The Fairy Godmother Part 108

“If you wanted our attention why didn’t you just tell King Rufus’s Fairy Godmother?” asked the Head of the Fairy Council.

“I didn’t know how long it would take for them to pass the message along,” Liam replied. “And I don’t like waiting.”

“Or you could have just contacted us direct,” the Head of the Fairy Council continued.

“I don’t like to choose the logical route,” Liam smiled, like he knew something they didn’t.

“So why did you want to contact us?” asked the Head of the Fairy Council.

“Such a nice room this,” Liam replied, looking round it as if he was considering buying it.

“It isn’t the easiest of rooms to dust,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “You haven’t answered my question. Why did you want to contact us?”

“No so quick, I like to savour my conquests,” Liam smiled.

“Conquests? We summoned you here,” replied the Head of the Fairy Council. “Hardly the act on a conquered people.”

“Try to use your computer, you will find that I have locked up you system so tight that you can only use it with my consent and if you don’t agree to me taking you over in, I’ll give you 24 hours, then everything will crash. I’ve been looking at your systems and I know just how much you will be left with, without them,” Liam laughed. “You have 24 hours and I’d like some decent accommodation whilst I await your decision or those hours may change into minutes.”

“We could put him in the Royal Suite,” suggested one of the councillors.

“Has it been cleaned since the last visitor?” asked another Councillor.

“Yes,” said the first Councillor. “The cleaning staff were most vocal about their thoughts on that guest, it took them a day just to clear out the rubbish.”

“Rubbish!” said the Head of the Fairy Council.

“They trashed most of the furniture!” the Councillor replied.

“Make a note not to invite them back again,” said the Head of the Fairy Council.

“Ladies,” said Liam. “I think you are getting side tracked. If the suite is clean, I’ll take a look at it. If it isn’t up to standard, I’m sure you can sort that out.”

“Of course,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “Guards, could you accompany him to the Royal Suite.”

“Yes Ma'am,” said the Guard, bowing stiffly.

“Aren’t you going to take me?” Liam asked.

“You have left us with a lot to debate,” the Head of the Fairy Council replied. “I’m sure you would want us to spend all our time on making sure you get your answer sooner rather than later.”

“Of course,” smiled Liam. “You don’t want me to get board with waiting.”

“We would hate to detain you,” said the Head of the Fairy Council, waving to the guard.

“If you would come this way Sir,” said the Guard.

“Remember, I get board quickly,” said Liam as he followed the Guards out of the door.

“Should we send someone along to entertain him?” asked one of the Councillors, the others turned to look at her.

“We could send the mime artist down there,” said another.

“He’s been in therapy since the Royal visit,” said the Councillor sitting at the end of the table.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked the Council secretary.

“No one knows, he wont come out of the box he’s in, we think he can’t or wont find the way out, hard to tell, he wont talk,” the Councillor replied.

“The juggler?” asked another Councillor.

“He said he’d lost his balls, that’s why the mime artist was sent to entertain last time,” the Councillor replied.

“I think we’d better send him some food and think quickly,” said the Head of the Fairy Council.

“Enid,” said Myrtle, watching the Council Hall from the relative safety of the mirror. “When was your laptop last updated?”

“Two or three years back,” said Enid, looking at the ceiling.

“Are you sure?” asked Myrtle.

“OK, it was ten years ago,” Enid snapped. “I just haven’t got round to it.”

“Good,” said Myrtle.

“And do you work on the Fairy network?” Myrtle asked the Mirror.

“There was some talk of it, when I first came here,” said the Mirror. “But nothing ever happened. I’m still on the old Mirror network. Why.”

“We may have a way of getting round what he has done,” replied Myrtle. “The problem is that normally we would go to Ethel to sort out anything computer related.”

“Only she’s been compromised,” said Enid.

“Exactly,” said Myrtle.

“So you need a computer nerd who isn’t Ethel?” asked the Mirror.

“Yes,” said Myrtle.

“Maud, from the cafe, has employed one to make sure her orders don’t go astray,” said the Mirror.

“How do you feel about a quick walk down to the cafe?” asked Myrtle.

“Why don’t we just wand it?” asked Enid.

“They may be able to track us through the wands,” said Myrtle, looking at her wand. “Might be an idea not to have then with us.”

“I could send them both to my rooms,” said Enid.

“Good idea,” said Myrtle as the wands vanished.

“It feels odd,” said Enid. “Not having my wand with me.”

“Now you know how I felt when Lily took my wand away,” said Myrtle.

“I didn’t think I would feel so,” Enid paused trying to find a word to describe how she felt.

“Vulnerable?” suggested Myrtle.

“That’s the word,” said Enid.

“You’ll get used to it,” said Myrtle. “Any way, lets get to the cafe and see what we can do to expedite the whole thing and get back to normal.”

“I don’t see how my laptop is going to help,” said Enid.

“It might help us locate what he has put on the system,” Myrtle tried to explain. “It’ll be what isn’t on your laptop.”

“But there could be lots of things that aren’t on my laptop,” said Enid.

“True, but we will have some idea as to where to start,” smiled Myrtle opening the door to the cafe and feeling very glad that the morning sickness had passed.

“Are you OK?” asked Enid.

“Just hungry,” sighed Myrtle.

“What ever you want is on the house,” said Maud dashing up to them.

“We need the help of your computer person,” said Maud smiling. “And chips. I really want some chips.”

“Would you like to come into the back,” said Maud, looking at the Mirror. “I suspect this is Fairy Godmother business and you wont want everyone knowing about it.”

“You will have a long and prosperous life,” the Mirror smiled and Maud.

“That’s very nice to know,” said Maud. “Would you like some chips as well?”

“I don’t eat,” said the Mirror. “But I can appreciate the look and smell of your work.”

“Thank-you,” said Maud.

“Thank-you,” said Enid.

“This way,” said Maud. “I’ll send Mavis in with the chips and she can help with the computer stuff.”

“Thank-you,” said Myrtle.

By Janice Nye © 2021

The Fairy Godmother Part 107

“Can I be of any assistance?” asked the receptionist at the Fairy College.

“I’ve come to see Thistle,” said Violet

“Do you have an appointment?” asked the receptionist.

