19 July 1870, Monday

~Morning~

The League met at breakfast to compare notes and plan for the day.

As I was coming away from the table, Inspector MacGregor gave me a note in his hand, which while quite unnerving, did serve to remind me that I had not, as yet, formally thanked Mr Frazer, Mr Ramsay, and Mr Cuthbert for saving me from Schmidt this past Saturday. I have since remedied that oversight by writing brief notes to each of them.

Simon... Inspector MacGregor’s letter was unnerving because he requested private speech with me in a way that no daughter of my mother could mistake as anything but personal interest.

I have agreed to give him some of my time. Perhaps my heart is more fickle than I know, or perhaps my devotion for Salmalin springs solely from his gallant attempt to rescue me on Saturday. I do not wish to lead Simon on if I truly have no feelings for him, however, I do respect and admire him.

What a quandary. I must speak to Miss Chigwidgeon and see if she would be willing to be my chaperone later today. I am certain she will take great delight in the reversal of our two roles.

Time is slipping away and I must finish recording the business of the morning if I am to join my party at the carriage house at the appointed time. In order to accomplish our numerous goals we have decided to divide up and attack several problems at once.

Mr Cuthbert, Mrs Cuthbert, Miss Sinclair, Mr Frazer, and Turgenov will return to the Glassworks factory. They will attempt to determine who removed the weapons from the storeroom last night between the time we were there and time the Belgian Authorities took action on our report of last night. They will also stop by the Order of St Jerome to drop off Mr Ramsay who will spend the morning researching further spells and alchemical potions that might be effective against Herr Schmidt and the Comte d’Erlette.

Sir Cosmo, Edward, Miss Bertilde, and Mr Deveril will go to the Train Factory to collect iron fillings for our various anti-Schmidt weapons and to consult with Mr van der Poole regarding the large train car that I saw in my dream of Saturday night.

I noticed this morning at breakfast that Edward had added a massive gun to the drawing that I had done and given to Sir Cosmo. When Sir Cosmo asked him why he modified the drawing, Edward said that it just seemed that a gun would naturally go there. Does the child think of nothing but guns? I was rather vexed that he had modified my drawing without permission, however, I kept my feelings to myself. Edward is extra-ordinary but I must keep reminding myself that he is still a nine-year-old child, with child’s limited ability to see consequences. I would much rather he draw on something of mine or ‘borrow’ my alchemy books than run headlong into danger as he is so prone to do.

Sir Cosmo’s party will also stop at the Chemist’s before returning to the Villa. They will purchase some supplies we have identified as needful for some of our potential weapons.

Miss Chigwidgeon, Inspector MacGregor, Mr Salmalin and myself will go first to the Consulate with Lieutenant Wooster and Mr Caine. I have several telegrams to send off, and Wooster and Caine need to check in with their superiors and see what their next assignment will be.

Once our business at the consulate is concluded, we will visit the police department and I will use a history spell to determine what happened to Mr Arkwright’s missing shoe. Miss Sinclair and Inspector MacGregor are both anxious to know the disposition of the second shoe and hope that its location may shed further light on our investigation.

Dr Wilson, the Marquis, and Mr O’Flaherty will remain home. Dr Wilson and the Marquis to work on weapons and Mr O’Flaherty to see that no one kidnaps ‘Kid Rocket.’ Of course David, Stuart and Tattvik will all be on the alert as well.

Now we are off on our appointed rounds. We hope to return to the Villa for lunch and share what we have learned.

~Lunch~

All have arrived safely for the lunch at the villa. I believe the villa staff were rather shocked that we all returned on schedule.

Before we left on our errands this morning I drew Miss Chigwidgeon aside and asked her if she could make time to act as my chaperone this afternoon. We had a very brief conversation. I am afraid I detect the matchmaking gleam in her eye.

Perhaps she will turn her attention to Miss Sinclair and Mr Frazer, who are a much less complicated puzzle. It is obvious to me that they both hold each other in high regard, however, neither has said or done anything that would open the door to a more frank assessment of their attraction for one another.

In my case, I have declared myself for Mr Salmalin who has declared himself for Miss Chigwidgeon, who is formally engaged to marry and is madly in love with Sir Cosmo–oh, and Inspector MacGregor has now shown some interest in myself as well. So far I have managed to put off our meeting for now… Normally I enjoy speaking with the man so I do not know what has gotten into me.

That is enough. I had best return to my chronicle.

