Time Was Frozen.....

All Hallows Eve.... Part One...

Did you Notice, Dear Readers, that Time was Frozen..... that Nothing was Happening... well, except perhaps in our Minds where the endless Squirrelling of thoughts chase each other around, but that didn't really count... that is an Illusion, because Nothing that mattered was moving Forward.... Time had become Stuck somehow when Last the Gates were opened between the Worlds!
 The Wizard knew right away that Something had gone Terribly Wrong.... but he was Powerless... caught between the Worlds.... neither Here nor There.... Frozen in that Moment.

 So There he stood and pondered the cause of his miscalculation... Wondering what could have produced this suspension of motion? And even more Importantly, What could undo it! Not everything was equally affected... there was Water still pouring from the Spring of Dreams into the Obsidian Basin.... and he could see the slow proliferation of the lesser creatures... those Slimy crawling low forms of life that slunk about in dark places... they were becoming Bold and Dangerous without his constant vigilance in keeping them contained in the Nether Realms.... he could only watch as they Slithered out of the pool....

He was fairly Certain that Most would think nothing was wrong.... they would pursue their daily rounds and never Notice that nothing was Staying.... nothing was moving Forward..... Change could not Stay..... But he was Powerless! So he Pondered the Misbegotten Spell.... and recalculated a Thousand Times the steps he had taken.... Where had he Erred?

The Owls were the first to Notice... they came looking for him as the Time of year Approached that the Veils of Time grow Thin.....

They tried to draw his attention.....

But they only succeeded in Rousing Those that should not be waked.....

Something was Terribly wrong! They knew that they would need to go for Help!

They flew as fast as they could over Rivers and Mountains to a place that was neither There nor Here and came at last to a High and lonely Moorland. There they found a Lonely old cottage, overgrown with Vines and surrounded with Otherworldly Weeds....

Great Aunt Agatha was sitting in the Front Garden enjoying the Starlight.

She was not surprised to see the Owls, Because they always came at this time of the year...

 but what they had to Report was Very Disturbing!

"Hazel!" Called Agatha. "Hazel! Come here quickly!" She hollered again....

(She is a Tiny bit hard of hearing...)

"The Owls have some Terrible news!"

"They say the Wizard has been Stuck in Frozen Time...!"

"Well.... I never..." said Hazel... "What are we to do...?"

"We must call our Sisters...." said Agatha..... 

"Perhaps Old Meg will know what to do..."

They went to the Well that stood in the yard and peered together into it's depths....

If they looked for their Sister Witches in these Mystical Waters of Seeing... 

They would appear....

The first to appear is Madame.... Artemis to her friends....

The next to appear is Prudence......

And Together they look for Old Meg.....

She is not altogether surprised to be summoned!

She had Felt the Draft that was leaking through the open Gate in Time.....

And she had Suspected what was coming....

But she needed to Gaze upon the Waters to be Sure.....

 What she saw was what she Thought she would see.....

 Trouble had been done.... and it would not easily be Undone!

"We Must retrieve the Uneaten Enchanted Seed....!" she declared!

She looked up.... and stared at Prudence....

"You must Contact your Daughter..." she said

"She is our Link on that Realm."

"She must Find the Young Dreamer...."

"We must Find that seed and get it back to the Wizard!"

"I will go visit with the Little Creatures and see what I can find..." said Hazel....

"I know where to find them..."

And before anyone could Blink... 

she was at The Folly looking off the front porch towards the Large Tree at the side of the House.

She went right up and knocked on the Tiny door tucked between the roots.....

She was not at all surprised when Samuel Whiskers answered her knock!

"I beg your pardon," she said, 

"But I need to retrieve an enchanted seed that was not eaten when the Child was last here..."

"But we gave them ALL to the child!" said Samuel.... a trifle indignantly.

"We would not Dream of keeping them!"

"Well, the Child did not eat them ALL" replied Hazel..... 

"and it is Imperative that we find the last seed!"

"Are you certain that one wasn't left in your kitchen?"

"I will ask Anna Maria" replied Samuel and he went back inside.

