The situation here in Belgium has progressed to a point where vigorous action is required immediately.

The French are declaring War upon Prussia, and we must act now to protect the sovereignty and populace of Belgium. At any moment, Sir Cosmo will return from the Consulate in Antwerp and we will all load up to take the train to Brussels and onward.

Since all my packing is done, I can take this moment to reflect and to update my notes. In the interest of smooth narrative, I will describe our day and how we have come to this pass.

At breakfast this morning, we all read the papers and received reports on matters from yesterday's actions.

Notable was the report we received from Captain Moriarty that the Belgian Gendarmes had gone to the Glassworks early this morning, only to discover that the munitions cache had already been emptied.

Chief among our tasks for today was to discover exactly where they had been taken, and retrieve them should that be feasible. We also had further work to do to prepare to discommode Herr Schmidt--including developing various iron-containing devices which we could hope would harm him, trying to learn more about his oath to the King of Prussia, and continuing work on the Seal of Solomon ritual.

And of course, we still wished to examine the remaining shoe of Mr Arkwright in order to find its mate.

To this end we divided our forces.

Remaining at the villa to develop iron-filing bombs were Dr Wilson, Mr O'Flaherty, and the Marquis.
Their results: numerous new craters in the gardens and lawns of the villa.

Going to the Police station to examine the shoe were Inspector MacGregor, Miss Whitnell, Miss Chigwidgeon and Salmalin.

Their results: the shoe had in fact fallen from Mr Arkwright's foot at the Teutonic Knights' building, but had been picked up and carried away by Baron deRitter, who had performed a similar scrying ritual upon it, then deposited it in a lead box.
Additionally: they confirmed that Natasha, the Sicilian's henchwoman, was still in custody.

Visiting the Manufactory of Mr Van der Poole to gather more iron and to ask about some of the long train-car plans copied by Miss Whitnell were Sir Cosmo, Edward, Emily, Mr Deveril, and Owen.

Their results: several pounds of rust flakes and fine iron filings joined our cache.
Additionally: Van der Poole recognised the plans as copied by Miss Whitnell. He said similar plans had been presented to him as an Hypothetical puzzle by a Herr Schultz representing a Prussian Trade or Manufacturing Consortium. Van der Poole had obligingly improved the plans to accommodate tight turns on various rail lines. Van der Poole also indicated that Arkwright had approached him and asked to borrow his book of rail line specifications some time ago.

Lt Wooster and Mr Caine were going to the consulate to report, and might then join the train yard group, or might remain at the Consulate if needed there.

Their results: They were obliged to stay at the Consulate for meetings and reports.

Mr Ramsay was going to the Chapterhouse to talk over our ideas for containing Schmidt and to learn more about the Comte, and we hoped, to recruit further assistance should a confrontation become necessary.

His results: The Abbott indicated that his group was already preparing to mass their magical energies when the need became critical, but declined to lend the bodily assistance of his scholars.

He also emphatically declined Miss Whitnell's idea that the Chapterhouse might be a good place to complete the summoning and binding of Schmidt, citing the possible damage to irreplaceable books and artifacts (Mr Ramsay had been similarly appalled at the idea, but had dutifully presented it to the Abbott for consideration).

Additionally: the Abbott described a set of artifacts, one of which is in the Comte d'Erlette's possession. This set of four objects are carved in animal shapes which represent and embody the powers of the four classical Elements. They were created to work together to protect our world from incursion by demons (something like that, anyway). At present, the set is split up, and the Comte has the one made as a Lion, representing "fire."

This artifact can reportedly be used to create a fiery airborne chariot, such as the thing I saw departing the collapsing building Saturday last. The Abbott is very keen to get this artifact. Similarly the Abbott is seeking the one now in the hands of Herr Hans Bopp, whom we have met before (the one who put Mr Frazer in Hospital the first week I knew him).

The last group went to the Glass factory to trace the missing munitions. That included Mrs Cuthbert, Mr Cuthbert, Mr Frazer, Turgenov, and myself.

We began with some attempt at discretion. Mrs Cuthbert and Mr Cuthbert went into the factory under the pretense of inquiring after the health of the burned worker she had helped the previous evening. Before long, she had learned all she could this way, and Mr Frazer and I joined them, using Mr Frazer's police credentials to gain grudging admittance. The workers there neither interfered with us nor helped us. They did confirm that the factory is owned by the Von Gower family, a well-known Prussian concern.

