Chapter 11

Sam and Sarah climbed through the door just as the suns were barely in the sky. They gathered their stuff behind the bush and attempted to get situated before going forward.

“Sir P does not know we are coming here does he? He does not know we have been gone for two weeks. I am betting that they all think we are not coming back at all. I wish we did not have to leave. What good did it do? Do you really think we are any safer then we was two weeks ago? I do not think so at all!” Sarah was upset looking around. “We missed so much who knows what happened. We could have lost Sally maybe she is gone or something else….” Sarah sighed and looked at her brother who was just staring off at the sky.

“Okay I think we can just deal with all this later on. I think the most important thing is being safe and talking to Sir P. Let us go to the mountain and call him to us so we can go and see Sally. I want to speak to her as soon as possible. Did you bring those photos grandpa had for us? The ones of her and us and dad? They are very important…” Sam began walking towards the mountain with Sarah coming behind him.

Once they had climbed the mountain and were waiting for Sir P they noticed the rain clouds. “Is it going to rain? I thought it never rained here…” Sarah looked worried and so did Sam. They both stared at the gathering clouds noticing the lightning in the distance and hearing the low growling thunder.

Sir P came at that moment and smiled at the kids. “I thought you had left us for good. It is SO good to see you guys again. Thank you for coming back. I am told to report you to the King and Queen upon your arrival so you are wanted at once please get on and we shall go fast. There is a storm brewing in the distance incase you did not notice it…”

And off the twins flew on Sir P over the sky and over the storm. They flew higher then they had ever flown. Sam and Sarah thought they could almost touch the suns they were so high in the sky. Once they were high enough and the storms below them they continued towards the castle while flying over the storms were scary they could still hear the thunder and see the lightning going on below them. The castle was not yet in the rain area but it was getting closer and fast. Flying to the gate Sir P dropped the twins off.

“I am going to go seek shelter in their barn area with their horses. Do not worry about me. I will come back soon as you are done. Just call if you do not see me.” Sir P took off flying towards the horse area and was gone before they could say anything back.

Sam and Sarah walked quickly into the castle and waited to be announced. The King and Queen smiled at them when they finally were allowed to go in.  The three kids came running in shouting and hugging Sam and Sarah. They twins just smiled back waiting to be spoken to by the royal family.

“Sam. Sarah. Welcome back to our world. I hope it was not too harsh staying away for two weeks from us. We have been monitoring The Evil Wizard while you were gone and he seems to lost interest. We can not say for sure what he does up there and since he does not usually bother with visitors it is key that you do not go to the dark forest area at all and stay in any area but that area. The dark area seems to grow so just beware of it and know we will keep you as safe as possible as long as you are visitors to our world…” The King stopped talking while the Queen began to speak. “Yes our kids are so excited to see you again. Feel free to hang out here till the storm passes but I have no promise it will pass for a good day or so. I hope you do not mind staying here while it does. Is this okay? We can give you shelter and food it will be alright…”

Sam and Sarah looked out the windows in the tall castle and watched the now pouring rain come down. Then they looked back at the King and Queen. “Sure this will be fine. We did not bring much with us just our backpacks which we are wearing. Our tent will be okay it will get wet but I am not too worried we did not bring much else with us this time we packed rather fast not knowing how long we would stay…” Sam said Sarah looked worried at them. “Have you heard anything about Sally? Is she still living here?” She asked quietly.

The Queen spoke first “Sally is always going here she never leaves her shop it is doing so well since you to came and cleaned. I have heard she asks about you since you stopped coming for two weeks so please go and visit her soon as this rain clears. Or is that why you came was to speak to her?” The Queen looked curiously at the children waiting for their reply.

“Well we came to find out if she would speak to us yes. You see she is our mother she came here right after we were born and she got stuck here because she was gone too long from our world. According to your history books you can bring people back with you if you can convince them but they must be willing. We brought proof too. Our parents died in a fire and we did not find out about all this till only recently so having a living parent alive even she does not remember us like that is good enough.” Sam said looking at them.

Sarah looked on the verge of tears. “We was just worried she might have left. We do not want to lose our only parent alive even if she does not remember us…” sniffing Sarah tried to hold back crying. She was in front of the King and Queen after all no time to act like a baby! Sam put his arms around his sister so she could hide her face till she stopped looking so miserable.

