‘What is a film?’
‘It’s like when someone tells you a story, but this one has pictures, too.’
‘That sounds fun,’ said the little gnome. ‘Can I have a drink as my throat is very dry?’
‘Of course, I’ll bring you something in a second, but let me go in there first.’
‘OK, we will wait.’
Alex stepped into the cinema as House paused the film, the pucas, gnomes, and children all turned and looked at him.
‘What’s wrong, Papa?’ said Sarin.
‘Would it be OK if you started the film from the beginning?’
‘If you want us to, but why?’
‘So your new friends can watch it with you,’ he said as Daisy walked over to him with her arms out, and he passed her the child.
‘Where is the other?’ she asked.
‘She was the only one they had.’
Daisy’s eyes went wide with surprise. ‘That cannot be, there must be two.’
‘I know, we are going to discuss it tomorrow, but for now we have some friends waiting outside.’ He opened the door for the others to enter, who were welcomed with much enthusiasm. Alex left them only to return a few minutes later with drinks, and took the baby back off Daisy.
He walked into the party room where no one was celebrating, just discussing the baby puca. He noticed Orlaith had the same coloured hair as her sister, and Aileen had long light brown hair where Morven’s was a shade darker. The three new healers took a lot of interest in Livvy and Donna.
‘Hand her over,’ said Daralis, and he gave her the baby.
Alex poured himself a drink. ‘It’s very subdued for a party.’
Luella nodded. ‘We’re confused about the baby puca, where’s the other?’
Alex sat down next to Carrie. ‘We’ll discuss it tomorrow, but tonight we celebrate the birth of twins, and the meeting of new friends.’
‘Is that an order?’ said Paige.
‘Yeah, you’ve earned it.’
Paige raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s nice that you’ve noticed.’
The battle stories were retold for the newest guests, and James added a few of theirs. The biggest cheer was for saving the pucas, and freeing Adair. The singing started again, and some of the women joined in. Joseph was in his element, while George, although embarrassed by some of the colourful language, was enjoying himself.
‘Did you expect anything like this when you moved in?’ Blaze asked Alex, who walked over to the bar to fetch drinks as the gnomes didn’t mind how he poured them.
‘No, I was expecting the quiet life.’
‘We had that for a while and everyone got bored.’
Alex put the drinks on a tray. ‘Most will be gone soon, back to their own forests, and even some of our own will be out cleansing them.’
Blaze picked up the tray. ‘At least you’ll have your nights out.’
‘You can come with us.’
‘As long as you don’t expect me to run there.’
‘No, you get to run all over the country using your ball.’
Blaze put the tray down on a table. ‘Will you want me to use it to look for the missing pucas?’
‘If there are any, no one seems to have mislaid one.’
‘Isn’t that a problem for tomorrow?’ said Carrie.
‘You’re quite right,’ said Alex.
Aileen sipped on a glass of wine. ‘So, Alex, you’re OK with all of us in your fine home?’
‘I had no say in the matter, you’re my mother’s friends, and she insisted.’
Luella gave him a sharp look. ‘It was your idea.’
Alex smiled. ‘How come you never told me about them before?’
‘I’ve no idea why I didn’t tell you,’ said Luella, and looked at Daralis who shrugged.
‘That’s a common occurrence here,’ said George.
Morven picked up a glass. ‘Is everyone keeping secrets?’
Alex shook his head. ‘No, many things have happened, and we never knew of certain information until the time was right.’
‘That’s strange,’ said Morven, ‘are we here for a certain reason?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Alex. ‘The warlock’s dead now. Maybe it means you don’t have to hide anymore, or maybe I’m just rounding you all up.’
‘We weren’t hiding from him, but people.’
‘Then friends coming together,’ said Alex, as he glanced down the tables. ‘Now we have a wizard, six white witches, and an army of gnomes.’
Fergal grinned. ‘With all you here, it be a mighty army.’
