Chapter 8
Jason and Mildred didn't have time to puzzle over this mysterious turn of events, because, just them one of the gunmen, who had doubled back, spotted them.
"They're here!" he cried out opening fire on them.
Jason wasn't worried about himself, but he knew that Mildred wasn't bullet proof so he grabbed her and yanked her down behind the display case.
Suddenly a blast of energy shot out of the jewel on the staff shattering the plexiglass and knocking the gunman backwards against the wall hard enough to knock him out.
Then the staff flew off its stand and into Mildred's hand.
To say she was stunned would be an understatement.
"Come on," said Jason, "Let's get out here before the reinforcements show up!"
"What about the staff?" asked Millie
"We'll sort that out later, come on!" said Jason. they raced out the door and toward the nearest elevator. Getting on the elevator they took it to the top floor and from there hurried to the stair case that led to the roof.
As soon as they opened the door, they could hear voices coming from the other side of elevator's maintenance shed. Sneaking forward and peeking around the corner of the shed, they saw three gunmen guarding what appeared to be a laptop with a small satellite dish plugged in to it.
"That's got to be the jammer!" he whispered to Millie
She nodded.
"I'll handle the guards," said Jason, "you destroy the jammer and get the police here. By now big brave Sgt Murtaugh is probably hiding under the refreshment table sucking his thumb!"
Mildred nodded as she stifled a giggle.
Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he watched until the guards were standing right next to each other. Then he bolted around the corner and threw himself into them sideways knocking them all down.
Millie came running around the corner and blasted the jammer with a bolt of energy from the staff. Both the computer and the satellite dish shattered into a million pieces.
She looked over as Jason finished knocking out the last of the three guards, then she pulled out her cellphone and dialed 911.
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Miss Hardbroom straightened up from the world map that lay on the table in front of them.
"I'm afraid Ethel was right," she sighed, "None of the location magic I've used has registered anything. That girl and her mother have done a thorough job of making Mildred Hubble disappear."
"And Ethel said that the potion sends the person to a random place," said Enid
Maud nodded,
"Which means that even Ethel and her mum have no way of knowing where Millie is!"
Miss Cackle, who had been in conference with the Great Wizard, the Magic Committee and Ursula Hallow since she had informed him of the situation, returned just then.
She pushed Ursula and Ethel into the room in front of her. she was followed in by the great wizard.
"Miss Hardbroom," she said, "The Great Wizard has convinced Ursula and Ethel that it would be in the best interests of their family to put their resources to helping us locate Mildred Hubble."
"Good," said Miss Hardbroom, "They have contacts all over the world."
"And it's only fitting since they're the ones who got Millie into this mess in the first place!" said Enid
Ursula and Ethel both frowned but Ursula started making calls.
A few minutes later she was finished.
"There," she said, "I put the word out to every contact I have, can I go now?"
"No," said the Grand Wizard, "Your sources might not talk to us, so you're staying here until we get the girl back!"
The looked on his face left no room for argument.
Ethel was sitting in an armchair sulking. The last person she wanted back at Cackles was Mildred Hubble. Ethel suddenly realized that someone was looking at her. Thinking it was probably Maud or Enid glaring at her she turned to make some snarky remark.
When she saw who it was, she stopped short and her words caught in her throat.
It was her younger sister Sybil standing there.
The pained look of disappointment in her sister's eyes and on her face was almost more than Ethel could bear.
"Ethel, how could you do such a thing?" she asked and a soft voice
"Hubble bubble had it coming," said Ethel trying to defend her actions
"Nobody deserves to be forced to forget who they are and the people they love. I never thought even you could be that mean." Said Sybil shaking her head sadly at her sister before walking away.
Sybil's words of disappointment in her cut Ethel deeper than anyone there could've guessed, because, of course, Ethel was too proud to let it show.
Sybil walked out onto the parapet about the gate. She stood there at the wall looking up at the stars that were twinkling in the night sky.
