“This isn’t going to work,” Skye told Hobbi as they walked around the farm. The animals seemed excited by Hobbi—as if they sensed she was different and wanted to greet her. Chickens clucked, goats bleated, and barn cats meowed and swished their tails.

  Skye frowned at Hobbi. “You can’t stay. You have to return to Specter.”

  “No.”

  “But you don’t belong here.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “But wouldn’t you rather be with your sisters and brothers?” Skye asked gently, pausing by the chicken coop.

  “No.”

  Another simple, stubborn answer. How could Skye make Hobbi understand that should couldn’t live here. Skye had enough trouble fitting in at school. She wondered with despair, What would kids say if they knew I had a mail-order fiend? Talk about embarrassing! Paper airplanes in my hair and black licorice smeared in my mouth are nothing compared to having a live-in monster!

  Skye noticed that Hobbi’s golden braids were spinning again. Fear gripped Skye’s heart, and she backed away.

  “Your thoughts are jumbled,” Hobbi said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. Her braids continued to twirl and she leaned toward Skye. “I’m having trouble reading them.”

  “Reading my thoughts!”

  “Of course.” Hobbi patted Skye’s arm with her cool hand. “Your letter said: ‘I want her to understand me, like she knows what I’m thinking.’” Hobbi smiled. “You are now wondering how my hair can twirl by itself.”

  Skye felt light-headed and dizzy. “Yes … that’s what I was thinking. Oh, no! You really can read my mind!”

  “Isn’t that what you ordered?” Hobbi’s braids stopped spinning, and she frowned. “You are still afraid of me. But that’s silly. You are my boss, and I couldn’t harm you even if I wished to. I was designed to crush, smash, and torment those who wish you harm.”

  “No hurting anyone!” Skye cried, more afraid than ever. Hobbi was dangerous. Maybe not to Skye, but to others.

  “You are the boss.” Hobbi bent down and patted a plump white hen. The hen cackled and rubbed against Hobbi’s leg.

  “I don’t want to be your boss. Please go back to Specter.”

  “Impossible,” Hobbi answered, straightening up. “Didn’t you read my contract? Special-Tee Fiends has a no return policy. I am yours for a lifetime.”

  “A life … lifetime.” Skye gulped, afraid to ask the question that spun in her head.

  Hobbi-the-mind-reader answered it anyway. “Your lifetime, Skye. I will be with you always. Forever.”

  Skye’s legs trembled, and she sank down to the ground, her back against the chicken coop. She didn’t want a mail-order mind-reading monster. Not for a day, a week, a month, or a lifetime.

  Somehow, Skye had to find a way to break the contract.

  She had to get rid of Hobbi.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Skye woke up so early the following morning the sky was still dark and lit with a silvery moon. Skye didn’t usually look forward to school, but she was glad for any reason to escape from her spooky house guest. Fiends didn’t belong in school, so Hobbi would have to stay at home.

  Skye had never gotten ready for school so quickly. She buttoned on a green flowered-print skirt, slipped a white ruffled blouse over her head, and stepped into comfy white sneakers. Then she grabbed her backpack and zipped downstairs for breakfast.

  The kitchen and dining room were empty. No sign of Hobbi. She must still be asleep. So far, so good , Skye thought.

  A glance at the clock revealed Skye was ready an hour early. But she didn’t mind. She’d rather spend an extra hour at school than more weird minutes with Hobbi. All yesterday Hobbi had followed Skye around like an eerie shadow, calling Skye “Boss” and twirling her golden braids like windmills.

  Skye poured Gadzooks Granola cereal into a bowl and added a splash of milk. As she spooned her last bite of cereal, she heard voices and looked up as her aunts bustled into the dining room. They wore quilted cotton robes and looked identical, down to the surprise on their faces.

  “What are you doing up so early?” Aunt Belle asked, automatically going to the stove and putting on a pot of water. Herbal tea every morning was a tradition.

  “We would have cooked you a hot breakfast,” Aunt Glory added.

  “Where’s Hobbi?” Aunt Belle asked.

  “Still asleep,” Skye answered. “I’m sure she’ll be up soon. I’d say good-bye to her, but I have to hurry to school. I don’t want to be late.”

  “Late? But the sun hasn’t even risen yet,” Aunt Belle said.