Wooster and Caine had duties at the consulate and are expected to remain there all day. We hope they will be able to join us for supper, however, they are here on assignment with the British Naval Forces and may be called to their ship at any time. Saturday night Prussia severed diplomatic relations with France and we have yet to see the full implications of that declaration.

While at the consulate we received a wire from the Honourable Thomas Adair containing a list of the Comte d’Erlette’s properties in Belgium. I sent off a telegram to Lady Ottoline with my suggestion regarding action that could be taken in relation to the horrible news from Brixton. I hope my suggestion will have some merit in her eyes. I have sent a letter via post explaining my proposal in more detail. I hope my mother and sisters can be persuaded to lend their weight to the project. At Miss Bertilde’s request I also appended a short note asking Lady Ottoline to let Miss Bertilde’s street class know of her absence.

Sir Cosmo and his party stayed a bit longer at the consulate to check on a few items of interest while we departed for the police department. Inspector MacGregor had no difficulty getting us in to see the shoe, in spite of the wax disaster we left behind at the morgue when we viewed the mortal remains of Mr Arkwright. Perhaps my note of apology had its desired effect.

For once the spell went as planned and I saw the history of the pair of Mr Arkwright’s shoes from the perspective of the shoes, a very singular sensation. I learned much about Mr Arkwright’s habit of shoe care, and, more importantly, where the second shoe had been lost. Herr Schmidt took Mr Arkwright from the Glassworks to the Hall of the Knights of St. Mary (really a stronghold of the Teutonic Knights) to be tortured by Tot, then Schmidt flew Mr Arkwright to the train and dropped him to his death. The missing shoe had fallen off Mr Arkwright’s foot outside the Hall of the Knights of St Mary (which the League has since levelled) where it was found by Baron De Ritter. Baron De Ritter cast a history spell on it and determined the fate of Mr Arkwright. He then took the shoe home with him and closed it away in an iron box. That is all I was able to learn.

We then returned home to the Villa to await the outcome of the other group’s research. Inspector MacGregor suggested that this might be a good time for our tea but Miss Chigwidgeon had not returned yet and I was loath to proceed without her.

Mr Cuthbert, Mrs Cuthbert, Mr Frazer, Miss Sinclair, and Turgenov had learned some of what they set out discover at the Glassworks. Mrs Cuthbert had a vision of the weapons being moved to a farm of some type away from the city. She saw many young men who looked very similar to the Prussians we had surprised at the Knights of St. Mary. They were setting the weapons up for use and engaging in military-type drills on horseback with the weapons.

Mrs Cuthbert also discovered that the man who was injured last night was expected to live, though he is still badly burned in spite of all that she was able to do for him. They also found out the name of the owner of the Glassworks, a Baron von Gower. The von Gower family is very rich and influential in Belgium, and their powerful lineage stretches back 300 years or more.

At the train yard, Edward and Mr Deveril were very successful in acquiring large quantities of finely ground iron filings while Sir Cosmo found out that a man named Herr Schultz of a Prussian rail concern had shown Mr van der Poole a design for the very long train car from my dream. Mr van der Poole had given them some suggestions for altering the design so that it would be able to manage some of the sharp turns the track takes along the route. He said their initial design would not have worked otherwise. Mr van der Poole reported that a member of the British consulate had borrowed a his copy of a guide to European rail bridges and their load bearing capacity that Mr van der Poole had written– our Mr Arkwright, I feel sure of it.

Mr Ramsay reported on his time at the Chapterhouse. The Abbot had eliminated one of the properties on our list as a possible hiding place for the Comte. The Order is searching diligently for the Comte d’Erlette but so far has not succeeded– in part because the Fiery Chariot Mr O’Flaherty and Miss Sinclair saw ascending into the sky after the destruction of the Teutonic Knight’s stronghold is a manifestation of a powerful artifact that is in the Comte’s possession. It allows him to hide his activities from those of us who would seek him out in a magikal manner.

The artifact is carved from a piece of amber as long as my forearm and is one of four that were made to protect the earth from the dark powers. Each is powered by a ‘lower being’ and is aligned with the traditional four elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind). In addition to the Lion there is an Eagle, a Bull, and a Fish. It is believed that the Eagle and the Fish are in safe hands and are being used for their correct purpose. Given what I saw on Saturday, I would not surprise me if the Eagle is in the Baron von Raalik’s possession (or at least that of his order). He only said that the Eagle was in Europe and Fish was somewhere in the Ottoman Empire. The Bull is known to be in the possession of Herr Hans Bopp– the Prussian agent we encountered during our first assembly. Each artifact is carved from a single, very large, gemstone, and, as mentioned above, was made to be used to protect the earth from the dark powers. Unfortunately only the Fish and Eagle are being used for their intended purpose at this time.

