Fairies III A Day In The Life: England free porn video

A day in the life: England Lady Penelope looked across the small town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. "Where now?" she asked. Martin had the listing Erika had made the previous year. "Down two streets. Corner of North Walk and Appley Lane." She nodded, walking in the direction he pointed. The town was sprawled out along the English Channel across from the port of Portsmouth. The shop sign said 'Herbalist'. Lady P smiled at it. On the sign a dozen Faerie danced. She pushed in, hearing the small bell tinkle. "Just a moment!" a voice called from the back. The pair stood, breathing deeply. The air was redolent with the smell of herbs. A small wizened woman came from the back. If someone had been casting for a shopkeeper they would have sent this woman back with a nasty note about stereotyping. "What can I do for you?" the woman asked. Martin held out a card. The woman took it, then lifted a magnifying glass to read it. "Oh dear. Inner World!" "Yes, Ma'am. My name is Martin Runningfox, my associate is Lady Penelope Carstairs." "Wendy Moran." She reached out, shaking hands like a man. "What can I do for you gentle folk?" "You sent a questionnaire to our website saying that you had seen faerie," Lady P said. "Well an old woman's fancy is all it is," the woman replied defensively. "I have bad eyes." Lady P watched her coolly for a moment. Then she looked at Martin, and nodded. He set the camera case down, opening it. Lupine lifted into the air, nestling on Martin's shoulder. She held Rose her daughter in the carrier Martin had supplied almost a year earlier. Wendy stared at her in awe. "You..." She sighed, and tears glistened. "Ladies?" she called. If it had been a movie about cowboys and Indians, they would have appeared on the horizon. The shop wasn't quite big enough, but Martin had the same feeling as a dozen or more Faerie seemed to just appear. They watched him from the shelves, perched on jars, a couple on the counter before him. Then there were gasps of wonder as Thistle flew up, carrying Orchid her daughter. Wendy seemed to stagger, finding a chair to collapse into. "New born Fairy. I haven't seen young ones in ever so long." "They are but a few of many in America now," Lady P told her gently. "Thanks to Martin and others." She looked around the Faerie. "Is your queen here?" she asked. "Her ladyship is back in the nest," one answered with a cockney accent that could have been cut with a knife. "We help old Wendy out when we can. After all," She motioned at the shelves. "These don't fill themselves." "Yes. Ever since my accident they have been so helpful." Wendy motioned toward her face. "I had a stroke a few years ago, and I can't get out to pick the herbs as I used to." "Here now, Wendy, you don't need to explain," the Cockney Fairy retorted. "How you run your business is none of their business." "We came as representatives of our organization to the Faerie of England and the world," Lady P said. "May we visit your nest in the next day or so?" "Have to clear it with her ladyship." "By all means, do. We are at the Rams Head inn." "Right. Four hours soon enough?" "When you have time." "May we visit?" A head stuck up. Kalnia shrugged. "I so love your accent." The Cockney Fairy grinned. "I like the view." Kalnia blushed prettily. "May I, Penelope?" "Go on, love." ***** The Rams Head was a modest inn built on the site of an old pub. Martin sighed, setting the case down on the small table in his room. Jasmine and Yucca flew out, looking out the window. "Why is it so cold?" Yucca said. A native of the tribe near Las Vegas, she had complained about the weather since they arrived. "It's may in England, love," Lady P replied. "Actually for the season it is quite warm." "Warm!" Yucca looked at her shocked. "It hasn't even reached seventy yet!" "And probably won't," Martin commented. "They think it's sweltering when it reaches 80." "You're joking," Yucca challenged. He merely looked at her. "Oh hell, you're not joking!' She dived back into the bag, and pulled out one of the thinsulate lined leather suits they had received in Chicago. She looked around. "Wake me when it's warm!" And dived back into the case. "And so we wait." ***** The Faerie were in a long line, flying over the hedges on the road. One of them signalled, and they moved in closer. To the human eye at a distance, it would have looked like a flock of finches. Below them, a hedgehog slid through the thicket, trundling across the road. They dived, surrounding the animal. Before it could roll up, one of them speared it through the eye. As it collapsed, the Faerie moved in and slid spears beneath the one pound animal. The spear points were actually quills from other hedgehogs they had eaten over the years, and one of the them rubbed the spines on this animal with an appraising air. "Enough for everyone," she reported. They lifted, running from the road. Then they carried it up the slope to the ruins. Others flew past them, bearing honeycombs from a nearby hive, seeds from grass, and in one