While examining the premises, I noticed an inescapable odour of sick dog. Turgenov confirmed this, and said that the female wolf had also been there. There were really no other physical clues. The only trace of thread I found was the color and twist used in Belgian Gendarmes' uniforms, and the only footmarks matched the standard issue boots worn by those same.

We stepped back out to the carriage, where Mrs Cuthbert proceeded to try to locate the current position of the missing munitions. She saw crates with the same markings as reported by Edward last night, and they were being unpacked by the fair young men I have come to associate with the Teutonic Knights. She could see they were in an older barn, and as she took a further view, she saw the surrounding buildings, including a very large stables, pasture and paddocks, and a great field full of these men engaged in cavalry drill. That seems confirmation enough to work from that the weapons have been retrieved by the Prussian forces, not by the French or the Italians or what-have-you. Mrs Cuthbert could see no landmarks to help her determine direction or what towns might be near.

At last we determined that we had learned all we could, and we climbed into the carriage to return to the villa.

I was still awaiting a semi-private opportunity to suggest to Mr Frazer that Mrs Cuthbert could help discover what had happened to his sometime ally Velika...I kept thinking of what Miss Whitnell said about Mr Arkwright's spirit being enslaved by the Comte, and I wouldn't wish such a fate on my worst enemy. Besides, if she has the kind of powers that Mr Frazer seems to think she has, her enslaved spirit could be dangerous our interests.

I had, at least, had an opportunity to address one of my other resolutions from last night's wakeful hours. During our return trip, I asked Turgenov directly if he could teach me to understand the dog language. He seemed to give me an affirmative, so I said perhaps we could begin this afternoon. I didn't dare look at Mr Frazer. I don't know if he would be insulted by my asking his dog for this favor. Indeed, I don't know why I didn't ask Mr Frazer to teach me, except it seems so much more direct to learn from Turgenov. And I have the odd feeling that I might need to communicate directly with Turgenov someday.

All the parties (except Lt Wooster and Caine) returned safely and we exchanged our findings over luncheon.

On our way back in, we noted the continued presence of the rented ladies' surrey which had been waiting across the road from our villa's gates since morning. We had already identified the figure peering furtively between the curtains as Miss Cecily Haverson, the hymn-singing nuisance. As long as she remained outside the villa, we let her be.

However, not long after our return to the villa, Edward came into report that the lady was gone and that there were signs of a struggle. Owen confirmed that three "bad men" had left a trail to another wagon as they carried her off. The Mystics did a scry to determine if she had been taken by any of our more extraordinary enemies, but they appeared to be more common thugs. We determined to let the Gendarmes pursue this matter while we continued our other investigations.
Edward brought the hired surrey into the carriage house and parked it beside the wagon we had taken from Dr Fate yesterday.

Mr O'Flaherty received a message during lunch from Mr Leslie Gallant Jr, the white-clad man whom Edward met last evening at the Glassworks. This man indicated that while he was in Belgium on the most confidential of business, he felt that he and ourselves were working toward similar goals, and would benefit from a conference. Mr O'Flaherty was very emphatic in support of this, speaking very highly of Mr Gallant.

Sir Cosmo, Mr O'Flaherty, Miss Chigwidgeon, Inspector MacGregor, Edward, Mr Deveril, and I all went to this meeting. It proved profoundly enlightening. Mr Gallant is apparently serving American interests here, and he decries the independent actions of Dr Fate. He indicated that the latter man is serving an unofficial faction, and is so conspicuous and incompetent that Mr Gallant's superiors fear he will cause an international incident and reflect very badly on the United States.

Dr Fate's agenda seems to be to stir things up and help provoke this war in order to serve the interests of weapons manufacturers (and similar concerns) in the United States. How very horrible! Mr Gallant had trailed him all over Prussia and Belgium. He has met with Prussian agents in various places, and appears to be receiving monies from them. Mr Gallant had noted visits to the building which we subsequently destroyed, his visit to us at our villa (including the newspaper report of his appearance in a duck pond some miles from the villa–the papers identified him as Kid Rocket) and meetings at the Glassworks,

We told Mr Gallant what we knew of Fate's actions. In return, he shared the intelligence he had gathered regarding the clearance of the Glassworks munitions cache.

