Palustris'Weblog

The Music Box

2010-01-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

The Music Box.

Chapter One

Visiting Great Grandmother.

Miya did not look forward to Saturday mornings. That was the day when her mother took her to visit her Great Grandmother or Granana, as Miya called her. When they first arrived Miya was lifted up to give her Granana a kiss. Miya hated this. She complained to her mother that the old lady smelled and had a hairy chin.
“You may be old like that one day, “said her mother. “And you might like your only great granddaughter to be nice to you.”
Miya was placed on a stool next to the old lady’s rocking chair and told to stay whilst her mother tidied the house. Granana slept most of the time these days and it was hard for Miya just to sit there. It would not have been too bad if Granana ever spoke, but all she did was mumble to herself, even in her sleep.
The only pleasant part of the visit was when Granana did wake up, pick up her walking stick and pointed at the Music box on the dresser. This was a signal that Miya was to go and carefully bring the Music box over to the rocking chair. She would dearly loved to have wound it up and opened the lid to listen to the tinkling tune which it played, but Granana insisted on doing that for herself. Miya got very impatient as Granana slowly wound the little key round, mumbling to herself all the while. Miya was fascinated by her great grandmother’s fingers. They were all bent and knobbly. Miya’s mother told her that her Granana had arthritis in her hands which was what made them so misshapen.
“It is very painful for her, especially in the cold weather. And if you think they look bad, then you should see her poor feet.”
Even so Miya wished the winding did not take so long. She counted the turns. “Ten,” she announced.
Granana stopped winding and slowly put the box on the little table next to her rocking chair. Then, she settled back in her chair and then, only then was Miya allowed to open the lid. The music began to play. Miya sat and watched the box, chin on her hands. She loved to look at the beautiful carvings on the side of it, polished by years of handling. She was fascinated by the little round platform which came up when the lid was open. She thought that it looked like a tiny stage. Sticking up through the stage were some little wires. These went up and down in time to the music.
Granana always did the same thing when the music began. She nodded her head and moved her hands in time to the music. Even her feet, her poor crippled feet, tried to move in time with the music. When the music finally stopped, Granana sighed, reached over and closed the lid. Miya then very carefully put the music box back on the dresser. Granana usually went back to sleep then.
Miya once asked her mother about the music box. Her mother had smiled and said, “I will tell you the story one of these days, but not yet.”
Miya though it was strange that one person should have so many names. The old lady was Great grandma, or Granana, or Grandmother depending on who was talking about her. Miya thought it even odder that no one ever called her by her first name. Miya did not even know what it was.
So it was that when the old lady died, Miya shed only a few tears. A few days after the Funeral Miya’s father brought home the rocking chair. “This is too good to throw away, “he said. “But everything else in the house is well past being of any use.”
He looked down at Miya. “Oh, I had forgotten about this. Your Great grandmother wanted you to have it.” From behind his back he brought out the music box and handed it to Miya.
She squealed with delight.
“Be careful with it, “he warned. “It is very old, older even than Granana and I do not think there is anyone now who could mend it if you break it.”
“Oh, I will, I will,” promised Miya. “I will put it on the table next to my bed and listen to it every night.”
Her mother added, “Well do not turn the key too many times.”
“No,” said Miya. “Granana turned it ten times.”
Her father opened the lid, but the music did not play, nor did the stage turn. “I have often thought that there ought to be a figure on that stage,” he said. “One that moves with the music.” He pulled at his bottom lip as he did when he was thinking. “I wonder in the Toymaker in town could make one for it.”
Miya was surprised when her mother snapped, “No! Never!” and took the box from her father’s hands.
That night when she was being tucked up in bed by her mother, Miya said. “Why did you shout at Dad over the music box?”
Her mother sat down on the bed and said. “I suppose you are old enough to hear the story now. Your Granana told it to your Grandmother and she told it to me. One day I hope you will tell it to a daughter of yours.”
Miya giggled at the thought of her having a daughter, but settled down to listen.

Chapter Two.

A poor crippled girl.

Poor little crippled Annie hated being called that. “Just because everybody says it and even if it is true, there is no need for them to keep on reminding me.”
Sadly, though, it was true, Annie was small for her age and she had been born with one leg much shorter than the other. Her parents lived in a tumbledown shack at the very end of the Village. Not long after she was born her Father left her Mother and disappeared.
“Good riddance!” was all her Mother had said.
Annie’s Mother died just before Annie’s eleventh birthday. After the burial Annie overheard the Village elders discussing what to do about her.
“She cannot live in that shack, all on her own,” one had said.
The others agreed.
“If she was not crippled she could be put to work at the Palace,” said another.
One of the ladies added, “Perhaps an Orphanage?”
Annie did not wait for them to decide. She might be small and crippled, but she had a good strong back and a good mind. Quietly she collected her few miserable belongings from the shack and set off into the Forest. She could not walk very quickly with her odd up and down style of walking, but the village people were still arguing and she was well out of sight before they thought to look for her. She did not think they would come looking for her in any case.
Annie limped along until she came to a small side path. She followed it until she came to a Cottage in a clearing. For a minute or two she stood and thought about what she was planning, then, plucking up her courage, she went in through the garden gate. As she did a whole flock of rooks flew out of the trees around the clearing. The noise they made was deafening. Annie almost turned and fled . She swallowed hard, walked up to the door and knocked.
“Come in, “said a harsh voice.
Annie did as she was told. For a moment she was unable to see anything until her eyes got used to the gloom. When she could see, she glanced round the room. It was almost as dirty as the shack she was used to. The windows were so dusty very little light came in.
“Well, don’t just stand there, letting in a draught, close the door and come over here.”
Annie closed the door and walked over to where the owner of the voice seemed to be. Next to the fire place was a high back chair. In it sat an old looking woman, dressed in black. Annie went to stand in front of the chair.
For a moment the woman just looked at her without speaking. Annie stood still.
“Hmmm!” said the woman. “And what may I ask do you want with the Witch of the Dark Forest?”
Now that she was here, in the Witch’s Cottage Annie began to wonder if she was doing the right thing. She swallowed nervously. “If it please you ma’am.” She had heard the servant girls say that, “If it please you, I need a Spell or a potion.”
The Witch cackled.” One to make a boy fall in love with you I suppose.”
Annie blushed. “No! I want one to make me graceful and pretty, like one of the Dancers in the Royal Ballet.”
Annie had been lucky enough to sneak into the tiny theatre in the Town to watch the dancers rehearsing.
“Come closer,” ordered the Witch.
Annie did as she was told.
The Witch took Annie’s chin in a gnarled hand and turned her face, this way and that. “Walk over to the table and back,” she ordered.
Annie did as she was asked and limped across to the table and back to the Witch’s chair.
“A pretty hard thing you ask,” said the Witch.
“Can you do it?” asked Annie.
“I think I could,” said the Witch slowly. “Yes, it would be an interesting experiment.”
Annie clapped her hands in glee.
“But,” went on the Witch, “There is the question of payment. I do not suppose you have any gold do you?”
Annie shook her head. “No, but I am a good worker. I may be small and crippled, but my back is strong and I know how to clean and wash. I can look after a garden and even cook.”
“Well,” said the Witch. The place could do with a good cleaning and I do like to eat.” She thought for a good five minutes. Annie stood quietly hardly daring to hope.
Then the Witch laughed,. “How old are you?
“Eleven tomorrow,” replied Annie.
“This is what will happen then, “ said the Witch. “You will work for me until your eighteenth birthday, no complaints, no giving up and running away, doing everything you are asked to do and on that day I will turn you into a dancer. Fair enough?”
Annie did not hesitate. “Oh, yes please.”
“Good!” said the Witch. You can start by cleaning the windows.”
Annie worked as hard as she was able. She slept in a little room off the kitchen. It was warm and more comfortable than her old room in the shack had been. She kept it clean and always had a bunch of sweet smelling flowers on a small table by her bed.
She cooked for the Witch and herself. She grew vegetables and herbs in the garden. The Witch brought in meat though she never said where she got it from. She learned to sew and made herself clothes and an apron to keep them clean when she was cooking.
When visitors came Annie was sent to her room. She often heard the Witch and people talking in quiet voices, but being a sensible girl and not wanting to spoil her chances of becoming a dancer, she did not try to hear what was being said.
The Witch spent much of her time making Potions and writing the recipes for them down in a large book. The Potions were for all sorts of things from making someone fall in love with you to cures for warts. The one which Annie found most interesting was one which cured pain. Annie did not try to learn how to make the Love potion, but the Pain cure he thought would be very useful for a dancer, so she watched very carefully how it was made and what went into to it. One day when the Witch was away from home, Annie gathered the ingredients and made some for herself. She tried it when she her back ached from working in the garden. The pain disappeared.
The time passed, as time does, at its own pace, until it was her eighteenth birthday. Annie knew it was the right day as the Witch kept a large calendar pinned to the Wall next to the Door. She said that she needed to know where the Moon was when casting Spells. Annie got out of bed, put on the kettle for the Witch’s morning tea. The Witch had been off somewhere most of the night and had just come in. Annie made the tea and put it on the table next to the Witch. She stood waiting until the Witch drank some.
“Well??” snapped the Witch. “Have you nothing to do?”
“I am eighteen today,” said Annie.
The Witch looked closely at her, “So you are, so you are. Remind me again what was supposed to happen on your birthday.”
“You said you would make me in to a dancer,” said Annie.
“So I did. Well no time like the present to give you your present,” said the Witch. “Fetch me that box from the shelf over there.”
Annie went to the shelf and brought over a beautifully carved wooden box. She put it on the table.
The Witch rubbed her hands together. She picked up the box and showed Annie where there was a tiny key hole. “Watch, “she said. She opened the box and took out a small key. It fitted in the key hole. The box lid was closed up.
“Ten turns I think,” said the Witch. “Here, you do it, my hands are too bad these days.”
She handed the box to Annie who turned the key ten times.
The Witch snatched the box from Annie, “That’s enough. Too many turns and you will break it.” She lifted the lid again. A tinkling tune filled the air.
Annie clapped her hands. “Oh, that is lovely,” she cried.
“You like it then” said the Witch. “I am so glad, because you are going to hear it an awful lot.”
She waved her hands and muttered some strange sounding words. Annie disappeared, but on the little round stage in the box a tiny ballet dancer appeared, dancing in time to the music.
“The Witch laughed, “Well you wanted to be a Dancer my dear and so you are. And a dancer you will stay until the music is stopped and started again, by a man in constant pain.”
Those were the last words Annie heard for a very long time.
The Witch closed the lid on the Music Box and put it back on the shelf. She drank her tea and said to no one in particular. “I suppose I shall have to find another maid now.” She sniffed. “Ah well.”