While we were all out and about on our various errands, Dr Wilson and the Marquis were able to spend a quiet morning working on rockets to use against the Prussians should we discover their hiding place. Mr O’Flaherty received a letter from Mr Leslie Gallant, Jr. offering to meet with us and share information. He had deduced, from our presence at the Glassworks, that his interests and those of the League might be aligned.

After much discussion, during which Mr O’Flaherty grew quite impatient (a rather alarming sight, speaking as someone seated right next to him) we decided that Sir Cosmo, Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Sinclair, Edward, and Mr O’Flaherty would go meet with Mr Gallant at his hotel. They prepared to depart at once only to be interrupted by Edward’s discovery that the annoying Miss Cecilly Haverson (who we had noticed spying on us as we went out on our morning errands) had been abducted. I think it was very thoughtful of Edward to take her some tea and biscuits (which is what he and George had gone to do when they discovered she was missing). They brought her surrey to the stable for safekeeping and, after a brief investigation, a report was sent off to the Belgian Police detailing the incident. From a spell we cast, Miss Haverson seemed to have been abducted by common thugs– we did not recognize any of them in our vision.

I am not sure what else we could have done. Part of me dearly wanted to ride out to the rescue as we had done yesterday for Mr Ramsay and Mr Deveril, but I also know that we have a limited amount of time before Schmidt is returned to the world. I doubt he will hesitate long in striking at us once he has returned to this earthly plain. I can only hope that the Belgian Police will be successful in saving her from harm.

Once the report had been submitted, Sir Cosmo and the rest went into the city to visit with Mr Gallant. I took advantage of the absence of Miss Chigwidgeon to put Inspector MacGregor off until her return. Mr Ramsay, Mrs Cuthbert and I practised our various spells.

Mr Ramsay mentioned that the Abbot had suggested that a spell as powerful as the one we planned for Schmidt would best be attempted close to the enemy’s ground, as that way, any damage or unexpected consequences to the spells would fall on their property and staff and not on our own (or more specifically on his own, since the Chapterhouse had been one of the places we were considering as a place to cast the spell). The Abbot did say that he would be willing to help us once we were ready for the assault on Schmidt.

I then retired to my room to update this record and to create a few charms that I may need in the battle to come. I want to be as prepared as possible. I have also made up a solution of silver nitrate that I hope to bless with the mantra that Salmalin taught me yesterday. I believe that I have successfully created a spell that I can use. I have no idea if this strange admixture of English Alchemy, Hethalyn’s Magik, and Hindi Mantra will serve but I will not know unless I try.

~Supper~

We are in a whirl of packing. I have finished my own, supervised Miss Chigwidgeon’s and inspected the job done by David and Stuart on Sir Cosmo’s things. Now we are awaiting Sir Cosmo’s return before we depart Antwerp for Brussels.

In the early afternoon, as I was meditating (after creating my charms and blessed trinkets– I must remember to thank Sir Cosmo for his thoughtful and farsighted gift of shiny baubles that I can use to hold my charms). I remembered the strange shared dream Miss Sinclair and Mr Frazer had Saturday night. More importantly I remembered that we did not know the fate of the Woman in the dream. She had saved Mr Frazer from Herr Schmidt and other Prussian agents but at what cost to herself we did not know.

I found Mr Frazer reading a report in his room. He is such a tidy-minded man. It was a bit awkward talking to him, but I thought that it might be easier on him if we proceeded while Ruth was out of the house. Neither of them have spoken to me about what the dream revealed about the relationship between the woman and Mr Frazer but I feel I can draw certain inferences from their silence.

Mr Frazer agreed to try my plan of determining her fate so I went to find Mrs Cuthbert. She agreed as well went to find Mr Ramsay so we could have a proper seance. I cleared the back parlour and set it up as I have seen Mrs Cuthbert do many times. Mr Frazer watched me and, occasionally a bemused expression would cross his otherwise serious face. It was no small thing I was asking him to do, to put his trust in us, after yesterday’s magikal difficulties.

I believe that he and Ruth are well matched in their reservations about the mystical world I now do the majority of my work in. It is surprising how well Ruth and I work together given the difference in our background and in our respective roles with in the League. She can see and hear things that I cannot and I can manipulate a power that she cannot experience directly. Regardless I trust her senses and I hope she will continue to trust mine.

Mrs Cuthbert had found Mr Ramsay outside working though a sword drill. I must say that we have been blessed with good weather on our journey so far.

