The Weirld

By Mary Sisson

Treenie is seven years old and loves her doll Bear. She also loves her oldest sister and her brother, Violet and Dougie, who are always sweet and kind—at least on the weekends when they are home. Treenie feels somewhat less love for Becky, her surly, makeup-wearing, bug-fearing, 14-year-old sister who—like it or not—is home all the time.

But Violet, Dougie, Becky, and even Bear have secrets—lots of secrets. An entire world of secrets, as Treenie is about to discover in this young-adult novel. A spell goes wrong, and Treenie finds herself in the magical, strange, and dangerous land her siblings have dubbed The Weirld!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Sisson
• Release date: Jun 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463043264

Mary Sisson

Mary Sisson is an award-winning writer, editor, and journalist. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English and American Language and Literature from Harvard University, and she has a master’s degree in Journalism from New York University, where she received the Edwin Diamond Award, the department’s highest honor. She has contributed to award-winning books ranging in topic from terrorism to food to history to technology. See what’s she’s up to by visiting marysisson.com!

Book preview

THE WEIRLD

a novel by Mary Sisson

Author’s note: It has been brought to my attention that some younger readers have no mental image whatsoever of an old-fashioned telephone switchboard. I can think of no better remedy than to follow Treenie’s fine example and watch The Switchboard episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.

Text and cover art © 2018 by Mary Sisson

Illustrations © 2018 by Charlotte Pair

Drawings by Treenie © 2018 by Lucille Pair

In Memoriam

Franklin Kendall Sisson

1966–2013

Chapter 1

I CAN’T GO? asked Treenie.

I’m afraid not, said Mommy. Bethany is coming to look after you.

Treenie looked from her Mommy to her Daddy. She sat at the kitchen table, her book forgotten before her.

Next to her sat Bear.

Becky is going, said Treenie.

Rebecca! The shout came in from the next room.

Mommy smiled, but Treenie did not. Becky had microwaved Treenie’s doll the previous day, so Treenie was doing her best to pretend that her sister did not exist.

"Rebecca is older," said Mommy, with a glance at the other room.

Treenie frowned. It’s about cowboys, she said. And horses. I can see a movie about horses.

Daddy cleared his throat. Be—Rebecca, he said loudly, a warning note in his voice.

I logged out! came back. There was a stomping of feet, and Becky entered the room.

Treenie looked away from her sister and down at the table.

I logged out, Becky said again. "I did."

Then how does Treenie— Daddy began.

Treenie looked up, nervous. I heard at school, she said hurriedly. I heard it at school. They said that movie is about cowboys and horses.

"The children at your school said that?" Mommy asked.

Treenie nodded.

"Did those children actually see the movie?" Daddy asked, sounding astonished.

Treenie looked back down at the table. I dunno, she mumbled.

"Well, that movie is not for children, Mommy said, firmly. It’s barely appropriate for Rebecca, and she’s 14. That’s why your father and I are both going with her."

Becky rolled her eyes, which, thanks to the black circles she always drew around them, stood out from her pale, made-up face like a cartoon’s.

Treenie frowned, partly because of her awful sister, and partly because of the problem she faced.

If kids can’t go . . . she began dejectedly, but then brightened up, . . . can Bear?

She pointed hopefully at the doll in the chair next to her.

Bear did not look particularly special: He was a large teddy bear, but not remarkably huge, and his short, loopy fur (really more like terry cloth) was an average brown. He had black eyes and a nose that had been sewn on with thread and no particular care. But he sat on a tower of cushions that had obviously been prepared to raise him to the height of the table.

Mommy lifted an eyebrow, and then looked over at Daddy, who gave a slight shrug.

Well— she began.

"I am not going to the movies with that dumb bear!" Becky exclaimed.

Treenie turned to her, open-mouthed.

No! Becky shouted. "I hate having to take Bear everywhere! Everyone who sees him thinks he’s mine! We’re not taking him! It’s too embarrassing!"

In a flash Treenie was off her chair and running at Becky, fists in the air. Daddy shoved his hand in front of her chest, catching her before she could reach her sister.

"I hate you!" Treenie screamed around his arm. You ruin everything!