"I found no stray seeds..." replied Anna Maria.....

"The Child must have taken the last one with her!"

"I know I watched her put each one in her mouth.... 

at least I thought she put them all in her mouth..."

"We will have to go question the Child" said Samuel Whiskers.....

"There is no other choice... and I know where they live..."

You may be saddened to hear, Dear Readers, that Beatrice had been unwell a lot recently. 

In fact the whole family was quite concerned for her health.

Mrs Butterworth cooked her favorite foods, but Beatrice hardly ate anything.

Charlotte was worried but the Doctor assured her Rest was all the child needed.

Snowy rarely left her bedside.

But even he had to go out Sometimes....

Samuel Whiskers waited until Snowy had been let out before he sneaked in....

"I beg your pardon, Miss" he said.... 

"but the Wizard is stuck in Time because you didn't eat all the seeds we gave you.... 

and now we have to get the seed back to the Wizard.... or else.....

That was as far as he got before Snowy came bounding back in....

Samuel Whiskers backed quickly away....

And turned tail and ran as Snowy jumped after him.....

But Samuel was too quick and made his getaway....

Snowy was Sure he had saved the day!

"Oh, Snowy" said Beatrice.... "What am I to do...?"

Just then Tommy came in to collect Snowy and take him for a walk....

well, he was really worried about Beatrice... 

but he Said it was to take Snowy for a walk....

Beatrice just looked at him and said 

"Tommy, I have done a Terrible thing and now 

the Wizard is in danger and you must help me!"

Tommy had met the Wizard several times... 

so he knew that Beatrice was not entirely mad....

She held out her hand and said 

"You have to take this seed to the Castle and give it to the Wizard!"

Tommy took the seed. 

He told Beatrice he would make sure it got back to the Wizard. 

He wanted his sister to feel better. 

He didn't want her to worry.

Somehow he would get it there!

Meanwhile... in another Time.....

Ken is preparing to host his Annual Halloween Party at the Castle.

He has been decorating.....

In preparation for all his Guests....

He even hired your Favorite Dance Band....

"The Deadly Nightshades".....

It is sure to be a Hot night of Dancing....

Even if Time is Frozen.....

This All Hallows Eve.....

(To Be Continued....)

Confusion Reigns

Jumping Around Again.....

I Really cannot blame you Dear Readers, if you get confused about which story I am updating you on... or exactly when it is supposed to be taking place... Or even which scale I am working in.... because I have been jumping around recently from one scale to another and from one time to another and from one Tale to another! But just to put a little perspective in the confusing picture I am presenting.... Here you can see Samuel Whiskers stopping by the Chapel where Father Alban is supposed to be Getting To Work on his Painting! Samuel Whiskers has been overseeing the construction of the Tree House, which belongs to his Relatives and stands next to The Folly. Father Alban cannot possibly fit into the Tree House.... and Samuel Whiskers is a Rat! But Yes, Father Alban Did finally get to work!

There were quite a few tiny details he needed to add to the painting.....

Which required that he get out his paints and brushes....

And Samuel Whiskers wanted to see....

As I was researching the precise implements that would have been used in the early Fourteenth century, I came a cross a wonderful illustration drawn by a Monk named Hildebert....

Who was very annoyed by a Rat that was stealing his food while he was trying to illuminate his text!

Here he is about to throw his sponge at the creature!

And you can clearly see Hildebert's ink horns and quills positioned in holes on his drawing board....

a technique which I also saw in other illuminations....

Such as this one showing the Friar Rufillus painting the decorated Initial 

with his ink horns carefully held in the drawing board!

And Another illumination showing all the implements for illuminating.....

With the paints mixed in small shells and the brushes laid out in a dish......

And an assistant grinding the pigments.....

So I had to make some brushes and fill the shells with paints for Father Alban.....

So he could get busy and Paint!

So while Father Alban Paints... 

I must jump you to one of the Other Times and Places..... 

or we will never get to the end of Daphne's Story....!

(If I could add a swirling spinning effect.... I would insert it here...!)

Daphne's Story Continues......

