Chapter Two
When they were back in their guest room, Elena sighed as Nell and Bobby Lee tucked her and Gabby in. "Don't worry, Love Bug; after your nap, we'll look around the castle some more," Bobby Lee promised.
Suddenly, they saw Ambre hop up onto Elena's bed. "Kitty nap nap too?" Elena asked, giggling as Ambre sniffed her.
"He must know you like cats," Nell smiled as he curled up on the bed. She stroked Ambre and asked, "Are you going to keep an eye on them, Ambre?"
"Oh, yes," Sandra grinned as she watched from the doorway. "He'll stay with them for a few minutes, then he'll go off and do something else. But don't worry if he jumps on the bed while they're sleeping. He does that with Dad too, and that means he wants to play."
"They're famous for playing!" Nell chuckled with a smile.
"Speaking of playing, we better get to resting ourselves before Bianca gets us," Bobby Lee muttered, nudging Nell on the shoulder.
"Too late, Robert Lee," Bianca smirked as she came up to them.
"We were just tucking the girls in, Bianca," Nell tried to explain as she and Bobby Lee kissed Elena and Gabby and followed Sandra out of the room.
"Those two. Such children!" Bianca chuckled before seeing Ambre with Elena. "Well aren't you their knight in furry armor?"
Ambre purred, rubbing against Bianca who smiled, petting him gently.
"You've got a way with animals, Miss Bianca," Sandra smiled. "Normally Ambre's scared of new people, but if he sees them long enough, he makes his presence known. And he lets them pet him if they're nice to him."
"I'm honored that he likes me," Bianca smiled.
Ambre looked up, and Sandra said, "Okay, buddy, we're out of here. You just close your little kitty eyes and take a nap too."
Ambre purred again before closing his eyes and falling asleep with Elena.
"Elena Lydia is the gentle one. It's been twelve years since I was with an animal of my own," Bianca admitted with a smile as she and Sandra left the room. "I had a dog. I called her Rose after one of my favorite flowers. She was rather protective over Helen Genevieve. Especially while she was still in Lydia's stomach."
"Did they ever get along?" Sandra wondered with a chuckle.
"Oh yes," Bianca smiled. "I'd see them playing together sometimes, and we always invited her to tea parties we had. We'd give her tea in her own cup, and she'd lap it up while we drank ours. She also loved it when I played the piano."
"Like I said one other time, Ambre loves singing too," Sandra smiled.
"Your imagination is as strong as Elena Lydia's," Bianca smirked.
"I've been known to write the occasional story," Sandra grinned. "James and I are both in the Creative Writing class at school, and we're pretty good when it comes to word games."
"So I saw," Bianca smiled, remembering how easily they had solved the different clues.
"You're not so bad yourself," Sandra smirked back with a laugh.
"You're just being polite is all!" Bianca chuckled, seeing Madeline hug her legs.
"Sorry!" Sabrina yelled, dragging Madeline away from Bianca's legs. "She thought you were Nell."
"Madeline Elizabeth, your sister is with Robert Lee. You remember that they're married," Bianca reminded her with a smile.
"Why couldn't she wait until Elena and Gabby were our age?" Madeline grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Good things come to those who wait?" Sandra quipped.
"Stop sounding like Mom, Sandra," a new voice sounded behind them. The group turned, and they saw Zoe and Sandra's older brother Ezekiel, looking like he was going out to muck out the stables. "You think you're so great when it comes to word play, but you're not!"
"Zeke, I seem to recall that I recently got you an A on your last Strategic Planning scenario," Sandra replied. "And wasn't it Mom who said that you never liked doing papers?"
Ezekiel frowned at the memory. The teacher had praised his work, but he told him that Sandra had helped him write it. The teacher then said that he couldn't wait for her to come and wow him. However, he just asked, "Where's Spike? Is he still outside?"
"I would think so," Bianca replied, "He was playing with Prince James."
Ezekiel nodded and went out. He had been there when Robert and Patricia got a letter from King Roland that the royal family was coming to visit for a few days. Since he learned at the same time as Zoe and Sandra about Elena's autism, he had also been warned not to give Elena a hard time, or he'd have to muck out the stables for another month. However, that didn't stop him from thinking what he was saying.
"Elena's a little attached to animals," James explained to Spike while Ezekiel watched with interest. "But for someone her age, she's gentle as can be."