“I am the Head of the Fairy Godmothers,” Violet replied standing up as tall as her 5 foot 3 inches would allow. “I do not need an appointment.”

“I’m sorry, but no one gets to see Thistle without an appointment,” the receptionist replied. “I think I can fit you in in two months time, but only for five minutes,” she added looking up in time to see Violet vanish.

“Violet!” said Thistle, looking rather surprised. “The receptionist didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“She said you were busy, that I couldn’t see you without an appointment and that couldn’t be arranged for at least two months,” Violet replied, looking round the room. Thistle was alone, with a partially consumed cup of tea and sticky bun sitting on the table in front of her, not a single piece of paperwork in sight, nor a laptop or any other sign of work. “You don’t look very busy to me.”

“I don’t answer to you,” snapped Thistle.

“You answer to the same people as me and my department,” replied Violet. “The Fairy Council, in case you have forgotten and they are the one’s I shall go to next unless you have a very good explanation for your behaviour.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” snapped Thistle.

“Then you wont mind talking to the Council,” Violet replied, raising her wand.

“Perhaps we could talk about this,” said Thistle quickly. “We don’t want to waste the council’s time, we all know how busy they are.”

“I’m beginning to think that the council would be the best people to talk to,” said Violet.

“They might be,” said Thistle. “But you aren’t going there. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Why not?” asked Violet.

“I’ve just turned this room into a wand free zone, you can’t whisk yourself out of here and I am not letting you go,” replied Thistle.

“So what do we do now?” Enid asked Myrtle. “I don’t have much baby knowledge to hand on and you don’t want to go shopping.”

“We could go talk to the mirror,” said Myrtle.

“Why?” asked Enid.

“She might have some ideas. At the very least, she might be able to tell us how Violet is getting on with Thistle,” Myrtle replied.

“Thistle, when I first heard the name I thought she’d got the short straw, but then I met her and it sums her up beautifully,” said Enid.

“You don’t like her,” asked Myrtle.

“Instant dislike, the feelings mutual,” smiled Enid.

“Lets go then,” said Myrtle. “I’m having a few misgivings about Violet going there by herself.”

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,” said Enid when they stood in front of the mirror.

“Please, don’t say “who is the fairest of them all” I’ve had a spate of that this morning. There was a school tour going round and they all found it ever so funny,” sighed the mirror.

“It’s OK,” Enid replied. “That’s one thing I’m never going to ask you.”

“Why not?” asked the mirror.

“Beauty is over rated,” said Enid. “And the only beauty competition I was ever entered in, I came last.”

“What was it?” asked Myrtle.

“Bouncing baby,” Enid sighed. “And Mother has never let me forget it.”

“What did you come here for?” asked the Mirror, deciding not to pursue the “Bouncing Baby” issue. “I’m assuming you did have a reason for this visit.”

“We were at a bit of a loose end,” said Enid.

“Violet has gone to see the Head of the Fairy College and we were wondering how she was getting on,” said Myrtle.

“Not very well,” said the Mirror, clearing to show them the interior of Thistle’s office.

“What do you think you are doing?” asked Violet, trying to wave her wand, a blue light traced its way round the wand and it turned to dust.

“That isn’t good,” said Enid.

Violet walked to the office door and tried the handle. The same blue light traced its way round the door handle and threw her across the room.

“The same will happen if you try any of the other doors or windows,” said Thistle.

“We’ve got to get her out of there,” said Myrtle, trying her wand. It didn’t work.

“We need to send this image to the Fairy Council,” said Enid.

“No sooner the word than the dead,” said the Mirror.

“Can they do something?” asked Myrtle.

“They can over-ride whatever it is she is using and bring them both to the Council Hall,” Enid replied. “Can I borrow your phone?”

“Of course,” said Myrtle, handing over her phone. “Who do you want to ring?”

“Head of the Council,” said Enid. “I want to tell them what’s happening and what they need to do.”

“You wont get away with this,” said Violet, walking round the room like some caged animal.

“I don’t see why not, I can’t imagine you told anyone where you were going and it will take a few days before anyone notices that you are missing, they’ll probably think that you aren’t in the office because of the update on your computer software,” smiled Thistle. “Then all we have to do is say that we haven’t seen you this year.”

“That would be a lie,” said Violet. “I’ve seen you at least three times in the last week.”

“But our records wont say that,” said Thistle. “And your records will say what we tell them to.”

“What do you mean?” asked Violet.

“Ethel, she’s always been such a computer nut,” said Thistle.

“What did they do to her?” shouted Enid.

“I’m surprise she got out of here knowing the difference between a laptop and a sandwich toaster, let alone all the things she does know,” said Violet.

“We thought it would help with the little job that we had in mind for her,” laughed Thistle.

“Which is?” asked Violet.

“Please sit down,” said Thistle pointing to a chair that didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the furnishings.

“Don’t sit down,” shouted Myrtle as she noticed the electric cable leading to the chair leg.

“What was the job?” asked Violet walking over to the window and away from the chair.

“We programmed our little Ethel to put a spying device onto the Fairy Godmothers server. “We know everything that you know,” Thistle laughed.

“Ethel wouldn’t do that,” snapped Violet.

“No knowingly,” said Thistle. “But she doesn’t know what she did and we programmed her not to see any signs of it.”

“All very interesting, but I find it very hard to believe that you have the knowledge to do this,” said Violet, moving away from the window, there was no one in sight.

“I don’t, I think the devices are a waste of time and space, but they have their uses,” Thistle smiled. “And Liam, you know him, King Rufus’s advisor. Liam told us all about it.”

“You wont get away with this,” said Violet, as the walls went out of focus and were replaced by the walls of the Hall of the Fairy Council.

“No, you wont,” said the Head of the Fairy Council.

“This wasn’t supposed to be possible,” shouted Thistle looking around her as the security guards approached.

“I think our tech is better than yours,” smiled the Head of the Fairy Council.

“This is not what it looks like,” said Thistle. “She was threatening me.”

“Sorry, but we all saw what happened and you were threatening Violet and you were spying on the Office of the Fairy Council,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “There is no excuse for your actions.”

“I think I had better go and talk to Liam,” said Violet.