Mrs Cuthbert asked Mr Frazer a few preliminary questions and discovered that the name of the person she was trying to contact is Velika Metzger. Mr Frazer also had a folding knife that she had made the handle for. Mrs Cuthbert had him hold it and we all joined hands around the circle. The drapes were drawn and the candles I had set round the room (and that Mrs Cuthbert had inspected and made a few adjustments to) flickered and made shadows on the walls. I could hear birds singing outside. It was strange to sit in a darkened room and know that the sunlit world was just a few steps away.

I could hear Mrs Cuthbert muttering to herself as she called the spirits to her. The first one to show up was Mr “I’m Still Waiting” the spirit waiting for Rip Chigwidgeon to die so he can take revenge on Mr Chigwidgeon.

Mrs Cuthbert calls to the spirits and then repeats back what she hears so those present can hear both sides of the conversation. According to I’m-Still-Waiting, Mrs Cuthbert looked brighter than the last time he had seen her.

Miss Metzger did not appear. We waited and called and eventually Miss Metzger’s mother appeared to Mrs Cuthbert. She was wondering why a Christian would be seeking her daughter– apparently both her and her daughter were witches of some type. Mrs Cuthbert did her best to assure Mrs Metzger that we wanted to help Miss Metzger if possible.

Mrs Metzger told Mrs Cuthbert that Velika was not dead. Velika had suffered a worse fate, having bargained her soul away. Mrs Metzger thought that the choice might have been forced. The only thing she knew was that her daughter had been near the Memel River when her soul was lost.

I could feel Mr Frazer’s hand grow cold in mine as Mrs Cuthbert asked more questions and recited to us what she was hearing from the spirit. Mrs Metzger said that the power of the Old Ones was interfering with her ability to see her daughter. She mentioned that if she were still living she would try to find out how Velika had lost her soul and who took it from her. Mrs Cuthbert tried to get her to go into more detail, at my request, as I have never tried to retrieve a soul for a living person, however, like many dead people, Mrs Metzger was not very specific.

Mrs Cuthbert ended the seance. I walked to the door with Mr Frazer and asked him how he was. A silly question under the circumstances, but I could think of no other way to communicate my concern for him. As expected, he did not really answer the question. I suggested that he keep the knife safe and limit the number of other people who touch it, in case we need it for a future ritual.

Sir Cosmo’s party returned from the visit to Mr Gallant, Jr’s hotel. Mr Frazer fled upstairs to his room. I buttonholed Miss Sinclair as she was coming in the door and gave her a brief precis of what Mrs Cuthbert had discovered. We both proceeded immediately up to Mr Frazer’s room. Miss Sinclair told us that Mr Gallant had been following the weapons and had found witnesses that had seen them taken from the Glassworks and loaded on a train. In addition, the witnesses had seen a contingent of Prussian agents boarding the same train that the munitions were loaded onto.

Mr Gallant described the agents, many of whom matched the descriptions of people that Mrs Cuthbert had seen in her dream Saturday night. However, this time there were two women in the party, the blonde matching Mrs Cuthbert’s description and a dark haired woman wearing a distinctive necklace. Miss Sinclair recognized the woman as Velika from the shared dream with Mr Frazer. Velika seemed to be under guard and not with the party of her own free will. More importantly, according to the witness, she seemed to be with child.

Mr Frazer looked past us for a time. He grew very quiet. Miss Sinclair and I had the same thought and, almost as one, asked him to promise that he would not go off alone to try to rescue Miss Metzger. He promised and we both promised to help him save her. I included the pragmatic reason that rescuing her might anger the Prussians– something I have no compunction against at the moment.

I left Miss Sinclair in his company, I know it is not strictly proper but I felt they deserved a bit of hard-to-come-by privacy.

I came downstairs to find Inspector MacGregor awaiting me. Miss Chigwidgeon had returned, and the staff was laying out the afternoon tea so I had no further excuses. I suggested, that instead of tea, we go for a turn in the garden to gain a bit more privacy. As we exited the house I gave Miss Chigwidgeon the thirty-second briefing on how to chaperone and then caught up with the Inspector, who was waiting politely part-way down the path.

It was a very difficult interview, in part because SimonInspector MacGregor insisted on starting off by complimenting me. I certainly did not feel worthy of his regard given the difficulties that I had caused our party the previous evening, so I took the opportunity to apologize for my actions. I honestly do not remember all of what was said. I have not been so nervous since my girlhood days of coming out into Society. You’d think a grown woman would be able to handle a simple conversation with more aplomb! I remember looking down at his shoes frequently as we walked. He has very well made boots and I could tell that he is careful of them and will make them last.

