The Mystery of the Missing Mementos
Summary: Co written with Jolly Roger Brat. When the family of Orillia comes to visit Enchancia, things that have meaning begin to go missing as the kids team up to solve the case.
Chapter One
The royal family of Enchancia was in front of the castle waiting for the coach to land. From where she was standing between her mother Helen Genevieve "Nell" Johnson, three-year-old Elena was excited. For the next few days, the royal family of Orillia, a northern kingdom, was coming for a visit. King Robert and Queen Patricia meeting with Roland and Miranda, and they were bringing their daughters Zoe and Sandra with them. Their oldest son, Ezekiel, wasn't with them, since he was back at the castle working as a servant for a few months.
Nell remembered the last time she had been in Orillia. Elena and Gabby were only a few months old, and she and Bianca had brought Madeline and Sabrina with them. The eight-year-olds had taken some treats that Sandra had made for a birthday party without asking, but everything had turned out all right in the end. She reminded her sisters to behave themselves, and to make sure to ask Sandra if they could try some of her cooking if they wanted to sample it. She was also eager to have them meet Elena and Gabby. They had been a few months old when they first visited the kingdom, and Nell wondered if they remembered the new people.
"Presenting the royal family of Orillia," Baileywick announced.
"Roland," King Robert smiled as the family approached.
"It's good to see you again, Robert," Roland said as they shook hands. "I'm sure you remember Helen and her sisters, Sabrina and Madeline. And Nell's daughters Elena and Gabby. Her husband Robert will be along in a few minutes when he's done with his guard duties."
"Of course," Robert smiled as he kissed Nell's hand. The family had been invited to Nell and Bobby Lee's wedding, but they hadn't had a chance to properly meet Bobby Lee. "It's good to see you again, Helen."
"And you, King Robert," Nell smiled.
"She's got a sword!" Elena whispered, seeing the fencing foil at Sandra's side.
"That's right," Sandra agreed. "I had a fencing match this afternoon. My family had packed all our things in the morning, so we were able to go to my match and then come here."
"Did you win?" Gabby asked, seeing a trophy in the carriage.
"Second place," Sandra smiled.
"Well done!" Roland smiled; James had told him that Sandra was good with a sword, and they were both in Royal Prep's fencing club.
"Thank you, sir," Sandra said as she put her trophy back.
"Maybe you can practice sword fighting with the guards," Nell smiled. "I know Bobby Lee would love to see you in action. He'll never believe there's such a thing as a girl fencer!"
"Why would Daddy think that?" Gabby wondered in confusion, a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Me and Gabby sometimes see a girl guard," Elena muttered, looking down at her feet. "King has to have her work with him like Daddy gets to if we see her!"
Nell chuckled, patting her head. "I'm sure she does Love Bug but Daddy-"
"Daddy what?" Bobby Lee interrupted with a chuckle, kissing his wife on the cheek.
"Daddy would like to see Princess Sandra do some sword fighting," Nell smiled, motioning to their guests.
"A female fencer?" Bobby Lee asked. He looked surprised, but smiled when Sandra gave him a salute with her blade. He saluted back and said, "Well, Princess, I'd love to see you in action. Maybe we could put on a little exhibition after you get settled in?"
"That sounds like fun," Sandra agreed, putting her fencing foil at her side again.
"You see kitties first?" Elena asked.
"Kitties?" Zoe asked, Sandra echoing her.
"Elena's kitty Snow White lives in the stable," Nell explained. "She loves introducing her to new people."
"I love kitties too," Sandra agreed. "I have one at home."
"What's her name?" Elena asked.
"Well, sweetie, *his* name is Ambre. But I thought he was a girl first, so I called him Amber," Sandra explained.
"And lucky for us, Snow White turned out to be female!" Bobby Lee chuckled.
"Robert!" Nell chuckled. "Let's show everyone to their rooms, let them settle in, then we'll see Snow White."
Elena hated waiting. To her it was the worst thing on earth other than bath time as Gabby took her hand.
"Let's play with our toys while Mommy and Daddy talk to the grown ups," Gabby suggested with a smile. "They always take a long time."
"Girls, they don't take that long!" Bianca chuckled, patting their heads. "Besides your mommy and daddy thought that way about adults too when they were a little older than you."
"They did?" Elena asked in surprise.