case, a struggling finch almost her size. It was a busy time of year. Queen Aubretia wanted to lay in the sun as so many were doing even now. It was finally warm enough for that pass time. She hefted, and eager hands caught the carcass, and carried it down into the nest. "Right, we'll have him for dinner," she told the girls. "As soon as he's cleaned, we'll all go swimming." There was a cheer at that. The queen stood on the hill, looking over her domain. There were four nests on the island, and she had been the one that hammered out lines of demarcation. The first to do so in almost four centuries. It wasn't that they fought, merely that arguing about who could fish in what river of pick grain from which field had been a full time job before she had taken her throne. She considered inviting the other nests to hers for a feast. A hedgehog that big was rare these days. She decided she would. Three faerie flew off to deliver the messages, and she mentally went over what they had on hand. Enough for a feast, and more than enough to last. She spotted a fairy approaching, and watched her. Patula? And someone with her! ***** "They came directly to the shop," the Cockney Fairy said. "Spoke with Wendy they did." In the nest Queen Aubretia listened. Then looked at the young Fairy with her. "Who is this, Patula?" "I am called Kalnia now, your Grace," the girl said. "Once I was human." "As were a lot of our people," Aubretia told her. "No shame in that. But this organization. That strikes me as alarming. In the old times we watched the humans, always wary that they might return to their evil ways." She said to the girl. "I have been with them since I converted to Faerie early last year." Kalnia replied. "They have been working to join the Faerie of the world together again, and find those humans that will help." "And if we don't want their help?" "Then they will leave," Kalnia promised. "Patula, you and two others. Bring these people to me." ***** Lady P was not as good at waiting as Martin was. But after all, he'd been learning it before she was born. As she played yet another game of solitaire, he merely sat on the bed, looking out the window. "You know there are over two hundred variations of solitaire." "We call it patience," she replied, flipping up her next set of cards. "Because to learn to win, you must foster patience." "I know." He glanced at her, smiling. "I stopped playing about the time you were born." "Oh dear the wizened head speaks again," she replied semi-sarcastically. "They come," Thistle said softly. Neither human moved. Outside the window, there was a fluttering of wings as a pigeon leaped into flight. A moment later, there was a tap on the pane. Martin went to it, and motioned before rotating the vertical window open. Three faerie seemed to materialize before them. The Cockney Fairy bowed sardonically. "Queen Aubretia asked us to bring you," she said. "I am Patula. My associates are Zinnia and Lobelia." Lady P motioned. "Martin Runningfox of the United States. I am Lady Penelope Carstairs. Is it within walking distance?" "Easily," Patula replied. Martin picked up the case. Yucca leaped from it, and burrowed under the covers of the bed. "Yucca, will you be all right here?" "I'll be warm," the lump replied. The humans shrugged, and left the room. It was a little under a mile to the hill where both the old and new Quarr Abbeys stood. The one, a ruin from the 11th century had been preserved, and was now a tourist attraction. The new building occupied by Benedictine Monks rested a hundred meters away. The fairy led them into the shrubbery near the ruins. There was a gap large enough for a man to slide through, and they motioned to it. Martin slide the case ahead, and crawled in. "I am going to have to buy more clothes suitable for this," Lady Penelope said. She looked at the khakis she wore, and the heavy boots. Then she crawled after him. The space below was larger, but not much bigger than a jail cell. Martin leaned against the wall, and opened the case. Jasmine was out first, rubbing her arms. "I have to agree with Yucca. It is damn cold here." "Cold!" Patula snorted. "It's a fine spring day out there!" "Not compared to Las Vegas." At the blank expressions, she sighed. "Once Martin and Lady P have set up their show, you'll see what I mean." The faerie bit the humans, and they shrank. One thing the mobile teams had reported was that humans became sensitized to the venom over long exposure. Where someone that had not been bitten took as much as an hour to shrink from one bite, for one of these older hands, the time was much shorter. Rob had reported from Hawaii that seven bites (Which took about five minutes for the new person) shrank him to their size now in under a minute. Neither of them looked at their watch. It had already been decided that when the teams went into winter quarters again, they would test the process more fully. Once down to their size, and dressed, Martin directed them in carrying the Bayberry Playstation Plus and chargers. The path led through what might have been a mouse hole centuries