I do feel that the outcome of the interview was not satisfactory for him and I do not know quite what to do about that. I do not wish to lose his regard, but I am more certain than ever, after this interview, that, while he might make some woman a wonderful husband, it will not be me. It is a shame, in some ways I wish that we had met years ago when I was still unmarried. However, at that time, I doubt even my eccentric family could have welcomed the idea of a young policeman as a suitable candidate for their daughter’s hand. After all, I was expected to set the standard for my younger sisters. What rubbish! Inspector MacGregor is a fine man and I have no idea why I am getting so worked up over an imaginary rejection of him by my family! I wonder, if William and I had been closer in age, if we could have found more in common and stayed together?

I do hope this brief interlude will not damage my working relationship with Inspector MacGregor. I did tell him how much I appreciated the seriousness with which he took and continues to take my ideas and visions. He is a very capable man and competent officer and I look forward to our continuing association.

Oh, and he did tell me about his dream! He dreamt that he had a home and family with two little daughters and everything he could desire. Then a mob came for his wife claiming she was a witch. She was me. Apparently I set the entire mob on fire for wanting to burn me at the stake. He didn’t give me much more detail than that, but I could tell that it bothered him. The only thing that I could suggest was that it didn’t seem to align with the other, more clearly prophetic dreams, others had dreamt that night. I do not know why I was granted a brief window into his dream and I wish I could have given him more comfort on the matter. As far as I know, I would never set fire to people without good reason...

Regardless, we went in to the house and joined the others at their tea. I had just put cream in my first cup when Ruth jumped up from the table crying ‘Gunshots!’ Several others heard it and we all left our tea cooling on tables and rushed to the door. Miss Sinclair could make out two horses in harness approaching without a carriage. Mr Caine and Lieutenant Wooster were astride the horses and heading for our Villa.

They made it safely inside the boundary and said that they had been set upon by eight men who had wanted to capture Lieutenant Wooster, believing him to be the designer of the new rocket batteries that are mounted on the HMS Orion. Wooster said that they threatened to shoot Mr Caine if Wooster did not come along peacefully, he would have gone into a great deal more detail, if Caine had not reminded him of the message he carried for Sir Cosmo.

France has declared war upon Prussia.

Sir Cosmo and Mr Frazer prepared to leave immediately for the consulate to report in. Salmalin accompanied them to help see Sir Cosmo safely back to us.

The rest of us started packing as noted above. Sir Cosmo, Salmalin, and Mr Frazer returned confirming that the news of war was official and that a like declaration would probably be forthcoming from Prussia by tomorrow. Sir Cosmo was awaiting some more reports and so had to depart again for the consulate. This time Lieutenant Wooster, Mr Caine, Edward, and Dr Wilson accompanied him. They were to start work on installing the rest of the rocket batteries on the British Expedition Fleet.

Now we are all packed, the carriages are loaded, and we await Sir Cosmo’s and Salmalin’s safe return.

Mrs Cuthbert has come to ask if I would help her in scrying the location of the Prussian agents.

~On the Train to Brussels~

We have just pulled out of the station at Antwerp and are on our way to Brussels to take further orders.

Sir Cosmo returned safely, but Miss Chigwidgeon certainly wore a track in the carpet waiting for him. I was relieved to see that Salmalin had returned safely as well. We have had very little time together today. However, if I am to be true to my word to him, I must not mind when our duties separate us.

Upon his arrival home, we all boarded our waiting carriages and drove into Antwerp without incident. At the consulate we got to see now-Flag-Lieutenant Wooster and Commodore Moriarty one last time before they left to join the fleet. Apparently Commodore Moriarty had standing orders to assume command of the fleet should war be declared and Wooster, as his assistant, has also received a temporary field promotion. The Prussian Fleet has been spotted and our ships are off to enforce the neutrality of Belgium. We wished Wooster and Caine God-speed and followed our own orders to report in at the Embassy in Brussels.

We should be there in a little less than an hour now. Full dark is almost upon us.

~On the Train to Corrim~

We have exchanged one train for another. Sir Cosmo and Edward have been at this one’s engines and, with Mr O’Flaherty to stoke the boiler, we are speeding though the night at a frantic pace.

