Dusty Red ~ Part 19

Can anyone believe it? We are twenty weeks since I started this and I've done a post every week! Amazing! Next week is the week when I'll reveal the new picture and you all get to tell me how you like it! But that's next week.
Yesterday there was the annual book fair in our town, so we spent half the day there. I only got eight books, 3 Harry Potter, 'Avalanche Pass' by John Flanagan, 1 dictionary of mythical creatures, 1 Irish folk tales book,  'Airborn' by  Kenneth Oppel and 'The Silmarillion' by Tolkien. 
The book fair is my excuse for the fact that this post is slightly later in the day than I usually do them. (At least I think it is.) I didn't actually write the story until this morning. But I did find that I wrote it surprisingly quickly considering I started off with no idea what was going to happen. :D

For those who don't know, since I ended up with equal votes for both option 2 and option 3 I decided to combine them and this is the resulting option, perhaps I should call it option 5 because it's 2+3: 

5. Nainsi sat in clear view, her arms chained to her chair. Flicks’ eyes widened incredulously as she saw that Nainsi, as if oblivious to the chains, was calmly sipping a cup of steaming tea. But something else made Flicks stare in surprise: a pair of boots, covered in fine, red dust. The wearer of these remained hidden by her restricted view. She groaned inwardly, she knew exactly who it was.

How's that? I hope it's not objectionable to anyone that I'm combining them because if it is too bad, as by the time you read this it'd (just to state the obvious) already be published so...yeah.
I confess that option number three was my favourite so I was perfectly happy to write something about it. 

To the story now, so you can see the result of my morning!

Nainsi sat in clear view, her arms chained to her chair. Flicks’ eyes widened incredulously as she saw that Nainsi, as if oblivious to the chains, was calmly sipping a cup of steaming tea. But something else made Flicks stare in surprise: a pair of boots, covered in fine, red dust. The wearer of these remained hidden by her restricted view. She groaned inwardly, she knew exactly who it was.

Flicks scrambled to her feet. “This is completely crazy!” she hissed at Skilf. “For one, Nainsi is supposed to be in Esueño—” 

“Apparently she isn’t,” Skilf interrupted.

“And what’s Kendal doing here?” Flicks continued, ignoring Skilf interruption.

“Don’t ask me! I’ve got less clue than you,” Skilf replied. “This doesn’t look good,” she groaned softly.

“I believe I did mention the fact that we might be near Nainsi,” Fred pointed out from her usual position on Flicks’ shoulder.

“Yes, but you didn’t say she’d be chained up in a room with Kendal,” Flicks replied with some heat.

Skilf winced at the amount of noise she made and opened her mouth to say something but she stopped at the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. She dived under a small table and Flicks after but a moment’s hesitation took the only cover left, under a chair.

Flicks only just had time to squeeze herself under and pull her legs in before the door opened. Lord Cameron stood in the doorway. He looked up and down the hallway then back over his shoulder. “No one here. It was probably just some servants,” he said.

“Perhaps you should tell your servants not to come this way when you are...meeting with visitors,” came an all too familiar voice from inside the room.

Flicks glanced towards Skilf. She was half covering her face with her hands as if it would make it harder for her Uncle to see her. Fred squiggled around trying to unjam herself from between Flicks and the chair. Flicks bit her lip, forcing herself to stay still until the door closed. But Lord Cameron seemed uncertain that his theory about servants was correct and remained in the doorway, looking along the corridor.

Flicks heard the clink of a chain then Nainsi’s voice reached her ears. “How long are you planning on standing there for? I’m getting slightly tired of staring at your back. Besides, I’m almost out of tea.”

Lord Cameron spun to face into the room. “You should be glad I even gave you the first cup,” he snarled and slammed the door behind him.

Flicks released a breath and emerged from beneath the chair. Fred stretched her wings, “That was interesting,” she said.

Skilf joined them and looked at the closed door. “It’s a good thing Men are half blind and half deaf really, otherwise we’d be in a bit of trouble. For a second or so there I was sure we’d end up as pickled monkey or something of the like.”

“Pickled monkey?” Flicks asked in a whisper.

“Long story, I’ll tell you later,” Skilf said. “Right now, we need a plan.”

“For a start we could move away from that door,” Fred suggested.

Flicks nodded, “Good idea.” She walked along the hall to the far end, Skilf several steps behind.

Skilf leant her back against the wall, staring unseeingly at the floor. “What are you—” Flicks began but Skilf held up a hand to stop her. Flicks fell silent and made her way to a window, looking out over the forest.

Skilf suddenly straightened and turned a flashing grin on Flicks. “I’ve got it!”

“Got what?” Flicks asked.

“We’ll climb out the window, and climb across the wall to just below Lord Cameron’s meeting room and climb in the hidden room there!” Skilf said triumphantly.

“There is a hidden room?” Flicks questioned.

“Aye,” Skilf replied, rolling her eyes. “If there wasn’t I wouldn’t have said there was.”

“Whatever,” Flicks said, and turned back to the window. Finding the latch she pushed it open. “Who first?” she raised an eyebrow at Skilf.

“You go first,” Skilf returned. “There’s a ledge you can put your feet on once you’re down low enough.”

“Okay,” Flicks said. “You coming with me Fred?”

Fred lashed her tail and jumped onto the floor. “I’ll fly,” she said, then whispered something that Flicks only just caught. “Flicks Fails to Fly but Fred Flew.”

“What was that?” Flicks asked.

“Flicks Fails to Fly but Fred Flew,” Fred repeated, “Try say it. It’s a tongue twister.”

“Flicks fails to fly but Fred flew,” Flicks said. “What’s so hard about that?”

Fred’s face looked disappointed. “Never mind,” she muttered.

Flicks shrugged and swung one leg out the window. I’m not going to think about the massive drop below me and what would happen if I fell. I’m not going to think about falling at all... Oh, wait a moment...I am.

Flicks swung her other leg over the window sill and twisted around, her feet feeling for footholds. I really should have taken my shoes off, she thought, too late now. Flicks sighed with relief as she felt the ledge under her feet. She looked up at Skilf’s anxious face peering over the windowsill.

