I woke up that morning earlier than normal. I had eventually fallen asleep, after making (and forgetting) a plan to get Eloise not to tell. I jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen. My mom saw me and looked surprised.
“Well, I was just coming to get you!” She chirped. “Want some breakfast? I got all your favorites!” She was being unusually nice. I mean she was always nice, but this nice? Not for a while.
“Okay...what’s going on?” I said slowly. My mom’s eyes darted to the other side of the room.
“Why would you think something’s going on? I am allowed to be nice, right?” She smiled.
“Where’s Dad?” I didn’t want to change the subject, but Dad was usually here in the morning.
“Oh, out and about!” She sang.
“Yeah, but where?”
“He’s visiting Marcus.” She answered. I let out a strangled sound and tried to cover it up with a cough.
“Marfus? Eloise’s daf?!” I practically screamed with a mouth full.
“Yes, Eloise’s dad. He is taking over Marksmurks’ place. I saw you two had a, um, conversation last night?”
“It was less a conversation and more of a fight.” I mumbled, quickly jumping out of my seat.
“Right, I thought you two made up! Where are you going?” I left my bowl on the table and ran out the door yelling, “I have something to do!” I planned to run straight to Eloise’s and convince her to not tell my parents.
“Hi, Kate!” I turned to see Anne running out of her house, again ignoring her mom yelling, “Anne! You have to eat your fruuuuuuiiit!”
I smirked. “You snuck out again?” Anne grinned.
“Well, I was gonna go in the forest, you know to see the rock, but it was still kinda dark, so it was kinda scary. So I went to Marksmurk’s, soon to be Marcus’s. Can you believe he’s retiring? Oh, yeah, our addition building is gonna start tomorrow, I think Mom’s having a baby. Either that or she’s starting to get fat, so get ready for another ceremony. Which reminds me! Didja find the rock? What is still beautiful? I was gonna go, but it was-oh yeah I already said that. How are you?” She bubbled.
“Okay, um, you have a lot to say. Uh, can’t believe he’s retiring, congrats on the baby, yes I found the rock. Did I miss anything?” I answered. Anne giggled.
“Oh Anne! Something awesome and something possibly terrible happened!” I burst out. Anne’s smile slowly lowered.
“Okay, um do you want to tell me the good news or the bad news first?” She finally said.
“I’ll tell you the possible terrible news, because if I tell you the good news first you won’t be able to focus on the bad news.”
“Okay, carry on.”
“I saw Eloise last night. We kind of got into a fight. I’m pretty sure she saw me go into the forest. I had to tell my parents I went into the forest, but I told them I barely went in, not that far. But I think Eloise knows I went in far and she might tell my parents who might tell you’re parents who might find out you went in the forest too!” I wailed. Anne was speechless.
Slowly, she said, “Okay...well you’re right, that is possibly terrible. We have to find Eloise and plead with her if we have to. Hey, maybe we can show her the stone!”
“Anne, I wanted to show her the stone, but I think the reason she’s so mad is because I went into the forest in the first place!” Anne thought about this.
“I mean, I could bring it out of forest into the village.” I suggested.
“Didn’t we talk about it possibly being cursed?”
“Anne, I picked it up. It’s not cursed.” Annes’s mouth moved but no sound came out. Until sound did come out. “Kate, are you crazy?! It could be cursed! You could turn evil, or die, or maybe your hair will grow really fast or you could be stuck to the ground or frozen for all eternity! Kate! I can’t lose my best friend!” Anne babbled on.
“Anne-”
“Or what if-”
“Anne-”
“But then you could’ve”
“ANNE! For goodness sake, snap out of it! If it was cursed I would probably already be dead!” Anne got very quiet. “Sorry, Kate. I was just worried.”
“It’s okay, Anne. I’d probably worry too if it were me! But it is fine, I touched the stone-OH!”
Anne’s eyes widened. “Kate? Kate can you hear me? Oh, my god, I knew it! Death!”
“Anne, I’m fine! Before we go to Eloise’s, I have to tell you the good news, remember?”
“Oh, yeah! Tell me!” Anne was looking very excited. I took a deep breath and told her about the bigger stone, then how I lost it but hid the other one.
“Do you know what this means?” I squealed.
“That this was kind of bad news because you lost the bigger stone?” Anne grumbled.
“What? Oh, sorry. But no! It means there could be more!” Anne realized what I was saying and agreed we had to go back into the forest. There were only a couple problems. One, my parents might kill me if I go back, (they never did let me in on last night’s conversation. I’d work at them later.) Two, we needed to get to Eloise first. And three, we might actually get caught this time. There could be another ceremony, or Anne’s parents might need her. We needed a distraction. And a plan. Lucky for us, I had one.
“Anne, we need to get to Eloise. Tell her the problem and tell not to tell any of our parents. Then, we get Eloise to cause a distraction. Then, you and I go into the forest and grab the stone. If we have extra time, we can look for more stones. But we still have to make it quick.” I explained.
Anne thought it was a good plan. “What kind of distraction?” She asked as we were running to Eloise’s.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to come up with it there.” When we got to Eloise’s, Dad and Marcus were leaving. I tried to hide, but my dad saw me.
“Hey there, Kate!” He called. “Whatcha doing?” This gave my mind three seconds to come up with a lie.
“Me-and-Anne-made-up-with-Eloise-we-are-going-to-see-her-now-have-fun-bye! I said, all in one breath. My dad waved, and he and Marcus headed up the path to where Marcus would soon be working. Anne and I ran through the front door.
“Eloise? Eloise? We know you’re in here! Please, we need to talk!” We called, running through her big house.
“Eloise, I’m sorry about last night! Really, I am! Please!” I pleaded. Eloise stalked out her bedroom door and stiffly sat at the table.
“What do you want? Why are you here?” She demanded, scowling.
“Okay, thank you. First, I am so sorry about last night-”
“You should be sorry.” She snapped. I continued, telling her about the stone, my parents, the forest, and how the plan depended on her.
“Okay, let me get this straight. You insult me, then run on over here the next day for a favor, saying I am ‘vital’ to your plan?” She sniffed.
“That is correct.” Anne said.
“Okay, so you and Anne have been going into the forest to see a rock?” She asked me, ignoring Anne.
“A stone, a really pretty stone. Purplish black with-”
“And why should I do this?”
“Eloise, you’re out friend. We need your help with this. Please.” I begged. Eloise stared at me, as if trying to see if I was telling the truth or just playing a joke.
“All right. Here’s what’s going to happen. I will cause a distraction, so you and Anne can find this rock. Bring it back here so I know you are telling the truth. After that, leave me alone!”
Anne and I agreed, trying not to show the tears welling up in our eyes.
“Thank you, Eloise.” Anne and I said quietly.
“All right, what kind of distraction would you like me to make? Announce I’m getting married to my bed, so everyone will be at the ceremony?” She said in a mock voice. I acted like I hadn’t heard the sarcasm.
“Actually, it can’t be something like a fake ceremony because our parents would try to find us so we could be at the ceremony.” I explained. Just then, Anne’s eyes lit up.
“Guys! I have an idea.” Anne filled us in on her idea, which was really good. Even though she didn’t say it, Eloise’s facial expression told us it was a great idea.
“All right! Are we ready?” I asked, excited.
“Yes!” Anne squealed.
“Sure.” Eloise said, before muttering under her breath, “Why am I doing this?”
“Let’s go find that stone! And maybe more stones! Eloise? Ready?”
“Yep, let’s go.” She muttered.
“Let’s do this!” I cheered. Anne cheered with me. Eloise looked bored.