Grain

They all continued to sit in silence as the carriage clattered along the cobblestone roads. Up one way and then back another. The only time the science was broken was by Alice, who would give the driver directions or try to point out a place of interest within the city that they were passing. Johanna remained stoically calm and her continence never changed from blank. It began to make Amaretto feel a little weird. How could one person be so without what appeared to be any emotions? She just sat there with her hand calmly folded in her lap, or it would have been calm, but Amaretto was afraid that Johanna was an much an automation as the IronMen were.

So she asked.

"Are you an automation?" Amaretto's pointed question finally shocked the silence into partial dread and she looked at Johanna who did not respond immediately. Katherine took a deep gasp and began to look through her purse. Amaretto assumed that she was looking for her flask. Alice broke out into a giggle.

"Johanna is not an automation! What made you think that?"

Amaretto shrugged. "She never moves, she never shows emotion. She has been the calmest one out of all of us this whole time. It's like she is a blank slate."

Johanna nodded. "You would be correct," she said in her monotone voice. Amaretto looked back at her. She narrowed her eyes just a little bit. Had that been amusement in Johanna's voice that she had heard?

Amaretto looked to Alice and then back at Johanna. "Care to explain it for me then?"

Johanna nodded her head and then began to talk. "I seem to be in a state of vegetation in such that I do not show any emotions and do not react to my surroundings. This is because of my close proximity to the stone and how it has reacted to my very being and essence."

Katherine sighed and slowly closed her purse from her original frantic action and said in a quiet voice, "Was it the spirits that you talk to then that did this to you?"

Alice looked a little ashamed and began to fidget under the calm scrutiny of Katherine's gaze. "Johanna insisted on being the one who would contact them and use the stone. We all agreed that she was far to studious a person to be able to deal with the other people that we would need to deal with."

Amaretto looked at Alice with Shock. Johanna continued to stare at Amaretto as if there were no emotion in her eyes. "You mean the stone that we are possibly looking for did this to her then? Why the hell are we looking for it then?" Amaretto's voice was loud and Katherine took a moment to grab Amaretto by the arm and squeezed hard. Amaretto yelped.

"I'm sorry," said Katherine with a smile plastered across her face. "Forgive my charge, she is not only inquisitively nosy, but she has the tendency to blow things out of proportion and allow whatever crosses her mind to come out of her mouth."

Alice waved a gloved hand. "Oh, don't worry about it," she began with a small smile. "I was much the same way in my own youth."

Johanna just simply stared ahead, without seeming to share in the joke. Amaretto looked out the window. and was trying to watch the scenery pass by when Alice said, "What was it that you are here looking for? You seemed to imply that it was our Stone of Communication."

Amaretto mumbled under her breath, "Yeah it most certainly is prolly," when Katherine said, "We never did say what it was that we were looking for, much less that we were looking for something."

Alice seemed about to say something when the carriage suddenly jerked to a stop and there was a rapping sound from the top of the cabbie. "We are here," said the gruff voice of the cab driver. Alice smiled and reached to open the handle of the cabbie and said, "Welcome to the Manor. Collinsworth Manor was what the previous owners called it, but I never seemed to like that name. Always seemed a little too ominous for me. No, I had other plans for the name, but Johanna has to agree and neither of us has thought of a name that the other likes."

Amaretto turned back to look at Johanna and the other woman didn't even so much as shrug. Most people would have. Johanna was simply a walking talk in rag doll in some ways that was able to make itself smarter by means of assimilation.

The door opened and the cab driver looked a little confused. Alice smiled as she put out her hand. "Home sweet home," was all she said as she allowed herself to be escorted out of the cab. As soon as she hit the ground though, Amaretto noticed that her whole body went rigid. Johanna also seemed to sense the change was hurried herself out of the cab as well. She even ignored the proper protocol to allow the cabbie to help her. She too went rigid. Katherine bustled her way past Amaretto in order to get out of the cab, but not before she paused and looked Amaretto in the eye and then hissed, "Behave yourself!"

