While the Loch's Away.....

[DamedEscrime]

Jo watch the party leave from a distance not wishing for anyone to see her tears. She stayed where she was until they were mere specks in the distance, but she could still tell which was Lochinvar. Then she closed her eyes and turned to leave not noticing that another pair of eyes watched her go.
He followed along at a distance for awhile keeping to the edge of the crowd, blending in well so as not to draw attention to himself as she headed back towards the palace and the quietness of her room. Lost in thoughts of her handsome Lochinvar, already missing him beyond measure she did not notice this new one slip up behind her until he brazenly reached out and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

Startled by his sudden nearness, she barely heard him say with the utmost sincerity, "Pardon, but I could not help but notice you were crying. May I be of assistance?"

She turned to see a most striking man. His jet black hair hung in loose strands about his shoulders. He sported a matching black mustache and barbe and a bright golden earring dangled from one ear. But most amazing were his eyes. They were blue, yet not quite blue, very pale almost white and impossible to look into for any length of time. He stood waiting for a response and when none came he continued.
"Perhaps your heart goes with someone who is in the groupe that has just gone?"

"UM, yes... er, no. Who are you?" she stammered.

"Ah. Je vous demande pardon. I am Pierre. Pierre Rathmussen. At your service mademoiselle."

Rathmussen. The name struck a familiar chord. Didn't Nani have a friend named Rathmussen?

--------------------

[DamedEscrime]

"Ah. Je vous demande pardon. I am Pierre. Pierre Rathmussen. A' votre service mademoiselle."

He bowed low, almost touching his chin to his knees, never taking his eyes off of her.

Jo giggled inspite of herself and though she tried to hide her amusement at his attempted gallantry, it was painfully evident.

"Oh! Mademoiselle,you crush me.And I was being so sincere," Pierre winked.

"Do I know you?' she quieried.

"Non, but I have heard of you. Your Mistress ala Cuisienne, she is great friends with my grand'tante. She speaks of you often."

"You mean Nani?"

"Oui, she is the one of whom I speak. I was going to see her just now to bring l'epice," he indicated, raising a small sac tied with a string for her inspection.

"What is it?" Jo asked curiously.

"Who knows? These old women are forever making some new soup or remedy."

"May I?" she asked holding out her hand to receive the sac.

Pierre handed her the sac and and smiled, "Mais oui."

While Pierre watch intently, Jo untied the ruddy black sac and peeked inside. A finely ground powder of glittery blue twinkle back at her. "Hmm, I have never seen a spice that looks like this. What do you call it?"

"Ah, I have told you I do not know. I only run the errands," was his simple reply.

Then Jo poked her nose in the sac and took one small sniff, still trying to identify the substance. As she did so, a fragrance so delightful filled her nostrils that she had to smile. It was somewhat of a cross between honeysuckle, jasmine, and sandalwood, but again it was not at all like that. Immediately, she felt as if the powder ran down her throat and up into her head. She could have sworn she felt it move along her arms and tingle her finger tips.

"Shall we go now?" Pierre asked.

Jo shook her head as if to bring herself out of a nap and looked at Pierre. "Go? Go where?" she asked confused.

"Why to the palace kitchen, of course, to deliver l'epice."

"Oh, yes, of course." She did not know why she agreed to walk with this stranger, but she did. Pierre could not help but notice her glazed expression as she smiled and chatted nonstop on the walk back.

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]</p>

[DamedEscrime]

The two finally entered the kitchen, Jo still chattering like a squirrel and Pierre not getting a word in edgewise.

Nani looked up to see who was invading her domain ad smiled. "Jo. And Pierre, how nice to see you. Pierre, you have been away so long. How was you trip? Do you have any tlaes? Have you seen Rathmessen?"

Pierre laughed as he sat down and helped himself to a shiny golden apple. "Nani, slow down. You ask too many questions. Besides," he cocked his head to one side indicating JOsephine, "You must tell me about this lovely creature. I found her in town and recognized her from your description but, you did not say how beautiful she was."

Nani looked at Jo too who did not look very lovely at themoment. In fact she looked rather stupified, standing there with a silly grin on her face, her eyes still red from crying at Loch's departure.

"Josephine? Cher? Comment ca va?" asked Nani with concern.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I'm very fine ," she giggled back.