“I think it would be better if he were to be brought here,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “I don’t want you to be put in any danger.”

“Danger?” Violet asked.

“We don’t know what this Liam is capable of,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “And I, for one, don’t want to take any chances,” she added waving her wand. Liam appeared and was instantly apprehended by the security guards.

“So this is the Hall of the Fairy Council,” said Liam, turning to face the Council. “I wondered how long it would take to get your attention.”

“What the hell is he up to?” Myrtle asked the Mirror.

“I don’t know,” said the Mirror. “But nothing good.”

By Janice Nye © 2021

The Fairy Godmother Part 106

“Remember, no phoning me whilst I’m at work,” Myrtle told James as she was getting ready to leave for her second day back at work.

“OK,” said James. “But you will let me know if you’re going to be late?”

“You know I can’t make any promises,” sighed Myrtle. “Any more than you could make promises like that if I asked you.”

“But I worry about you,” he replied.

“I know, but this is my job and I’d like to be able to do it,” said Myrtle.

“I know, but if it gets too much,” said James.

“If it gets too much then I shall take maternity leave, till then I need to get back to work, I think they are in two minds about me working as it is,” said Myrtle, waving her wand before he could say anything else.

“Myrtle! I didn’t think you were coming in this morning,” stuttered Violet.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” asked Myrtle.

“You had a busy day, yesterday,” Violet stuttered.

“I’ve had worse,” said Myrtle.

“But you weren’t pregnant then,” said Violet.

“Being pregnant should not be an issue,” Myrtle replied. “If I am not well enough to work, I shall contact you.”

“Of course,” said Violet.

“Now what is my work for today?” Myrtle asked.

“Well things are going OK with King Rufus,” said Violet rather quickly.

“So what is Rosemary doing today, I am supposed to be mentoring her,” asked Myrtle.

“I realised that her computing skills aren’t quite up to date,” said Violet rather hastily. “You know what the Fairy College is like, as you said, they don’t really do computers.”

“Wouldn’t Ethel’s time be better spent bringing the college up to date?” asked Myrtle.

“I agree, but at the moment I can’t get them to agree to include computing on the curriculum at any level. They think that the students will spend all their time playing computer games and not get on with any work,” sighed Violet.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” asked Myrtle.

“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea, you are Enid’s daughter,” sighed Violet.

“And what’s that got to do with anything?” asked Myrtle, though she could guess that her Mother must have been ruffling a few feathers.

“The course I sent her on,” Violet said, hesitating a moment.

“What’s she done?” asked Myrtle.

“Reduced the lecturer to tears within half an hour of arriving, they then spent the rest of the day trying to work out what she’d said to do this,” said Violet.

“Didn’t they try asking Enid?” snapped Myrtle.

“Your Mother told them to ask the lecturer and she just sobbed louder,” sighed Violet.

“And no one thought to tell me about this?” asked Myrtle.

“We didn’t want to bother you,” said Violet.

“Because I’m pregnant?” asked Myrtle.

“I didn’t say that,” Violet replied quickly.

“You didn’t have to,” Myrtle sighed. “So what am I supposed to do today, you’ve passed my apprentice on to someone else and I can’t go and talk to the Fairy College because my Mother has upset them. Do you want me to talk to Enid, I am assuming that she isn’t at the College today.”

“They said that Hell would freeze over, catch fire and sink before she is allowed into the grounds again, let alone in the building,” said Violet.

“Could be worse,” said Myrtle. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

“If you don’t mind,” said Violet. “I tend to forget what I’ve come to say as soon as I see her and then she always gets her way.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Myrtle. “You got her to go to the college in the first place. It isn’t as if she was keen on the idea.”

“Thank-you,” said Violet, looking over to Ethel.

“No your laptop hasn’t finished it’s update,” said Ethel. “It is only 60% through the download.”

“You aught to come with me,” said Myrtle. “You are the Head of the Fairy Godmothers, you shouldn’t let Enid boss you about.”

“But,” muttered Violet as Myrtle waved her wand and the two of them appeared in Enid’s sitting room.

“Hello,” smiled Enid. “Sorry I’m a little late, there was a problem with the alarm clock.”

“Is that why it’s embedded in the wall?” asked Myrtle.

“It rang at some ungodly hour,” Enid replied, waving her wand at it. The clock fell to the floor, the glass fell out, the hands fell off, followed by the dial and various cogs.

“I’ll send it to the repair people,” said Myrtle.

“If you must, but it wasn’t a very nice clock,” said Enid, more cogs fell out of it.

“Then I shall keep it,” said Myrtle, feeling sorry for it. “You can always set an alarm on your mobile phone.”

“I wouldn’t know how to do that,” said Enid.

“Perhaps I should come back later,” said Violet. “You two have so much to talk about.”

“And what will you do back at the office?” asked Myrtle. “Your laptop hasn’t finished downloading the updates yet.”

“I heard that one was a killer,” said Enid.

“How have you avoided it?” asked Violet.

“I turned off all the updates, about a year or two back,” smiled Enid. “They were so annoying.”

“You shouldn’t do that!” snapped Violet. “As a Fairy Godmother you are obliged to keep the software on your computer up to date and that means getting all the updates that come.”

“I’ll do it, at the weekend, if it’s that important,” muttered Enid.

“You will do it now,” Violet replied.

“I don’t know how to get to the updates,” said Enid. “I’ll ask Ethel, she’ll be able to find them.”

“Where is your laptop?” asked Violet. “I shall take it with me now.”

“Hang on, are you saying you don’t trust me to get my own laptop updated?” snapped Enid.

“No, she’s trying to get out of asking you what happened at the Fairy College yesterday,” said Myrtle.

“Ask the college,” said Enid.

“We would, but they don’t know, you wouldn’t tell them and the lecturer was so upset I doubt if she could even tell us what her name was let alone anything else,” snapped Violet. “So what did you say to her?”

“I told her how Lily died,” said Enid.

“What!” stuttered Violet and Myrtle together.

“She was letting rip at me about what bad examples Lily and I where. That we should both be locked up and that we weren’t fit to be there, that she was glad that she’d told the Council Secretary how evil Lily was, all that sort of thing,” said Enid. “Then she asked me where Lily was, so I told her.”

