End of the last post:

"With an eerie shimmering of light, Maggie disappeared through the floor.

"'Okay, now that was weird,' I said, 'and Maggie's story took a lot of our time.'

"'I told you, it couldn't be helped,' Tabby said. 'I needed to get my head cleared, and having Maggie on our side is invaluable. Sometimes slow delays make fast friends."

The Story Continues:

"For a while, we sat and stared at each other in tense silence. We had just placed our lives in the shadowy hands of an unstable ghost, and that's never a good spot to be in.

"'Do you think she's coming back?' I finally asked.

"'Uhh, well, why not? I mean, I'm worried, too,' Tabby said. 'She has a history of giving in to whatever the witch...'

"'Mildred.'

"'Yes, Mildred, wants, but I think she's motivated to help us.'

"'You mean because her family has already crossed over?'

"'That, and I think she's tired of being controlled. I guess we'll find out soon enough.'

"Tabby had just finished her comment when we watched a shimmering figure ooze up through the floor in front of us.

"'That's really creepy,' I said.

"'Sorry, I'm not used to human company,' Maggie explained.

"'That's okay. Did you find our friends?'

"'Yes, they are downstairs in the parlor.'

"'Sally, too?' I asked.

"'No, she's in a bedroom on the same floor, but quite a distance away.'

"'What's happening with the others?' Tabby asked.

"'They were in a bit of a scuffle with Mildred and Gregor when I left.'

"'Who's Gregor?' Tabby asked.

"'He's one of the werewolves that work for Mildred.'

"Werewolves?" I gasped. "There are werewolves here?"

"'Just one at the moment,' Maggie replied. 'But he's enough, and I think we should go to the parlor to help your friends before things get worse.'

"'Yes,' Tabby said. 'I think we should, too.'

"'Can you get us there?' I asked. 'I mean, we can't disappear through floors, and you said there's a power barrier at the top of the stairs.'

"'There's a dumbwaiter down the hall that leads to the kitchen three floors below. It's a short trip from there to the parlor. I thinks it's the best way to bypass the stairs and get you there unannounced.'

"'Can you lower us yourself?' Tabby asked, again cocking a dubious eye at the ghost. 'You are, after all, made of ectoplasm.'

"'I think so,' Maggie answered. 'I can try with the kitten first if you would like.'

"Sage hissed in response. It was enough she had a sore foot, and was being passed around like yesterday's left-overs, but she certainly was not going to be anyone's guinea pig.

"'I don't think so,' I said, patting Sage in my bib pocket. 'The kitten stays with us.'

"'Let's just do it,' Tabby said, 'but please try and keep it as quiet as you can.'

"'I'm a ghost,' Maggie reminded her. 'Quiet is my specialty.'

"'Really?' I asked, 'and I thought it was rattling chains in an attic.'

"'I can do that, too,' Maggie smiled. 'Shall we go?'

__________________________________________________________________________


Becky paused from her narrative and smiled at the enrapt crowd. With no other word necessary, she handed the lapel pin back to Nancy, signifying the end of her part in the story.

"I guess it's my turn again," Nancy whispered to Becky. Becky smiled devilishly and nodded.

Nancy chuckled as she paused to let the audience shift their attention, and to give herself a few precious moments to organize her thoughts. Then she glanced around the room at the collective faces, and began once more.

"Back in the parlor, things were not getting any better for Elizabeth and me. We were afraid and demoralized from the battle we had lost. Mildred continued to rant about kids these days, and how their wills were so easily bent because they had forgotten how to think for themselves.

"She had just gotten started about the effects of video games and cable TV on young minds, when the air violently exploded with an unearthly wail. Never in my life, before or since, have I heard such an eerie and woeful sound. I felt it reverberate through my bones, heart, and in the inner depths of my human soul.

"My eyes were drawn to the wraithlike appearance of a woman in the parlor doorway. She had on a long flowing gown enveloping a slight frame. Her slight translucent arms were upraised, threateningly, and her face was a mask of unbridled anger. Furious eyes glowed ember red causing us to tremble in mortal fear.

"Mildred, leave them alone," the ghost roared.

"What?" I whispered to myself. Was this spectre actually on our side? I looked at her in confusion. She actually winked at me, then disappeared in a crimson flash.

"Cherokee Warrior Princess," I cried. "Arise and fight."

"In less time than it took for the echoes of the scream to die down, Elizabeth was on her feet. In a blur of movement, she jerked the arrow out of the wolf's chest, dipped it into her leather medicine pouch and then plunged it back into his chest. He wobbled a bit, then fell, unconscious, to the floor.

"Have some wild parsnip, compliments of my grandma," she said.

"In another blur, a dark slender figure burst through the door and knocked the witch off her feet. I rolled out of the way just as Tabby pinned her to the floor. I jerked my belt off and used it to tie her gnarled hands behind her back. Yet another body emerged from the doorway with a strip of cloth, torn from a curtain, in hand. Becky smiled at me, and tied the witch's feet securely.

