It's my book launch tomorrow for my latest poetry books and also for GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER... (This is kind of the second time that it has been launched really, as it was also launched back in November 2008, when I thought it was going to be ready...) Anyway, it's out at last, but there are other blogs on this site about all that - I'm posting today about another matter...
ON my BLOGTV show tonight I read a little bit from GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER. My show is usually mostly just about poems - but I made an exception today, as I'm thinking about reading this particular piece at my next poetry gig.
The video below contains two poems, but the middle section is one of Auntie Astrid's agony aunt letters which appears at the end of GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER.
This is just to announce that the new Mouse of Commons book - GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER is finally available on Lulu.com
It was intended to come out in November, but there was some delay due to losing my excellent proofreader, Chris and also the amount of poetry work I've been doing in the last year or so. The next book I am working on is POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, a collection of the blog-stories set overseas; full of pictures from the trips and also the completion of the story partially posted on this blog late last year. I am also working on a new Mouse novel: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE COUNTERCLOCKWISE CONUNDRUM and have loads of short stories to type up for later short story collections. 2010 is 10 years since MOUSE OF COMMONS - MOUSE OF LORDS was written, so I'm hoping to think of something nice to do for that event; maybe some sort of picnic - we shall see...
Further details on GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER below:
GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER is the latest collection of Mouse of Commons stories about Gladstone McWhiskers and Oliver Louse. The adventures in this collection concern a long-lost cave-bunny unearthed in Green Park, a mysterious gem known as The Hypnotic Sultana, a sleep-walking haggis named Raul and a series of peculiar goings on during a TV show known as "The Hex Factor."
The book is 400 pages long, containing black and white photos taken by myself and is available in paperback and hardback.
You can buy the paperback version for £9.99 + p&p at the following link:
One thing to take on board when ordering hardback books on LULU is that it is better to order your hardback books as a separate purchase. Hardback books are printed in the States, whilst paperbacks are printed in the UK - making one order containing a hardback copy will rise the overall cost of postage. BASICALLY: ORDER YOUR HARDBACKS AS SEPARATE PURCHASES TO KEEP POSTAGE LOW!!!
More news soon - I may be doing a little section on each of the 4 stories in the new book, let's see how things go, shall we? :)
PART 8 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
PICTURES TO FOLLOW!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 8
Welcome to the 8th part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and detailed below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site, in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus…
So far this adventure:Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite have trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona where there have been sightings of Charlie up in the mountains near Alquézar… Meanwhile, Charlie is safe and sound, but stuck in another dimension in "The Lost City of Bearcelona", which is rather smaller than expected; he and Augustus are at loggerheads - but Charlie has decided that he will escape - one way or another and manages to get a pie with a HELP message on it, through the barrier…
The Other Dimension: The Lost "City" of Bearcelona...
To be honest, seeing the tourists in the “city” had been both a blessing and a curse for Charlie – there was simply no denying it…
In some ways it had made him sad and cross that he was still imprisoned, but in other ways it gave him hope and the ambition to keep searching for a way out. The fact that the tourists had arrived and then left again also gave him the hope that, as long as he could find the portal again – that he could probably get out that way too…
Well, surely – it had to be possible!?
It took him a long time to work out if there was any science behind the opening of the portals and whether they appeared at any regular time or place. Pretty much the answer seemed to be a resounding NO!! – but it was possible, over time, to work a potential pattern of when the opportunity would present itself and although no more strangers like the French tourists found their way in he did often stumble upon the same familiar shimmering lights that he’d seen in the mountain town of Valldemossa in Majorca, where they had first fallen into the portal.
But always too late…
His activities did not go unnoticed by his father – who kept appearing on the hillside outside the monastery watching him busying himself down in the town through binoculars. At first Charlie had wondered whether Augustus was somehow able to control the portal activity – but he seemed almost as intrigued by the whole phenomena as Charlie, himself, was. That said the bear’s father seemed to be quite content living in the tiny Lost City of Bearcelona; unlike his celebearity, show-business, show-off offspring.
On the other hand he didn’t seem keen on the idea of Charlie attempting to make his escape – although he seemed to know more about the whole matter than Charlie did.
“You won’t be able to escape, son… You can only get in that way – you can’t get out!”
“Nonsense…” Charlie refuted, he had been stalking around the “city” square all afternoon and hadn’t noticed his father approach; he’d not seen him close up in months and it was strange to think that the young-ish looking bear who stood opposite him and who looked no older than him was his father – this was due to all the life-forces that he had drained from innocent London theatre-goers some time ago now. “Nonsense!” Charlie repeated. “Not so long ago we had visitors here – a bus load of French tourists – they came in through the portal and then quite quickly they left again…”
Augustus grinned at hearing this and patted his stomach. “Yes…” he beamed. “They came and they went; they went well with a nice three-bean salad and some steam-cooked rice, I should say…” he added and then licked his lips.
"I don't believe you, father... You're making it up..."
