The Fairy Godmother Part 43

“How goes it?” I ask Ethel when I arrived back in the big hall.

“I’ve gone through the Fairy Data base and the local “Who’s Who,” and anything else I can find,” said Ethel smiling.

“And?” I asked.

“We have a full and extensive list of people to invite,” sighed the Princess.

“Have you thought about what sort of Christening you want?” I asked.

“There is only one sort of Christening possible,” said the King. “A full state Christening.”

“Normally I would agree with you,” I said. “But you have been out of circulation for a while.”

“What does that have to do with things?” the King asked stiffly.

“Firstly, the palace isn’t really in a good state to receive all the state visitors that it did have with the last Christening,” I said.

“What do you mean by that?” snapped the King.

“She means that the roof of the guest wing fell in, sometime in the last hundred years, the weather has got in and basically, the whole thing needs demolishing, the chapel isn’t it a much better state and the roof on this hall is leaking,” said the Queen.

“Are you saying that the palace isn’t up to holding it?” the King asked.

“No,” the Queen sighed.

“I suppose we could take it out side,” said the King. “There was a field that we used to hold all sorts of events on,” he added walking to the window. “I thought we could see it from here?”

“We used to be able to,” the Queen replied.

“But?” the King asked.

“There’s a wood grown up there,” said the Queen. “It would take ages to clear and then the grass would have to be sewn and it would take time for it to grow.”

“I see, nice idea, but not there?” asked the King

“There is also a problem with the livery,” said the Queen.

“What’s wrong with it?” asked the King.

“The moths got at it,” the Queen sighed.

“A hole or two isn’t important,” the King said trying to dismiss the problem.

“It wouldn’t be,” the Queen agreed. “Only it isn’t a hole or two. All the livery has been reduce to a pile of powder.”

“Oh!” said the King. “Do you mean the moths have eaten it all?”

“Every last stitch,” said the Queen. “That’s why I was thinking that a less formal event might be a good idea.”

“But,” said the King.

“They are my children,” said the Princess.

“In my day that wouldn’t have been important,” said the King.

“That day was one hundred years ago,” the Queen reminded him. “It is also why we get the Fairy Godmother here to help us.”

“It’s why I called on Enid,” said the King, looking at me.

“And she sent us because she thought that we could provide an alternative view on the event,” I said, looking out of a different window on the other side of the hall. “For a start off, this courtyard would provide a great venue, very much the Gothic look cum shabby chic.”

“Is that good?” asked the King.

“Very,” said Ethel, joining me at the window.

“A select group of people to celebrate the next generation,” I said.

“Does that mean a small guest list?” asked the Princess.

“Yes,” I said. “No great pomp.”

“What will the servants wear?” asked the Queen.

“I think we can dispense with the livery,” I said. “Smart suites, in black for the men and simple dresses also in black, for the women,” I showed them some possible styles on my smart phone.”

“That could be good,” said the Princess.

“So,” Ethel said. “We cut down the invitation list and organise for it to be videoed so that it can go on the state web site for anyone who want to to view.”

“What is video and what is a web site?” asked the King.

“You can have a web site for the country,” said Ethel. “Then you can use it as a platform to make announcements to the world.”

“Can’t I just send out an envoy?” asked the King. “You know where you are with an envoy.”

“Things don’t work that way any more,” I tried to explain.

“But it’s the way I work,” shouted the King storming out of the hall.

“That didn’t go to well,” said the Queen, following the King out of the hall.

“So what do we do now?” asked the Princess.

“That’s a good question,” said Enid, typical of her to turn up just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse.

“Deserves a good answer,” I agreed. “The fact that I don’t have one does rather prove my point, I wouldn’t be any good as the Head of the Fairy Godmothers.”

“I think I may have pushed the internet stuff a bit too much,” said Ethel. “It’s so much a part of my life, I can’t imagine anyone not understanding it.”

“He’s not the only one,” said the Princess. “This stuff is a mystery to me and everyone else here.”

“We need to back peddle on the tech stuff,” I said. “It’s one thing using it to get together the guest list, but we need to find an alternative way of sending out the invites. I’m not suggesting people in livery delivering the invitations by hand, but we need something.”

“And what abut the King?” asked Enid.

“He might listen to you,” I said. “After all he was disappointed when you didn’t come when he asked for your help.”

Enid’s phone rang.

“It’s the Council, they want to know where I am,” she said reading the text. “Which proves that I can’t do both jobs.”

“So, who’s doing what?” asked the Princess. “Are you going to talk to Dad or the Council?” she asked Enid.

“I’ll talk to your Father,” said Enid waving her wand.

“So what do we do?” the Princess asked as the babies began to cry.

“You’d better sort them out,” I said. “We’ll try and come up with a plan B,” I added looking at Ethel.

“I don’t know how to do low tech,” Ethel replied.

“Then you are just going to have to learn,” I said.

“But?” she said looking bewildered.

“Have you got a printer on that laptop?” I asked.

“I didn’t think I’d need one,” she said.

“You’ll need one to print out the guest list for a start off,” I said. “And it would be an idea to have a paper copy of the seating plan, the bigger the better.”

“It might be easier if we printed the seating plan back in the office,” said Ethel. “We have a very big printer in there.”

“Is that the thing that looks like a wide mangle?” I asked.

“That’s the thing,” said Ethel. “But, what are we going to do?”

“We design an invitation, get the who to etc. from the guest list and then when we have sorted out the when where and everything else, we can print them all off and either post them or have them© appear at the address sat on a red silk cushion.”

“I like that idea,” said the King walking back into the hall. “Is this what the internet does?”

“No,” I smiled. “It’s what a magic wand does.”

by Janice Nye © 2020