Axel gazed longingly at the photo of Sapphire (that he had secretly taken) in his hand and sighed. He flopped backwards onto his bed.
What was he going to do about her? He worried so much about her.
Suddenly, someone burst into Axel's room.
Axel yelped and jumped up, clutching the photo in his hand.
It was Jasmine.
"Dad says that-" she stopped when she saw Axel. "You look suspicious," she declared.
"No I don't," Axel replied stupidly.
Axel never had been the best liar.
"What are you doing, anyway?" Jasmine asked.
"Nothing," Axel replied. "Just…umm…studying! Yes!"
He ran over to his desk.
"What's that in your hand?" Jasmine enquired.
"Nothing."
"It's a photo, let's see!"
"No!"
Jasmine reached for the photo. Axel held it out of her reach. Pretty soon they were fighting over it.
Suddenly, Jasmine seized the photo and snatched it away.
"Got it!" she cried triumphantly.
She peered at the back of the photo. Axel had inked a love-heart with initials inside.
"'A + S'?" Jasmine read. "So, A is you, but who's…"
Her voice tailed away as she turned the picture over. She gave a shriek of surprise when she saw the picture of Sapphire.
"Who's that?" she demanded. "Oh, Axel have you met a girl?"
She said the word 'girl' as if it meant alien. She was clearly outraged at the idea of Axel meeting a girl, which seemed hypocritical seeing as Jasmine was constantly swooning over Ebony.
"Whatever will Dad say?"
"Please shut up!" Axel had to clap a hand over his little sister's mouth to quieten her.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone?"
Jasmine nodded.
Axel took the photo back from her and pointed at the eagle.
"That's Sapphire," he said. "Sam's daughter."
"Is that the daughter that Sam mentioned in the interview we did of him years ago?" (Reference to Behind the Scenes at the Muppet Theatre!)
Axel thought back. "I guess so."
"What happened to his wife?" Jasmine asked.
"She died. And Sam left Sapphire up in the attic."
"In the attic? Does Dad know?"
"No! And you mustn't tell him," Axel declared. "Saph was alone, half-starved and frightened to death. She made me promise I wouldn't tell a soul, and you have to too."
Jasmine chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Alright, I won't tell…if you answer me this question," she said.
"What is it?" Axel asked, expecting the worst.
"Do you fancy her?"
"What?"
"I bet you do! Mwah, mwah, mwah! Ha, ha! Love is in the air!"
Axel grabbed his sister by the shoulders and shook her hard.
"Shut up, Jas, this is serious! Now do you promise not to tell a soul about Sapphire?"
"Yes."
"Swear?"
"Yes!"
"On Mum and Dad's life?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
She mimed slitting her throat, and then she became serious. Jasmine looked at the photo.
"She's very pretty," she said.
"Beautiful," Axel agreed.
"Axie, I do know how serious this is and…I just want you to be careful."
Axel said nothing.
"I won't breathe a word, but you've got to tell Dad sometime."
Axel shrugged. "I just don't want to let Saph down," he said.
"You won't. Now are you coming to dinner? We're reeeeally late!"
Just to clear a couple of things up, Jasmine calls Axel 'Axie' because she basically doesn't take him seriously because he's her brother. And Axel calls Sapphire 'Saph' because it's a reference to something later on…!