CHAPTER 11

Welcome to the annual Freedonian Cheese Festival!” Fritz called out.

The village square was filled with people. A man threw cheese daggers at a woman on a spinning wheel. Another villager tossed colorful hoops at bottles, trying to win the carnival game. A line of villagers passed Lucy and the girls, singing a song they didn’t recognize.

Agnes and Edith ran to a booth at the side of the road. The man was selling giant lollipops, candy bars, and caramels wrapped in shiny foil. Edith grabbed a lollipop and held it high in the air.

“Lucy, can we get these?” she asked.

“Okay, but only one each. I mean it,” Lucy said, taking out her wallet. She paused before handing the girls a wad of cash. “No, I don’t! Get as many as you want, I don’t care!”

“Yay!” the girls cheered. They ran to the booth and bought fistfuls of candy.

Margo sighed.

“What?” Lucy asked.

“It’s okay to tell them no sometimes, too, you know,” she said. “Moms need to be tough.”

Lucy nodded. “Right, tough. I can totally do that. You know, still figuring out this mom thing. Getting my sea legs!”

Just then Agnes spotted a store with a unicorn out front. Only it wasn’t a store… it was a bar called the Tipsy Unicorn. That didn’t matter to her, though.

“A unicorn!” she cried. “Can we go in there! Please please please? Please???”

Lucy looked at the pub. Suddenly the doors flung open, and two burly guys flew out, wrestling each other to the ground. “Um, sure…,” she said. “But first, let’s, um… ooh, look! It’s a traditional Freedonian dance! How amazing does that look?”

Just a little farther up the road, there was a group of boys and girls around Margo’s age. They wore traditional Freedonian garb. The boys all held trays with wedges of cheese on them. One by one the girls approached the boys, took a bite of their cheese, and the crowd cheered. Each pair walked off together.

“Oh no, look at that poor little guy,” Lucy said, staring at the one boy who was left onstage. “With his little boots. Nobody picked him. Margo, why don’t you go up there?”

“No way!” Margo said, backing up.

“Okay,” Lucy agreed. But then she realized… this was her chance to be firm. Moms needed to be tough. “No—go take a bite of his cheese, young lady. Right now.”

“What?” Margo’s eyes were wide.

“Oh, come on, just do it,” Lucy said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Margo stared at the little boy onstage and sighed. Lucy was right—he looked miserable. She trudged up the stairs and introduced herself, and he told her his name was Niko. Then she took a bite of his cheese.

“Hmmm…,” she said, chewing.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Niko cried. “Thank you, Margo! Woo-hooo! Margo, you have made me the happiest man in Freedonia!”

Niko’s family rushed around him and cheered.

“BAM!” Lucy yelled. “I am a great mother! Did you see that, girls?”

She turned, waiting for Edith and Agnes to respond, but they weren’t there. She glanced around. They weren’t anywhere.

“Oh no…,” Lucy said, panicking. “Agnes! Edith!”