At the embassy we were first told that we would be spending the night while further research was done. However some intelligence caught up with us that gave us a possible precise location for the Comte d’Erlette’s hiding place. That combined with a prophetic dream Miss Chigwidgeon had showing the Comte destroying the world sent us hurtling though the night in a train that is outpacing the signallers. Sir Cosmo has warned us that there is the possibility that we may run into another train or that the modified boiler might explode. None of this information was of comfort to Miss Chigwidgeon as Sir Cosmo is insisting on staying up front with the boiler, Edward, and Mr O’Flaherty.

Also on the train with us is Brigadier Peacock (the same Colonel Peacock who had us to dinner our first night in Belgium) he has under him a unit of Belgian Horse Cavalry as well as some extra horses for our party should that become necessary. The train tracks run right across the suspect property so we will not be stopping at the rail station in town, rather we will go straight onto the Baron von Gower’s horse farm and, hopefully, take the Prussians by surprise.

Miss Bertilde seemed anxious upon boarding the train. I took a moment to assure her of our belief in her competence. I know that, when it comes to a fight, she will have no difficulty, it is just all the other little things in life that seem to give her trouble.

I shall set this record aside and attempt to meditate and review the Seal of Solomon before we arrive at Corrim.

~Past Midnight, Before Dawn~

We are still alive but I feel that there is another shoe yet to drop. I have a few quiet moments to update this record while we await reinforcements so I shall do so.

Instead of spending time in meditation on the train, I found I could not sit still. I equipped all of our party who wished with blessings, Curse Mirrors, or Warriors Blessings. Mr Cuthbert and Miss Bertilde both took Curse Mirrors. Mr Frazer took a Warrior’s Blessing. The Marquis asked me to bless his camera.

I asked Mr Salmalin if he thought my jumbled-together spell, derived from his mantra and powered by my magik, would work on the silver inlay of Miss Bertilde’s sword. He said that he did not know, as he does not understand the way my magik works. After some further discussion he did say that it was not likely to hurt since it was in the form of a blessing.

Miss Bertilde made me promise her my own blade if something went wrong but she finally agreed to let me try. The spell seemed to take hold, though I had no idea if it would help in a confrontation with Herr Schmidt.

I looked up from my work and caught Salmalin’s gaze. I could sense two powerful sorcerers or groups of sorcerers gathering power. One group was behind us, near Antwerp and one was in front of us near our destination (which we were very nearly on top of). Mr Ramsay, Mrs Cuthbert, Miss Chigwidgeon and I began our chant to raise our own power. I decided that we were far enough away that we should first do something to cause confusion to our enemies. I suggested a giant fireball above the estate to panic men and horses but Mrs Cuthbert did not want the horses hurt. I modified a spell used to influence the minds of humans to drive the horses away from the estate. We raised the power and cast the spell and it seemed to work. We hoped that all of the estate’s horses were now running about attempting to escape their handlers and generally wreaking havoc.

We had just begun to raise power for the Seal of Solomon when a wave of mystical energy swept over the entire train car and took Miss Chigwidgeon, Mr Cuthbert, the Marquis, and Mr Deveril. As they vanished, I had a sudden vision of the four of them appearing before the Comte d’Erlette in what appeared to be a temple. I shouted out what I had seen and we continued our chant.

The power raised for the spell was astonishing, my hair had freed itself from its pins and I had drawn much of the Seal. It was time to call Schmidt.

I said his name aloud and he appeared before me.

I felt all the power of the spell drain away as if it had never been.

He said “Now what are you up to, Mrs Forrester?” and began to reach for me. I was terrified and suddenly I was very angry.

“It’s Miss Whitnell!” I shouted and splashed him with my silver nitrate solution. He seemed unaffected. He tensed like a tiger ready to spring upon me. I could only hope that I would provide sufficient distraction to allow the others in the rail car to attack him.

Then he vanished.

I feared that he had decided to change his attack but when no blow fell I realized that I could not sense him at all in the car. I could feel the train slowing to a stop. I signaled to Mrs Cuthbert and Mr Ramsay and we began the spell again. I was so unbalanced by the unlooked for reprieve that I had difficultly concentrating at first. I breathed in the way that Salmalin has instructed me and was soon able to focus on the work at hand.

We raised the power and called Schmidt. He did not appear. Instead I had a clear vision of Miss Chigwidgeon, drenched in blood, and holding Schmidt’s head aloft. I could see the glow of Kali about her. We completed the spell as best we could with its target removed. I noticed that the train had come to a stop sometime during our spell. The Belgian cavalry and the rest of our party were already charging toward the Prussian encampment.

