Time Turns Fickle....

 

 

 Children Go Astray....

I hope you will not be surprised, Dear Readers, to learn that the Little Dreamer Amy was tired of Adventures and wanted to stay home sewing dresses for her dolls, while the Little Dreamer Beth was tired of staying home sewing for the dolls and just wanted to go out onto the Briar Moors where the sky was endless and nothing got in the way of chasing Dreams. "Fine...!" she said to Amy, "I'm going outdoors! Maybe I'll even find the Ponies and go ride to the Castle and back!" she said defiantly. She loved to ride and it felt like ages since she'd had the chance. It was too beautiful outside to stay indoors on this chilly Autumn afternoon.

What she really wanted to do was go to the Castle 

and see if she could have another look at that amazing dollhouse...

  she really had only seen the one room.... 

not to go inside it you understand... 

but just to have a peek at the other rooms. 

But she didn't want to admit that to anyone

 in case they would stop her from going.

But it was a long way to walk. 

She wished she could find the ponies who roamed the Briar Moors.

And before she even finishes her thought.....

Her favorite pony, "Whisper" came racing over the horizon!

She is only too happy to carry Beth anywhere she wishes....

Beth climbs onto her back....

 

And off they run, chasing the wind over the Moors!

It doesn't take long for them to reach the Castle....

Although Beth doesn't remember it looking so Forbidding before....

Whisper won't come any closer so Beth continues by herself.

Everything seemed empty and deserted.

When she reached the Great Hall, 

where she remembered the Dollhouse

 had stood beside the hearth...

It wasn't there.

The Hall was empty, dark and silent.

She wondered where the amazing Dollhouse had gone...

and why there was nobody here.

Perhaps she should go up to the other Chamber, she thought...

Where Perry had found the Sword...

She spotted the chest right away.

She felt relief that Something was still where she remembered it....

And yet... everything looked.... changed!

The fireplace seemed so much bigger...

And then she turned and noticed the Wall....!

Well!

She felt sure she would have remembered seeing this!

There were teeny tiny Boats! And Camels!

And Castles...!

Maybe even This Castle was on it somewhere....?

But how would she know which one.... she wondered...

But I am sure You are wondering, Dear Readers, 

what Perry has done with the Sword....

as he sailed into the sea....

He didn't care about the Silly Old Sword....

he just wanted the Selkie to leave him alone!

But he didn't pay attention as he sailed from shore...

And suddenly from nowhere the Dragon Slitherwing

swooped down over the water, 

his large wings beating on the winds.....

He circled once and grabbed at the Sword strapped to Perry's back....

Taking Perry with it...

There was a moment's hesitation as he tried to dislodge Perry....

But Perry was tied fast...!

The Dragon cared not at all for the child....

He only wanted the Sword!

And off they flew over the ocean!

But Perry's capture did not go unobserved!

Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud 

had been down on the rocks fishing for dinner...

And he watched the entire event in stunned amazement!

And from far above, on the Castle ramparts,

The Wizard had seen....

And the Wizard was not at all surprised at what came next...!

He watched as the Dragon circled around

 and flew straight  down toward the sea where it crashed against the cliffs below.....

And with a great splash......

Disappeared into the sea!

No, the Wizard was not surprised.... 

he knew about the Dragon's cave...

But he Feared for the lad!

And lest you wonder whether Tommy had also seen

 the Dragon capture Perry and The Sword...

Tommy was already heading home.

He had missed all the excitement. 

And he really was feeling glad that 

he had not gone into the Castle this time.

He didn't Really want to play with that old sword!

It was a long walk home without his pony Prince....

and just then he noticed a wagon up ahead....

It looked like a Gypsy Wagon... 

and there was a Gypsy too...

He had been warned to stay away from Gypsies....!

But she was approaching him...!

And she was calling to him...

"You must turn back, Thomas..." she said.

"This path will not bring you home!

You have strayed out of your Time... 

you must return to the Castle where the Wizard needs your help!"

And before he could think what to say,

 she called her great Black horse 

and helped him climb up behind her.

"I will take you there..." she said.

But Tommy wasn't listening....

This was such a huge horse... he thought.... 

but he didn't want to be disloyal to his pony Prince,

 so he tried not to feel too excited 

as they rode back the way he had come.

And I am sure Some of you can imagine

 that Hamish Harry forgot all about his fishing 

and hurried straight to the Cloud Palace with the news!

Sir Orion and Lady Lavender were enjoying coffee and cake

 in the parlor with Blue The Blue Fairy Beary when he arrived.

Blue said she was not surprised to hear of this latest mischief!

Sir Orion offered to go straight to the Castle himself....

If there were children in need of help...

 he was only too glad to volunteer his services...!

"You must do what you feel called to do..." said Blue.

