"...Meg felt great comfort from Chester’s visit. He had given her that little bit of extra confidence she needed to face the unknown circumstances thrust upon her. She didn’t know what to expect when someone came to bring her breakfast in the morning. She felt a surge of courage and conviction that you only feel when you are faced with a situation that seems completely hopeless and utterly out of your control. Even though it was still the middle of the night, she was ready for whatever lay beyond the locked door of her holding cell. ... Unfortunately, the outpouring of fearlessness slowly faded. With every yawn, the reality of her situation overwhelmed her. After all, she didn’t know if, or when the Secret Society of Faery Hunters would come to rescue her. She began to think that maybe this was her lot in life. Maybe she was destined to eat brussels sprouts for the rest of her life. Maybe it was predetermined that she would become a Brussels Sprouts Worshipper… ...Then she remembered—the wager! The bet she had made with her mother, Francis Dimplemeister, vegetable crusader and faery disbeliever. She, Meagan Marigold Sarsaparilla Dimplemeister, would find proof that faeries existed—solid evidence—if it was the last thing she ever did. And only then would that blasted vegetable, the evil brassica oleracea gemmifera be banished from her life forever. Her mother would see the truth, once and for all. ... “My mother, the crucifer-toting nutter,” thought Meg. The lack of sleep allowed wild thoughts to enter her mind. She wondered if this had been her mother’s doing. Was Francis that devious? Would she stoop to these levels to whisk her daughter into the way of the sprout? Could it be possible that she had not actually been kidnapped but was actually being held with the permission of her mother, the crucifer-toting nutter? ...“No,” thought Meg. “My mother is crazy, but she isn’t that crazy.” ...She fell back asleep with a new determination. No matter what perils she faced, no matter what obstacles were thrown her way, and no matter how long it took, she would show her mother that faeries really, truly existed! Brussels sprouts would soon be a thing of the past, a distant memory..."