26 April 1876,
Tuesday
We have arrived at the Isle of Apples and by the grace of the
Lady and Mr O'Flaherty, as the bearer of the Sword, we under the
protection of the Lady for the duration of our stay.
Our journey was only marred by one 'encounter'. W e met agents
of both Summer and Winter on the platform at Taunton. I told
them I was engaged on another matter and they would need to make
an appointment with me in regards to the binding of Winter upon
my return. I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'm shocked
my binding has held this long. I had thought it would hold just
long enough for us to escape Winter's realm after we
accidentally summoned him.
I'm not sure what I will do if it is still holding and we reach
the equinox. Great-Aunt Hethalyn says it would upset the balance
of power in Faerie if Winter is still bound at the turn of the
year.
One problem at a time.
Currently we are taking advantage of the time-shaping nature of
Faerie to slow down Mr O'Grady's transformation long enough for
the potion that Miss Moriarty, Mrs Cuthbert and Mr Haversham are
brewing in the mortal world to be finished.
I came to help protect Mr O'Grady, but that meant I had to bring
Theodore-- since I can't be away from him for more than a few
hours at a time without difficulty. Bringing Theodore meant
bringing Octavia or risking her hunting me down on her own. She
found a passage into Faerie once before (and recently) so I
didn't really trust her to stay at home. Though her favorite
person, her father, is there. Bringing the children meant
bringing Chi to help me keep them from eating Faerie food and
otherwise getting into trouble. Miss Earwig insisted on coming
along to help care for Mr O'Grady and, I suspect, keep an eye on
Mr O'Flaherty. Given the scolding she gave him yesterday after
the confrontation with the Winter Knight I think she is looking
at him in a Very Specific Way. I'm all for it. I know Mrs Frazer
disapproves of such an age difference in certain Entanglements,
but fortunately friends do not have to agree about everything.
The Lady has seen us settled and offered to let us see what is
going on with our friends back in London. They still have a
mad-bomber to find as well as keeping agents of the Odious One
from getting to the potion. I worry it might be difficult to
watch our friends when without being able to do anything about
it, but it will at least give us some landmarks in this timeless
land.
~Indefinite time later~
Going by what Miss Moriarty is wearing is unreliable as she
changes outfits so often. Mrs Frazer and Lady Cowperthwaite are
the better guides.
~later~
Watching events in the mortal world is a little odd-- things are
not always in order and sometimes only bits and pieces come
through. The Lady said that this is in part because there are
areas (such as the Charles Street residences) that are warded
and her lens can't see into them, or can only pick up snippets.
This is what I have pieced together so far.
Ruth got a job at Griffin Illustrated Weekly. She was apparently
trying her hand at assuming a new identity in order to find out
more about what might be going on there. The editor is Mr Shaw,
the same man who met with Mr O'Flaherty just before he was
attacked. Ruth stayed with the agency through the end of the
week and then used Old Mister Griffin's unwonted attentions to
leave the position at the end of the workday Friday.
Sir Simon and <del>Benton</del> Sergeant-Major
Frazer spoke to various Bishops and other Ecclesiastical
Authorities (you'd think Lambeth would have better wards) as
well as interviewing other people for information. It looks like
they are trying to figure out who might be the target of the
case of autinite that the Heather Belle brought to our shores.
~27 April 1876, Thursday?~
I took the children for a walk around the grounds. Ocatvia
walked (and ran), Chi chased her and I carried Theodore. All is
quiet here in the Lady's fortress.
It looks to be mostly Thursday in the scrying lens now,
~later still~
Two things of note for Thursday.
A baby, later determined to belong to the Shaw family, was found
at a train station. His family had been murdered, and no one
knows how the baby got to the train station. There is nothing in
the murders that would make one think that the murderer would
have mercy on a baby. Missing from the scene was the housekeeper
who is now a suspect.
Theresa Berri dropped by the house to deliver a message to Lord
Cowperthwaite from her father. As she was leaving she mentioned
she was on her way to Scotland. I wonder if she is off to
collect my brother for additional international adventures?
28 April 1876, Friday
Alas, the Lady says the Palace is too well warded for us to
watch the Command Performance of "Molly Sparrow, Queen of the
Pirates." I hope all goes well for Nigel, Fong and the rest of
the company.