"Yes they did Elena Lydia. Often I saw them sneak away one moment and the next come back completely filthy!" Bianca recalled with a laugh.
"Don't get any ideas, you two," Bobby Lee gave Elena and Gabby a mock glare.
"Snow White wouldn't like it if you picked her up and you're all filthy!" Nell agreed.
When the royal family from Orillia had settled into their rooms, Elena happily led the way to the stables where Snow White lived with her kitty friends.
Snow White looked up from her playtime with Lily Heart before nibbling on her ear.
"Hey! What's that for?!" Lily Heart purred, having the snow furred kitty let go.
"Mommy's here!" Snow White purred, running into her human mommy's arms as Lily Heart looked on.
She knew that Snow White had a special bond with Elena and as she watched Elena hold her up to some new humans, she realized that maybe Elena had the same bond with her best friend.
Elena proudly introduced the royal family of Orillia to the kittens. "This is my kitty Snow White!"
"Too bad we didn't bring Ambre with us," Zoe said as she stroked Snow White, "He'd like meeting her."
"But we both know that Ambre doesn't travel well in the coach," Robert agreed, knowing that the yellow tabby had been frightened when he had taken his first ride in a flying coach.
"It's all right, and you both know how skittish he is around strangers," Queen Patricia agreed. "It's just as well that he's at home."
"Someone has to hold down the castle while we're gone," Sandra agreed.
"You mean Ambre's the king of your castle?" Nell asked.
"Of course he is! What kind of question is that?" Sandra grinned as everyone laughed. "But he does let Dad meet with people, sign documents, and everything else."
"He's so generous," Robert chuckled.
"Wish Snow White could do that," Elena muttered softly as Nell picked her up.
"Elena, she can. It's just that Roland is allergic to her," Nell reminded her with a smile.
"It's all in his head," Sandra whispered.
"Yeah!" Elena agreed.
"Don't start that again," Nell smirked.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Sandra smiled sweetly.
"Me either!" Elena giggled.
"Okay, now that we've met the kitties, let's let playing kitties play," Nell suggested as Snow White went back to the cats, and the cats continued their game.
Elena frowned, seeing how happy Snow White was before remembering a kitty of her very own. She was happy that Roland wasn't allergic to toy kitties as she ran back inside the castle to get it.
Her heart began to break as she realized that Kitty wasn't where she had left her that morning. Then again she remembered Princess Elena saying that Kitty had wings on her back so to the three year old, her best friend just flew away somewhere.
"Kitty? Kitty!" Elena called as she searched her room.
"What's the matter, Elena?" Bobby Lee asked.
"Kitty's gone! I looked all over for her but I can't find her nowhere!" Elena's lower lip started to tremble.
Bobby Lee knew that Elena would have a meltdown at any second about this, so he acted quickly. "It's all right, Love Bug," he said as he picked her up. "I'll help you look for her. Kitty can't have gone too far. She was just in here this morning."
Elena sniffed, burying herself in his chest as Bobby Lee stroked her hair.
"Is everything alright Robert?" Florence wondered as she began to put away some of Elena's freshly cleaned dresses.
"Elena's just upset that Kitty is lost," Bobby Lee explained as Florence nodded in understanding. "Mother, she's attached to Kitty as I was with Lamb lamb."
Florence smiled. "Oh yes. I remember that. You've had that little lamb ever since you were her age."
"That's right," Bobby Lee smiled as he remembered the lamb toy from his childhood. He sometimes let Elena and Gabby play with it, as long as they were careful, and he recalled that when they were first born, Lamb-Lamb would be between them in their crib, guarding them as they slept.
"And now she's in your and Helen's room where Helen has told me that you still sleep with her at night!" Florence chuckled much to the embarrassment of her son. "Speaking of your step children, when are you and Helen going to have one together?"
"Together?" Bobby Lee asked in shock as Elena looked up at him. "We have a child in this room! I can't just talk about Elena's mommy and I playing with each other!"
"Playing? Like tag?" Elena asked with a smile. "Because I'm good at tag!"
Florence chuckled at Elena's innocence. "No sweetheart. You see when Mommy and Daddy love each other very much, they-"
"Find Kitty?" Elena interrupted with a quivering lip.