“I am so sorry,” said Violet. “She shouldn’t have done that.”

“I thought I deserved it,” said Enid.

“Doesn’t matter what you have done,” said Violet. “You didn’t deserve that, no one does. I think you should stay with your Mother today,” Violet told Myrtle. “I shall go to the Fairy College and tell them what I think.”

“Are you sure?” asked Myrtle.

“No one treats one of my Fairy Godmothers like that and gets away with it,” said Violet waving her wand.

“Did she really do that?” asked Myrtle.

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that,” said Enid. “I’d get found out.”

“That’s true,” said Myrtle. “Are you OK?”

“It was a bit of a shaker at the time, I thought everyone knew what Lily did,” sighed Enid. “But, I’m tougher than that, which is more than can be said of that lecturer.”

“Yes, you’d have thought, if she was dishing that sort of stuff out, that she would be able to take it,” Myrtle agreed. “I’d like to hear what Violet says when she gets there, she did seem to have her mad up.”

“That bunch could do with a bit of a stir up,” said Enid. “I tried to do it whilst I was there, but they were so stuck in the mud, that’s why I left to become Head of the Fairy Godmothers, I thought I’d be able to get them into the 20^th century from there.”

“We are in the 21^st century,” Myrtle reminded her.

“We are, they are still back in the 1800’s at the best,” said Enid. “That reminds me, they took my phone off me before they would even let me into the place and they’ve still got it.”

“I’ll text Violet with that,” said Myrtle, fishing out her phone. “She’ll get it back for you.”

“So, what do we do now?” asked Enid as Myrtle put her phone away. “Do I get to spoil you? Talk about babies or maybe get some clothes for the little thing?”

“It’s a bit early to get clothes, we don’t know what sex it’s going to be yet,” said Myrtle.

“Do you want to find out?” asked Enid.

“No, I can see the charms of finding out when the baby is born,” smiled Myrtle, patting the bump. “I’m sure they’ll be perfect whatever they are.”

“So no big gender revel party?” asked Enid.

“James has been telling me all about the accidents people have with them, it’s enough to put anyone off,” Myrtle explained.

“Fair enough,” said Enid. “Talking of James, I heard you had a bit of a problem with him yesterday.”

“He’s not used to me going out to work, that’s all,” said Myrtle. “I’ve explained it to him.”

“Good, because you can’t have him stopping you from working, you are so good as a Fairy Godmother,” Enid explained. “You are, by far, the best Fairy Godmother I have ever met.”

“You didn’t say that when you were Head of the Fairy Godmother’s,” laughed Myrtle.

“I didn’t want you sitting on your laurels,” said Enid. “I wanted to encourage you to do better always and now, no one is better than you.”

By Janice Nye © 2021

The Fairy Godmother Part 105

“So now I have to put up with six months of being told how to run my own country,” King Rufus said to Myrtle after the delegates had gone to their rooms to prepare for the banquette that had been put on it their honour.

“Yes,” Myrtle replied. “You might learn a few things on being a king. At the very least you could learn how they think and how they run their countries.”

“And that would be useful because?” asked Rufus.

“Whilst they are teaching you, they aren’t invading and you could learn what signs to look for if they should still decide to attack,” said Myrtle.

“So what I am doing is keeping them at bay for six months,” Rufus sighed.

“Probably a bit longer than that,” said Violet.

“Yes,” said Rosemary. “They’d have to think of a good reason to invade.”

“Also, it would be hard for them to all agree that that is the best way forward,” said Liam.

“You think that there might be some disagreement on how to divide up my country?” snapped Rufus.

“It would depend on how you reacted to the six different teachers,” said Myrtle. “Some of them my think that you show promise as a leader and would prefer to work with you rather than go to the effort and expense of an invasion. Some might think that there’s might be the next country in line for take over and that once their neighbour has got an army together, they may be the ones being invaded as well as you.”

“Sweet talk them and keep them at bay?” asked Rufus.

“Something like that,” said Violet, as Myrtle’s phone rang.

“Hello Sweetheart, when are you coming home?” asked James.

“Who is it?” asked Violet.

“My husband,” said Myrtle to Violet.

“We are in the middle of something,” Myrtle explained to James. “I’ll give you a ring back soon,” she added and hung up.

“I thought he understood what the job of being a Fairy Godmother was about,” said Violet. “You can’t do any useful work if you are dashing home at 5pm, it’s not that sort of job.”

“I know that,” snapped Myrtle. “And I thought he understood, perhaps he thought that as I was looking after an apprentice and that this is my first day back, that things would be different today.”

“I thought that we would be finishing by now,” said Rosemary yawing loudly.

“I think we can look after things here,” said Liam, looking at Rufus. “You just have to turn the charm on and we both know how well you can do that.”

“OK,” said Violet. “But we will be available at any time, should you need us,” she added looking at Myrtle, waving her wand and taking the three of them back to the Fairy Godmothers office.

“I shall explain it to him,” said Myrtle. “He’s a Doctor, he should understand that sometimes jobs just don’t fall into the 9 to 5 timing.”

“Make sure he does, I can’t have you clock watching,” said Violet. “Meanwhile, you need to get some sleep,” she added to Rosemary. “And you need to understand that part of this job is staying with it till it is sorted.”

“Yes,” said Rosemary, looking rather disheartened.

“It’s just the way it is,” Myrtle smiled at her.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be any good at this,” Rosemary muttered.

“You are here to learn,” said Myrtle. “You’re just starting, don’t give up.”

“OK,” sighed Rosemary, heading for the door.

“Do you really think she has it in her?” asked Violet.

“There’s promise there,” said Myrtle.

“But?” asked Violet.

“It’s been a bit of a full on day for her and she’s had you as well as me watching over her, give the girl a chance,” Myrtle smiled.

“The college said how good she was,” said Violet. “Thought she could go straight in on the job without supervision.”

“The people there haven’t been in the field for over a hundred years,” said Myrtle. “They could probably do with a refresher themselves. It would save us having to fish some of them out of difficult situations.”

“That’s true,” said Violet. “I shall mention it to them.”

