Wherein I explain what happened and where I was

I wasn't kidnapped or I suppose I kind of was but I wasn't really because it was my parents and your parents don't really have to kidnap you because they can just say, "Cecilia, come along now" and you have to go with or you'll be in trouble again. So I wasn't really kidnapped, but I had to go to a wedding which was almost as bad.

The eldest daughter of my mother's favourite cousin had made a mistake and so she was getting married which didn't make any sense to me but my parents wouldn't explain it any. Anyway, she was getting married except she was getting married in Japan because the boy she was marrying was an ambassador which I thought was exciting because I thought that Poppy and I could have lots of adventures and maybe even save the emperor's life which would give us a good excuse for missing the wedding and having to wear dresses that make us look like little girls when we are nearly grown-up. But my mother said, "You are not joined to Emmeline Hughes' daughter at the hip, Cecilia," and no matter now much I said that I knew I was not and that if I was we would not have to go back and get her because she would be attached, they would not turn around and pick up Poppy, and by that time it was too late to leave signs that I had been kidnapped although actually I had not been.

So we traveled to Japan and the wedding wasn't all that bad I suppose but there weren't any samurai there which was kind of disappointing. So anyway, I didn't really get to have any adventures except for this one involving a ghost in the place where we stayed except I could not exercise him on my own and nobody would believe me that he was real. Although in the end it turned out that he was kind of friendly and showed me where to discover some ancient poetry which I thought was kind of nice but I am sure Poppy would not appreciate at all so she will not be getting it. I have gotten her a pretty kimono instead and it will be very good to wear after the baths which she will take now that I am back because I am sure she has not even looked at soap since I have been gone.

Weatherby, if you can read this, leave some clues!

Weatherby is missing and I don't mean she is missing her mummy and crying like a big baby in bed which is what she used to do before we became friends but that's a whole another story. By missing I mean that she disappeared. One morning I woke up and she wasn't there. But really because she wasn't there I didn't really wake up, because Weatherby is in charge of waking me up. So it is more right to say that one day I overslept and got in a lot of trouble and Weatherby wasn't there.
Her bed was perfectly made, but it didn't raise arise my suspicion because her bed is always perfectly made except when she is sleeping in it, and even then she tries not to move too much in her sleep because the sheets would get all wrinkled.
I asked people but nobody knows anything or they are all part of this conspiration and pretending not to know. I am very worried and I didn't even receive a ransom note yet! She'd better not be having exciting adventures without me!

Weatherby, if you are reading this, please leave some clues if they drag you from one place to another. I looked for clues everywhere and found nothing and I don't understand because we said we would leave clues if we were ever kidnapped.

I think it's time to recruit some detective helpers because I have no idea how I will ever be able to find her on my all own.

Operation Heavenly Choir

I finally made Ayda tell me about the second business because my finger turned blue and I didn't want to become dead. Weatherby had to run errands all the time and I got very cross with her and told her that I am not going to repeat everything when she gets back. I apologised afterwards and admitted that maybe I was mean but I was also cross with Theobald because he went to hunt a vampire but not Chara vampire who is scary and unpleasant but we never ever kill her because she is nice. Another vampire. And he wouldn't let me come. So I told him I might have to take away his secret club membership and that I didn't want to come see a stupid vampire anyway, and I wasn't being childish. He was really mean.

There's an angel with no voice but Ayda thinks that maybe he's fake and I agree. We suspect that his wings are fake because real angels are not supposed to walk among us like that, and anyway if I had wings, real wings, I would flap away and fly and not walk at all.

He's defiantly a fake angel and we must expose him because you can't walk around claiming that you are something you're not, like Alice Longfellow claims she's the best archer in school when really it's not true because Weatherby is ten gazillions better and the only reason Longfellow is captain of Archery team is because she is a cow who sucks up to Miss Pangbourn. We are going to follow him all the time until we catch him do something suspicious like taking off his fake wings that Ayda thinks are maybe tied with twine. I'm pretty sure I saw twine.

