That dealt with it was time to follow up our other leads. We decided to split into two groups with the cryptozoologist and Luke the computer expert accompanying me to the Pagan Fair that we learned of earlier. We hope it would allow us to get in contact with the local pagan community and contact Prudence and, if not, it would surely tell us more about the fables of Faerie than we knew at that point. While we did that, Sergeant Jones, Hammer, Mortimer, the intrepid pilot and Agent Scott were to interview Fitzhubert and then investigate the flat of the witch, Prudence, whom we assumed would be at the Pagan Fair at that point. Once both teams had carried out their investigations we planned to rendezvous at Madame Arcana's.
As Jones and his team sped off I led the others towards the college for our rendezvous with the local Pagan community. On arrival we were further inconvenienced by the Anglo-German summit that had already interfered with our earlier plans. It seemed that, one way or another, most of the Pagans who were to attend that evening's function had been sucked into the Anglo-German encounter, mostly as spectators. That being the case it was a virtually empty function room that awaited us when we arrived. As the three of us waited the arrival of the guest speaker, Dr. Daniel Hawthorne, we discussed the Midsummer Affair up to that point. The young Crytozoologist was still sceptical and was not persuaded by Luke's tales of mysticism or my own attempts to make him see that " there are more things in heaven and earth Horatio …".
We were in the midst of these discussions when a few pagans arrived, followed shortly thereafter by Dr. Hawthorne. Hawthorne was an unprepossessing academic but brimful of excitable energy – he moved in a quick jerky fashion and conducted his lecture in a verbose but enthralling manner, each salient point further highlighted by expansive gestures of hand and body. He first recounted the tale of Thomas Goodenough, an upright Quaker who claimed to have had an encounter with the Fair Folk while travelling on Riddlers Mound to the west of the town (as it was then). He spoke of strange travellers, armed with bow and sword who wore blank masks while they moved along a strange silver path, apparently far from the familiar surrounds of his Gloucestershire home.
Although he suffered no harm from the encounter he did state that the Fey pursued him, intent on harm, after he disturbed one of their revels. Goodenough's tale ends with him escaping the Faeries but finding himself back on Riddlers Mound, amid deep snow, in the depths of winter! He had apparently lost six months while he spent that night among the Fair Folk.
Dr. Hawthorne proceeded to deconstruct Goodenough's experience, claiming that it represented a journey into a common internal reality that we all possess, a collective psyche if you will. He claimed that the experiences in Faerie, or the Dreaming as he referred to it, actually dealt with important issues from our own mental landscape, represented by symbols and archetypes.
The good Doctor proceeded to outline his theorem and it was very persuasive, save for two important factors – firstly my own personal experiences had already taught me that creatures, worlds and perhaps whole realities do exist beyond the ability of our normal scientific method to perceive them. Even more persuasively, I could see two Faeries; nearly identical to those described by Goodenough, approaching the function room!
I looked around at the others in the room, had they also seen it or was my mind finally giving way under this onslaught of creeping terror. Fortunately my two companions saw me looking first at them and then past, out of the window – following my glance they too looked and saw those embodiments of chaos through the glass. Luke, Gabriel and I tensed, and received strange looks from the local pagans and from Hawthorne, apparently they could see nothing!!! For a moment I considered fleeing, my courage slipping away as I watched those two eldritch creatures approach . . . but it was already too late, I could not evade them even if I took to heel immediately. Screwing up my courage I remained in my seat and listened as Hawthorne continued his lecture and our two otherworldly visitors entered the room.
The two Faeries (for clearly that is what they were) moved about the room, moving chairs, books, bags and other small objects. Their actions must have had an effect in the real world for Hawthorne and the Pagans noticed the items moving but paid no heed to the cause dismissing it as the wind. Our two 'guests' were now becoming more active, approaching the Cassandra 23 agents and alternatively threatening them with their eldritch weapons and cavorting invitingly in front of us. One of them, obviously female, attempted to beguile us with her fair charms and, even with her features hidden by a blank mask, her invitations proved difficult for us to resist. I cannot speak for the others but, for myself, I managed to keep my mind of our surreal intruders by focusing on Hawthorne's lecture.
The learned Doctor proceeded to tell us more of the symbolic nature of the Dreaming and, in particular, of the Faerie Trods, which Goodenough appeared to have stumbled on. Apparently the best way to open a path to Arcadia (the Realm of the Fey) is to possess three Faerie treasures which act as keys to open the way – obviously the three treasures that the Langton legend referred to, of which we already possessed one! Furthermore a gift for the Guardian of the Trod would be proper, gold was apparently common but we were told to bear in mind that, in the Dreaming, appearance is reality.
That, of course, meant that the Fool's Gold that Langton possessed would, in effect, be true Gold to the Guardian – yet another key.
The Doctor's lecture seemed to be drawing to a close and yet the Faerie interlopers were still close at hand. The silver bright sword of the Faerie Lord offering the threat of pain and death, the voluptuous form of the Faerie Lady, seductively persuasive, attempting to entice us into her clutches. We had no desire to be left alone with those two so we attempted to delay the departure of the lecturer by asking him to expand on certain aspects of his presentation. I was particularly interested to know what might occur if one fought a Faerie and how one might defend oneself from the Fair Folk if that should become necessary. Emphasising that he was speaking metaphorically Hawthorne explained that any encounter with enraged Faeries on the trod could well be fatal and that one of the few defences against them was a knot. It seems that if you were being pursued by Faeries you should drop one behind you and they would have to halt and untie it before they could continue their pursuit. The good Doctor also stated that turning all one's clothes inside out would render one immune to their attacks. He emphasised that to be attacked by the Faeries twice was to invite certain death, metaphorically speaking.
With a final flourish the two Faeries departed, leaving those of us who were aware of their presence, stunned. Hawthorne, sensing that we had finally lost interest, began to wrap up his lecture, finishing by reminding us that, if we were interested in pursuing the matter further that Cheltenham possessed its very own Faerie trod, the aforementioned Riddlers Mound, site of Goodenough's strange experience.
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