“All good?” Skilf asked in a half whisper.

“As good as climbing along a castle wall can be I guess,” Flicks replied. She shuffled her feet along the ledge, her heart in her mouth. She felt a ridiculous urge to laugh as she thought about that figure of speech. If my heart was actually in my mouth I don’t think I’d be casually climbing along the wall of a castle, she thought, but then, you never know.

Flicks moved along the wall, her eyes on the window of Lord Cameron’s meeting room. All she had to do was get there without falling and then...get into Skilf’s secret room somehow. She realised she’d forgotten to ask how to get into it.

“Hey Skilf?” she called softly.

“Aye,” Skilf replied.

“How do I get into your secret room thingy?”

The reply came quietly, “Just kick the bricks above the ledge when you’re under the window of Lord Cameron’s meeting room. It’ll open then so you can drop into it.”

Flicks swallowed nervously at the word ‘drop’ wondering if Skilf meant that literally or not. She continued along the ledge and reached her goal without falling, dying, accidentally breathing her heart, laughing about nothing or even being seen.

Flicks decided to take a slight risk and she reached up and hooked her fingers onto the sill of the window, desperately hoping no one inside had suddenly felt the need for a breath of fresh air. She stood on one foot and kicked the wall with the other.

Instantly a gap, half a meter square appeared as the stones of the wall moved back silently. Flicks realised that the dropping was literally. She took a deep breath and tried to steady her thumping heart.

Then the window opened.

The bottom of the window grazed Flicks’ fingers as it came up and Flicks bit her lip waiting for the shout of surprise that signalled her discovery.

Lord Cameron leant out the window, taking a deep breath of the cold air. Flicks held her breath, any moment now he’ll look down and see me.

“So Manirus is planning to invade over Rocos?” Kendal’s voice came through the window.

Lord Cameron turned, “Yes, I have had meetings with them thrice now and we have come to an agreement.” The tall lord disappeared from Flicks’ view as he spoke, moving further into the room.

Flicks could hardly believe he hadn’t noticed her. “Must you leave that window open?” Nainsi asked now, her voice careless.

Flicks heard a snort from in the room then footsteps coming towards the window. She realised that her fingers would probably jam the closing window and should that happen discovery was inevitable.

There was no time to think, so Flicks dropped, swinging her legs so she would land in the secret room. She somehow managed to drop into the hole successfully. She fell through the gap and right onto a rather strange shaped object.

A moving object.

Flicks barely suppressed a yell of surprise as the thing scrambled from underneath her, standing up and looming over her in the semidarkness.

~

1. “What in all of everywhere made you do that?” it said a familiar shrill voice.

2. “Ouch,” Fred said, shaking her wings. “You had to choose that particular place to land didn’t you.”

3. “And who do you think you might be?” a dark voice whispered.

~

Thanks to you all for reading my ramblings! Just remember that a simple comment can change the course of the future.

Fare Thee Well!

Dusty Red ~ Part 18/My 14th Birthday

Hey there readers! Here I am, a fourteen year old! I hope I didn't give anyone a heart attack when they read that I'd never do another post...Don't worry, I hope this instalment will cure all diseases or other afflictions I have placed on you. I had a great birthday, I got five books: The first 3 books of The Impossible Quest series by Kate Forsyth, 'heartless' and 'draven's light' two books in the Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. I've finished reading heartless and it was really, really, really, really (okay I think you get the point) good. You can read my Goodreads review here. 

I also got quite a lot of leather, some cool medieval looking ornamental key thingys, several music books, a Bel Thomson CD, and the promise of 24 thousand or so chain mail links so I can make a chain mail vest or something of the sort. I think I've forgotten something...Oh I've remembered two more things! The Boxtrolls movie and the corner of a brick. I got the brick from a cute four year old boy who apparently has a precious pet rock...I also got the coolest ever wooden (although it looks real) cutlass. (Yes, it was crafted by the Master Swordsmith. Thank you once again.) (I still think I've forgotten several things...)

I invited two families, so there was plenty of people, 21, I think, including us. After a really fun piñata that we whacked to bits with swords, we played a game (Of my invention) which I haven't named but it went something like this: There were 2 teams. My team had treasure which the other team wanted to find. To do this they had to capture us and try to get us to tell them where the treasure was. The other team succeeded quite quickly in catching my team and since some of us had played this a few times before someone knew how expert I was at escaping...so I got rather tied up. Nevertheless, I bargained some information on the treasure (which I thought would be completely useless) to get my legs slightly untied. After that I happily managed to slip out of the rest of the ropes tying me and run away.

See my really cool cutlass?

After a while of hiding I walked right up to the other team's base while they were all off treasure hunting. My companions had also managed to escape, and I decided that if I took all the rope no one would be able to tie us up! So I started untying rope from trees and chairs, and untangling it...Soon enough the other two members of my team came along and helped me.

And then one of the other team came along. After a while I decided to tie him up, since he seemed to want me to. I tied his hands nice and tightly in front of him (he was directing me how to do it (I did kinda already know) and assuring me it wasn't too tight.) and then, at an onlooker's urging, tied them above his head to the tree behind him. I decided to watch him try escape, and after taking his knife out of his pocket, I proceeded to do so. He got his feet out fairly quickly (note: I hadn't tied them up) but his hands presented a rather difficult problem...

For the next minutes it was very amusing to watch him try untie himself. His hand slowly began to change into a rather funny colour. I have no idea how long we were there for, but at the end several people estimated 20 minutes. I made a bargain with the prisoner that if he could get away, I'd give him the treasure. Sadly it turned out I couldn't do this as after a while his sister (who was also on his team) managed to find it, so it was no longer mine to give. Instead I promised him a piece of cake. (even if he was already going to get that.)

I was a very nice captor really, as I gave him back his knife so he could try cut the rope, but the knife was so blunt that it didn't work anyway.

He did untie the rope and get out eventually...but it took him a very long time.