29 April 1876, Saturday
Miss Moriarty created a stir during the week by offering a
reward of 100 pounds for information leading to the capture of
Mr McDaniels in both the pages of the Echo and in posters she
had plastered all over London. I deduced it was her after
watching Sir Simon give her a firm talking to about burdening
the police with crackpots after the money without checking with
him first. Right now I'm glad I'm here, far from the shouting.
We seem to have skipped right to Saturday evening as we appear
to be watching events as they unfold at Lord Greyminster's ball
which I seem to remember was on the schedule in Very Large
Letters. This should be interesting.
Quaid O'Flaherty arrived with the Duchess de Tournay on his arm
(formerly Princely Countess Patrizia). I wonder where he found a
suit that fit him on such short notice?
Count von Freiheff seems to have recovered from the dire wounds
he received in the fight with Mr O'Flaherty. I wonder if he has
been staying at his club since we dropped him off. Oh, the
Summer Knight, Mr Reull, is also in attendance. I am now even
happier to be watching this from a distance.
It looks like Princess Sigfrida, Miss McGreggor and Miss
Moriarty are discussing books in-between their respective
dancing duties. The current topic is "Saxons, their Language and
Migrations" in the original German.
Our bomb diffusing acquaintance from Giggleswick, Mr Bradworth,
is putting in an appearance. He, along with Mr William Rossiter,
a cousin of Miss Moriary's on the Moriarty side are already on
Wilhelmina's dance card. Mr Rossiter seems to have the gangly
Moriarty frame and is all elbows and knees, which does not bode
well for successful dancing.
Mr Keane both danced with Miss Moriarty and conversed with her,
rather longer than I would have expected Miss Pinker to allow,
and on topics not normally broached with young ladies of her
apparent station. Particularly the Home Rule question. He
monopolized her rather shamelessly until Constable Gregson
claimed his dance. Their conversation was no more appropriate,
as they talked about the ongoing investigation into the death of
the Shaws and the search for the mad-bomber but it was at least
a useful exchange of information.
While they were chatting a question occurred to me and I asked
it of the Lady. I wondered what affect autinite and the
ætheric energy it releases has on the fair folk. The Lady
answered that it makes an area difficult to move through for a
time but it also wipes an area clean of old magicks. If a Fae
wanted to remove an enchantment from an area an ætheric
discharge of sufficient size would do it.
While I was chatting with the Lady events had moved along in the
mortal realm. Mr Led and Mrs Frost, two of the people we
encountered on our way to the portal in Taunton, arrived at the
ball. It appears that Lieutenant Wooster and he were briefly
allies in the midst of one of the many battles they fought in
the Crimea.
For our further edification, the Lady cast a spell and opened a
second scrying lens to that time in Wooster's life. They fought
together against a common enemy in a particularly vicious
battle. The interesting thing is that Mr Led has not aged since
that time. I wonder if it was not long after that he was
recruited as the Winter Queen's Champion? He and Wooster seem to
be cut from very similar cloth in the brains department, so
while Wooster has Mr Caine, Mr Led has Mrs Frost.
Lieutenant Wooster introduced Mr Led and Mrs Frost to Lord and
Lady Cowperthwaite. Milady asked him what what it was like,
being a representative of Faerie. I don't know what tipped her
off-- I must have missed something while watching events unfold.
Speaking of events-- the Winter Knight and Winter's Champion got
into a bit of a tussle but Mrs Frost broke it up and hustled Mr
Led away before either Mrs Cuthbert or the Bishop of Dover could
intervene. Interesting.
Later Mrs Frost and Mr Led made a second approach to Lord
Cowperthwaite and expressed interest in purchasing some of Miss
Moriarty's ætheric detectors (which Sir Simon has been
handing out to as many constables as possible to aid in the
search for the bomb). Mrs Frost claims she too is interested in
finding the missing autinite before it can be made into a bomb.
Lord Cowperthwaite agreed to meet with her on Sunday and Mrs
Frost and Mr Led disappeared from the ball, but Count von
Freiheff continued to hang around.
The tension between Tobias Gregson and his mother Agatha was
thick tonight. Mrs Frazer intervened in something, but I
couldn't quite tell what it was she stopped Constable Gregson
from doing. Something rash with regards to Miss Oakes (who he
has been spending quite a bit of his time off with), perhaps?
I'm frequently in favor of rash action, but as I am not there,
Mrs Frazer must manage for the both of us.
Constable Gregson and his uncle adjourned to the card room and
joined Mr Q. O'Flaherty, the Dutchess de Tournai and Mr Keane in
a game.