And we had to decide on a codename and usually it takes us hours to come up with names because Weatherby and I can't ever agree on a good name (hamsters are cute but that doesn't mean that every codename has to evolve a hamster, Weatherby). But this time when I suggested to call it Heavenly Choir Ayda immediately agreed and Weatherby pretended not to care

I teached Ayda how to use a camera and now if we catch him taking off his wings we will take a photograph and give the film to the police because they have juristriction which we do not have. Maybe we will take two photographs and show one to a priest too because priests have juristriction over angels and all things heavenly.

We will have to find a better way to disguise ourselves because the last time we went undercover as bushes bushies bushy Weatherby's pine-cone fell and made a racket and we almost got in serious trouble (because pine-cones do not grow on bushy). We also have to recruit more girls from school because following a fake angel day and night isn't going to be an easy mission.

P.S. Longfellow told Jeff Grimsby that I want to marry Horace Fielding when I grow up. Spreading lies is punishable by revenge.

Wherein I make minor corrections to Poppy's otherwise accurate report

We did discover the hideout of smugglers but it was not smugglers, it was one smuggler and when I saw him I was confused on account of I had been pushed down a hole and landed somewhat roughly and he smelled really really bad and I mean worse than riding lessons bad. Then he attacked me! I fought him off but I was irate with Poppy when I got back particularly since she did not even ask if I was okay or notice that my uniform had been stained in the fall and only was interested in whether or not I had found treasure. Ayda has proved an unvaluable addition to our agency and I think that she is coming along nicely, although I do wish she would come with us and get an education because she is a nice young lady and that is what nice young ladies do according to my parents and Mistress Davies.

I did conduct the ceremony and it was a little scary but only because it HAD TO BE otherwise there would be no order and we would all run around with our underwear on our heads and our hats on our bottoms. Anyway, you should hear the things that Poppy says to me when I am making her take a bath but you'll find she never writes *those* down in our journal, which I suppose is okay because it's not really detecting but still, really. But we got to meet a secret agent! And it was exciting and I only asked the secret agent and Ayda so many questions because you are supposed to ask questions about things, and anyway Poppy asks obvious questions too, like "Why do you smell like you live in a barn, Longfellow?" when the obvious answer is because she's a cow.

Poppy did tie a knot around her finger and that was very brave of her and she almost turned into a vegetable which she does not eat because of the blood circuits being cut off in her brain. Which is why she almost turned into a vegetable, not why she does not eat them. I have marked in our daily planner to ask Ayda again when we see her which is a much safer way of doing these things.

Where Poppy will discuss fierce smugglers and secret agents

We uncovered the hideout of smugglers and deduced through mitaculous meticulous maticulous detective work that they may be using a network of ruthless chickens to transfer very suspect grain! We have to hide behind a bush and observe their hideout day AND night until we have proof. I think Ayda will help us and maybe do the night shift because we can't because of curfew. Oh and the morning shift, when we are in school. Afternoons we have other activities too so Ayda will have to spend most of the day and the night hiding behind a bush.

Ayda Hayes is ever so fortunate!
She doesn't have to go to school. Nobody forces her to attend choir, archery, badminton or even dancing classes. She has no kitchen or laundry duty and she doesn't have to share a dorm with cows like Longfellow. She also gets to hang out with really important adults like the secret agent she brought to the club yesterday. We never had a real secret agent in the club before!!
Weatherby conducted the secret spitting ceremony and Ayda and I agreed that she gets better and better at it every time. This time she was so good that I almost threw up. And I don't mean like when I do kitchen duty. I mean really really throw up. Even the secret agent looked a little pale and she is used to scariness!
After the ceremony Ayda had some secret businesses to discuss with the club and Weatherby was embarrassing because she didn't know what codenames are and we had to explain everything to her and still she didn't understand anything and asked silly questions like can we all have the same codename (of course not!). I hope the secret agent doesn't think that we are two very silly geeses because maybe next time she is on a secret mission and needs detectives she will anoint us! I hope I hope I hope that Weatherby didn't ruin our chances.
There was a second business that Ayda had to discuss but we never got around to it, what with Weatherby wasting so much of our time with her silly questions about codenames. I tied a knot around my finger so I remember to ask Ayda what was the second business but everyone knows that people die from tying knots and stopping the blood sicularity to their brains so I am under a great risk and hope I meet her soon. Weatherby says that once the blood stops reaching your brain, you have exactly 34 seconds before you become a fruit, and then 29 more seconds before you die for good.