"I'm jolly well not..." Augustus sneered. "They were a little bit chewy, it has to be said - but the older ones made decent pies and the younger ones the meat just fell right off the bones... I have the skeletons to prove it back in my basement if you really want to see!"
"No thank you!" Charlie spat back, in disgust. "So if you really saw them, where is their vehicle? I don't see it standing around anywhere?" he challenged.
“Oh! That old thing... Well, the bus eventually ran out of gas – didn’t you see me riding around on it – you are unobservant, Charlie. Still – it didn’t go to waste; once the fuel ran out I simply took it apart and made a nice croissant-baking machine out of the remains…” Charlie wasn’t sure if what his father was saying was true, but the bear had more to say. “You should get used to staying here – one day the portals will close for good – believe me – I know these things; for you own well being – if you find a portal whatever you do don’t try and go through it because it will kill you! Nothing can travel through from the other side and survive…”
However, once he’d been told this Charlie say it as a challenge in itself, of course – and that night he returned home and began to bake. He baked pies with warnings spelt out in on the crust in large, chunky, capital letter pastry; messages that pleaded for help…
Messages that he hoped he could throw through the portal, that would somehow reach the outside world…
FROM NEXT WEEK GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL BE POSTED TWICE-WEEKLY: ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY - UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE…
PART 9 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL BE POSTED ON THIS SITE ON TUESDAY 9TH DECEMBER…
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Bierge, Spain on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
We continue to explore “The Lost City of Bearcelona…” in photos…
PICTURES TO FOLLOW!!!
Story, Text and Photos copyright – Paul Chandler, 2008.
PART 7 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 7
Welcome to the 7th part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and detailed below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site, in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus…
So far this adventure:Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite have trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona where there have been sightings of Charlie up in the mountains near Alquézar… On their arrival they can hear the bear howling, but haven't yet seen him. Meanwhile, Charlie is safe and sound, but stuck in another dimension in "The Lost City of Bearcelona", which is rather smaller than expected; he and Augustus are at loggerheads - but Charlie has decided that he will escape - one way or another…
Alquézar, Spain
It wasn’t only Oliver and Laura who heard the unmistakable growl of Charlie Grrr echoing through the streets of Alquézar – but also Gladstone and Claud…
“That’s him! That’s Charlie!” exclaimed the mouse; but this was quite an obvious statement and, of course, Claud knew it too – for their was no mistaking Charlie’s growl – to be honest it wasn’t the sort of sound that locals in obscure Spanish towns were used to hearing; they were used to hearing local cats like Claud doing their daily singing practice – but not to hearing the cry of the lone Beargrrrian bear…
“Does he sound like he’s in pain?” Claud asked Gladstone as they hurried on through the twisty, turny streets of Alquézar. “I wasn’t sure, to be honest…” he admitted.
“No… I don’t think so… That wasn’t a cry of pain – it’s, well – it’s more like a cry to grab someone’s attention…” Gladstone explained. “The sort of call he uses to gain waiters attention in restaurants when he wants another gravy boat or when he’s at home and would quite like another pie, but can’t be bothered to get off his fat behind to fetch it himself…” he added affectionately.
“I have a nasty feeling we’ve missed him; I must have miscalculated Gladstone, I’m sorry…” Claud apologized; but Glad didn’t reply and just encouraged the cat to keep leading them on their way. “The good thing is, at least, that we’ve definitely heard him tonight – so these appearances are definitely genuine and they’ve been occurring increasingly of late too, Gladstone…” he added hopefully. “We can stay here a couple of nights and next time be sure we’re in the right place at the right time…”
All of a sudden Gladstone stopped still and, at first, Claud thought it was because he’d smelt the gorgeous aroma of a local risotto dish that was wafting around the streets from a nearby restaurant; but it wasn’t food that the mouse had detected, but something else – he was staring back the way they had just come as if he had seen something there lurking in the shadows.
"Hello..." he called. "Hello!? Charlie..."
But nothing responded and as they both stared into the darkness Claud wandered if it was just Gladstone's imagination or whether it really was the same beary phantom that the locals of Alquézar had recently been reporting. The more they stared into the shadows the less it looked like there was anything there – for Claud couldn’t see anyone at all.
“What was it, Gladstone?” he hissed, reluctant to speak aloud, for the moment seemed so tense.
“Something – nothing…” the mouse replied rather cryptically, making no sense at all as he walked on ahead – out into a courtyard which looked down to the valley below; but which was dwarfed by a large church on a rock ledge above them.
Claud seemed to recognise the square, but was a little nervous for a group of locals was watching them from a balcony above and seemed quite disapproving of their arrival. It had been much the same when they had been in Majorca and the last thing they needed was trouble from local humans, cats, mouse or any resident animal. Taking a breath to calm himself, Claud cast an eye around the square again and then explained himself.