Jarlath’s eyes went wide, and he too grinned. ‘Does that mean a battle looms large?’
Briana sighed. ‘We have a reason, and it’s to find a missing baby puca.’
Roth looked rueful. ‘It would have been nice to have fought the warlock with you.’
Alex leant back. ‘Mother or Aunty Dar could have told us sooner, but I believe destiny didn’t want us to meet you until after we got rid of the warlock.’
Fergal put his glass down. ‘Why be that, then?’
‘When the time came to fight the warlock, it was quiet and fast.’
Fergal looked hurt. ‘We be fast and quiet.’
‘I know, my friend, but the warlock was over-confident with us. What would he have done, or what creatures would he have summoned if he knew he was facing an army of gnomes?’
~~~~
Alex dreamt he was flying, he liked flying, but not so much this time as he was not in control. Alex flew into a forest where he saw what looked like a vortex or a black hole. He had no idea of what it was or any intention of going through it, but through it he went. Alex found himself flying over a different land with a medieval looking village, with buildings on fire. He saw two groups ahead and realised they were armies. One was heavily outnumbered. He tried to get a closer look but his dream changed.
The dream took him to what looked like Victorian London. Alex was now someone else, walking alongside a woman, a woman he knew, his mother.
‘Surely you must have enough money by now,’ she said.
‘You may be right, but I do not know if it will be enough in the future,’ Alex heard himself say.
‘Will things be so different?’
‘Yes, that’s why I am collecting assets as well as money.’
‘Where are we going now?’
‘To see a solicitor I helped set up in business, someone I can trust when I go away.’
Luella turned her gaze to him. ‘When will that be?’
‘Not for a while yet, but don’t worry, my friend, your work is nearly over for now.’
‘That sounds like you have something else for me to do.’
‘Yes, but not for a long time yet, then you will get your reward.’
‘I didn’t do this for any reward,’ said Luella, ‘I’m helping because of the vision, not that I know what any of it means.’
‘I know, but it will be one more task for you to do, and something will happen.’
‘Are you going to tell me?’
‘No, I am sorry it would be too dangerous to you and my plans. You will know everything one day.’
They stopped in front of a building with a sign that said Mizar and sons. It was not the same building as this was London. Alex saw the man inside who looked a little like George, and his dream changed again. Now he was flying through space, this time he was in control and dodged the comet that came straight at him. Alex saw his daughters, on fire with the golden energy, flying straight at the comet. Alex tried to shout but nothing came out. He saw an explosion at the front of the meteor which did not slow it down. He lost sight of his girls and once again darkness took him. He woke up in a cold sweat.
Is everything OK? House asked.
‘A bad dream, how are my children?’
They are just getting up, what was your dream about?
‘A comet again, and the girls flew straight at it.’
That could not happen, could it?<
br />
Alex climbed out of bed. ‘No, I’m going to ban them from flying.’
He showered, and decided to offer his help in the kitchen as he had invited so many guests, but others had the same idea. He walked back upstairs to fetch the children where Thomas sat waiting outside their room when they came out. Alex held Talitha after she climbed up his arm.
‘Is everything OK, Papa?’ she said.
‘Yes, sweetheart, everything is fine.’ Alex realised he hadn’t been spending much time with them lately, but they were quite happy with their little gang.
A lot of the gnomes were late for breakfast, and were very hungry when they did arrive. They were vegetarians, but it wasn’t just salad for them as they loved bread and eggs. Summer of course did not just do bread and eggs as it was. Apart from boiled eggs and fried eggs, she made cheese and mushroom omelettes, with either bread and butter or toast and fried bread. The gnomes decided on one of each, and a week’s usage of eggs, bread, mushrooms, and milk, were all eaten in one morning.
‘Your cook is a goddess,’ said Jarlath, leaning back on one of the sofas with a mug of tea.
Alex noticed the sofas were all full, occupied by many gnomes where the remainder of them studied the machines. ‘You won’t find anyone disagreeing with you here.’