Nani looked quizzically at Pierre who held up the little sac of mysterious blue powder and winked.

Nani's voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "Pierre, what have you done to her?

"Ah, not a thing. Relax old woman. She is happy. Can you not see that? Besides, I only let her have a little smell. She will be fine."

"Sacre bleu!" Nani exclaimed and rush to Jo.

[ 01-31-2002: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]</p>

[DamedEscrime]

Power is out all over the place. I have to use a generator to use the computer today. But I got the day off. We had a terrific light show as the power lones broke under the weight of ice. Transformers were blowing up casting huge green flashes. And trees are down everywhere.

Enjoy today's post and hope we get our electric back SOON!
Dame

[DamedEscrime]

Nani grasped Jo's shoulders and looked into her eyes, giving her a little shake. . Jo appeared to be staring at somehting on the far wall. "Jo, look at me, cher," Nani said. She turned her liquid brown eyes in the general direction of Nani's voice. "Nani?" she replied almost drunkenly.

Nani turned to look back accusingly at Pierre. He sat there grinning. "You wanted her to forget, no? At least that is what my dear grandaunt, Rathmussen told me. She said you do not approve of her lover and you want her to forget him. You have made a bargain with her and I have come to help you seal it.... Now, perhaps if you do not want her to forget him I should leave and take my "remedy" with me."

Nani's face turned red. Her eyes searched the air for an answer. "How long will this effect last?" she asked.

"Not long. It was only a sniff. The final "cure" will take time. Some of the powder each day will cause her to forget him little by little until he is completely erased from her heart's memory. Even if she were to see him again, she would not know him. Unless....," he paused.

"Unless what?" she wanted to know.

"Unless he holds the key to her heart. Then he must discover it and unlock her heart's memory."

"And what is the key?"

"I do not know that. Only Josephine has that answer," he replied.

"How long will it take?"

"As I already said. I do not know. Each one is different and it depends on how attached her heart has become to him. Who is this man anyway?" he wanted to know.

Nani pondered this information for a moment then slowly his name rolled off her tongue,
"Lochinvar."

Pierre said nothing for a moment, only stared hard at the two women.
"Lochinvar," he repeated. Tapping his fingers quicky on the table and leaning forward he continued,"I have heard of this warrior. Are you sure it is wise to interferre? He is mighty in spirit and in sword. I would not want to be the one to get in the way of his prize."

[ 02-02-2002: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]</p>

[DamedEscrime]

Nani said nothing else for the time but, took Jo by the hand and led her from the room. She
returned a short while later aafter having put Jo to bed, the effects of the blue powder having
faded somwhat left her happy but sleepy.
Pierre had waited patiently in the kitchen ans helped himself to a thick slice of freshly baked
bread, smearing it with creamy smooth butter and sweet raspberry preserves.
“Pierre!” gasped Nani. “That is for Queen Zelda!”
He did not look the least bit guilty as he replied, “Oh, she will never miss it and I was hungry.”
Nani shook her head and sat down across from the impetuous young man. Deliberately she
removed the rest of the bread and preserves from his reach as she said,” Now, tell me. What
do you call this “cure,” as you say it. And how does it work?”

Pierre leaned back in his chair folding his hands behind his head and propping his dirty
boots up on the table.

Nani looked at the boots and pressed her lips together. Seeing that she would not give
him the satisfaction of an argument he began, “The power is called Mémoire du coeur
bleu. It has long been used by the gypsies to manipulate and arrange couplings. It is not
uncommon for young women to think thay are in love with the wrong man. It is a
combination of herbs and such of which I cannot speak. It is a guarded secret and only
held by a very few favoured ones among my people.”

[DamedEscrime]

"So," Pierre grinned. "Do you wish to continue the arrangement or would you preferr to have her run off with this Lochinvar fellow?"

Nani did not hestitate. "Non, I would not have her "run off," as you say. The agreement stands. But are you sure that this will not harm her?"

"It is meant only to make her heart forget. Nothing more. In a rare case I did hear of one girl goin insane but, as I have said it is rare. Nothing to worry about," Pierre assured her.

"Rathmussen said that there would be hell to pay if it were true love. Did she mean that my Josephine would go insane if she truly loved this scoundrel?"

"Perhaps," he replied. "Who can tell about the rantings of a mad woman?"

