Time....

 

Rebound....

Yes, Dear Readers, It was such a gloriously Beautiful afternoon, that even up in The Cloud Palace, drifting on the softest breezes, the Fairy Bears were enjoying their favorite activities! Blue and Sir Orion were enjoying a snack and pondering the beauty of the blue sky with never a trouble in sight.

 

Far Below, but not very far away at all,

 Sweet Pea and Brother Beorn had decided to take a Field Trip

 to hunt for rare seeds in the Earthly Garden.

 

"Oh My!" Sweet Pea declared in astonishment.

"Look what we have here!" she added excitedly!

"I do believe it's the rare 'Shrinking Violet' seed!" she said.

"I have never seen that one before!" declared Brother Beorn.

"We shall have to collect it very carefully..." said Sweet Pea.

"I have a feeling this is going to be very useful!" she added.

Meanwhile, down on the rocks below the Castle,

 Hamish Harry Hotcakes McCloud was fishing and daydreaming.

Well, perhaps he was mostly daydreaming... 

he couldn't help but remember seeing a she-dragon here...

and wondering if he would see her again...

She had landed right over there on that rock...!

But today it was just him and the ocean and the ...

Bbaaabooooommmruummble... Bang!

of crashing thunder right overhead!

 

"Whoa!!!..." thought Hamish Harry...

"That was very close...."

"I have a feeling this means trouble..." he thought

 as he headed quickly for the Cloud Palace.

Lady Lavender had been taking advantage of the Empty Cloud Palace

 to spread some of her fresh lavender around.

 

Hamish Harry flew in all in a rush....

"Did you hear that thunder..." he asked?

"I wasn't paying any attention..." said Lady Lavender...

"Well, I'm that certain it meant Trouble in the Castle...." he added.

"It was much too close!"

And at just that moment on the Tower Top, Sir Orion looked up.

"Did you hear that...?" he said to Blue, The Blue Fairy Beary.

(It was her job to grant heartfelt wishes...

 and she was often needed somewhere when Trouble was at hand!)

"Hmmm..." said Blue, listening very carefully....

"I think we might wait a bit..." she said.

"I have a feeling this one is already taken care of....!"

 

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, the Wizard, 

who had been watching from the battlements,

when the Lightning struck,

turned in amazement.... 

He had a nasty feeling that mischief 

had been set loose in the storm!

And he had a suspicion that he knew who was making trouble!

 

He marched straight to the Great Hall

 where the flotsam of Time was all mixed up and jumbled about...

calling for the Mischievous Fairy as he went...

"Come out you pestilential paltry excuse for a Poltergeist..." he hollered.

"Were you looking for someone...?" 

the Mischievous Fairy asked, all innocence.

 

 

"Undo this mischief.... 

put back what you have put wrong!" declared the Wizard.

"What if I can't...? whined the Fairy.

"You know the Rules...." declared the Wizard!

"Put it all back.... all these erronious pieces of  furniture...

 or I will feed you to the Dragons!"

He did not wait for the Fairy to answer,

 or look to see the Great Hall empty out...

He knew that more than this mischief had occurred....

He would need the help of Old Meg!

He knew he would find her in the Kitchen where she kept by the fire.

But when he reached the Kitchen, he realized at once

 that one of the little children had strayed way out of her Time!

 

 

This would have to be put right

 before they could fix the broken links of Time!

 

"Do not fear, little one..." he said kindly...

"Help is on the way.... we will see you home again..." 

Just then, Old Meg spoke from her corner....

 as if she were seeing from a long way away...

"You will have to find the Little Dreamer..." she said.

"Bring her to me.... I will need to brew a potion..." she said.

 Then she added " Tell her she must bring a seed

 of the rare 'Shrinking Violet'... 

for I have none...." and her voice faded away.

Well, Dear Readers, you know that when the thunder

 rumbled through the Great Hall,

 the Little Dreamer Beth was wandering in search of her brother Perry.

She didn't linger in the Hall, where the furniture was changing before her eyes... 

but continued into the Guard Room.

The only furniture in the room was the table

 where the Gypsy told fortunes at the Halloween Party...

 and the crystal ball!

But the Gypsy was nowhere in sight...

She wondered why the Gypsy had left her Crystal Ball

and maybe she wondered just a little bit

 what one could see if one looked closely into the ball...?

She was completely unprepared to see

 the Crystal Ball grow enormous before her very eyes...

and suddenly the Wizard was speaking to her

 from out of the Crystal Bell...

"You must come to Old Meg in the Kitchen..." he said

 sounding very far away...

"but you must bring the seed of the rare 'Shrinking Violet' with you..." 

he added before his face and his voice faded away.

And suddenly the room was quiet again, 

as though nothing at all had happened.

But the Little Dreamer Beth knew that something very strange had happened!

What should she do?

Where oh Where could she possibly find

 the Seed of the Rare Shrinking Violet?

Whatever that was?

Maybe she could find the Wizard in his caves... she thought...

 then he could tell her where to find the seed... 

so she hurried out to the cliffs.

But then she felt confused... 

why had she thought she heard the Wizard in the Crystal Ball...? 

Was she dreaming...?

