A Jewel Whodunnit...
SADIE'S SCANDAL
PART ONE:  ISLAND OF DREAMS
Chapter One: Nerves

"L.A.X."
Sadie Monahue paused, glancing up at the imposing airport name with a tiny sigh. "I never thought I'd say it, but I'm kinda afraid to even go in here. It's been a long while since I was in England last, or it seems it, anyhow. I don't know if I'm ready to go back."
"It'll be a breeze. We'll look after you." Sylvina Martescu assured her, sending her a companionable grin. "In any case, I lost my roommate, don't forget, so we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
"Lucky you, Sadie." Nancy Pelligrini offered the English girl a wry smile. "How Topaz put up with Syl for so many tours I don't know...living with her is enough."
"Oh, shut up, you." Sylva glared at her bandmate. "You've never roomed with me, and besides, I'm not too sure Copper's any more fortunate, sharing a room with you all tour!"
"Don't start rowing now, we've twelve hours on a plane together." Elizabeth Santiago, or 'Copper' pleaded. The blond girl at her side laughed.
"Oh, Syl's not so bad to room with." She assured the apprehensive Sadie. "And in a way it really kills me to be here seeing you girls off and not coming along with you, but you know I can't leave Hollie yet. I'm lucky that Kimber was willing to watch her for this morning, since I wanted to come say a proper goodbye and good luck without having to keep an eye to her too."
"We're gonna miss you too, Topaz." Sylva sent her fair-headed friend a regretful look. "You coulda timed the baby better, you know."
Aurora Stapleton, or 'Topaz', grinned.
"Came when she felt like it." She said with a laconic shrug. "And Jewel are in safe hands with you four."
"Unless we miss our flight." Copper glanced at her watch, letting out an exclamation. "And Jetta isn't even here yet, unless she's inside!"
"Welcome to a normal Jewel tour." Nancy grinned wryly, linking arms in Sadie's. "This is how we always begin."
Sadie returned the grin. It was not more than a month or two since she had been asked to join the rock group Jewel, and when the request had come she had almost not believed it could be true. A good singer and a fair guitarist to boot, Sadie had never had much believe in her own ability, but she had slipped into the setup on Topaz's advice, adopting in public the pseudonym 'Garnet'. Since then she had begun to blossom, if tentatively, showing to the other girls her true talents for both drawing and composition. The need for a new Jewel had really come about when Topaz had discovered she was going to have a baby, and with Hollie being born the previous Christmas time the singer had chosen to take a break from the band, in order to learn about her new responsibilities. Sadie had been in the right place at the right time, but she had only consented to join the group on the understanding that if and when she felt ready to, Topaz could always return.
Topaz had acquiesced, for Jewel, Sylva in particular were her closest friends, and she was going to miss them as badly as they would miss her once they'd boarded the plane for England.
"What are you girls 'angin' around out 'ere for?" Jetta Pelligrini, chief executive of Misfit Music, Nancy's mother and one of Jewel's two managers pushed open the door of the departures lounge, casting the girls outside an impatient glare. "You do 'ave a flight to catch you know. Topaz, why are you 'oldin' them back? I thought you 'ad a squalling brat to attend to."
"I do, I just wanted to see them off." Topaz looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, Jetta, I didn't mean to hold things up."
"You didn't, it was me." Sadie objected. "Getting goosebumps about going home."
"I know 'ow you feel." Jetta eyed her in amusement. "First time back 'ome a star is a buzz you ain't never gonna forget, kid. Believe me."
"Take care, Topaz." Sylva hugged her friend tightly. "I'll bring you and Hollie something back from England, I promise."
"Well, just make sure if you see Cameron, not a word." Topaz warned her, returning the hug warmly. "I don't know what the press know about Hollie yet, but he's not to know she's his baby. If he did he'd come haring out to America and screw up his university training I don't know what I'd do...certainly not forgive myself."
"It's okay, it's understood." Sylva nodded.
"Bye, Topaz." Copper came to give the singer her hug. "We'll phone you from England, okay?"
"Make sure you do." Topaz grinned. "I'm gonna miss you all so badly."
"We'll miss you too." Nancy said quietly, squeezing the other girl's hand rather awkwardly, for shows of emotion were not part of her makeup.
"Me most of all." Sylva groaned. "Sadie, you and I are gonna have to stick together, okay?"
"Sure." Sadie nodded. She sent Topaz a smile. "Bye, Topaz. See you in a few weeks, if we survive, and send Hollie my love, okay?"
"I'll do so." Topaz winked. "And it'll be okay, Sadie, don't fret."
"I hope so." Sadie bit her lip.
"Can we go check you in now?" Jetta demanded. "It's a blinkin' long flight an' there are press an' everythin' waitin' to get a glimpse of you, which is why we detoured your car round 'ere, so that you could 'ave your touchin' goodbyes in private. Get a move on, will you?"
"Twelve hours is a damn long flight." Sadie remembered. "It was long enough flying to New York. Heck, twelve hours without a fag...Jetta, I'll join you inside. If I don't have one now, I'll go insane on the plane."
"Smokers." Sylva rolled her eyes. "You are not doing that if we share a hotel room anywhere, you got that?"
"You got three minutes." Jetta told the newest Jewel with a wry smile. Though none of the Jewels knew it, smoking was a skeleton in her own closet from her teenage years, and she understood Sadie's sentiments only too well. "That's all I can give ya, because the press want pics an' you gotta check in by fifteen minutes time."
"Okay." Sadie extracted a cigarette, putting it to her lips and fishing in her bag for her lighter. "Where is the damn...oh, I got it. Where shall I meet you?"
"In the main lobby." Jetta told her. "Well, come on, the rest of you! It's like 'erdin' a bunch of bloomin' sheep!"
"We're coming, Mom, don't nag." Nancy rolled her eyes. Copper grinned, linking one arm in Sylva's and another in the younger girl's.
"Let's go." She said.
Once they were inside, Sadie cast Topaz a worried glance, taking a drag on her cigarette and flicking ash to the ground.
"I'm dreading this." She owned.
"No need to." Topaz assured her. "It'll be fine, Sadie. And you'll have such high security, Neal won't be able to touch you."
"It ain't that." Sadie paused, flicking ash contemplatively. Then, "I can't tell you what it is, Topaz, because...well, I just can't. But I left a lot of old Sadie behind...I don't want it to jump up and bite me."
"Don't let it." Topaz advised. "I felt the same going back to Canada the first time, but now I'm cool with it. You'll find you remember the good things and forget the bad, and you'll enjoy going home."
"Guess you're right." Sadie nodded. "Guess I'm fussing about nothing." She frowned. "At least...I hope I am."


