Lemurian Gypsy Camp

What would Halloween be without some special treats!

Ever since I mentioned to the Enhantrer that I thought I would like a moonlight ride over Paris ,Pegasus has been pawing the ground near by. Getting settled into the Gypsy camp with two very active and not too helpful guests has taken a while. It turns out the gentleman’s name is Edward, another distant relative who also was born into the world for only a few hours. Lucinda and Edward hit it off immediately. Once we were assigned to a lovely caravan, and we had our first home base, they linked arms and headed out to explore the camp. There seemed to be a lots of activities going on but at the moment I was glad to finally be alone.

After arranging all our possessions neatly in the caravan I dragged a comfortable chair outside and placed it under a nearby weeping willow and planned mentally for my night ride ahead. As I was daydreaming I saw the Secretary of Donkeys Inc. in the field nearby walking a couple of donkeys. Perfect timing. I hurried over with Destiny and made arrangements for her to take care of Destiny for me until I left the gypsy camp. I was sure that my two guests would entertain themselves without any help from me and I looked forward to taking off by myself. Settling back under the tree I thought about Paris and what I would really like to see

Welcome to campout breakfast with the girls.
The selection of goodies is by committee vote,
limited only by my restriction of what they can cook.
‘quoise thought up the name “Nessie Messie”.

Everyone is invited — bring your own plate, cup and fork.

Menu:

Orange juice (fresh squzzed by ‘quoise)
Jade Taters (home fries with green pepper, onions and basil cooked in a Dutch oven)
Toad in the Holes (recipe below)

ingredients:

whole wheat bread with square cut out of the center (Coral)
cooked bacon bits (done last night by Jade and pat dried by ‘quoise)
eggs (cracked in a bowl by me, stirred by Coral and seasoned by mischief. It seems some “cinnimmonnimm” got in there with the sea salt, course pepper and dash of milk)

These take four people to make (around this fire)

One to put butter in the hot fry pan and spread around
One to put the bread slice in
One to drop bacon pits in the hole
One to pour in some eggs (sloppy OK)
One to turn the mess over and serve

oops! Somebody else better get here quick!

Bring catsup and hot sauce as you please

Or, how little children should mind their elders.

The laughter of children echoed through the pastoral valley. Life here in a community too small to have it’s own name ran at a pace all it’s own. If it was not for the inhabitants growing old and the occasional birth of a baby one would swear life stood absolutely still. You could think that, but you would be wrong.

Days were spent tilling the soil, looking after animals and keeping house. There was but one road going both in and out of the valley. No crimes had ever been committed here, and though a few of its inhabitants had moved out, they were few in number. It was by all accounts a life of pleasant routine.

Not too many people had ever lived here, judging from the graveyard there were more than 300 souls gone to the afterlife from here. Roughly that’s one citizen for every year of the valley’s 300 year life. No-one remembered who founded the settlement or in what year but the first death was recorded in 1706 a Bryce Sand, no indication if it was a male or female Bryce Sand nor what this person did for a living. A life with as little to make it remarkable as each passing day here.

So it came as a great shock that grey October day that three little boys, two brothers and their friend, went missing. October days were slow and lazy, the harvest was already put away and shared with neighbours. The children were all home schooled together at Miss Miller’s house, all twelve of them, just as they had been since Miss Miller was about twenty and she’d be nearly eighty now. The great love of her life had died in one of the great wars and she was unable to commit herself to any other man. Instead she vowed to educate every child born in this valley to be upright and peaceful so there would be no more wars. She was bent over, heavy with the knowledge of all the wars that had come since making the great promise to herself. Still she should be proud of herself, for in the valley itself life had gone without any fights, without any incident whatever.

The citizen’s in the valley had counted themselves out of every census in living memory, no wars were funded by this valley and they had no need for federal services, they could look perfectly well after themselves. There was no police, no jail, no court.

They should have been in school that day, that John and Jack and their friend Luke. Somewhere between Miss Miller’s and home the boys had gone missing. Miss Miller had assumed the boys had taken ill with the cold or flue and since the valley had no telephone it was no immediately checked on. No one could have thought it would be anything else.

It was something else. That morning the three had met up as usual. Luke had shared some of his cake with the other two. They had chatted about the new foal at the Miller’s. White horses were born only very rarely in the valley. God seemed to favour brown for horses.

They were nearly halfway to the old schoolhouse when all three heard something. None of them knew what it was exactly, only that no one they knew had a voice anything like it. Still, whatever of whoever it was, was asking for help and the all three knew what needed to be done. They needed to go and see if they could help and if they could not they should fetch someone who could.

