
Thirty minutes later Fenton stood outside a hospital room, waiting for the doctor to finish making his rounds. A few minutes later, the doctor came out of the room. The doctor was in his late 40s, with dark hair and dark eyes.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Landon. Nurse Campbell said you wished to speak to me?"
"Yes, I'm Fenton Hardy. I'm a private investigator. I'm looking for a missing person; his wife is very worried about him. I wanted to have a look at the 'John Doe' that was brought in several days ago."
"Ah yes, my mugging victim. He's right in this room. He had a mild concussion but unfortunately, the trauma of the attack has left him with amnesia. He doesn't remember his name but he does have some memory of a woman named Ellen."
Fenton tried to keep his hopes from rising as they walked into the room.
The man, with light brown hair, turned to see who was entering his room. He smiled when he saw the doctor.
"This is Fenton Hardy; he may be able to help you find out who you are."
Fenton had taken out the snapshot; he studied it carefully then looked at the man sitting in the bed.
"Can you really help me?" asked the man.
"I believe I can. In fact, I know I can….for one thing, I know your name, it's Edward Collins. Your wife's name is Ellen." Fenton turned to Dr. Landon. "Do you think if he saw his wife that would help him gain back his memory?"
"It might; it couldn't hurt."
*princessfifitinkerbelle*princessfifitinkerbelle*
That had been two days ago. Fenton had called home to give them the good news. Then he arranged for Jack Wayne to fly Ellen Collins out to see her husband. Tammy stayed behind. Today, Laura had taken Ellen to get a few essential items for the trip home.
Edward Collins, already out of the hospital, had stayed in New York City. He had found a nice apartment for his family, and went back to thank Mr. Webber for keeping his teaching position open.
Joe held out his teacup to Tammy. He really didn't mind playing tea party. But Tammy had wanted to play dress-up tea party.
As Frank arrived back home, he was surprised to realize how much he was going to miss Tammy when she left. She had given him some idea what it would have been like to have a baby sister. Although Frank was glad that Joe had been a boy!
Hearing a car pull up, Frank turned and smiled when he saw who it was. Callie waved at him, and he saw that Vanessa was also in the car.
"Hi Frank! Is Joe inside?"
"He should be, I think he had to baby-sit Tammy."
Callie gave Frank a kiss on the cheek. "Why aren't you helping him baby-sit?"
"I'm giving him a dose of his own medicine! I snuck out when I found out Mom and Mrs. Collins were going shopping."
When they didn't find Joe in the family room, Frank figured they were upstairs. He went to get some drinks, with Callie's help, while Vanessa went up the stairs. She could hear Tammy giggling. Not bothering to knock, Vanessa opened the door and walked into the room.
"Hi, 'Nessa!" Tammy squealed happily.
Vanessa stood in shock. There was Joe, a pink floral sheet wrapped around his body. His hair was done up in pink, blue and yellow barrettes. Vanessa wasn't sure if Joe's face was pink due to him blushing or from the pink blush painted on his cheeks.
Just then, Callie walked into the room. Frank bumped into her when she froze on the spot.
"Callie why'd you….Joe?"
"That's not Joe," Tammy said in an exasperated voice.
Joe sat up straight, looked his brother in the eye….then in a falsetto voice, said. "I'm Princess Fifi Tinkerbell!"
"Our apologies, your Highness." Vanessa gave a low curtsey.
"I really wish my cell phone had a camera." Callie mumbled.
"Oh goody! Lady Peachtree is here!" Tammy took Vanessa's hand and had her sit down next to Joe.
"Who am I?" asked Callie.
"Lady Gumdrop!"
Frank was trying to quietly exit the room when Tammy shouted.
"Lord Copperbottom, where are you going?"
Later that evening, as the Hardys sat in the family room, Laura gave a sad sigh.
"I really miss Tammy; she was so sweet."
Joe, who was sitting on the floor by his mother's feet, turned to look up at her.
"Are you sorry Frank or I didn't turn out to be a girl?"
Laura smiled down at her blue-eyed baby, and she stroked his hair.
"I wouldn't trade you or your brother for anything in the world!"
"You almost had a daughter," Frank snickered.
"No," said Joe. He stood up with a haughty expression on his face. "A Princess."
Joe then tried to walk very regally towards the stairs; he turned to Frank and used a falsetto voice again: "And that's Princess Fifi Tinkerbell to you, Lord Copperbottom!"
*endofstory*endofstory*
Extra Note: And there you have it - one of the most adorable stories Lola ever wrote. Hope you love it as we do.