"You're right, Love Bug; first thing's first: Let's find Kitty!" Bobby Lee smiled.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sandra offered. "I couldn't help hearing you, and I know how Elena feels about losing something she loves."
"Really?" Elena looked up.
Sandra nodded. "I've got a plush kitty myself. Zoe gave him to me when I won my first fencing match."
"Is he like my Kitty?" Elena asked.
"No, Fig's just a regular plush kitty. He's like a good luck charm I use for my fencing matches. I'm not superstitious or anything, but..." Sandra trailed off.
"But you feel better when you sense he's watching you, since he was a gift from someone in the family," Bobby Lee smiled.
"Exactly," Sandra nodded.
"Can I see him?" Elena asked.
"Sure," Sandra smiled. "I keep him in my bag where I have my fencing outfit." She led her to her room, with Nell, Florence, and Bobby Lee behind them. However, when she went to her bag, she reached in and gasped. "He's gone! I always keep him in there when I go to fencing matches, but he's not there now!" She turned the bag inside out, but there was no plush black and white tuxedo cat.
"Where's your kitty?" Elena asked.
"Where's my kitty?" Sandra echoed.
"Now calm down there's no reason to freak out," Nell said with a smile as Elena ran to her arms. "I'm sure that we'll find both kitties."
"Before it's like your and Robert's first show and tell back in kindergarten Helen?" Florence recalled with a mocking glare.
"I'm sorry for taking Bobby Lee's lamb and I promise never to do it again," Nell recited, remembering that day well. "I hated being his partner for a month because of it."
"But you learned a lesson because of it, didn't you, Helen Genevieve?" Bianca smirked.
"Yes, Bianca," Nell replied, giving her the same guilty look she wore when she was found with the lamb.
"What happened? I heard Elena crying and wanted to help her," Zoe said as she poked her head into the room.
"Come on in, Zoe," Sandra waved her in, "We were looking for Elena's toy Kitty, and I wanted to show her Fig, but he's gone too!"
"Did you misplace Kitty?" Zoe asked. "I know Fig lives in Sandra's bag, so that's the first place I'd look for him."
"No!" Elena sniffled. "Kitty lives in my room!"
"Okay, let's look again," Nell suggested. "Maybe Kitty fell on the floor and you didn't see her."
"Like whenever you would lose your dolls as a kid," Bianca recalled with a chuckle, taking Elena by the hand.
"Maybe my eyes weren't working during those times," Nell muttered, taking Elena's other hand.
"It happens to the best of us," Bianca smiled. She knew Nell always tried to be careful with her things. She and Elena looked around her and Gabby's beds and under dressers and tables, but they didn't find Kitty.
"We'll find her; she can't have just gotten up and walked away," Bobby Lee assured her.
"Why would someone take Kitty? She's mine!" Elena was about to cry.
"Zoe and I can ask around, if that'll help," Sandra offered, Zoe nodding at her side.
"Thank you, Princess Sandra!" Nell smiled.
"Hey, we kitty lovers have to stick together, right?" Sandra smiled at Elena.
"Yeah!" Elena smiled a little.
Zoe and Sandra asked around into the evening for Kitty but unfortunately all they got was shakes of heads. Elena tried to stay positive that Kitty would be found but she was starting to become impatient.
Her hero, according to Nell and Bobby Lee, had given her Kitty during her and Gabby's first Wassailia and since meeting Princess Elena, Kitty meant everything to her.
Elena didn't want to be impatient or feel that way but she could sense her autism and when it was going to have her act out.
Mostly it was because she was curious about the world around her and herself which began the steak incident that her mommy wanted to forget.
The more she thought about Kitty, the more upset she was becoming until her autism had set itself loose.
Zoe saw Sandra shrink back with her hands over her ears when Elena's meltdown started. "You want to get out of here, Sandra?" she asked, knowing that her older sister had always been sensitive about not only certain smells, but also loud noises, and Elena screaming so close to her was making Sandra uneasy.
"I'm okay," Sandra tried to straighten up, but she managed to take her hands off her ears.
"You two go ahead," Bobby Lee urged, waving them out. "We'll take care of Elena."
"That's all right, son; Helen and I can calm her down," Florence spoke up. "You go with the girls. Maybe the three of you can meet up with Princess Sofia, Prince James, and Princess Amber, and see if they have any leads on the missing kitties."