When we went inside for cake he discovered that the whole time he'd had a pocket knife in his jacket pocket that was sharp enough to cut the rope...He wasn't too pleased that he'd forgotten it.

I had three relighting candles on my cake...I think it took me a whole minute to get all of them to stay out.

So it was a very fun day. I've forgotten to tell you half of my presents and about half of what we did but I'm sure you'll forgive me.

I'd best get to the point of the post: The story. Option three (Ice-cream) was voted in, so ice-cream it is! I must admit, what Flicks says (the, "Ice-cream. That's what I want: Ice-cream." bit.) is actually a quote from the 'Read With Me Bible' computer game that my sisters and I used to do ages ago. We can still quote half of it! :D I also decided that Flicks should fall asleep, as I don't think she's slept for...a long time....I couldn't be bothered to find out exactly how long. But now, to the story:

Two soldiers entered the room and at a gesture from Lord Cameron seized Flicks. The huge lord smiled mirthlessly, “Anything you’d like to say before they lock you up?”

Flicks sighed, “Ice-cream. That’s what I want: Ice-cream.”

“What?” Cameron’s eyebrows twisted in confusion and...Was that a tinge of horror? “Ice-cream?”

“Yeah,” Flicks said. “Ice-cream.”

“Ice-cream?” Lord Cameron said again.

Flicks looked at him, a bemused expression on her face. “Er...yes...Ice-cream...isn’t that what I just said?”

“But how do you know about Ice-cream?”

“Umm, I just...well...know about it. Is it not common knowledge?” Flicks replied. 

Lord Cameron looked around the room almost nervously, as if expecting someone to creep up on him at any moment. After a second or so he shook himself, “Anyway. Guards! Take her to her room and lock her up.” He snarled at Flicks. “Enjoy your time, Skilf.” He turned his back and rubbed his chin with one hand, deep in thought.

One guard coughed.

Lord Cameron turned around sharply. “You’re still here?”

“Er...Yes sir,” The guard on Flicks’ right said.

“I said ‘take her away’ did I not?”

“Yes sir, but...” the guard gathered up his courage. “She said ice-cream sir.”

“What do I care if she said ice-cream?!” the lord roared angrily. “Get out of my sight this instant!”

The guards almost dropped Flicks in their haste to exit the room, but remembered at the last moment that they were meant to be locking her up and so dragged her out with them.

Flicks quickly found herself staring at a sparsely furnished room behind a hastily slammed and bolted door. She shrugged and sat down on the bed, “I guess this must be Skilf’s room,” she murmured, looking at her reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall.

“I would guess so,” Fred said, disentangling herself from Flicks’ hair and half jumping, half gliding down onto the floor.

“Why do you think everyone was going weird with all the ice-cream business?” Flicks asked.

Fred twined her tail around the wooden leg of the bed. “I was going to ask what made you say something like that, but since you asked first, I’ll tell you my answer: Probably because it’s most people’s natural reaction when someone says the word ‘Ice-cream’,” Fred tilted her head to one side, surveying Flicks. “Do you even know what that word means?”

Flicks raised her eyebrows, “Umm, it means cold, creamy stuff that tastes really nice?”

The dragon’s jaw froze in the middle of a yawn and she stared at Flicks in half amazement. “Is that what you think Ice-cream is?”

“Yes,” Flicks said. “That’s the only Ice-cream I’ve ever heard of.”

“Ahhh, well I’ve no doubt you’ve probably got the right thing for the name, but the humans around here – including Skilf and Nainsi – say that Ice-cream is a powerfully magic word. It is apparently spoken when someone, generally the speaker, want to summon something. The stories vary, but usually what they summon isn’t very good for their enemies,” Fred finished speaking and jumped up onto the windowsill and looked out over the gloomy view.

Flicks blinked in surprise. “I had no idea,” she said, somewhat dazed.

“I’d guessed that halfway through the conversation,” Fred returned, curling her tail around her. This reminded Flicks distinctly of a cat, but she rather thought it better not to say so. She kept her mouth shut.

“So what do we do now?” Flicks asked several moments later.

Fred lifted her wings slightly in a dragon shrug. “I have no clue,” she replied. “Maybe Skilf or Larzik will come up with some kind of an idea.”

“Okay,” Flicks said, flopping backwards on the bed, lacing her fingers together under her head. 

-------------------------------------------

“Hey! Sleepy head!”

The shout accompanied with loud bangs jolted Flicks from the sleep she hadn’t realised she’d entered. She leapt up out of bed, but promptly falling face first on the floor as the sheets of the bed wrapped themselves around her legs.

After a minute or so of struggling, Flicks freed herself and stood, looking around the room.

“I believe I was correct in assuming that Skilf or Larzik would have an idea,” Fred said from the window.

Flicks turned to her and caught sight of a face peering through the glass. She hurried over to the window and flashed a relieved smile to Skilf, trying to work out how to open the window.

“Lift the latch and push,” Skilf said through the glass.

Flicks found the latch and did as she instructed. Skilf’s head dropped out of sight as the opening widow nearly swiped it off her shoulders.

Flicks leant over the frame. “You okay?” she asked.

Skilf, glared up at her, “What are you trying to do? Kill me?”

“Well you said—”

“I didn’t tell you to knock my head off!” Skilf interrupted.

Flicks couldn’t think up a good enough reply so she reached her hand down to pull Skilf up. Skilf glared at the hand suspiciously, “Are you planning on dropping me?”

“No, I am not,” Flicks replied. “Just let me pull you in.”

Skilf submitted, placing her hand in Flicks’. Soon she was inside her room, dusting off her hands.

Flicks raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a plan?”

Skilf twisted her mouth to one side. “A plan? Not as such, more of an inkling.”

“An inkling?”

“Aye,” Skilf said, walking over to a cupboard. “An inkling that while we’re here we may as well investigate.”

Flicks watched interestedly as Skilf headed to the door with a thin metal rod. She slid this between the door and the wall, then lifted it, pushing the door with her shoulder. It swung open and Skilf tossed the rod aside. “After you,” she said.