Chapter Three

The Clock maker

Jack Cranklin was the best watch and clock maker in the world. He did not claim that, but everyone who bought a watch or clock from the shop did. Jack worked in the back of his Father’s shop. The people who came to buy a watch were served by Jack’s father. He himself never came out of the Workroom when there were people around.
The sad truth is that Jack was born with a deformed spine. He could not straighten it out. To look at people’s faces he had to strain his neck. It was easier to look at the ground rather than cause himself any more pain than his back did already. The one place he felt comfortable was sat on a high stool leaning over his workbench. With his eye glass in place and all his tools to hand he spent hours making and mending. In the evening when his mother insisted that he stop and rest, he kept a pad and pencil next to his chair and drew designs for fantastic clocks with figures which appeared when the clock struck the hour.
One day, he was mending a watch, when his Father opened the door from the shop and bowed in a woman. This was very unusual. Jack could not remember his Father allowing anyone into the Workroom before. Painfully Jack began to climb of his stool. He had been brought up to stand when a lady entered a room.
The woman put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him from standing. “You do not need to get up for me. I am no lady.”
Gratefully, Jack sat back down again and turned painfully towards her.
She put her gloved hand under his chin and lifted his head. He found himself looking at an old woman dressed in black. He snatched his chin away before the pain became too bad.
She turned to his Father, “You may leave us to talk. I will call when I am ready to leave. Jack’s father backed out of the Workroom.
“There are a couple of things you can do for me,” said the woman producing a beautifully carved wooden box from under her black cloak. “This is a music box. It is very precious to me. However, my maid stupidly over wound the spring and now the thing will not longer work. See.”
She turned the key in the key hole, opened the box and nothing happened. “I would like you to mend it.”
Jack shook his head, “You would be better going to the Toymaker in the next street. He is better with these things than I am.”
“I have been to him already and he said to come to you. This is after all clockwork, is it not?” She put the music box on the work bench.
Jack sighed and picked up his eyeglass. It only took a few moments to take the top off the box and to expose the workings. He shook his head. “The main spring in the mechanism is broken, as you said. If I can find one like it I could mend it yes.”
“Good,” said the Woman.
Jack carried on looking at the inside of the box through his glass. “You know this is a fine piece of work. I would be hard put to make anything as good as this myself.”
“I shall leave it with you then,” said the Woman.
“You said there was a couple of things I could do for you, “said Jack, easing his aching spine.
“Yes,” said the Woman. “I want you to make me a clockwork man.”
Jack nearly fell off his stool. “A clockwork man?”
“Exactly!” replied the Woman. “I will bring you a suit of armour and you will make it so that it can be wound up and it will work.”
“Work in what way?” asked Jack
“In exactly the same way as any man in a suit of armour might work.” The Woman answered.
Jack thought for quite a few minutes. “You know,” he said, “That would be a real challenge, but yes I think I could do it. Certainly I would like to try.” Then he stopped at a sudden thought. “It could be rather expensive in parts though. Can you afford it?” He risked the pain and looked up at the Woman.
The Woman looked down at him and snorted. “You have no idea who I am,
do you?”
Jack shook his head. He rarely went out and had met very few people.
“Most people know me as the Witch of the Dark Forest, “said the Woman in a quiet voice.
“Oh!” Jack swallowed nervously. Even he had heard of her.
“You will be paid handsomely for your efforts, if the clockwork man works.”
Jack nodded, then took a deep breath. “There is one thing you could do, if the stories about you are true.”
The Witch looked suspicious. “What?”
“You could take away the pain in my back for me,” said Jack quickly.
The Witch smiled, not a nice smile, but a smile for all that.
“That is what you want me to do, take away the pain in your back?”
“Yes, please!”
“Then so be it. I will take away your pain when the clockwork man is ready. The armour will be delivered tomorrow so you may begin as soon as possible.” The Witch turned and went out.
Jack heard the shop bell tinkle and let out a sigh.
True to her word the armour arrived on the door step of the Work room next morning. No one saw who delivered it. It was just there. Jack’s father carried it into the workroom. “This should have taken two men to lift it,” he marvelled, “But it is so light. And strong,” He tapped it with his knuckle.
Three months later and after neglecting his clock making and mending duties Jack had almost finished the clockwork man. The Witch had called in to see how it was coming along every few days. Jack got used to her suddenly appearing in his Workroom peering over his shoulder and demanding that he worked faster.
Finally when she visited he was able to say, “I have one more piece to fit and then he is finished. He held up a piece of the man. “There is one small problem. This piece needs a spring, stronger than the strongest steel, but only as thick as a human hair.”
“And have you got one,” asked the Witch.
“Oh yes, “ replied Jack.
“So what is the problem?”
“I have only the one spring and I need exactly the same one to mend your music box. You will have to choose where I use it. Sorry.”
“Put it in him,” ordered the Witch. “I can do without a music box.”
Jack quickly fitted the spring and put the last part of the man into a hole in its chest. He screwed up the armour. Then he bowed and presented the Witch with a key. “I presume you would like to be the first to wind him up?”
The Witch grabbed the key. Jack showed her where it went and she began to turn. “Ten turns is enough for a test.” said Jack, “But if it is right then he will need one hundred to work for a day and a night.”
The Witch finished winding and the clockwork man walked across the room and stopped. It turned round and walked back. This it did until the main spring wound down.
“Is that it then?” asked the Witch.
“Well,” said Jack. “I suppose it is.” He sniffed. “About the only way it would do more is if it had a real brain, but that would be impossible.”
The Witch’s eyes opened wide and look of pure evil crossed her face.
Jack was busy making a small adjustment to the clockwork knight and not looking at the Witch. “You could even teach it to wind itself up if it had a real brain.”
“What a good idea,” said the Witch quietly.
“Pardon?” said Jack closing the little hatch on the back of the man.
“Oh, nothing important to you,” replied the Witch. “Now how much do I owe you?”
Jack‘s father had made out a bill. Jack handed it over. The Witch glanced at it, snorted and handed over a heavy purse.
“I think you will find that, that more than covers it.”
Jack opened the purse. It was full of gold coins. He took one out and looked closely at it.
“It is real, not Fairy money,” snapped the Witch.
Hurriedly Jack put the coin back in the purse and turned to the Witch. Timidly he asked, “And the pain?”
“Ah, yes. I did promise to make the pain go away didn’t I? Well, I always keep my word.”
She waved her hands and muttered a few words.
Jack waited for something to happen, for his back to straighten up, but he carried on looking at the floor as he had done all his life. He lifted his chin to look up at the Witch. “But I am still bent over,” he said in disappointment.
“You did not ask me to make you stand up straight,” said the Witch. “You only asked for the pain to be gone and I think you will find that it has.”
It was true, the pain Jack usually felt when he lifted his head was no longer there, nor was the nagging ache in his back.
“I do wish people would ask for what they really wanted,” said the Witch in a nasty tone of voice. “You should be grateful for what you have got. Put the knight outside the Workroom and I will send someone to collect it tonight.”
With that she walked to the door. She turned as she left and said, “Oh and just in case you are not happy with it, I can tell you that the pain will return tenfold if the knight is destroyed. So you had better hope your workmanship is as good as everyone says.” She left.
Jack gave the knight a couple of windings and guided it through the Workroom door. He gave it one last polish, sighed and went back to making and mending clocks and watches. The gold was as real as the Witch promised and as Jack’s father pointed out, the pain was gone which was better than nothing at all. Next morning the knight had gone.

Chapter Four

Princes Roban and Prince Rogan.

Princes Roban and Rogan liked nothing better than to hunt deer in the Dark Forest. They knew better than to go too deeply into the Forest, but there were plenty of clearings and rides near to the edge. The deer needed to come out of the trees to feed, so there was always plenty of hunting to be had without the danger of meeting one of the bands of outlaws that roamed the deep parts of the Forest. Even the Outlaws did not venture into the deepest darkest part of the Forest.
Even though they were twins, the two Princes were very different. Prince Roban was the elder by ten minutes and heir to the throne. He was quiet, thoughtful, courteous and kind. Rogan on the other hand was wild and thoughtless. He could be very unkind, though when it was pointed out to him he was always full of apologies. He was also inclined to rush into things without thinking of the consequences.
Rogan was a much better swordsman than Roban, being a few inches taller and with a longer reach. Roban however was the better archer. There was little to choose between them in horsemanship or hunting skills.
As boys it was Roban’s love of adventure which led them into trouble and Rogan’s cleverness that often got them out of it again. They rarely fell out and even then the quarrel did not last for long. All in all they were good brothers.
On this particular day the pair was hunting to the North of the Palace. Their Father, King Rolan, warned them before they set out. “Be careful, the path to the Witch’s Cottage is off in that direction and you know that I have had some trouble with her in the past. She has threatened me more than once and she would love to catch one or both of you.”
The boys promised to be careful. They rode out and before long came across a small herd of deer. “Tally ho” shouted Rogan and set off in pursuit. As luck would have it Roban’s horse chose that moment to stumble. He fell off, luckily on to a pile of leaves, so he was not hurt. However, by the time had had stood up, caught his horse and mounted, the rest of the hunters were out of sight. He followed their tracks until he caught up with them in a clearing. The huntsmen had dismounted and were stood scratching their heads. The dogs wandered about whining and whimpering. Of Prince Rogan there was no sign.
“Where’s Rogan??” demanded Roban.
The chief huntsman spoke up. “He was well ahead of us, as usual and when we reached this clearing he was nowhere to be seen.” He pointed to the dogs. “And they cannot find a scent to follow. We have looked all round and there are no tracks leading out of the clearing. You can see where he came in.” He showed Roban the tracks. “That is your brother’s horse,” he said. “You can tell by that odd shaped shoe it has.”
Roban nodded. He walked round the clearing. Sure enough there were no tracks leading out of it. “Well he must be somewhere, “he said, People do not just vanish into thin air. There is something odd going on here. Look at the dogs.”
The hunting dogs were no longer wandering about the clearing searching for a trail as they were supposed to do, instead they were sat in a huddle in the centre, looking very nervous.
“We have to look for him” said Roban. “Split up into pairs and spread out round the clearing. One man, stay in the clearing and the other search as far as they can without going out of his partners sight.” He paired up with the Chief huntsman. Even with the Hunter holding on to a tree and Roban holding on to his hand and stretching as far in to the surrounding as he could reach, he found nothing.
The others reported that they too could feel nothing but more trees and bushes. Roban began to get worried. He could feel that there was something very wrong with his brother. He paced up and down the clearing, trying desperately to think of something to do.
“Your Highness,” interrupted one of the huntsmen. “Bill, Watt and I tried something. We tied our belts together so I could search further out in to the Forest. I think we have found something.”
“Show me!” ordered the Prince.
The hunters led him to one side of the Clearing. He added his belt to theirs and went in amongst the trees. He felt around as far as he could reach. His hand brushed against something cold. It was just too far for him to get hold off and too dark in the trees to see it clearly. He pulled himself back into the clearing.
“There is something there and it is as cold as ice, but I cannot quite reach it.”
No one else was wearing a belt. Then, Roban had an idea. He picked up one of the hunter’s bows. He tied the end of the belt rope to the end of the bow and holding that he went through the trees again. The extra length was enough. He found himself out of the trees and blinking in the sudden sunlight. Keeping tight hold of the bow he looked round. He was on a path, quite wide and obviously well used.
He looked back to where he had come out of the trees and was astonished to find that his hand and the end of the bow were invisible. Shocked he let go of the bow and pulled his hand out of the trees. He looked at his hand carefully, it was all there.
Then he realised what he had done. He wore under his breath.
“Now, now, “said a harsh voice behind him. “Naughty, naughty, good little princes do not use words like that.”
Prince Roban spun round, his hand automatically going for his sword. It was not in his belt. Confused he reached for his hunting knife, remembering that he did not carry a sword when hunting.
The path was empty.
“Come now, “said the harsh voice. “You do not think I am going to let you use that on me do you?”
“Who are you?” demanded Roban, already knowing the answer, but hoping he was wrong.
A woman stepped out from the shadows. “Oh, I think you know who I am, “ she said.
“The Witch!” said Roban. Then remembering his manners he bowed and said “At your service, madam.”
“I think not, “chuckled the Witch. “I already have the service of your brother and for the moment, at least, that is all I need.”
“What have you done with him, where is he? “demanded Roban.
The Witch pointed down the path behind Roban.
He turned round. On the path behind him was a long narrow box. It glistened in the sun. Quickly he went to it and knelt down. He ran a hand over the box and quickly pulled it away. The box was freezing. Inside he could see his brother, Rogan.
“What have you done with him? Rogan shouted.
The Witch came to stand next to him. “You know he was always a bit of a hot head, so I cooled him down. You could say I put him on ice, well, in ice to be exact.”
She laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. She went on. “Don’t worry he is not dead, yet. He will die if you try to free him from the ice though.”
Roban shook his head. “I do not understand.”
The Witch sounded as if she was enjoying herself. “I needed a brain and he was not using his, so I borrowed it.”
“But why?” Roban wanted to know.
The Witch stopped laughing. “Your father may now stop trying to get rid of me. I have as much right, maybe more to live in the Forest. There have been witches here longer than your kingdom. Maybe the sight of his eldest son wrapped in an ice coffin will remind him of that.”
With that she turned on her heel and strode off into the shadows, somehow taking them with her.
There was a commotion in the trees behind him and Roban whirled round drawing his hunting dagger. It was the huntsmen. “Your highness,” shouted the Chief hunter. “Are you safe?”
Roban put his knife away. “Yes, how did you find me?”
“The path suddenly appeared and we could see Prince Rogan’s horse tracks, explained the hunter. “Where is he?”
Prince Roban showed them the Ice Coffin and explained about the Witch. The hunters went back into the clearing and fetched out the horses. They brought a cart from the Palace and took the coffin back. King Rolan already knew there was something wrong. Prince Rogan’s horse had arrived home earlier.
The coffin was set on a stone table in the family tomb. “I know he is alive,” said King Rolan sadly, “But this is the coldest place in the Palace and you never know the ice may melt and then he really would die.”
When the coffin was set in place, King Rolan and Prince Roban stood looking at the peaceful face of Prince Rogan.
“Look, said Prince Roban, “There is a piece of paper on his chest.” He leant over the coffin and read “The spell will be broken when the Dark Knight breaks down and is seen to weep. Then the Prince will wake from dreamless sleep.”
King Rolan shook his head. “I do not know of any Dark knight, do you?”
Prince Roban did not know of any either. “But I will search for one, even if it takes me the rest of my life.”

Chapter 5.

A Clock for a King.