‘It’s very kind of you,’ said Summer, ‘but I didn’t do it all myself you know.’
‘And we be grateful to them, too,’ said Jarlath. ‘I hope we haven’t used up all your food.’
‘It doesn’t matter here, as we’ll have a delivery this afternoon which will supply us with food for a month.’
‘Tell me, Master Alex, why did you leave so early last night?’ said Jarlath. ‘We were just getting started.’
‘I was tired, and it’s usually a sign that I’m going to have a dream about a problem we might have.’
Fergal scratched his head. ‘That be handy . . . if not strange.’
Claire laughed. ‘You will get strange a lot with him.’
Paige picked at one of the boots she made as the soft heal had worn down. ‘His dreams have helped in the past.’
‘Yeah, I think Joseph liked the last one.’
Alex shrugged. ‘They can be cryptic, and this one won’t be any easier.’
Adair sat drinking coffee for the first time and looked pleasantly surprised by it. ‘What was your dream about?’
‘I was flying through a forest when I came to a vortex, if that’s what it’s called, a big square swirly thing. The dream took me through to some land with an old-fashioned village which was on fire. I came across a battle with one side about to get crushed.’
‘What happened then?’ said Claire.
‘It changed, and I was following mother, around old London,’ he said, deciding to keep the part about him being the man to himself.
Luella raised an eyebrow. ‘Why would you do that?’
Alex shrugged. ‘It was a dream, and I really don’t have any control over them.’
‘But was it something that happened, or just a dream?’
‘I believe it happened, as you were discussing things.’
‘I’ve been to London a few times,’ said Luella. ‘What were we discussing?’
‘My money you collected and your reward for helping him.’
‘I always thought you were my reward,’ said Luella, smiling.
‘No, I was your last job.’
Luella’s face dropped. ‘That’s not a nice way to put it.’
‘It was his words, but I like the work you did. Thomas was your reward.’
Luella smiled again. ‘Then I was rewarded twice.’
‘I have no idea what that part of your dream was,’ said Adair, ‘but the first part may have some meaning.’
Alex glanced over at him. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘The other worlds you mentioned. That vortex sounds like a portal, like the one we used to get to get to the old world.’
‘Could it have been a time warp?’ said Claire.
‘Like the song?’ said Paige, which got her some funny looks.
Alex shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think it had anything to do with time.’
‘Could you see anything of the armies?’ said Roth. ‘And see who or what they were?’
‘No, they were too far away, but I could see one side were greatly outnumbered.’
Fergal sighed. ‘The battle could be over now.’
‘No, I don’t believe it’ll start till I get there.’
‘You expect to go there,’ said Jarlath, a little surprised.
‘Yeah, I have a war to stop.’
‘Now that be a boast that would make any gnome proud.’
‘Alex makes no boast,’ said Carrie, ‘sometimes I believe he could stop the world.’
‘It’s nice of you to say, but I‘ll try not to do that.’
Adair pulled at his beard. ‘If you’re correct about being there, you’re seeing into the future, and that gives us time to search.’
‘Well I had no luck searching for pucas,’ said Blaze, as she stepped into the hall. ‘The image just kept coming of those we have here.’
Alex sighed. ‘There’s no point searching in the forests.’
Flax was sipping on a cup of tea. She held the cup by its handle, with her little finger pointing up. ‘You might not be able to see them even if they are there.’
Blaze smiled at her. ‘Do you have magic to hide yourselves?’
‘In a different way we do, let me try something.’ Flax put her cup down, stepped behind a sofa, stripped off, and returned. There were many confused faces, as she turned into a wolf.
Good choice, said Rho. It’s hard even for me to tell that you’re not a real wolf.
‘I get it,’ said Alex, and opened the doors for her to go outside.
‘Are you going to let us in on it?’ said Paige.
‘Flax wants to see if Blaze can find any pucas on the land.