ago, but entered a more wondrous place almost immediately. A natural cavern at least ten meters long, and five high. Along the walls there were small fires, the light of Faerie flitting from place to place within it. More like a rookery than a nest. Patula had them set down the equipment, and motioned. "Follow me." The Faerie and guests flew up to a larger opening. Two Faerie standing outside nodded to them, then led them onward to a deeper chamber. Queen Aubretia nodded to them. She was dressed in moleskin leather, a heavy antique sword at her side. "Welcome to my domain. I have heard from your little friend about your organization. Please explain it to me." Lady P began. Part way through a number of Faerie were sent down, and brought back the equipment, which Martin began setting up. The queen listened politely. "So, your organization is joining us together. Why?" "It began as a way to expand the breeding possibilities for your race," Lady P began. "A young Fairy in California started it." "California." The queen made the word five syllables. "And this is where?" "I have heard of it, your grace," Patula replied. "Sir Francis found it a few years before I became a Faerie." "You knew Sir Francis Drake?" Martin asked. "Not knew him, I had seen him from a distance." "Well then I can give you a lot of information about what he discovered." Martin brought up the National Geographic map site, and the Faerie were suitably impressed by the screen. He tapped first California, then the LA area, and finally brought it down until the area called the Angeles Forest came into view. "This is the home of Dandelion's tribe. Thistle and Lupine are from here as well. Their queen is Periwinkle." He took it back out, tapping Nevada, and bringing up Las Vegas. "Our friend Jasmine and Yucca, who stayed in our room are from here, as was Kalnia before she became Faerie." "So far away," Aubretia murmured. "We would not have even known they existed. "We've only been at this a little under two and a half years, your grace," Martin told her. "But this is what we have accomplished." He brought up the Innerworld website. He put in his password, and a map appeared with a series of dots. There were eighteen in the US and Canada, ten in Hawaii, five in France, two in Mexico and three in England. "These are Branch offices we have set up. Humans actively helping to find more of you. But if we add the nests..." There were over a hundred in the US alone. "These are other tribes that we are in communications with now. Each has a unit like this one, and one like that as well." He motioned toward the PSP. He brought up the chat room. Thanks to the expansion, there were separate ones for different languages, Hawaiian English French Italian and one marked Mycenaean. "As other tribes join, we are adding more. By this time next year, we expect Greek Spanish Japanese and Turkish to be added." "But for you and your advisors, we have this one." Lady P tapped the crown icon. It expanded until a chat screen came up. There were thirty queens of various tribes already there. LADY P 01: GREETINGS LADIES. CONTACTING FROM QUARR ABBEY, ISLE OF WIGHT. DANDELION201: HEY LADY PENELOPE! HOW'S THE OLD FART DOING? LADY P 01: STILL OLD. DANDELION201: TELL HIM THE INVITATION IS STILL OPEN. LADY P 01: SHALL DO. She logged out. "This provides communication with any tribe we have contacted so far. Also with the organization itself. It also gives you listings of human people who either know of or believe faerie exist." "Why is that good?" "Because we have discovered that 75% of humans can see you readily," Martin said. "But that is impossible! Our own memories say far fewer can see us!" Martin shrugged. "You memories do not include the mindset of people. When Christianity decided to demonize everything but the Angels and God, people weren't willing to admit they could see you. Now we have that, plus psychology to explain you away." "Mind study?" "Yes. To admit that someone sees you suggests to the average mind problems with their mind which require treatment. Men will actively destroy that mind to remove what they call a delusion." "Monstrous!" "As bad as burning people as witches was," Lady P agreed. "But we must deal with it." "These people. The ones who think they can see us, how are they treated?" "It depends mainly on the doctor in charge," Martin replied. He began explaining chemical therapies, then went into the other more vigorous methods. Aubretia looked more and more stony. "That explains it," she finally said. "Humans are monsters still." "Your grace-" "You allow this to happen?" She pointed at the screen. "While you connect us in some great web your people still destroy minds that can see us?" "I am afraid so," Martin replied softly. "I never said humans weren't horrible, just that not all of us are." Aubretia stalked back to her throne. "We must rescue them." "Your grace, we can rescue some," Lady P replied. "But all? Why are you so furious about this one thing?" Aubretia looked at her. "About a century ago, there was a young human woman named Margaret. I met her and