Disclaimer, the usual.
When dorothy awoke the sun had just barely started rising. She could smell bacon cooking from downstairs. As she got up and stretched she looked at the bedroom door to find it slightly ajar, and toto and pockets nowhere to be seen. zeb then peeked his head in the room. Dorothy could see he was wearing a light
"Oh, you're awake now." Zeb said.
"what time is it?" Dorothy asked taking her glasses from the side table and putting them on.
"four thirty, Auntie Melinda has been up since four to cook breakfast, everyone in this house has their own likes, like, how crispy they like their bacon." Zeb said.
"I'm not picky." Dorothy said.
"I like mine kind of chewy." Zeb said.
"Are Toto and pockets downstairs?" dorothy asked.
"yes, auntie Melinda has fed them both." Zeb said.
"that was nice of her." dorothy said.
Zeb said nothing, he simply smiled and walked out of the room. Dorothy shook her head and slid her feet into her flats before heading downstairs. When she got to the kitchen she found toto and pockets both in a corner. In front of them were nearly empty plates.
"Oh, dorothy, I didn't hear you come in, how do you like your bacon?" Melinda asked.
"I'm not picky when it comes down to it, I'll eat it however you cook it." Dorothy said.
"you're so much like your mother, never complained when something was put in front of her." Melinda said.
"What were her parents like?" Dorothy asked.
"they were kind people, very kind, they practically tried to spoil your mother, but she was always a simple person." Melinda said.
"pity I never really knew them." Dorothy said sitting down at the kitchen table.
"If I remember correctly, they died a few months after you were born." Melinda said
"sometimes I feel like I should have asked my parents more questions when I had the chance." Dorothy said.
"I-I'm sorry if I touched on your emotions last night." Melinda said.
Dorothy sighed and immediately closed her eyes.
"It's alright auntie Melinda, it's just, I've repressed the memories and stuff for so long, it hurts to talk about them sometimes." Dorothy said.
Melinda sighed and set the bacon in the pan on a plate. Bringing it over to dorothy with a helping of pancakes. She then sat down next to her.
"dorothy, I miss them too, but I know I can't possibly know how you feel, you were so young, but when I look into your eyes, I see the glimmer that both your mother and father used to have." Melinda said.
"thanks." Dorothy said taking a piece of bacon and taking a bite.
It was chewy, like how zeb liked it.
"do you prefer butter and syrup on your pancakes? Or just butter like your mother?" Melinda asked.
"my mom only liked butter on her pancakes?" dorothy asked shocked.
"oh yea, she always hated feeling sticky from syrup, unless it was in like a snow cone, or it was from candy in the middle of the day, but she could never do syrup at breakfast." Melinda said.
"both butter and syrup please." Dorothy said.
Melinda smiled placed a healthy helping of butter and syrup on the pancakes before getting up and grabbing some other plates and walking out of the kitchen.
"I like it so far." Toto said.
"what did she feed you two?" dorothy asked.
"Tuna." Pockets said.
"Steak." Toto said.
"that was nice of her." Dorothy said eating her breakfast.
Dorothy ate her breakfast in silence, it was good, but nothing would ever beat her mothers. When she had finished she got up and brought her plate over to the sink. Turning on the hot water she began cleaning the plate off.
"oh, dorothy, you could have just left the plate there, I would have washed it." Melinda said.
Dorothy said nothing, she couldn't think of anything to say. She simply smiled and continued on with the work. When she finished she put the plate in the dish rack and stretched.
"Well, it's morning, I don't want to put any bother on you guys." Dorothy said.
Melinda chuckled and shook her head before she sent dorothy out of the kitchen. When dorothy got back upstairs she ran right into Zeb.
"oh, dorothy, did you enjoy your breakfast?" zeb asked.
"it was lovely." Dorothy said.
"don't be surprised if auntie Melinda starts cooking feasts, you're actually the first relative we've had over." Zeb said.
"I-I I guess I'll keep that in mind." Dorothy said.
Zeb smiled and walked around her. dorothy shook her head, sighed and went to the guest room/
In Kansas.
A few hours later, in Kansas. Alex was walking towards the school when ellie caught up with him.
"hey alex, you look a little more energetic today." Ellie said.
"yep, feel it too, hey, have you gotten an instrument yet?" alex asked.
"you mean something other than the triangle?" ellie asked.
"Preferably." Alex said.
"well, I have been teaching myself the guitar." Ellie said.
"okay, it's a start, oh, by the way, do you have any idea what Madeline did with that wand she gave dorothy as a temporary replacement for the scepter?" Alex asked.
"She never told me, and as far as I know, not even Glinda knows." Ellie said.
"how disheartening." Alex said.
"sorry." Ellie replied as they walked into the school.
"can't be helped, anyways, I've got another day with my uncle to deal with, I'm not really welcome in the library since I'm a 'distraction' to the other people" alex said.
"Not that anyone actually does work anyways." Ellie said.
"I know, right?" alex said.
"Well, I see ace over there, I'll talk to you later alex." Ellie said.
"Come find me at around lunch and I'll divulge a little plan." Alex said.