Katherine allowed the cabbie to help her down from the cab and then said, "Oh my," as she looked out. Amaretto couldn't bear it anymore and gathered up her dress as best as she could and then all but hurtled herself from the carriage. She too took the cabbie's hand, but that was because she was not sure where the step swear in order to get out and when she tried to reach for one, she almost fell down into the road flat on her face. It would not have been graceful at all. She was glad however that she was so light that the cabbie all but picked her up by the waist and then placed her down on the ground. She brushed off the front of her dress really quickly and then smiled and thanked the cabbie. He didn't say anything and so she turned around. The sight in front of her threw her into shock.

Instead of the Victorian Manor house that she had been expecting, gingerbread and turrets not withstanding, all she found was a smoking ruin. The ground was a full charred circle that looked like a blast mark and a small crater than an elegant place to sleep for the night. The blast radius was easily a full three acres. Charred gingerbread was on the ground, still smoldering and some of it still crackling from minute flames that still burned. The main house itself was no more either. A small space where there might have been elegant brickwork stood and there was slag. The smell of burned paint was in the air, and Amaretto could smell the lead that had been mixed into it.

Something that looked akin to a door was on the ground in two separate pieces in two different places. The am mound of glass that shattered everywhere across the yard was ridiculous. Alice was making choked sounds in the back of her throat as she surveyed the carnage of what had once been her house. Johanna stood behind Alice only by a few feet. She silently surveyed the area of what had been their home and Amaretto was more than sure that Johanna felt nothing at all.

"The roses that I had planted," Alice murmured. "The books that were in the front parlor. The chandelier in the front foyer that stood the test of time from the old house across town and that my grandparents had installed in their house. The papers that we had written and read and also Johanna's space and workshop..." Alice trailed off and soon was sobbing with an uncontrolled spasms that seemed to wrack her whole body. Johanna simply stood behind her surveying the distraction as well as the damage. Then, almost as if as an afterthought, she walked over to a section of the crater and then leaned down and picked something up. Holding it up in her hands, she brought it back to Alice.

"Look at what I found. It seems like we were found." Johanna's voice was as void of all emotion like it normally was, but there seemed to be a little steel in there as well. Amaretto wanted to look at what it was that Johanna had found, but instead she found herself next to her aunt.

Katherine's face was a mask of calm intent. Amaretto at first thought that what she as looking at did not affect her at all, but then she looked into her aunt's eyes and saw a fire burning there that looked like it could do the same as the decimation that they were standing next to at this moment. This was the first time since they had meet with Alice and Johanna that they had been alone and Amaretto took full advantage of the situation.

"The stone that we are looking for in this time period is more than likely their Stone of Communication isn't it?"

Katherine nodded wordlessly in response.

Amaretto crossed her arms and then looked at Johanna and Alice as they seemed to converse over something that was in Johanna's hands. Amaretto turned to her aunt and said, "Do you think it would be right to take the stone from them when we find it?"

Katherine snorted. "I have a feeling that it just got a little more difficult to ask them for it than it was just a little while ago."

Amaretto was about to agree with her when Johanna suddenly moved over to where they were. She held out something that looked like mechanical gear work in her hands towards the two travelers and then said, "They are cogs from the inside of an IronMan. That means that Mother Chime and her goons were here at some point in time and more than likely, they are the ones who are responsible for this mess and for the distraction of the manor."

Alice was still staring at the distraction of the manor when she suddenly put her hands to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! I didn't think of that at all," she exclaimed aloud. She whirled on her heels and then said, "Didn't we leave the stone on the small alter in the back parlor?"

Johanna shook her head. "No, I hid it like I normally do when we leave the house."

Alice blinked for a moment and then rushed over to where the three of them were standing. "You did what?"

Johanna tilted her head a little and then said, "Did I stutter by accident?"