A few minutes later Treenie lay alone on her bed, sobbing violently. Eventually her sobbing began to slow, and then it dissolved into what sounded more like a bad case of the hiccups.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and then went to her door. She got on her hands and knees and checked the crack between it and the floor. Then she pressed her ear against the door itself for a moment.

Satisfied that no one was there, she returned to the bed, where Bear lay. She took Bear into her arms and whispered into his ear.

I’m sorry, she said.

It’s OK, Bear replied.

Treenie whispered again. I think they would have taken you if stupid Becky hadn’t opened her stupid mouth.

I know you’re upset with her, Bear said.

Treenie looked away, a fresh tear trickling down her face.

I hate her, she muttered quietly.

You don’t, really, said Bear. She made a mistake microwaving your doll, and she knows it. She can’t really control her fear. Maybe someday—

I traded three packs of dinosaur stickers and four glitter pencils for that doll! And Megan won’t give them back! Treenie whispered fiercely.

In a moment, her anger dissolved into wistfulness.

She was so pretty. . . .

I know that you really liked that doll, Bear said. "But you know that Becky’s terrified of flying insects."

She wasn’t an insect! Treenie yelped. She was a fairy!

Shh-shh-shh, said Bear. Treenie watched the door. A moment passed, and they didn’t hear anything.

Bear said, Being a fairy kind of made it worse.

Why? asked Treenie, sniffling.

Oh, you should have seen Becky, Bear said. "She walked into that kitchen, threw her knapsack on the table, and walked over to the refrigerator. Then all of a sudden, she screamed! She was so loud! I had no idea the doll was there—you must have left it before you moved me into the kitchen."

Treenie stopped sniffling—she’d been out of the room when the doll had been destroyed. Bear had told her this story already, but it was pretty funny.

I was shouting, ‘Becky! Why are you screaming!? Are you hurt?’ but of course she couldn’t hear me. Then she grabbed a pot holder—I guess in case the pretty little fairy doll was hot or something—grabbed the doll, and threw it as hard as she could into the microwave.

Treenie started to smile, but she pouted again, determined to be miserable.

"It almost bounced out, but she slammed the door shut and hit the—is there an ‘incinerate’ button? Maybe a ‘flamethrower’ or ‘boil in oil’ setting? Of course, then the microwave started to spark, because you’re really not supposed to microwave a doll—"

Treenie felt a giggle coming up, but she got control of herself. It was sad, she whispered. I came out of the bathroom, and my beautiful doll was all melted.

Oh, yes, it was sad for you—not to mention quite a tragedy for the doll, said Bear. "And I was pretty worried that the microwave was going to burn the house down, which would have been bad for us all. But looking back at it, it was funny to watch Becky run around trying to unplug it. Finally she just knocked the microwave off the counter, and it smashed all over the floor. Replacing it couldn’t have been cheap—you think Mommy and Daddy will be withholding Becky’s allowance for one year, or two?"

Two, I hope, said Treenie, but there was no force behind the statement. She looked at Bear and gave him a hug—Bear always made things better.

Suddenly she felt troubled. I told a lie, she whispered into his ear.

I heard, said Bear. You lied about how you learned about that movie. How do you feel about that?

Bad, said Treenie.

I don’t like it, either, said Bear. I don’t like you lying to your Mommy or your Daddy—you know that. I especially don’t like that I’m the reason you have to lie to them. But I don’t think we have much of a choice.

I can’t tell them about you, Treenie agreed.

Yeah, you’re seven now, and they’re not going to think it’s cute like they did when you were little, said Bear. At the very least, I think they’d throw me out.

Treenie gasped and wrapped her arms around Bear as tightly as she could.

Losing the fairy doll had been bad enough, but losing Bear—! That was just unthinkable. Bear was alive, and Bear loved her!

"I would never, ever let them throw you out!" she whispered, fiercely.

Chapter 2

BEAR NEEDED COPPER to do his magic, so Treenie collected old pennies. New pennies were no good—they were mostly zinc. Nickles and dimes had a lot of copper in them, underneath their silver surface, but you could still get ten old pennies—and a lot more copper!—by swapping just one dime, so Treenie let everyone know that she collected old pennies and was happy to trade for them.

That had worked for as long as Treenie could remember—she really wasn’t sure what Bear had done before she had gotten old enough to shove pennies into the small hole under his left armpit. She had asked him once, and he told her that he had needed copper less back then.