As the day wore on the twins played with the royal kids and had a lot of fun talking and chatting. No television, no radio and no games the kids had to learn what they did for fun. They did look at their library and tour the castle all while the rain continued to fall heavily around them.

When it was dinner time they ate with the royal family at the large banquet table in the great hall. The twins sat across from each other smiling. “I have to admit this is the best time we have had in a while.” Sam said looking at everyone. “And to eat with the King and Queen and royal family is the best thing yet. Thank you so much for having us again.” Sarah looked around at everyone before saying “Yes thank you so much it has been a lovely day. Probably the best day I have had to spend when it was raining.”

After their dinner Sam and Sarah played some more with the kids. When they felt tired the royal children went to bed. Sam and Sarah were too wired to sleep so they were in the library till it was very late at night.

“Check this out. They have fiction books here I have never heard of before. This is just so cool!” Sam was pointing to a section of books with titles that were in other languages and made no sense at all but it was nothing the twins had ever encountered before.

Finally Sam and Sarah decided to go to bed. They had a huge guest room all to themselves complete with blankets and pillows. It was very comfortable. Each of them in one large bed.

Even being tired and it being late neither Sam nor Sarah could go to sleep at first. The rain had still been coming down all night and it did not look to be letting up any time soon. Sarah was looking out the window which was an open window so she could almost feel the rain coming on her as it blew past. It was not a large window but it was enough to see what was going on. “Hey Sam. If we can convince Sally to come home with us we should do it soon. I do not want to be caught in the Evil Wizards wicked plans. That does not sound fun at all.” Sarah looked back at her brother. He was looking at one of the books he had borrowed from the library.

“I think we should just take it a bit slow I do not know when Sally will come with us. I hope she is willing to come with us tomorrow or whenever it stops raining. But till then we need to remember this is her home. She does not know we are her kids or that she is from our world. She has lived here a long time and who knows how long she has lived here for real the time difference is crazy. She could have been here seven years in our time but that could be fourteen in hers. So I guess we should just give her time and see what happens. We can come back if she does not want to. We can do a lot of things to make her want to come with us or not want to. She likes us enough to want to see us again so I am sure there is something there. She must realize there is something there.” Sam stopped talking and looked at Sarah who looked so tired.

“I am going to try to sleep Sam. Good night.” Sarah climbed in the bed and disappeared behind the pile of blankets and pillows. She was asleep in no time snoring lightly when Sam finally closed his eyes and went to sleep too. The rest of the night the rain pounded away on the castle and the twins dreamt of happier times and things to come in the future.

The next morning as the suns rose in the sky the rain appeared to be slowing down. But it was still coming down light and steady when the royal family awoke. Sam and Sarah were allowed to sleep in and slept in a bit longer before waking up themselves.

Breakfast was at the smaller but still large table nearer the kitchen. The castle was huge. The King and Queen smiled at the twins when they came out to join them. “Did you sleep alright? Was the room okay? We do not have guests a lot and those are the rooms we usually use for them…” The King smiled at them kindly while the Queen looked on.

Sam spoke up for both of them. “Took us a while to get sleepy but we did sleep well once we did get to do so as those beds are so comfortable and huge. I think Sarah there got lost in hers. Haha.” Sam laughed at his part of the table and then stopped. Sarah looked at him as if she was seriously annoyed. “Yeah I slept well thank you. Those beds are too cozy.”

After breakfast the rains had appeared to have stopped so that Sam and Sarah finally got ready to leave. The skies were still clearing but the suns were shinning bright already.

The King and Queen smiled at them “you are free to go whenever you want. We have already called Sir P to take you to the village. Thank you for the visit. Do come again.” And the twins were off to find Sir P and go to the village to see Sally.

The suns broke through the clouds just as Sam and Sarah arrived at the village determined to find Sally and bring her home with them. Sir P. had finally helped them out in the one area they needed to know something about.