"A three year old with autism gentle?" Ezekiel smirked, petting Spike who licked him.
"Elena's not perfect but for her age she draws surprisingly well and loves everyone!" James defended, thankful that Elena was taking her nap.
Ezekiel just nodded and went to see how the horses in the stables were doing. He actually smiled a little as Spike followed him. "Come, Spike-a," he said as he led the way to the stables.
"Small world!" James chuckled, following the two inside. "Elena would love this place."
"So you weren't just referring to Spike when you said she liked animals," Ezekiel muttered, looking at one of the horses.
""No I was not," James said in annoyance. "Every animal in existence she loves! Okay except for bugs but that's beside the point."
"You think I enjoy what I do, James?" Ezekiel asked, picking up some horse muck.
"Well you did cause it yourself. And besides you were the one that caused your own downfall!" James reminded him with a chuckle.
"Like the red head and the children she made out of marriage?" Ezekiel smirked, seeing himself push James' buttons.
"THAT WAS NOT NELL'S FAULT!" James screamed, almost as red as Bobby Lee whenever that part of Nell's life was brought up.
"James! Ezekiel!" Roland, Robert, Nell, Bianca, and Bobby Lee ran in the stable, hearing the noise with Zoe and Sandra right behind them.
"Zoe, go play with Madeline and Sabrina!" Sandra pushed Zoe toward Nell's sisters, then tried to get between her brother and James. "Both of you, break it up!"
"James, thank you for trying to stand up for me, but I can handle this," Nell frowned at Ezekiel, then turned to Roland. "Roland, don't punish him over this. They almost came to blows, but Sandra tried to stop them. And James is right; Ezekiel was the one who unmasked him during his song."
"All right, Helen, but James, consider this your only warning," Roland agreed. "I know you were only trying to defend Helen's honor, but in the future, let Robert, both Helen's husband and Ezekiel's father, or myself, handle this."
"Okay, Dad," James agreed, then turned to the group. "I'm sorry, everyone; this won't happen again."
"It won't do any good grounding him anyway; he spends his extra time in his room," Roland said as James left, "I also can't punish him with extra chores; he helps everyone around the castle."
"Time out may work with my girls but I don't think time in the corner would work for James like it does for Elena!" Nell chuckled with a smile.
"If you Ezekiel, mess with my wife again, I swear I will-" Bobby Lee began, the anger of overhearing the words tossed out the young boy's mouth about his beloved pumping in his veins.
"Robert Lee, breathe," Bianca instructed, interrupting the young man who looked ready to do more than defend Nell in front of an inviting kingdom.
"Ezekiel, you'll be in the stables for the rest of the day," Robert spoke up.
"And I think it would be best if we all stay away from the stables," Bianca agreed. "We wouldn't want the boys almost coming to blows again."
"You're right, Miss Parkington," Robert agreed, offering her his arm. "If you'll come this way, we can find something more pleasant to do."
"Certainly," Bianca agreed, taking his arm as part of his offering. "I apologize for Robert Lee. The boy lost his father years ago and tries to defend anyone."
"With force to the one who has dismissed them?" Robert guessed, gently seeing Bobby Lee embarrassed by his actions.
"Oh yes," Bianca agreed. "He tries to protect everyone he comes across; that's what makes him so good at his job as a junior guard."
"And as a Daddy too," Nell added, kissing her husband on the cheek.
"Bobby Lee I'm bored!" Madeline whined, tugging on Bobby Lee's pants leg.
"Now Madeline be patient," Bobby Lee said, taking her hand. "You and Sabrina can play with Zoe and Sandra until Elena wakes up from her nap."
Madeline sighed, but she and Sabrina liked playing with Zoe. They were a little younger than her, but they got along well together.
"I just got a new doll," Zoe suggested, "You want to play dolls with me?"
Smiling, as they both enjoyed the occasional tea party with their dolls, Madeline and Sabrina followed her.
…
"Kitty? What wrong?" Elena asked, rubbing her eyes as Ambre rubbed against her.
It made the three year old confused, looking at Ambre with a smile, petting him.
She recalled that Sandra had said that Ambre liked jumping on the bed and trying to wake her or Robert up to play with him, and she figured that was what the cat had in mind. However, she got a surprise when Ambre started talking.
"Elena, listen to me," Ambre told her, "Something very strange is going on in the castle. You need to figure out what's happening."
