The Compass Wars

Chapter Three- Vermina

A/N

Hey guys, so I decided I would try to interact with you all more, so hello! I hope you guys are enjoying this story, please tell me what you think below! I wrote this story in sixth grade, so I am basically just adding it chapter for chapter onto here. This will be uploaded pretty quickly, and expect around fifteen parts total. Thanks!! -T

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Cassie stomped out of the white room. She stomped all the way down the hall. Cassie would have stomped right into Vermina's Hat Shoppe if I had'nt stopped her.

"Cool it, lady! Cool it! We get a job and you have to go and hate on it! What's the big deal?" I hardly ever have to get Cassie to calm down. She never has a fit like this.

"The deal is," she huffed, "Vermina is said to be the lousiest, most crazy boss ever. No one wants to work for her. She's a creep."

"Says who?" I retorted.

"See, a long time ago, Vermina's was THE store, and everyone loved it, but when it went out of style, Vermina kept wanting business and she kinda went loopy. It's said that she is now a maniac who spends every day with her huge rabid pet rat. Do you get it? She's loopy."

"Yes. Let's go." I started to pull Cassie towards the door. She huffed, and then followed me in. The bell at the top of the threshold clanked with an odd cowbell sound when we entered. I could already tell that this lady was a little out of her mind. A warm, musty smell wafted out from the narrow, dim, crowded room before us. A clutter of shelves, stuffed with as many shapes, sizes, and colors of hats one could imagine stood around the small room. It was not unlike a small cottage.

I didn't dare go searching through the racks for the supposed crazy storekeeper. So instead, I called, "Hello?"

In response, I heard a muffled "OOF!" Then a skittering sound, followed by, "Bad Mouser!" Then a lady, whose age I couldn't tell, pushed her way to the front of the shop. She had untidy, raven-black hair, almost maniacal eyes, and was holding a stickily-furred gray mouse.

"Bonjour." She smiled a crooked grin. Okay, now she was creeping me out.

"Um...hi. So we are your new helpers."

"Oh, lovely. I am Vermina, and this is Mouser." She held the mouse up to my face. I slowly backed away. I certainly hoped Cassie was wrong about the rabid part. For the first time, Cassie spoke up in her classic, matter-of-fact tone.

"You named your mouse Mouser? Isn't that slightly cannibalistic?"

Vermina grinned. "Quite!" This was followed by an awkward pause. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Soooo...ya got any work for us?"

"Absolutely," Vermina replied. She led us to the back.

"By the way," I remembered, "I'm Leo Clark. This is my twin sister Cassie." Vermina nodded. I decided that she was a woman of few words. And so began our long period of sorting, shelving, placing, wearing, and being with hats.

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Many hours, then days, then weeks passed. Vermina got to know us, and she kind of grew on us, even if Cassie would never admit it.

One day, when we were shelving, sorting, and dealing with hats, Vermina came back from her errands and called us over.

"Cassidy. Leonard." She calls us by our first names, just like our mother used to.

Our parents died in a house fire. Cassie and I were at school. When we came home, all that was left were ashes. So we were sent across town to Grandpa's. Our mother was a sweet, caring person who had always sung us songs and smelled of lemon soap. She was the exact opposite of our father, who worked the night shift in The Market, and smelled of cooked meat and singed beard. He was a strong, gruff, yet, playful man, and was a good cook as well. But it's all gone now, and I figure you can't dwell on the past.

Cassie and I hurried as fast as we could through the racks of hats over to Vermina.

"So you know my old friend, that ad-guy, Billy Burgess?" We nodded. Vermina, as crazy as she was, turned out to have a lot of famous friends from her store's better days. She continued, "Billy gave me this." She held up a card with the words:

"Are you:

Interested in the War?

Wishing you could do something about it?

Under the age of 18?

Then you could be the...

YOUNG PEOPLE'S SAY;

Our young person who will be included in the great debate of the war and representing the opinion of children all across the Compass.

We know you're out there."

Vermina grinned and grinned until I said, "Yeah? What's this about?" Vermina smiled even more.

"You! You two! You'll be the Young People's Say! Isn't it brilliant?"

Before Cassie could scream, whether happily or what-on-earthly, I managed, "What...wha...okay. So we're what?"

I a) don't care about the war, b) don't care about the war so why would I want to DO something about it? And c) Okay, I am under the age of eighteen, but still. "Do we have to?"

"Please?" Vermina can make the most persuasive puppy-dog faces, and when she does, you stand no chance. I figured we could try out. For Vermina's sake.

"Fine. We'll do it."