"Check this place out!" Musa said. The Rodeo Realm was set just like and old western movie. The sun was bright and hot and there were cacti dotted everywhere.
"It's beautiful!" Flora exclaimed.
"In a weird and totally hot way," Stella said, fanning herself with her hand.
"So," Bloom said. "What do we do now?"
"Well," Layla answered. "I guess we should try and find the showdown show and let the director know we're here."
"And where exactly would that be?" Stella asked looking around.
"I can show you." The girls turned to find a boy about their age dressed in full cow boy outfitting with a lasso stung over his shoulder. He was tall with short sandy hair and a big white smile. "You girls must be our newest actresses. We heard you'd be arriving by portal and just got word one landed. Name's Cody and my dad's the director. You girls are?" The girls used the names they made up earlier. They were told to not use their real names for safely purposes.
"My name's Jackie," Bloom said. "This is Amber, Daisy, Bridget, Lucy and Maci."
"Great. I'm supposed to lead you to the set. Right this way." He offered Stella his arm and she took it. Stella and Cody walked ahead of the other's and started to talk.
"He seems nice," Flora said.
"Yeah. Handsome too," Musa observed.
"I don't know," Layla mused. "Doesn't it seem kinda weird that he just popped up?"
"Oh, c'mon Layla. He seems fine," Bloom answered. Layla wasn't convinced but she said no more. The girls followed Cody to the heart of town.
"Wait here, ladies," He said. He entered a large building on the side of the street that looked like it didn't quite belong. Stella turned to the other girls with her amber eyes wide.
"Wasn't he handsome!" She gushed.
"C'mon, Stel. Focus! We're on a mission," Musa scolded.
"Besides," Layla said knowingly. "You have a boyfriend. And something doesn't seem quite right about him."
Stella ignored the others and continued to talk about Cody. "He's so amazing! His dad is a big guy in the realm and he just opened the show. Cody's gonna be a star in it! He's got five other brothers too! He's-" Stella was cut short when Cody walked out of the building, followed by a man with a big belt buckle and hat. She walked up to him and took his arm.
"Girls," Cody said. "This is my dad, Jack. Dad, these are the girls I told you about. This is Jackie, Maci, Bridget, Daisy, and Lucy." He glanced over at Stella and said, "And this is Amber…" Stella's eyes sparkled, big and wide at being specially mentioned.
"Nice to meet you all," Jack said, tipping his hat. "Cody, why don't you show Amber around while I introduce the others to the rest of the cast. This way girls." Jack lead the girls into the building while Cody showed Stella in the other direction. The inside of the big building was unbelievable. It was air conditioned, which was very refreshing after being out in the heat. The floor, walls, and ceiling were a beautiful light blue marble and there was a big crystal chandelier on the low ceiling. You will have rooms off to the left here," he pointed to a long hallway leading off the left with six doors, three on each side. "On the right we have the writer's rooms, special effects, and my office. Up the stairs are the boys rooms along with the rest of the cast. And out back we have the stage and set. I will leave you all to freshen up and we will have cast meeting in an hour along with a welcoming dinner tonight. We hope to see you there." Jack tipped his hat again and strode off to his office.
Then girls all went to Bloom's room to talk. "I think this place is kinda weird," Layla commented sitting down on the bed. The rooms were nice enough. A canopy bed, walk in closet, big T.V. and bathroom.
"I agree," Tecna said. "This building sticks out. Marble floors, air conditioning. This is supposed to be an old west realm, not a luxury realm."
"And Cody stills seems a little odd to me," Layla said. "Did you see the way Stella was just falling all over him? I've never see be that flirty with anyone but Brandon." Layla moved to the window and peered out. "I wonder where they could have gone."
"Stella's fine, Layla," Bloom said. "We should all get some rest so we can do some investigating later at the party. Like Miss F. said, this place is small and the witches have got to be around here somewhere." The others nodded and left Bloom's room, each going to their own to get some shut eye before the work had to begin.
Bloom was awakened by a light tap on her door. She got up sleepily and answered it and a good looking boy stood in the doorway. He had sun-tanned skin and wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans. "Hello, Miss. Didn't mean to wake you. Name's Max and my father told me that I'm to be your escort to the party tonight."
Bloom felt like she was under a spell. "Sure…" she said quietly, opening the door wider. "C'mon in. I'm just gonna go get changed."
Max smiled and nodded. "Take your time."
Bloom walked quickly into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Man!' she thought. 'I'm a mess! Wow, he's cute.' Bloom snapped her fingers and a cute cowgirl outfit materialized onto her body. She wore tight jeans with chaps and boots and a midriff tied T-shirt. She snapped again and her hair braided itself in a long tight braid down her back. She looked at herself one last time in the mirror then walked out. Max smiled again and held out his arm for Bloom. She took it and said in a soft flirty voice, "I don't think I properly introduced myself. My name's Jackie."