  Skye carried her dish over to the sink. Escape was so near. She couldn’t wait to leave. Any minute Hobbi would show up.

  “I’d better go.” Skye swung her backpack over one shoulder and headed for the door. But she only made it to the refrigerator.

  “Hold it right there young lady,” Aunt Belle ordered.

  “You can’t leave yet,” Aunt Glory added, dipping a tea bag into a cup of steaming water.

  “Why not?”

  Aunt Belle raised an eyebrow. “You’re forgetting something.”

  “What?”

  Both aunts shared a deep look, then answered in that uncanny twin way of theirs, “Hobbi.”

  Skye groaned. Her fiend friend was like a noose around her neck that just kept tightening; smothering, strangling Skye until she couldn’t breath.

  “There’s no way I could ever forget Hobbi,” Skye said truthfully.

  “So go fetch her,” Aunt Glory urged, sipping her tea.

  Aunt Belle added, “We don’t want our exchange student to be late on her first day of school.”

  “School? Hobbi!” Skye almost choked.

  “Of course,” both aunts said.

  “No way! Hobbi doesn’t belong at Royal Star. It would be a disaster!”

  Aunt Glory reached over the patted Skye’s hand. “Calm down, sweetie.”

  “But you can’t be serious! Hobbi can’t … it just won’t work. She’s not … I mean …”

  “All young girls must attend school,” Aunt Belle said.

  “Hobbi isn’t a normal girl. You’d be surprised how different she is. I can’t take her to school with me!”

  “Skye!” Aunt Belle cried, her tone shocked and disapproving. “I can’t believe you’d be so heartless. Put yourself in Hobbi’s place. The poor lamb is alone, away from her family and friends, and living with strangers.”

  Skye opened her mouth to explain, but realized it was useless. Her aunts were frowning at her, which made Skye feel guilty. She’d never argued with her aunts before. Ever since her dad had left her here three years ago, Skye had been on her best behavior. Her room was never messy, she willingly helped with chores, and she never complained about her problems at school. She couldn’t bear if her aunts sent her away like her father had.

  So Skye told her aunts she was sorry, then she went upstairs to awaken Hobbi.

  Skye tapped on Hobbi’s door. “Are you up?”

  There was no answer. Maybe fiends are part zombie. Skye knocked again, loud insistent raps, but still there was no reply. Finally, Skye twisted the door knob and peeked inside the room.

  No Hobbi, but there was plenty of evidence that Hurricane Hobbi had been here. Clothes were scattered on the floor, blankets were tangled around the bed, and dresser drawers were open. Major monster mess!

  Skye heard splashing sounds and realized Hobbi must be in the bathroom. Spinning around, Skye hurried down the hallway.

  Water noises grew louder, and the bathroom door was open.

  “Hobbi?” Skye called, stepping through the doorway. What she saw made her gasp. “Oh, no!”

  Hobbi’s face was smeared with gooey white cream, she wore the same peasant-styled clothes she’d arrived in, and she was chewing on something waxy and white.

  “Good morning, Boss,” she greeted as though it was normal to stand in the bathroom with one foot splashing in the toilet bowl.

  Skye stared incredulously. “What are you doing?”

  “Readying for the day. Although this cleaning stuff makes my face itch.” Hobbi held out a long tube of Brush-Brite toothpaste.

  “You put toothpaste on your face?”

  Hobbi nodded. “Is that wrong?”

  “You bet it’s wrong! What a mess! And why is your foot in the toilet?”

  “Your washing pool is too small for all of me. Only my foot would fit inside.” She wiggled her toes in toilet bowl water, and Skye noticed that like her fingernails, each toenail was painted a different color.

  Skye shook her head in amazement. There were so many weird things about Hobbi. She obviously didn’t know the first thing about being human.

  “The toilet isn’t for your feet,” Skye tried to explain. “It’s for … well, I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “Then how do I clean?”

  Skye pointed to the bath tub. “In there.”

  “But there is no water inside.”

  “Of course not,” Skye said. “You have to turn on the faucet first. And what are you chewing?”

  Hobbi spit a wad of white stuff into her hand. “Bubble gum. I found it on the sink. It tastes delicious, and I can blow bubbles.” Hobbi tightened her lips in an “o” shape and blew a stream of small, clear bubbles. Like tiny balloons, the bubbles floated around the bathroom.