"Alas, I cannot help until I am asked...." she added. 

"It is the hardest part... the waiting..."

"But it is always helpful to have support... wherever you are."

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

in another Time and Place altogether,

 the residents of The Lovely Old Dollhouse 

were discussing their plans for Halloween!

It seems that the Castle was closed due to the Pandemic.

Residents of the village had been given permission

 to have Trick or Treating with social distancing

 and the use of masks for safety.

"We can set up a table outside with the treats" said Joanna.

"I am sure there will only be a few families out anyway" she added.

"We will be outside"... said Pollyanna. 

"And if we all wear our masks, we should be safe."

"We must make sure Charles and Helen don't go out" added Victor.

"We can wear our costumes anyway..." added Pollyanna.

"It will be more fun that way...!"

"Too bad the Castle will be empty... " said Victor. 

"I don't think I can remember a year when they didn't hold a Party!"

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you can understand

 that plans sometimes have to change...

that the annual All Hallows Eve Party at the Castle

might have fallen victim to the Plague sweeping the land....

But then again... 

it might depend on who you ask...!

Perhaps you will want to drop by....

If you Dare!

To be continued........

Who Keeps (The Key of) Time...?

A Fairy's Tale - Part One

Some of you might be Wondering, Dear Readers, What the Fairy did with the Key Of Time, when he carried it off with his racing snail? Well, he hadn't gone terribly far before he realized that it was rather heavy and awkward to drag along, and it was slowing him down! And as he was passing by the Cloud Palace, he decided to leave it there tucked into a corner for safekeeping. But How could a snail be passing by the Cloud Palace, I hear you ask? Isn't it always high up in the sky? Well, Sometimes, on Very Misty Foggy nights, The Cloud Palace can be found sitting right on the Ground! And it was just such a night when the Fairy was passing by. He had no idea he was leaving it in such an Out of The Way place! But, being a Fairy, he really had no use at all for the Key of Time, and he quickly forgot all about it!

And there it sat, completely forgotten for the Longest Time!

Until one afternoon when Lady Lavender

was doing some tidying up in the Cloud Palace 

while Everybeary else was busy. 

(She likes tidying things up!)

She spotted the key in the corner.

She wondered whether it went to one of the doors in the Palace.

She went to try it on the Front Door....

But there was no lock or latch on that door at all!

The only other door in the Palace was the one to the upstairs rooms...

But there was no lock there either!

She decided she would take it back downstairs 

and ask Blue about it later.

 

 

And on her way she would bring the clean linens too!

But when she reached the bottom of the stairs, 

Hamish Harry completely surprised her!

"Ach it is a Bonny Bonny Day," he declared

"but Never as Bonny as my Lovely Lady Lavender!"

And he Kissed her boldly on her cheek!

 She was so surprised that she never noticed the key falling....

Right down into the fluffy thick Clouds......!

In fact, she was so startled by that Kiss

that she forgot All about the Mysterious Key!

And it Just So Happened, Dear Readers,

that Far Far below that Cloud Palace cloud,

Tommy and his little sister Beatrice were 

sitting in the meadow and gazing at the clouds.!

It was That sort of beautiful Day, 

chilly and brisk but sunny between the clouds!

Tommy thought he saw something shiny up above.....

And before he could even Think, 

it landed with a thud Right beside his head!

He picked it up. "Look at this!" he said.

"I wonder what it goes to?" he added.

"Maybe it goes to the Cloud Palace....?" said Beatrice hopefully.

(She had heard about the Cloud Palace

 and was wondering about it ever since!)

"Nah... probably not" said Tommy, (who didn't believe in a cloud Palace) 

"I bet it goes to the Castle" he added.

"Some bird probably stole it and dropped it here" he explained.

"Maybe it goes to a Treasure Chest" he said excitedly!

And so it followed that not much later that Afternoon, 

 Tommy was heading for the Castle on his pony Prince

to see if he could find his Treasure chest.

 

 

 He knew he was not supposed to go to the Castle at all, 

and was trying to get away when Beatrice spotted him leaving.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Nowhere" said Tommy, annoyed.

"I bet you're going to the Castle" she said.

"You can't come!" he declared. "You're too little!"

"Then I'm telling...!" she declared.

"Fine. You can come" said Tommy, relenting.

"But you have to be good and do as I say!" he declared.

"And don't get lost!" he added.

And so they headed off together to the Castle ruins 

which stood on the hill not too far from their house.

Tommy had been there many times, and Prince knew the way.

And in another Time altogether, 

another Young Boy was setting out on a Similar errand.

You might recall that Peregrine 

(who Long Ago had lost the Key of Time on the Distant Briar Moors)

had chanced to capture a Tiny Fairy

 while he was chasing Butterflies across the Moors.