"I hope you're okay wherever you are, Millie," she said quietly. Secretly Millie was still her hero. Yes, she had seen for herself that Mildred Hubble wasn't perfect, but she had also seen something in Mildred that she didn't see in her sister Ethel-at least very often, and that was the willingness to put others before herself.
"Are you alright, Sybil?" said a voice behind her. Sybil turned and saw her sister Esmeralda standing there.
"Yes," said Sybil "I just can't believe that Mom and Ethel would do such a thing?!"
Esmerelda sighed
"Yeah, I know," she said, "This is the one of the worst things they've ever done. Come on we'd better get back inside it's getting chilly!"
Sybil nodded she turned headed back toward the door.
Esmeralda lingered behind for a moment and sighed as she watched her sister go.
There was no two ways about it, she was going to have to find a way to protect her sisters from their own parents!
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After destroying the Jammer and tying up the three goons who were guarding it. they made their way back to the main exhibit hall. Slipping in through the service entrance and hiding behind an overturned table, they found a large of group of gunmen holding everyone in the room hostage.
They were being led by a dark-haired-women who dressed like a soldier and was brandishing two machine pistols. She was also wearing a radio headset.
"Hurry up!" she snapped, "you should have had that rock out of that case five minutes ago!"
Just then the tense silence in the room was shattered by the sound of sirens as a dozen squad cars and the S.W.A.T. van pulled up outside.
"Boss, Boss," came a voice over her radio, "The Jammer's been destroyed and the cops are here!"
"Thank you, captain obvious!" she snapped back
She turned and glared at the hostages.
"Alright," she snapped pointing both pistols at the crowd, "I'm sure someone here knows who's out there playing hero. If you don't want a bunch of hostages to die right now, you'd better tell him or her to cool it!"
"Millie," whispered Jason, "Our only chance is if you can use that staff to blast everyone in the room at the same time!"
Mildred nodded
"I'll give it a try." She replied
"Only one shot at this, Millie," she said to herself, "Make it count!"
She concentrated and the jewel in the staff began to glow. The glow got brighter and brighter just as it caught the attention of the crook's leader Mildred shoved the staff upward. The jewel flashed and bolts of energy shot out in all directions blasting the guns out the crook's hands.
Jason, Millie Jason's father and all the cops attacked, and in less time than it takes to tell about it, they had subdued the crooks.
Jim Steele walked over to the one table that hadn't been turned over when the crooks had taken over the room.
He pulled up the tablecloth
"Murtaugh," he said half-rolling his eyes, "you can come out now bad lady go bye-bye!"
Millie and Jason bit their lips to keep from laughing out loud.
Murtaugh came clambering out from under the table looking offended by the what Jason's dad was insinuating.
"I-I wasn't hiding," he retorted, "I was formulating a plan of attack! As soon as she walked by here, I would have jumped her!"
"Sure," said Jim
As Millie, Jason, his family, and the hostages came walking down into the museums lobby they found themselves surround by reporters who were asking questions and snapping pictures.
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It was breakfast time at Cackles but from the way almost everyone was picking at their food it was clear that spirits were low.
There had thus far been no luck in locating Mildred Hubble.
Miss Cackle sighed and started to take another bite of her breakfast when suddenly Julie Hubble came bursting through the doors into the main hall.
"I found her," she panted, holding up a newspaper, "I found Millie!"
Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle together with Maud and Enid rushed from their seats to look at the paper she was holding up.
The headline read.
Young Heroes Nab International Jewel Thieves
Below the headline was a large picture of Mildred standing next to Jason. Jason's parents were standing behind them with their hands on their shoulders.
"She's in Miami, Florida," said Maud
"Yeah," said Enid, "And who's the boy?!"
To Be Continued…Please Read and Review
Will Mildred want to come back?
How will they restore her memory?
What should Ethel and Ursula Hallow's punishment be?