Secrets of the Space Necklace: Part Two

     It was pink, puffy and very hard to walk in. Her dress was decorated with pretty, pink bows that zigzagged on the front. Another bow as attached to the neckline while a small bow was on the back of the skirt. But although the pink dress was gorgeous, Chloe was really uncomfortable in it. The lace trims on the sleeves gave her wrists a terrible rash. The waist sides felt tight to her, and she found it hard to put the dress on without hurting her wings.

     Who designed this dress anyways? Chloe thought, trying hard not to trip over her dress. Who would design this for Draiks?!?! And doesn’t Mother know that a Desert Draik doesn’t look good in pink!

     Chloe sighed, but then looked at her siblings in front of her. She giggled at their outfits.

     She knew Vincent hated to wear his Kougra Sailor Suit. The collar made him choke, while the suit itself looked hideous. Vincent even hated the matching sailor’s hat that came with it. It was five sizes too small for him. Then there was Tina, who was the only one who didn’t have anything fancy to wear for the Sunday tea. Her only dress was her light blue sundress. Tina sighed as she looked at her outfit. The dress was only meant for summer. And since summer was over, Tina knew her dress was out of style already. Clara wasn’t upset about anything as she skipped down the sidewalk to Miss Van Sparkleton’s mansion. Since she was a baby Usul, Clara wasn’t allowed to wear any clothes. Instead, Clara just took a bath and skipped outside, excited about today’s tea. She had their mother tie her bows very nicely.

     As the foursome approached the mansion, they saw Miss Van Sparkleton greeting them. She was still wearing her velveteen dress and tiara, which made Clara groan, since she wanted to see her in a much fancier dress.

     “Hello, darlings,” Miss Van Sparkleton said as she waved to her guests. “Why, you all dressed so pleasant!”

     Everyone nodded as Miss Van Sparkleton inspected each of them.

     “Vincent,” she began, “what a handsome sailor suit. I knew a clever White Kougra like you would look very dashing in a piece like that. And Tina, what a pretty dress you are wearing. Very nice in colour and design,” she commented as Vincent and Tina bowed their heads in respect. Miss Van Sparkleton continued with her inspection. She commented on Clara’s perfect, little bows. Clara giggled.

     But when she approached Chloe, her face went blank as she inspected Chloe’s elegant dress.

     “Chloe,” Miss Van Sparkleton gasped. “Where did you get such a dress?”

     “My mom made it,” Chloe said, her cheeks starting to blush. Miss Van Sparkleton was in awe as she admired Chloe’s pink dress. She felt the silk material between her fingers and touched every single bow. Chloe was flattered, and scared. Was she okay?

     “Miss,” Clara said as she tugged on Miss Van Sparkleton’s dress. “Miss, is it time for tea?”

     Miss Van Sparkleton was startled, as if Clara had just woke her up from a nap. “Yes,” she said quietly, her voice trembled as she spoke. “Yes, let’s have tea.”

     Chloe watched Miss Van Sparkleton approach a pink table that was on her patio. She watched as Miss Van Sparkleton’s fingers trembled as she poured the tea from her teapot in five different cups. Chloe then shook her head, and then sat herself down on one of the pink tile chairs that were by the table.

     “Thank you,” each sibling said as their host handed each of them a sugar cookie. As they ate and sipped their tea, Chloe couldn’t help but fix her attention on Miss Van Sparkleton.

     There were so many questions that she wanted to ask her. Why was she admiring her dress so much? Why was she nervous all of a sudden? Nothing made sense to her. She knew, right then and there, that she needed to ask some questions.

     “So Miss, where are you from?” Chloe asked. She had a sly smile on her face.

     “Someplace,” Miss Van Sparkleton replied as she sipped her tea and held out a purple tray to Chloe. “Would you like a petit four?” she asked, her voice was very high-pitched when she asked.

     “Okay,” Chloe said as she reached for a purple petit four. “So, Miss, lovely weather we’re having, eh?”