Fortunately saddled horses had been left behind for Mrs Cuthbert, Mr Ramsay, and myself. Mrs Cuthbert and I rode flat out toward the house. She saw something off to the side of the house and said Saint Cuthbert was calling her to the staircase. I said I had to get to Miss Chigwidgeon so we parted ways. Suddenly, the face of Baron von Raalik appeared in the air in front of me. I barely kept my seat. Fortunately the horse did not spook. The Baron said that the spirit needed to be laid to rest. I asked if he meant Schmidt but he said ‘no, the Comte,’ and vanished. I spurred my horse on and around to the temple situated in the back of the house.

I nearly fell off my horse in my relief to see Miss Chigwidgeon in Sir Cosmo’s arms. She was covered in blood but, as none of it was her own, it did not deter me from adding my embraces to Sir Cosmo’s.

The Marquis was calling for his trunk of tools and running the Comte’s body through with various types of metal and wooden objects. I had passed Mr Deveril on the way in, he was carrying what I later found out to be Schmidt’s headless body to be stashed in the rail-car until we found a more permanent resting place.

I laid my hand on the Marquis arm and asked him to leave the body of the Comte to me. He had already cut off what was left of the head, the lower jaw, in an attempt to make certain that the Comte would not rise again. I told him I would have to use magik. Thankfully, it was very easy to summon power in that place as I did not have Mr Ramsay or Mrs Cuthbert to aid me. I thought it would take lot of power to make the Comte’s spirit go if he did not want to. The spell appeared to succeed but I lost the last of my hairpins. Fortunately Inspector MacGregor had started gathering them back in the railcar and by now, had quite a collection, so I was able to wind my hair back up and out of my eyes.

The Comte’s body was still wearing an amulet of some power, which I took careful custody of. I searched the rest of his pockets and came up with his wallet and the estate keys. I gave the keys to Simon and the wallet to Sir Cosmo.

I was just about to ask Miss Chigwidgeon what had happened to her and the three men who were taken with her when I heard Edward’s piping voice say something. Cosmo yelled at us to take cover as he sprinted up the stairs to the sound of a muffled explosion.

I began chanting and sure enough sensed a fire burning on the fourth floor of the house. I was able to put it out. Sir Cosmo came downstairs a few minutes later with a very singed Edward. Miss Bertilde was with them and she had a prisoner, none other than Baron Von Gower! Miss Bertilde escorted him to Brigadier Peacock while Sir Cosmo gave Edward a bit of a dressing down for firing multiple rockets inside a building. Edward was made to promise not to work with rockets except under the direct supervision of Sir Cosmo. We found him later working on a Rocket Launcher and Sir Cosmo found something else to occupy Edward for a time.

I went looking for the Comte’s magik books and the Lion artifact. I found the library on the third floor (fortunately undamaged by the mayhem on the floor above). Mr Deveril was already there sorting the magik books from the more mundane books so I continued my search for the artifact.

About this time Mrs Cuthbert returned with a man named Hassan who she had rescued from a dungeon in the basement. Hassan went straight to the altar in the temple portion of the house and opened a hidden panel in the back of the altar and revealed the Lion. He praised Allah that it was safe but did not object to my taking custody of it temporarily. I wanted to ensure that it did not disappear before Baron von Raalik could arrive and advise me.

Mr Ramsay gathered up the tools of his trade and went off to deal with the Vampire in the basement. Mrs Cuthbert had left Simon to guard it and keep anyone from accidentally wandering in.

Miss Sinclair had arrived with a woman in tow who matched the description of Velika Metzger. Mr Frazer was hovering about in the background looking strained. Mrs Cuthbert tried to get Miss Sinclair to go make sure Mr Ramsay did not get eaten by the vampire but Miss Sinclair needed to introduce us to Miss Metzger and be certain that we had the situation under control first.

Mr Frazer found her a chair to settle in and I mentioned that her mother was worried about her. She said I was the second person to mention that. Miss Sinclair told us what she knew of the situation and asked Miss Metzger directly if she wanted to be freed from the hold on her. Miss Metzger said yes. Unfortunately one of the effects of the binding is that Miss Metzger can tell us only very indirectly anything about the sorcerer that has a hold over her. On top of that the child that Miss Metzger is carrying seems to be half-human and part djinn and part fey. Schmidt’s get I fear. I did not ask if she had any choice in the matter. I do not know if Mr Frazer was relived to learn that the child was most likely not his. I do not even know if he had any cause to believe that it might be possible for the child to be his.