Oh ... Help! she thought.

 

Well, Help was not far away as it turned out!

"Hello there..." called Brother Beorn cheerfully.

"We heard you call..." he added.... 

"Is there something you need?"

"I need to know where I can find the seed

 of the 'Rare Shrinking Violet'..." said Beth,

 "The Wizard says I must bring some..." she added,

 not sounding very hopeful at all.

Sweet Pea looked at Brother Beorn and nodded. 

She had been Sure they would need it!

"Well..." said Sweet Pea, "We have some here!"

"I had a feeling this would be needed...!"

"It must be why we found it today..." she added, 

giving the seed to Beth.

 

It took the Little Dreamer hardly any time at all

 to reach the Castle Kitchen.

 

Old Meg stood at the Hearth, and there was another child standing by the door.

 She looked familiar to Beth, but she couldn't remember why...

"Bring me the seed, child" said Old Meg.

"And pay the others no mind...." she added.

 "They cannot see you because you are not of their Time."

"Now heed me well... " said Old Meg,

 handing the Little Dreamer a small vial.

"You will need to take the Little child by the hand 

and lead her back through the Hall and into the Guard Room. 

You must take her out through the Main door,

 and bring her back into the stables from the outer door.

 Before entering the stables, you must give her a sip of the potion!

You will find her brother waiting for her in the stables."

She stopped to stare at the Little Dreamer. Then continued...

"You will also find the Gypsy in the stables... 

she has also left her own Time and needs to be guided back again.

The Gypsy must leave the stables with the children, 

and return to the Guard Room through the Main Door."

"Do you understand...?" she asked.

The Little Dreamer could only nod. 

She thought she understood... sort of.

"The Gypsy might take a sip of the potion too,.." Old Meg added... 

"but then she might not. It will be up to her."

The Little Dreamer leads Beatrice from the Kitchen....

trying to keep all the instructions clear in her mind...

They cross the empty Great Hall....

And go out through the Main Doorway.

 

Meanwhile, I am Sure you have been Wondering, Dear Readers, 

what had happened to the Gypsy?

Well, the moment that the Lightning struck,

 she had been about to help Beatrice find her brother.

She had no idea what happened then, but Beatrice disappeared... 

and so did everything else in the Guard Room...

or so it seemed!

Her table and Crystal Ball were gone too!

She was terribly confused... and felt rather faint...

 as if she were not herself at all!

Tommy had been wandering through the Castle at that same moment....

 but in a different Time...

and he had not seen or heard anything out of the ordinary!

When he entered the Guard Room, there was the Gypsy... 

the first person he had seen at the Castle all day!

"Oh, Hi!" he said. (He had met the Gypsy before.)

"Your sister is looking for you..." said the Gypsy in a very faint voice.

"But I don't know where she went..." she added.

 "She was right here a moment ago!"

"Well, I haven't seen her..." said Tommy.

 "And I've been all over the Castle!" he added.

"Well, she's here somewhere..." said the Gypsy...

 "and I don't think you should leave with out her."

"I'll go look in the stables..." said Tommy.

 "She might wait there with my pony..." he added.

When they reached the stables, 

there was no one there but Prince, his pony.

But at that very moment,

 Beatrice and the Little Dreamer came in the outer door!

"Tommy!" cried Beatrice... 

"I've been looking for you Everywhere!"

"Well, you know you weren't supposed to follow me!" he said, annoyed. 

But in truth, he was glad to see his annoying little sister!

"I guess we better head home..." he added.

 

He took Prince and followed the Little Dreamer and Beatrice outside.

The Gypsy followed too... although she really didn't feel okay...

At least she knew the children were on their way home!

And before you ask, Dear Readers,

 yes, it is getting late and

 the Halloween Party in the Great Hall has begun!

Helen and Charles were nearly the first to arrive.

Helen doesn't like being late...

 and besides, she figured they might get tired and leave early too!

Pollyanna and Arthur were right behind them. 

They didn't want to miss any of the fun!

And Victor and Joanna followed right after!

"Oooh... it does look spooky!" said Joanna happily.

Before long, Sally May, Chip and Annabelle arrived!

Yes, Annabelle is the cutest fairy... and Chip is "just a regular guy"!

Soon the Hall is full of familiar and not so familiar faces...

 and the band in the Gallery is turning up the volume...!

 

 

Yes, it is everyone's favorite "The Deadly Nightshades"

here for an Electrifying performance of all your old favorites... 

and maybe a few you've never heard before!

 

And the guests keep arriving...

 

In the Guard Room Jasper asks "Momma, where's the Gypsy...?"

 

 

And at that very moment, 

the Little Dreamer and the Gypsy enter through the Main Door!

"Who wants their fortune told...?" asks the Gypsy

 as though nothing at all has happened.

And the Little Dreamer Amy finds the Little Dreamer Beth...

"Where were you.."? she asks... 

"We've been looking everywhere...!"

And up on the battlements....

The Wizard might just spend the night keeping watch....

Keeping a lookout for stray minutes and hours...

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you find

 a few stray minutes or hours to spare for the Party!

You are Bound to have some fun!

Happy All Hallows Eve!