Jack was mending the Mayor’s watch. He was still bent and did not go out much, but as promised by the Witch, his back no longer ached and he could raise his head with difficulty but no agonising pain. The music box sat on the bench and Jack often tried to find a spring which would make it work again. So far, he had had no success. Each one he bought or made himself was either too thick or not strong enough and snapped when the key was turned.
Now that the pain had gone he could work even better than he had done before and the shop was now busy all the time. People came from all over to buy new timepieces or to have old ones repaired. Jack still sat at night and drew designs for clocks with moving scenes which came to life when the clock struck the hour.
He told his father,”One day I shall build one of these.”
His Father had laughed and replied, “It would take a Prince to afford one too!”
A few months after he had finished the clockwork knight, the shop door opened and a richly dressed footman came in. “His Royal Highness, Prince Roban.” Then he stood aside and allowed the Prince to enter.
Jack’s father quickly stood up behind the counter and bowed low.
“Sorry about that,” said the Prince. “They insist on doing it and they get very upset if I tell them not to. Now I am told that you make the finest timepieces in the kingdom.”
Nervously Jack’s father said, “Yes Your Highness. My son, Jack, makes them and people tell me they are the best.”
“I would like to meet this genius then,” smiled the Prince. Jack’s Father led the Prince to the Workroom. Jack struggled to rise, but the Prince put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “Stay seated my friend, ‘tis easier for you. I will sit here and we can talk comfortably.” Prince Roban pulled over another stool and sat down.
The shop bell tinkled. Jack’s father excused himself and went to see to a customer.
“Now,” said Prince Roban I have a commission for you. It is my Father’s fiftieth birthday this year and I would like to give him something really special. He loves clocks so I wondered if you could make something really special for him.”
Jack took a deep breath. This was his chance perhaps, to make one of his designs come to life. “I have done some drawings of special clocks which you might like,” he said.
He reached into the little cupboard and drew out the bundle of papers with the designs on them and handed them to the Prince. The first one was a design where when the clock struck the hour a pair of knights came out and fought a duel. One knight was painted black and the other white. The black knight always won. He showed it to the Prince. He was astonished to see the Prince shudder and push the paper away.
“Sorry, but not that one,” the Prince said.
“Sire?”
“I have spent the last three months looking for a knight in black armour and mine is white. I do not think my father would be too happy to watch me being beaten every hour.” Prince Roban looked sad for a moment.
Jack put the design back in the cupboard. He spread out the other ideas that he had drawn. The Prince looked over them and chose one.
“I like this one,” he said. “Can you build it? “
“Yes,” said Jack.
“Good. It must be ready in three months time for the Birthday. I suppose I ought to ask how much it is going to cost.”
Jack replied. “It will be ready, Your Highness, even if I have to do nothing else. I have wanted to make one of these designs for a long time. My Father is the one to talk to about the price. I just build them.”
The Prince smiled. “I see you make Music boxes as well. He picked up the one Jack had spent so much time trying to mend.
“Oh, no, I did not make this one, “replied Jack. “I have been trying to mend it for a long time, but I cannot get a spring for it. I did have one once, but I had to use it for something else.”
“That is a shame, the box is beautiful. What was more important that you used the spring in it instead of in your music box?” The Prince turned the box round in his hands peering at the fine carving. He opened it up and looked at the little dancer lying folded up on a tiny stage. “She looks as if she is just waiting to get up and dance,” he said.
It is not really my box, “said Jack. The Witch left it a few months ago.”
Prince Roban put the box down quickly.” The Witch? What was she doing here?”
“She wanted me to make a clockwork man for her.”
The Prince’s eyes opened wide, “And did you?”
Jack sighed. “Oh, yes. She promised to take away my pain if I did. So I built her a clockwork man. She brought a suit of armour and I made her a wind up knight. I thought she was gong to make me straight, but she only laughed at me. She did stop the pain though.”
“What colour was this armour?” demanded Prince Roban.
“It was black, your highness. No colour in it at all.”
“At last!” cried the Prince. “Do you know where she took it?”
Jack shook his head. “I am sorry, but she told us to put it outside and it was gone in the morning. No one saw who took it.”
“Pity,” said the Prince. “Still that is more news of a black armoured knight than I have had so far.”
“Why are you looking for him?” Jack asked.
Prince Roban explained about his brother, ending with, “That is why she wanted a brain. She needed one to put in the clockwork man.”
“Oh dear,” said Jack. “I think I may have put that idea into her head. I told her the only way the knight could be any better was if he had a brain. I am so, so sorry.” He was almost in tears.
Prince Roban patted him on the shoulder. “You are not to blame. The Witch is evil. She would have done something like that anyway. Certainly I don’t hold you responsible.”
The Prince visited often, after that to see how Jack was getting on with the clock. They became friends. Jack showed the Prince how watches worked and even allowed him to mend a few. In return the Prince told Jack about life in the Palace and what was happening in the world.
Two months later Jack’s father went off on a trip to collect the broken workings from the clock in a Guild Hall in Ingford, a town far to the north. The town was right on the edge of the Kingdom close to the Mountains. When Jack’s father returned he brought the piece with him and put it on the workbench. “Odd place that,” he remarked. “Normally when you go to these distant places everyone is pleased to see you and wants to hear all the news. These folks just hurried about their business and hardly said a word. Most of them looked terrified. The Guild Master handed over the clock piece and almost pushed me back on to my cart. He was in so much of a hurry to be rid of me.”
Jack was too busy unwrapping the parcel to listen closely. He unscrewed the back of the clock workings. “Hmmm, it is no wonder the clock has stopped working, someone has stuffed a piece of paper in here.” He took it out and spread it out on the Workbench. “It is a note,” he said.
He read it out.” Please help us. The Black Knight has taken the whole town prisoner. Anyone who tries to stop him disappears. Tell the King.”
“See, I told you there was something odd about that place,” said his father.” We had better send a message as they ask.”
“Bit late now,” said Jack “Prince Roban is coming tomorrow, we can tell him then.
When Prince Roban heard the news and read the note he thumped the table and cried, “At last we know where he is. Forgive me my friend, but I must tell my father and go to Ingford as soon as possible.” He turned to leave.
Nervously Jack grabbed Prince Roban’s sleeve. The Prince frowned. “I am sorry Your Highness,” said Jack, “But please, do you think this Black knight is the one I made for the Witch.”
“It seems likely. It is the only Black knight I have heard about in the last six months. Why?”
Jack swallowed and sighed. “Then I must come with you. I made it and I may be the only one who can destroy it.”
He did not mention that the end of the clockwork man would mean the return of his pain.
“That may be true, agreed Prince Roban. “But you hate going out, Are you sure you really want to come?”
Jack nodded. “That is true. I do not like the way people stare at me and the children call me names and I hate they way they feel sorry for me. I am as good a man as any of them. But, I have to come with you. You say you do not blame me for what happened to your brother, but I do and I will not feel right until I have helped right that wrong.”
Prince Roban laughed. “Jack, you are a better man than any of them. I would be proud to have you as a companion. We shall go adventuring together.”
True to his word next morning Prince Roban arrived with his hunters and a wagon for Jack to ride in.
“My Father wanted to send the whole army up there, but I persuaded him that it was wiser for just a small group to go and scout around. I would have preferred to go alone, but he insisted.”
Ingford was a weeks drive away. They made it in three days. Jack was exhausted and in pain from the jolting around in the wagon. He did try riding one of the spare horses, but that was even more painful for him. He was feeling very sore and miserable when they made camp a little way from the edge of the town.
Two of the hunters volunteered to scout round the town. They returned a few hours later with a scared looking man.
“Found him hiding in a bush on the edge of the town, “said one. “Gave himself away, his teeth were chattering so much.”
“Give him something to eat,” ordered Prince Roban. “I’ll talk to him later. Now let me have your report.”
“Nothing to report sire,” The hunter shrugged his shoulders. “The place is as quiet as a grave. No one out in the streets, no lights and no sign of either Black Knight or Witch, it is very odd.”
Jack gave the man some food and threw a blanket round his shoulders. By the time the man had eaten and warmed up, Prince Roban was ready to listen to him.
“My name is Walter. They came a few months back, the Witch, the Black Knight and some Shadow people. She said nothing would happen to us if we behaved ourselves. Some people tried to leave to get help from the King, but they disappeared. I think the Shadow people took them. The Knight guarded the town in the day and the Shadow people at night. But yesterday the Witch and the Shadow people just went. All that is left in town now is the Black Knight and he has gone mad. Until dark he was striding up and down the main road screaming and shouting and threatening to kill everyone. All the townsfolk hid in their houses, but I managed to sneak out.
“Who are the Shadow people?” asked Jack.
Walter shuddered and did not answer.
Prince Roban said, “No one is quite sure. They live somewhere up in the Mountain, or so it is said. They rarely bother people, but when they do………..” He shuddered. “Put it like this, they scare people to death. You really would not want to meet them.”
One of the hunters said, “I am surprised they did not kill the Witch. They are supposed to hate all living beings.”
Another one said. “She probably scares them more than they scare her.”
Prince Roban was puzzled, “But what did the Witch want with the people of Ingford, I wonder?”
Walter said, ”We are only a small place, famous for making pots and pans. The Witch said that she had another job for us. She ordered everyone to make suits out of iron.”
“Armour?” asked the Prince.
“Not really, the stuff was too thin to stop a sword and any way the suits were far too narrow for any man to wear. Strangest thing of all were the helmets she had us make. They had no eyeholes. Anyone wearing them would not be able to see a thing. When we had made a hundred of the suits she took them and, as I said, she left with the Shadow people.”
“Well, said the Prince, “It does get rid of one problem, if the Witch is not there. We have to move quickly though, she may come back. I will go into the town and look round for this Black Knight”
The hunters protested that it was not safe for him to go.
“It would be better if I went, “said Jack. “We do not know if this Black Knight is the clockwork man and since I made him I am the only one who can recognise him. Please, I have to do this. And if he is just standing there maybe I can turn him off.”
Reluctantly Prince Roban agreed. Jack wrapped himself in a black cloak and set off into the town. Walter volunteered to go with him. Together they crept into the town along a filthy alley way. It led to the town square. The Black Knight was stood unmoving in front of the Guild Hall. Jack started to leave the alley, but Walter pulled him back
“Watch!” he whispered. He picked up a stone from the floor and threw it across the square. It landed with a faint thud. Instantly the Knight turned towards the sound. Walter threw another stone. The Knight marched across to where it had landed with his sword raised. “If you had been there you would be dead now.”
Jack nodded and swallowed nervously. He whispered back. “I need to get closer though. “
The knight retuned to its place in front of the Guild Hall and stood still. It looked as if it was staring down the road, waiting for something.
“If you stay in the shadows, you can get to the front of the Hall. If it starts to move I will throw another stone,” whispered Walter. “If you keep low and make no sound you should be safe. “
Jack nodded and waited until a cloud floated across the moon. He crept silently along. He smiled a twisted smile and thought “First time in my life that walking like I do is of any use.”
Each time the Moon came out from behind a cloud, Jack stood absolutely still, hardly even daring to breathe. When it went dark again he moved on. When he reached the Guild Hall he crouched down alongside the steps. He was completely in the shadow now, but he had a good view of the Knight.
When the moon shone again, Jack quickly scanned the Knight. He gave a gasp. The Knight turned towards the sound. Jack froze. There was a crash from the other side of the square. The knight turned quickly towards the sound. In the now bright moonlight, Jack had time to take a good hard look at the Knight’s back.
Jack had seen enough, but there were no more clouds in the sky now and there were no shadows in which he could hide. He was safe enough hidden by the steps, but he could not stay there until daylight. He was saved by a cat. It came out of a gap between two houses on the other side of the Square and padded along the edge of the buildings. The Knight marched towards it and raised its sword. The cat hissed and ran. The Knight followed it. Jack scuttled back to the alley where his townsman friend was waiting.
Without a word, they returned to the safety of the camp.