“I think you need to do more than just mention it,” said Myrtle. “Some of them, their ideas are so outdated, they don’t even know what a computer is, let alone how to use one.”

“You are right,” sighed Violet. “And I know it, which is probably why I’ve been putting it off. Anyway, you need to get home to talk to your husband and I need to talk to the Head of the Fairy Godmothers College.”

“Good luck,” said Myrtle, giving her wand a quick twitch.

“I’m sorry,” said James as soon as she appeared. “It’s just that I’d got tea ready and then I remembered that you’d gone to work.”

“I know it’s the first day back,” said Myrtle. “But you have to understand that I can’t just drop everything because it’s 5pm where you are.”

“Wasn’t it 5pm where you were as well?” asked James.

“No, it was 11.30 am,” said Myrtle. “And we were in the middle of trying to prevent one country from being invaded by six others that surrounded it.”

“Did you succeed?” asked James.

“The six countries are giving the new mentoring on Kingship,” said Myrtle.

“An interesting idea,” said James. “I take it that the armies are being stood down?”

“For the time being,” said Myrtle. “If all goes well, that wont change.”

“So, no harm done?” James asked.

“Not today, but Violet asked me to explain to you that that sort of thing can not happen again,” sighed Myrtle.

“But,” said James.

“Would you like it if I rang you up at work?” Myrtle asked.

“You wouldn’t,” said James. “Not unless it was an emergency or the baby was about to be born.”

“At the moment, the baby being born would be an emergency,” said Myrtle, patting the bump. “But the same has to go for when I’m at work, you can’t just ring to see if I’ll be home for tea.”

“I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, what with you mentoring an apprentice,” said James.

“Anyone else in charge and I might have lost my job,” said Myrtle.

“But it’s your first day back!” said James.

“As it was, Violet thought I hadn’t explained the work to you, not properly,” said Myrtle. “And I have an apprentice who came top in her class thinking that she isn’t up to the job!”

“Did you have to tell Violet that I rang?” James asked.

“I didn’t tell her, she was with us,” snapped Myrtle.

“Why?” asked James.

“Her laptop was doing updates, the sort that keep your computer tied up for a day or two, I said she could come along so that she didn’t drive Ethel mad asking her when the updates would be finished,” Myrtle explained, sitting down suddenly.

“And now you are tired,” said James.

“Don’t try to talk me out of working,” said Myrtle.

“I wasn’t going to,” said James quickly. “But I do think it is time you had something to eat.”

“Smells like tea is ready,” said Myrtle.

“I wont ring you at work again,” said James.

“Thank-you,” said Myrtle. “You should have seen the look on Violet’s face when you called me Sweetheart, it was so hard keeping a straight face.”

By Janice Nye © 2021

The Fairy Godmother Part 104

“So, what do we do know?” asked King Rufus.

“You have a conference to go to,” said Myrtle, looking him up and down. “And we need to get you in a fit state to be seen.”

“Do you have a bathroom attached to your rooms?” asked Violet.

“Of course I do, I am the King,” Rufus smiled.

“Liam, run a bath,” said Myrtle. “You could do with one as well, but I’m not sure how we can manage that.”

“My room is near here,” Liam replied. “And I also have a bath.”

“Rosemary, you run a bath for the King,” said Myrtle waving her wand, taking her and Liam to his rooms.

“Shouldn’t you stay with the King?” asked Liam.

“He has the Head of the Fairy Godmothers with him, along with an apprentice, I think they can keep him safe,” smiled Myrtle.

“Do you think that I might be in danger?” Liam asked.

“There are times when it is best not to take chances,” said Myrtle. “At the moment the Valet thinks you are wondering round the labyrinth totally lost and unlikely to turn up for this conference.”

“So whilst he thinks that, we should be OK?” asked Liam.

“Exactly, I’m planing on using my wand to get you in there just in time,” Myrtle replied, putting the plug into the bath and running the hot water.

“What do you think will happen?” asked Liam.

“I don’t know,” Myrtle replied. “But I suspect that some of the delegates wont be expecting Rufus to turn up.”

“You think the valet was working for them?” asked Liam.

“Someone was and I think we are going to find out when the meeting is convened,” Myrtle smiled, turning the taps off.

“You don’t have to watch me bathing,” said Liam looking at the steaming water and then at Myrtle.

“True,” she smiled, her wand twitching behind her back as she sealed the windows. “I’ll be outside if you should need anything.”

“Why did you seal the windows?” asked Liam and hour later when he walked out of the bathroom.

“To prevent anyone from disturbing you,” said Myrtle.

“Is that all?” he asked.

“You aren’t likely to leap out of the window are you?” smiled Myrtle. “So what other reason could there possibly be?”

“I can’t think of any,” he said. “Where are my clothes?”

“I’ve laid out suitable clothing in your bedroom,” Myrtle smiled. “I assume you don’t require any assistance.”

“Will you be sealing the windows again?” he asked.

“They were sealed along with the bathroom windows,” said Myrtle. “Your safety is my prime concern.”

“Surely King Rufus’s safety is more important,” Liam replied, trying to control his towel.

“The Head of the Fairy Godmothers is taking care of that,” Myrtle reminded him.

“I know, but,” said Liam, looking round for inspiration.

“There is nothing to worry about,” said Myrtle.

“Isn’t there?” asked Liam.

“You will not be alone, if the other delegates start to get violent we can always freeze time and get you both out of there,” Myrtle explained.

“How will you time us arriving together?” he asked.

“Simple,” said Myrtle. “Get dresses and you’ll find out.”

“OK,” he sighed, heading for his bedroom.

“Try not to take too long,” Myrtle said as he closed the door.

“I’d like to have this all done and dusted before the baby arrives,” she thought.

There was quarter of an hour to go when King Rufus, Violet and Rosemary appeared in Liam’s rooms.

“I thought we’d be going to Rufus’s rooms,” said Liam looking confused.

“Hopefully that is what anyone else will have thought,” said Violet.

“I don’t understand,” said Rosemary.

“If anyone is looking for us in Rufus’s rooms, they aren’t going to find us there,” said Myrtle.

“That’s because we are here,” said Rosemary.

“It might buy us some time,” said Myrtle.

“Is everyone ready?” asked Violet.