we became friends. She used to give me pieces of her treacle sandwiches, and we played together. We were of an age. I was at that time only about twelve years old. "But one day she disappeared. She wasn't at home, and nothing I heard from within it told me where she was. She returned, and I was horrified by the change. A vibrant woman of seventeen reduced to a drooling vegetable who did not recognize me. Who could not even tie her own shoes. Upon her head was a scar." She motioned toward her forehead. "As if a knife had been thrust into her head. "I became even more astonished to overhear her family speaking of her, saying they had done this to her. They had done it because she was sick, and this was the only cure. As if we were a disease!" "Martin looked at her sadly. "They no longer suggest lobotomy." "But is their treatment any better now?" Aubretia demanded. "Is it better that they are given chemicals against their will?" "Not really." "Then for Margaret's sake. For all like her, I shall not leave them in such a place!" She stood. "If you wish us to join, you will help us with this." "Will you listen to counsel from the other Queens first?" Lady P asked. Aubretia glared at the woman. "Put me in communication with them." ***** The queens arrived. Snap Dragon from Totland, Calendula from Niton Physalis from Hillway. Each had brought half a dozen advisors. What they hadn't expected was the Quarr hill tribe to be on what looked like the warpath. Each approached cautiously, but found themselves welcomed. A massive hardened mud ball simmered in a spherical fire pit, and dozens of Faerie were busy cooking grain and fresh spinach and other greens. "Where is Aubretia?" Physalis asked. She was the eldest of the queens, having celebrated her 2500th birthday just the week before. "Up screaming at the other Queens," Patula replied. "Some newcomers brought us some wonderful things..." She paused. Here they are, i will let them explain." The queens' eyes widened as the man landed beside a slender tall woman. The woman stepped forward, bowing. "I am Lady Penelope Carstairs. My friend and I are humans of an organization named Innerworld." She quickly explained, especially about Aubretia's ire. "...Right now she is trying to get the other Queens across the world to lift their ban on mass disappearances." "I believe since this affects us, we should be part of this discussion." Physalis said. The woman sighed. "I thought you might want to do that. So I sent for some assistance... ***** The door opened, and Yucca froze. Someone had come into the room, and was fiddling with some of the baggage. She slid forward, lifting the edge of the comforter. The woman was young, with dark brown hair, a milk like skin, and seemed very irritated. "Go to their hotel, get a bloody video camera, and bring it to Quarr Abbey," she mumbled. "No, 'Hello my dear granddaughter, or 'how is the writing going? Or 'did you have anything planned?' just 'get off your loaf, and do this, that's a good girl'." She picked up the camera, looking at it. The entire unit was a cube the size of a postage stamp. "Why the bloody hell I should..." She stopped. Yucca realized that she was looking past the camera at the Fairy. She blinked, shaking her head. Then her eyes snapped open again. "You're a Fairy." "And you have stated the obvious," Yucca replied standing. "Not only a Fairy but an American Fairy!" she said triumphantly. "Two obvious facts. Shall we try for 'you're a girl fairy'? Or 'bloody hell you have a sword'?" she drew. "What are you doing here?" "My grandmother Wendy asked me to bring a camera to Quarr Abbey for someone named Martin." "Fine. Then I'm coming with you." Yucca sheathed her sword, then dived into the case the girl had been in, pulling out a sectioned spear, and a bow and quiver. "I just hope your car has a heater." "Car?" The girl looked at her. "It's a five minute walk!" "Shit." ***** The girl lifted the collar of her jacket, listening to the whining of the Fairy as she walked. "I can't go to Greece, oh no, I have to a an icebox! No hot sun and sweet drinks for me, oh no." "Listen, what is your name." "Yucca." "Well Yucca this icebox is my home, so at least be polite enough not to say such horrible things about it." "Well my home is Las Vegas." "That's in Nevada." "Why you even know geography! Will wonders never cease?" "Listen you pint sized colonial-" "Will you two be silent?" A voice snapped. Two fairy, one in a leather like Yucca's flew down, floating in the air like miniature Harriers. "We heard you three block away. Both of you!" "Zip it, Thistle," Yucca snapped. "This girl has a camera-" "Yes, we know. Martin and lady P sent us to get it. The argument is getting hot and heavy, and we figured the faster the conference was visual, the better." She looked at the woman. "Hello, my name is Thistle. This is Lobelia, a local." "Pleased to meet you," the woman said in a stunned whisper. "You know where Martin is?" "With her grace, and her guests. If we hurry, maybe it won't come to blows." The girl struggled up the slope, then into the cleft the