Flicks grinned and walked out the door. Skilf dropped the heavy wooden bar back in place and turned to her, “I think we’ll take a look around the next floor up first, that’s where my uncle does most stuff. And, you never know, maybe we’ll find nothing. It’d be a pleasant change.”

Flicks snorted. “It would that,” she returned and followed Skilf as she led the way along the hall.

The climbed the wide, winding staircase and Skilf pointed to a large ornate door. “That’s Lord Cameron’s office room, where he makes private meetings and agreements,” Skilf whispered.

The door was firmly closed but Skilf dropped silently to the ground and pressed her eye to the crack below the door. Flicks heard her faint intake of breath and only just managed to stop herself from pushing Skilf aside so she could look.

Skilf stood slowly, her face quite pale. “I don’t think this is good news,” she breathed.

Flicks frowned, “What is it? What’s in there?”

Skilf gestured wordlessly for her look take a look. Flicks did, and although it was difficult to see under the door, she could see enough. She couldn’t help agreeing with Skilf; this didn’t look like a pleasant change.

~

1. There were only two people in the room that Flicks could see: Lord Cameron, lounging back in a large, well-padded chair, and a regally dressed, dark haired man. Flicks guessed quite easily who he was.

2. Of the two people in the room, Lord Cameron was the only one clearly visible. All you could see of his companion was his boots, covered in fine, red dust. But that was quite enough for Flicks and Skilf to know who it was. 

3. Nainsi sat in clear view, her arms chained to her chair. Flicks’ eyes widened incredulously as she saw that Nainsi, as if oblivious to the chains, was calmly sipping a cup of steaming tea.

~

I spent a longer time than usual writing this so I hope it was worth it (I think it was). I was completely out of options in my brain after writing two but then I suddenly got an idea, and personally, it's my favourite. (Don't let that make you think option 3 is my favourite, although it could be, I often think up the options in a very random order...) I'm looking forward to all your comments!

Fare Thee Well!

Dusty Red ~ Part 17

I have a very sad proclamation to make: This is the very last blog post you will ever get on this blog....From a thirteen year old writer. Or, to put it another way, it's my Birthday before next Friday! Yipeee! I'm counting down the days, not many left now!
So really I guess the proclamation wasn't terribly sad after all. :)

This afternoon we're doing another singing at the nursing home thingy like we did back in April when the day became even more memorable for it's epic battle. So I'm sort of looking forward to that. (But not as much as my birthday.)

The votes last week came out with option 2 at the top with four votes, option 1 and 3 had two votes each. Thank you to all of my commenters, and I hope you enjoy the next part of Dusty Red!

Skilf’s face had taken on a rather greenish tinge and she seemed to be struggling to speak. 

“Oh yes,” she said eventually, “I know that place. It’s my Uncle’s manor.”

Flicks chewed her lip, “I guess that’s not such a good thing, is it.”

Skilf snorted, “It is not a good thing! If you knew my Uncle you’d never want to get within a kilometre of this place.”

Fred swished her tail, “But Nainsi knew your Uncle, right?”

“Yes, she did,” Skilf said, a frown creasing her brows.

“So,” Flicks drew the word out. “If she knew about him, why did she come this close?”

Larzik seemed to be ignoring their conversation completely and was looking at the ground, shuffling his feet and moving about the place as if looking for something.

Fred noticed his activity and tipped her head to one side, “What’s he doing?”

Flicks voiced the question so Larzik could hear, “What’re you doing, Larzik?”

The short Imp-Goblin looked up, “I’m a looking fer something.” Then he returned his graze to the ground.

Flicks raised her eyebrows at Fred. “That didn’t exactly answer the question,” she said to Larzik.

Larzik raised his head again. “There’s tracks here. Tracks of people going that way,” he gestured away from the direction of the castle. “But I haven’t found any coming back yet.”

Skilf was still trying to connect these facts in her mind when a loud, chilling laugh echoed around the trees. She knew that laugh all too well. “Uncle Cameron,” she whispered and promptly dived into a nearby bush.

Larzik disappeared almost as fast but Flicks had chosen the worst place possible to stand. If she moved at all the approaching men would see her, and if she stayed they’d walk right into her. Skilf looked on anxiously from the bushes, realising the awkward position Flicks was in, unsure if there was any way to help.

“What do I do?” Flicks whispered to Fred.

Fred raised her wings slightly, a dragon’s equivalent for shrugging, “I don’t see that there’s much you could do.”

“You should fly away, so they don’t see you too,” Flicks said.

“I shall not do any such thing,” Fred replied indignantly. “I’m staying right here. If you’re going to get into trouble you may find that having a dragon will be of some use.”

“At least try to hide in my hair,” Flicks begged as the footsteps and voices of Skilf’s Uncle and his men drew nearer.

Fred sniffed but buried herself under the dusty coloured hair, proving almost invisible. And just in time, because at that moment Lord Cameron and four of his men came into sight between the trees. 
Lord Cameron was a large man, tall and thickset. His nose was also rather on the large size and his face twisted in a permanent sneer. At the sight of Flicks he stopped short, and even at this distance Flicks could see his hard eyes holding a hint of surprised triumph.

Skilf’s Uncle overcame his surprise reasonable quickly and strode towards Flicks. “Ahhh, there you are, Skilf,” he said in a mockingly friendly voice. “I’ve been terribly worried that you’d got away.”

It took Flicks a second or so to realise why he’d called her Skilf, but really it wasn’t surprising as it had probably never occurred to him that there might be more than one person who looked like his niece. In the bushes Skilf winced, she’d been afraid that might happen, and who knew what Lord Cameron might do to try get Flicks to tell him where she’d put the Magic Rune Stones. It wasn’t a nice situation.

The tall lord loomed over Flicks who took a nervous step backwards, wondering desperately what Skilf would do in a situation like this. 

“We’ll,” Cameron said almost cheerfully. “I think we’d best get back home now. Have some dinner and maybe a little chat?”