“I think so,” said King Rufus.

“All you have to do is look regal, welcoming and open the meeting,” said Violet.

“I’ll do my best,” he said, not looking or sounding the least bit sure of himself.

“Remember,” said Myrtle. “You just have to look confident, they don’t know if you are or not.”

“Fake it till you make it?” King Rufus smiled.

“Exactly,” Violet smiled.

“Do you know what is going to happen?” Rufus asked.

“No,” said Myrtle. “We suspect that someone may make a move to take control of the kingdom, but we don’t know who or what they intend to do. What we do know is that they don’t expect you to be there, so they may look surprised when they see you.”

“And after that we react to what happens as it happens,” Rufus asked.

“Exactly,” said Violet. “Are you ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he sighed.

“Remember this is your people you are fighting for,” smiled Myrtle as Violet waved her wand.

The walls if Liam’s rooms faded to be replaced by those of the council chamber.

“He should be here,” said someone anxiously

“He’s probably gone fishing again,” someone else snapped.

“What do we do?” asked another court official. “The delegates are waiting outside.”

“Then open the doors and let them in,” said King Rufus. “It wouldn’t do to keep them waiting would it.”

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” stuttered the footman closest to the door, he signalled to the other footman and they both opened the double doors together. The senior footman coughed to attract the attention of the delegates.

“About time,” muttered the one nearest to the door.

“King Augustus,” said the footman, bowing low. “And his chancellor. If you would kindly make your way to the table, you will be seated to the left of King Rufus.”

“I’m so glad you could make it Augustus,” said Rufus smiling broadly. “I know things are a bit difficult for you at home.”

“I didn’t see you there,” King Augustus replied with a start. “Everything is fine at home, just a few extremists getting a bit agitated. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Glad to hear that,” smiled Rufus.

“King Frederick,” the footman introduced the next monarch. “And his Prime Minister.”

“Why don’t they say the names of the people accompanying all the monarchs?” asked Rosemary when the last of the people sat down, six monarchs and their various assistants.

“They change so often, it’s hard for anyone to keep track of who is who,” said Liam. “It wouldn’t make much difference anyway, they are only here to make a note of what their King’s agree to.”

“Why aren’t there any women?” Rosemary asked.

“It’s a good question,” said Myrtle. “But this is not the time or place for questions.”

“We called this meeting today because we, the assembled Monarchs, don’t think that you are taking your role as King seriously,” said King Frederick.

“In what way?” asked King Rufus.

“That is not important,” snapped King Frederick.

“I would have thought that that was the heart of the matter,” King Rufus replied.

“You are unfit to be King and therefore we have decided that your territories should be divided up between the assembled monarchs so that they can be exploited properly,” said King Frederick.

“On what authority to you base this decision?” asked King Rufus.

“We are Kings, we do not need any other authority,” King Frederick snapped.

“You are Kings of your own countries, you are not Kings in this country and therefore you do not have any authority here,” said King Rufus.

“What?” shouted King Augustus.

“Guards,” said King Rufus. “Kindly arrest the delegates and take them to the dungeons.”

“Of course, your Majesty,” said the Officer in charge of the Guards. “You have your orders,” he said to his men.

“You can’t do this,” stuttered King Augustus, trying to push away a guard who was busy trying to put handcuffs on him.

“I can do it and I will do it unless you retract your threat to divide up my country between you,” said King Rufus.

“We have armies,” said King Frederick.

“So do I,” said King Rufus. “I also have you, so your armies had better stay in their barracks.”

“Are you threatening us,” asked King Henry, the last of the monarchs to sit at the table.

“No,” smiled King Rufus. “I’d just like you to give me time to get used to being a monarch before you threaten to depose me.”

“You have been King here for two months,” said King Augustus.

“If I remember rightly,” said King Henry. “You were still celebrating the death of your predecessor after two months. It took six months before you were even crowned King, the lawyers were busy checking for alternatives.”

“OK, but, there is an instability in the centre of our little group, I am worried that those outside it might think to take advantage of this,” said King Augustus.

“All the more reason for us to be united in helping our newest member, King Rufus,” said King Henry.

“Good morning gentlemen,” said Myrtle. “We are representatives of the Council of Fairy Godmothers. May I suggest that each of the monarchs agrees to spend a month here mentoring King Rufus and helping to prepare himself for the responsibilities of his position.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” King Henry

“It would be good to have some guidance,” said King Rufus. “I think my Father wasn’t expecting to pass on for a good few years and therefore didn’t want to burden me with the problems of state. Perhaps it would have been better to be more prepared, but I also think that the lose of a much loved parent is impossible to prepare for.”

“I suggest we ask the Fairy Godmothers to supervise this mentoring,” said King David, looking at Kings Augustus and Frederick whilst he said it.

“All in agreement say I,” said King Henry.

There was a general call of I

“Carried unanimously,” said Violet.

“Thank-you,” said King Rufus. “I hate to be at loggerheads with any of you.”

By Janice Nye © 2021

The Fairy Godmother Part 103

“Ethel,” said Myrtle as soon as she appeared back in the office.

“Tell her the update has only just started, there is no way I can do anything with it for at least one day,” said Ethel slowly looking up.

“We told her that,” said Myrtle. “But that isn’t what I’m here about. Her phone’s died.”

“I sorted that out last week, there’s nothing wrong with it,” snapped Ethel.

“Except she couldn’t ring you,” said Myrtle.

“That shouldn’t happen,” Ethel replied trying to ring Violet.

“This number can not be found,” the phone explained.

“I suspect it is place related,” Myrtle replied.

“Do you think it is something to do with their computer system crashing?” Ethel asked.

“The King had a row with their computer person, they left, the computer system crashed and when the King started to sort it out, it got worse and now he’s gone fishing,” Myrtle explained.

“You think the computer person crashed the system?” asked Ethel.

“Everything points to that way,” said Myrtle. “But it doesn’t smell right. Violet’s phone not working does rather underline the whole thing.”

“I don’t understand?” said Ethel.

“If the phone system isn’t working, how come the Valet managed to call us for help?” Myrtle replied.

“Are Violet and Rosemary in any danger?” asked Ethel.