Faerie pointed at. She stared in amazement bordering on wonder as she shrank, then they led her into the cave. Carrying the precious camera, the girl flew up after the Faerie, and landed in the small cave. There was a huge thing she recognized as a Playstation Plus, and another she recognized as a Bayberry. The Fairy at the Bayberry growled then pointed. "Connect it, please." "Here." A tall woman took the bulky box, walking over to the system. "Martin, do we have enough light?" "It'll have to do unless you ladies can make some." She looked at the man who knelt beside the PSP. "The damn thing has a screen, but it doesn't put out a lot of light." The irate fairy walked to the wall, touching the stone. She closed her eyes, and slowly the stone started to glow. "It won't last for very long." "What about dinner?" Another Fairy asked flying in. "Everything is ready except for the hedgehog." "Thank you Cosmos. Call us when it is done." The Fairy looked at the girl. "You're Wendy's Granddaughter Jennifer, am I correct?" "Yes, ma'am." "Sorry to interrupt your evening, but this conversation started getting hot and heavy. We needed the video feed, whatever the hell that is." "Live pictures transmitted from the other end," Jennifer replied. "So they have told me." The Fairy waved at her technical staff. "I am sorry, where are my manners. I am Aubretia, Queen of the Quarr Abbey realm of the Faerie." She looked around. "Where are the others?" She demanded. "Snap Dragon is lazing along with Zinnia. Calendula and Physalis are discussing the battle of Baden Hill." "Baden Hill?" Jennifer asked. "Where Arthur fell?" "Arthur?" Patula shook her head. Artorius Pantarkan, leader of a Sarmation cataphract. Married Gwyhaffer daughter of king Magnus Magnusson, Claimed to be high king of Britain in 415 AD. Killed by a coalition of Saxons and Picts led by the Celt Mordred at the battle of Baden Hill in 426."She leaned forward. "Are you all right, miss?" "Please tell me someone is recording this!" "With what?" Patula commented. Jennifer moaned. "I have to get down there-" "Don't bother," Aubretia snapped. "They will be up here as soon as Patula remembers that I wanted them here for this conference." "Oh, right." Patula took off, shooting down into the cavern below. She smiled. "Sorry, I am a bit testy right now. I promise that if you visit again, I can bring them and they can bore you to your heart's content." ***** Ridgley Sanitarium rested in the gentle rolling hills of the island. A government run operation, it housed almost a hundred patients. Martin looked the building over, then motioned to the fifty Faerie around him. ***** The woman looked at her feet, hair hanging in ratty strands before her eyes. Her feet she decided slowly, were the most important part of her body. After all, the strait jacket she wore did not cover them, and no one stuck objects into them as they did with her arms, mouth and anus. She stared at the ten little digits in wonder. Why are you so important and the rest of me is not? Something landed beside her foot, and after a moment she looked at it. Her mind rebelled. It could not be real. It was a rat, or a large dragonfly. The thing rose into the air, hanging beside her face. Then she felt something bite her. She screamed, but screams were not something new in this place. No one came to see why she screamed as it bit her again and again. The straitjacket felt loose, and she tried to keep her arms tight against her body. If they saw it was loose they would tighten it more, give her more injections, make the world less normal than it had been. She wondered why she could think that far ahead. The medicine she was on should have made it hard to chose an ice cream flavor let alone think of what the doctors might do next. The thing, no, Fairy hovered before her eyes, and she saw something there she rarely saw in the eyes of her doctor or nurses. She saw pity. The jacket was beginning to grow over her head now, and she gasped in terror as it receded away from her. She was thinking clearly for the first time in years, and the very thought terrified her. She would be punished. Her father would beat her, her mother shout at her. "No..." she gasped. "Be still little one," the Fairy said. "Not real... not real..." "But I am real." "No. Can't be." she whimpered. She rolled into a fetal ball, finding her arms clasped around bare legs. Her gown was a tent, a hiding place. The cloth was coarse and she could see the weaving of it now. Then it was pulled aside. The fairy was about a foot and a half tall, but as the woman watched, she was growing larger. "No!" The woman shoved backwards, the now massive layer of cloth sliding. Something ripped out of her back, and she tried to claw at it. The Fairy caught her hands, and she charged at her, the pair now of a size rolling through the cloth. Then she froze. Her mind was clear, she could see the Fairy above her, looking a bit amused, and far above, the ceiling of the room. The padding on the walls, the door. "It takes a while for the medicine to be neutralized," the Fairy told her. "How