"I'll try to remember." Ellie said.
Alex sighed and walked to his uncle's office. He wished dorothy were here, but she was out with her relatives, probably wishing that he was with her. and he was right in assuming that.
Meanwhile in Oz.
"Hey Ozma do you prefer stripes with buttons or spots with feathers?" Madeline asked
"stripes." Ozma said drumming her fingers on the arm of her throne.
"you seem to be a bit impatient with something, actually, where's Glinda?" Madeline asked.
"last I saw her she was in her room." Ozma said.
"You know, why don't you look in on dorothy, I'm sure she's doing something interesting." Madeline said.
"Ms. Hatter, tell me if that's true." Ozma said.
Madeline sighed and shook her head. she knew right now dorothy was about to go into town with her cousin to meet the tutor.
"well, it was worth a shot." Madeline said.
"I believe she's going into town soon to meet her new tutor, oh joy what fun." Ozma said sarcastically.
"Ozma I don't like not having her around as much as the next Ozian, but we are working on the band, so that should be a pleasant surprise for dorothy in a few months." Madeline said.
"oh definitely, by the way, what is dorothy up to right now?" Ozma asked.
"She's getting ready to go into town with her cousin to meet the tutor." Madeline said.
"Ugh, I hate lessons, Glinda's trying to arrange a tutor for me." Ozma said.
"maybe you'll get lucky and end up with the professor, he's a decent man, boring in terms of speeches but decent enough." Madeline said.
"what a coincidence, that's who I just arranged for." Glinda said walking into the chambers eating a handful of crackers.
"Oh, there you are Glinda, I may as well get a second opinion while you're here, stripes with buttons or spots with feathers?" Madeline asked.
"Oh stripes, definitely." Glinda said.
"that's what I said." Ozma replied.
Madeline smiled and pulled the fabric from her pocket, emerald green and lime green were the color of the stripes.
"do you just naturally carry around fabrics with you?" Glinda asked.
"Oh yes, never know when a situation might call for it, well, I have a hat to make for the queen, if you need me you know where to find me." Madeline said walking out of the chambers.
"I would imagine situations outside of her station wouldn't call for it often." Ozma said.
"oh, I don't know, dorothy has a list of uses for hair ribbon, and she has like, what, six boxes full at home?" Glinda asked.
"why didn't we arrange from some spools of it for her wardrobe?" Ozma asked.
"I don't know, I guess it slipped our minds." Glinda said finishing off her handful of crackers.
Ozma sighed and then turned the crystal ball, immediately it lit up revealing dorothy.
Back in California
Dorothy and Zeb had left the ranch and were once more in town. zeb was instructed to introduce dorothy to the tutor.
"you'll like Mrs. Wilson I think, she's a nice lady, good amount of spirit, her husband is nice as well, but the way she teaches, I just want fall asleep." Zeb said.
"How encouraging." Dorothy said.
"Mrs. Wilson is a school teacher, but she was the only one who would take the job for homeschooling me, we'll see her in the afternoons after most of the daily chores are done, except most Fridays when she comes in the morning." Zeb said.
"Should I be writing this down?" dorothy asked.
"No, it's not something you'll likely forget anyways." Zeb said as they approached a small yellow house.
Inside they could hear a man and a woman making sure each other had everything they needed for the workday. A moment later a lady, who appeared to be in her 60s walked out of the house. The woman was about a head taller than the two of them. She had white hair that only just went past her ears. She had dark brown eyes and freckles dotted around her face. She had a wide smile and ruby red lips.
"Oh, Zebediah, hello." She said in a gravelly sounding voice.
"Mrs. Wilson, meet my cousin, dorothy gale." Zeb said.
"Hello ma'am" dorothy said curtseying.
"Ah, so you're the new student, such a pretty face you have." She said.
"Thank you." Dorothy said.
"Now, tell me, what subjects are you good at?" Mrs. Wilson asked.
"Math, English, and I do good in a bit of history." Dorothy said.
"splendid." She replied.
"And before you ask Mrs. Wilson, yes, I have been being nice to her." zeb said.
"well that's good, but I really must be going, I'll see you on Monday afternoon." She said.
"Yes ma'am." Zeb said.
Mrs. Wilson smiled and walked passed the two.
"she seems like a charming lady." Dorothy said.
"She is, most people in town like her, but boy can she be boring." Zeb said sitting down on the front step.
"And her husband?" dorothy asked.
"Runs a recycling plant at the far end of town, sometimes on Sundays he brings some of the slag and dross from the melting down of cans to our place and we refine it some more for them in the forge in the backyard, which he then brings to the recycling plant and I don't know what happens to it from there." Zeb said.
"Oh, and I assume you don't get paid for helping with that?" Dorothy asked.
"nope, don't need to either, the ranch turns over enough of a profit." Zeb said.
"I see." Dorothy said.
"just do me a favor when she's teaching us." Zeb said.
"depends on the favor." Dorothy said,
"Try not to make me look like an idiot by comparison." Zeb said
Dorothy couldn't help but laugh at this.
"I'll do my best." Dorothy said through a giggle.
