The next day, Toni woke up to find that Lyra had already left the house.
She hung around the house for a while, feeling upset. She hadn't meant to
do that to Marieke. She had just flopped down onto the settee when there
was a knock on the door. It was Rosie.
"Hey Rosie," greeted Toni unenthusiastically. "Wanna come in?"
"Thanks," smiled Rosie, following Toni inside and taking a seat. "Have you seen Marieke today?"
"No, and I don't plan to," said Toni. "Because she won't speak to me."
"That's not true," said Rosie uncertainly.
"It is true and you know it is," corrected Toni.
"You can't blame her though. She didn't want that out in the open, and I thought it was good of her to confess," said Rosie. "And then you went and blew it all."
"Look!" cried Toni, jumping to her feet. "I never meant for this to happen. I never do. I just can't help myself from saying these things sometimes."
"I know, but . . ." Rosie started.
"I can see you came round here to help, but it's not working. So just go!" ordered Toni.
Rosie got up quietly. She was a bit taken aback by Toni's temper, but she didn't blame her. She turned around just before she left the house.
"Don't worry. Marieke will come around," Rosie reassured.
Then she left and shut the door behind. Toni flopped down onto the settee again.
~*~
"Marieke? Marieke, open up!" yelled Lyra, knocking hard on Marieke's front door.
"Go away!" ordered Marieke from inside.
"Don't worry, Toni's not here. It's just me," said Lyra.
Lyra waited for a few seconds, and then the door opened in front of her.
"What?" asked Marieke.
"Listen, I know you're mad at Toni, and I don't blame you, but . . . hey!"
Marieke had started to shut the door again, but Lyra grabbed it back open.
"Just listen to what I have to say!" cried Lyra. Marieke said nothing. "OK, Toni really didn't mean to say that. She's just quite a loud person and can't stop herself sometimes."
"Well I wish last night hadn't been one of them sometimes," fumed Marieke.
"We all do. Toni especially," stated Lyra. "But what's done is done. We can't take it back now. And Toni is really really sorry. She was devastated last night because she thinks she's lost your friendship."
"Well she has," said Marieke, but not as angrily as before. "I can't be friends with her after last night."
"Yes, you can. And I think you should be thanking her actually," said Lyra.
"Thanking her?! Whatever for?!" cried Marieke, angry again.
"For getting your secret out. Because it's helped someone else to get theirs out," explained Lyra.
"What are you talking about?" enquired Marieke.
"I think Lizzie likes you," grinned Lyra. "When you stormed off, she followed straight after. Didn't you see her?"
"No," said Marieke, calming down considerably. "I ran right through to my house without stopping."
Neither of them said anything for quite a while, until Lyra broke the silence.
"Well, I'd best be going then," she said, starting to walk away. "And I think you should go and talk to Toni."
"OK," agreed Marieke. "And Lyra?"
"Yeah?" asked Lyra, turning around.
"Thanks," smiled Marieke.
"Any time," grinned Lyra, walking off.
Once she'd gone, Marieke made her way over to Lyra and Toni's house.
~*~
About half an hour later, Toni and Marieke had patched things up and were friends again. They were sitting on the settee chatting and feeling happy.
"I'm so sorry," apologised Toni for about the tenth time.
"Forget it," grinned Marieke. "I don't really mind as long as Lizzie doesn't say anything to me."
Suddenly, there was another knock at the door.
"Wow, I'm popular today," joked Toni, going to answer the door. It was Mel and Frodo.
"Hi Toni, have you spoken to Marieke yet?" asked Mel.
"Take a look," grinned Toni, pointing inside the house.
Mel and Frodo looked through to see Marieke on the settee, smiling and waving.
"I'll take that as a yes then," laughed Mel.
"So you're friends now then?" enquired Frodo.
"Yep," replied Toni. "Marieke is surprisingly forgiving.
"That's because I have good reason," giggled Marieke.