“This is where I was expecting to see the vision of Charlie tonight…” he explained, but seemed quite confused about something. “I don’t understand it – we’re not late; at least not by our calculations – and we’re in the place where I expected the appearance to occur…”
“Well – either the calculations are wrong – or maybe it’s yet to happen…” Gladstone suggested, but Claud didn’t look too convinced.
“But we heard his growl…”
“Could he have crossed between dimensions?”
“Perhaps – but in that case where is he?!”
“WHERE exactly!!”
Both Gladstone and Claud stood beneath the shadow of the cliff and watched; listening – it was then they both saw it – there on the tarmac before them – a pie and in it were carved four words that sent a chill through them both:
HELP ME!! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!
THERE WILL NOW BE A DELAY OF APPROXIMATELY A MONTH BEFORE THE RETURN OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WHILST I HEAD TO OSLO FOR MY BIRTHDAY TRIP TO BEGIN WORK ON GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE NORSE KNITTING GNOMES, WHICH WILL APPEAR IN A MOUSE OF COMMONS BOOK NEAR YOU SOMETIME SOON… I AM ALSO BUSY PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES TO THE NEXT MOUSE BOOK OF NOVELLAS: GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER AND WILL BE HAVING A BOOK LAUNCH FOR THAT; AS WELL AS APPEARING ON THE RADIO WITH GLADSTONE AND WORKING HARD ON THE NEXT POETRY COLLECTION. TO SEE WHAT I GET UP TO DURING NOVEMBER PLEASE CHECK THE 100TH POST OF MY POETRY BLOG AT: www.thedaffypoet.blogspot.com SEE YOU ALL SOON!!*
THE MOUSE OF COMMONS WILL RETURN FOR PART 8 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKES AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION ON THURSDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2008!!!
This installment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Bierge, Spain on Tuesday 14th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
In this post we continue to look around Alquézar - to see what lies in store within the shadows… Next episode we return to "The Lost City of Bearcelona" to see more of the sights and sounds in that neck of the woods...
Story, text and photos - copyright, Paul Chandler, 2008.
PART 6 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 6
Welcome to the 6th part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and detailed below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site, in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus…
So far this adventure: Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite have trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona where there have been sightings of Charlie up in the mountains near Alquézar… Meanwhile, Charlie is safe and sound, but stuck in "The Lost City of Bearcelona", which is rather smaller than expected; he and Augustus are at loggerheads - but Charlie has decided that he must escape - he would rather be dead than trapped in the lost city with only his father for company… Meanwhile, back in Alquézar, Charlie's growl can be heard echoing around the streets…
But meanwhile - back in the other dimension...
The Other Dimension, Somewhen...
Make no mistake about it; Charlie Grrr had done his very best to escape his new prison within the ever-so slightly small “Lost City of Bearcelona...”
There was the slight problem that the “City” would not let him leave...
If you stood from the balcony of the apartment or up on Augustus’s side of the village by the monastery looking out across the countryside you could see fields and trees, roads and what might even have been further settlements up amongst the mountains in the distance.
You could see all these things; but it seemed you could never reach them; it was as if they were lost behind a thin veil of haze. The weather was still bright, but there was a definite film that seemed to hang over everything; a blur – as if the world beyond their town was somehow out of focus...
Charlie had done his best to find a way out beyond the lost “city”, but as he reached the outskirts one of a number of things happened; he felt sleepy and fell asleep in the road, he smelt pies and had to return – once he saw an enormous ball of parmesan rolling in the opposite direction and had to chase it back into the village. When he finally caught up with it; it wasn’t half the size that he’d first imagined it to be – but it still made a nice addition to his dinner that night. There had been one occasion where he had deliberately drink 20 espresso coffees before he went out; this kept him awake and he had taken provisions of pies so as not to be distracted.
But he’d still not been able to find a way out – in fact he’d gotten so far and then had, quite literally, hit an invisible barrier and could simply go no further...
“This is RIDICULOUS!!” he complained to the reflection in his bedroom mirror; the only other beary face that there was for him to speak to, other than his evil father. “RIDICULOUS!!!”
The mirror seemed to echo his words in agreement and so this only helped to fuel Charlie’s anger and encourage him to prolong it…
“Not only is it RIDICULOUS!!” he declared. “But it is ALSO MORONIC and FOOLISH and plain UNFAIR… I am an actorrrr and a creative bear overall and I not only NEED but CRAVE an audience and that audience CRAVES and NEEDS me back… It’s a two-way relationship here and that’s been snatched away from people. The world back home must be mourning the loss of my amazing beary talent…” he observed and then turned back to the mirror to see what its opinion was; only to be quite shocked by the sight of his own reflection sitting in an armchair, eating a large pasty with his earphones on; head swaying gently to whatever growly music its was listening to and paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to Charlie.“Well, I never!!” exclaimed the bear indignantly, before striding off furiously to try and find some other object to complain to.