do you feel?" The woman sat up, looking at her arms, then at the room as if she had never seen it before. "Am I having another hallucination?" The Fairy laughed, then leaned forward to give her a peck on the cheek. "Do hallucinations kiss you?" She shook her head. She had been wrong. She wasn't thinking clearly, she was thinking more clearly than she ever had. She stood, stretching. "What happened to me?" "We are rescuing you." She looked at the Fairy, setting hands on hips. "Fairy are fiction, they are things created by man's mind." She parroted. "My mum told me that years ago." The Fairy stood. They were about the same height. "My dear girl... What is your name?" "Virginia Carmichael." For some reason, this caused the Fairy to smile. "Yes, Virginia, there are Fairies. Now the only question is, do you like it here? Or do you want to leave with me?" "I can't just leave!" Virginia replied appalled. "Doctor Lester will never let me leave." "And how is he going to stop you?" The Fairy lifted into the air. "Can he fly out through the ducting like we can?" "I can't-" Virginia felt something moving behind her, and looked. She had wings! She looked back up, then her wings hummed as she lifted slowly into the air. "Oh my god, I can fly!" "Come my dear. Let's get out of here." The Fairy reached out, and she caught the hand, flying upward toward the vent. The ducting was dusty, and dirty, and Virginia had never been more excited. At one turn a Fairy stood, making marks on the metal with a thin piece of charcoal. "How many, Alissum?" "Forty-two so far, your grace." The Fairy shrugged. "Don't know how many have gone past Iris in the other tube yet." "I shall check. There should be ninety-seven all told. I will send someone for you in a moment." The Fairy pulled the girl along, flying up and out into the overcast frigid night. Virginia shivered, following blindly as they flew down toward a car. They flew in through the window, and Virginia stared in amazement at the sea of faces below her. Her guide brought her down by a woman that was dressed in a leather outfit, holding a piece of paper and charcoal. "Lady Penelope?" "Seventy four so far, your Grace," she reported. Then she looked up. "Martin?" "We are running out of time, Your grace." Virginia spun at the man's voice. He was huge! "I know that, Martin," the fairy that had brought her said. "But we are almost done." "Step up the pace a bit please." He sounded bored. The fairy shook her head, turning to Virginia. "You stay here with the others, my dear. I have work to do." Then she was aloft again. The faerie that sat or lay on the mat all seemed to be as dazed as she was. A couple she thought she recognized. But she wasn't sure. There were men among them as well. The other side of the hospital, she remembered, was for male patients. Another pair fluttered in, and Lady Penelope marked them on the list. Virginia sat near her, watching. The woman was biting her lip. Another pair, another mark. "Why are you only marking one when two arrived?" she asked. "Because Mesembriantum was already a fairy, not someone we are rescuing," the woman replied tartly. She looked at the girl, then smiled. "Of most of them you seem the most alert." "I don't know why that is. The first I knew I was being alert was when the lady you have all been calling your grace asked me if I wanted out of there." "Aubretia tends to be a bit... forceful," Lady Penelope replied. "They argued for three days before the Queens allowed her to pull this off." "Queens?" Lady P explained, and was almost through when a flurry of faerie flew into the car. "That is the last of them, Martin," Aubretia reported. He sighed, started the car, and drove. To the faerie now scattered on the seats, floorboards, and even under the seats, it was a terrifying ride. After about an hour, the car stopped. "All right, everyone out." "May I have your attention!" Aubretia stood on the seat clapping her hands. "We will be guiding you all to your new home, but there are only about thirty of us, so please be patient." She took the hands of two of the confused fairy, and flew up out of the car. ***** MASS DISAPPEARANCE Ryde Gazette Ridgley hospital and the local police have reported that ninety-seven patients at the Ridgley Sanitarium have disappeared overnight. Ridgley, a Ministry of Health hospital for the insane is one of the best designed hospitals in the nation, and how all of the patients could have escaped and done so secretly is still under investigation. Chief Inspector Hillard of Scotland yard has reported that none of the doors had been tampered with, nor had any of the surveillance cameras installed on the perimeter detected any movement larger than a small dog. One however had been disconnected. 'There was some movement reported, but it was taken to be a flight of bats'. Hillard reported. 