Marieke and Toni both started laughing. Mel and Frodo just looked confused.
"Well we just wanted to know if you two were OK, so we'll be going now," said Frodo. "Bye!"
"Bye!" Toni and Marieke waved Mel and Frodo off.
Just as Mel and Frodo had gone out of sight and Toni had sat down, there was another knock at the door.
"Argh! Up, down, up, down!" cried Toni. "I feel like a yo-yo."
This time it was Lizzie at the door.
"Err, hey Toni," greeted Lizzie. "Is Marieke here, cos I can't find her anywhere?"
"Yeah, she's here," said Toni, looking over her shoulder. "Marieke! There's someone to see you."
"Hi," said Marieke shyly, blushing hard.
"OK, I'm gonna leave you guys alone," announced Toni. "I've gotta go and find Lyra. Don't get all fruity while I'm gone."
"Tone!" cried Marieke, though she was trying not to laugh.
Toni didn't say anything, and ran out of the house laughing.
~*~
As Lyra was running round the village, she ran straight into someone.
"Toni!" she cried, pulling her to her feet. "Just the person I wanted to see!"
"You wanted to see me? Why?" questioned Toni.
"I have got the most brilliant idea!" announced Lyra. "Come on, we need a couple of things."
"So what's this brilliant idea for then?" asked Toni.
"A prank," grinned Lyra.
"Who on?" asked Toni.
"Who do you think? Merry and Pippin of course!" cried Lyra. "Remember, we were gonna get revenge on them for the spider joke?"
"Oh yeah," realised Toni. "So what do we need?"
"Some things that are gonna be very difficult to find. So I'm gonna ask Bilbo if he can help," said Lyra. "Oh, and while I'm doing that, I need you to make some posters."
"Posters?" Toni wondered aloud.
"Yeah, just basically explaining this . . ." Lyra whispered the rest of the plan into Toni's ear.
Afterwards, Toni went back to hers and Lyra's house to start making the posters, and Lyra went to see Bilbo.
~*~
Later on that night, Toni had produced a stack of posters. She went around sticking them up around the Shire. The posters read:
'Just to notify you that there is an abandoned coffin on Bag End, by Bilbo Baggins' house. We do not know where it has come from, and are trying to find out. Please do not touch or move the coffin, for the respect of the person inside.'
Just as Toni was sticking up the last few posters, Lyra came over to her.
"We've got the suit and the coffin," announced Lyra. "Bilbo thought it was a hilarious idea, and didn't mind helping. So come on, we've gotta get back up to Bag End."
Lyra and Toni hurried up to Bag End. There was a coffin hidden in the bushes next to Bilbo's house. They pulled it out and laid it in the middle of the road.
"Whoa, that's really heavy, even if it is empty," said Toni.
"Come on Tone, you've gotta put this on," said Lyra, holding up the black suit.
"That's not fair! Why do I have to be the dead guy?" whined Toni.
"Because I said so. Now just put it on," ordered Lyra.
Toni pulled the black suit on over her clothes, and then climbed into the coffin. Lyra, with the help of Bilbo, had loosened up one of the side panels and put it on a hinge, so that it could easily be pushed open from the inside.
"Remember, your cue is when I make the owl noise," reminded Lyra. Lyra gave her a quick demonstration so she wouldn't forget.
"OK, OK, I get it," said Toni.
"Good. Nightie night" smiled Lyra, shutting the lid.
About an hour later, Toni was still in the coffin and Lyra was still hiding in the bushes nearby, waiting for Merry and Pippin to come. Lyra knew that if they saw a poster telling them not to do something, then they would immediately come and do it. She was just surprised about how quiet Toni was, seeing as she was so hyper and impatient.
Not long after, Lyra could hear whispering. As predicted, Merry and Pippin were coming to see the coffin.
"Why did they just leave the coffin here though?" asked Pippin. "The people are already dead, so why care about being respectful?"