Alice shook her head and then gripped Johanna by the arms and said, "No, but you said something that I didn't think you would ever say, so please repeat what it was that you just said so I can have some clarification!"

"I hid it like I normally do when we leave the house." The words were exactly alike and Alice squealed aloud in happiness at that moment in time.

"Dear Johanna, I could kiss you at this moment but to save us the embarrassment I shan't. Where exactly did you hide it then though?"

Johanna looked around the yard and then pointed to a set of charred rose bushes. "I have a small case within the roots of the remains of that bush there."

All three other women looked at the remains of the charred rosebush and then Alice blinked twice. She turned to look at Johanna again and then said in a quiet tone of confusion, "Excuse me?"

"I think," said Katherine as gently as she could, "That she means that we have to start digging."

However, it seemed like Alice didn't hear Katherine as she said, "You buried the Stone of Communication in the back yard in the rose bushes?" Alice blinked rather slowly when Johanna simply nodded her head in the affirmative. She then put her hands on her hips and said, "Whatever did you do that for then?"

"The stone told me to do so." Johanna's response was sudden and quite insistent.

"Wait are you telling me that during a communication the stone told you to bury it in the roses?" Alice's voice was getting a little high pitched at this point. "Why on earth did you listen to it then? That makes no sense at all!"

"Johanna didn't even shrug at this point and then said, "I have been doing this for a while then."

"A while then? How long is a while?" Alice looked positively peeved to Amaretto. At this point, Katherine had started rooting around inside of her purse and as Amaretto watched her aunt, Katherine pulled a rather large shovel out of the inside confines of her purse. When she did so, she looked triumphantly to her god-daughter.

Amaretto looked at it then said, "Your purse is a Mary Poppin's Purse and you are never allowed to refute that. Ever." Katherine did a childish thing in response and stuck her tongue out.

At that moment, the cabbie walked up to the both of them and said, "Excuse me ladies, will my services be continued to be required for the rest of the day?" Katherine looked at the cabbie and waved her hand at him.

"I'm sorry good sir, but I would not be able to answer that question for you as the people who would know better would be those two ladies over there that are arguing." Katherine made a rather vague gesture to Alice and Johanna and then turned back to the cabbie with a gleam in her eyes. "however, if you would like to be a little helpful here, I could ask you to do something for me considering that the situation is rather dire at the moment."

The cabbie shrugged his shoulders and then said, "If I can at all be helpful that would be wonderful miss. However I can be of service, just let me help you." The cabbie jerked a thumb behind him at that moment. "If you like I can even go and find us an IronMan to report this to if you need."

Katherine smiled rather toothily and the man seemed to be dazzled by the sparkle in her teeth. Amaretto was even amazed by the amount of heft that was behind the smile. "Oh my good sir that will not be necessary at all. I only wish for you to do one small favor for me..."

Amaretto realized that her aunt had trailed off and that the cabbie that was in front of them seemed rather mesmerized by her aunt.

"Aunt Katherine, what did you do to him?"

Aunt Katherine turned to her with a look of curiosity and then said, "Oh, I didn't do anything, I simply glamored him. He is going to be a little smitten with me for a while. This way, Alice and Johanna won't really notice, and I can get him to do some brutish labor for me."

"Glamored him?"

"Oh, I guess you would call it enchanting him. I am a fairy after all you know, else how else could I be a fairy godmother to you then hmmm?" her aunt smiled and then handed the shovel to the smitten cab driver and then pointed to the spot where the destroyed rose bushes were. "If you could just be a darling and shovel around in there, I would be so happy."

The cab driver smiled and then took off his long double-tailed coat and then tipped his hat. He then threw them both onto the bench and began the task of digging. Katherine crossed her arms and smiled a smug smile as she watched him. She looked back to her charge and then said, "And that my dear is how you charm a man into doing anything for you."

Amaretto looked at the cabbie who was now rather intent on digging a hole for her aunt in the most fastidious of fashions. She looked to Katherine and then said, "Can you teach me how to do that? It would make getting a prom date a little easier."