Chapter 6

Endgame

Prince Roban and the hunters were delighted to see Jack return safe and well. He sat by the fire with a hot drink and a blanket thrown over his shoulders.
“It is my clockwork man,” reported Jack. When the moonlight shone on him I recognised the armour. The Witch has not looked after him properly, there are patches of rust on his shoulders.”
“Could you get close enough to turn him off?” asked a hunter
Jack shook his head. “He seems to be able to hear even the slightest sound.”
Prince Roban said. “In that case I will have to go in and fight him.”
The hunters l shouted, “No sire!”
The chief hunter said, “If it is your brother’s brain inside the Knight, then it is going to be as good a swordsman as he was. And I am sorry, Your Highness, but you never could beat him.”
Prince Roban smiled ruefully. “True, Rogan was a lot better than me. So anyone else got any suggestions?”
“Best thing we could do is to push him into deep water, “said Jack thoughtfully. “The water would probably stop the clockwork.”
Walter put in. “There is a river about half a mile outside the town gates, perhaps we could push him into it.”
“Hmmm,” said Prince Roban. “Is there a bridge or is it a ford?”
Walter answered proudly, “We built a bridge five years ago. It is only a wooden one, but it is better than having to go upstream and use the old ford.”
“Even better,” smiled Prince Roban. “I have an idea.”
Next morning Prince Roban led his party down to the Bridge. They worked there until midday. After some hastily prepared and eaten food they were ready to put Prince Roban’s plan into action.
“Remember, he warned. ”If this does not work then you are to get to the horses and return to my Father for help. No-one is to come rushing in to the rescue. That is an order. Do you all understand?”
Everyone nodded.
Jack and Walter took up their positions under the bridge. The hunters spread out along either side of the road from the town. Prince Roban drew his sword, closed the visor on his helmet and marched into the town.
The Black Knight stood facing the road in front of the Guild Hall. As soon as Prince Roban came through the gates it raised its sword and advanced to meet him. They met by the gates and the battle began. Roban allowed himself to be beaten back giving way before the Black Knights attack. The Black Knight followed attacking fiercely. Roban parried the sword thrusts and took many blows on his shield. He did manage to get a few in on the Knight himself, but they did not slow the attack down at all.
As they passed the hunters, they came out of hiding and closed in silently behind the fighting pair, bows at the ready. They had orders to shoot at the Black Knight if Prince Roban should fall.
Jack and Walter sat under the bridge, one on either side holding ropes. During the morning the hunters had cut a trapdoor in the floor of the bridge. It was their job to open the trap when the Black Knight was stood on it.
When he felt the wood of the bridge under his feet, Prince Roban turned and ran across. On the other side of the river he stopped. The Black Knight hesitated on the edge of the bridge. Below the bridge Jack held his breath and glanced across at Walter. He could see from there that the poor man was trembling and had bitten his lip so hard that blood ran down his chin. The hunters stood silently about 30 paces back from the fight.
Prince Roban drew a deep shuddering breath and got ready to cross the bridge to begin again.
“Noise!” shouted Jack from under the Bridge. “It follows sound. Make a noise!”
The Black Knight turned towards where Jack was hiding under the Bridge. Quickly Prince Roban clashed his sword against his shield. The Black Knight turned to face him again. It still did not walk on to the Bridge. Prince Roban took one step forward and banged his shield even louder and shouted. The Black Knight raised its sword and charged.
Jack and Walter pulled on their ropes as hard as they could. The trapdoor opened and with an almighty splash the Black Knight fell into the river.
Jack and Walter scrambled to their feet and ran to the hunters for protection. Prince Roban stood by the Bridge looking into the river.
Bubbles came up where the Black Knight had disappeared under the surface. Mud swirled around and streamed away down river. Nobody moved for a full five minutes. The bubbles stopped. Jack heaved a sigh of relief. He began to walk towards the river. The hunters put away their bows. Walter sat down in the road and began to mop his chin. He was still trembling. Prince Roban lifted up the visor on his helmet.
“That was………” he began to shout to his companions when the water swirled and the Black Knight walked out of the river. Water and mud sloshed off it on to the river bank. A piece of weed had lodged itself round the Knight’s helmet like green ribbon. Prince Roban barely had time to raise his shield before the Knight attacked. His sword was swept from his grasp, by the fury of the Black Knights attack. His helmet went flying from another stroke. Finally his shield split in two from a mighty blow. Prince Roban dropped the useless thing and stood clutching his broken arm. The Black Knight raised his sword over his head.
The hunters reached for their bows. Jack shouted “No, no, no, no!” Walter fainted.
The sword began to come down on the unarmed helpless Prince. Then, before it reached the Prince’s bare head, it stopped. Water poured out of every crack in the armour, even through the eyeholes. It looked as it the Black Knight was weeping. For a second nobody moved, the n Prince Roban grabbed his sword and ignoring his broken arm attacked the motionless Knight. Within a few minutes, he had reduced the clockwork man to a pile of metal. The sword he kicked away. Then Prince Roban fainted.
On the other side of the river Jack collapsed as the pain in his back returned, worse than he had ever felt it before, ten time worse in fact. They later learnt that at the same time back at the Palace, the ice coffin shattered and Prince Rogan sat up and said. “Bit cold in here isn’t it?” The housemaid who was cleaning at the time fainted.
With his arm splinted and the bruises and cuts tended to, Prince Roban and his friends were treated like heroes by the townspeople. Even Walter was. Probably for the first time in his life treated with respect. Jack missed all of the celebrations. The pain made him ill. Prince Roban came to see him.
“I had not realised the destruction of the clockwork man would cause so much heartache for you,” he said gently.
“It had to be done,” Jack replied.
“We will get you home,” promised the Prince. “And I will send the finest doctors in the land to see if they can help”
Jack travelled home slowly in the comfort of a soft bed in a large well sprung wagon. It did not make much difference to the pain he felt. At home he flung himself into the work on the King’s clock. He built it, took it to pieces, altered something and rebuilt it half a dozen times. He worked on it until his fingers bled and his head spun. All the time he was in terrible pain. True to his word the Prince sent Doctor after Doctor to see Jack. They shook their heads, one after the other and said that they were sorry, but there was nothing they could do.
Eventually even he had to admit that the clock was as perfect as he could make it, just in time for the King’s birthday. The Prince was sent for to view the completed object.
He was delighted with it. It was wrapped up and a footman carried it carefully to a waiting coach.
Prince Roban stayed to talk to his friend. “I was up at Ingford this week, “he began. “We were chasing some outlaws and caught up with them by the Bridge. They were a sorry bunch and they surrendered without a fight. I gave them the choice of being hanged or joining the Army. The all chose to join up.”
Jack forced a smile.
The Prince went on, “They told me that they used to live in the Mountains, making a living mostly from poaching and the occasional raid on a border town or wagon train. They said that they had only come South in to the Dark Forest because the Mountains were no longer safe. They could not tell my why they felt that way. Once they are trained we will send them back as patrols to keep an eye on the Mountains for me.”
“The Shadow people?” asked Jack.
“Possibly, “agreed the Prince. “However, that is not really what I wanted to talk about. Whilst I was there, the good folks of Ingford asked me to open their new bridge. The have replaced the one we sawed up with a fine new one. You would probably laugh, but there is a statue of Walter at one end holding the Black Knight’s sword. He is quite a local hero now. To hear him talk you would think he beat the Black Knight all on his own.”
Jack tried to laugh, but a wave of pain overcame him. For a long minute he could not speak nor move.
Prince Roban could think of nothing that he could do to help. He sat and waited until Jack was breathing a little easier.
“I searched the battle filed while I was there. There is very little of the Knight left you know. It all seems to have rusted away except for this one lump. I picked it up for you.”
Prince Roban took out a lump of rusty metal from his tunic and put it on the Workbench. “A keepsake”, he said. Then seeing that Jack was tired, he took his leave and left.
After that Jack grew more and more weak and rarely went into the Workroom at all. He developed a fever which would not go away. On one of his good days, he dragged himself to his Workbench and sat on the stool. The effort exhausted him and for a long time he sat with his head in his hands. Once the dizziness stopped and the pain was manageable, he reached for the Music box. He opened it up and looked at the little ballet dancer lying on the small round stage.
As much to her as to himself he said, “I would have loved to have seen you dance, just once.”
His eye fell on the lump of rusty metal still on the bench where Prince Roban had put it. He picked it up and examined it through his eyeglass. He picked up a tool form the rack in front of him and began chipping away at the rust. Once the surface layer was cleaned off, he turned the object this way and that. His eyes opened wide. Hastily he picked up a small hammer and an equally small chisel. Delicately he broke open the lump. He gave a quiet cry of joy. “The heart, he murmured. “It is the heart.” With trembling fingers he broke the last lump of rust apart. There nestling amid the ruins was a spring. It was as thin as a human hair. He gently lifted it up with a pair of tweezers. It shone brightly.
He reached for the music box. He had to stop for five minutes until the pain and dizziness went away. It was the work of a few moments to unscrew the workings of the box and to fit the tiny spring. He put it back together and wound the key, ten times as the Witch had said, all that time ago.
He lifted the lid. The tiny dancer stood up and as the music played she began to dance, just for Jack.
When the music stopped, Jack was in tears. He felt too ill to close the lid. His head drooped and he drifted off into unconsciousness.

Chapter 7

Annie.

Annie found herself stood in a small room. She looked round curiously. It was obviously some sort of Workroom. In front of the only window was a Workbench. Sitting at the bench was a small hunched up figure, with its head resting on the table top. Annie began to walk across to the figure when she stumbled. She had forgotten about her short leg. “But I was dancing,” she said. She looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a ballet dancers dress.
Then it all came back to her. The Witch had turned her into a ballet dance, but not in the way Annie had wanted. The spell the Witch had said came back to her “A dancer you will stay until the music is stopped and started again, by a man in constant pain.”
Annie walked across to the man at the work bench. Timidly she touched his shoulder. Through his thin shirt she could feel the heat from his fever. The door of the Work room opened and a man came in. Without thinking Annie said, “This poor man is very ill, he must be put to bed immediately. “
Miya’s mother stopped here and said. “There is very little else to tell really. Annie nursed Jack until he was well again. She made the Pain medicine which she had learnt when she was in the Witch’s cottage. They fell in love and were married the following year.”
“And lived happily ever after?” asked a sleepy Miya.
“No one lives for ever my love, but yes they were happy.” Miya’s mother leant over and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “Now you go off to sleep and dream of the time when you can tell this story to your daughter.”
She stood and went to the door.
“Mum,” called Miya. “What was Granana’s name?”
Miya’s mother turned back. “Why Annie, of course, Annie Cranklin.”

Nothing.

2010-01-23T02:34:00.000-08:00

Opposites

Jonathan Edward Frobisher was a very precise child. He liked everything to be just so. He woke every morning at exactly 7.29 am. His alarm went off at seven. 30 am. He allowed it to ring just twice before switching it off. Those rings were to warn his mother that he was up and that his breakfast should be on the table in exactly 15 minutes time. He rose, went to the bathroom, washed, and dressed in his school uniform, if it was a school day, returned to his room, neatly folded his pyjamas, smoothed down the duvet and went downstairs.
His breakfast was the same every day. He had two rounds of toast with exactly one ounce of butter on each. His drink was always served in the same mug, placed on a coaster 3 inches to the right of his plate. In the mug was the same quantity of milk as there was every day. The only differences between school days and non-school days were that he wore jeans and a tee shirt and did not go to school.
After breakfast, Jonathan went to school. I will not bore you with the details of the journey except to tell you that he always turned right at the front gate and that it took exactly three thousand five hundred and twenty of his paces to reach the school gates. Recently though, he had noticed that those many paces took him past the school gates. He had discussed this with his friends and they had decided that since the distance from school could not be getting less, Jonathan’s paces must have been getting longer. He must be growing.
Jonathan's mother did not mind her son's insistence on everything being just so. Indeed, she found it made her life much easier. She knew exactly when and where Henry was at all times. She knew what he would eat and what he would not eat. He was a very easy child to look after. He did not have temper tantrums if his routine was disturbed, he merely sighed and waited patiently for the normal course of things to be restored. There were times though when she wished that he was just a little more exciting to be around.
Once at school Jonathan crossed the Playground to the corner where his friends were waiting. These were as follows, William Hubert Young, Arnold Norman Davenport and Thomas Rupert Yarpole. These three gentlemen were almost as precise as Jonathan. They did not call each other Jon, or Willy or Tom, each was referred to by their full name, so Jonathan was always Jonathan Edward and William only answered to William Hubert. Even the teachers called them by their names in this fashion.
Now you might have supposed that these boys would have been target for the usual school bullies, but not so. On the first occasion that one of these unpleasant types attempted to steal Arnold Norman's bag, Thomas Rupert showed that the precise application of the correct amount of force with the side of the hand to the bridge of the nose, causes said nose to bleed. Thomas Rupert then went on to demonstrate that when someone's nose is bleeding they cannot defend themselves against an overbalancing push of just the right strength. Thomas Rupert did not even stop reading the book he was studying whilst he gave this demonstration. The four were left strictly alone after that.
Jonathan was very much interested in Science He carried with him at all times a magnifying glass so that he could look closely at anything that caught his attention and his favourite book was called “Science for Everyone”’ This also went everywhere with him. It was full of information about everything from Ants to Zoom lenses. He carefully wrote everything down in a notebook.
There were girls who attended the same School as Jonathan, but he did not take much notice of them. He and his friends thought of them as silly, giggling things who got in the way of proper school work.
Fiona Emily Jefferson was a tomboy. She often had scraped knees and scuffed shoes. Her school tie was rarely fastened properly and she was almost always late for school. Her teachers described her as ‘very bright, but scatterbrained’.
She crawled out of bed in a morning after being called dozens of times by her mother. Her washing often left much to be desired. Her bedroom she left looking as if she had emptied her wardrobe all over the floor and then tossed the bedclothes over her clothes.
Breakfast was cereals, or toast or pancakes or even cold Pizza from the night before. Fiona did not take much notice of food, generally just cramming it into her mouth while she read her book.
Her favourite book was called ‘Tales of the Dark Forest’. It was full of stories of Witches, Dragons, handsome Princes and Princesses waiting to be rescued. Fiona longed to be imprisoned by a fierce Dragon, so that she could show that she was better than any boy was at escaping from a dangerous situation. She wrote many of her dreams down in a notebook.
Fiona had little time for boys. She thought them silly and boring. She could out run and out fight all the ones in her school and often did. The boys liked Fiona, but were careful around her. She often got them into trouble with grown-ups with some of the things she dared them to do. They called her ‘Fej’ from her initials.
She also had little time for the other girls in her class. They were more interested in clothes, Pop stars, and silly things like that.
Fiona’s mother often wished that her daughter could be just a little more ladylike.

Chapter 2

A Wrong turn.

