[Celebrate, Slow]

  I placed Doug on the table, and I kept Daisy in my pocket.

  “Are you all set Jaq?”

  “Yeah, and thanks Rose, I know I may not have acted like it, but I really do think of you as a friend and I appreciate everything you’ve done for us this weekend.”

  Lu said, “I’ll give you some privacy and will be in the hallway, yell if you need anything.”

  “No stay Lu please, you got drawn into this within an hour of your arrival and saved my granny.”

  “All right Daisy, Jaq’s ready to speak to him now.”

  Doug relays “Hello Jaq, my name is Finn Bennett, I’m so sorry that I never got to meet you in real life. But I have been watching over you the whole time. I just wish I could have done something to help you out while you were growing up.”

  “Did you ever go into the eastern tower, Finn?”

  “Yes, Jaq I became quite obsessed with it as a matter of fact. That’s just one of the reasons I wanted to speak to you. You’ve been through it once Jaq and it was dangerous, but each time it resets, it amps up the danger level.”

  “Well the plan is to go back in for Draco, and I might not have made it through if Draco hadn’t been supporting me while I was trying to find granddad.”

  “Your granddad and I have entirely different views, probably because the tower is extending his life whereas in my case it ended it early. One of the portals dropped me in the desert. I had no water, no bearings, no compass, no luck. Three days after I portaled in I died of thirst. I was illprepared, I could have walked in circles around my starting point for all I know, or died thirty feet from water I couldn’t see.”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you, ever since my first foray into the tower I’ve tried my best to go in prepared. Even so, the last jump still managed to separate me from the supplies and dump me in the desert. What do you want to say to grandmother?”

  “I just want her to know that I never abandoned her, that I never cheated on her mother but I did become obsessed with the tower. I can’t even tell you why, it wasn’t for the riches, because as far as I can tell there were no riches to be had.”

  “My friend Draco and Merlin designed it but that was many hundred of years ago, there have been many changes since then. As far as riches go, I think the wealth you gain in the tower is knowledge. The richest spot I saw there was a monastery that had no money at all. Ironically it may be where I learned how to make Tregaron self sufficient.”

  “Sadly I didn’t make it that far. I did watch you and your friends there though and to be honest the place feels a bit like heaven on Earth.”

  “If we bring you to meet your daughter are you going to be as nice to her as you have been to me?”

  “Yes I swear Jaq.”

  “Alright then, but I have a favor to ask, I don’t want you to lie, but I have to go back into that tower for my friend. I don’t want grandma to worry so just ease off the danger, perhaps you just had bad luck. Okay?”

  “Okay I understand Jaq, I don’t want to add to her worries I just want to apologize and tell her how much I missed her. When you have kids you’ll understand, they become the center of your life.”

  We all headed down to the drawing room while Jaq went to get his grandmother.

  “Doug, Lu and I are going to be out in the hallway while the family talks, but you yell and I’ll jump, Daisy is still in my pocket. Daisy, is that alright with you and are you getting tired?”

  “No Rose, that'll be fine. This is really no different for me than it is talking to Doug.

  “ That’s great.”

  Jaq was walking in with Lady Holland, we said hello and went into the hallway to wait. They talked much longer than Jaq had. But they had a lot more to talk about, Jaq only knew that Finn had seemingly abandoned his grandmother. Finn had been around for her entire childhood right into early adulthood. Before the tower took over his life.

  After a long time, Jaq called us back into the room. Lady Holland had clearly been crying, she said, “I knew you two were special Friday night when I met you in this room. I just want you to know how happy you’ve made this old lady, you both will always have a place here in this house and I hope you come to visit us often in the future.”

  “Thank you Lady Holland we had a lovely time and I can’t wait to sign up for one of Jaq’s writer retreats. I’m a writer myself and I’ve never met any other writers, except my boss. So I’m really looking forward to that.”

  Then Lu thanked and complimented their home and looked forward to exploring the gardens on our next visit. I grabbed Doug, and Lu went up to get our trunk. Jaq walked me to the front door and she actually hugged me. So many times this weekend I thought she was going to slug me.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Rose please come back soon.”

  “I will, I’ll give Collins a deposit, I want that same room when I come for the retreat, I’m really looking forward to meeting other writers, I wasn’t just saying that to your grandmother. I want to know if they are as strange as Sparky and me, the only two writers I know. If you have some spare time you and Frida and Nyx are always welcome in our Tower.

  Lu came down the stairs carrying the trunk effortlessly in one hand, she said thanks and goodbye to Jaq, she got a hug as well. Then we walked down to the barn to meet Maz and Groucho.

