Hey everybody. Chapter 9 is up. Please read and review.
The next morning, the girls had Mandy pack them a lunch in a basket.
"So, where did you girls say you were off to this morning?" asked Mandy.
Before Olive could say something stupid, Hattie stopped her.
"We didn't," Hattie answered.
"Okay," Mandy said, still looking at them, suspiciously.
Once she finished packing their lunch, the girls went out and met their mother on the front porch.
"Now remember, girls," Dame Olga said, "Be nice to the old woman. You want her to like you."
"Don't worry," Hattie reassured her mother, "The old witch has to like us. We're nobles after all."
"Ella's a noble, too," stated Olive.
"Well, Ella squandered her family fortune."
"We squandered our fortune, too."
Both Hattie and her mother glared at Olive, who, immediately, shut up.
"Well, Ella mingles with commoners and foreigners."
Olive thought for a second, before responding, "We don't do that."
"Exactly!" boasted Hattie.
With that, the girls hugged their mother and headed off.
"Good luck, girls," Dame Olga called after them. "And don't come back, until we're rich."
As they came to the edge of the woods, Hattie pulled Ella's crystal ball out of the satchel.
"Show us the way to Agnes McPhiney," she declared. The crystal ball revealed a series of images, showing them the way they needed to go.
"Right, on we go then."
"Are we there yet?" whined Olive.
"No!" shouted Hattie, "If you ask me that again, I'll have no choice but to hurt you."
It was pretty clear that Hattie and Olive were both cranky. They had been wandering through the woods for hours. They were tired, their feet hurt, they had almost eaten everything in their basket, and they just didn't like nature. Hattie took another look into the crystal ball.
"Alright," she said, inquisitively, "We just past the big rock, so we should almost be there. Not much longer now."
Just then, they heard a woman screaming.
"Help me!"
Both girls stopped in their tracks. "What was that?" exclaimed Olive.
Hattie looked around as the screams continued. After a few seconds, she turned and pointed down small trail. "It came from that way," she stated. "C'mon."
The girls ran down the trail, towards the screams.
A short distance away, they spotted an old woman in a gypsy hat, tied up on the ground as highwaymen raided her wagon.
"Shouldn't we help her?" asked Olive.
"Oh, that's a brilliant idea, genius," Hattie snapped, bopping her sister over the head. "Let's go face the bad men and get mugged. Besides, do you know what men like that do to young women?"
Olive shook her head. Hattie leaned in and whispered in Olive's ear. Olive gasping in terror.
"Still want to help the old lady?"
"Absolutely not!" cried Olive.
"Good, let's keep going."
An hour later, the girls found their way back to the old woman. The highwaymen were gone, the wagon was nearly empty, and the woman lay on the ground, still bound and shivering in fear.
"Can we help her now?" asked Olive.
"I suppose," answered Hattie, "but first…"
The girls approached the old woman. "You there, old woman!"
The woman looked up at the girls. "Please help me," she begged.
"Of course," said Hattie, "but first, answer my questions. Do you live in these woods?"
"Yes, I do," answered the woman.
"Do you know someone named Agnes McPhiney?"
"That's me," replied the woman, "I'm Agnes McPhiney."
Hattie and Olive stared blankly for a moment. Of course, that look was normal for Olive.
"You're the witch?" asked Hattie. Aggie nodded.
"Wait, if you're a witch, why didn't you use your magic to stop those highwaymen, or to untie yourself?"
Aggie frowned. "How silly of me," she grumbled. While she was perfectly capable of rescuing herself, when she had noticed the girls the first time they had passed by, she wanted to give them an opportunity to be charitable. Unfortunately, they had passed it up.
"Liberatum!" Aggie cried. Her bonds were immediately loosed, and she got to her feet.
"Y'know," Hattie muttered to Olive, "for a witch, she's not very bright. She needed me to tell her she could untie herself? She's almost as dumb as you are."
"Oy, that's bad," agreed Olive.
Aggie brushed herself off and headed back to her wagon. Looking into the empty wagon, she shook her head and sighed.
"Six bags of wool, 500 fresh eggs, 200 pounds of produce and 100 pounds of beef, pork, veal and poultry. All gone. A lot of good people aren't getting paid this week."
Hattie spoke up. "Anyway, Aggie."
Aggie turned and glared at Hattie. "We haven't been properly introduced, girls. I prefer Mrs. McPhiney."
"But Ella said you let her call you Aggie."
"Ella?" exclaimed Aggie, "You mean Ella of Frell?"
Hattie nodded. "I'm Hattie of Lamia, and this is my sister, Olive." Olive smiled and waved. "We're also the daughters of Dame Olga, so were both very important people."
"So you're Ella's stepsisters. Ella told me all about you."
"All of it good, I presume."
Aggie crossed her fingers behind her back. "Of course."
Hattie smiled and nodded, as if she were accepting an award.
"We want a present," said stated.
Aggie sighed, again. "Girls, this isn't the best time to be asking me for anything. I just lost a week's worth of groceries for the market."
Hattie rolled her eyes. "Well, you're a witch. Just wave your hands, and fix everything."
Aggie shook her head. "It's not that simple, girls."
"Yes, it is! You're a witch. You can do magic."
"Yes, I can do magic, but even magic has rules, and one of those rules is that you can't make something out of nothing."
Hattie stared blankly for a moment. "But you gave Ella and Areida a present."
"And that's another thing," said Aggie. "A present isn't something you ask for. It comes to you as a surprise."
Hattie made a pouty face, and so did Olive.
For the umpteenth time, Aggie sighed. "Tell you what, girls. I'll take you back to my house. I'll feed you and give you both a bed for the night. I may ask you to help out. If you prove to be good houseguests, you'll get a present. Deal?"
Hattie took Aggie's hand and shook it. "Deal."
"Very well," Aggie said, climbing into her wagon. "Hop up, girls."
Hattie and Olive climbed into the wagon. Aggie took her walking stick out of the back of the wagon and tapped the front of the wagon.
"Forward ho!" she shouted. The wagon began to move and headed off towards the edge of the woods.