Flicks licked her lips and shrugged, “Er, if you say so Un...” she stopped as Skilf shook her head furiously from behind the bush. 

“Thought as much,” Lord Cameron said, seeming not to notice Flicks’ hesitation. “We’ll be off.”
The soldiers, who had been silent during the conversation, now closed in around Flicks, leaving her no room to escape as they escorted her down the path. It gave Flicks the sinking feeling that she was being escorted to jail.

“The others are following us,” Fred whispered, even though the soldiers wouldn’t be able to hear her anyway. “Just keep playing along.”

“Right,” Flicks barely breathed the word but Lord Cameron turned.

“Who are you talking to?” he asked.

“No one,” Flicks assured him hurriedly. “Just thinking out loud.”

“So you say,” Cameron said suspiciously, but he turned nevertheless and led the way through the woods and towards a huge stone castle.

Flicks began to realise what Fred and Skilf were talking about when they spoke of the evil feel of the castle. The air was thick and heavy, almost sad air, ashamed of the people who breathed it. But the manor itself was like its master, filled with the enjoyment of nastiness.

Flicks shivered as a cold wind stirred the air. Lord Cameron looked over his shoulder once as they entered the castle through the imposing wooden doors. Inside Flicks saw several noblemen and women lounging around as her ‘uncle’ dismissed the soldiers and took her through numerous rooms and along corridors to a large and exquisitely furnished room. 

“The servants to bring some a platter of food along here in a moment, but while we wait for their arrival I’d like to know something,” Lord Cameron said, seating himself on a chair and gesturing for Flicks to do likewise.

“And that is?” Flicks asked, still nervous of making some accidental slip and giving herself away. She hadn’t quite decided what this Uncle of Skilf’s would do should he find out that she wasn’t his niece, but she was fairly sure it wouldn’t be nice.

“Where,” Cameron asked. “Did you get those ridiculous clothes?”

Flicks opened her mouth then closed it. She hadn’t expected a question like that, and so she had no idea whatsoever what to say. “I...got them...from...my...er...my....wardrobe,” she said, feeling sure that this was probably the worst answer she could give.

Lord Cameron raised his eyebrows. “Right,” was all he said, although he seemed disbelieving still. “And where have you been all this time?”

“I was out walking, Uncle Cameron,” Flicks replied. She hesitated then risked a question, “And you have had visitors?”

Lord Cameron lowered his brows Flicks got the impression that she had definitely said something wrong. A maid entered just then, carrying a large plate of food. Lord Cameron stood, “Call the guards please, and leave that on the table, I’ll have need of it shortly.” 

The startled maid dropped the tray on the table and ran from the room. Flicks didn’t wait to hear her squeaking voice inform the guards of their summons. She jumped up, “Call the guards? Why?”

Lord Cameron turned a scornful eye on her. “And I thought you were smart. To put it simply I’m afraid I’ll have to have you arrested for the time being. You should learn that sticking your nose in my business is just asking to get it shortened.”

~

1. Flicks opened her mouth to say something but Fred forestalled her, “Wait! Don’t say anything yet. I have a plan.”

2. Lord Cameron sneered at Flicks, “But since you asked, yes, I do have a visitor. I’m sure you’ll have heard of Prince Drakon Asesino? In case you haven’t, he’s the Heir of Manirus.”

3. Two soldiers entered the room and at a gesture from Lord Cameron seized Flicks. The huge lord smiled mirthlessly, “Anything you’d like to say before they lock you up?”

Flicks sighed, “Ice-cream. That’s what I want: Ice-cream.”

~

Disclaimer: It was because of several persons insistence that ice-cream was ever mentioned. It was not my idea. (But this is not saying it was a bad idea. Funny ideas are only rarely bad. Let's hope this wasn't one of the rare ones.)

Thanks to all for reading. I do look forward to Fridays, even if the writing can sometimes be hard at first, but when I actually start it gets easier. And it's good practice for me too!

Fare Thee Well! (For the final 13 year old time.)

  

Have you ever?

   I had this random idea for a post a few weeks ago but only actually got around to doing it today. It is kind of similar to a game of 'Have you ever'. I'm going to post a list of random and quite possibly funny things that I've done and I want you to comment and tell me if you've ever done any of those things. Some of them I highly doubt...I decided to think of thirteen things to start with just 'cause I'm thirteen years old (although soon to be fourteen). But we'll see if I can think of any more... The things are in no particular order, some of them I did years ago and some I did just the other day. Enjoy!

Have you ever...Dropped a full tin of Milo on the carpet? Thus causing about half the Milo to empty out of the tin and into a nice little pile on the floor.

Have you ever...Tied a friend to a pole with rope? This makes for a very memorable occasion, trust me.

Have you ever...Been given a completely random nickname? Mine is Egret. I was at a learning-about-edible-weeds camp thing, and one evening when me, my sisters and several friends were standing around talking, a little girl, Heidi, randomly decided to start giving us all names. The funny thing is mine name was the only one that stuck, so I was Egret for the rest of the weekend. It was very funny.

Have you ever...Laughed at your own joke and then realised that no one else was laughing? (Very awkward)

Have you ever...Jumped into a freezing cold creek in winter? I did this on the winter solstice...

Have you ever...Gotten a sore mouth from smiling? I do this basically every time I go tubing. Tubing's fun, unless of course before you go tubing you hear that a shark was seen in the same body of water that you are about to go in...that makes it not so good. :)

Have you ever...Been hit with a saucepan? In my case my oldest sister Clare was the wielder. We were duelling, I had a half broken stick and she had an old saucepan. Guess who came out of the fight most injured...

Have you ever...Been laughing so hard (and trying to do it quietly) that you couldn't stop laughing long enough to suggest to your laughing-too-hard-companion that you go laugh somewhere else where the noise doesn't matter? This was me and my cousin, Jessica...we weren't even laughing about anything really...by the end I think we were laughing about the fact that we were laughing about nothing.

Have you ever...Made a parody to a song? I did back in January, it was a parody of I See Fire, the credits song for 'The Desolation of Smaug' Hobbit movie number two.