He’d tried venting his fury at a milk bottle only that morning – but all his bile and grumbling had only resulted in his turning the milk off; it hadn’t even turned to cheese – it had just gone bitter and unusable…
Life was hard for a bear like Charlie in the Lost City of Bearcelona…
For what seemed like months Charlie had lived this dull and boring life and hadn’t known what to do. He’d begun to wonder if Augustus had actually left him there and found his own way out; but then, occasionally, Charlie would spot his father chasing the large ball of camembert around around the town square with a stick; or sometimes vice versa…
…And then some hope for the future had come in the form a mini-bus of French tourists…
At first when Charlie had seen them he wondered if perhaps this was the “city’s” way of telling him that it had run out of cheese and break and chorizo and pies and belly button fluff tea – but that a coach load of French tourists would probably do just as nicely…
Except that they all looked pretty old and wrinkly and Charlie had made a pact with himself years ago never to eat humans; because he knew far too many of them in the entertainment business; that and he had also heard that they were flavourless and as tough as old boots…
What he did want to ask them though was how they had gotten through the portal into the “lost city”; for the only thing that he could think of was that the portal must have reopened and the tourists had accidentally driven straight through, which possibly meant that he could escape out the same way.
Now Charlie’s French wasn’t great, but he did his best as he approached their mini-bus; smiling and waving pleasantly and even holding out the remains of a chocolate cake that he’d been eating as an offer of friendship.
Unfortunately Charlie’s plans didn’t go so well – in fact the tourists all started screaming and began throwing onions and fresh croissants at him – which was actually a nice thing for the bear and by the time he’d cleared up the mess that they had left, they had driven away…
He never saw them again after that…
But although he had lost his potential audience – Charlie had not lost his hope of escape…
He no longer wished he was dead – he felt alive and excited by the possibilities of life again.
“I WILL GET OUT…” he declared to the hills and house of the lost city. “I WILL ESCAPE…”
…And this time there was no doubt in his mind…
Charlie Grrr would escape. End of story.
Erm… We’re talking metaphorically here, obviously! It’s not really the end of the story…
So, will Charlie escape? Is there some hidden way out that the bear has yet to find? Next episode we return to Alquézar to discover what Oliver, Laura, Claud and Gladstone are up to…
NEXT WEEK GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL BE POSTED ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY – AS I AM HEADING TO OSLO TO RESEARCH A NEW MOUSE SERIAL TO BE POSTED IN DECEMBER ON THIS SITE. THE FOLLOWING WEEK EPISODES WILL BE POSTED TUESDAY AND THURSDAYS AND HOPEFULLY THIS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE END OF THE CURRENT SERIAL - UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE…
SO TUNE IN AGAIN, ON TUESDAY 4th NOVEMBER FOR PART 7 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Bierge, Spain on Monday 13th – Tuesday 14th October 2008. BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
In this post we continue to look around "The Lost City of Bearcelona” – which, in reality, is made up of quite a fair few towns that Dr Neph and I visited during our trip; most notably Bierge, Rodellar and Peratallada, Next episode we return to Alquézar to see more of that area…
Story, text and photos - copyright, Paul Chandler, 2008.
PART 5 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 5
Welcome to the 5th part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and detailed below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site, in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus…
So far this adventure: Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite have trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona where there have been sightings of Charlie up in the mountains near Alquézar… Meanwhile, Charlie is safe and sound, but stuck in "The Lost City of Bearcelona", which is rather smaller than expected; he and Augustus are at loggerheads - but Charlie has decided that he must escape - he would rather be dead than trapped in the lost city with only his father for company...
Alquézar, Spain. Early Autumn
Meanwhile, back on the other side of the portal, back in what most people refer to as "the real world", Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite were finally getting a chance to catch their breaths; it had been a hair-raising few hours; not to mention a rather dangerous time for them both too…
"Darling! When you said we were going to catch a lift I had no idea that you meant anything quite so crazy and unplanned…"
"It wasn't unplanned…" Ollie snapped a little too quickly and then smiled, apologetically. "Although it probably was kind of crazy; I'll give you that…" Having spotted Gladstone and Claud climbing into their chauffeur-driven limousine Ollie had decided that there was no alternative but to create a diversion. Having rescued Laura only moments before he had hurried straight into the path of the limousine and almost got both of them run over in the process. However it had done the job and the limo had slowed and once Ollie had waved them on furiously with his walking stick, as the car had passed, Oliver had been able to attach them both to the vehicles back bumper using another of Smith's devices inside the stick. So, although they had been safely attached to the limousine for the period of the journey neither of them had really felt that safe as they had blown around in the breeze somewhere just above the exhaust pipe. That said, whilst Laura had almost lost her fake butterfly wings on a couple of occasions, she had been amazed to see that Oliver appeared to be looking quite calm and was even filling in further pages of his notepad; updating his diary even though they were speeding along tight mountain roads at 100 km an hour, or some such ridiculous speed…
To be honest Laura was too scared by the whole journey to say anything and the g-force that she was experiencing also put pay to much conversation…
But now, THANKFULLY, all that was over because they appeared to have finally reached their destination - a town, high up in the mountains, called Alquézar…
"I may be jumping to the wrong conclusions here, darling…" Laura began coyly. "But I have a nasty feeling that there are no superb fashion houses up here in the mountains… Tell me I'm wrong, sweetie? Well?"