“I don’t think so, it’s like the Valet called them there to have a witness to something,” said Myrtle. “Can you locate either the King or Liam, that’s their computer person.”

“I should be able to,” said Ethel, turning to her laptop. “What the!”

The look of panic that crossed Ethel’s face caused Myrtle to wave her wand and put everything on pause.

“Looks like the computer failure is spreading,” thought Myrtle. “Or at least someone is making it spread,” she added winding the clock back to just before Ethel tried to find the King.

“You asked me to do something, I think,” said Ethel looking at her laptop.

“Can you protect our system from any computer bug that might come to it from their system?” asked Myrtle.

“Yes,” said Ethel, “But if I do that I wont be able to use our computer system to find out what is going wrong with theirs.”

“We wont be able to use our computer system if it crashes as well,” said Myrtle.

“Hadn’t thought of that,” said Ethel, redoubling her efforts to prevent any contagine.

“I think we will have to go old style to do that,” said Myrtle, heading for the Hall of the Fairy Council.

“What do you mean?” asked Ethel dashing after her.

“We’ll go talk to the mirror, she knows everything,” smiled Myrtle.

“But wont this update affect her?” asked Ethel.

“Why should it, she’s a mirror, been around longer than any computer and doesn’t need an update, because she is perfect the way she is,” said Myrtle smiling at the mirror.

“You are supposed to say “Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all,”, but I like what you said, so we’ll skip that. How can I help you?” asked the Mirror.

“We are trying to find King Rufus and his computer expert Liam,” said Myrtle.

“And you are asking me instead of the computer,” said the Mirror.

“There are a lot of updates freezing the computer system,” said Ethel.

“The computer system is in danger of being corrupted,” said Myrtle. “Whilst we know that nothing and no one could corrupt you.”

“That sounds like you are buttering me up,” said the Mirror.

“We need answers and we know you can get them,” said Myrtle. “We wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important.”

“OK,” said the Mirror. “When Rufus became King he wasn’t really ready for the responsibility. His Valet suggested that, when things got too much he could go fishing, to help him relax. Rufus wasn’t that keen on the actual fishing bit, but the Valet said all he had to do was go out on the boat, he didn’t have to catch anything.”

“Wouldn’t he be seen going to the boat or something?” asked Ethel.

“The Valet told him of a secret way to get to the boat, down a hidden staircase, into a labyrinth, under the castle, through that to a hidden boat, he and Liam could then go fishing on the lake without anyone knowing about it,” the mirror explained.

“Surely it would be simple enough to look for a boat on the lake?” asked Myrtle.

“The Valet put the route to the boat on a map on Rufus’s mobile phone,” the mirror explained. “And Rufus was using the torch on the phone to find his way. Rufus and Liam both put their phones on charge at night, the valet slipped into their rooms and took them off charge. As the two were heading for the boat, the batteries died and they were stuck underground, in the dark in a labyrinth that goes on for miles.”

“And they are still there,” said Myrtle.

“Walking round and round in circles,” said the Mirror.

“All I have to do is find them in time for the conference,” Myrtle smiled.

“Might be an idea to give yourself a bit of time to make them presentable for the occasion,” said the Mirror. “It’s not exactly clean down there and some of those delegates will take insult from the least thing.”

“Thanks,” said Myrtle. “I’ll bare that in mind. How are you liking it here?”

“It’s nice seeing people coming and going,” said the Mirror. “But it would be nice if they stopped for a chat sometimes.”

“I’m along here a lot,” said Ethel. “It would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes.”

“It would be nice to talk,” smiled the Mirror.

“I’d better go,” said Myrtle. “You know what it’s like, Kings to find, conferences to kick into action, Kingdoms to save.”

“Take care you don’t get lost,” said the Mirror as Myrtle waved her wand.

“If we had something to draw on the wall as we went along,” said Liam searching through his pockets for the umpteenth time.

“It wouldn’t make any difference,” said Rufus. “We can’t see the wall, let alone anything we drew on it.”

“I’m trying to think of a solution,” shouted Liam.

“I know,” said Rufus. “And I appreciate your effort. But it wont work. So if you could just keep quiet for a little while, perhaps one of us can think up something that might work. And before you say it, string is not a good idea either, nor is fishing line because we didn’t bring the fishing gear with us.”

“I knew I’d forgotten something,” said Liam, putting his hand out towards the wall. “There’s something warm here,” he added his hand coming into contact with Myrtle.

“I take it you are King Rufus and Liam?” asked Myrtle.

“Yes,” said King Rufus. “And who are you?”

“I am Myrtle, your Fairy Godmother,” she replied. “You can take your hand off me now,” she told Liam, turning up the wick on her storm lantern.

“And can you get us out of here?” asked Rufus.

“No sooner the word than the deed,” said Myrtle waving her wand.

“These are the King’s quarters,” said the Valet, opening a door for Violet and Rosemary to walk through and then slamming it shut behind them and locking it quickly.

“I don’t think these are the King’s quarters,” said Rosemary.

“And what gives you that idea?” asked Violet.

“It’s dark in here, I’ve just walked into a hoover and the place stinks of polish,” Rosemary replied.

“I agree with you,” said Violet. “This is much too small for the King’s quarters.”

Violet waved her wand, she and Rosemary arrived in the King’s quarters at the same time as Rufus, Liam and Myrtle.

“I get the feeling that the Valet is at the bottom of all of this,” said Myrtle.

The Fairy Godmother Part 103

“Ethel,” said Myrtle as soon as she appeared back in the office.

“Tell her the update has only just started, there is no way I can do anything with it for at least one day,” said Ethel slowly looking up.

“We told her that,” said Myrtle. “But that isn’t what I’m here about. Her phone’s died.”

“I sorted that out last week, there’s nothing wrong with it,” snapped Ethel.

“Except she couldn’t ring you,” said Myrtle.

“That shouldn’t happen,” Ethel replied trying to ring Violet.

“This number can not be found,” the phone explained.

“I suspect it is place related,” Myrtle replied.

“Do you think it is something to do with their computer system crashing?” Ethel asked.

“The King had a row with their computer person, they left, the computer system crashed and when the King started to sort it out, it got worse and now he’s gone fishing,” Myrtle explained.