With that he handed Nani the small brown sac and gave her one final warning. "Now you must remember this. One small pinch of dust in whatever she eats or drinks each day is enough. Give her no more. Do not try to rush the process. The results would prove tragic. And under no circumstances are you to breathe it or eat it yourself. It is for the young. For the old it would stop the heart immediately."

Nani almost dropped the sac at his last warning fearing that she would drop over at any second.

With an odd grin and a quick step, Pierre left the old woman standing in her kitchen holding a mysterious sac bewtween two fingers at arms length as if it were a foul thing indeed.

[DamedEscrime]

Jo woke. It was night. Moonlight streamed through the window casting long shadows from the objects in the room. She sat back and pushed back the douvet. Confused she tipped her head to one side trying to remember something. What was it? And how had she gotten here AND why was it so dark already?

She turned to slip out of bed, her feet falling on the cold stone floor. She moved them about searching for her slippers but sis not find them. They were always right by the bed at night. This was not right she thought.

Pushing herself out of the warm bed she padded gingerly to the window. Peering out, a cloudlessly clear sky looked back at her. A silver moon shone brightly and thousands of tiny twinkling stars hung silent. Stood wide eyed taking them all in and began to call them by name. Quietly she listed them one by one as if trying to memorized them for some big exam. Casiopia, Seven Sisters, Orion, Zelda's Cluster, Virgo. She wondered to herself why this seemed to be of such importance and continued. Leo, Cancer, Aries.... As she came to the North Star a sudden wave of sadness overcame her and she sank to her knees, laid her head on the window ledge and cried softly.

[ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]</p>

[DamedEscrime]

When the tears dried she crawled slowly back onto the bed, curled up into a tight little ball and pulled the covers over her head. Soon she fell into a fitfull sleep. and dreamed.

Her dream was of a twilight that made little sense. Only one star shone dimly in the northern sky and beneath it was the figure of a man. His size and composure seemed familiar yet foreign. She tried to reach out to him but could not touch him. It seemed that as she took a step closer, the distance bewtween them grew though he never moved. Her mind tried to make sense of no sense until another, new figure appeared. Curious she turned to examine it. It too, was a man. Smaller in build, he reached out to touch her, his eyes intend upon her, his smile lewd. Terrified she tried to run but, her feet would not move. Heart beat wildly as she groped frantically for anything with which to pull herself away. She felt his hand touching her, grasping, pulling at her and she screamed...."LOCHINVAR!"

The sound of her own voice woke her from the nightmare and she whispered his name once more, "lochinvar."

It was morning.

[lochinvar]

[bumping this thread for Iwant2b]

[lochinvar]

bumping

[DamedEscrime]

She rose , pourd cool water into a basin and splashed it onto her face then selected the sunny yellow dress that Lochinvar liked so well. Reaching for the matching yellow ribbon, her hand staid in mis air, her eyes dating to an fro searching for the tiny silk. "Now where did that ribbon go? I always hang it right here. This is strange, now I have misplaced two things." she said under her breath. She smiled and shook her head thinking, "Nani must be cleaning up after me again. I'll have to talk to her about that." She chose the little white ribbon instead and headed down to the kitchen hoping to find a warm breakfast for she was incredibly hungry.

The scent of cinnamon laced with cloves delighted her long before she saw the deliscious loaves of tea bread that Nani had prepared.

"Ah, Josephine., ma petite. Good morning. I have prepared a lovely brakfast for you. Why did you not wait for me to bring it??" Nani exclaimed.

"Because I could not wait! I am famished!" came the quick reply.

Nani scolded, "Silly girl. Whe will you learn patience?"

"Patience? I will learn patience as soon as yo stop moving my things around", Jo countered.

Nani looked quizzically at the girl. "What are you talking about, cher?"

"My slippers and my yellow hair ribbon. I could not find them and I always put them in the same place."

"Ah. we'l looke for them later. I'm sure you have just misplaced them. Now, sit and eat some of this nice tea bread. I made it "special" for you.
See it has the little golden raisins you like."

Jo took a generous slice of the aromatic bread nad spread a soft white cheese over then took a mouth watering bite as Nani anxiuosly looked on. "Mmmm! This is delicious. I may eat the whole loaf." she said as she munched happily.