But Oliver simply tried to ignore her and stared around the square in which they now stood. "Don't be so negative…" he replied with a slight smirk. "I'm sure you'll find a few I LOVE SPAIN t-shirts in your colour and size and all manner of pleasant tourist trinkets…"
Laura said nothing, but simply glared at Ollie - but the louse was distracted. They had held back a moment or two to allow Gladstone and Claud to get some distance between them, but they now needed to make a move so as not to lose them entirely amongst the maze of streets that made up the small town. "Come on slow coach…" he urged his companion. "No dawdling now, dear!"
Laura was so surprised at the sarcasm in his tone that she didn't even consider arguing - but tried instead to pretend that she was interested in the architecture of the town; stumbling along after the louse, still wearing her butterfly wings with her head turned towards the rooves and arches far above her tiny dust-mite hairdo bee-hive. "Do we even know why we're her yet, darling?" she enquired eventually.
"Err - yeah - well…" Ollie mumbled, for he was distracted - but looking more relieved now, for Gladstone and Claud had appeared ahead of them at the other end of the cobbled streets of Alquézar. "It's Charlie, isn't it - is he here, darling - how super!? He's here, but he's sick is that it? Oh dear, poor bear…"
Ollie shot her another disapproving glance. "Look Laura - I really have no idea - but I'm sure it's more complicated than just that…"
It was beginning to grow quite dark now, especially down the back streets where what sunlight that was left could no longer reach. The shadows were stretching on ahead of them and they kept making Ollie jump because he kept mistaking them for people, but other than Gladstone and Claud up ahead there was no sign of anyone else…
No sign - and no sound; except…
Suddenly, a familiar growl rang out across the streets; echoing around them…
There was no mistaking it; it was Charlie...
What exactly is going on? Has Charlie managed to find his way through from the other dimension or is this merely another beary phantom? In Friday's episode we return to "The Lost City of Bearcelona" to find out exactly what has been going on between Charlie and Augustus Grrr...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL (HOPEFULLY) BE POSTED THRICE-WEEKLY: ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY - UNLESS STATED ELSEWHERE…
SO TUNE IN AGAIN, ON FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER FOR PART 6 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Bierge, Spain on Monday 13th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
In this post we continue to look around Alquézar - to see what lies in store within the shadows… Next episode we return to "The Lost City of Bearcelona" to see more of the sights and sounds in that neck of the woods...
Story, text and photos - copyright, Paul Chandler, 2008.
PART 4 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 4
Welcome to the 4th part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus…
So far this adventure: Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite have trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona, in disguise - uncertain of why the mouse has travelled there so secretly. Whilst Oliver spies in on Gladstone and Claud using a listening device in a walking stick, Laura takes a peek at some notes written by Oliver that suggest that he may be about to sell his story to the newspapers. Laura survives nearly getting cooked on a crepe hob, whilst Gladstone and Claud head up into the mountains near Alquézar where ghostly sightings of Charlie have been seen - Claud expects another appearance that very night...
Alquézar, Spain. Early Autumn.
Meanwhile - in another dimension somewhere…
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere - Charlie Grrr was well and truly lost and he knew for certain who was behind it all too; well - at least - he chose to believe he did…
"Father…" growled tiredly. "This is all your doing…"
That said, perhaps things could have been worse - his father, Augustus might well be somewhere pulling the strings; but in some ways his was better than actually having to spend time with the bear…
It had all begun, of course, during their search for the lost city of Bearcelona; the map of which had been unearthed under a disused pie factory in Barcelona - the map had led them to modern day Majorca; but only the comatosed Augustus Grrr had been able to guide them to the portal that had led to the lost city - communicating via telepathy. There was even some worry that the portal didn't lead to the true city; but this concern seemed to have been abated by the fact that there was a large sign in the community square which read BEARCELONA (also known as THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA…) It could have been a fake - but it was just too confusing to consider. One thing that was for sure, however, was that it wasn't as grand as it had been advertised; but then this is often the case with such important holy grails. Charlie remembered that Professor Smith had once found the sunken isle of Atlantis at the bottom of his garden fish pond and it had been such a terrible disappointment; full of modern sky-scrapers and grafitti and horrible boarded up corner-shops. The problem on this occasion was firstly that there seemed to be very little to do there, now they had arrived - but more importantly that it seemed far smaller than either he or Augustus had expected. The map that Charlie had found had been exaggerated, to say the least making each small street and square appear to stretch on forever…
To be honest The Lost City of Bearcelona was more of a village than a city…
Time seemed to stretch on and on and there seemed to obvious way to get away from the city - but more about this at some other date…
To begin with Augustus and Charlie had feuded and argued - especially when the reality had dawned on them that they were stuck there.