One very foggy morning, Jonathan woke at the correct time, dressed properly, ate breakfast and left the house exactly as he always did. He may have been a little more wrapped in his thoughts than usual. He had to decide whether to take shorter paces to keep the number the same as it had been or to change the number of paces and recount them. As it was he did not notice that instead of turning to the right at the front gate, he turned to the left.
He was so deep in thought that it was not until he had walked three thousand and twenty paces, that he even looked up, expecting to be outside the School gates. You can imagine his astonishment when he discovered that far from being in a familiar part of the world, he was somewhere he had never seen before.
In front of him was a line of trees. He stared at them for a moment.
“Odd!” he said aloud. “I do not remember there being any trees near to school.” He took out his magnifying glass and examined the bar of the nearest one. It looked like the bark of any of the other trees that he had studied in the past. He looked to his left and to his right, the trees stretched away in either direction as far as he could see.
“Very odd!” he said.
He turned round to go back the three thousand and twenty paces to his front gate. “Perhaps I have gone wrong in the fog,” he thought. The fog by now had got so thick that he could hardly see the ground in front of him. He began to walk, feeling his way very carefully.
“I must have really gone wrong,” he though. “This does not feel like pavement. He knelt down and looked closely at the ground. He was stood on grass rather than concrete.
“Oh dear, I must have gone into someone’s garden.”
He turned round and as the line of trees was still visible, walked back to them. He stood for a moment wondering what to do and where to go. The fog swirled around him. It was so thick now that it felt like cotton wool. He tried to walk through it, but instead of giving way as fog ought, to, he found he could not move forward.
Jonathan frowned and examined the fog with his magnifying glass. It even looked like cotton wool, rather dirty cotton wool, but still cotton wool. He tried to pull a piece off to look at more closely, but it was too strong for him.
Slowly, but surely the thick fog pushed him closer and closer to the trees. Soon he had nowhere to go except along the line where the fog was thinnest. Since he always turned right, he did so this time and began to walk along the edge of the trees, looking for a path. After twenty paces, he stopped and tried to turn round and go back the way he had come. The fog had closed in behind him and there was no way back.
After a further twenty paces Jonathan came to a path, leading into the trees. He turned on to it and began to walk through the trees. The fog did not follow. He carefully counted his paces and looked at the trees on either side of the path. This was nothing like the trees in the local park. They were widely spaced with patches of grass in between and neatly tended beds under them. The trees here were close together and looked altogether uncared for with broken branches lying on the ground around the base of the trunks. He did notice that the path was clear though. It was hard to see into the trees, as they were so close together little light could get in. Only on to the path did the sun shine.
Jonathan walked on for a further three thousand paces. The path opened out into a clearing. Blinking a little in the sudden bright light he stepped out on to the grass. Before his eyes got used to the extra light he felt himself grasped by the collar. He was pushed to the middle of the clearing. A hand on his shoulder swung him round.
“Excuse me, “he protested, “But you have made me loose count of my paces. How am I supposed to find my way back?” Anyone else might have felt afraid, but Jonathan was too upset about the interruption to his counting to feel anything other than annoyance.
He found himself looking up at a rather stern faced woman, dressed, he noticed, in rather old-fashioned clothes. She stared down at him for a minute. “Hmmm. There is no going back the way you came, “she said. “Look!”
Jonathan turned to look the way he had come and sure enough the path that he had so carefully followed and counted the paces he had taken on it, was no longer there.
The woman pushed him towards a moss-covered log. “Sit there and wait.” She ordered. Jonathan would have liked to ask questions, but she glared at him so fiercely he said nothing and went and sat down. He took out his magnifying glass and began to examine the log. When he thought that the woman was not watching him, he looked round the clearing to see if he could find another path out of it. There did not seem to be one. He did clear his throat once as if to speak, but the look he got from the woman was so unfriendly he thought better of it. Jonathan took out his notebook and noted down all the things that he could see around him. He jotted down all that had happened to him so far.

Chapter 3

A Blind Alley.

On this particular morning, the sun was shining from a clear blue sky when Fiona finally crawled out of bed. She ate her breakfast, faster than ever before.
“Stop gobbling, you’ll make yourself sick!” ordered her mother.
Fiona gave her a crumby grin, washed down the toast with a swig of milk and left the table. She was going to get out of the house before she could be asked to tidy her room, or wash the dishes or do any of the boring things that her mother found for her to do when there was no school.
Today was one of those lovely occasions when School was closed for an extra holiday. Fiona was going to the park to sit on the swings. She had a lovely idea for a story and it needed writing so much it was hurting her. She was so busy working out the names of the characters and what kind of people they were, that she did not notice where she was walking. Instead of turning right at the end of her road, she turned to the left.
She was so deep in her story that it was not until she had walked a long way that she stopped thinking about it and looked to see where she was. To her astonishment, she was not in the Park, nor was she anywhere near a Park. She was walking down a long narrow alley. On either side were tall walls with, as far as she could see, not doors or windows set in them.
“Odd!” she thought. “I don’t remember there being any Alleys like this near the Park.”
She turned and looked back the way she had come. The Alley stretched out behind her.
“Very odd! I don’t remember walking that far.”
She tried to walk back the way she had come, but for some reason she found that she just could not move. It was if someone had placed a mirror across the Alley.
“Well, this is a turn up, “she said out loud. “If I can’t go back then I shall have to go on.”
She walked on down the Alley. Soon the walls on either side gave way to trees. These grew so thickly and closely together that there was no way between them. Just to check Fiona turned round and looked back. The Alley had disappeared, all she could see was trees.
“This is fun!” she said, to no one in particular. Then whistling a rather tuneless whistle she set off down the path. She could not help noticing that the trees on either side were nothing at all like the trees she was used to in the Park. There they were widely spaced and carefully managed. These trees looked wild and uncared for. The broken branches that filled up the spaces between them did not come on the path though. It was too dark to see very far through the trees. Only on the path did the light shine.
She walked for perhaps another quarter of an hour until the path opened out into a clearing. Having decided to include this path in her story she was not really thinking about where she was going. Blinking a little in the sudden bright light she stepped out on to the grass. Before her eyes got used to the extra light she felt herself grasped by the collar. She was pushed to the middle of the clearing. A hand on her shoulder swung her round.
“Hey, I say, you made me lose the thread of my story!” She protested. Fiona was too upset to feel any fear. She found herself looking up at a rather stern faced woman, dressed, she noticed, in rather old-fashioned clothes. She stared down at her for a minute.
“Hmmmm, well be that as it may. Now you are both here perhaps we can get on with it,” said the woman. “And it is not only your thread that has gone, so has the path.”
Fiona looked back the way she had come and sure enough the trees had closed in behind her and the path had gone.
Slowly Fiona turned in a complete circle to examine the clearing. That is all that it was, just a circle of grass surrounded by trees. To one side there was a boy sat on a log writing in a notebook. In the middle was the woman.
The woman pointed to the boy, “Go and sit with him whilst I look around” ordered the woman and pushed Fiona in the direction of the log. Fiona went and sat next to the boy.

Chapter 4

Nothing?

Jonathan looked up from his notebook when a rather untidy looking girl plonked herself down next to him. Having been brought up to be polite, he carefully put away his notebook and magnifying glass and said. “Hello”
The girl sniffed and said “Hello yourself. Who are you?”
Jonathan was a little surprised at her manner, but replied. “Jonathan Edward Frobisher. And you are?”
“Cor!” replied the girl. That’s a mouthful. My name is Fiona Emily Jefferson. “She sniffed, “Fej to my friends. When he looked puzzled, she went on. “From the initials, you know F.E.J. What do your friends call you? “
“Jonathan Edward,” replied Jonathan.
“Cor, my Mum only uses my full name when I am in trouble.” Then Fej laughed. ”Your initials spell Jef, so that is what I shall call you.”
Jef, as he was now named thought for a moment. “Funny, my initials are the same as yours only backwards,” he said.
Before the girl could answer, the woman came over. She stood looking down at them. For a minute or two she did not speak. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well I have looked again and it says that you two are definitely the answer, so I suppose you must be. Come on, follow me.”
“Why?” said Fej and Jef together.
“Because I say so.”
Fej and Jef looked at each other. Jef shook his head, but Fej jumped up and said, “Well, lead the way then.”
Jef stood up slowly and protested, “But we do not know who this woman is nor where she is taking us. It may be dangerous.”
Fej sniffed. “But it is exciting, don’t you want an adventure?”
“Not really, I would rather find my way back to School, I will be late and I have never ever been late before,” said Jef.
“Chicken!” Fej stood with her hands on her hips looking at Jef. However, before an argument could break out, the woman roughly pulled Jef to his feet. “If you are so good at observing things you will have noticed that this clearing is getting smaller. It will not be here much longer and I am the only one who knows the way out of here. So unless you want to be lost in the trees, you had better follow me.”
Jef looked around and sure enough, the clearing was now much smaller than it had been. He shook his head. “This is all wrong, trees cannot move like that.”
“These do,” said the woman. “Now come on, or be left behind.”
She walked off with Fej following closely behind. Jef looked at the log on which he had been sitting, there was a tree right next to it now and that definitely had not been there when he sat down. Quickly he followed Fej. Out of habit, he counted the number of paces he took.
Sure enough as the woman walked, a narrow path opened out in front of her. The three walked in single file down this path. Jef looked back over his shoulder. There was no path behind him.
Fej skipped along the path after the woman. “This is exciting,” she called back to Jef. “I have always wanted an adventure.”
Jef took out his notebook and wrote down about the moving trees.
Eventually they came to another clearing. This one was rather pleasant, there were bees humming and somewhere close by a bird sang. Even the air smelt better than in the first clearing. In the middle was a fire with a chair next to it. There was a large black, iron pot hanging over the fire. Steam was coming out of it. Near to the chair were two stools.
The woman pointed to the stools. “Sit!” she commanded.
The two children obeyed. Jef wrote ‘Five thousand and fifty-three paces’ in his note book.
Before he could write any more, the woman sat in the chair and spoke again. “Tea anyone?” From somewhere that neither child could see, the woman produced three cups and a teapot. “Sorry, “she went on, “No milk today with all this trouble.”
She poured brown liquid into each cup and handed one to each child. Then, again from somewhere the children could not see, she produced a plateful of sandwiches. “I hope you like ham, it is all I have got at present, “she said.
Fej and Jef looked at each other. Fej shrugged her shoulders and took a sandwich. Jef shook his head. “No thank- you. I am not due to eat until break time which I estimate to be in one hour's time when I normally have an apple and a glass of milk.”
“Please yourself then, “said the woman and the plate of sandwiches and the tea pot disappeared.
The woman scratched her ear, pinched her nose, and generally looked a bit uneasy. She cleared her throat. “Look, she said, “I am not used to this being nice to people. I am more used to being wicked.”
Fej jumped to her feet. “I knew it, you are a Witch!” She clapped her hands with glee.
The Witch nodded. “Yes. They call me the Wicked Witch of the Dark Forest.”
“Ooooh!” interrupted Fej. “I have read about you. You have done some really horrible things to people. It is all here in my book. Did you really turn someone into a frog?”
The Witch looked startled. “Not that I remember doing. I mean I could, but why? Ah, yes. I remember now, that would have been the Witch before the one before me. She was a really unpleasant type.”
Fej looked puzzled.
“There have been lots of Wicked Witches of the Dark Forest, each one does different things. Even Witches do not live forever and it is a dangerous job you know. People DO try to kill us quite often you know.” The Witch sniffed.
“There is no such thing as Witches,” said Jef. “They are only old women who have gone a bit strange in the head and keep lots of cats.”
The Witch took a deep breath and started to wave her fingers making an odd pattern in the air. Fej moved out of the way.
With a visible effort, the Witch stopped the finger waving and sat on her hands. “Well, you may believe what you choose. Either I am a Witch or just a silly old,” She stopped. “Not old, ……a silly woman who thinks she is one and needs your help.”
Both children sat down on the stools and looked at her waiting to be told how they could be of help.
“If we can,” said Jef.
“Oooooooooh!” said Fej. “A real live adventure!”
“I think it would be easier if I showed you the problem and then explained, “said the Witch. She stood up. “Follow me.”
Obediently the children followed as she led them down another path. Jef counted the number of paces. It was only five hundred and three this time until the Witch stopped.
“There!” she said and pointed ahead of them.
“Where?” said Jef.
“What?” said Fej. “There is nothing there.”
“Exactly!” said the Witch. “There is NOTHING there!”
The children looked again. The path, the trees, the sky, everything just stopped about twenty paces in front of them.
“That is impossible!” muttered Jef.
Fej ran forward to the very edge of the Nothing. Gingerly she put out her hand and touched the edge of Nothing. “Ooooh!” she squealed, “It tingles.”
Jef carefully went up the edge. It was easy to see where it began, or ended. It was very strange to look down and see half a daisy flower. He took out his magnifying glass and looked through it at the ground. He looked carefully at a place where there was a tree branch going in and ending abruptly.
“What can you see?” asked the Witch.
Jef carefully wrote in his notebook. “Nothing!” he said truthfully. “Not a single thing. This is very odd.”
He poked at the edge of Nothing with his pencil. “Pretty solid whatever it is. The pencil will not go through it”
“Neither can people,” said the Witch and pushed him towards the edge. He stuck out his hands to stop himself and found himself touching a solid surface. “Yes, it does tingle,” he said. He touched it again. “Hmm, it is not really solid, more like hard rubber. If I press hard, it gives slightly. Try it.” He said to Fej.
She pushed against the Nothing and nodded.
“Watch this,” ordered the Witch. She picked up a piece of wood and pushed at the Nothing. The stick would not go through try as she might. Then, she stepped back a little way and threw the stick at the Nothing. It disappeared through it. Jef and Fej ran to the spot where the wood had gone. They felt all over the area and found no holes or anywhere where the wood could have gone through.
“Nothing alive can go through, even a piece of wood will only go in if it is not being held by a living thing. I know I have tried.” The Witch said.
“There must be a scientific explanation to this,” mused Jef. “I will have a look through my book.” He sat down by the edge of the Nothing.
Fej looked at him and sniffed. She turned to the Witch. ”It’s magic, isn’t it?”
The Witch nodded.
“Who’s magic is it?” asked Fej.
Jef came up. “Do you know who did this?”
The Witch looked rather shamefaced. “Me. I cast a spell.”
Jef snorted rather impolitely. Fej glared at him. The Witch’s fingers twitched. “I supposed I had better explain,” she sighed.