  “That’s not bubble gum!” Hobbi popped a large bubble with her finger. “That’s soap. You’re not supposed to eat soap.”

  “I’m not?” Hobbi’s golden braids whirled and Skye knew what that meant.

  “Stay out of my head,” Skye ordered.

  “You are angry with me?” Hobbi said unhappily. “I do not know how to please my boss.”

  “Don’t call me Boss.”

  “Yes, Bo- … Skye. I make too many mistakes. For a fiend, I am a failure.”

  Hobbi sounded so miserable that Skye felt sorry for her. Sky knew what it felt to be a failure. She remembered what her aunts had said about Hobbi being far from home. Hobbi may not be human, but she seemed to have feelings; feelings Skye had hurt.

  “Everyone makes mistakes. It’s okay.”

  “Can I undo my mistake?” Hobbi asked eagerly.

  “How?”

  “Permit me to give you a wish. What would you like?”

  Skye ran her fingers through her curls and blinked in bewilderment. Wishes!

  “What kind of a wish?” Skye asked cautiously.

  “A small wish,” Hobbi said, still looking comical with cream on her face. “Because I am a small fiend.”

  Skye wrinkled her brow. Guess that meant no wishing for world peace or an end to environmental problems. But what exactly was a small wish? Skye glanced in the bathroom mirror, frowned at her reflection, then smiled as an idea came to her.

  “All right. I’ve thought of a wish. But first let’s clean you up and then go into my room.”

  Five minutes later, Skye found a copy of TEEN Magazine and showed Hobbi a picture of a girl in a baggy black tank dress and pale gold leggings. “I want to dress like this,” Skye explained. “My clothes are too geeky. Can you zap me a really cool outfit?”

  Hobbi nodded eagerly. “Yes, boss.”

  Hobbi held out her hands and pressed her right purple fingernail. There was a sizzling sound, a blinding flash of neon light, and the bathroom floor seemed to spin. When the spinning stopped, Skye felt different.

  Slowly, nervously, she stepped in front of her mirror.

  Her curly dark hair, small face, and thin shape were the same, but everything else was different. Gone were the hand sewn clothes. Instead, Skye looked dramatic in a short black scooped-neck tank dress and glossy gold leggings. A pert black and yellow hat tilted to one side on her head and funky platform shoes added inches to her five foot two frame. Gold bracelets jangled around her wrist and tiny gold stud earrings dotted each earlobes. Somehow her ears had been pieced in the magical process — and Skye hadn’t felt a thing.

  All Skye could say was, “Wow!”

  Hobbi’s braids twirled and she grinned. “You are thinking you look fantastic. You like your wish and you like my magic. I am no longer a failure.”

  “That’s for sure. I’ve never looked better. Thanks, Hobbi.”

  “I am glad you are happy, Boss.”

  Skye admired the new “Skye Jones” in the mirror and nodded enthusiastically. Hobbi was right. For the first time in months, Skye was truly happy.

  And she wondered … If Hobbi could magically create clothes, what other kinds of magic could she do?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Hobbi wasn’t the only one with magical skills. Somehow—Skye couldn’t even begin to guess—her aunts had managed to enroll Hobbi at Royal Star School. Skye’s aunts may be lost in the pioneer era, but when they made up their minds to accomplish something, there was no stopping them.

  And Hobbi DeHoy became a Royal Star student.

  Skye managed to hide her new outfit from her aunts by wearing a long dress over it and putting the yellow hat into her backpack. While Hobbi was registering with the aunts, Skye ducked in a school bathroom, and presto-change! The black tank dress and gold leggings made her feel like a different person. Hopefully “weird” Skye was gone forever.

  The bathroom door opened and a familiar girl with long black hair walked in. Viera Galvez.

  Viera’s jaw sagged opened when she was Skye. “Your clothes!”

  Skye grinned. What a reaction! Ever better than she’d hoped. Clothes really did make a difference. Viera was obviously impressed. This could be Skye’s first step to popularity. Thanks to Hobbi, today was going to be wonderful.

  “Like it?” Skye asked, turning like a model to show off the black dress.