I sat with Miss Metzger for a time and asked her as many different questions as possible that might tease out information on who or what had a hold of her soul. I learned only that it is a sorcerer of Prussia and someone who is not in the local area. Not much to go on, as usual. We settled her as comfortably as possible and I set up shop nearby.

It just occurred to me why I feel so possessive of the Lion artifact. When we left London we had just gathered a few bits of information about the rift between worlds that the Song and Dance Demon was just one manifestation of. There are terrible things that have been let loose in the world and it may be that this artifact, and its kin could be of service in healing that rift. That is what I remembered, and, I am certain that if Mr Ramsay were not so distracted by the Vampire in the basement he would understand my protectiveness of this object.

I have felt nagged by my need to retain supervision of this object and was relived to remember that, in all this mess of France declaring war on Prussia and Prussia violating the neutrality of Belgium, I have the additional goal of helping to find a way to heal the rift between worlds and drive the forces that are out of Season back to their proper spheres. I do not feel a need to keep the artifact, just to discover its proper custodian and ensure that it will be put it to its intended use. I believe my activities with the League make me unfit as a permanent guardian for such an object. I hope that Baron von Raalik will have some answers for me when he arrives.

Miss Chigwidgeon has gone off to find a sink to wash in. The Marquis kindly loaned her his great coat, so she has taken off the over-layer of her clothing, as it was beginning to stiffen and smell. She looks so tiny wrapped in the Marquis giant coat. It is hard to believe that she terrified an entire regiment of Prussian soldiers into surrendering, almost with out a fight (much to Miss Bertilde’s disappointment). The Marquis trunk showed up sometime while I was talking to Velika so we were able to safely stow Schmidt’s head, the vampire knife (it has two vampire fangs embedded in the hilt near the blade), and the amulet I took off of the Comte’s body.

Miss Chigwidgeon has told me what happened between the time she disappeared from the rail car to now. Apparently the Comte was trying to call down one of the dark goddesses. Baron von Raalik was trying to stop him and Kali sent Miss Chigwidgeon as her representative instead. So Miss Chigwidgeon, Mr Cuthbert, Mr Deveril and the Marquis all appeared inside the Baron’s magik circle. The Baron mistook Miss Chigwidgeon for the goddess and was helped along in that misunderstanding by Mr Deveril whom the Comte thought he had killed back in Berlin. Miss Chigwidgeon swears she could hear Kali laughing in the back of her mind at the Comte’s confusion so Miss Chigwidgeon did her best to represent Kali.

The Comte’s conversation with Miss Chigwidgeon was interrupted by a Hauptmann Schneider who ran in to tell the Comte that all the horses had been spooked and that the Comte had better start doing something useful and rounding them up. Mr Deveril decided to take action and fired at both the Comte and Schneider. From there Miss Chigwidgeon’s memory gets a little foggy.

Dr Wilson suddenly appeared calling the out that the cavalry were here but then he turned into Schmidt and started attacking Mr Deveril from behind. Schmidt disappeared (probably our spell calling him to us) and Miss Chigwidgeon felt Kali surge to the fore and suddenly Schmidt was back in front of them dripping with something (probably my solution) . Mr Deveril and Mr Cuthbert fired on sight. Miss Chigwidgeon said that she could see the expression on Schmidt’s face. He seemed contemptuous of their efforts until the bullets and shotgun pellets tore though his body spattering blood everywhere. He had not been able to vanish at will! Miss Chigwidgeon had gotten a hold of the Comte’s sacrificial knife and Kali moved forward, grabbled Schmidt by the hair and cut off his head. Which is how Miss Chigwidgeon came to be covered in blood.

Kali then went to the door of the temple, ordered the Prussians to surrender and then left Miss Chigwidgeon holding Schmidt’s head and facing a the leaders of the Prussian forces. Fortunately, they surrendered and Brigadier Peacock took over from Miss Chigwidgeon.

Now she is keeping me company as we watch the false dawn begin to light the sky. I did have a chance to speak briefly with Salmalin before he disappeared on other duties. I told him that the spell we had made seemed to have worked and I thanked him for his help. I wanted to hold him tightly I had held Miss Chigwidgeon earlier but I restrained myself.

Miss Sinclair is down in the basement ensuring that Mr Ramsay does not get eaten by the vampire and Mrs Cuthbert is seeing to the few wounded. Velika is quiet. We found her some food and water courtesy of the Marquis picnic basket and I am unsure of what to do next. I wish Mr Ramsay would finish with the vampire or Baron von Raalik would get here. It has been a long night and there are a great many things that need to seeing to. I do not even know where to begin.

Proceed to A Dreadful Day

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