Have you ever...Seen a microphone try to hang itself? For those who don't know, when I play my flute a church I get a microphone and it seems to like hanging itself by the cord (it falls out of the stand). Really bad when I'm trying to play and in the middle of some song it attempts to commit suicide. I once had a dream about that microphone...It was a Bad dream.

Have you ever...Flopped onto a mattress only to find that it is so hard you may as well sleep on the floor? I did this on holidays once. I was just like, "This is going to be my bed!" and flopped...Ouch...It was only that bed that was so hard, the others were luxury compared to it, but I did manage to sleep. I have practice of sleeping on hard things when it's a nice, warm summer night and I get my cloak and sleep outside.

Have you ever...Seen someone drop spaghetti on their face? This one is extremely funny.  Quite a sight especially when the spaghetti is nicely covered in sauce! And then to add to the amusement, someone sitting at the table didn't see what happened to it had to be demonstrated...And naturally the demonstrator ended up with spaghetti on their face as well. 

Have you ever...Had to have two plates to hold all your dinner? I did that last Monday and I did actually eat it all.

So, there is thirteen random/amusing things that I have done. I'm sure I've forgotten something hilariously funny but maybe I'll do this again sometime and think of several more things. 

Have you done any other random funny things that you can remember?

Fare Thee Well!

Dusty Red ~Part 16

Hola there everyone! I hope you had a great week. I had fun writing this instalment (I wrote it on Wednesday as we had plans for Thursday which were, incidentally, cancelled anyway) and I hope you have plenty of fun reading the story in which Fred is named and a castle is observed. Just in case you didn't know, option one was voted in last week, it must have been a good option because everyone was agreed of its genius. I'm interested to see which option gets the most votes this time.

Enjoy!

“Well, you are a figure of very dejectedness if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

The voice that spoke was one Flicks had never heard the like of before, and yet it seemed somehow familiar, like a voice of a friend she’d long forgotten. She looked up, puzzled, wondering who had spoken. It certainly hadn’t been Larzik or Skilf.  

Skilf looked at Flicks her eyes showing the same bewilderment at Flicks felt. “Did you hear that?” Flicks asked her.

Skilf shrugged her shoulders, “I really don’t know. I rather thought I was thinking excessively loud and in a kind of odd voice.” She knotted her brow and looked around, “But if you heard it I don’t know who it came from.”

“Oh, you two are extremely funny. Definitely worth the wait.”

Flicks scrambled up and glared at Larzik, “Ok, why didn’t you tell us you were a mimic and a ventriloquist?”

Larzik looked at her nervously, “I...I’m not! I don’t know what you’re talking on about.” He sniffed apprehensively, “I never heard nothing.”

“So you heard something then?” Skilf questioned.

Larzik shook his head violently, “No, as I said, I never heard nothin’!”

“But if you never heard nothing then you must have heard something,” Skilf insisted, but Flicks interrupted her.

“So only me and Skilf can hear this talking, right?”

“I guess so. Unless, of course, you’re going ma—” Larzik broke off hurriedly as he realised what he’d been about to say.

“But who is it?” Skilf asked, clearly frustrated.

“Why don’t you have the politeness to ask them yourself?”

Flicks closed her eyes as the strange voice came again, trying to place where it was coming from. To her surprise it seemed to be coming from directly behind her. Flicks turned around slowly, but there was nothing there, she cleared her throat. “Umm...so...er...who are you then?” she asked, looking blankly at a tree.

“You’ll have to look much closer than that to see me,” the voice berated her.

Flicks noticed something moving right in front of her nose. She tried to look at it, pulling her head back to she could see it properly. It was a green...thing, with a strange cream coloured kite looking bit on the end. Flicks blinked her eyes in confusion but then it came to her: the dragon, the Fræd Dragon that had been sitting on her shoulder all this time.

“Ahhh, you’ve worked it out have you? I give you my congratulations.”

Flicks stared at the Dragon as it jumped onto her hand. “You...can talk?” she asked.

“Either that, or you are going mad as the kindly Larzik was going to say.” The dragon’s mouth did not move, but the sound was definitely coming from it.

“Ermm...I see,” Flicks and Skilf said in unison, both with the same level of confusion in their voices.

Larzik gazed at the dragon. “It’s talking?” he asked in wonder.

“Aye, it’s talking,” Skilf replied. “Didn’t you know they talked?”

Larzik’s round eyes were answer enough.

There was silence for a few seconds then Flicks looked around again, “So do you know where we are...Umm...Dragon?”

“Yes, I do in a manner of speaking, but I won’t tell you until you stop calling me ‘Dragon’ and give me a name.”

Skilf frowned, “But don’t you already have a name? Fred or something?”

“Not Fred,” Flicks corrected her, “Fræd.”

“Well...” Skilf said consideringly, “Fred is as good a name as any. Why don’t we call him Fred?”

“P-perhaps she wouldn’t l-like being called F-F-Fred,” Larzik stammered, “She is a sh-she after all.”

Skilf sniffed disdainfully, “So? I’m calling her Fred.”

Fred flicked her tail, “Very well then. Fred is better than nothing.”

“So now will you tell us where we are?” Flicks asked.

“We are within whatever location happened to occur to your mind when you stepped, or rather, fell, through the doorway, Flicks,” Fred said, stretching her wings.

Flicks nodded slowly, “So, for example if I thought about...Umm...Dusty Town, we’d have ended up there?”

Fred nodded, “Yes, and if you’d though of nothing, you’d have ended up nowhere, just in a land of nothing.”

“Ok, so I’ve just got to remember what I thought of when I went through the door?”

“Indeed,” Fred replied, she paused, “Well? What did you think of?”

“I don’t really know,” Flicks muttered, “I don’t remember thinking of anything particularly. Except for thinking I felt really crazy and a passing wondering of what Nainsi was doing, I didn’t think anything.”

“Hmmm,” Fred said, her jewel eyes on Flicks. “I think that leaves us at least two options. Either we’re in the land were everyone is crazy, or we are somewhere Nainsi has been recently.”