"Dunno," said Merry. His face turned to a grin. "I dare you to touch it."
"No way!" cried Pippin. "You touch it!"
"Nope," Merry shook his head. "I dare you. I said it first."
"Well . . . I said it second," said Pippin.
"I double dare you," added Merry.
"Fine," agreed Pippin, trying to be brave. "It's just a wooden box anyway."
Pippin reached out and gingerly touched the lid of the coffin. Lyra made an owl hooting noise from behind the bushes. Toni recognised the cue and shoved her hand against the loose panel. The panel fell open, and she reached her hand through and grabbed Pippin's wrist.
"AAHHHH!" screamed Pippin, trying to release his hand, but Toni kept a firm grip.
Inside the coffin, Toni balled her other hand into a fist and shoved it into her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
However, outside the coffin was mayhem. Pippin was struggling and trying to prise Toni's fingers off his wrist, Merry was panicking and trying to decide whether to aid Pippin or to run and get help, and Lyra was rolling in the bushes with tears streaming down her face from silent laughter.
Suddenly, a light switched on in Bilbo's house, and the door was flung open. Bilbo came out with an angry (faked) look on his face.
"And what do you think you're doing?!" he thundered.
Toni remembered this as the other cue, and let go of Pippin and drew her hand back inside.
"N-nothing," stammered Merry. "But the dead person's come to life."
Pippin just nodded, too terrified to speak.
"A likely story," said Bilbo. "And what did you do to the coffin?!"
"We didn't do anything to it," replied Merry.
"Then how come one of the panels have fallen off?" asked Bilbo.
"We didn't do that, it was the dead person," said Merry.
"I don't believe you," said Bilbo shortly. "I want you two back here tomorrow afternoon. I'll punish you both then."
Bilbo went back inside.
"Come on, Pip," said Merry, taking hold of Pippin's sleeve and pulling him along.
As they were walking, Merry and Pippin both looked back at the coffin. Lyra gave another owl hoot, and Toni stuck her hand out once more and waved goodbye to Merry and Pippin. This was too much for the two hobbits. They both ran back to their house screaming.
"Hey Rosie," greeted Toni unenthusiastically. "Wanna come in?"
"Thanks," smiled Rosie, following Toni inside and taking a seat. "Have you seen Marieke today?"
"No, and I don't plan to," said Toni. "Because she won't speak to me."
"That's not true," said Rosie uncertainly.
"It is true and you know it is," corrected Toni.
"You can't blame her though. She didn't want that out in the open, and I thought it was good of her to confess," said Rosie. "And then you went and blew it all."
"Look!" cried Toni, jumping to her feet. "I never meant for this to happen. I never do. I just can't help myself from saying these things sometimes."
"I know, but . . ." Rosie started.
"I can see you came round here to help, but it's not working. So just go!" ordered Toni.
Rosie got up quietly. She was a bit taken aback by Toni's temper, but she didn't blame her. She turned around just before she left the house.
"Don't worry. Marieke will come around," Rosie reassured.
Then she left and shut the door behind. Toni flopped down onto the settee again.
~*~
"Marieke? Marieke, open up!" yelled Lyra, knocking hard on Marieke's front door.
"Go away!" ordered Marieke from inside.
"Don't worry, Toni's not here. It's just me," said Lyra.
Lyra waited for a few seconds, and then the door opened in front of her.
"What?" asked Marieke.
"Listen, I know you're mad at Toni, and I don't blame you, but . . . hey!"
Marieke had started to shut the door again, but Lyra grabbed it back open.
"Just listen to what I have to say!" cried Lyra. Marieke said nothing. "OK, Toni really didn't mean to say that. She's just quite a loud person and can't stop herself sometimes."
"Well I wish last night hadn't been one of them sometimes," fumed Marieke.
"We all do. Toni especially," stated Lyra. "But what's done is done. We can't take it back now. And Toni is really really sorry. She was devastated last night because she thinks she's lost your friendship."