Guillaume Andre Rene De Montaigne was very proud of his heritage. His family had lived at the Chateau Montverte since the Sixteenth Century and had weathered Religous Wars and Revolutions alike. Each challenge had only made the Dynasty stronger and their commitment to their land and their people was unshakeable. Generation after generation the land had been handed down from Father to Son, each adding his own strength to the whole. Guillaume had been overjoyed at the birth of his son, Andre, born when he was already well into his Forties. His wife, Yvonne, was eighteen years younger than he, and was the love of his life. They had only been blessed with one child. Andre had been the center of their world. 

And no Father could be more proud of his son than he was of Andre!

To say that he had been dismayed to learn that Andre had been careless enough to get his girlfriend pregnant would be an understatement. He and Yvonne had been hoping that Andre would marry well with a daughter from one of the Families of their milieu. Andre had been raised to expect to take up the mantle of the Family Estate and all that went with it... obligation and privilege alike. 

But Andre had died.

And so many Dreams had died with him.

Guillaume had never thought he would be glad that Andre had left his girlfriend pregnant. 

But this child would be Andre's only child.

And his only Grandchild.

As the time drew near that the child was to be born, 

Guillaume could see the anxiety taking its toll on Yvonne.

The devastation of losing Andre had nearly driven her mad..... 

and all her hopes were wrapped up in the arrival of this child.

To distract her from the endless waiting, 

he convinced her to go with him to America for the Summer Races at Saratoga.

Their prize colt, Lightning was entered in several of the races.....

He was the best horse they had raised in a long time....

And in spite of being still in deep mourning... 

she would enjoy the greater Anonymity of American Society.....

So they spent three busy weeks in America....

Where Lightning won several races....

And so it happened that they were out of Town 

when their Lawyers were contacted about the child!

Meanwhile, back in France, Raymond had expected that he would only be "babysitting" for two days. 

But there was a terrible storm that struck the Northeastern part of America 

and disrupted travel for two more days!

 The baby didn't sleep..... and needed to eat all the time....!

He didn't know what to do! 

He called his little sister Fleur (who lived in America...)

 Whose daughter Juliet was just two and slept like an Angel....

She said to sleep when the baby slept....

As if that were possible....!

It was the longest week of his entire life!

And it was still two more days before he got word that the child's Grandparents were home....

And would he bring the child....

 They had waited so long!

She was sleeping in her basket....

Yvonne peers into the basket.... and picks up the baby.....

"But... Is this child a Girl....?" she asks in confusion....

And she thrusts the baby back at Raymond....

and sits down suddenly feeling slightly faint.....

And then bursts into tears!

"Did my Father not tell you...?" said Raymond.... not really surprised...

He waited only a moment before handing the baby back to Madame....

Yvonne took the child onto her lap and stared down at the little bundle tied with the pink bow. 

It felt so odd to hold a baby again. She remembered that when Andre had been born she had Known him from the first moment she held him.... she didn't know this baby at all. Somehow she had thought it would be just like with Andre... but it wasn't the same... it would never be the same....

She had expected a boy.... How could it not be a boy?

"What are we to do...?" she asked..."It's not a boy...!"

Guillaume looked over her shoulder at the baby. 

Disappointment warred with pride. 

No, this child was not a boy... but it was Andre's child.

It....She was their Grandchild!

At that moment the baby began to cry!

"Oh, dear".... said Yvonne.... "where is the Nanny?"

And she thrust the baby back into Raymond's arms...

"Raymond.... you'll have to stay until we hire a good Nanny....." she said.

"It really shouldn't take more than a couple of days.... 

and the child does seem to know you...."

Raymond didn't know why it was he hadn't expected that!

So while they interview the Nannies......

We can check in on Father Alban.... 

Has he finished the painting yet?????

Well.... I think he's just putting on the final touches of blue!

But I have no idea why Samuel Whiskers is so interested in this painting....

Nor why (or how) he is visiting the Fourteenth Century castle.....

In his nineteenth century clothes....

And did Father Alban even see him???

Yes, here in my Mini Worlds....

With so much Jumping Around....

Confusion Reigns!