“I hear you guys are on a mission to bring home your mom? Sally? She is such a dear lady here she only came here around ten years ago from your world. But like all who stay most on purpose in her case accident she forgot it all within a month. The thing is most people who stay do not want to go back because no one comes here to make them come home with them. You guys have a fighting chance just by coming. But the pictures, the fact she has taken a liking to you are all sure signs this could work and you could get her to go with you.” Sir P. smiled as he landed. “I do want to tell you if you succeed she needs to be taken to the King and Queen there is a thing they do for those who leave here. This only applies to those visitors we do not normally allow our kind to leave our world for yours but since she is not like that she can go but they need to tell her things and what not. So please take her there as soon as you can. Good luck you two!” Sir P. took off for the skies before the twins could say anything else to him.

Locating the store as quickly as they could Sam and Sarah walked into the doors of The Everything Shop as if it were a normal day out not that they were about to change someone else life and their own in the same moment.

Sally was busy helping a customers when Sam and Sarah walked through the door. But the moment she was free she rushed over to them. “I am SO happy to see you two. Are you here for more clothes or just to come hang out? I missed you so much. And business has been doing so well since you cleaned up the store I am so happy about that. If you need anything take it no favor needed you did a job worth two free things no problem…” Sally paused realizing that this was not why they had come.

Sally had spent the past few weeks thinking of these two kids often. Not just as visitors but the connection she had felt for them. She was worried more than most they would not come back. She had even been talking to the King and Queen, Sir P. and anyone else that knew them personally to find out all she could about and then especially to find out if they were coming back or they were gone for good. So their arrival today was more than perfect timing for her. She wanted to see them more than ever and was generally happy to see them for this reason alone.

Sam and Sarah looked at each other and then tried to not blurt out what they wanted to say at the same time. They tended to say things together always on the same brain waves as most twins are. Sam went first. “Sally can you take a break or something and close the shop? We have something important to talk to you about.”

Sally looked around there was no one else in the store at that moment and she has been dying for a break anyways before they had come in. She quietly put the closed for lunch sign on the door and locked it. Turning back to the twins she waited to hear what they had to say.

Sarah began right then. “You may want to sit down for this. Sally? You are not from this world. I know you probably think you are born and raised like most of the humans here except for the occasional visitor or someone who wants to and comes to stay for good. But you are not. There is more to it. You are from our world, you came here about ten years ago right after our father and you had us. You got lost and he was never able to find you. About a month after you disappeared and were not found you lost your memory and thought you were always here. I am sure this must be crazy…”

Sally interrupted them right then. “Wait! What? Are you serious… This might sound strange but I always had this feeling. I can only recall being here and I can not recall not being here. But there is this gap I still always felt that began when I got here. I did not know that is what it meant. I never knew why I did not have a mother and father a husband and kids. I never knew. I just got here and fell in love with the people the shops. I was so into people I wanted to know what it would be like to work for them. So this shop was open and they did not want to sale it for much of anything cause business was so bad. So they sold it to me quick as they come. With no questions asked and here we are ten years later… Tell me more please!” She looked expected at them.

“Well we have photos to prove this all to you. You lived with our dad and married him. I know you was happy but you were feeling a bit overwhelmed our Grandpa told us from having twins and having them so young in your twenties right after being married. I guess you just felt the need to get away so dad started taking you here and one day you went without telling him cause you felt that need. We never saw you again. Dad got married a year later and the lady we thought our mom died in a fire with him a month ago which is why we are living with our grandparents now at their house and that is how we found the secret door. This was fate all of it. We never knew about you or this till we got here to this shop and needed your help. Thought you looked a bit familiar but till we asked around and got some answers did it finally make any sense…”Sam smiled at her handed the stack of photos.

Sam and Sarah had gathered the copies from their grandparents as theirs had burned in a fire. There was a picture of their parents dating, one of their proposal, marriage, pregnancy, the birth of the twins and the family together just weeks before this all happened. All set in a nice little book which Sally was now looking at. And she was crying! They did not have to convince her of anything she believed it just by their telling her.

The rest of the day the twins helped Sally with the store straightening like last time but laughing. She wanted to know all about them their lives and all that had gone on since she left them.

“So tell me what do you guys do for fun? Do you have hobbies? When is your birthday? Anything you want to tell me please do!” Sally smiled at them expectantly.