  “Groucho I love you, but if you say anything inappropriate in front of our eleven year old roommate Opal or her sister Ruby, I’ll do something very bad to you which might include you losing a favorite body part. I think you know what part I’m referring to. You lost it once before and as I recall you weren't happy.”

  “Not to worry, Maz already gave me a thirty minute lecture of what he would do to me if he doesn’t get to meet Paula Becker because of something I’ve done. If I feel the need to romance any females in your town, I’ll do it in Italian. Harry’s been teaching me.”

  “I don’t think that anybody in Wyldwood speaks Italian.”

  “That’s even better, because I don’t speak it very well myself. But it sounds pretty.”

  Then we jumped back to the tower, first I set up rooms for Maz and Groucho, showing them how to use the side board to get any food they desire, then I showed them how to operate the bath with the instant full hot water and instant drain and clean, and how the privy operated.

  Then we went to Draco’s room. I explained that Maz was leaving his mind reading invention in Draco’s lair and we were all having dinner in the dining room to welcome Groucho and Maz. Then Ruby and Opal arrived and Opal’s eyes went wide at the talking chimpanzee. But she seemed too shy to talk to him. I think Groucho picked up on that and asked her what her favorite book was. That got her talking because she had just started reading the Lord of the Rings for the second time. Then they started arguing over who was the best character in the series. Groucho thought Merry and Pippin were equally the best characters in the books, while Opal argued that Sam was the greatest character, a ring bearer that willingly gave up the ring.

  Of course neither could convince the other that they should change favorites. Then McCracken and Gigi came in and started their supper as we finished ours.

  McCracken asked “Have ever done any acting, Groucho”

  “No, but I was in the circus.”

  “Same difference only acting is easier because they give you the lines, if you are going to be here for a while you could try out for A Night at the Opera, Groucho playing Groucho would bring the house down. Come to the theater tomorrow and meet the actors. We can run a few scenes.”

  After dinner I showed Maz and Groucho where Doug usually was in the library and told them to ask Doug for whatever they’d like to read.

  Lu and I went to our bedroom.

  “I’m really sorry that we didn’t have the alone time, I’d hoped for this weekend, Lu.”

  “Well I would have been happier, just being with you. I still had a marvelous time. I’ve always wanted to see a manor house after reading about them in so many mysteries. I’m also sorry that man was murdered but trying to figure out who did it and watching the police in action. But how did she have time to kill him?”

  “She was looking for magic, so maybe North Korea has some time manipulation magic or she followed him out of the mansion and stabbed him while we were still having drinks with Lady Holland, then Aya changed and got to the table in time, we were the ones who came in late remember Lady Holland apologized to everyone for being late.”

  After breakfast Maz, Groucho and Opal walked to the bookstore, Dogberry must have pulled a rare dayshift because he waved us through the city gate right away. To his credit Sparky only raised an eyebrow when we arrived.

  “Sparky I promised Maz a glimpse at the Gnome builders in action, so I’m going to walk him down to the theater, then I’ll stop at the bakery on the way back. In the meantime Groucho is going to beat you in chess.”

  Opal sat down to draw, Groucho had a pair of pawns behind his back then Sparky picked and got black. Groucho had the early advantage. Maz and I left. We walked past the tea house, which was crowded as usual and continued down the lane to the theater and the actor’s retirement home.

  The gnomes were adding siding to the new medical facility that Lottie is opening up, I explained to Maz as I watched in amazement as the gnomes looked like synchronized swimmers doing a routine. I saw a human team carry in large piles of precut boards.

  Orin came over, “It’ll be done on time, Rose, or earlier as promised.”

  “I’m not worried about that, Orin, this is Maz, a friend of mine from Earth and I wanted him to see how efficient your team is.”

  Maz said, “They are very impressive Orin, can they keep up this pace for very long though.”

  “Yes Maz, they start at four in the morning and work till ten at night, they don’t take a day off until the job is done.”

  I added, “The gnomes also donate their time on civic projects like the theater.”

  “That’s amazing, if only we could get groups to donate their time to civic improvement on Earth, but everyone has their hand out to the government like it has unlimited resources.”

  “Orin not only owns the construction company that’s building the health facility, the retirement home and the theater but he’s also a town councilman. How are the human construction workers doing Orin?”

  “Good it just makes my job a little harder, the humans can’t work so long and hard as the gnomes but they can lift more weight, do harder jobs like mix concrete. I just have to stagger their shifts so that there are always some humans on site. So the gnomes aren’t waiting for concrete, or heavier beams then the humans are well suited to.