"Okay," Elena nodded. She tiptoed over to Gabby and shook her awake. "Gabby, wake up! Ambre wants us to go with him."
"Ambre can't talk..." Gabby, who was still half asleep, mumbled.
"Yes I can, Gabby," Ambre said, making her sit up in surprise. "I need your help too."
"Why Kitty talk?" Elena wondered in confusion.
"Maybe we have am u let's like Sofia!" Gabby squealed, clapping her hands. "Right Ambre?"
"I'll explain about it later, girls; right now I need you to help me," Ambre said as he hopped on the beds again.
"Shouldn't we get Sandra?" Elena asked.
"I'll lead you around the castle," Ambre assured them.
"You don't think Snow White can talk too can you?" Gabby whispered out of earshot.
"I don't know. Mommy says I have a big imagination or something else like that big word but maybe she can just like Ambre!" Elena whispered back with a giggle.
"What would she say anyway?" Gabby wondered, seeing Ambre hop off the bed.
"You can figure it out later, girls; right now, I need you to follow me," Ambre said as he led them out.
When they looked around, Elena and Gabby were shocked. They had only seen their mommy and daddy a little while ago, and they had been just fine. Now they were frozen in large crystals, like the ones that hung from the chandelier in the dining hall, or from the lamps in the sitting room and bedrooms. As they looked around, they saw that it wasn't just Nell and Bobby Lee who were frozen; everyone was trapped in a crystal, and they were looking terrified.
"What's going on?" Gabby asked, poking the crystal that encased her father.
"Mommy?" Elena asked, poking Nell's crystal.
"Gabby, we have to keep Elena calm!" Ambre whispered, seeing Elena's sad face. "Sandra told me that she'd had a meltdown next to her, and like her, I don't like loud noises!"
"Okay, but how...wait...Elena! Kitty!" Gabby called, pointing to Ambre.
Elena looked at Ambre, then like she did with Snow White, she picked him up and started petting him. "Kitty..." she murmured.
"Ambre, Elena has at-is-him," Gabby explained.
"I know; I heard the family talking about it before you came here," Ambre agreed. "I also heard that Elena sometimes uses James' dog as a therapy animal, but she can use me while she's here."
"Can she use Spike too?" Gabby asked.
"Maybe, if he settles down enough, but that's only when there are people around to keep an eye on him," Ambre admitted.
"But there's not! He'll be a bad doggie and bad doggies bite!" Gabby wailed, wanting her mother's embrace now than ever.
"Gabby Kitty?" Elena offered, handing Ambre over to her sister.
"Elena, thank you," Gabby sniffed, looking around. "Queen Elsa is good. She has ice powers but never use them to be bad."
"Gabby don't like doggies," Elena whispered to Ambre.
The cat nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel. I don't like doggies either," he shuddered, recalling how Spike had chased him when he first came to the castle. "But he won't bite you. And besides, I saw him go out with Ezekiel, so he'll be in the stables for a long time."
Gabby looked relieved, but it was short-lived. "Okay, but how do we get Mommy and Daddy out?"
"Not just your mommy and daddy; Sofia and her friends and family too!" Ambre looked around.
Elena and Gabby followed his gaze. Ambre was right. Everyone from Enchancia, Robert, Patricia, and even Zoe and Sandra were encased in crystals.
"How we get them out?" Elena asked.
"I think I might have a way," they heard a voice behind them.
The girls looked up. "Miss Magic Lady!" Elena smiled, seeing Aleena.
"That's right, sweetheart," Aleena smiled as she pulled the girls into a hug, "Now come on. And bring Ambre with you. Let's get to my tower and see if we can figure this out."
Gabby nodded but Elena saw on her face that she wanted a certain Snow Queen instead.
Now Elena wouldn't mind Queen Elsa and Princess Anna to magically help them but knew that like Aleena's spells, a certain kind of magic would have to bring them to where they were.
"I know you're scared, girls, but I promise everything's going to be all right," Aleena tried to comfort them.
"How you know?" Elena asked before she went to look at the pretty fountain that squirted her with perfume again.
"My mother had a saying: The darkest hour is just before the dawn," Aleena replied. "It means that there's hope, even in the worst circumstances."
"Miss Bianca and Grand Mommy say that too!" Gabby smiled.