Chapter One: Nerves
Chapter Two: Bonny England
Chapter Three: A Bitter Shock
Chapter Four:  England's Jewel
Chapter Five: Top Of The Pops
Chapter Six: Sylva's Lie
Chapter Seven: Alyssa
Chapter Eight: Maidstone
Chapter Nine: Copper's Discovery
Chapter Ten: Amber Steps In
Chapter Eleven: Revelations
Chapter Twelve: Jetta Interferes
Chapter Thirteen: A Shock For Jewel

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE
Copper, Nancy, Sylva, Anna, Blade, Raesha, Sirena, Topaz, Aaron, Sophie, Justin, Elliot, Rosita, Luis and any other characters in this fiction which do not appear in the animated Jem series are copyrighted to me (E.A Woolley) as of January 2002 <unless otherwise specified> and are not to be reproduced without permission ANYWHERE. Jetta, Pizzazz, Stormer, Roxy, Raya and all other original Jem characters are the copyright of Hasbro Inc, Sunbow, Christy Marx and the other writers of the Jem series. The future world of Pizzazz, Raya, Jetta, Roxy, Stormer, Clash, Synergy, the fate of Jem and her memorial are all copyrighted to me. The future world of Kimber and Shana is copyrighted jointly to myself and Gemma Dawn.
The concept of 'Jewel' is entirely my own, and any apparent link with any fictional or actual person or persons of this name is entirely coincidental. Equally the characters in this fiction are not based on any real life individual.
The concept behind the future world of Danse, Aja and Craig, the idea behind Jerrica's futureworld and the split of the Holograms is copyrighted to Gemma Dawn, whose Teenangel Outsiders fiction is directly twinned with Just a Dream. The character Sammi and any of the other Teenangel Outsider characters mentioned in this fiction are entirely copyright to Gemma Dawn and appear here only with her permission.
Pay her page a visit!