Chapter 4

"She did WHAT!? Oh this is just awful!" Tender Heart yelled. He had just received the news from Swift Heart. The whole hall murmured in confusion and shock.

Evangeline walked in and everyone stopped talking. Tender Heart walked over to her with a slightly angry look on his face. "Evangeline…why would you give No Heart the doll? You've put us all in danger?"

"Tender Heart, what're you talking about?" Evangeline looked worried.

"Don't use your little cutesy act on us!" Swift Heart butted in. "I saw the whole thing! You dropped the doll ON PURPOSE and let No Heart escape with it!"
Evangeline gasped. "No, Swift Heart! Thelma wasn't in my bag...that was cloud fluff! I buried Thelma so No Heart wouldn't find her, and then I stuffed my bag with cloud fluff. I tricked No heart into thinking he had the doll!" And with that statement, she held the doll up and everyone gasped.

"Evangeline...you...you've saved us all!" Tender Heart said. He smiled and hugged her. The bears and cousins cheered with delight, and it was decided that a celebration would be held.

"Wait!" Evangeline said. "My mother! She must be so worried about me. I'm sorry everyone, but I can't stay. Tender Heart...would you mind driving me home in your cloud car?"
Back on Earth, Felicia was worried sick about her daughter. She had arrived home and had thought that Darius had taken her out for ice cream or something, but when she tried calling him there was no answer. She started worrying and had proceeded to drive all around town, but had no luck. She had just called the police, and was now sitting on her bed crying her heart out.

"Mommy...are you okay?" she heard a small, feeble voice say. She lifter her head and saw her daughters bright face smiling down on her. "Was Cousin Andy hurt that badly?"

Felicia's lip trembled. She wrapped her arms around the little girl and sobbed even harder. "Oh, Evangeline! I was so worried...where on Earth were you?" She questioned.

"Well...I wouldn't say I was 'on Earth'." Evangeline replied.

"Wh...what do you mean, honey?" Felicia asked.

The little girl giggled. "Mom, if I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me!"

Thunder boomed outside of No Heart's dark, foggy castle. He had just discovered Evangeline's little trick and was absolutely furious. How could a little girl of age six trick an all powerful sorcerer? It was embarrassing.

He began plotting an evil scheme. He had to think of a new, more clever way to steal the doll.

After a little while of thinking, a thought popped into his head. 'I must distract the girl, and then Beastly could grab the doll!' No Heart thought. 'But how to distract her…ah-ha! I can create a duplicate of the doll and make her think I have real one in my clutches! She'll go running after it and then Beastly can go find the real doll!'

He set to work on the decoy. It took a little while since he had to make sure every detail was correct. But, at last, it was finished.

"Oh...if only this decoy possessed the same power as that other doll...but alas. If I tried to open the cave with this, it just wouldn't work!" He growled and slammed his fist on a table. "But...no matter. Soon the real thing will be in my clutches, and Care-a-Lot will be gone forever!"
He tilted his head and uttered an evil laugh. The thunder outside boomed even louder than before.