Chapter 5

Outside, Inside.

“You see King Leopold is a bit of an idiot really. He refuses to believe in Witches. Like someone not far from here, he thought that I was just a strange woman who likes cats. Actually, he was wrong about that too, I cannot abide the things, and they make me sneeze. And that is not a safe thing to do when mixing either potions or casting spells, I can tell you.”
Fej giggled.
Jef shook his head.
The Witch went on, “Worse of all he sent some soldiers to clear me out of my Cottage. He said I ought to go and live in the Town where I could be properly looked after and get treatment for my ‘strangeness’”
“Idiot!” said Fej
“Makes sense,” said Jef.
The Witch glared at him and her fingers twitched.
She took a deep breath and went on. “I decided to teach him a lesson. Since he wanted to kick me out of my home, I thought I would make it impossible for him to live in his home. So, I set a spell off to make his Palace disappear. Well, as I said, cats make me sneeze and as luck would have it, the Palace cat walked past as I was saying the words. Naturally, I sneezed and somehow the spell was made bigger than it should have been. The Nothing began in the throne room and just got bigger and bigger. Everyone inside has had to leave. They are all camped on the other side. “
“Someone must have turned a machine or something on,” said Jef. “At the same time as you were pretending to do magic.”
This time the Witch could not control her fingers. There was a flash and Fej was astonished to see a toad, sitting where Jef had been.
She giggled.
The Witch twitched her fingers again and Jef reappeared.
“Funny!” he said. “I suddenly felt as if I was on all fours and thinking of flies.”
Both Fej and the Witch giggled.
Jef glared at them. “Obviously someone has to get inside the Nothing, somehow and turn it off.”
“Yes!” said the Witch. “And that someone, or someones, actually are you two. I cast a spell that was supposed to bring me the way of stopping this, “she waved at the Nothing. “And you two turned up. I did check and it is right. You two are supposed to be able to do it.”
“Well, in that case, there must be a way in,” said Fej. She went over to the Nothing and began feeling all around. She did not notice the root sticking up and tripped. In falling she grabbed hold of Jef and the pair of them fell against the Nothing. Instead of bouncing off, they both fell through to the other side. They were inside the Nothing.
Quickly both of them scrambled to their feet and moved so that they were no longer touching.
“Look!” said Fej, pointing at the ground. By her feet was the other half of the daisy. Jef took out his magnifying glass and examined it. He made a note in his Notebook. Gingerly Fej touched the inside edge of the Nothing. “It still tingles,” she said. She pushed against it and Jef poked at it with his pencil.
“Feels the same from this side,” he said.
“But how did we get in?” asked Fej. She looked closely at the Nothing. “You know, from this side I can just see out. I can see the Witch.”
“Old woman!” Jef sniffed.
“Whatever,” said Fej. “She looks rather surprised. I wonder is she can hear us.”
They both shouted and banged on the Nothing. The Witch/old woman ignored them.
Jef scratched his head. “This needs thinking about.”
Fej nodded and walked off. She thought better when she was moving about. She looked at the trees and plants inside the Nothing. It suddenly struck her that there was something wrong. There was absolutely no noise at all inside, no bees, no birds, no wind rustling the leaves, no sound at all. She began to whistle, rather tunelessly as usual, but at least it was a noise.
She went back to Jef. He was examining a leaf through his magnifying glass.
“Have you noticed?” They both spoke at the same time.
Jef was too excited to be polite and spoke before Fej could begin again. “The leaves on the trees are dying. And look at the daisy.” The half flower that had looked fine a few minutes ago was now looking very sad indeed. Even as they watched, a petal fell to the ground.
“And there is no sound,” pointed out Fej. The whole place is absolutely silent, except for us.”
“We have to turn this thing off, whatever it is, or the whole place is going to die,” said Jef.
“You don’t ‘turn off’ magic, we need to break the spell,” Fej insisted.
“Magic smagic!” retorted Jef.
They were about to begin a really good quarrel when they were interrupted by a piece of wood from the Witch’s side of the Nothing. Fej picked it up. There was a piece of paper attached to it. She read out the rather spidery writing.
‘If you are in there and get this, write a note and throw it out attached to a stick’.
“We should have thought of that,” said Fej.
“I had thought of it,” said Jef, “But you did not give me time to say so, going on about Magic and spells. And I think I know what was different about when we came in.”
“What?”
“We were touching each other. You grabbed hold of my arm when you tripped over the root and we fell through the Nothing still holding on to each other. I wonder if we can get back the same way.” Jef said. He went on, “I do not understand the Science behind this, but we can at least try.”
“Pooh to your science,” said Fej.
She sighed. “I suppose we had better try though. “
She grabbed Jef’s hand and together they tried the Nothing. There was nothing there to stop them and they found themselves back in the clearing with the Witch/old woman. Jef let go of Fej’s hand as soon as he could and wiped it on his handkerchief. Fej wiped her hand on her jacket.
“Well?” demanded the Witch/old woman. “What happened?”
Jef answered, “It seems that we can get inside or back out again if we are touching each other. “
“Mmmm,” said the Witch/old woman. “I wonder if I can get in like that.” She grabbed Fej’s hand and poked the other one at the Nothing. It did not go through. She left go of Fej and grabbed Jef. Again, she could not get into the Nothing. Finally, she tried holding on to both of them without success.
“Well, it seems that only you two can get in, so you will have to go and find the spell and break it.” She said.
Before Jef could open his mouth to protest, she added, “Or turn it off, whatever.”
“How do we do that?” Fej wanted to know.
The Witch/old woman looked a bit shame faced. “I do not actually know. The answer is in my book in my Cottage.”
Jef had a feeling he knew the answer before he asked the question. “Where is your Cottage?”
The Witch/old woman pointed to the Nothing. “If you follow the path from here my cottage is only a short distance. The door is open and all my books are on a shelf behind the door. The one I need is the only one with no title on its cover.”
Fej giggled. “Your cottage is not made of Gingerbread, by any chance is it?”
The Witch/old woman looked puzzled. “No, bricks and wood and it has a thatched roof made of straw, why?
Jef laughed. “She is thinking of a story where two children find a Cottage made of Gingerbread.”
“Not very practical, it would fall down the first time it rained.” The Witch/old woman shook her head. “Now hurry up and get my book. And whatever you do, do not touch anything else in there.

Chapter 6

Odd Flowers

Fej grabbed Jef’s hand and before he could protest pulled him through into Nothing. The path led to a Cottage just as they had been told. There was a neat garden around the Cottage full of plants which Jef did not recognise. He would have liked to have stopped and studied them, but Fej dragged him through the open door and into the Cottage. The books were on a shelf behind the door and as promised only one of them had no title. The others had words on them, but not in any language that Jef could read.
Jef let go of Fej’s hand and grabbed the Book. “Come on, let’s go back outside.
“You go, I want to look round. It is not often anyone gets the chance to look inside a Witch’s Cottage,” announce Fej.
“She is not a Witch, there is no such thing.” Jef shouted. “And it is very rude to go looking through other people’s things.”
“Oh pooh,” retorted Fej. “You wait outside then.”
Jef did as he was told and went to stand in the garden. Two minutes later a very white-faced Fej ran out through the door and past him back down the path. Jef shrugged his shoulders and followed her.
Fej was stood next to the Nothing, still looking rather scared.
“So what happened then?” asked Jef. “Did a nasty spell jump out and get you?”
“You would not believe me if I told you,” said Fej
“Try me,” replied Jef.
Fej took a deep breath. “There was a bunch of flowers on the table and when I bent over them, one of them opened up and breathed fire on me. Look my hair is singed.”
It was certainly true that the front of her hair looked a bit scorched.
“I suppose they were snapdragon flowers,” sneered Jef.
Fej sniffed. “I’ll bet they were.”
“More likely there was a candle lit and you did not see it.”
He grabbed her hand and together they walked out of Nothing. As soon as they were clear, Fej pushed away Jef’s hand. She gave the Book to the waiting Witch/Old woman.
She looked at Fej’s face and singed hair. “I see you had to go and look at my Workbench then. “
Fej blushed and nodded.
“Found the Snap dragons too, I see.” The Witch/old woman reached up and touched Fej’s fringe. “Just be glad I hadn’t got a bunch of Dog daisies on there.”
Fej said, “You know that he still does not think you are a Witch, no matter what happens, he finds a reason not to believe.”
“Does it matter? As long as you manage to stop the Nothing, whether he thinks I am a Witch or just a mad woman is not that important. I know what I am and you do. Let him believe what he wants to. Now let me look through this Book”
Fej wandered over to where Jef was sitting on one of the stools, looking at a leaf through his magnifying glass and writing notes in his book. He looked very worried.
“Something Science cannot explain, “said Fej.
“Actually no. This is the leaf I looked at when we went in first and this is one I brought out just. Look how much more of this one has died. I reckon that if plants inside the Nothing are dying at the same speed as this tree, then we have only a short time to turn it off,”
“Break the spell,” muttered Fej.
“Whatever!” replied Jef. He wrote some figures in his book, looked at his watch and thought for a moment. “By my reckoning everything in there will be completely dead in three hours and twenty minutes from now.”
“I wonder if she knows,” said Fej, thoughtfully.
“I think she only wants the Nothing removed so she can get back into her Cottage,” said Jef.
“Very true,” said the Witch/old woman, who had walked up unnoticed by either of them. “Sadly I have to get rid of all of it, not just the bit round that idiot Leopold’s Palace. Still he might have learnt his lesson. We shall see.”
“So?” asked Fej. “What do we do?”
“I will tell you separately. Jef, go and put some wood on the fire.”
He went and did as he was told.
When he was out of hearing distance, the Witch began. “You need to know something about Spells. They have a set of rules that have to be followed. The most important ones are that they have to have a way of being broken and they also have a time limit on them, most often a hundred years.”
Fej nodded excitedly. “You mean like Sleeping Beauty, where she had to wait a hundred years before the Prince could come and kiss her?”
The Witch nodded. “Something like that. Obviously I cannot wait a hundred years to get back into my Cottage, so you will have to break the Spell.”
Fej nodded. “But how?”
“That is the problem,” said the Witch. “My Book only says ‘When opposites meet and then agree. They’ll find their way. The spell will go by end of day.’ Somewhere in the Throne room you will find a glass ball, about 4 inches across. You will know what it is because when you look in it you will see Nothing.”
“Strange! I will have to think about the rhyme,” said Fej. “Should we tell him?”
“No, I do not think he would believe it and in any case I do not think he needs to know. Keep it to yourself until you know what it means. Now go and read your book or something I need to talk to Jef about the way things are dying inside the Nothing.”
Fej went and sat by the fire and Jef walked over to the Old woman.
“Now, somewhere in the Throne Room, you will find something that looks like a glass ball, about 4 inches across. You will know what it is when you look in to it, you will see Nothing. Somehow you must break it and that will turn the Nothing off.”
“How? I mean, like hit it with something or throw it on the floor?” puzzled Jef.
“I doubt if that would work. I am sorry, but I have no idea. You will have to find a way when you get there. Oh and do not say anything to Fej about this. She might not understand.” The old woman smiled at him.
Jef nodded.
“Time you were going. If your working out is accurate, then everything in there will be dead very soon and I would be very upset to lose the plants in my herb garden, some of them are very rare ones indeed.”
The Witch/old woman led them to the Nothing. Now follow the path past my cottage. It winds and twists a bit, but eventually you will come to another path. Turn to the right and walk with the sun on your backs. You can see the sun in there I hope?”
They both nodded.
“You might find other paths going off the one you are on, but if in doubt always take the widest path. Understand?”
They both nodded.
She led them to the Nothing and holding hands they went through.

Opposites…….attract!