“But Nainsi was up in the castle!” Skilf protested.

“True, but before that?” Fred prompted.

“Well, before that she was with us in the forest,” Flick put in, “And before that she was in her house.”

“Yes, so we could be somewhere on the way to the passage through which you entered Esueño, somewhere near Nainsi’s house, somewhere Nainsi was before you saw her for the first time last night, or somewhere near where she is right now,” Fred concluded, “That leaves us plenty of choices.”

“’Scuse me, but what’s it saying?” Larzik asked.

Flicks looked at Fred, “Is there any way you can make him hear you too?”

 “Sadly no,” Fred made a noise like a sigh. “He’ll just have to wait until you tell him, or until he actually finds a way to hear me by himself. I can’t help him.”

Flicks sighed. “I was afraid of that,” she muttered. Turning to Larzik she said, “Apparently we could be...basically anywhere Nainsi was recently.”

“Do you recognise anything around here?” Larzik questioned.

Flicks looked around, “No, not really. Do you Skilf?”

Skilf shrugged, “I’m not sure, but something about this place seems familiar...” she trailed off uncertainly.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to see what I can see,” Fred said, launching herself from Flicks’ hand and into the air.

The three on the ground watched as she flew gracefully up through the branches. They lost sight of her for a second as she was obscured by leaves, but could still catch glimpses of the Fræd dragon as she flapped up above the forest.

Flicks only just managed to stop herself from ducking when Fred reappeared, swooping down towards them in a steep dive. She landed on Flicks’ shoulder and swished her tail. “Anything interesting?” Flicks inquired.

“A tree or two, and a castle,” Fred replied.

“A castle?” Skilf asked quickly, “What kind of castle?”

“It’s certainly not the Esueño palace, nor is it quite like any other castle I’ve seen before. It’s quite big, and nicely built, but I don’t like the feel of the place,” Fred tilted her head to one side. “Ever seen a place like that?”

Flicks frowned, “Well, I’m not really one to ask with matters of castles, I’ve only ever seen one in my entire life, and that was the palace in Esueño.” Flicks turned to Skilf, “D’you have any idea?”

Skilf’s face had taken on a rather greenish tinge and she seemed to be struggling to speak....

~

1. “Look out!” was all she managed, before hightailing up the nearest tree.

2. “Oh yes,” Skilf said eventually, “I know that place. It’s my Uncle’s manor.”

3. She groaned and muttered something unintelligible. “What was that?” Flicks asked. 

~

I'm glad I'm not choosing what option should happen next...I really couldn't decide. But that's what I've got all of you for! I'll await your comments interestedly...is interestedly a word? Or did I just make it up? I probably made it up, but if Shakespeare can do it I don't see why I can't! 

Fare Thee Well!

Ranger's Apprentice Prequel: The Tournament at Gorlan

Everyone celebrate!(Here is the sounds of great cheering and clapping and celebrations in general) There is a Ranger's Apprentice Prequel! The publish date is the 6th of October this year. And there is (finally) an Australian cover, although no doubt it in still under going several changes before the actual publishing...And here it is! I reveal to you, The Tournament at Gorlan, Book one of the Ranger's Apprentice The Early Years series.

"Before they became the most famous Ranger in the land and the hard-working Ranger Commandant, Halt and Crowley were young friends determined to change the world. 

The scheming Baron Morgarath is drawing other power-hungry knights and barons to his banner. King Oswald is wasting away and, if gossip can be believed, Prince Duncan is causing havoc in the north. 

Halt and Crowley set out to find the prince, uncover the truth, and re-form the weakened Ranger Corps. Once-loyal Rangers are scattered across the country, and it will take determination, skill, and leadership if they're to come together as one. Can the Rangers regain the trust of the Kingdom, or will the cunning Morgarath outwit them at every turn?"

I found the cover at the 'Random House Australia' site....I must say I'm quite pleased with myself for actually finding it! The web master must be a sneaky kind of person...(But I'm even sneakier!)

I've heard that there is going to be at least two books in the series. What's more I heard from a reliable source: the back of Scorpion Mountain, the latest Brotherband book.

I've been watching this since...umm..about early March...And now my waiting pays off. (I really should stop finding these things so early on, it would require less waiting then, but...I just can't help myself.)

The American cover has been out for a while but now the Aussie's is out! And I reckon it looks much cooler, although I am wondering who it is, he must be one of Baron Morgarath's men because he's got the lightning insignia on the shield. I guess it could even be Morgarath himself...(Dramatic and evil music plays here.)

If you're as excited as I am you'll be wanting to read some...and you can, you'll find an exert Here. Clare did already link to that in Her blog post, but you can always read it again! Who wouldn't want to read about Halt being gloomy?!

I really enjoy these books. They're not hard to understand or anything and the random bits of humour are quite...well...humorous. I really recommend them to anyone who hasn't read them. Warning: These are the books that made me like I am now, crazy in some people's view. But just forget about that, who cares anyway?!

Only 91 days left....

Fare Thee Well! (I actually got that from a Ranger's Apprentice book, from a song...About Greybeard Halt)

Dusty Red ~ Part 15

In which permission is granted and a door is unlocked...

How is everyone this week? We (me and the rest of my family) are on holidays (just staying at home doing nothing kind of holidays) and I've spent most of my time...(you'll never guess)...reading. I finished several books so far, but soon I believe I shall start on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so that should take me a nice long time to finish...more than a day at least...

I've been (or more correctly, my sister and I have been) experimenting with Dusty Red pictures. I'm still unsure whether or not I'll actually change it but I can say that if it does change it won't be until instalment 20, so I've still got plenty of experimenting time. But I'm staying with the original picture for now at least.

And now...it is time for the story.

Larzik stepped forward and knelt in front on the queen, his head bowed slightly, “Permission to accompany the Dragontwins m’Lady?”

Flicks opened her mouth to voice her objection but it was too late. Queen Alwyn nodded, “Yes, permission granted, Larzik. You shall accompany these two on their journey to acquire the Magic Rune Stones.”

