The Dragons Strike

Christmas break was over and all of the girls were coming back. They all had presents from their families, but sadly, Marty had spent Christmas alone with only Miss Priscilla for company. Kiki hadn't even sent a card.

Rebecca and Hannah were showing off their gifts. "I got a snow globe!" Hannah said happily.

"I got a beautiful bracelet," said Rebecca.

"What did you get, Marty?" Hannah asked in a snooty voice.

"She didn't get anything... because her aunt HATES her," Rebecca voiced.

Marty tried to keep the tears from shedding as she bit her bottom lip. She looked at Hannah and Rececca.
"It is better to give than to receive," she said, hoping they didn't catch the waver in her voice.

Mommy and Daddy had said that giving to others was much better than receiving, even though they always got her the best gifts. They had tried to instill in her values, such as how to be kind to others. Marty tried not to show how much she hated NOT getting a gift. She wished she knew a way to make the mean girls go away. It wasn't fair that they were always tormenting her.

"Awww, little cry baby is sad because she didn't get any presents," Hannah mocked. "You could always steal one!"

"I'm NOT a thief!" Marty gasped. "I'm a good girl!"

"What's going on here?!" Miss Priscilla demanded when she heard their loud voices.

"It's Marty," Rebecca spoke up. "She's jealous because our families got us presents. She threatened to steal my bracelet... and she said she would break Hannah's new snow globe."

"What?!" Miss Priscilla gasped, looking at Marty with disgust. "You ungrateful, rotten child!"

Marty tried to protest to the accusations, but Miss Priscilla refused to listen. "You WILL be punished!" the school master cried out. She grabbed Marty by the arm and started dragging her off to toward the Bad Room, the infamous place Megan had told Marty about; the place where all the naughty children had to go for their punishment. Marty was promptly locked in the dark room under the stairs. She cried and pleaded, but no one let her out.

Marty sat on the cold floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her tears fell as she mournfully sobbed.

"Please, please someone come and find me," she sobbed.

There was no response to her cries. "Mommy, Daddy, Someone," she begged tearfully.

Hannah and Rebecca had lied to Miss Priscilla and now she was all alone in the dark where she hated it most, and without Sara Beth, too. Marty was terribly frightened of the dark.

"Please... can anyone hear me?" she sobbed pleadingly.

Megan could hear Marty. She stood outside the door, but she couldn't get Marty out. Tears streaked Megan's cheeks, because she knew her friend was innocent and the mean girls were to blame for what had happened. She wanted to help Marty, but she didn't know how.

"Megan, you stay out of this... or you'll be in trouble, too," Miss Priscilla warned.

Megan had no choice but to return to her chores. When Megan went back upstairs, Miss Priscilla walked over to her giant oak secretary. She needed to write an important letter to Kiki Saybrooke. She had to let Miss Saybrooke know that her hellion of a niece had just been disciplined.

Dear Miss Saybrooke,

I am writing to inform you that your niece Margaret Saybrooke, a student at our wonderful learning institution, has not been able to follow our rules. She is lax in her daily routine. I am constantly having to force her to keep up. She can't seem to respect the property of her roommates either. I was forced to discipline the child through no fault of my own as she chose to destroy their property out of hatred and jealousy.

She is unfit to socialize with peers in and around her age group. I fear she maybe a real problem for the institution; we expect the girls here to be able to follow rules of society and to conduct themselves like proper young ladies. Your niece is a hellion who constantly seeks to disobey. She refuses to learn proper conduct despite all of my best efforts.

Due to the fact that your niece has willfully chosen to disobey, I ask that you come to Boston at once to retrieve her. We cannot have such a nuisance in our midst. Margaret only serves as a distraction to the other girls who are here to receive proper etiquette and an education. I request that you arrive within two weeks to take your niece back to New York.

Respectfully yours,

Miss Priscilla Weatherly

Miss Priscilla waited for the ink to dry on the page, then she folded the letter and carefully placed it in an envelope. She would have it sent by express to Kiki Saybrooke at once. She couldn't wait for that annoying little hellion, Marty Saybrooke to leave her facility!