Nani grew suddenly alarmed thinking of the possible consequenes of ingesting too much of the "special" ingrediant. "No you won't," she scolded. "You'll get fat and you will never find a husband."

"Oh, Nani," Jo giggled. "Be serious. One loaf of tea bread will not make me fat. Besides," she winked, "I hear that certain men like women with a little meat on theri bones."

Nani shook her head and handed Jo one more piece of bread. "So, mon cher, what are your plans for the day?"


Jo thought for a moment then said," I think I will stop by the stables. Do we have any carrots or apples I can tempt Stardancer with?"

"Stardreamer? But, Stardreamer is not...." she stared. Then a wicked smile spread across her face as she thought to herself. "Hehe, Josephine does not remember that Lochinvar has gone. The powder already is working..and in only one day!"

[ 04-13-2002: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]</p>

[lochinvar]

[Ed. note: Psst! Dame! It's "Stardreamer", not "Stardancer". Otherwise, looking good; carry on. Nice to see you back posting again. ]

[DamedEscrime]

DUH! *slaps self in forehead* I knew that!
Thanks Loch..what would I do without your eye for detail?

[DamedEscrime]

"Stardreamer is not what, Nani?" Josephine inquired.

"He is not here,cher. He is of course gone with his master," came the reply.

Jo wore a confused look. "Gone? What do you mean gone? When did this happen and why was I not informed?" she paused a moment, "That means that Sir Lochinvar is gone as well!" Hurt began to seep in as she thought of him leaving without saying goodbye. "How could he...?"

"But he d...," Nani started. "Hehe." she thought. "Obviously this blue powder works on the short-term memory first." NOw rather than telling Josephine the truth, the old woman did a most dispicable thing. In her most sympathetic voice she replied, " My dear, cher, did I not tell you that Sir Lochinvar was a rogue?" Now you see. He has stolen your heart and left you." Then she went to Jo and wrapped her arms around the stunned girl and whispered, "I pray that is all he has taken."

Confusion mixed with tears whelled up in Jo. Only a moment ago she had anticipated a beautiful spring day. She tried to think back, remember their last conversation. She could not. Try as she might,the place, the subject was gone. The came frustration. Anger peeked at her from a distance. "No!" she shook it off. "Surely if Lochinvar had to go away suddenly he had a good reason." And she would know why!

[DamedEscrime]

bump..

[DamedEscrime]

woohoo it's really me..I have not dropped off the face of the earth as some might suspect..I hope to pick up writing again soon.
Love ya ..Miss Ya.

[DamedEscrime]

Jo fairly flew from the kitchen, heading to the satbles to see for herself. This was all so confusing. Either Loch had left her or she was losing her mind.

Sunlight, flowers bright clours, and summer birds blurred as she ran past them her heart pounding.
The royal gardener looked up from pulling weeds free of the hard dry soil. Scratching himself under a wide brimmed hat, he wondered what the foolish girl though she was doing running like that in such heat. Shaking his head he went back to work.

JO reached the stables. The odour of manure mixed with oats filled her nostrils as she threw open the door and looked frantically about for Lochinvar's horse. It was nowhere to be seen. The stables were empty save one lone old dappled mare.

Her heart sank as she slowly turned to go back the same path she had only moments ago run down. She walked slowly back, her eyes following the ground,seeing only her shoes and not caring where she was going.

Suddenly a dark shadow appeared in front of her. When she looked up, there was Pierre smiling broadly, a bundle of snapdragons clutched in his hand. Holding them out to her he said," You look like you could use these."

Flustered, Jo stammered,"What are you doing here?"
"Why, I saw you running and thought perhaps you were in trouble so I followed you to the satble. You looked so distraught that I picked these flowers to make you feel better. Are they not to your liking?" Pierre returned. "umm...yes...thankyou...they are very nice," she replied as she accepted the gift.
"Now," said Pierre as he slipped an arm around her waist, "allow me to walk you back to the palace."

author's note...due to my long absence my next insatllment will be timewarped a bit. sorry.

[Iwant2bafencer]

grr Bad Nani bad!

Loch help me find my memory why did we bump it for me?

-----------------
Carpe Diem
Ad Asha

[lochinvar]

We bumped it for you because I mentioned somewhere that Loch had to get back to rescue Josephine, and you asked why Jo needed to be rescued.

So, now you know. It remains to be seen whether Loch will return in time...