beatrix bobbit and the missing sister

"Where's my sister?" Beatrix didn't know when she'd grabbed her wand but she was clutching it tightly and pointing it right at Gemma.

Gemma, of course, was unfazed. If anything, she seemed to be enjoying Beatrix's rage. She kept waggling her gemstone studded eyebrows and flashing near blinding grins.

"She's having an adventure," Gemma leapt into a tree and dangled from one of the branches by her long fingernails.

Beatrix gripped her wand tighter.

Gemma flashed another smile before she jumped down from the tree. When Beatrix blinked, she was looking right at Sybil.

Except, it wasn't really Sybil, of course.

"What are you playing at?" Beatrix jabbed her wand at the imposter.

Gemma clasped her hands together and twirled in an almost perfect imitation of Sybil. "We don't want to keep mom and dad waiting."

She took off in a series of leaps through the yard and garden all the way to the front door. Beatrix struggled to keep up. She had to warn her parents, she had to find Sybil, she had to...

"Oops, sorry," Beatrix crashed into someone who grunted and looked up to see Mr. Bobbit's twitching mustache. "Dad! Good! Listen-"

"What if I'd been holding Penny?" Mr. Bobbit huffed before he shuffled back to his bedroom holding a bunch of carrots and a bottle of pink bubble bath.

"Girls, can you come in here please?" Mrs. Bobbit called from the kitchen.

Gemma tried to run in first, but Beatrix pulled her back. They struggled as they both stumbled towards the doorway where Mrs. Bobbit was watching with her hands on her hips.

"Beatrix, Sybil! Stop fighting at once!" She clapped and a cloud of flour exploded in the air.

"But she's not!" Beatrix tried before Mrs. Bobbit cut her off.

"No excuses," Mrs. Bobbit said, then sniffed the air and sneezed. "Sybil, dear. You really don't smell wonderful. Why don't you go take a bath. Use some of the pink bubble bath."

"But, mom-" Beatrix tried again.

Mrs. Bobbit sighed and tried to dab the flour from her hair. It coated the entirety of her head in a delicate powder. "I was going to ask for your assistance in the kitchen, but I don't know what's gotten into you since coming back from Witch Camp. You're on weed pulling duty outside, Beatrix, dear," Mrs. Bobbit walked slowly while sneezing to the back door and flung it open.

She pointed to the rows of blooming flowers. "Start by the table, and work your way towards the house. And, Beatrix, dear, no witch nonsense."

Mrs. Bobbit nudged Beatrix outside, and shut the open kitchen door.

Birds chirped nearby, but Beatrix was barely listening to them. She got down on her knees, sinking into the meticulously cared for grass and began pulling spindly green and brown weeds.

She needed to think if she was going to get Sybil back and get rid of Gemma. She needed a plan.

Halfway through the flower beds, Beatrix was dripping sweat but had assembled a large pile of weeds that she was proud of. But, she was more proud of her plan. She only needed to wait until Gemma fell asleep to put it into action.

Beatrix stood and dusted the grass off her cloak, then walked over to the garden table. The hole was still there beneath the table. "Excellent," Beatrix smiled.

Then, she grabbed the pile of weeds and carried it into the forest. Once she was done scattering the remains, she headed across the lawn and street to Callum's small white house.

...

When Beatrix returned from Callum's, she went upstairs first to check on Gemma in the bathtub. As she climbed the stairs and approached their maroon striped bathroom, though, she smelled something awful coming from inside it.

Running forward, Beatrix tapped her wand to the lock and watched as it swung wide open.

"Don't you ever knock, witch?" Gemma asked. She still looked like Sybil, though with a very un-Sybil-like look on her face.

"I don't knock for thieves," Beatrix said, then scooped the bottle of pink bubble bath from the side of the tub and skipped out. She ran down the stairs quickly, looking down at her boots.

"Oof," Beatrix was afraid to look up. When she did, she saw Mr. Bobbit in a white robe, holding Penny inside a small towel. "At least I only hit your shoulder!" Beatrix patted Mr. Bobbit's arm then Penny's nose, and darted out the front door before he could grunt at her.

Once outside, Beatrix crept along the side of the house and into the back garden. She crossed the garden to the table and crouched down next to the hole were the gemstones had magically appeared.

Or, been laid as a trap by Gemma.

There, she dropped the bottle of bubble bath before dusting off her hands and coming in the back door to find Mrs. Bobbit sitting at the yellow kitchen table.

"All done, Beatrix, dear?" Mrs. Bobbit asked.

"Not quite," Beatrix responded with a smirk.

Mrs. Bobbit sighed and fluffed her hair. "Well, dinner is ready. Why don't you get your sister and father."

Beatrix nodded, but turned back to the table once. Her heart ached when she saw Sybil's place setting. Her favorite pink plate with tiny yellow flowers. It was right next to Penny's carrot shaped mini platter.

She missed her sister so much in that moment. She missed the gap between her front teeth and their shared eye rolls when Mr. Bobbit did something silly with Penny and the way she always somehow smelled like flowers.

Mrs. Bobbit cleared her throat. "Beatrix, dear, are you alright?"

Beatrix nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak. She stepped out of the kitchen entryway at last to fetch Mr. Bobbit and Gemma.

And ran right into something for the third time that day.

Slowly, Beatrix looked up and shrugged. "Beatrix!" Mr. Bobbit grumbled.

"Mom has Penny's special occasion carrot platter out," Beatrix smiled.

Mr. Bobbit opened his mouth. Then closed it. His mustache twitched when he gazed down at Penny who was perched on his shoulder.

"A special occasion indeed," he patted Penny, then Beatrix and shuffled into the kitchen, hopping clumsily across the worn black tiles to his seat.

Without wasting a moment, Beatrix darted up the stairs and into hers and Sybil's bedroom. Luckily, the bathroom door was still closed, which meant Gemma was occupied.

Beatrix flung open her trunk and rummaged around until she found the small crystal vile with sparkling blue liquid inside. Solid Slumbers had been her final creation at Witch Camp.

And, she was about to find out how well it worked.

Because once she got Gemma to pass out, she was gonna go find Sybil herself. No matter what she had to do to get her.

Back downstairs, Beatrix opened the crystal vile inside her sleeve and carefully dumped its contents into the dark blue glass at Sybil's seat.

When Gemma came down a few moments later - smelling like sour water coated with pink rose bubble bath - Beatrix could hardly sit still.

"Beatrix, dear," Mrs. Bobbit sighed as she watched Beatrix bob up and down.

"It's a carrot platter night!" Mr. Bobbit grumbled.

Gemma only smiled with fake sweetness. Let her think Beatrix's discomfort was from having her here. And not from the potion that had been slipped into her drink.

Gemma took a sip, and Beatrix held her breath.