There were two girl scouts standing on her front porch, no older than Brie. They both wore matching green and brown uniforms, and each had a sash across their shoulder decorated with more than a few badges. One of them had a mop of wavy blonde hair, the other a very long brown ponytail, and both stood up straight with practiced smiles as soon as Hillary had finished opening the door. They even spoke at the same time:
"Hello! This is Gabby and Katie from Owl Scouts troop twelve! How are you today?”
"I'm fine, thank you! How can I help you? Is it cookie season?" replied Hillary, finding the girls' enthusiasm cute. The blonde, Gabby, produced a small clipboard and ran her finger down to a highlighted line on her list.
"Yes! We're here for the payment of the cookies that you purchased last week."
This caught Hillary off guard. She didn't order any cookies. She tried not to let her surprise show, as to not disappoint the hardworking girls in front of her, but she did clear her throat and try to straighten up.
"Oh... um, I don't actually remember ordering any cookies... is that the right address?"
Gabby and Katie seemed equally awkward since the conversation wasn't going the routine way. They rechecked the number on the house with their clipboard, and nodded.
"Yes, this is it... we weren't the scouts who sold them though, did someone else who lives here get them?”
One of her daughters buying cookies behind her back actually made sense.
"Oh, it might have been one
of my girls. I suppose I can pay for them and square things up later; I do need to teach them about sharing. How much do you need?"
Gabby and Katie smiled. “200 dollars. Cash."
Hillary, bless her kind soul and golden heart, gulped as her eyes went wide as dinner plates. 200 dollars on cookies? Cash only? She certainly didn't have that much spare bills on her.
"Are... are you sure?"
"Yes... it says so right here."
"And you don't take card?"
"Nope."
Hillary was devolving into nervousness, while it was clear the scouts across from her were getting annoyed, not that Hillary could blame them. The woman's mind raced a mile a minute as she thought of what to do next, and she stammered while trying to not break out into a sweat on her own porch.
"Just... excuse me for a moment... actually no, come on in, don't think I'm abandoning you on the porch, we'll figure this out. Just give me a moment to look around, let's see if I can find enough cash.... or some unopened cookie boxes…”
She opened the door and beckoned the two to enter, which they silently did. And after they began to stand awkwardly in her entryway, Hillary speed-walked up the stairs. She hated going into her daughters' rooms to look around, and she was absolutely not going to swipe any money from them. She was looking for cookies, or evidence of them, first. Under beds, in closets, in shelves, nothing in Tina's room, noting in Brie's. Bathroom? Nope. She practically flew down the stairs and into the kitchen, opening up every nook. cranny and drawer she could find.
"No cookies?”
The voice startled Hillary, and she turned around to see the girl scouts standing in front of her in the kitchen; they hadn't made a sound and had completely snuck up on her. At this point, their faces looked very disappointed, and it hurt Hillary's heart to put them in a position like this.
"No... I can't find anything... but how soon do you need the money? It's Sunday today, I can get to an ATM tomorrow...”
"We were told it would be today" interrupted Katie. "The payment has already been deferred by a week."
" think..." said Gabby, "she's hiding something."
The cute and honest girl scouts had transformed into mischievous little imps in the span of a few minutes. Even in her own home, Hillary felt a pressuring aura of worry, and she slowly backed up a few paces, only for the two to step forward each time to match her. The girls looked at each other, as if to communicate without a sound, and then back to the redhead woman while they pointed at a badge on their sashes, which depicted a rope with a pretzel knot done in it.
"This is our knot tying badge" said Gabby. "We're the best in our troop."
"Want to see how good?" added Katie.
And that's how Hillary found herself tied up in a series of ropes on her own couch. Her arms were tied at the wrists behind her back, pressed between her body and the cushions, while her legs were strung up and stretching out to rest on the Ottoman. She hadn't raised a finger to defend herself, still overwhelmed by a feeling of guilt, and she smiled nervously at Gabby and Katie, who responded with somewhat condescending smiles of their own.
"Well then... cash or cookies, give one up".
"Are you... also top of your troop for your interrogation badge?" asked Hillary, smiling nervously and trying to defuse the situation with humour somewhat.
“We may as well be" said both girls at the same time.
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