"'Not everyone is afraid of you,' Tabby stated, reaching over and picking up Sage from where Becky had set her down.

"'And not everyone is your slave,' I added. 'We all have free choice and as long as we exercise it, you lose control.'

"'I don't believe in fairy tales,' Mildred spat out. 'As I told you, people are mindless idiots. You may have me tied up right now, and you may even stop me today, but my war goes on. My creatures are still out there, and they will not give up until there is no good left in the world.'

"'As long as there are Daredevil Girls, and others like us, there will be someone to fight them,' I said. 'In the end, good always triumphs over evil. Your cause was doomed from its conception.'

"'Oh, I'm not worried,' The witch cackled. 'I am much older than you can imagine. I was born before this country was ever birthed from the blood of the natives it conquered. I can change how I look anytime I want. I can be a beautiful young woman, a frightening ghoul, or even a child lost in the woods. I will be around long after you are dead and buried, you mortal piece of trash.'

"'Age doesn't always guarantee wisdom,' I countered. 'Sometimes the youngest and smallest can win the day. My sister Sally proved that last night.'

"'Sally is mine,' Mildred said. 'You gave her to me when you sent her alone down a path in the dark. That's how it often starts.'

"'Oh shut up,' Becky said, sticking a wad of curtain in the hag's mouth. "'Tough talk from a woman who was just beat up by a group of Middle School kids.'

"'That's right,' Tabby said, giving Becky a high five. 'You may have lived a long time, but like my father says, ''you aren't a fine wine, and you haven't aged well.''

"Mildred twisted and glared, but with her hands tied and her mouth shut, she couldn't cast any spells. I don't know how we knew that would work--maybe it was just instinct--but it was effective none-the-less.

"'Hey look, the sun's come up, and the rain has stopped,' Elizabeth said, pointing at a window. 'Tabby, we ought to be able to make it back to the campsite and get your car phone now.'

"'Good idea, Elizabeth. Let's go. The sooner the police get here, the sooner we can find Sally and go home.'

"Tabby rose quickly and headed with Elizabeth to the parlor door. She paused a minute and turned around.

"'Who are we?' she asked.

"'We're the Daredevil Girls,' we said.

"'Where are we from?'

"'Bunker Hill.'

"'Let me hear it,' Tabby said.

We're the Daredevil Girls from Bunker Hill,
We never ran from a devil and we never will.
We don't take drugs and we don't start fights.
We mind our parents and we come home at night.
We chase away evil wherever we will;
we're the Daredevil Girls from Bunker Hill.

__________________________________________________________

"After Tabby made her call, and before very long, the police did arrive. They carted the struggling witch to a special jail for supernatural beings, where she could be securely held captive.

"Gregor, who was still unconscious from Elizabeth's powder, was taken under heavy security to a special veterinarian who treated supernatural beings. Until I became a Daredevil Girl, I didn't know such veterinarians, or prisons existed. I found out, through a series of adventures, there was much more I had not been aware of. Through my stories in these assemblies, you will discover many as well.

"Another man you'll hear about is Emory Settler, the great grandson of Drake Settler, the man whose job of fighting evil we now fulfilled. Emory is a very special detective who has the unique job of fighting the supernatural.

"He arrived quickly that day, as he usually does, and helped us find Sally sleeping in a huge canopy bed. Standing beside her was the ghost I had seen in the parlor. She was no longer angry, and her face seemed soft and gentle. Still, she was a ghost and she stood between me and Sally.

"'Get away from my sister,' I screamed, advancing on the spectre.

"'It's okay,' Tabby said quickly. 'This is Maggie Smyth, and she's on our side.'

"'Don't worry, big sister, the spell over this child is gone,' Maggie said. 'I broke it as soon as you girls had Mildred tied up. It saved her immortal soul, and has set mine free. She is only sleeping now.'

"'Oh wow,' Tabby said. 'That means you can cross over, doesn't it?'

"'Yes, I can already feel the tug towards the light.'

"'Do you see your family?' Becky asked.

"'Not yet, but I feel them.'

"'I'm guessing this is a story you'll share with us later, right?' I asked Tabby.

"'Yeah, some scary night when we're camping out.'

"'I'll leave it alone, then,' I said. 'But I do believe thanks are in order for you, Maggie. You found and saved my sister, and I will be eternally grateful.'

"'Yes, and that's why I can leave.'

"'Is there anything else I can do for you?'

'"As a matter-of-fact there is. Mildred has spread many rumors about my family. They are all untrue. Would you please try to set the record right when and where you can?'

"'I'll try my best,' I said.

"'That's all I can ask.'

"With a quick wave and a brilliant smile, Maggie faded until the last vestige of her being popped like a cork and then exploded in soft brilliant sparkles that tickled our upturned faces.

"This now ends my first story, and on behalf of myself and the other Daredevil Girls, I would like to thank you for your attention and interest. We will now take questions from the audience, and answer some entered into the wooden collection boxes."