"Good idea," Bobby Lee nodded, then when they were out in the hall, he asked, "Are you all right, Princess Sandra?"
"I'm okay," Sandra said as they walked along. "Sorry about that. Loud noises always bother me, but I know it's not Elena's fault."
"You know Elena's autistic, don't you?" Bobby Lee asked.
"Yes; King Roland described you and your family in his letter," Sandra nodded. "Mom told us to be patient with Elena, and try to help her if you need anything for her."
Soon, Sofia, James, and Amber met up with them. "No luck finding Kitty?" Sofia asked.
"And Elena's a little upset about it?" James asked, grinning.
"You could say that," Bobby Lee chuckled. "Did you three have any luck finding Fig or Kitty?"
"We couldn't find them anywhere," Amber replied. "What about you?"
"Nothing yet," Sofia shook her head.
"What's going on around here?" Amber wondered.
"Wish I knew," Bobby Lee muttered, shaking his head.
"I WANT KITTY!" Elena screamed, having everyone near the door cover their ears. "GIVE ME KITTY!"
"If Elena doesn't have Kitty with her tonight, she won't sleep good and she'll forget our routine," Gabby said with a sigh, trying to cover her ears.
"Where was the last place you know you had Kitty?" Sofia asked.
"She was playing with Kitty in our room," Gabby remembered. "Mommy said she looked for her, but didn't find her."
"Maybe whoever took Kitty left a clue to help us find her," James suggested. "I know that's probably my spy character Andrew Harmon talking, but he's helped me out a few times."
"We all love a good mystery now and then," Sandra agreed. She and James were in Royal Prep's creative writing class, and they knew each other's story characters.
"Elena and I love James' stories! They're almost as good as Mommy's!" Gabby smiled.
"If there's one type of story I love, it's a mystery!" Bobby Lee grinned. "Come on, everyone; let's go see what we can find."
"James you think Elena and I can be with your Andrew guy?" Gabby asked with a smile, looking left and right for Kitty.
"Gabby, he uses middle names for his stories," Sofia explained with a chuckle. "Not first names."
"Maybe in a future story, he can work with a Miss Lydia and Miss Anna," Bobby Lee grinned as he searched. He loved James' stories as much as everyone in the castle, and he'd sometimes borrow one of them to read to the girls as a bedtime story.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" James grinned. "And I can use an idea similar to this mystery, and the solution!"
"And I can't wait to read it when it's written," Nell said as she and Florence came out with a somewhat calmer Elena.
"Still miss Kitty?" Gabby asked, taking Elena by the hand.
Elena only sniffed as an answer, not wanting to speak.
"She's calm but in a bit of shutdown," Nell whispered to Bobby Lee with a frown. "She's not talking much."
"Give her time," Sofia advised. "She'll talk again when she's ready."
As they walked along, Nell paused by her and Bobby Lee's bedroom door, which was wide open. "That's strange," she thought out loud. "I could have sworn that door was shut."
"Stay back, Helen," Bobby Lee cautioned. He entered the room and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, until he looked at his bed, where he kept one of his most treasured childhood possessions. "Lamb-Lamb! I just had him on the bed this morning, and now he's gone!" he gasped. He threw a playful look toward the group, dropped to his knees, and groaned dramatically, "Lamb-Lamb! WHYYYY?"
Nell was right beside him in a heartbeat. "Oh, don't be so dramatic," she tried to sound stern, but she couldn't help but smile. "Florence probably took Lamb-Lamb to get washed...for the millionth time!"
"That's not funny," Bobby Lee looked sad now. "I've had that little lamb for as long as I can remember! Mother told me that Lamb-Lamb was the last gift my father gave me."
"I know," Nell said sympathetically. "Don't worry; we'll find him." She looked around, and her gaze fell on her jewelry box, which was also opened. Nell jumped up and ran over to it. She rooted through it, and gasped.
"You're missing something too?" Sandra asked.
"My late mother's necklace," Nell replied. "I wore it when Bobby Lee and I got married, and I keep it in a special place in my jewelry box." She sighed. "I keep it away from Elena and Gabby, and when I do wear it, for special occasions, they know not to touch it."
"What's going on here?" Zoe asked.
"That's a really good question, Princess Zoe," Florence said as she looked around the room.