'Nothing as large as a person was detected. The one camera that was not working had been disconnected from the system, but was not reported. Since it led to the steepest slope outside the hospital grounds, it is unlikely that anyone would have attempted to escape in that direction.' Scent dogs have been brought in, but they have detected no footprints or sign that anyone had been there. They merely led the police down to a small lane outside. The road is not large enough for a large van or bus to stop without being noticed.' Investigations are continuing... ***** "It doesn't make any bloody sense," Hillard told his men. The dozen or so local constabulary and men from his own office at the Yard looked embarrassed. He snatched up the paper he had been commenting on, waving it. "According to our own forensics laboratory, the only evidence is a hand print the size of a bloody mouse's paw!" He threw it down. "Now I want you to go out there and look again!" ***** Wendy carefully made a note on a bottle, then walked over to the shelf. Three fairy flew down, took the bottle from her, and lifted it onto the shelf for her. She started to walk back to her seat, then stopped, swaying. She collapsed slowly to the ground. The Faerie dived down. ***** Her last memory before collapsing was that her head hurt. Yet her head did not hurt now. In fact it was the first time in decades where she didn't have any of the normal pains of aging. She opened her eyes, seeing the half dozen faces looking down at her. Odd, they had always been so small before. "How do you feel?" Patula asked her. The woman bent over, and Wendy was confused. Patula was only a little under four inches tall. When had she grown taller than her? "I am terribly confused." Wendy replied. She raised a hand, and stared at it. There was no hanging layer of flesh. It looked like a young woman's arm. "We found out we could cure your stroke." She looked at the face. Aubretia. Then the Queen reached down, helping her up. "And if you wish, you can join us forever." ***** A week later, Edward her oldest son came into the shop. He was a successful business man in his own right, and wondered why mother wanted to see him. Perhaps she'd had another stroke, though the doctors hadn't told him as she should. Mother turned, and he stared. She was not only moving well, but he didn't see the signs of stiffness he was used to. She walked over, without her cane, he noted, and took his hand. "My boy. I wanted to speak with you about Jennifer." He snorted. The girl was a waste of human life, as far as he was concerned. Barely 20, and she had forsaken the idea of getting married or a career to write of all things, fantasy stories! "I am giving the business to her," Wendy told him. "Mother, she will run it into the ground!" he protested. "All of that new age nonsense has taught her nothing about business!" "Then it is a good thing she will have the same help I had when your father died," she replied. "I was letting you know because I am also going to be leaving when Jennifer is ready to take over." "Leaving?" "Yes. Some friends have invited me to stay with them." "For how long, mother? She laughed. "I don't think I will be coming back, Edward." "Mother you have enough for perhaps a holiday, but what makes you think there is enough for a long stay?" he said trying to be reasonable. "I have enough for what I intend to do. I just called you because I do not have Jennifer's number." "I shall tell her, but don't hold out too much hope," he snorted, then pecked her on the cheek. "I will bring her by tomorrow." "That's a good boy." He harrumphed, and stormed back out. "That might have gone better," Aubretia commented from the shelf. She reached up, and Aster who had once been known as Virginia sat beside her, an arm wrapped around her new love. "My dear girls, one thing I learned from you, is to take life as it comes. Besides, can you think of anyone better suited to write a history of your tribe?" "At least she is family," Aubretia commented. "So where were we?" "The nest." "Ah. The Abbot was named John St Cyr when my mother met him. He thought us to be angels, and promised that we would always be welcome... ***** The editor looked at the manuscript. He had never read such a delightful story in his life. He tapped his intercom. "Megan, I need a letter sent." He picked up the plate that had come with it. It looked like a photo- realistic picture. A huge man in ancient scale armor upon a horse. On the shoulder of the man stood what looked like a Fairy in armor like that the man wore, with a bow in her hand, the other holding onto his coif. Above the man swirled a red banner with a dragon on it. The title across the picture read 'suggested cover photograph'. Megan came in, smoothing down her skirt, and flipped open her pad. "To Jennifer Moran. Address right there." He motioned to the page. Megan wrote it down without slowing down. At her nod he leaned back. "Have read your novel 'Fairy Knight' and must say I am amazed by the authenticity of your portrayal of the Arthurian Legend. Please contact my office about contracts and royalties as soon as possible. Signed, you know what to put down." He lifted the picture again. Odd, if you didn't know Faerie were fictional, you would swear that was Quarr Abbey over on the Isle of Wight in the background...