 “One problem,” Skilf said, the queen raised her dainty eyebrows questioningly and Skilf continued. “I buried them.”

“Ahhh,” Queen Alwyn murmured. “That could make complications.” She looked up at Skilf, “Do you remember where?”

Skilf shuffled her feet, “Ermm…well…I…to put it simply…well…no.” 

Flicks frowned, “Well that definitely could make complications.”

Larzik jumped up and down in excitement, “When are we going? When are we going?”

Flicks rubbed her forehead tiredly, “Are you going to keep this up the whole time?”

Larzik didn’t seem to realise the question was addressed to him and continued to bounce on the spot. “I can show you to the entrance at once!” he squeaked.

“Yes, you must leave at once,” Queen Alwyn agreed. 

“But we don’t know where we’re going!” Flicks protested, but Larzik was tugging her out of the room and the queen simply smiled and waved the question aside, closing the door behind them.

Skilf sighed in frustration, “Where now?”

Flicks looked at Larzik who had a firm grip on her hand. “I’m not sure we have a choice,” she replied.

Larzik lead them through the palace by small corridors and narrow staircases. Flicks began to get completely disorientated. “I’m sure we’ve gone down more stairs than we came up,” she remarked to Skilf.

Skilf nodded. “I concur,” she said under her breath. “This is getting rather confusing.”

“Rather,” Flicks agreed.

Larzik turned a huge grin of the two girls, “Here we are, right at the exit.”

Flicks and Skilf blinked in unison, the blink meaning, What? Larzik had led them to a dead end and there was no entrance or exit anywhere in sight.

“Are you sure you’ve got the right place?” Flicks asked hesitantly, fixing a puzzled expression on the Imp-Goblin.

Larzik looked insulted, “Yes of course I’ve got the right place. I know these halls like the back of my ears!”

Flicks looked consideringly at him, his statement wasn’t very comforting since Flicks could not quite believe he could see the back of his ears, them being on the side of his head as ears generally are and his eyes being on the front of his face, where eyes usually are.

“You can see the back of your ears?” Skilf asked cynically.

“Of course I can,” Larzik said, in an injured tone. “I know ‘em as good as these halls.”

Flicks and Skilf exchanged a glance. “Er…yes, naturally, I don’t know how I didn’t see that myself,” Skilf said.

“So, how exactly do we get through this exit?” Flicks asked.

Larzik’s mouth dropped open, “You mean to say you don’t know?”

Flicks sighed, “No I don’t know. But if you just told me…”

“Oh, yes I can tell you, I can tell you about anything in the castle. Plenty of magic doors about the place you know. There’s the hold, as where you can’t even see the door!” Larzik snorted in amusement, “But all the others you can see, and it’s a simple click, flick, snick, snack, and there you’ve open the door!”

“Could I have a straight answer please?” Flicks asked.

Larzik composed himself, “Well, all us Imp-Goblins have do is knock on the door and say, ‘Click, flick, snick, snack!’ and the door opens nice and easy.”

“So,” Skilf drew out the word, “You are going to knock on the door and say the password to get us out. Right?”

“Oh no, when you are here it must be one of you to open the door otherwise the exit won’t let you through,” Larzik replied, puffing his chest in pride at his great knowledge.

“And where exactly is the door?” Flicks asked.

“Why it’s right here!” Larzik said, pointing to a section of the wall.

Flicks stepped closer. She could just make out a faint outline about the size of a small door. Larzik gave her a lopsided grin, “Well, are you going to open it?”

Flicks took a deep breath, feeling rather silly and rapped her knuckles of the door. “Click, flick, snick, snack!” she said, feeling even more idiotic by the second.

As she finished speaking the outline of the door became more and more obvious and Flicks stepped backwards as a grumbling rumble emitted from the wall. Larzik pushed her back, “You must go through now!”

“Just go through? But the door’s still there!” Flicks pointed out.

“No it’s not, just go through,” Larzik said, “It’ll disappear in a few seconds and then you’ll have to do it all over again.”

That decided Flicks, she may as well make a fool of herself by walking into a wall if the alternative was having to say that crazy clicking and flicking sentence again. She closed her eyes and slammed her shoulder into the wall, or at least she would have if the wall was actually there.

Instead she just stumbled forward as she met with no resistance, nearly falling on the ground. And it was probably a good thing she didn’t because who knows what she might have landed on.

Flicks regained her balance in time to catch Skilf just before she hit the ground. Larzik appeared right after her but at a more dignified pace, if an Imp-Goblin can be dignified.

“So where are we?” Skilf asked, looking around, “Outside the castle walls?”

“No…” said Larzik, “We are somewhere else. That is a magic door after all.”

Flicks looked back the way they’d come but all she saw was a large tree, although that wasn’t anything so very different as they were surrounded by large trees.

“And where might that somewhere else be?” Flicks asked.

“Ermm,” Larzik replied, clearing his throat nervously. 

It was all the answer Flicks needed. She slumped down at the base of a tree. “Oh great, just what we needed,” she muttered. “Now we’re lost in some forest we don’t know the location of, and presumably no one else does either. Perfect.”

“Well, you are a figure of very dejectedness if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

~

1. The voice that spoke was one Flicks had never heard the like of before, and yet it seemed somehow familiar, like a voice of a friend she’d long forgotten.

2. Flicks leapt to her feet and spun around searching for the source of the voice, “Who are you?” she called, then added. “Or more to the point, where are you?”

 3. Skilf frowned, looking at Flicks and Larzik in turn, “Did you say something? Or was I just imagining it?”

~

So there we are, I managed to kind of incorporate option three into there as well! (Just for Lydia Scott, one of my lovely commenters.) Although no doubt if I hadn't told you no one would have noticed. I think maybe I'd better not next time, otherwise you might think to...well, let's just say, check up on everything else sneaky I do. I think I'd better change the subject...or maybe just leave now...

Anyway, please leave a comment and use your amazing power to change the course of the future! (Well, Flicks and co.'s future anyway.)

Fare Thee Well!