  Viera’s ebony eyes narrowed. “Of course I like it! Who wouldn’t? It’s a Legende original from Los Angeles.”

  Skye just grinned and waited to hear what other nice things Viera had to say. Only when Viera spoke again, she didn’t say anything nice. She pointed her finger at Skye and exclaimed, “What are you doing with my new outfit?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Skye wanted to die on the spot, but that wasn’t an option. So she stepped aside, then shot past Viera, right out of the bathroom. Skye rounded a corner and almost smacked into Hobbi.

  “We have to talk!” Skye grabbed Hobbi by the arm and led her to a shadowy area between two buildings.

  “Your wish is my command, boss.”

  “Don’t ever mention wishes again!” Skye pointed to the tank dress and leggings. “I need some answers, Hobbi. Where did you get my outfit?”

  Hobbi’s lids lowered over her lavender eyes. “Around.”

  “Around where?”

  “It does not matter. You wished and I zapped.”

  “Viera Galvez says these clothes belong to her! Is that true?”

  Hobbi’s braids twirled, and she smiled slyly. “Viera is Enemy One. Is that correct?”

  Skye groaned as she remembered that Hobbi had once said she was designed to crush, bash, and torment Skye’s enemies. “We’ll talk about this later,” Skye hissed. Then she ordered Hobbi to zap back Skye’s dull hand sewn clothes.

  Although Hobbi’s eyes darkened to a dusky purple, she didn’t argue. The black tank dress, gold leggings, yellow hat, and gold earrings vanished.

  Skye was once again plain and boring.

  A school bell rang and Skye said quickly, “We have to go to class, Hobbi. But when we get there don’t say anything. Sit in your chair and behave.”

  “Behave how?”

  “Perfectly.”

  Hobbi’s smile was sly. “I will behave perfectly.”

  Skye waved a warning finger. “No weird stuff.”

  “Yes, Boss.”

  “And stop calling me Boss!”

  “You are my boss.”

  “But my name is Skye. When we’re at school, there’s no such thing as boss or fiend. We’re just regular sixth grade girls. Got it?”

  Hobbi nodded solemnly, but Skye noticed a glint in her violet eyes as they stepped into the classroom.

  *

  “This is our foreign exchange student,” Mr. Reuben said, standing up from his desk and smiling at Hobbi.

  “Hello,” Hobbi said sweetly. Except for her old-fashioned clothes, she looked like a normal young girl.

  Skye crossed her fingers and hoped Hobbi wouldn’t do anything strange. Mr. Reuben was a really nice teacher; tall, with gentle hazel eyes, and cute dimples. He wasn’t married, and his girl students giggled about him a lot. Skye never giggled, but sometimes she wished she were twenty-one instead of eleven, so maybe he would notice her.

  “Welcome, Hobbi,” Mr. Reuben said. “I think you’ll enjoy our class. I hope when you’re comfortable, you’ll share with us some stories about your country. Specter, isn’t it? I’m not quite sure where that is….”

  “I know I’ll enjoy this class,” Hobbi said with a brisk nod. “I enjoy anything Skye enjoys and she likes your class very much.”

  Mr. Reuben’s smile widened to include Skye, and Skye’s heart turned to mush. She thought dreamily, Oh, those dimples!

  Hobbi’s golden braids began to sway. “Skye likes you so much, she wants to be twenty-one and marry-“

  “Hobbi!” Skye grabbed her fiend by the arm. “Let’s sit down.” She whispered in Hobbi’s ear, “No more mind reading!”

  Hobbi flashed an innocent smile. But Skye had learned there was nothing innocent about Hobbi—she was Trouble with a capital “T”. If Skye wasn’t careful around Hobbi, she’d end up into double trouble.

  All during class, Skye waited for something horrible to happen. She wrung her hands and braced herself for supreme embarrassment. Hobbi was sure to do something wrong. Maybe she’d spin her goofy braids or chew a piece of chalk. Then everyone in the class would guess Skye’s “foreign” friend was really a fiend.

  But nothing weird happened.

  Mr. Reuben gave a math quiz, discussed the Boston Tea Party, and pointed out geographic spots on a roll-down wall map. All through these lessons, Hobbi was a perfect angel. Not one devilish move did she make.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7