He had spoken to a dustman who had seen numerous crates being loaded from the factory into a railcar situated on the rail line that goes toward Sedan in France.

The dustman described a half-dozen or more young men, (mostly blond-haired), being commanded by a very short fellow and a lithe woman, He heard them speaking in German. The short man was addressed as Hauptman Schneider, and the woman called "Gefreiter", which is the equivalent of our Corporal. Both of these, of course, correlate to the Prussian agents seen in Mrs Cuthbert's dreams.

There was one additional carriage, from which two passengers emerged to board the train car: a large and muscular man with the rank of Unterofficer was evidently escorting a prisoner...this was a woman with long dark curly hair, wearing a distinctive necklace and apparently with child.

When we returned to the villa, Miss Whitnell immediately told me that Mrs Cuthbert had held a seance to find Velika Metzger's spirit, and had learned from her mother's spirit that she was still alive but that her soul was somehow bound. I took Miss Whitnell up the stairs to Mr Frazer's room, where he was ironing his shirts in a rather distracted manner.

I told him what I had heard, noting that it was third-hand, and the description was not really certain, but he grew more and more pale as I went on. When I told him about the prisoner's familial condition, he went utterly white.

What could I say to him at that point? I patted his arm, to show him I am still his friend, and left him to contemplation.

I myself remained somewhat distracted as we reviewed the devices invented by Dr Wilson and the Marquis in our absence.
I took a little time to exercise in the garden. I did a little practice with my bow and checked all my arrows in their pockets in my skirt.

We were just in the midst of tea when I heard a disturbance some way down the road. I exclaimed, "Gunshots!" and several of us jumped up and ran outside. We stayed close to the cover of the house until I could see two horses, harnessed together as for drawing a carriage, but carrying Lt Wooster and Mr Caine on their backs.

The two of them arrived quite breathless (but exhilarated, in Lt Wooster's case) and declared that they had been ambushed by eight Dutch agents on the road. The Dutch wanted to capture the lieutenant for the sake of his knowledge of rocketry ( a new twist on the kidnap Kid Rocket theme!). Lt Wooster proceeded to babble about their amazing victory until Caine reminded him of their other news. Lt Wooster produced a missive which Sir Cosmo read...France had determined to declare War against Prussia! The announcement was not yet general, but would be widespread shortly.

Sir Cosmo and Mr Frazer took horses to Antwerp to report and receive orders from the Foreign and the Home offices respectively. The rest of us, assuming that quick movement might become necessary, commenced to pack up all our belongings.

Mr Frazer and Sir Cosmo returned with orders that Lt Wooster, Mr Caine, Dr Wilson, and Edward were to accompany Sir Cosmo back to the Orion to oversee the installation of some newly constructed additional rocket batteries on the Orion and the other ships of its group.

The rest of us finished our packing and convened in the dining room, where we spread our maps all over the table in order to plot the most likely locations for the Prussians (in particular, the Teutonic Knights, the Comte, and Herr Schmidt) to be massing. Our information regarding rail lines, the known properties of the Comte, and our belief (based on the direction of the fiery chariot) that the stronghold is somewhere Southeast of Antwerp gave us insufficient guidance. I had just left the room to allow Mrs Cuthbert to use a pendulum on the map, when a knock sounded at the door.

David showed the guests into the front parlour, where one of them introduced himself to me as Dr Van Zemo, and his companion as Herr Falkstein. I had heard from Dr Wilson and Mr Deveril of a brief meeting with these men before our arrival in Antwerp. I had heard that Mr Caine had identified Falkstein as a Prussian agent. I was prepared to be alarmed, to say the least.

Fortunately Mr Frazer came in and seemed unperturbed at Falkstein's arrival. I listened to Dr Van Zemo as he explained that he had come in hopes of consulting with Sir Cosmo about his work on tissue regeneration. The Dr is apparently working on the case of our glass factory burn victim. We tried to explain that Sir Cosmo was out, and would indeed be likely occupied for the next few days.