"Great minds do tend to think alike," Aleena joked, but then she turned serious as she waved her wand over her bookshelf. "Let's look through these books and see if we can't find something to help our friends."
"We can't read," Elena admitted, Gabby nodding beside her.
"That's okay," Aleena assured them, "I put a spell on the books so they'll read to us."
"Pretty pictures would've been better," Elena grumbled, feeling icy cold air.
"Elena you okay?" Gabby asked, seeing her sister shiver a little.
"Quiltius!" Aleena aimed her wand at the girls, making blankets appear around them. "Sorry about that; I forget how cold it gets up here. But if it's pictures you want, take a look at these."
She handed her what looked like the book she was looking at, but it was all in pictures. "Yay! Pretty!" Elena smiled.
"I'm glad you like that," Aleena smiled. "It's the same book I have, but it's just full of pictures, while I have both words and pictures."
"Good move, Aleena," Ambre purred from where he and Sinistra were watching everything.
"Thanks, Ambre," Aleena smiled. When she saw the girls' looks of amazement, she said, "I bet you didn't know that I can talk to animals too! I know how to enchant jewels with abilities, and one of them is the power to talk to animals."
"We knew what Ambre was saying too!" Gabby smiled.
"That's because when you were watching my fountain the first time, I slipped little necklaces around your necks," Aleena grinned, pointing at the red pendant Elena was wearing, and the blue pendant Gabby wore. "Your parents, Miss Parkington, and Miss Florence also got one."
"Yay!" Elena cheered. "We keep?"
"Of course you can keep them," Aleena smiled. "I hear you have a kitty of your own, and now you can talk to each other."
"Miss Aleena, Sofia has an amulet, and it let's her get powers when good so do we get that too?" Gabby wondered with a smile.
"Or is it talent powers? Because I can draw good!" Elena giggled, clapping her hands.
"I'm sure you're a very talented artist, Elena, but I'm afraid you won't be getting any other abilities. Talking to animals is the only power you get from these," Aleena replied, "Sofia told me about what her amulet does, but these are different than hers."
"Okay," Elena sighed.
"Yeah," Gabby agreed. "But how we save Mommy and Daddy?"
"I think I have a spell in one of my books," Aleena said as she looked at her books.
While she looked at her books, Elena noticed a blue glow from Gabby's pendant and a red glow from her own pendant.
Being sisters and twins, it made them confused about the glowing as they remembered Aleena's words about not getting any other abilities.
"I see you noticed that I also just put a protective enchantment on your pendants," Aleena said, looking up from a different book. "This will keep both of you safe from whatever trapped everyone in those crystals."
"Good idea," Ambre commented.
A while later, Aleena was still looking through one of her books, when she jumped back, jerking her hand away from the book as though her fingers had been scorched. "In the words of your royal sorcerer, Merlin's Mushrooms!" she gasped.
"What's wrong?" Elena asked, Gabby echoing her.
"I just learned that everyone is trapped in a Fear Crystal," Aleena gasped. "They're powerful magical items, and even if they break, the person who was trapped inside it is confronted with their worst fear until they face it."
"They be trapped and scared forever?" Elena asked.
"No, not forever, but it will take a while to free everyone..." Aleena looked in her crystal ball. She nodded grimly, seeing the Royal Families of Orillia and Enchancia trapped in individual crystals. She looked over the castle grounds, but saw that the guards were safe. She looked over the stable, and saw that Ezekiel and Spike were also safe. "That's right," she mused, "Animals aren't affected by Fear Crystals."
"How did this happen?" Sinistra asked.
"That's a really good question," Aleena replied.
"But what could Mommy and Daddy be scared of?" Elena wondered in confusion.
"Well they could have many fears. Especially when they love you two as their little girls," Alenna explained with a soft smile. "Gabby, from what Sandra has told me you fear dogs but what about you Elena? What's your fear?"
"Mean boy Jack teasing me," Elena whispered, referring to a little boy in the village who always teased her and Gabby. "People say bad things about me having at-is-him, but he's really bad."
"I can understand that," Aleena murmured, pulling her into a hug. "But you don't have to worry. I won't tease you."
"Thank you Miss Magic Lady," Elena sniffed softly, accepting the embrace as best as she could.
"Maybe the crystals have pictures! So we can see what everyone's scared of!" Gabby suggested as she jumped up and down.
