Shopping day. Yep, it was that time of the month. When the Reads went shopping, it was the trip to buy as many things in one go as possible. DW and Kate would get dolls, Arthur would get comics and action figures, and Robert would get as many Star Wars items he could. Dave would get new cooking tools, and Jane would get folders, copy paper, and printer ink. And of course, above all else, food and clothes would be bought for the month.
So fourteen year olds Arthur, and Robert, ten year old DW, and six year old Kate, scrambled into the car. They buckled their seatbelts, and the Reads were off. Arthur and Robert chatted away their spending plans, while DW sang Mary Moo Cow to her heart's content, getting groans from Kate. Jane looked over the shopping list, while David tried to block out the bullhorn known as his daughter.
They pulled up to the Elwood City Mall, parked and got out. Once inside, David decided to take the boys, while Jane took DW and Kate. The first stop on Jane's agenda was Wal-Mart, built into the mall as part of the plaza's one stop shopping motto. Jane made her way to the food section, ordering her kids to split up and find different foods. Once the girls had gone off, Jane sighed, content that they were out of her hair. Hey, she never was the best parent.
DW looked in the frozen section for mixed veggies.
"Yuck!" She said to herself, opening the door, and grabbing two bags of the cursed product. Just then, in a magical swirl, Nadine was at her side.
"Hey, DW!" The young girl said. DW stared at Nadine for a long while. She hadn't seen her for years, and figured it was because Nadine no longer existed to her.
"Surprised to see me?"
Kate was grabbing milk for her mother, always the obedient angel. Kate was marching back to her mother, when a man, around thirty, offered to help her.
"No thanks!" Kate politely refused.
"Are ya sure?" the man insisted.
"I'm sure!" Kate continued walking away. She wasn't aware, however, that the man continued to stare at her, long after she had walked away.
Now Kate was, of course, six years old. She looked like her mother for the most part, but her hair was long and straight, curled into ringlets. Her hair was also and brown-gold complexion, the kind of hair her maternal grandmother had. Kate was also a brave soul, with no task too scary or hard for her. She felt like the whole world was in her hands. Such was the life of a six year old.
"It can't be!" DW stared at Nadine, mouth agape, and people had begun to stare at her, not seeing the other little girl in front of DW.
Nadine smiled, and said, "You really thought I was imaginary, huh?"
DW nodded. Then she steadied her gaze, and said, "You are."
Nadine then tapped her wrist, and all of a sudden, people around gasped, and ran away.
"Other people can see you too?" DW asked. Nadine nodded.
"In time, I'll tell you all you want to know. But right now, I've come to warn you."
Nadine whispered into DW's ear, and DW's eyes widened, mouth hanging open, as she heard the most disturbing news.
Robert and Arthur were in the toy aisle, looking at all sorts of boring stuff. Then, something caught their eyes. Robert had heard of a new toy that was a mixture of Star Wars, and army men. Arthur and Robert both wanted to try it out. And now, they could. They took out their money, and held it high, as they filled their cart with this epic new toy.
Meanwhile, David was in the grill section of Sears, buying charcoal, lighters, pokers, and a new grill. Their old one had seen its best years, and was now very rusted, and it burned stuff quickly. A change was in order. David looked around, and saw, the most beautiful grill ever. It was brand new, with shiny black legs, and a stunning red top. It had all the latest controls, and it was rated five stars. And, it was ON SALE! David stared at the beautiful cooking machine in front of him, as "Halleluiah" played in the back of his mind.
"YES! Oh my gosh, yes!" David hugged the grill, getting weird stares, before dragging it off to the checkout. Richard, Buster's brother, saw the display, remarking, "I knew he was a strange man."
Back in Wal-Mart, Jane had sent Kate off on another food mission, this time, giving her five foods to find instead of the one. Jane sighed and whistled to herself as she eyed the bakery section. Everything looked so good! From the apple crumbles, to chocolate donuts, this was a mom's heaven.
DW, meanwhile, had learned a lot. Nadine was a member of the CIA, part of the Guardian Angel program. She was outfitted with state-of-the-art stealth gear, a teleportation device, and much more. Although she was DW's age, she was still qualified for the job. But now, she was a member of Silent Delta, a team meant to take down pedophiles, and other similar offenders. A man named Rango Keef, had been recently spotted in the area. He was on Nadine's team's watch list, and her squad mates were all over the mall.
Silent Delta consisted of Nadine, of course, the team leader. Then there was Keith, a black haired guy with square glasses, the technical nerd. Then there was Christa, a member of the Guardian Angel program, who was Emily's "imaginary" friend. And finally Jeffory, the team rookie. The team had locked down the grocery aisles, and Nadine was evacuating DW before they took the guy down. But, with Nadine being distracted momentarily, the man had already made off from the grocery sections, hiding by the toy section.
When Kate returned with the food items, Jane dismissed her to the toy aisles, giving her twenty dollars for anything she wanted. She looked around at so many dolls, and other girl items. The man from earlier came up behind her, watching her stare at a thirty dollar toy, and watching her glance at the twenty in her hand.
"You really want that, don't you?" He spoke up. Kate jumped and spun around. "You don't have enough?" He asked. Kate shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll pay for it."
Kate replied, "You don't have too."
The man replied, "Oh no, I insist! Come, I'll take you through checkout." The man grabbed Kate's hand and walked her towards the front.
Arthur and Robert were looking at their loot, as they walked out of the store. Their shopping trip had them out one hundred fifty dollars, three fourths of the money they had saved. The two walked out of the store, happy as ever, not noticing their sister checking out with a stranger.
In the frozen section, Nadine and DW were interrupted by Jeffory.
"Sarge! We've lost him!" The newbie said, scared.
Nadine spoke into a wrist com. "This is Sergeant Nadine to all points! Spread out across the store. We've lost the target. Repeat, we've lost the target! Fan out and find him!" She turned to her old friend.
"I'll catch ya later DW. Don't give Arthur a hard time! Bye!"
"Bye Nadine!" DW waved. "WOW! SO COOL!" She said, grabbing the frozen veggies, and marching off to meet her mother.
Nadine ran towards the clothes section of the store. She glanced towards the entrance, and saw, RANGO KEEF! Walking out of the store with Kate in reluctant tow. She dashed for them, when she ran into an old lady.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" Nadine said hurriedly, running off.
"Get back here you!" The lady said, waving a cane at the fleeing girl.
Nadine reached the entrance, and lost them. She spoke into her com. "This is Nadine. Rango's gone."
She sighed. "We failed."