     “Yes, we are,” Miss Van Sparkleton said quickly as she stood up. “Come, children, let’s go inside. The sunlight’s much too bright outside anyways.”

     “Can we finish our tea inside?” Clara asked.

     “No,” Miss Van Sparkleton replied as she rushed to her front door and opened it. “Come now,” she said anxiously, “we can continue with a brief reading before I send you all home. Who likes poetry?”

     Chloe sighed as she walked inside, being very careful not to trip. She eyed Miss Van Sparkleton, who was still admiring her dress. Tina tried to block the sunlight out of her eyes as Clara stuffed three more cookies into her mouth. Vincent hurried in and was surprised as to what was inside.

     Miss Van Sparkleton’s living room- which she called her ‘parlour’- was very bright and spotless. Her floors were designed with black and white tiles that glittered through the many skylights. Her walls were in a cream colour shade, and each corner of the room had a little built-in pillar. Clara was in awe while she stared at the many chandeliers that were hanging on the ceilings. Vincent was astonished at Miss Van Sparkleton’s library that was by her elegant, little bathroom.

     “You must have every single book in Neopia!” Vincent said as he gazed at the many shelves of books.

     Tina was fine just sitting on one of the parlour’s sofas, and Chloe felt really uneasy with all of the paintings that were hung on the walls. Each painting was staring back at her. Were the paintings looking at her dress, like Miss Van Sparkleton was?

     “This library is much bigger than the Book Shop!” Vincent yelled from the other room.

     Chloe grunted as she got up on her feet and started to walk to the Library. She hated wearing the shoes their mother picked out for them! Pretty soon, Tina and Clara made their way to the library as well.

     “What a cheery book,” Tina groaned as she picked up a purple book and opened it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a real book. It was hollow and inside was a little deep place.

     “Hey guys, look what I found!” Tina shouted. Her siblings swarmed her immediately. They all gazed at what was inside the hollow book.

     Inside the book was a surprising treasure: a necklace.

     The pendant was round, blue and was decorated with a design of gold “S”s on it. The string was made up of long, gold beads. The blue pendant glittered in Tina’s paws, and it seemed like it was glowing as well.

     “Look,” Tina said as she pointed to a little latch on the pendant.

     What was that for? Carefully, Tina opened the latch. Everyone waited anxiously as Tina pulled out a small piece of paper from the inside.

     “So, what does it say?” Clara asked. She couldn’t see what it said, so she started to bounce up and down so she could see.

     “I don’t know,” Tina whispered. She was still staring at the note.

     The note was written in an unusual code. It was nothing but symbols and dots. What did it mean?

     “Maybe this is why she was admiring my dress?” Chloe wondered. She knew she had to know why Miss Van Sparkleton was admiring it so much. She also knew that they had to put the necklace back where they found it.

     “Quick,” Chloe hissed, “put that back! You don’t want Miss Van Sparkleton to find us holding it, do you?”

     “But I need to translate it,” Vincent moaned. Chloe snarled at him until he placed the necklace back.

     “Well, that was fun,” Tina said as they left the room. “Should we leave now?”

     “Yes,” Chloe said quickly. She then grabbed Tina’s arm and began to rush to the front door. She was pleased about not tripping, but she couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t safe in Miss Van Sparkleton’s house anymore.

     Her heart started to beat faster and faster as she made her way out of the door. But she was stopped by Miss Van Sparkleton, who shouted out to the fleeing siblings.

     “Wait!” she called out as she approached the foursome. She then gave each sibling a yellow, lacy card.

     Chloe groaned, but then inspected her card. No other name was on it.

     “I had a wonderful tea today,” Miss Van Sparkleton said with a smile. “I hope you all can come visit me next week.”

     “Yeah, sure,” Chloe said as she walked away. She felt her heart beating faster and her legs shaking.

     She knew Miss Van Sparkleton was up to something. And she knew it had something to do with the necklace they found.

To be continued...