"Stuck in this armpit of a place…" Augustus had growled furiously and, thought Charlie, rather unfairly - for the village was actually very beautiful and the views of the mountains were stunning; it just wasn't quite what they had imagined.
It wasn't helped that Charlie began to resent Augustus for not knowing that the place was rather less than impressive and also that Augustus resented Charlie; well - for pretty much everything - including a lot of what had happened to him whilst he'd been still comatosed and imprisoned whilst they'd been trapped in Majorca.
"You'd have seen me die, boy…" he'd growled to which Charlie had simply scoffed.
"Well, you deserved it - after all you did to me - to my friends and to the innocent inhabitants of London - not to mention all the stress you put mother under…"
The rivalries and resentments were far too much for the two bears to ever make amends and to be fair it was Augustus who had done the majority of all the band things, anyway…
It was simply an impossible situation to resolve; especially without anyone else around to mediate; for not only was "The Lost City" small and unimpressive, it was also completely deserted…
In the end they had taken their separate sides of the village and attempted to avoid one another… It was a peculiar plight; seeing as they were they only folk around (well, except for one particular instance, which I will return to later…) The irony was that although they were alone they wanted for nothing; from the pick of the houses to a whole range of regularly replenishing foods and drinks that simply appeared in the village square twice a week. They took their share and didn't attempt to steal too much; dividing it equally, which was unusually reasonable of them both. Still, this didn't stop the resentments from growing and in time Charlie began to resent his father for causing them to be trapped in the "Lost City"; for he was a creative bear and although there were pens and paper; a small theatre, an old cine-camera, a basic printers and all sorts of other objects useful for his craft; there was still one very important thing missing…
An audience...
There was no point being creative if there was no-one to adore him; for Charlie this was the only reason to continue with his writing and performing - because adoration brought with it the other favourite thing in Charlie's life… Pies…
"It's all your fault, father!!" he bellowed again out across the valley, as he stood on the balcony of his lonely, yet luxury villa and stared over at the abandoned monastry on the hill on the other side of the community. "You have killed the thing that I loved most - well, other than pies - you have dimmed the limelight - stolen the attention that was my lifeblood…" he continued melodramatically. "You! Father… You did this to me…"
Sometimes it seemed to him that Augustus was teasing him deliberately - for he didn't seem at all bothered that their fates were to be exiled in this place - this living prison of a lost city… If anything, it probably made the bear smugly content to watch his son straining at the leash to escape their shackles and knowing that he did so in vain.
"BUT I WILL ESCAPE!!" Charlie insisted - to an audience of none; for Augustus was sound asleep and dreaming of world domination. "I WILL ESCAPE!!" insisted Charlie. "I WILL ESCAPE AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME…"
Now all he had to do was find a way to do just that; except that so far he had absolutely no idea how to escape the "Lost City…"
"I'll find a way…" he growled under his breath. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll find a way…"
...And he knew this was true - for if Charlie couldn't escape the village then, without a doubt, the bear would rather be dead...
Next episode, Laura and Ollie also reach Alquézar as the hunt for Charlie begins - but what exactly will they find and what dangers lie in store...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL (HOPEFULLY) BE POSTED THRICE-WEEKLY: ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY - UNLESS STATED ELSEWHERE…
SO TUNE IN AGAIN, ON WEDNESDAY 29TH OCTOBER FOR PART 5 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Bierge, Spain on Monday 13th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
In this chapter we take a look around "The Lost City of Bearcelona", which Charlie and Augustus find to be rather smaller than they expected. The photos for this part of the story were taken in a number of towns around Alquézar and Girona; namely Bierge, near Huesca (where we stayed for four days whilst taking the Alquézar photos) and Peratallada, near Girona - but also a couple of others. Dr Neph, my driver for this trip, also makes a brief appearance! Tomorrow we will return to exploring Alquézar...
PART 3 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 3
Welcome to the 3rd part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus...
So far this adventure: Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite had trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona, in disguise - uncertain of why the mouse has travelled there so secretly. Whilst Oliver spies in on Gladstone and Claud using a listening device in a walking stick, Laura takes a peek at some notes written by Oliver that suggest that he may be about to sell his story to the newspapers. Oliver returns to the café minutes later to find Laura gone - she has been lured by the smell of crepes and as she looks on a gust of cold air knocks her forward and down towards the steaming hob.
Barcelona. Early Autumn.
To be horribly blunt about the matter Laura should have been a goner after losing her balance on the edge of the crepe counter; for when she fell no-one was looking in her direction that ran the stall; for this was a shop for humans and they weren't expecting any dust-mite customers. Laura was heavier than usual, due to her butterfly disguise, but this meant that although she was less likely to simply blow away that when she fell, as she did, she fell fast - straight towards the hot plate where another frsh crepe busily bubbled, ready for fresh cheese of chocolate to soon be applied (but rarely both at the same time!!!)
