Secret Club Meeting

"Don't worry guys, I know the feeling," Wendy responded to Sarah and Sophie's story about Ralph blackmailing them with the security footage, and how Sophie solved it.

Wendy was lying down on a blanket on the floor of the tree house base of the Secret Club, tossing a ball up and down as the other girls sat around in a circle on the same blanket.

"You do?" Sarah asked, surprised.

"Yep, the owner of the gym tried to do the same to me when he caught me using the wrong soap to clean the weights," Wendy explained, tossing the ball up and catching it again.

"That's... not the same issue," Sarah said.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy to convince the owner to calm down just by letting him feel my boobs," Wendy said.

"WHAT!? That's sexual harassment Wendy!" Sarah gasped.

"Right, but it's always such a hassle listening to the old man complain," Wendy sighed, "It's easier just to shut him up right away."

"Sounds like a win win for both sides!" Sophie replied.

"Yeah you would say that," Sarah muttered.

Sarah turned to Ashley, who was reading one of the books about Cryptids in the tree house, "What about you Ashley? Any creepy old geezers bothering you at the library?"

"Me? No not really," Ashley answered, "I'm a bit worried for my younger sister though."

"You have a sister?" Sophie asked, "I have a little brother!"

"Shh guys, I hear something outside," Wendy hushed everyone, sitting up.

The girls crept over to the windows of the tree house and peeked outside.

"Soldiers!" Ashley whispered.

"Are they government agents like the one we met a few days ago?" Sophie asked.

"You there, in the tree house!" one of the agents shouted, "Come out unarmed now!"

"Wait, is that old man Carlyle?" Sophie pointed, to which the other girls crowded over to see.

"It is!" Sarah realized, "Who is that blue-haired woman he's with?"

"It must be the Cryptid that's controlling these men," Ashley deduced, "Otherwise, why would Carlyle come out here with government agents?"

"Well, he is a veteran..." Sophie began, but she remembered Sarah saying that there was no way for them to know that to be true, and went silent.

"I guess we'll just have to comply for now, and play it by ear," Sarah pitched to the others, who nodded in agreement, "Wendy, keep the Fire Amulet on you just in case."

"Roger," Wendy nodded.