"We could. Good idea Gabby," Alenna muttered with a smile, patting her head.
She aimed her wand at the images of the crystals and chanted a few spells. Suddenly, one of the crystals turned blue, and an image of a frog appeared. The girls and Aleena heard a bloodcurdling scream from within the crystal. "A frog? Who's afraid of frogs?" Aleena asked.
"Amber!" Elena shouted, Gabby nodding at her side.
"I know how she feels," Aleena shuddered. "I always hated having to handle frogs in school! But I like the songs they sing."
"James says Amber likes that too," Gabby remembered. "He said he sang a song once that Amber liked, and he said a froggie sang it first."
"I know the song you mean," Aleena smiled; she'd heard Sandra sing it to Ambre once. "Let's try your ideas. But first," she paused to put on a pendant with a turquoise stone. "My own protection from the Fear Crystals. Now let's go help Amber."
The twins nodded, running ahead as Elena kept having the image of a frog playing in her head.
Fearing animals wasn't in her family like she thought it was, wondering what a frog would like.
Aleena tapped Amber's crystal prison with her wand, and it shattered, but Amber was curled up in a ball on the ground. "No...no! Frogs! Go away...GO AWAY!" she screamed, covering her head with her hands.
"Princess Amber! It's all right! It's not real!" Aleena tried to comfort her. "You do know that frogs sing, right? And you like the songs they sing, don't you?"
"Frogs sing?" Amber asked, looking up into Aleena's calm eyes.
"Yes they do," Aleena murmured, rubbing her back as she sang softly, "So we've been told and some choose to believe it; I know they're wrong, wait and see..."
"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection..." Amber joined in, recalling the song James had sung to her, and told her that a frog sang it as well.
"The lovers, the dreamers, and me," they finished together.
Amber smiled. "James is right; music makes everything better. Thank you!"
Amber had just calmed down when Aleena's staff started glowing again.
"Who next?" Gabby wondered as Ambre purred against her.
"Is it Mommy?" Elena wondered, staring at the light with curiosity.
"It is Helen!" Aleena agreed when she heard Nell's terrified screams about birds coming from the crystal. She tapped Nell's crystal with her wand, and Elena and Gabby ran to their mother's side.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Elena cried, hugging her.
"Mommy!" Gabby smiled, hugging her on the other side.
"Birds! Birds everywhere!" Nell wailed. She looked at her sides, seeing her girls hug her. "My babies! I thought they were gonna take you away!"
"Mommy we here it's okay," Elena assured her with another hug.
"And it's okay that you had an accident Mommy," Gabby said, noticing a stain on Nell's skirt. "We get you cleaned up."
"You had a double fear," Alenna muttered, realizing that it wasn't more than the birds. "The first fear overlaps the second fear."
"Mommy, there's no birdies here," Elena assured her.
"Well, Sinistra's here, but you said it's geese that are the worst," Aleena remembered what Nell had told her. She caught the stain on Nell's skirt, aimed her wand at it, and murmured, "Tergeo!" The stain disappeared, and she helped Nell sit down.
"Thank you, Miss Aleena," Nell sighed with relief. She looked like she was struggling with something, and she said after a few moments, "Would it be all right if Sinistra stayed with me? I love hearing her sing."
"That's perfectly all right," Aleena smiled. "I think your royal sorcerer told you that phoenix song has a wonderful calming effect on people."
"I don't know if Cedric knows that, but Sofia does," Nell agreed.
"Who's next?" Gabby asked.
"For what?" Nell wondered in confusion.
"The Fear Crystal," Sinistra explained, flying over to Nell.
"Mommy, it's okay," Elena assured her, seeing that Nell was embarrassed over what she had done while in her crystal. "You and Daddy don't get mad when me or Gabby have accidents and well we won't be mad at you."
Nell looked uneasily around at the crystals. "Thank you, sweetheart, but what will your daddy say? And Bianca? Sabrina? Madeline? Or-"
Aleena held up a hand. "It's all right, Helen. I'm going to tell you something Sandra always tells me when I want to confide something to her: What happens here stays here. I won't tell anyone, so don't worry about it."
"I won't say anything if you don't want me to," Amber agreed.
"Thank you," Nell sighed with relief. "Now, who's going to be freed next?"
"I think we'll find out right now," Aleena said as her staff started glowing again.