"Well she has," said Marieke, but not as angrily as before. "I can't be friends with her after last night."
"Yes, you can. And I think you should be thanking her actually," said Lyra.
"Thanking her?! Whatever for?!" cried Marieke, angry again.
"For getting your secret out. Because it's helped someone else to get theirs out," explained Lyra.
"What are you talking about?" enquired Marieke.
"I think Lizzie likes you," grinned Lyra. "When you stormed off, she followed straight after. Didn't you see her?"
"No," said Marieke, calming down considerably. "I ran right through to my house without stopping."
Neither of them said anything for quite a while, until Lyra broke the silence.
"Well, I'd best be going then," she said, starting to walk away. "And I think you should go and talk to Toni."
"OK," agreed Marieke. "And Lyra?"
"Yeah?" asked Lyra, turning around.
"Thanks," smiled Marieke.
"Any time," grinned Lyra, walking off.
Once she'd gone, Marieke made her way over to Lyra and Toni's house.
~*~
About half an hour later, Toni and Marieke had patched things up and were friends again. They were sitting on the settee chatting and feeling happy.
"I'm so sorry," apologised Toni for about the tenth time.
"Forget it," grinned Marieke. "I don't really mind as long as Lizzie doesn't say anything to me."
Suddenly, there was another knock at the door.
"Wow, I'm popular today," joked Toni, going to answer the door. It was Mel and Frodo.
"Hi Toni, have you spoken to Marieke yet?" asked Mel.
"Take a look," grinned Toni, pointing inside the house.
Mel and Frodo looked through to see Marieke on the settee, smiling and waving.
"I'll take that as a yes then," laughed Mel.
"So you're friends now then?" enquired Frodo.
"Yep," replied Toni. "Marieke is surprisingly forgiving.
"That's because I have good reason," giggled Marieke.
Marieke and Toni both started laughing. Mel and Frodo just looked confused.
"Well we just wanted to know if you two were OK, so we'll be going now," said Frodo. "Bye!"
"Bye!" Toni and Marieke waved Mel and Frodo off.
Just as Mel and Frodo had gone out of sight and Toni had sat down, there was another knock at the door.
"Argh! Up, down, up, down!" cried Toni. "I feel like a yo-yo."
This time it was Lizzie at the door.
"Err, hey Toni," greeted Lizzie. "Is Marieke here, cos I can't find her anywhere?"
"Yeah, she's here," said Toni, looking over her shoulder. "Marieke! There's someone to see you."
"Hi," said Marieke shyly, blushing hard.
"OK, I'm gonna leave you guys alone," announced Toni. "I've gotta go and find Lyra. Don't get all fruity while I'm gone."
"Tone!" cried Marieke, though she was trying not to laugh.
Toni didn't say anything, and ran out of the house laughing.
~*~
As Lyra was running round the village, she ran straight into someone.
"Toni!" she cried, pulling her to her feet. "Just the person I wanted to see!"
"You wanted to see me? Why?" questioned Toni.
"I have got the most brilliant idea!" announced Lyra. "Come on, we need a couple of things."
"So what's this brilliant idea for then?" asked Toni.
"A prank," grinned Lyra.
"Who on?" asked Toni.
"Who do you think? Merry and Pippin of course!" cried Lyra. "Remember, we were gonna get revenge on them for the spider joke?"
"Oh yeah," realised Toni. "So what do we need?"
"Some things that are gonna be very difficult to find. So I'm gonna ask Bilbo if he can help," said Lyra. "Oh, and while I'm doing that, I need you to make some posters."
"Posters?" Toni wondered aloud.
"Yeah, just basically explaining this . . ." Lyra whispered the rest of the plan into Toni's ear.
Afterwards, Toni went back to hers and Lyra's house to start making the posters, and Lyra went to see Bilbo.