“You think the computer person crashed the system?” asked Ethel.

“Everything points to that way,” said Myrtle. “But it doesn’t smell right. Violet’s phone not working does rather underline the whole thing.”

“I don’t understand?” said Ethel.

“If the phone system isn’t working, how come the Valet managed to call us for help?” Myrtle replied.

“Are Violet and Rosemary in any danger?” asked Ethel.

“I don’t think so, it’s like the Valet called them there to have a witness to something,” said Myrtle. “Can you locate either the King or Liam, that’s their computer person.”

“I should be able to,” said Ethel, turning to her laptop. “What the!”

The look of panic that crossed Ethel’s face caused Myrtle to wave her wand and put everything on pause.

“Looks like the computer failure is spreading,” thought Myrtle. “Or at least someone is making it spread,” she added winding the clock back to just before Ethel tried to find the King.

“You asked me to do something, I think,” said Ethel looking at her laptop.

“Can you protect our system from any computer bug that might come to it from their system?” asked Myrtle.

“Yes,” said Ethel, “But if I do that I wont be able to use our computer system to find out what is going wrong with theirs.”

“We wont be able to use our computer system if it crashes as well,” said Myrtle.

“Hadn’t thought of that,” said Ethel, redoubling her efforts to prevent any contagine.

“I think we will have to go old style to do that,” said Myrtle, heading for the Hall of the Fairy Council.

“What do you mean?” asked Ethel dashing after her.

“We’ll go talk to the mirror, she knows everything,” smiled Myrtle.

“But wont this update affect her?” asked Ethel.

“Why should it, she’s a mirror, been around longer than any computer and doesn’t need an update, because she is perfect the way she is,” said Myrtle smiling at the mirror.

“You are supposed to say “Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all,”, but I like what you said, so we’ll skip that. How can I help you?” asked the Mirror.

“We are trying to find King Rufus and his computer expert Liam,” said Myrtle.

“And you are asking me instead of the computer,” said the Mirror.

“There are a lot of updates freezing the computer system,” said Ethel.

“The computer system is in danger of being corrupted,” said Myrtle. “Whilst we know that nothing and no one could corrupt you.”

“That sounds like you are buttering me up,” said the Mirror.

“We need answers and we know you can get them,” said Myrtle. “We wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important.”

“OK,” said the Mirror. “When Rufus became King he wasn’t really ready for the responsibility. His Valet suggested that, when things got too much he could go fishing, to help him relax. Rufus wasn’t that keen on the actual fishing bit, but the Valet said all he had to do was go out on the boat, he didn’t have to catch anything.”

“Wouldn’t he be seen going to the boat or something?” asked Ethel.

“The Valet told him of a secret way to get to the boat, down a hidden staircase, into a labyrinth, under the castle, through that to a hidden boat, he and Liam could then go fishing on the lake without anyone knowing about it,” the mirror explained.

“Surely it would be simple enough to look for a boat on the lake?” asked Myrtle.

“The Valet put the route to the boat on a map on Rufus’s mobile phone,” the mirror explained. “And Rufus was using the torch on the phone to find his way. Rufus and Liam both put their phones on charge at night, the valet slipped into their rooms and took them off charge. As the two were heading for the boat, the batteries died and they were stuck underground, in the dark in a labyrinth that goes on for miles.”

“And they are still there,” said Myrtle.

“Walking round and round in circles,” said the Mirror.

“All I have to do is find them in time for the conference,” Myrtle smiled.

“Might be an idea to give yourself a bit of time to make them presentable for the occasion,” said the Mirror. “It’s not exactly clean down there and some of those delegates will take insult from the least thing.”

“Thanks,” said Myrtle. “I’ll bare that in mind. How are you liking it here?”

“It’s nice seeing people coming and going,” said the Mirror. “But it would be nice if they stopped for a chat sometimes.”

“I’m along here a lot,” said Ethel. “It would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes.”

“It would be nice to talk,” smiled the Mirror.

“I’d better go,” said Myrtle. “You know what it’s like, Kings to find, conferences to kick into action, Kingdoms to save.”

“Take care you don’t get lost,” said the Mirror as Myrtle waved her wand.

“If we had something to draw on the wall as we went along,” said Liam searching through his pockets for the umpteenth time.

“It wouldn’t make any difference,” said Rufus. “We can’t see the wall, let alone anything we drew on it.”

“I’m trying to think of a solution,” shouted Liam.

“I know,” said Rufus. “And I appreciate your effort. But it wont work. So if you could just keep quiet for a little while, perhaps one of us can think up something that might work. And before you say it, string is not a good idea either, nor is fishing line because we didn’t bring the fishing gear with us.”

“I knew I’d forgotten something,” said Liam, putting his hand out towards the wall. “There’s something warm here,” he added his hand coming into contact with Myrtle.

“I take it you are King Rufus and Liam?” asked Myrtle.

“Yes,” said King Rufus. “And who are you?”

“I am Myrtle, your Fairy Godmother,” she replied. “You can take your hand off me now,” she told Liam, turning up the wick on her storm lantern.

“And can you get us out of here?” asked Rufus.

“No sooner the word than the deed,” said Myrtle waving her wand.

“These are the King’s quarters,” said the Valet, opening a door for Violet and Rosemary to walk through and then slamming it shut behind them and locking it quickly.

“I don’t think these are the King’s quarters,” said Rosemary.

“And what gives you that idea?” asked Violet.

“It’s dark in here, I’ve just walked into a hoover and the place stinks of polish,” Rosemary replied.

“I agree with you,” said Violet. “This is much too small for the King’s quarters.”

Violet waved her wand, she and Rosemary arrived in the King’s quarters at the same time as Rufus, Liam and Myrtle.

“I get the feeling that the Valet is at the bottom of all of this,” said Myrtle.

“Makes a change from the Butler,” said Rosemary.

“He walked out after a row with the Valet, I’ve been trying to get a replacement to no avail,” said King Rufus.

By Janice Nye © 2021

“Makes a change from the Butler,” said Rosemary.

“He walked out after a row with the Valet, I’ve been trying to get a replacement to no avail,” said King Rufus.

By Janice Nye © 2021