"It's very nice to meet you. I think you already met my brother Cody, right?"
"Yes, I did. Are you all going to acting in the show with us?"
"My dad hasn't told us yet. But if you're gonna be in it, I defiantly want to." He winked and she giggled. "Now let's go have some fun."
Flora was doing her hair in her room, dressed in a jean mini skirt, pink knee-hi boots, and a midriff T-shirt when young man showed up in her doorway. "Hope I'm not disturbing you, ma'am." he said, taking a few small steeps into Flora's room. All she could do was gape at him. He wore a green button down shirt open with a white shirt underneath paired with blue jeans.
"Umm…" she stuttered. "N-No, you're not disturbing me. I was just getting ready for the party." She took a few shy steps towards him and tripped over her own feet. The boy caught her and helped her stand upright. "Th-Thanks…" She trailed off when she caught sight of his big blue eyes under shaggy blonde hair.
"I'm Andy," he said extending his hand, She shook it and his touch electrified her.
"My name's Daisy."
"Very pleased to meet you. My father sent me to escort you to the party."
"Oh…" Flora said. "I was actually waiting for my friends…I-"
"My brothers are taking care of your friends, not to worry." He flashed a smile that made Flora melt. Why would he lie? Someone so beautiful must be telling the truth. The girls will understand. Flora just nodded and walked out of the room with Andy.
Musa had music blasting when a knock came to the door so she didn't hear it. The knocker knocked again, louder this time and Musa rushed to answer it. "Sorry, I was just…" She lost her train of thought when she say the boy standing in her doorway. He had short black hair and ivory skin and dressed in all black.
"It's all good," the boy answered. "I'm Rex. Are you ready to go down to the party?"
"You bet!" Musa answered excitedly. "I'm Bridget, by the way." She wore tight jeans, boots and tasseled tank. Her hair was in two long braids on the sides of her head.
Rex smiled and held out his arm. "Nice to meet you." Musa took his arm and he lead her out of the room. "That was an awesome sound, by the way." he said.
"Yeah? It's an original," she answered proudly.
"That's pretty cool," he said turning to her and winking. Musa giggled and blushed a little. Rex just returned the smile and they walked out.
"I'll be right back, Cody," Stella said, quickly disappeared into her room. She undressed and redressed into ruffled long jean skirt with a long slit up one side and belt, high heeled cowgirl boots, and a tube top midriff. She brushed her hair and stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, primping.
When she came out, Cody was just walking up. "Had to go change too," Cody said, answering Stella's unspoken question. He had ditched the lasso and had on a brown button down shirt and fresh jeans. "Don't you look nice?" he said, slowly wrapping his arm around her waist. Stella jumped a little at his touch.
'Something doesn't feel right' she thought. The she glanced up at Cody. 'Then again, what could possibly be wrong?' She grinned and they started to walk outside.
"Something about this place puts me on edge," Layla said to Tecna. She had gotten ready for the party, dressed in a ruffled jean mini skirt, ankle hi boots and a T-shirt with bandana, then went across the hall to talk to Tecna who had on a long sleeve button down, mini shorts, and boots.
"I understand what you mean," Tecna agreed. "I think I'll just look up this Jack guy. Let me just call Timmy," She picked up her cell phone and started to call and Layla went to the window when she heard a knock at the door. Tecna looked up and walked to answer it. Two cute boy stood in the doorway. They both were tall with short red hair and freckles. One wore a light red button down shirt with jeans and the other had on a blue T-shirt, jeans, and a belt.
"Hello," said the one with the blue shirt. "My name's Red and this is my brother Dale," he said indicating to the other boy. "We're two of Jack's sons. May we come in?" Tecna nodded silently and the two boys walked in. Layla moved away from the window and her eyes immediately went to Red while Tecna was focused on Dale.
"My father told us and our brothers that we would accompany you to the party," Dale said.
"And I think we were the lucky ones to get the prettiest girls here," Red finished. Layla and Tecna looked at one another and giggled.
"My name's Maci," Layla answered breathlessly. "And this is Lucy," she said pointing to Tecna. All Layla and Tecna's worries had suddenly vanished.
"Hi," Tecna said softly giving a little wave which Dale returned.
"So you girls ready to party?" Red asked, holding out his arm for Layla, which she took.
Layla smiled. "I think the question is if you can keep up?"
"I'll try," Red answered and they left the room. Tecna threw her still ringing phone on the bed, hoping it would close, but it didn't.
"Hello? Tecna? Are you there?" Timmy's voice came out of the receiver of the phone. "Tecna? Tecna! Answer me! Where are you?"