Blaze walked back to her room. ‘I’ll go and check.’
James scratched his head. ‘Why did Flax undress behind a chair?’
‘She is shy,’ Alex replied.
‘Yeah, I can see that, but she came back without clothes.’
‘I see your point,’ said Briana, looking confused.
Alex shrugged. ‘She’s not used to clothes, and has probably noticed that we get undressed in private.’
Briana nodded. ‘I like that reason.’
‘But you don’t strip in private,’ said Kaeya, jumping on Alex’s shoulder.
‘Have you been spying on him again?’ said Claire.
‘Only a few times since he kicked me,’ said the pixie.
Alex rolled his eyes. ‘Someone else can explain that,’ he said, as Lark jumped on a table by the gnomes and told them the story of their freedom.
‘I couldn’t find her,’ said Blaze, when she returned. ‘Not as a puca, anyway.’
Flax trotted back inside, changed into her own form, and dressed behind the chair. ‘You’ll have to take some of us with you when you go searching the forests.’
‘And why’s that?’ said Alex.
‘They will not show themselves to you.’
‘What about us?’ said Jarlath.
Flax shook her head. ‘If they’ve never seen you before, they will not show themselves.’
‘She’s right you know,’ said James.
Alex nodded. ‘Yeah, I know she is.’
Flax grinned as she looked up at him. ‘I bet you didn’t expect me to be so clever.’
Alex picked her up. ‘Oh but I did, what I didn’t expect was to love a goblin.’
‘But we are the nice ones.’
‘I know, and that’s why I’m going to keep you,’ he said, and the puca hugged him.
James scratched his head. ‘So what’s the plan for today?’
‘Well, we can’t do anything until it gets dark so I’m going to play a game with the children and the pucas.’
‘What game we playi
ng?’ said Adhara.
‘I have one in mind, we played it once at school,’ said Alex, and whispered something to James.
‘Count me in, too,’ said James. ‘I’ll go and set it up.’
‘Are you going to tell us what game you’re playing?’ said Paige.
‘Pirates.’
‘Oh cool I’m in,’ said Carrie, and went to help James.
‘What’s that?’ said Sarin.
Alex put Flax down. ‘It’s like tig.’
‘That doesn’t sound very exciting,’
‘You’re not allowed to touch the floor.’
‘I will be good at that,’ said Anna happily.
Alex shook his head. ‘No, sorry, you can’t use your powers.’
‘Spoilsport.’
Alex walked into the gym and saw the equipment spread out. There were vaulting horses, tables and even some beds which James had asked House to put in. Mats covered half the floor in an erratic pattern, and ropes hung down for them to use.
‘Those are called islands,’ said Alex, ‘and the floor between them is the sea. You must not touch the sea or you’re out. Adhara and Gearoid will be the first two pirates and the rest of us will stand on an island and jump to different ones when the pirates try to tag you.’
‘So we can jump on anything?’ said Sarin.
Alex nodded. ‘Yes, as long as you don’t touch the floor.’
‘You mean the sea.’
You like to make me work, said House.
You have no confidence in us.
We will see.
‘How do you win?’ said Anna.
Alex sat on a vaulting horse. ‘You don’t really win. The last two who don’t get tagged are the next pirates.’
‘Where do I stand?’ said Carrie, wearing knee-length leggings and a tight vest top.
‘Behind me would be best,’ he said, trying not to stare. ‘I thought I bought you suits.’
Carrie jumped onto a bed. ‘You can’t play pirates in those, and it’s too warm now. Anyway we don’t need them for the training we do now.’
The first attempt was chaos as they all jumped to the back of the gym bumping into each other. Three of them hung in the air as House had stopped them from falling. They had to wait for most of the children and pucas to stop laughing before they tried again.
Alex couldn’t help but smile. ‘OK, I think we need to put the smaller ones to the back.’
Other Worlds: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Two - Fantasy Page 21