I was also trying to hear what Herr Falkstein was saying sotto voce to Mr Frazer across the room. It was very informative! Herr Falkstein said that the invasion through Belgium was being engineered by particular Prussian factions and was not universally accepted in Prussia and its allied states. He informed us (that is, he told Mr Frazer) that the cavalry units inside Belgium were massing near the town of Corrim. He then said that he would be returning to Bavaria forthwith, and the gentlemen took their leave.

At this point Mrs Cuthbert's pendulum confirmed the location on the map.

All is in readiness for Sir Cosmo's return.

Monday, 19 July,1870
(continued, late evening)

Now we are on a train moving Southeast faster that I would ever have thought possible.

We have received our marching orders from the Ambassador. The train we are on contains not only ourselves, but a regiment of light dragoons and cavalry under the command of General Peacock (who has resumed his active rank in this crisis).

To summarise:
Our group traveled back to Antwerp to stop off at the consulate. We saw Lt Wooster take on the field commission of Flag Lieutenant. The British fleet was being mobilised to meet the Prussian warships which were manouevering out at sea.

We proceeded to board the train to Brussels. At the Embassy, we were all crowded into the War room, poring over the great maps. The intelligence gathered so far told us that the great gun that the Prussians wanted to deploy was probably waiting somewhere in Prussia to be deployed or merely passed through.

Mrs Cuthbert managed to get a smaller map and reported to Sir Cosmo that her pendulum had marked Cologne for the location of the gun.

Meanwhile, the list I had requested this afternoon of country properties belonging to the VonGower family caught up with us. Notable on the list was an extensive stud farm near the town of Corrim. We looked to the rail map and discovered that a spur line passes directly through this property.

So now we knew where we must go. It remained for us to decide whether we could take the night to rest and prepare, or whether we must go now.

Miss Chigwidgeon was dozing in a chair there in the War room. She started awake suddenly and said she had dreamt about Comte d'Erlette. In her dream he had been preparing to perform a ritual to "Summon the Unstoppable Horde." The book she saw him working from instructed him to use a "Surrendered Royal Sword." Someone suggested this as a motive for him to be provoking war, since whoever won, numerous royal scions would surely have to surrender their swords. I personally think that a lot of trouble to go to for a sword. I think he's doing this just because he likes to provoke havoc, and hopes to come out on top when the dust clears.
In any case, the dream was dire enough to decide us to depart tonight.

The horses were already being gathered and loaded. General Peacock was able to include enough spares that all of our party would be able to ride if necessary.

Sir Cosmo took Edward and Mr O'Flaherty to the engine to try to "get a little more speed out of the engines" (Mr O'Flaherty apparently recruited for stoking).

We all loaded ourselves and our equipment into the train. I placed myself at the farthest end from the Mystics, so as to not disrupt their work.

This was a difficult situation however, because that placed me near the Marquis. He had packed an extensive picnic supper, which featured an unendurable quantity of very aromatic cheeses.

I held my breath long enough to go to his expansive trunk of equipment and weaponry. I am now equipped not only with my bow and 10 untipped arrows, but also three of the short-fused iron filing bombs, matches, several papers of extra-fine iron filing powder, and a pistol.

We are traveling at amazing speed, yet I feel that I can't stand the wait. The Mystics are chanting, which I understand is their way of accumulating magical energy. The stillness is deceptive.

I looked over at Mr Frazer, who is sitting with his eyes closed. The set of his jaw, however, tells me he is entirely awake. I think he is avoiding speaking to me. I wonder if he thinks I am angry. I wonder if I am angry.

I have determined that I must find Velika Metzger and save her if possible. All the Mystics will be busy with Schmidt and the Comte, and I will have to stay clear of them. I am not a fighter, so I must stay clear of the battle. What remains for me to do? I am only one woman, not very strong. It falls to me naturally that I should seek out another lone woman. If she is indeed a prisoner, I must free her, and I will protect her, and return her to where she belongs. If she is with the Prussians by her own will, and if she is our enemy, I will stop her. She is supposedly a witch, but that is little to me.

If she is truly carrying a child...

I must take this duty on, and make whatever judgements I see fit as circumstances decree. Whatever Velika Metzger is, she saved Mr Frazer's life, and she deserves to have one person in this madness looking out for her.

I cannot sit here any longer. We will surely be coming to Corrim at any moment. I must stretch and warm my muscles to prepare for whatever eventuality may arise.

Proceed to Many questions remain

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