Octavia is feeling restless, so it is time for another stroll
around the grounds and maybe a game of tag between her and Chi.
I am afraid I am being rather lax in any chaperoning
responsibilities I may have toward Miss Earwig, but as Mr
O'Flaherty's attention is focussed for the most part on his
son's dire condition I suspect I can trust to her native good
sense and patience.
30 April 1876, Sunday?
Octavia, Chi, Theodore and I returned from our walk to find that
the scene in the lens had shifted again. I have yet to feel
tired. It feels like only a few hours have passed since our
arrival, but it is clearly Sunday in the outside world.
Sergeant-Major Frazer was apparently involved in a riot at a
church. It is unclear what happened. He has returned to the
office to write a report and nurse a few bruises.
Lord Cowperthwaite left the house to go and meet with Mrs Frost
and negotiate the possible sale of an autinite detector. He took
George with him. We cannot see into much of the house and in
particular the lab-- which means that the wards that Mrs
Cuthbert and I put up are holding and that it is likely that no
one else can see in either.
Lieutenant Wooster has been in and out of the house several
times. Wooster, Lord Cuthbert and Owen set off to the "Dog and
Duck" a public house where Wooster bought the water as a present
for Emily. I'm not certain why he would think that Emily would
think that buying water was a good use of money, but then it is
Wooster, and that might explain why he is going back there.
My goodness! I must alert Wooster-- he is being tricked by a
goblin who is disguised as a constable.
Great-Aunt Hethalyn agreed to try to warn Wooster (or at least
either the Frazers or MacGreggors since she can talk to the
DFT). Alas, we do not have a Wooster ancestor in the DFT chain
or the communication might be more direct. Also with Mrs
Cuthbert behind the wards, spirit communication is a bit
hampered at the moment. I just hope enough of my warning gets
through to the right people!
While I was off dealing with that, the Lieutenant and Lord
Cuthbert found a "private club" to serve them. I should have
known that Lord Cuthbert would find a way to get his drink, even
on a Sunday. As they were leaving the club (apparently it was
'on the way home') their attention was caught by the semaphore
towers sending an SOS from atop the old Admiralty Building
(which is now offices for the nearby Bethlehem Hospital).
We watched as they overheard some men talking about having a
girl trapped on the roof, but not wanting to draw attention to
themselves by breaking the door down. Lieutenant Wooster and
Lord Cuthbert managed to sneak past the three men and creep up
the stairs-- apparently figuring that anyone that was hiding
from such ruffians was well in need of a rescue.
The men caught on to what Lieutenant Wooster and Lord Cuthbert
were doing and there was an altercation on the stairs.
Unfortunately the ruffians had some sort of ætheric
weapons, which when dropped from a height, exploded and wiped
out our view of events.
The last I heard was Owen barking. The Lady is trying to
re-establish contact. I think she is as hooked on the story she
is watching as Lady Cowperthwaite is on her next installment of
penny-dreadfuls. It should come as no surprise, given what we
know of the fair folk, that we are a form of entertainment for
them. However, it is rather startling to see it up close.
~Later, again~
Now that I don't want it to, time feels like it is passing
rapidly as we wait for the Lady to see if she can scry on any of
our companions in the mortal realm.
She was able to find Mr Q.O'Flaherty! He is chained in a cell
with Mr T. Frazer and Constable Gregson. We can see Mr McDaniels
setting up a makeshift bomb. He is gloating about using them as
bait! Apparently a party of our fellows is on his trail and
there is nothing I can do in time to warn them.
~a bit later~
That was very strange. I saw the bomb and felt my concern for my
friends overmaster me and suddenly I felt that I was with Ravvi. It was
very an extremely odd feeling. I would pass it off as hysterics
(which I certainly felt) but in the scrying lens he appeared,
grabbed the bomb and broke out of the tunnel to the surface.
There was a boom and a rattle and dust rained down on the three
trapped men as Ruth and Benton ran into view and began trying to
free the prisoners.
There were enemy agents in the tunnels, including faerie
shadow-dogs. Lord Cuthbert threw a flash-bang and suddenly, Mr
O'Flaherty, who had been standing at my side watching the
action, stepped through the lens and into the action. I asked
the Lady if I could follow and she answered that the Sword
grants Mr O'Flaherty certain powers-- in a tone of voice that
indicated that the best thing that would happen if I tried it
would be that I would disrupt her focus.