His need had been growing a lot lately, though. Treenie had always been able to maintain the charade of being a penny collector because Bear had never needed quite as many pennies as she could get. But now her collection was getting smaller and smaller as she shoved penny after penny into Bear.

Something’s happening that’s making things harder, Bear told her when Bethany was on the phone. I don’t know what. But I may need gold to stabilize the spell.

"Gold?" Treenie yelped.

Where was she supposed to get gold? Of course Mommy and Daddy had gold wedding rings and some other jewelry, but Treenie knew she couldn’t use those. They would be really upset if their jewelry were taken, and Bear would be mad at her, too. (Treenie was not entirely convinced that Bear couldn’t tell Mommy and Daddy things if he really wanted to—they always seemed to know when she had done something bad.)

So she remained stumped until the next day, when Violet and Dougie came home.

Violet and Dougie came home just about every weekend—they went to a high school in another city. Their school was run by the governor of the state, which Treenie thought was really neat. Because the governor ran it, it was the state’s very best school, so Violet and Dougie went to it even though it was far enough away that they had to spend weeknights there.

Becky was going to start high school next year, but she didn’t think the governor’s school was neat. She wouldn’t even apply to go there, even when Mommy and Daddy asked her to. Every time the topic came up, Becky got mad for no reason!

Of course, she was always getting mad for no reason.

So Treenie was stuck with grumpy old Becky every night, and she saw Violet and Dougie only on the weekends.

But after Violet and Dougie arrived this time, Mommy and Daddy gave Becky a look, and Becky told Treenie that they were going to the drugstore.

The drugstore was not far, and normally Treenie didn’t mind going there—it did have toys, although not many. But she wasn’t particularly thrilled about leaving Violet, Dougie, and Bear behind (Becky insisted on that last one) to walk there with grouchy Becky.

They were supposed to be getting paper towels, but Treenie knew that Becky would probably buy more of her gross makeup. People sometimes told Treenie that she and Becky looked alike, but they did not. Well...they both had the same round face; Treenie was willing to accept that, especially because Becky did not like it when people described her face as round, or better yet, called her moon-faced. And their eyes were about the same green color.

But while Treenie’s wavy hair was a normal dark brown, Becky’s wavy hair was a mix of black and a cranberry color that was as close as their parents would let her get to purple. Her skin was white and chalky because of all the disgusting makeup she wore. She also scribbled over her eyebrows and around her eyes with black pencil, and she wore lipstick.

Dark lipstick.

Because she was stupid.

Mom and Dad took me to that movie last night so that I would do this with you, Becky told Treenie the minute they left the house.

Why do they want you to take me to the drugstore? asked Treenie.

They want to have a long talk with Violent, said Becky. "She’s in big trouble. She cheated."

Treenie was shocked. Violet was really smart, everyone said, and she always got really good grades, even though she was at the very best high school in the state. She was a junior, and Mommy and Daddy often talked excitedly about the colleges Violet might get into.

Plus (unlike Becky) Violet was super nice—she loved animals so much that she wouldn’t eat meat and would have only vegetables and cheese on her pizza.

You’re not supposed to call her ‘Violent,’ Treenie said to Becky. And don’t call Dougie ‘Deadly’ either. Meanie.

They walked in silence until they reached the drugstore, Treenie vigorously hoping that a flying bug would come along and scare Becky.

When they went in, Treenie’s eyes went to the large counter by the front door.

She had passed by it many times without really paying attention to it, but today she noticed that it was a jewelry counter. And it had a large sign hanging over it that said:

GIVE THE GIFT OF GOLD

They sell gold here? she asked, surprised. "Real gold?"

Yeah, said Becky. Some of it’s real, anyway.

Wow, said Treenie. I never thought it was real gold.

So while Becky looked for paper towels, Treenie looked at the possibly-really-gold jewelry. She couldn’t see it that well because the counter was pretty high, but some of the jewelry looked small—little ball earrings and the like—and Treenie wondered if maybe it wasn’t too expensive.

How much did gold cost, anyway? Treenie had no idea, and she couldn’t see the prices because she was too short.

If the cheapest bit of gold was $100—well, forget it then, Treenie could never come up with that much money. But if it was $20—? She got chore money every week, and she could always earn more by doing extra chores. It would