He had never seen a Fairy up close before (few among us have!)

and he put it in a jar to study as he would an interesting insect specimen.

But the little fellow kept saying "It wasn't me!"

"It wasn't you What?" asked Perry, not sure what he was talking about.

"I didn't take it!" declared the little fellow.

"Didn't take What?" replied Perry.

"If you don't know, then I'm not telling" said the Fairy beligerently.

"Well, if you won't tell, then I won't let you out!" declared Perry.

"I'll tell you if you let me go...." wheedled the Fairy.

"Nah, I think I'll keep you for studying anyway..." said Perry.

"You can be my pet Fairy!"

 

And he tied the jar to the end of a stick and carried it everywhere he went!

 

 

"But it's something Important you Should be doing..." hinted the Fairy.

"I don't care..." said Perry.

But really, he did care. 

He wanted to know what the Fairy knew.

But he didn't trust the Fairy to tell him if he let him go.

So they teased each other back and forth, neither one willing to give up.

And then one day, as Perry was thinking about Magic, 

he remembered that he had never given 

the Magic Key of Time back to the Wizard!

And he wondered if that had caused any problems.

And it began to worry him like an overdue Library book!

And he realized the only thing he could do was

 to try to find the Wizard and ask him what to do,

Because he had no idea what had become of the Key of Time!

And so he set out to see if he could find the Castle, 

and then maybe he could find the Wizard.

He had been to the Castle before.

But this time he went in through the door to the ancient stables.

 

And because he didn't know exactly where the Wizard could be found, 

he decided to see if there was anybody else there who might know where to look!

 

He went into the next room which might have once been a kitchen,

but it was empty too.

And just at that moment Tommy and Beatrice arrived on Prince.

Sometimes when Tommy came to the Castle, 

the Castle folk and their horses were there, 

and sometimes they were not!

He never was sure what he would find, 

and he knew his parents believed that 

the Castle was a deserted ruin!

This time he was surprised to find no horses, 

but it seemed that someone was in the kitchen!

"Who are you?" asked Tommy, feeling as though Someone was trespassing!

"I'm Perry" replied Perry. "I came to find the Wizard" he added.

"I'm Tommy." said Tommy. "And this is Beatrice" he added.

"We came to look for the Treasure" he said.

"What's that?" asked Tommy, staring at the Jar on the stick.

"It's a pesky little Fairy" said Perry.

But then he noticed the Key Tommy was holding.

"Hey, where did you get that Key?" he declared.

"I found it" said Tommy.

"Give it it to me" said Perry. 

"I think I know whose it is!" he  added.

But Tommy wasn't eager to give up on his Treasure.

And yet the Fairy in the jar was something he had never seen before!

"I'll swap you" he offered.

"I'll give you the Key if you give me the Fairy!"

Perry didn't want to give up the Fairy, but he knew he Had to get the Key!

 

 

"Okay" he agreed. 

"But you have to take good care of him 

and feed him blossoms" he added.

"Deal" said Tommy, handing over the key.

And he took the Fairy from Perry.

But he suddenly wasn't sure who had got the best deal!

Did he really want to look after a pesky little Fairy?

But before either of them could say a word 

there was a loud bang 

and a cloud of smoke appeared in the Fireplace behind them......

And where there had been Nothing at all before....

there suddenly appeared a large Old Book!

Tommy dropped the Fairy stick and raced to the hearth. 

Perry was not far behind him!

"Where did That come from!" cried Tommy.

"It must be Magic....." said Perry, a little bit alarmed.

"Do you think it shows any Magic Tricks...?" said Tommy, reaching for the book.

But Beatrice was much more interested in the Fairy....

So she picked up the jar to have a closer look.

She could see the little fellow in there.....

And she really thought he would be happier Flying around......

So she removed the mesh that was covering the jar.....

 

And the Fairy, not Quite believing his Luck, 

flew out of the Jar!

But neither Perry nor Tommy were paying her any attention.

They were too busy arguing about the book....

"I just want to see what is in it...." argued Tommy.

"Well, it might be Magical and we should be careful" said Perry.

"Oh look..." said Tommy....

"It says A Spell For Moving Ahead In Time...!"

 

"Oh... let me see..." said Perry, looking over Tommy's shoulder.

 

 "What does it Say..?" he asked as he reached for the book.

 

But the Moment Perry touched the Page...

There was a loud "crack"....

and a puff of smoke....!

And they Disappeared!

The moment she heard the "crack" 

Beatrice turned to see what had happened...

But there was nobody there!

Where had Tommy gone?

Ah, Dear Readers, I must leave you here....

No closer to the Answer to

Who Keeps the Key of Time!

But rest assured...

This Fairy's Tale shall be continued....!