Her aunt laughed and then said, "Oh my dear little Ama, It's all in the voice darling. That and I am pure magic to begin with. I can try to teach you, but if you do learn how to do it, you can't use it for your Prom date. Men are pigs enough on that night without the extra help from a glamor spell."

Grain

Alice looked at Amaretto and a small smile crossed her lips. "We are currently headed towards Piccadilly Quarter. Chances are, there aren't that many IronMen around there, so we won't have to worry that much. Other thing is that we have a safe house there."

Amaretto looked at Alice with a quirk in her eyebrow. "Did you just say a safe house?"

Alice continued to smile. "A girl has to have some secrets about her. If not, then what good is she at running a household?"

Amaretto looked at her aunt who merely smiled and then rolled her eyes as she took another sip from her flask that she had somehow managed to pull from her bag again. Amaretto stared at her aunt and then said, "Is that flask like your bag?"

Katherine turned a confused face back at Amaretto. "Pardon?"

"You know," said Amaretto before she lowered her voice, "A bottomless void."

Katherine looked at her god-child and then smiled and gave Amaretto a wink. "You know, sometimes I wish." With that she continued to look out of the window once more and look around at the passing scenery.

Amaretto decided to watch the scenery as well and was not at all impressed by what she saw. There was a distinct lack of what she liked to even call scenery in the first place, but she was not one to generally complain. She knew that if she didn't look away, there was a high chance that they were not going to get anywhere.

Katherine suddenly spoke in a rather bored voice, "Piccadilly, isn't that near Westminster?"

Alice nodded her head. "Of course, it is, but then again where did you think we were going?"

Katherine continued to look out the window and then said, "It appears that that road is currently closed at this moment in time. As a matter of fact, I believe that it is now going to be under contract."

Alice looked at Katherine rather sourly. "How on earth can they close a ward?" Almost as if the question from her mouth were the cause, the lorry halted in an abrupt stop. Alice and Johanna all tumbled forward in a heap on top of Amaretto and Katherine. There was nothing that they could do about the fact that they were being tossed around like a ask of potatoes.

Alice tried to grab at her hat with very much success and then looked around furiously. She pounded on the top of the cab and then said, "What on earth man! Why did you stop so abruptly?"

At this they heard the voice of the cab driver from up above. "Sorry ma'am, but it appears as if the road is closed."

Alice blinked in confusion which then gave away to anger. "What are you talking about?" She sputtered as Johanna peered out of the window to get a better look.

"It appears he is right," said Johanna emotionless pulling her head back into the carriage. "There is a rather large contingent of IronMen in the middle of the street and they have closed off the entrance to Piccadilly."

Alice's mouth fell open and she looked at Katherine. "How on earth did you know?" Her voice was filled with incredulity.

Katherine looked back and then said, "They had placed a sign in the road which I know that the driver missed."

Alice closed her mouth and then frowned. "Well I guess there is no way that we are going to get to where we are supposed to go. We are going to have to," Alice however got no further in her train of thought. Katherine had placed her hat on her head and opened the carriage door. Alice sputtered and then tried to follow her, but instead wound up pulling the carriage door hastily shut. Johanna simply watched from her seat. Amaretto poked her head out the window and watched as her aunt walked right up to one of the IronMen which were positioned at the entrance to the road they wanted to go down.

Her aunt took a deep breath and then in a commanding tone spoke to the IronMan in front of her. "Now see here! What is the meaning of shutting down this road at this time of day? Can't you see that I have somewhere to be at this moment in time?"

The IronMan turned his head to look at Katherine and Amaretto felt a moment of distrust as the mechanic creature just stared at her aunt. After a moment it spoke in an oily mechanized voice which made her think of the wheel bound scientist, only better.