"Well I recognize that scream," Nell muttered, looking concerned for whoever it was screaming.
"Daddy?" Elena asked with a frown.
"No Elena! Daddy's a boy!" Gabby giggled with a smile. "It's not Miss Bianca or Grand Mommy either."
The group turned, and saw Aleena's staff pointing them toward the crystal Sofia was trapped in. They ran to her prison as fast as they could.
Aleena had just barely shattered Sofia's prison when she fell out, crying even harder than Nell. She didn't look like she'd had an accident, which Nell was grateful for.
Amber was at her side in a second. She rubbed her back, like Aleena had done with her. "Sofia...Sofia, it's all right."
"Kitty?" Elena suggested, motioning for Ambre to go over to Sofia.
"Sof, what happened in there?" Nell asked, kneeling down towards the child, her face turning to it's motherly side as she could tell just by the look of terror in Sofia's eyes, she needed a mother.
"Princess, you're alright," Ambre assured Sofia who hiccuped, burying her face in Nell's blouse.
"Mr. Cedric...Ruby...Jade...all my friends turned against me for no reason!" Sofia cried.
"One of Sofia's biggest fears is losing her friends or something happening to them," Amber remembered as Nell began rocking Sofia in her arms as if she was Elena or Gabby.
"Sofia...shh...you're all right," Nell murmured. "You've got plenty of friends around you."
"My friends?" Sofia looked around. She smiled as she saw Nell, Amber, Elena, Aleena, and Gabby around her.
"We're friends," Elena smiled as she hugged Sofia.
"Yes we are," Sofia said as she stroked Ambre, who nuzzled her.
"Who do we free now?" Gabby asked.
"Let's see!" Alenna chuckled with smile. "Sofia makes number three in people saying. Elena, what number comes next?"
"Six?" Elena guessed, not understanding the question being asked.
"Honey, Love Bug, while that's true with how many people are in here, think for a second. Me, you, and Gabby plus Daddy equals?" Nell grinned with a pat on her back.
"Four!" Elena giggled, taking Ambre in her arms.
"One of my worst fears is math too," Aleena joked as she watched Sofia calm down.
When Sofia was feeling better, they saw Aleena's staff glow again. They went over to a crystal, but they didn't hear any screaming in terror. Instead, they saw an image of James with a mixture of horror and sadness on his face as he clutched his throat.
"Oh no...If James has to re-live the time he lost his voice and refused to sing in public again, I don't know what I'll do," Amber murmured as Aleena broke the crystal trapping James.
Like Sofia and Nell before him, James had fallen to the ground before picking himself up and running to the first person he could see.
Nell.
"Boy aren't I a child magnet?" Nell joked before looking down at James who was shaking. "James, you're alright. I got you."
Unlike Amber, who had been screaming bloody murder over the frogs, and Sofia, who was crying over losing her friends, James was shaking in silent tears, and it looked like he was having trouble speaking. He could only whisper the words before burying his face in Nell's chest.
"Elena, Gabby, I need you to help me out," Nell waved them over. "James, you know you can talk, and I've heard you sing. You have a wonderful voice, and you're blessed with your birth mother's talent for music."
"James, sing with me," Elena started, "You and me together will be...Forever you'll see..."
Raising his tearstained face to meet the little girl's gaze, James softly joined in, "We two can be good company, you and me, just wait and see..." He gasped. "I sang in public...and nothing bad happened! I can sing in public again!"
"That's right, James; your mother would be so proud of you," Nell smiled as she hugged him.
"Wouldn't yours be proud of you too?" James wondered, brushing a loose hair from Nell's face.
"I don't understand what you mean," Nell muttered, pretending not to know what he meant.
"Happy?" Elena guessed in confusion, not having a chance to actually meet Lydia.
"I'm feeling better, Elena, and we'll sing more songs later, especially a kitty song," James smiled as he saw Aleena's staff glowing at another crystal.
Gabby looked puzzled. The picture was a dog, but she was standing outside the crystal. "I'm not in a crystal thing. Who else is scared of doggies?" she wondered.
Aleena turned pale as she broke the crystal. "Oh no. If there's one thing that scares Sandra more than speaking in public, it's dogs!"
Her suspicions were confirmed when the crystal broke, and Sandra was huddled in a ball, just like she was if she heard a loud noise. "No...no! Dogs are evil!"