Chapter Four

The wind had died down and the rain was subsiding, given the storm had moved out, but there was still tens of thousands of people stuck at Hartfields-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. It was close to midnight local time, and it could be at least a day or two before things were back to normal.

But a day or two was not going to cut it for Isabella. She had to find a way out of Atlanta, and she needed to find it now. Thankfully, Isabella was a resourceful girl, and with flying out no longer an option, she had arranged a ride with a Fireside Girl troop that happened to be passing through the area on their way to the Jam and was going to get a ride with them.

She waited outside in the passenger pick-up area, where it was crowded as well. She watched as dozens of cars passed by.

"I just realized something," thought Isabella out loud. "How are they going to find me? They don't even know what I look like!"

As if on cue, a horn beeped at her from nearby. She looked to her left and saw a silver minivan slow to a stop right near her. The window on the passenger side began to lower, and a pale-skinned girl with black hair stuck her head out. She waved at Isabella.

"It's her!" she squealed, excitedly. "It's really her!"

Once the vehicle had stopped, the girl opened the door to greet Isabella.

"Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46231?"

"Yes."

"I'm Lucy, leader of Fireside Girls Troop 10264, based out of Jackson, Mississippi! And may I say it's an honor for all of us to meet you!"

"All of us?"

The back passenger side door slid open, and two more girls jumped out. One was a light-skinned redhead with freckles and the other was a dark-skinned black-haired girl.

"This is Lana, and that is Latoya! And, just in case you're curious, all of the girls in our troop don't have names that start with L. Just us three."

By this point, the driver, a woman that looked exactly like Lucy, only 30 years or so older, had stepped out to say hello as well.

"And this is our chaperone, driver, and my mom!"

"Well, hello there!" she greeted.

"Hi!"

"We'll have time for pleasantries on the road. Where're your bags, honey?"

"Stuck in baggage claim, unfortunately. I just have to hope they get to Washington."

"Well, then, nothing to do but hit the road!"

"Thanks for giving me a ride," Isabella said as they started to pile back into the van.

"No thanks necessary!" exclaimed Lucy. "Fireside Girls always stick together! Even when they're from two different troops!"

Once everyone was in, Lucy's mom closed the doors, hopped into the driver's seat, and then they were off. Lana and Latoya had moved over so that Isabella could get the window seat, right behind Lucy.

"We're huge fans of you and your girls' blog! We check it several times a day! Several, several in my case!"

"Ooh! Great to meet fans!"

"We love reading about all of your adventures. But my favorite entries are the ones about you and your quest to win the boy of your dreams. Phineas, right? I mean, what's his deal? You two are made for each other!"

"I know he'll come around eventually…"

"I like Adyson's entries, too. I can't believe she was disappointed in meeting Madison Pettis! You can't be disappointed in meeting a celebrity, no matter who it is!"

"Heh, that's what I keep telling her."

"And why is that whenever Milly and Katie try to cook, there's a canister of rat poison nearby? Is that their thing or…"

"Look," Isabella politely interrupted. "I appreciate all the love, but it's kinda been a long day, and I want to get some rest."

"Oh. Okay then."

With that, Lucy quieted down and settled in, allowing Isabella to breathe a sigh of relief and start thinking about getting some shuteye. But not before pulling out her cell phone and texting Adyson an update.

'Just left airport. If all goes well, should be there by about noon.'

She sent it, then turned off her phone, in an attempt to conserve some battery. She sighed, then stared out the van window.

"I should text Phineas too, to see how his trip is going," she thought to herself. "Then again, it is kind of late."

She paused for a few seconds to debate it. She then reached for her phone to turn it back on. Once it was up and running, she typed out her text.

Having fun in DC! Miss you, Phineas!

She was about to send it, but stopped when she began to have second thoughts. After all, it was not in her nature to lie. But she wanted Phineas to know that she was safe, even if she was not with the others.

She changed her message.

Having a good time! Miss you, Phineas!

She was ready to press the send button again, but stopped a second time. This time, she was a little worried that she was being a little too personal.

Having a good time! Miss you and the whole family, Phineas!

"There," Isabella thought. "That's better!"

She pressed the send button, and the message was away. With that done, Isabella could finally get some sleep.

And believe that her nightmare of a trip was over.


"Isabella."

Isabella heard someone call out to her.

"Isabella."

She slowed opened her eyes to see who it was.

"Isabella?"

Fully awake, she saw that Phineas was staring at her, with his pointy nose just a few feet away from her face.

"Oh, good, you're awake! I was getting worried there for a second!"

"Where am I?"

She answered her own question as she sat up and felt the palms of her hands push up against blades of grass.

"Am I at The Mall?"

She saw the Washington Monument off in the distance, beyond Phineas' head.

"Oh, you're at a mall, alright."

Upon closer inspection, Isabella found she was actually sitting in an indoor garden located inside a shopping mall. And although she was seeing the monument, it was actually a miniature model of it, on display in the window of a nearby trinket shop.

