Yay!  It’s my favorite day of the week! If you are new to Write a Story with Me, please scroll down to see a list of previous posts.  Catch up on the story and have a great time!

Today we welcome miss Julie Catherine to the lineup.  Normally a mild-mannered poetess, Ms. Catherine brings on the intrigue this week.  What, oh what, has the devilish Bethany done????????

Read on below!

She laid the leaf gently on the outside sill of the window for the breeze to carry away, and flew to open the door.  Her father, still garbed in his stately Planetary Raiders Captain uniform, scooped his daughter into his arms and whirled her around, hugging her tightly enough that she protested laughingly that she couldn’t breathe.  Marci’s mother hovered behind, rubbing the gentle swell of her belly as she looked on, her face a mix of tolerance and motherly pride. Marci felt a pang of remorse at how quickly that pride would turn to anger if her parents ever learned of her friendship with the fairy, Janelle.

She shrugged off the worrisome thought— for now— slid from her father’s embrace to the floor, grabbed the Needletea pot and skipped down the stairs. “Come, Father”, she called, “tea-time!”

As her mother poured the tea and passed freshly baked scones still warm from the oven, Marci eagerly answered her father’s questions about school and her grades, pleased to be able to give him a glowing report. She was a good student and excelled in her studies. She slathered butter on her scone and nibbled on it thoughtfully;  her mind straying as her parents’ conversation turned to her father’s latest mission.

“… the Commander is convinced the portal can be found; and when it is, the troops will move in, and Argot will finally be rid of the parasitic scourge that threatens to affect the whole of the county!”

Marci’s hand froze, the scone inches away from her mouth, forgotten. Careful not to show any expression that would betray her thoughts, she replaced it gingerly on her plate and wrung her hands in the napkin on her lap, head bowed as she concentrated on wiping her sticky fingers in its folds.  She gulped through the sudden bile in her throat, her appetite replaced with fingers of dread that clawed the inside of her stomach.

She had to find a way to get word to Janelle!  Now!  If she didn’t, the fairies would be totally unprepared when disaster hit— they would be wiped out, all of them.  As much as she adored her father and it grieved her deeply to displease him, Marci could not allow that to happen to her friend; to her friend’s people. She could not condone Janelle’s murder— and that is exactly what would happen if she, Marci, didn’t find a way to warn her friend as soon as possible.

“Poppet, are you all right? You’re white as a sheet!”  Marci’s father’s voice sounded far away and her eyes were having trouble focusing on his face. The room was spinning, and she thought she was going to be sick.

Her father’s hand on her brow felt cool, and it shook slightly.  Suddenly he scooped his daughter into his arms and carried her slight form up the stairs, where he laid her gently on her bed and tucked a warm blanket around her.  Marci was shivering. Why then had her father called to her mother to get the doctor right away— that their daughter was dangerously feverish?  Marci couldn’t make sense of it; was too tired to think, so she closed her eyes and drifted ….

Down the hall, Bethany crouched, unmoving, in the shadows. A slow smile played on her lips as she slipped into her room and closed the door softly.

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Previous installments:

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Part Nine – Vikki Thompson

Part Ten — Susan Rocan mywithershins

Part Eleven — Kate Johnston  AKA 4AMWriter

Part Twelve — Julie Catherine

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Kai Damian —- TAG!  You are “It”

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