Sam looked at Sarah and shrugged before speaking. “Okay. Basics. We are eight years old we were born five minutes apart. We love soccer it’s a game where you kick a ball around with your feet and are not allowed to use your hands. We both love running and playing. I play drums she plays guitar and sings. We are both a bit tall for our age cause of our dad he was tall. I guess you are a bit tall too. Haha. Um. We both read and are very smart top of our classes. We are outgoing kids who make friends easily. Been really hard living these past few weeks without our parents cause we thought they both died…” Sam stopped talking to allow Sarah some time.

“We really miss our mom and dad a lot actually. I cried a lot these past few weeks. Blue Planet has been our little way to get away from the reality of losing them. We have to go to this group for people who lost people as a therapy to make us feel better. Went one time and it sucks cause most of the people there are not kids. I guess Grandma was going to get us another group. We live with them they are great you will love them! I believe your parents are still alive too but oddly enough we never knew who they were much because of you being gone. We thought our moms parents were our only other grandparents and its just her mom that is alive. I have no idea about yours though guess we can find out when we get home. Lots to do. Soon as you close we can go see about going home!” Sarah ran and hugged Sally both of them started crying. Sam rolled his eyes but went in for a hug too all three of them crying when a customer walked in.

Sally had to compose herself before speaking to them. Sam and Sarah went back to work as it was almost closing time they did not want to have too much to do at the end. Once the customer was gone and the door was locked and closed Sarah and Sam asked Sally one important question they had been dying to do so. “What will happen to the shop? Will you sale it to someone? If you leave tonight who can run it?”

For a second Sally stood thinking before replying to them. “You know I was thinking about that since you guys told me earlier. Cause I really do want to go home to you. I spoke to someone while you were on break earlier what will happen is the shop will be auctioned off as soon as I leave and will be closed till someone can take care of it. No problem I do not care I am going home!”

Sarah, Sam and Sally all got ready to go the castle. Sir P. arrived with a friend. Another winged Pegasus a girl this time who was pink so she was a girl they guessed. She smiled at them. “Kids, Sally. I would like to introduce you to my wife her name is Miss P. She is coming around today to help Sally since I can not hold more than just Sam and Sarah. Let us get to the castle so you can go home.”

Sally climbed on Miss P. while Sam and Sarah climbed on Sir P. and the five of them flew off quickly towards the castle just as it began to get dark. The King and Queen was waiting for them to arrive.

Sam and Sarah waited in a room for Sally to speak to the royal family one last time. Sally was not nervous and walked in after being announced. The King spoke first to her. “Okay Sally here is what we need from you. You need to sign a paper here that says you are willing to leave on your own accord. No one is forcing you to leave this world you are doing so on your own. As a guests that stayed you are allowed to be both leave for good and come back as a guests whenever you want to and can find a door. Your store as you know will be auctioned off within the week. Feel free to take anything you want from there as it is your store any food, blankets anything at all. Then the rest will go to the new owner. If you have any questions feel free to ask them now or come back at some later time.”

“As far as we understand you will both remember this world and yours once you step back through The Secret Door at their grandparents house. You can reassume your old life and do what you want.” The Queen continued before adding. “And we will miss you here in our world. Ten years you have brightened the lives of everyone around us. But you will make those two adorable sweet kids very happy being their mom they have been through so much. You have our blessings. Any questions?”

Sally smiled at them shaking her head no. “Thank you so much. I will be leaving now tonight I hope!” Sally signed the paper and returned to Sam and Sarah. Then the five of them flew back to the shop where Sally stood for a few minutes just taking all of it in. She grabbed her favorite blanket, books and a few food items putting them in the bag she has always had a backpack that was rather large. It was all she had when she came here ten years ago so she kept it even if most of the stuff in it was food at the time. Then Sally came out and the five flew towards the Secret Door.

By this time it was very dark as Sam and Sarah and Sally went towards the door. Sam and Sarah waved good bye to Sir P promising to visit soon as did Sally. They thanked both Miss P. and Sir P. with apples and brushing before allowing them to go.

The four of them were chatting so loudly they did not notice the shadow figure behind them. They did not hear the growl or see the flash of gray as something jumped them. It was not until they were knocked out cold and waking up in a large bag that Sam, Sarah and Sally realized they had been kidnapped.