If I hadn't had the children, Mr O'Grady, and Miss Earwig under
my care, I would have been very tempted to follow. However, I
managed to restrain myself and focus on watching the action
unfold. I had done all I could in warning my husband of the
bomb.
Mr O'Flaherty's dramatic arrival on the scene, combined with the
grenade Lord Cuthbert had thrown, caused great panic amount the
opposition. Several of the thugs actually fainted at the sight
of Mr O'Flaherty and his sword. A section of the tunnel
collapsed in just the right place to throw a shaft of sunlight
onto the sword.
Mr McDaniels managed to fall into the underground river and
float away. As soon as he was free of his chains, Mr Q.
O'Flaherty took off after him and Mr T. Frazer took off after him.
The rest of our party regrouped and briefed each other. Mrs
Cuthbert and Wilhelmina greatly resisted temptation and are
still at home guarding Cecil (as Mrs Wooster has taken to
calling the potion). Lord Cowperthwaite and George are tracking
the bomb builder. Ruth was the 'girl' trapped at the top of the
Old Admiralty building. She had been tracking Tobias (who Patsy
reported to Mrs Frazer as missing) and she and Turgenov had
found the underground river/tunnel complex and discovered that
Tiberious, Quaid, and Tobais had all been captured the night
before after the ball. She was nearly captured herself, but
managed to flee, and send the signal that Wooster and Lord
Cuthbert later saw. Once reunited with them, they summoned
reinforcements from both Charles Street and the Constabulary and
launched the assault we saw. My husband snatched the bomb, as I
saw, and then broke through to the surface, casting the bomb
high in the air where it exploded with just enough impact to
make our Mr O'Flaherty's dramatic sunbeam.
I must pause in my writing. Apparently I have a visitor.
~somewhat later~
The silvermist clan sent me a message, apparently Mr Bey "has
the building surrounded". I don't know what that means, but I
have sent my Great-Aunt with the message, though she grumbled a
bit about being used as messenger service before going.
Mrs Cuthbert got a similar message and it is passing through the
ranks of our friends via the DFT. I am not quite sure how they
put this together, but they think the bomber (and the main bomb)
is at the Dog and Duck and that is where Lord Cowperthaite and
George went. Some of the information is coming through the
uncanny connexion between my husband and George. George appears
to have been captured. It is all so unclear. We appear to be
quite a disorganized bunch-- no wonder our opposition is
frequently under the impression that they can stop us. It looks
to me like it is better to appear to be disorganized than to be
over confident of one's success.
Case in point. The assault on the Dog and Duck.
In a matter of moments, Lord Cowperthwaite and George went from
being hostages to being masters of the situation. In those few
moments, Mr O'Flaherty had thrown Lady Cowperthwaite up through
the floor and followed quickly on her heels. If they hadn't
already broken one of Lord Cowperthwaite's arms, it is possible
the destruction wrought by Lady Cowperthwaite and would have
been lessened, but I doubt it. She was quiet fed up with the
entire situation. Mr Bey managed to keep the Faerie agents from
escaping (that was what he had meant by having the building
surrounded).
It was a very full few minutes, even stretched out as it was in
Faerie time. By the end of it they had the bomb maker, a Mr
Billy O'Brien, and the faerie agent, Mrs Edge, in custody, along
with numerous minions and hired thugs.
It looks like much of Sunday evening was taken up with getting
officials to the scene and securing the bomb maker and his
materials. The Lord High Warlock's office was called in to help
secure Mrs Edge so she could be put on trial. She is suspected
of being the housekeeper that murdered the Shaw Family.
Eventually all of our partisans returned home and the Lady said
she had some things to attend to. We are ready for some rest of
our own. Miss Earwig is shouldering most of Mr O'Grady's care
now that Mr O'Flaherty has left us. Since he did not return
through the lens-- he will have to make his way back to the
portal at Taunton if he wishes to reunite with us.
1 May 1876, Monday
All quiet today. Most exiting thing in the lens was Miss
Moriarty leaving the house to attend a tea party. I hope the
potion will be done soon. Even though time is passing more
slowly here, I miss my somewhat-singed husband and long to
return home to him with our children.
Though returning to the moral realm means dealing with the bound
Winter King problem. I still have no idea how to free him
without having him kill me once he is free.
As I said earlier, one problem at a time.
Proceed to
Return to Mrs Salmalin's Diary Index
Contents this page copyright 2012 by Kristin Fontaine. All Rights Reserved.