Had rescue come a moment later then it could well have been too late; but as Laura fell something hooked onto her butterfly costume and pulled her up again and back on her feet on top of the crepe counter…
"Oh Oliver! Darling! You saved me in the nick of time…" she was reminded of the time that Gladstone had thoughtlessly sent her tumbling into a river full of swans. It had been Ollie who had saved her then too, which reassured her, because for just a second she had been thought that perhaps Oliver had seen her reading his notepad and was trying to get rid of her. But that was a very foolish thought and she knew that it wasn't true. It was just her guilt at having read the notes, no matter what they said, that had made her think such a thing. "Darling!" she continued, her eyes brimming with tears. "This is the second time you've saved my life, darling - you're becoming a regular little hero around me; my louse knight in shining armour…"
Ollie raised an eyebrow, but didn't deny it - even though he didn't actually comment either. He was aware that Laura had a bit of a tendancy for falling in love with people whom she found heroic. (As had happened when they had met Taz the Cavebunny not so long ago… You can read all about this in the new Mouse of Commons book: GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER, available from www.lulu.com in November 2008.)
"Well, it's just lucky that I was passing…" he poinyed out. "It's also extremely lucky that Professor Smith makes such good walking sticks containing so many useful devices!!" he added, becoming aware that some humans in the queue were becoming aware of their presense on the counter and were about to complain to the owner. "Come on now, Laura - we have places to go and Mice of Commons to follow…" he urged her and nodding excitedly Laura hurried away, arm in arm - with Oliver helping to support her large fake butterfly wings as they went…
There was much to be done…
Some while later…
Gladstone McWhiskers opened his eyes reluctantly and yawned; the lunch he had eaten with Claud in Barcelona had made him sleepy and he and the cat had eventually left the restaurant to catch a lift in a chauffeur-driven limousine out into the countryside beyond the city. As they had travelled and the light had begun to dwindle, Gladstone had quickly fallen asleep. At one point as the were driving away from the restaurant they had nearly run over an elderly looking woodlouse and his butterfly companion - but Glad had already been snoring by then and Claud hadn't been paying proper attention and wouldn't have expected to see Oliver there anyway; let alone Oliver in great grey beard carrying a walking stick.
The first Gladstone knew of them having reached their destination was when Claud had tapped him gently on the shoulder, causing the mouse to jerked suddenly awake and to stare around him in a disorientated manner. It was at this stage that he realised that the chauffeur-driven limousine had stopped and that the sun was now quite low in the sky. According to the clock in the car it was nearly five o'clock and he could see the driver; a rather gruff looking cockatoo called Carlos, taking a breather out in the carpark. It would be dark in little more than an hour and there was much to be done.
"Goodness, Claud… How long have I been asleep?"
The cat grinned. "Quite some time…" he laughed. "We're up in the mountains now; a good couple of hundred kilometres out of Barcelona. This is Alquézar; where the last sighting of Charlie was - although the location and the frequency of the "ghosting" has been quite irregular until this week…" he explained.
Gladstone nodded. Claud had told him about the sightings; of how wispy phantoms of Charlie had been seen in the streets of Alquézar recently, late at night - the ghost of a bear in such a usually quiet part of Spain wasn't something that could pass by un-noticed and it had soon come to Claud's attention back in Barcelona. Only having seen some photos and some grainy film taken on a mobile phone, Claud didn't think that it was a ghost - more the trapped echo of Charlie trapped in the dimension into which he had fallen in Majorca; although goodness knows why he was now appearing in this town of all places.
That didn't really matter; but contacting him or trying to bring him back to safety, surely did…
"This whole business doesn't make a lot of sense to me, I'm afraid…" Gladstone admitted. "I just hope that I can help somehow… Do we have any idea why it is he is suddenly appearing here? And after all those months of total silence?"
"Goodness knows… Maybe he's only just found the entrance to the portal wherever he is and is having trouble getting through - the main thing is we try and help… Alquézar is a pretty old and magical place - it dates back into ancient towns; the current city is built on the remains of another city that was here long before the romans. We're pretty high up in the mountains and building such a city in such a far off place no doubt took its toll on the people building it and people have often reported ghostly sightings here; Charlie's is just the latest - and of a slightly different nature…"
"Trust that bear to be different…" Gladstone grinned affectionately. "Even being a ghost he has to do in his own inimitable style…"
"I really have no idea how we're meant to try and open the portal…"
"I've spoken to Professor Smith about this and he's given me a few tips - but we do have to be careful…"
"Well, our first problem is actually finding it…" Claud pointed out. "It only appears for a few minutes; at very unpredictable intervals - although I've had our people monitor the times of the last six reported sightings - so hopefully I have a rough idea of when the next appearance should, theoretically be…"
"And that's soon? We'll see Charlie?" Claud nodded. "But he may not see us and we may not have time to reach him…"
Claud nodded. "Exactly. We have to be careful - and yes, it will be soon - at least it should be…" he stared at his watch as they climbed from the limousine to look down across Alquézar. "As soon as night falls - in a little under 45 minutes - that's when the portal should emerge - and this time we'll be there to witness it…"
Gladstone sighed. "But then what!?" he wondered - for Professor Smith's words still echoed in his head.