There was a small patch of forest where the voice emanated from. A little forests on the east side of the valley before the river. A small brook ran through it and the boys knew there were caves in this forest up against the hillside which were dangerous. The caves were from a long, long time ago, before the families had moved here, when other strange people had lived here. Inside the caves there were paintings of large cat life animals and lizards such as no one had seen ever in real life. Those were stories of course, in modern times no-one had dared go into the caves because they knew it was dangerous and everyone was quite happy without having any danger in their lives.

The boys ran into the forest, convinced that there was hero business to be done. They had long talked of being like super heroes, able to fly, to save the innocent from harm. Maybe this was their day to become heroes. That was a far as they had thought it out. They ran from one direction to the other as the voice seemed to change a great deal. At last they were exhausted and could not run any longer.

John had blisters on his feet and was complaining a lot. Luke was hungry and had started his lunch sitting on a large rock by what might have been an opening to a cave.. Jack had not quite run out of energy and paced up and down the path kicking stones. He kicked one rather hard and it went flying. They heard a small scream, it cam from right over Luke’s head. It was a very good thing that the three had used the bathroom before leaving home or all three would have been standing there in wet pants.

There sitting perched on an old stump, over the cave opening, was the strangest creature. It wasn’t very big but it was very odd looking. It had very large lizard-like eyes, and it’s skin was a little scaly like a fish. It’s hands or where one would have expected to see hands were talons like covered to the nails with small feathers. Feathers, I kid you not. They would have gasped or screamed for sure, but they had no breath at all, not for that moment. They scarcely caught one breath before the next fright.

Just behind the three, standing on another stump, stood another just like it. This one was a bit larger with a very round belly. They struggled to scream. They were starting to turn a little bluish from not breathing. Finally breath came and they let out a blood curdling scream which was met by another as the two strange looking creatures screamed too.

The earth shook a little and they were silent. “oh no.” said the sitting creature. “Oh no,” echoed the second creature. “What, what, WHAT?” screamed the three boys, no longer sure what they should fear more and their feet still frozen to the forest floor. They shot glances between the two creatures and each other. The booming continued, the earth shook and there was a thunderous sound coming form everywhere at once. The little grey creatures with the big eyes were no less frightened than the boys, actually they seemed more afraid and were turning strangely pale.

The sun seemed to appear and disappear and a twirling whooshing sound was overhead they dared look, they might as well, they were no able to run and screaming had not made anything go away. What they saw was beyond belief. Meaning that if they told this story to anyone they would be laughed at for making up ridiculous lies. Still there it was, a large flying reptile with wings and eyes a fiery orange colour, it had a split long tongue which flitted before them, and talons with long brown nails.

One of the little grey creatures looked up clasping it’s hands, well whatever passed for hands, and pleaded, “let us go, we meant no harm”. A booming voice came from the great lizard, or it might have been a dragon if you don’t consider fire breathing important. “Get away from the humans, or you will have to deal with me. The two ran away into the cave. The dragon, to call it something for the sake of argument a dragon will do, perched above the cave opening, he shook his head and mumbled, “halloweenies.”

Now he gazed straight at the boys who had just found their feet and were bouncing around a bit trying to figure out where to run to. “Get out of my forest, the lot of you.” The boys ran and clamoured all the way up the hill to where the graveyard stood but the dragon followed them out. No matter where they ran the beast was not far behind. “Climb into this tree”, yelled Jack. Which is where they were headed to, the biggest tree in the valley. Unfortunately, just as they were nearly there they were caught except for Jack as the dragon swooped down and caught them with his brow talon nails.

The dragon had miscalculated and a wing clipped into the old oak and all four of them tumbled down back to front and front to back and out they fell right in front of Miss Miller’s one room school house. Well the boys thought they were safe. Miss Miller was not scared of anything they knew that and surely she would come out of the house running with her cane and thump the dragon on his scaly behind too.

Miss Miller did not. She stayed in and did not even open the door for them. The dragon righted himself and lumbered over them. His talon reached out and the boys cringed. Well they thought they were dragon kibble right about then. They were too tired to scream or cry.

“Never,” said the dragon poking Luke with his talon, “never go into the forest without an adult, those halloweenies play tricks on you, and since you’d eaten all your goodies already you’d have had nothing to pay your way out with. I am getting too old to keep saving lost children from halloweenies, sprained ankles and sick stomachs from eating the wrong mushrooms.” He stood up and looked his most fearsome. “If I see you in the forest again I will let the halloweenies have you.” and with that he rose up, flapped his wings and flew off back to his forest.

