Now....Or Never....

Fear Not.... The Time Has Come.......!

I am Sure you will Remember, Dear Readers, that Tommy's little sister Beatrice was always following him wherever he went, and this afternoon was no exception! She had something she really needed to tell him, and he hadn't bothered to wait for her. She knew he had headed to the Castle Ruins so she set off after him. But her legs were short and she quickly grew tired. She knew it was a long walk to the Castle and wondered if she should turn back after all.

 You can imagine her surprise when she spotted

 a pony with a furry rider just ahead!

She was even more surprised when the Furry fellow

 came right up to her and said "Hello"!

"My name is Sir Orion..." he said bowing politely.

"I am a Fairy Bear and I help Adventurers when they get tired."

Beatrice didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.

"Would you like a ride to the Castle...?" asked Sir Orion.

Beatrice could only nod her acceptance...

and before she knew it 

they were both on the pony's back

 and away he ran!

And I hope you will recall that the Little Dreamer Amy

 was also riding as fast as she could 

towards the Castle trying to find the Wizard.

The Wizard was telling Perry, their brother, 

that he must help to find the missing Little Dreamer Beth.

"When you find her, you must bring her to me" he said.

"And you must remember that many are seeking her

 and might need your help!"

The children had barely left when Old Meg appeared.

"Don't go far..." she said. 

"They will need a potion...!"

Meanwhile, Tommy was the first to arrive at the Castle, 

and he was relieved to find the stables were empty and deserted.

 This let him hope that he had arrived at the right "Time" 

to return the Sword to its rightful place,

because when he had taken the sword, 

the Castle had been empty.

He headed through the kitchen and was glad to find it empty.

Sometimes when he came the kitchen was busy

 and Henry and Belle would greet him.

When he reached the Hall, it clearly was not empty.

But he kept going anyway...

 hoping it would be empty upstairs.

But his heart sank when he reached the room

 where he had found the sword in the first place.

It was not empty and there was no old wooden

 chest where the sword had been found...

Something was wrong! 

He headed back to the Kitchen, 

wondering if he was supposed to leave the sword anyway...

When who should he meet but that other boy...!

"Oh, it's You! " said Perry.

"Hey, what are you doing with that sword...?" he added, accusingly.

"I'm trying to put it back..." said Tommy... 

"But the room is all wrong...

 there's furniture and stuff and no chest!"

"I'll take it..." said Perry....

"No!" declared Tommy. 

"The Gypsy said it mustn't be used at all

 unless it is to help the Little Dreamer!"

"Whoever that is!" he added.

"She's our sister and we're looking for her..." said Perry.

 

Just then Beatrice arrived in the stables.

 She could hear voices in the kitchen, 

and she was sure Tommy's was one of them.

When she reached the room, the other boy was saying

 "she's our sister and she's missing..."

"I know where she is!" said Beatrice.

They all turned and stared at her.

"Who are you?" said the other boy.

"She's Beatrice. And she's my sister..." said Tommy.

"What are you doing following me...?" he declared.

"I came to tell you I know where the Little Dreamer is!" declared Beatrice.

"You wouldn't listen to me, but she is very very Tiny

 and she is upstairs in the Castle!"

"The Tiny Fairy told me..." she added.

"Fine, said Tommy.... show us where she is."

I Hope you will not be alarmed, Dear Readers,

 to discover that the Hall was a completely different place

 when the children crossed it this Time!

Nobody seemed to think it strange 

to see a parade of children pass through... 

or even seemed to notice them at all!

Which suited the children just fine!

So they reached the chamber undisturbed.

And found it just as Tommy had said.

 "See...." said Tommy...."There's no chest...

 and all this stuff that wasn't here before!"

"We could leave it here anyway..." said Perry frowning.

"If we're supposed to leave it...." he added.

Nobody even noticed the black cats by the hearth.

The larger one heaved a big sigh. 

"They're never going to figure it out" he groused.

"We're going to have to help them." he added.

"Spook..." he said to the little one... 

"You'll have to go catch the Tiny Dreamer

 and bring her here..."

"Why me...? whined Spook. 

"You know I never hurt a thing, Mephisto..!" 

"That's why.... said Mephisto.

 "I might just bite her... by mistake!" he added.

"Now hurry up... go!"

So Spook headed for the Hall... 

to catch the Tiny Dreamer... 

who was just saying to Tiny Alice

 that she thought she'd like to have look around...

Only when she looked around,

 she saw an Enormous Black Cat

 staring hungrily at her!

And before she could even blink,

 the cat had caught her in its jaws!

And then carried her away!

Spook carried her right up to the children

 who were still arguing about the sword....

But they didn't seem to see her...

Mephisto came over to lend his support...

"You better put her down..." he said....

"We won't let her get away..." he added.

The Tiny Dreamer Beth was so shocked

 she could not find her breath...

 but out of the corner of her eye

 she could see the handle of a sword...

 and her only thought was

 "If I could only reach that...."

And in the blink of an eye... 

she leapt for the sword and grabbed it with both hands

 and swung around to face her demons.....

And for a moment nobody breathed at all....

And in the next moment,

 Everything had changed!

"I see you have Awakened..." said the Wizard.

"You can put down the sword now..." he added.

Beth lowered the sword and looked around....

Wordlessly, she gave the sword back to Tommy....

Who sheathed it and returned it to the chest...

Alas, he thought... he still had not

 had a chance to use the beautiful sword...

But it was getting late...

"It is Time to take your sister home..." said the Wizard...

"You will find your pony in the stables..."

Tommy didn't want to admit it,

 but he was awfully happy to find Prince waiting for them....

 and he was even glad Beatrice was with them!

It was much easier to travel in the dark with company!

But I am sure you are wondering, Dear Readers,

 if we will Ever get to the Party?

Well, I hope you will Not be surprised

  to learn that the Party is just begun!

Helen and Charles are checking out the decorations...

Victor and Chip are checking out the libations....

The girls are all checking out the

 Gypsy fortune Teller's predictions....

And high above the rafters, in the Minstrels Gallery,

 everybody's favorite band "The Deadly Nightshades"

 are setting the night atrembling 

with their rendition of "Wherewolves of London"....!

So Fear Not....! It's Now or Never.... 

The Time has Come to Party! 

Happy All Hallows Eve!