~*~
Later on that night, Toni had produced a stack of posters. She went around sticking them up around the Shire. The posters read:
'Just to notify you that there is an abandoned coffin on Bag End, by Bilbo Baggins' house. We do not know where it has come from, and are trying to find out. Please do not touch or move the coffin, for the respect of the person inside.'
Just as Toni was sticking up the last few posters, Lyra came over to her.
"We've got the suit and the coffin," announced Lyra. "Bilbo thought it was a hilarious idea, and didn't mind helping. So come on, we've gotta get back up to Bag End."
Lyra and Toni hurried up to Bag End. There was a coffin hidden in the bushes next to Bilbo's house. They pulled it out and laid it in the middle of the road.
"Whoa, that's really heavy, even if it is empty," said Toni.
"Come on Tone, you've gotta put this on," said Lyra, holding up the black suit.
"That's not fair! Why do I have to be the dead guy?" whined Toni.
"Because I said so. Now just put it on," ordered Lyra.
Toni pulled the black suit on over her clothes, and then climbed into the coffin. Lyra, with the help of Bilbo, had loosened up one of the side panels and put it on a hinge, so that it could easily be pushed open from the inside.
"Remember, your cue is when I make the owl noise," reminded Lyra. Lyra gave her a quick demonstration so she wouldn't forget.
"OK, OK, I get it," said Toni.
"Good. Nightie night" smiled Lyra, shutting the lid.
About an hour later, Toni was still in the coffin and Lyra was still hiding in the bushes nearby, waiting for Merry and Pippin to come. Lyra knew that if they saw a poster telling them not to do something, then they would immediately come and do it. She was just surprised about how quiet Toni was, seeing as she was so hyper and impatient.
Not long after, Lyra could hear whispering. As predicted, Merry and Pippin were coming to see the coffin.
"Why did they just leave the coffin here though?" asked Pippin. "The people are already dead, so why care about being respectful?"
"Dunno," said Merry. His face turned to a grin. "I dare you to touch it."
"No way!" cried Pippin. "You touch it!"
"Nope," Merry shook his head. "I dare you. I said it first."
"Well . . . I said it second," said Pippin.
"I double dare you," added Merry.
"Fine," agreed Pippin, trying to be brave. "It's just a wooden box anyway."
Pippin reached out and gingerly touched the lid of the coffin. Lyra made an owl hooting noise from behind the bushes. Toni recognised the cue and shoved her hand against the loose panel. The panel fell open, and she reached her hand through and grabbed Pippin's wrist.
"AAHHHH!" screamed Pippin, trying to release his hand, but Toni kept a firm grip.
Inside the coffin, Toni balled her other hand into a fist and shoved it into her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
However, outside the coffin was mayhem. Pippin was struggling and trying to prise Toni's fingers off his wrist, Merry was panicking and trying to decide whether to aid Pippin or to run and get help, and Lyra was rolling in the bushes with tears streaming down her face from silent laughter.
Suddenly, a light switched on in Bilbo's house, and the door was flung open. Bilbo came out with an angry (faked) look on his face.
"And what do you think you're doing?!" he thundered.
Toni remembered this as the other cue, and let go of Pippin and drew her hand back inside.
"N-nothing," stammered Merry. "But the dead person's come to life."
Pippin just nodded, too terrified to speak.
"A likely story," said Bilbo. "And what did you do to the coffin?!"
"We didn't do anything to it," replied Merry.
"Then how come one of the panels have fallen off?" asked Bilbo.
"We didn't do that, it was the dead person," said Merry.
"I don't believe you," said Bilbo shortly. "I want you two back here tomorrow afternoon. I'll punish you both then."
Bilbo went back inside.
"Come on, Pip," said Merry, taking hold of Pippin's sleeve and pulling him along.
As they were walking, Merry and Pippin both looked back at the coffin. Lyra gave another owl hoot, and Toni stuck her hand out once more and waved goodbye to Merry and Pippin. This was too much for the two hobbits. They both ran back to their house screaming.