“Did you see that miss Miller, did you see the dragon?”
“No, didn’t have my glasses on. No one else saw it because school is out and they are all gone home. Besides,” said Miss Miller, “there is no such thing as dragons and no-one will believe you. Next you’ll ask me to believe there are creatures called halloweenies in the forest who tricked you? No boys, you were loafing off in the forest where it is dangerous, now go home and stay on the path.”

They did stay on the path and never did they see the dragon or the halloweenies again. That was on October the 31st, coincidence?

Grace’s parents had a beautiful statue created of her and enclosed in glass at her grave site.This is in Jamestown,NY.

Grace Galloway died on her wedding day.

My donkey, impishly grinned and said, “you don’t know my name, do you?” “no,” I answered. “Well,” he mused, knowing I was embarrassed at neither knowing nor having tried to know, after all I could have asked. Trying to set it right I bit my lower lip and said in a barely audible voice, “what is your name?”

“Well,” he teased, “it is not sweetie, or babe, or little donkey, and it most certainly is not you stubborn old thing.” I tried to mutter an apology, again, he stood there, grinning.

“You can be insufferable.” I was nearly crying.
“You’ve nearly made her cry” came a small voice just to the side of me. I was quite shocked as I was not aware that the geese in the gypsy camp were also able to speak.

“You can speak too?” “If you are willing to really listen, we can be heard to speak,” the goose explained. “I’m sorry I did not mean to be insensitive, but since I did not know you could speak it seemed silly to ask you your names. Still I am truly sorry if any of the things I’ve called you made you feel hurt. Would you tell me now please, what are your names?”

“Mine is Ginny,” said the goose, “and my grinning friend the donkey is Doncaster Grey, he likes to tease, don’t feel too badly” with that ginny crawled into my lap like a cat, she was a lovely and affectionate goose. The donkey was still grinning and making faces.

“Alright, Doncaster Grey, what is it?” “Well,” started the donkey while shuffling his donkey feet in the dirt, “I’ve been thinking I should like to have a Halloween costume too, just as the humans do. I thought I’d like to be and angel, after all I already have wings.” It seemed like a fair enough request and after a bit of consideration I took Ginny off my lap and made a few changes to have Doncaster go from just plain old flying and talking donkey to an angel donkey.

Some glitter in the wings and sparkly eyelashes glued on and a halo fashioned from tin foil and wire. “Would you mind very much, marm, sketching me in costume, to remember the moment by?” so this is what I sketched. Donkeys can be very silly.

Pegasus by Right (6)

My gallant stallion returned –
not that he had actually gone, or ever was –
here I mean, since where I am now
in feeble form and spirit
is not where I was before,
and because of this experience
I am not now what I was then –
but I promised a story, not idle musing …

Start again!
Pegasus and I were again entranced
in the same proximity and focus of
attention. So there!

The enticing rustle of whisper leaves
was gone — but not so she,
who was now mounted atop the steed.
You may imagine, if you wish or need,
a warrior maiden with golden hair,
bridleless save twists of braided mane,
singing a melody meant for me alone –

but I saw more of a pulsing thistle down,
blended amber above and within
a silver cloud of shifting form
that resembled perhaps a horse
more than else –
and was only feminine in voice
and kindness
now.

They were weary, I sensed –
understanding that what was moments
for me and thee and even now
might have been much more of when,
and they actually chose to return yesterday
soas not to encumber me.

The fountain rippled once again
and chimed within my soul –
“ap’egal’sis” cannot do this alone,
nor any but by common join and be,
yet you have allowed this
and other have pledged the quest
that all may perceive the Vale.”

I was awash with dancing light,
foreto behold a vision — nay a plan,
by which the Vale could be known
with goal of shown to me
and bound in future memory.

For no vibration of be –
bound even slightly
to the clutch of physiography,
can survive within the quested Vale
but for a shiver or bold reality –
measure in the dance of quanta.

For this task will serve by choice.
three filled thrice volunteers
to dive as swallows into the seething mists
and catch a blink of grandeur;
returning to breath and heal
and swoop again in joy!

My Pegasus would not take them there,
but would guide and protect their return.
My faerie princess was now an admiral
of forces by my ready count
of 19,683 flights of will and pride,
who would suffer and nearly perish
that a dream would be bound
and promise kept.

Could I have retracted my whimsy
I do not know — and was not tested,
for this release of the Vale of Shernai
had gained the fond attention
of stars in nova prance
and seeds waiting to be born,
and would not be denied –
again!

(to be continued)