Inside the pair let go of each other and walked along in silence, past the Cottage until they reached a wider path. They turned to the right as the Witch/old woman had said.
“Funny, this,” said Fej. “I started out this morning by turning to the left instead of to the right.”
“Me too,” said Jef. He was too busy counting his paces to talk much.
Fej on the other hand was finding the total silence of the Nothing rather harder to live with. “This is very creepy, “she said. “There should be lots of noises in a Forest like this, it is not right.”
Jef made no reply, merely making a note in his notebook.
“What do you keep writing in that book” Fej asked and grabbed it out of Jef’s hand. It was full of tiny writing, most of which were figures.
Jef held out his hand and waited until Fej returned the book. “I write down the number of paces I take between things and anything interesting I see while walking.”
“Why count your paces?”
“If I know how many paces I have taken and how long my pace is I can work out how far I have walked and I can always find my way back again.”
Fej tried again. “Do you think we will ever get home?”
Jef stopped. “Do you know I had never even thought about that. I certainly hope so. Perhaps once the Nothing is gone, we will be sent back. “
Fej nodded.
They carried on walking until they came to where the Path split into two. “Always take the widest one,” said Fej. “But they look the same size to me.”
Jef looked and said, “Well I think it is the right hand one.”
Fej disagreed. “I think it is the left.”
Jef reached into his pocket and took out a small tape measure. “Never go anywhere without it.”
“You are weird,” said Fej.
The measured the paths and sure enough it was the right hand one that was just the wider of the two.
Jef smiled smugly and Fej sulked.
They walked in silence until the path split again.
“Right” said Jef.
“Left” said Fej as much to be different as anything. To her delight, the left path was the wider by a small amount.
Fej smiled smugly and Jef sulked.
Soon the path changed from bare earth to paving stones and at last the reached the Palace gates. Jef pushed at them. They were locked.
“So, how do we get in?” he asked.
“Like this!” said Fej and began to climb over. She managed it in no time at all. Jef however, could not manage them at all.
Fej laughed at his feeble attempts. “I will go and see if there is an open gate somewhere. Wait here.” She went off leaving Jef stood by the gate feeling a little foolish. To pass the time he closely examined the leaves from the plants growing at the base of the wall.
A few minutes later Fej returned. “Follow the Walls round to the right and you will come to a small side gate. I have opened it for you.”
Jef did as he was told and soon joined Fej inside. He handed her the leaves he had collected and the magnifying glass.
“What am I looking at?” she asked.
Jef shook his head. “These plants are dying much faster. I thought we had hours yet, but from the state of those I think we have less than thirty minutes.”
Fej looked again and nodded. There was now only a tiny spot of green left in the very middle of the leaf.
“We had better hurry then.”
The Palace doors were locked like the Gates. They walked all the way round and found all the doors firmly bolted.
“We have to get in somehow, the switch is inside.” Said Jef
“We have to break the spell in the throne room,” said Fej.
She walked across the lawn to a rock garden and picked up a large rock. “Hope no one minds,” she muttered and used it to smash a window. Jef shook his head, but helped her clear away the glass and they climbed in.
They found themselves in a long wide corridor with doors leading of on either side.
“It is going to take forever, if we have to go in all these rooms,” said Fej. “Where do we start?”
Jef sniffed. “Obvious really. I think it is going to be behind the biggest door. That one at the end of the Corridor.”
They ran down to a pair of double doors and pushed them open. They went into a huge beautifully decorated room. At the far end was a pair of large stone chairs. Carved into the back of each chair was a crown.
“The throne room I believe,” said Jef.
“So lets find this glass ball that the witch said was in here,” said Fej. “You look down that side and I’ll take this. Meet you at the thrones.”
A few minutes later they met at the thrones. Jef shook his head. “Nothing this side.”
Fej shook hers. “Nothing this side either.”
“Well, it has to be here somewhere,” said Jef. “What is behind these curtains?”
Behind the thrones was a heavy looking red velvet curtain. Fej pulled them open. The curtains covered a small room with a dressing table and a mirror. Fej ran over to the dressing table. “Here it is,” she cried.
Sure enough, on the dresser was a small glass ball. She picked it up and looked inside. She could see Nothing. Jef joined her and looked. “That is definitely it.”
They took the ball into the throne room and set it down on a table placed between the thrones.
“Now what do we do?” Fej asked.
“The old woman” began Jef
“The witch,” corrected Fej.
“Whatever!” said Jef. She then, she said we have to break the ball, but she did not know how. Perhaps if we hit it with something?”
They glanced round the room, but there was nothing that could be used as a hammer.
“I don’t think we have time to go and look for tools,” said Jef taking out the leaf and looking at it closely. “The spot has almost gone.”
“We could try throwing at the floor,” suggested Fej.
“OK!” replied Jef and reached out for the ball. At the same time Jef did the same. Their hands met on the ball.
Together they exclaimed “Ooh, that tingles.” They tried to let go, but their hands were stuck to the ball.
They stood and looked at each other for a moment. Then Fej said. ”She told me ‘‘When opposites meet and then agree. They’ll find their way. The spell will go by end of day.’”
Jef snorted. “You and your magic.”
Fej snarled back at him. “You and your Science. We will never agree on that.”
Then she stopped and thought. Then she smiled. “I think I know what we have to do.”
Jef also had a grin on his face, “You know, I think I do too. But you go first.”
Fej said, “We are opposites, if you think about it.”
Jef nodded. “I do not believe in magic, you do.
Fej nodded. ”I am a girl and you are a boy.”
Jef nodded. “I am neat and tidy and you are….er…….not.”
Fej sniffed at that. “I am left handed and you are right handed.”
Together they said “And now all we have to do is agree. We agree to differ!”
If they had expected thunder and lightning or a fireworks display, they were disappointed. The ball gently cracked open and their hands were free.
Fej looked across at Jef. He was staring at something behind her. She turned to look. The throne room walls had disappeared and behind her was her own very familiar front gate. She turned back to Jef and nodded. He turned to look behind him. The walls of the Palace had disappeared and behind him was his very own familiar front gate.
“Well, that part is right. We have found our own way,” said Jef turning back. “But we still……..aah. “ He looked at the remains of the glass ball. There was a switch, marked On/Off. It was in the On position. It would be no trouble to turn it to the Off position.
“True! At least now we will be able to go home. She looked at the remains of the glass ball. “Aaah, I see it.” Floating just above the tabletop was a small candle flame. It would be no trouble to put it out.
They looked at each other, realising the adventure was almost over. Jef pulled out his Science for Everyone book and thrust it at Fej. She pulled out her Tales of the Dark Forest and handed it to Jef.
Without a word she reached in and snuffed out the flame. At the same time Jef reached in and switched the switch to Off. The remains of the glass ball disappeared.
Jef turned and found himself stood by his front gate. There were no signs of any Palace, only the last few wisps of fog. He looked at his watch. The whole thing had taken no more than five minutes. If he walked quickly he would be in school on time. He looked at the book in his hand. ‘Tales of the Dark Forest. ‘ On the front cover was written, ‘Property of Fiona Emily Jefferson’. He put it in his pocket with his notebook and went to school. As he did, a leaf dropped unnoticed from his sleeve. The leaf was completely green.
Fej turned and found herself stood by her front gate. The Palace had completely disappeared. She ran into the house. “Mum I’m home, did you miss me?”
“Her mother came out of the kitchen wiping her hands. “But my love, you have only been gone five minutes. Did you not go to the Park?”
Fej looked at the book in her hand ‘Science for Everyone’. On the inside of the cover was written, ‘Property of Jonathan Edward Frobisher.” She put it in her pocket and went out again to the Park. She did not notice the leaf which fell out of the book. The leaf was completely green.