"There has been a sighting in the city of someone who is working against the Crown and we have reason to believe that they will be headed in this direction." At this, the IronMan looked in the direction of the carriage where Amaretto was peering out of the window. Alice was pushed far back into her seat and Johanna was sitting next to her with her hands quietly folded into her lap.

Katherine looked completely appalled. "Dear heavens! That is catastrophic! By all means then, keep the street shut down. You can never be too careful." Katherine began to turn around and then almost as if a second thought had occurred to her, turned around once more to face the IronMan. "Who exactly would it be that you are referring to?"

The IronMan paused a moment and Amaretto saw the gears turning in his body for a moment before he said, "That is none of your concern at this moment in time citizen. Please continue on past this destination before you are detained for obstruction."

Katherine made a polite curtsey as best as she could and then nodded. "A good day to you then kind sir."

The IronMan then said, "A good day to you madam and be careful on the roads." With that, a jet of steam escaped from his side under the cloak and he settled down into a locked step to walk back and forth in front of the barricade. Amaretto watched as the IronMan paced and Katherine calmly walked back to the carriage and then opened the door and stepped inside.

"There you have it, now this carriage and its driver will be remembered for nothing more than taking a busybody and her daughter to a friend's house and nothing more."

Alice smiled slyly and then nodded at Katherine. "Well that was very well done, but we still have no idea what it is that they are preventing except for this; they know where we are going."


Johanna turned to look at Alice for a moment and then said, "If they have the stone of Communication, then it is quite possible that they have already taken it to the Tower."

Alice shuddered for a moment. "No. We have to think that hopefully it has remained hidden. I know I said that they stole it, there is the chance that it might still be in the hiding place."

Amaretto looked at Alice as she said this. "Wait, I thought that you said this Chime person had it?"

Johanna looked at Amaretto, her monotone voice echoing Amaretto's thoughts. "That would be Mother Chime."

Amaretto waved her hands at Johanna. "Yes, Mother Chime. I thought you all said that she had it. hat she had taken it and was now in possession of it."

Alice made a moue with her mouth as she thought for a moment. "Just exactly who is Mother Chime though?"

"She is the woman that we have to watch out for Amaretto," her aunt Katherine said. "If we watch out for her, in the meantime we can be on the lookout for what it is that we are looking for. So let's make sure that we don't miss anything alright?"

"You are looking for something then?" Alice looked at Katherine with wary eyes. "So that means that this trip is hardly a social call to the Watchmaker then was it?"

Katherine grimaced once and then looked out the window. The look on her face made Amaretto think that her aunt looked like she had swallowed a whole lemon the way her lips pursed. Amaretto bit the bottom corner of her lip believing that her aunt would answer the question. The carriage continued on in silence. Just as Amaretto was almost able to take no more and answer the question herself, her aunt spoke for the both of them.

"It is incorrect to assume that we are only here on business. We are here on a social call, just as to whom, we were not at liberty to say at first. However, now the times have changed and it seems that we have no choice but to tell you. However, we do ask that you keep an open mind in these matters as we are most assuredly in danger from the moment we came into London proper."

Alice nodded almost immediately. "Anyone who is a friend of the Watchmaker can keep a secret surely madam."

Katherine nodded and Amaretto marveled at how well her aunt seemed to be taking care of everything. Amaretto suddenly found that she was wishing that she was able to totally take charge of a situation like her aunt. The sad fact of the reality was that she was just a high school student and she was not able to do anything, but that hardly mattered at the moment. Right now, she was with her aunt and they had traveled to another universe and were trying to get some unfathomable thing done so she could be sent home willingly with the blessing of some magic woman who was trapped somewhere.

"What a wonderful birthday this is turning out to be then," Amaretto muttered under her breath.

Katherine turned a sharp look at her. "What was that darling?"

Amaretto smiled rather cheerfully and said, "Nothing dear aunt. The world is currently right with itself." Her voice was sickeningly chipper, and Amaretto hoped that Katherine would at least sense the humor in that statement.

Katherine looked at Amaretto for a moment and then shook her head.