Chapter 5
Mal settled in for the night, setting her alarm for 2:30. The baking list was all things she knew how to make. So she looked forward to starting work.
Mal woke at 2:30, transformed into Annie, and started her list. She didn't want to get her jewelry dirty especially the leather bracelet Evie had made her, so she put it into the pocket of her apron. Mal was so busy baking she had no idea it was time for Miss Fauna to arrive. She looked up and saw her standing there. She looked at the stocked shelves. "Very nice dear. Any trouble?"
"No none at all. I just got totally lost in the work."
"MMM, delicious." She said munching on a roll. "This might be just the perfect fit I need. Well, dear, finish up your work, and the rest of the day is yours. I close up at 4 in the afternoon." She said and went into the other room to start selling.
Mal worked hard every morning for Fauna. Fauna, not figuring out who was Mal. After Fauna left, Mal would continue to search for a solution to her problem. So far the mystery controller had left her alone. She could only hope it was because she was away from Ben. After a week of searching over and over her mother's Spell book, Mal decided to search the house where the bakery was. The basement held baking supplies. Mal had been down there plenty of times. So she searched the other rooms, then the attic. There she struck gold. A box marked Spell Books. She opened it to find about a dozen books. Mal took one out and took it back to her room.
After three weeks of reading spell books, Mal had read them all at least twice, and still nothing. She was doing an excellent job baking and keeping up her Annie persona. It was on a Monday exactly two weeks before school was to start when Evie wandered into the bakery. Fauna looked up to see Evie. "Evie dear, what brings you to my side of Auradon?" Evie seemed to be relieved it was Miss Fauna.
"Mal."
"Mal? What about her?" Fairy Godmother had suggested that no one find out about Mal's being missing, and Evie was tired of wandering around from town to town looking for Mal.
"Did you know about Mal's being controlled by someone or something." Evie asked her
"Yes, she tried to hurt Ben." Fauna admitted. "Fairy Godmother has, had us looking into it all summer."
"Well she ran off as not to hurt him."
"I…I see." It was then Fauna came to realize, Annie was Mal. She could cook, arrived around the time Evie said Mal disappeared and she kept to herself. "Well Evie I am sorry I haven't seen Mal. But I will make sure if I find her I will send her home."
"Thank you."
"You look hungry dear. Take anything you'd like."
"Thank you again Miss Fauna. If you talk to your sisters can you tell them to keep an eye out for Mal. Fairy Godmother and Ben agreed to keep Mal's being missing under wraps so no one hurts her, but with her ability to transform her appearance it's impossible to know who she could be or where."
"I will share the information with them. And anything I can find out I will look into." Evie grabbed a few cookies, and left.