The Granny Cruncher

2008-08-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Granny Cruncher.
Chapter 1.
The First to go!
Granny Smith was the first to go. The old lady was taking six fine fat geese to the market in the Town Square. She was driving them along the dusty road with a stick. Grumbling to herself as usual, when she just disappeared. There was no puff of smoke or anything like that, just a faint crunching noise, then no Granny Smith.
The geese did not notice that she was no longer driving them for a few minutes and went on walking towards the Town. When they did notice that she was no longer there, they turned and went home again, passing her stick which was lying unheeded on the grass by the roadside. Granny smith lived on her own in a little cottage some way out of town. She had no close neighbours or family so it was some time before anyone noticed that she was no longer there.
It was very different when Granny Knott went. She was sat in her favourite armchair with her grandchildren round her. She was telling them a story. Her smallest granddaughter was sat on her knee one moment and the next she was sat in the armchair. It was such a shock that for a moment she did not even begin to cry.
As the eldest said. “There was a faint 'Crunch' and Granny just disappeared. She did not even finish the story.”
The house was searched, the garden was searched. They even looked down the cushions of the armchair and apart from a few stray pennies and a couple of hairpins and a very unpleasant sticky sweet, nothing unusual was found anywhere.
Widow Flatt was cleaning her front windows. She did this every Thursday whether the windows needed it or not. She went leaving her bucket ans wind leather and the windows half washed. Her daughter, who was talking to her at the time said tearfully. “There was a sort of crunching noise, then she was gone.”
Old Mother Smith was often to be seen driving a horse and cart around the Town delivering cans of milk to the towns folk, The horse was so used to just gently plodding along the same route that he did not even notice that no one was holding the reins. The Town folk were very upset when their daily milk was not delivered.
The largest disappearance came one evening at Mrs. Jackson's Milliner's Shop. No less than eight grandmothers went. A hysterical Miss Jackson, who was not a grandmother, rushed out into the street.
“I definitely heard a whole lot of crunching and they all disappeared. We were making bonnets for the Hat Festival next week.”
Abronia was famous for its hat makers and every year there was a huge parade where all the hat makers in the country put their best efforts on display.
In Miss Jackson's front room, all that could be seen was a pile of needles and thread and unfinished hats.
More important it also left eight very puzzled and angry grandfathers. They had come home from the Old Men's Darts Match, expecting to find some supper.
Eight extremely angry grandfathers can make a large amount of fuss, especially when there was no supper to be had. When their wives did nor re-appear next morning, they met at Granddad Green's house. It was a strange looking gang of old men. Two were still wearing the clothes from the previous night. The others had managed to find some clothes, but without their wives to tell them where to find clean shirts and socks, they looked a very untidy set of people. Worse still, not one of them had managed to make themselves breakfast. At least Granddad Green knew where the tea was kept so they all could have a hot drink. They did leave the cups in the sink for someone else to wash up though. The tea had to be black as no milk had been delivered.
Chapter 2.
Elsewhere.
Princess Kayla liked everything to be just so. Her clothes had to be put out in the same way every day. The table had to be laid correctly and the table cloth clean and white. She did not make a fuss and stamp her feet or have a tantrum if things were not the way that they should be, she just sighed and put them right for herself. The only odd thing about her was that she was never seen in public without her face being covered with a veil.
She was a very sensible girl and so her parents had no worries about leaving her in charge of the country while they went on an extended tour of the neighbouring countries.
So far after a fortnight in charge, nothing at all of interest had happened. Princess was not upset by this, she preferred things to be quiet. This morning though was different. It started as normal. She rose and dressed and went down for breakfast. The table was laid properly and she sat down to wait for the tea and toast to be brought in. They arrived, but Kayla could not help but notice that the maid was red eyed and rather untidy looking. There was obviously something wrong as she put the tea pot down with the handle pointing to the left instead of to the right.
“Tut!” said the Princess and turned the teapot the correct way round.
“Oh, I am sorry, your Highness. I am all of a quiver this morning.” apologised the maid.
“This is not like you, “ said the Princess. “What has happened?”
“Oh, ma'am, it's my Granny. She has disappeared. “
Kayla poured herself some tea. “When?” she asked.
The maid took a deep breath. “It was yesterday afternoon. You know she works for Miss Jackson, the milliner?”
Kayla nodded. “Yes, I saw her there yesterday morning. I was being measured for my hat for the Festival.”
“Well, as you know, Miss Jackson only employs older women. She says they work better and don't go rushing off to get married or start their own shops as soon as she has trained them.”
“They also make the best hats, “ smiled Kayla. “That is why I go there for mine.”
“Well yesterday afternoon,” went on the maid. “Miss Jackson went to deal with a customer and when she went back, all the Grannies had disappeared.” The maid sniffed tearfully. “She said that all she heard was a series of 'crunches' and then the room was empty and silent.”
“Very strange.” said Kayla.
The door to the Breakfast room opened and a Footman came in. “Excuse me, you Highness. I am sorry to disturb your breakfast, but there is a group of old men at the Palace Gate who are asking to see you. They say it is important and urgent.”
“You had better show them to the throne room then, “ said Kayla. “I will be down in a short time when I have finished my breakfast.
The Footman bowed.
Fifteen minutes later Kayla entered the throne room. She was met by a very worried looking group of old men. They looked rather untidy too, in crumpled shirts. One man was not wearing socks.
They all tried to speak at once.
Kayla took charge. She pointed to the cleanest looking man. “Now, sir, I suggest that you tell me what is the problem.”
The man took a deep breath and began. “It is our wives, your Highness. They have disappeared. They were working at Miss Jackson's. She says she heard a crunching noise and they were gone. She says it was a dragon that ate them.”
Kayla thought for a moment then shook her head. “I doubt that. For a start Dragons usually prefer to eat younger persons. I think they might find Grannies a little on the tough side. Secondly I think Dragons prefer their food well cooked and no one has said anything about any fire, now have they?”
The old men shook their heads.
“And finally, I have never heard of any dragons around here, have you?”
The old men shook their heads.
“Now I will see what I can find out for you. “ She looked at the group in front of her. “Have any of you had breakfast yet? “
Most of them shook their heads.
“I thought not. “ said Kayla. She turned to the Footman .”Take these gentlemen down to the kitchens and give them some breakfast. Then organise some of the servants to go home with them and find them some clean clothes. Oh and send the Captain of the guard in to see me.”
The Captain of the Guard arrived. Kayla explained the problem to him.
“Please investigate and report back as soon as possible,” she ordered.
Chapter 3.
A puzzle.
The Captain returned in mid afternoon. “It is very strange, your Highness, he said” It seems that old ladies have been disappearing throughout the kingdom, over the last couple of days. As far as I can find out, there are six Mrs. Smiths, three Mrs. Knotts and two Mrs. Flatts as well as the eight from the Hat makers shop. In each case there was a crunching noise reported. No one saw any signs of burning though, so a Dragon is not suspected.”
“Perhaps someone is trying to spoil the Hat Festival, “ said Kayla. “Were they all hat makers?”
“No ma'am. Not as far as I can see. One of the Mrs. Smiths sold geese, another delivered milk.” The Captain scratched his head. “I cannot see any connection between any of them.”
“Did anyone see what happened?”
“Not really, your Highness. There was an odd happening at one of the grandmother' s places. I brought the people with me.”
The Captain went to the Throne Room door and showed a man and a woman in to the room The woman was carrying a small child.
“Mr. and Mrs. Flatt and Dylan, “ said the Captain.
The man bowed awkwardly and the woman attempted a curtsey which was a bit difficult as she was holding the child. The child carried on sucking a lollipop.
Kayla smiled. “Tell me happened.”
The woman answered nervously. “My mother in law was nursing little Dylan here. He has been sick you see and he would not stop crying. There was a crunching noise and they both disappeared. Then a minute later, there was another crunch and Dylan was back again with a lollipop.”
Dylan took the lollipop from his mouth and said. “The man with the tail said, 'Oops, sorry.'.”
“He keeps saying that,” said his Mother.
Dylan sucked on the lollipop, then he took it out again. “Gave me a lollipop.”
His father said, “We have tried to get him to tell us more, but that is all he says. He is only three you know.”
“Well, it helps, thank you very much,” said Kayla. “We will do everything we can to get your mother back.”
The Captain of the Guard showed the family group out of the room.
“Not a lot of use really, “ he said when he returned. “But at least whoever is doing this is only after grandmothers.”
Kayla though for a moment. “Well, she said finally, “If there is anyone who can solve this mystery it is me.”
“Your Highness?” The Captain was puzzled.
“I shall disguise myself as a hat making granny and see if I am 'crunched'.”
“But,”
“No, Captain, my parents left me in charge and it is my duty to find out what has happened. Besides looking like I do it should not be too much trouble to look like a hat making granny, now will it.?”
The Captain nodded.
“This awful spell that the Witch put on me may come in useful after all,” said the Princess.
“That was before I became Captain of the Guard,” said the soldier. “I wondered.....”
“My parents forgot to invite the Witch to my christening, so she cast a spell on me. She arrived when everyone was saying how much I looked like my Grandmother so she said that I would REALLY look like her. And I do, but my Grandmother is seventy years old so I look seventy too, even though I am only eighteen.”
“That was cruel,” said the Captain of the Guard.
Kayla nodded.
“But, your Highness, it might be dangerous. Who knows what this person is after.”
Kayla laughed, “I don't think that someone who says 'Oops sorry and gives a child a lollipop can be too dangerous”
The Captain shook his head and sighed. “I hope not.”
“Now, off you go and see if you can find out any more. “
The Captain saluted and left the room.
Kayla sent for her maid. She explained her plan and soon was dressed in the sort of clothes that the Maid's grandmother was wearing when she was crunched.
Half an hour later, the Princess was sat in Miss Jackson's workshop quietly sewing a hat. As she said to the worried hat shop owner. “At least this way, if I don't disappear I will have a hat to wear for the Festival.”
Nothing happened and both Miss Jackson and the Princess began to wonder if anything would. Then the shop bell rang. Miss Jackson looked at the Princess.
“Oh, go on. You cannot ignore a customer, now can you?” Princess Kayla smiled. “I will be all right.”
Miss Jackson left the workroom . As she closed the door behind her, she heard a faint 'crunch'. She turned and ran back into the workroom. The Princess had gone. Miss Jackson fainted.
Chapter 4.
A Solution.
Princess Kayla found herself in a small room. In front of her was a young man holding a clipboard. He looked very worried. He did not speak, instead he sighed and wrote something on the piece of paper on the clipboard. Even though they were indoors he was wearing a hat pulled sown over his ears. Kayla turned slowly round to look at the room. There was no furniture in the room except for a large mirror. To her astonishment the mirror did not show the reflection of the room, or herself or the young man. Instead it showed the room at Miss Jackson's shop. Princess Kayla could see poor Miss Jackson slowly climbing to her feet.
The young man said “Excuse me and touched one corner of the Mirror. The workroom faded and was replaced by the reflection of Princess Kayla. She could not help noticing that the Mirror was rather dirty and streaked. She sniffed at this sign of neglect.
“Er, Mistress.....?” enquired the young man, pencil poised to write on his paper.
“Princess Kayla!” snapped Princess Kayla. “And who may I ask are you?”
“Oh dear,” replied the young man. “You are a Granny aren't you?”
“Not exactly!” said Kayla. “And I asked you a question, young man.”
“Ohm er, sorry. Forgot my manners. I am Prince Farimond of Slobonia. Er, what do you mean by 'Not exactly'? You look the right age to be a grandmother.”
Kayla ignored that question for a moment. “What have you done with all the grandmothers? They had better not have come to any harm.”
“No, no. They are all perfectly fit and well, “ protested Prince Farimond. “They are all in the Great Hall playing Bingo. Listen you can hear them arguing.”
Kayla could indeed hear the sounds of old ladies enjoying a good disagreement.
“They are terrible,” said Farimond. “I had to move the mirror in here, I could not stand the squabbling. Now, If you would just answer my question, you could go and join them,” said Prince Farimond.
“I have no intention of joining them until I find out what is going on here, “ said Kayla.
“You are not a grandmother at all,” burst out the Prince. “Oh dear, this is not supposed to happen.”
“No,” said Kayla. “I am not even an old woman. I just happen to look like this. Now are you going to tell me what is going on or what?” She stood tapping her foot on the rather dusty stone floor.
Prince Farimond stared at the tapping foot and swallowed nervously. “It's like this you see. I am under spell and I am trying to find a way to break it.”
“A spell?”
Prince Farimond sighed. “Promise you won't laugh,” he said.
Princess Kayla nodded.
Prince Farimond turned round. From the front he looked to be a perfectly normal, if rather worried, looking young man. However, when he turned it became very obvious that Prince Farimond was far from normal. He had a long bushy tail. He turned back and reached up and removed his hat. His ears were small and very hairy. Clumsily he dropped his pencil. As soon as it touched the floor, the tail whipped round, picked it up and handed it back to him.
“It does that all the time,” he said, blushing bright red.
It is a good thing that Princess Kayla had been brought up to keep a straight face or she may well have laughed.
“Oh dear,” she said. “That is most unfortunate. How did that happen.?”
“Well, “ replied the Prince. “I was not born like this I am told. My parents did all the right things for the Christening. They invited the Witch so that she would not just turn up and be nasty. But she was in a bad mood for some reason and when she saw me she said. 'He looks just like a little monkey. I think I shall give him a gift.'. So she did, this!”
His tail reached up over his shoulder and brushed away the tear which had fallen from Farimond's eye.
“Oh,” cried Kayla. “She is a horrible person. “My parents forgot to ask her at all, but she turned up anyway. She made me look like my grandmother.”
Farimond looked puzzled. “But lots of people look like their grandparents. My Father always said that I looked like my grandfather without his teeth in.”
“Most people look like their grandmother or grandfather did when they were the same age as them I look like my Grandmother does now and she is seventy.”
Then Kayla did a very brave thing, she reached up and took off her veil.
Farimond stepped back. “Oh!” was all he could say.
They stood and looked at each other for a minute.
Prince Farimond broke the silence. “She does some horrible things. “But there is always a way out of her spells. She told my parents that I would lose my tail if I could find various things before my 21st birthday was over.”
“And?” Kayla asked.
“That is today,” added the Prince. “What about you?”
“Happy birthday,” said Kayla.
“Thank-you, “ replied Farimond. “I hope it will be.”
“Oh, she said that I would look like myself when I had seen my reflection from the other side of the mirror. I have spent ages looking at the back of mirrors to see if I could see myself, but all I ever see is a wooden panel. I bet that is all there is on the other side of your mirror.”
“Not really,” said the Prince. “The other side of that Mirror is wherever I tell it to look. That is how I find all those grandmothers. Then when I find something I can bring it here.”
“Useful for kidnapping!” Princess Kayla said.
The Prince blushed.
Then Kayla suddenly laughed. “In a way, I AM looking at my reflection from the other side of a mirror.”
She turned to look at herself again. She did not look any different. The face staring back at her looked exactly like the portrait of her grandmother. Then the image wavered, as if someone had poured water over the glass.
Princess Kayla put her hands over her face. It did not feel any different. Then she took them away slowly and looked again. She did not recognise the face which looked back at her. She examined it critically.
“I was hoping that when, if, I did get my own face I would be beautiful,” she said. “But I suppose this will have to do. At least I have not got any wrinkles any more.” She turned to Prince Farimond.
He looked at her in astonishment. “But you are beautiful, “ he stammered. “At least I think so.”
They both stood silent for a moment.
Princess Kayla was the first to speak. She became all businesslike “Now, if MY spell can be broken then I am positive we can break yours. What were you supposed to find?”
“There are four things which I must have, a Granny Smith, a Granny Knott, a Granny Flatt and last of all a Granny's bonnet.”
Princess Kayla frowned.
Farimond went on. “I have a whole room of Grannies. Dozens of Smiths, Flatts, Knotts and all of them in bonnets, but it is not working.” He sounded very close to tears.
Princess Kayla thought for a moment then she burst out laughing. “Oh you silly boy. None of those are grandmothers.”
Prince Farimond looked puzzled.
“Look, can you use the Mirror to find anything?”
He nodded. “Yes. The Mirror is our family secret. One of my ancestors took it from the Witch. Not this one of course, but the one who was around a couple of hundred years ago. No one knew how to use it so it was put up here in the Attic and forgotten about. I found it one day and worked out how to use it.”
“The Witch must never get it back, “ warned Kayla. “Think of the nasty things she could do with it.”
“I don't think anyone else knows about it except me....oh and you now. I will show you how it works.”
He went to the Mirror and touched all four corners . He said. “North, South, West, East. Find the thing that I desire.” Then pressed his fingers in the centre of the glass.
“That is why the middle is so dirty,” thought Kayla.
Prince Farimond turned to her. “Now all I have to do is tell it what I want it to find. “
“Good, “ said Kayla. “Then tell it you want a Fruit shop.”
Farimond looked puzzled, but did as he was asked.
The Mirror showed a picture of a shop full of fruit. By moving the mirror slightly they could look along the counter. Kayla pointed to a large green apple. “That is what we want.”
Farimond reach into the Mirror and took the apple. There was a faint 'crunch' as the fruit came through the glass.
“Oh, “ aid Kayla.
“It always, makes that noise, “ said Farimond. “I do not know why.”
“Now , we need a piece of rope, “ said Kayla.
A piece of rope was soon found.
“Next we need a garden full of flowers.”
“I hope you know what you are doing!” Farimond said.
The Mirror showed a lovely garden full of beautiful flowers. Kayla pointed out the ones she wanted and Farimond reached in and picked them.
The crunching noise came again.
“The last thing is a bit more difficult. “ said Kayla. “Do you have to have the four things here in the room with you?”
“I don't know,” answered Farimond slowly, “I think the spell said that all I had to do was to show them on my 21st. Birthday. Why?”
Kayla did not answer that question.
“Can you find my Grandmother's apartment in the old Palace?”
Farimond did as he was asked. The Mirror showed a rather pleasant looking sitting room where an old lady sat, reading.
“Can she see us?” Kayla whispered.
Farimond shook his head. “No, and she cannot hear us either so there is no need to whisper.”
“Now we have everything we need, “ said Kayla. Let's see if we can break this spell. Then you can send all those Grannies home again.”
Farimond blushed. “I had forgotten about them,” he confessed.
Kayla took the apple and gave it to him. “This is a Granny Smith.” She took the rope and tied a complicated knot in it. “This is a Granny knot.” she took the flowers and said, ”These are Grannies Bonnets.” Finally she pointed to the Mirror and her Grandmother's apartment. “And that is a Granny flat.”
They both held their breath. Prince Farimond's tail came up over his shoulder, touched him gently on the cheek, then disappeared. His ears lost the hairy covering and grew to normal human ear size.
Well there is little else to tell really. Prince Farimond did as he was ordered and returned the Grannies (with their Bingo prizes) to their rightful places, much to the relief of a large number of granddads. Finally he put Princess Kayla back in the Castle after promising to come and visit her as soon as he could.
The Mirror was carefully covered up and doorway blocked up, so no-one could ever get in again.
The grannies went back their ordinary lives, scolding their husbands for not being able to look after themselves and leaving their houses in such an awful mess. The Hat making ladies went back to work and the Hat Festival was a huge success.
Best of all Princess Kayla was able to go to the Festival without wearing a veil to cover her old face.