"But I'm supposed to be at The Mall!"

"And you will be! Or, you and me can run away together and never have to worry about anything or anyone by ourselves ever again!"

Isabella froze, stunned at having been given a choice as to what to do next. And what a difficult choice it was.

"I can't abandon the girls. But I've dreamed of the day you asked me to…"

Isabella stopped herself, as a realization came to her.

"Oh no."


Isabella shot awake, for real this time, and found herself back in the van. She raised her arm to shield her eyes from the light of the sun, which was brightly peeking through the front windshield.

"Morning already?"

She rubbed her eyes as she tried to get her bearings.

"If my calculations are correct, we should have arrived in DC by now! Or, at the worst, be somewhere in Virginia."

She did not hear the van's engine or felt the van moving. She quickly assumed the former was true. Excitedly, she slid on the seat towards the sliding rear passenger-side door, which was open. She expected to see dozens of Fireside Girls in uniform, national monuments in all directions, and a large group of family, friends, fans, and other well-wishers cheering them on.

She instead saw three Fireside Girls not in uniform, amusement park rides in all directions, and a large group of roller coaster enthusiasts, fried food connoisseurs, and rowdy kids and kids-at-heart cheering for their next thrill.

"Wha… what's going on?"

A few feet away, Lucy had heard Isabella emerge from the van, and she left the side of her friends and fellow troop members to tend to her.

"Sorry for not waking you. We were going to wake you when we got here, but you looked so peaceful. Were you having a nice dream?"

"Yes. Sorta. Wait, forget about that! Lucy, where are we?"

"Glad you asked! Welcome to the Greatest Traveling Amusement Park in the World! The Finest Fair Ever!"

Isabella was so confused that she had to repeat the name to make sure she had heard it right. "The Finest Fair Ever?"

"Yep! Three coasters, dozens of rides and carnival games, and some of the darn best fried concoctions in the world! Here! Have a fried chocolate-dipped crab cake on a stick!"

Lucy handed the aforementioned food item to Isabella, who uncomfortably took it.

"Don't worry," Lucy assured. "It's free with admission to the park."

"I'm sure this is… delicious… but where are we? For real."

"In Tennessee."

"Tennessee?"

"Yep. Tennessee River's right over your shoulder."

"Okay, but what are we doing here? What happened to going to DC?"

"Oh, we're still going there. But we're not arriving there until tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning? But Lucy, I needed to be there this morning!"

"I'm sorry, Isabella. But we're a small troop. We were only planning to be there for the Saturday events. It's our troop's very first trip to the Jam, and we're just going for the experience."

"That's all well and good, but my troop is counting on me to lead them! And I can't do that if I'm here!"

Lana and Latoya walked over to see what was going on.

"Girls, we have a problem," Lucy said as she turned toward her girls. "Isabella thought we were going straight to DC, but obviously, that's not the case. Options?"

The girls thought for a minute. Suddenly, Latoya looked up, as an idea had popped up in her head.


"I say, I never guessed that you would have the rare Hot Air Balloon Inflation Patch!"

Isabella was sitting in the basket, looking up towards the top of the balloon where Latoya was inflating it with her own lungs. Finally done with her task, Latoya pushed the air latch closed. Exhausted, she slid off the side of the balloon and fell into the waiting arms of Lana, who caught her. Latoya gave Isabella a thumbs up, then promptly fell asleep, exhausted from all of the air she had just exhaled.

"She'll be out for a few minutes, but she'll be fine," Lucy assured Isabella as Lana carried Latoya back to the van to lie down.

"Are you sure I can borrow your balloon? Don't you need it for your demo at The Jam?"

Lucy dismissed that concern immediately. "We brought a spare in case of emergencies. I assume you know how to fly one of these?"

"You assume correctly," replied Isabella, cheekily.

"Then the only thing I have to tell you is to head east-northeast of here to get to DC. Do that, and you should have just enough fuel to land right on The Mall without any problem."

"Got it!"

"Oh, one more thing! You owe me and the girls something for this!"

Isabella was not expecting a catch. She began to worry.

"The minute we get to DC, you'll personally introduce us to Adyson and the others!"

Isabella breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem! That, I can do!"

She turned on the burner, and the balloon slowly began to lift off of the parking lot ground and into the air. Lucy took a few steps back and waved farewell as Isabella resumed her journey to Washington.

"Have a safe flight!" shouted Lucy.

Before she knew it, Isabella was high enough to begin horizontal movement of the balloon. She began steering it to the east-northeast, as instructed to by Lucy, and soon Isabella was comfortably on her way.

"At this rate, I'll be in Washington in a couple of hours!"

But Isabella could not help but wonder how the others were doing in her absence.

"The Opening Ceremonies should be starting any minute! I'll miss the start of the Troop of the Year competition, well, the first event at least. I hope Adyson and the others can manage without me."

To be continued...