"It is not a good idea to try to save Charlie from the portal, Gladstone…" he had said. "Even I have no idea quite how these things work - at best, you might be able to speak to the bear - at worst you could all end up dead…"
"Well…" Gladstone mused as they stood looking over the impressive mountain city. "That's just a risk that has to be taken…"
Next episode, we leave Gladstone, Claud, Oliver and Laura in present-day Spain and travel through the portal to see exactly how Charlie Grrr is coping trapped in "The Lost City Of Bearcelona"; in another dimension...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL (HOPEFULLY) BE POSTED THRICE-WEEKLY: ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY - UNLESS STATED ELSEWHERE…
SO TUNE IN AGAIN, ON MONDAY 27TH OCTOBER FOR PART 4 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Girona and Bierge, Spain on Monday 13th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
This episode we focus on a few last photos of Barcelona, before hitting the road to Alquézar and seeing some of the sights that Dr Neph and I saw on the way. Next week we'll be exploring "The Lost City of Bearcelona" in more detail and finding out that it's not quite as Charlie and Augustus imagined it might be. For those of you wanting to learn more about Alquézar; there are further details on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alqu%C3%A9zar
PART 2 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART 2
Welcome to the 2nd part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA. Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Gladstone, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. This new story takes place almost a year later and nothing has been heard from either Charlie or Augustus...
So far this adventure: Oliver Louse and Laura Dust-mite had trailed Gladstone McWhiskers to Barcelona, in disguise - uncertain of why the mouse has travelled over there so secretly. Just as Laura is getting fed up of all their spy work and is feeling hungry and in need of a shopping trip - Ollie raises to his feet and strides from their café to the restaurant where Gladstone and Claud are making plans - what exactly is Oliver going to do next??
Barcelona. Early Autumn.
"Whatever is he up to now!?" Laura sighed to herself for, at least, the third time in as many minutes; her stomach was beginning to rumble as she watched Ollie storm off across La Rambla towards the restaurant where Gladstone could be clearly seen in deep conversation with Claud. "Surely he can't be about to turn himself in?" she reasoned although, of course, if Gladstone had looked out of the window all he would have seen would have been an apparently rather ancient-looking woodlouse with a large Santa Claus-style beard heading across the road looking extremely serious.
Sure enough, although she had been concerned that he would, Ollie didn't give himself away, but instead he carefully left his walking stick outside the window of the restaurant; just beneath the window where Gladstone and Claud were sitting. Once he had done so he withdrew back to the paved La Rambla promenade, although he didn't return to their table at the café, but sat sat on a bench only a few feet from the restaurant and quickly put in a small pair of headphones, as if listening to the radio or some such - although he was presumably doing something far more sneaky.
Was it possible that Ollie was now able to listen in to their conversation!?
For a moment all these questions and general thinky-ness made Laura even more confused, at least until her eye was distracted by the sight of Ollie's note-pad, which he'd accidentally left abandoned there, right in front of her, on their table. Having checked that Oliver couldn't see what she was up to (which he wasn't), she didn't pause a moment longer and simply snatched up the pad and peeked right inside.
It took her a moment or two to work out exactly what she was reading; but then she realised she was trying to look at it upside down. When she began to read what was written there before her she was really quite taken aback: THE SECRET DIARY OF OLIVER LOUSE - was the intriguing title - but although there wasn't much yet written in the diary there were still a lot of notes that Ollie had made - which seemed to be quite revealing as far as what he appeared to be planning to write.
"Write back to Growlly Growlerson. Offer a sample page or two of the diary, but demand the amount offered so-far is tripled…" he had also added. "After all - I am not a charity!!"
"Oh my goodness…" whispered Laura, for she simply couldn't believe what she was reading; Growlly Growlerson was a notorious, big time tabloid journalist and Ollie appeared to be contemplating selling his life story and private thoughts on working with Gladstone McWhiskers to this disreputable bear…
Meanwhile, across on his bench Oliver's plan wasn't going quite as smoothly as he'd hoped it would. The walking stick that he'd left by the window of the restaurant was an invention of their friend, the inventor Professor Gibraltar Smith and it contained a high-powered listening device which theoretically should have picked up anything that Gladstone and Claud were saying; even from outside the restaurant and through the glass. But to start with Gladstone seemed to be writing something down, which Claud was nodding at with interest - but this was obviously something which wouldn't be picked by a microphone. When they eventually did start to speak it was general chatter about how yummy their newly arrived desserts were;
"Oh, Gladstone - this gateau really is amazing… You should try some!"
"I will, Claud - thank you so much - do try a piece of my apple pie - the pastry just melt in your mouth - have some cream with it too…"
This only ended up frustrating Oliver all the more, as well as making him extremely hungry again and after they had finished eating the only other conversation seemed to be some quibble over whether or not they would have coffee ("I shouldn't - I've had too many today, but I can't resist…") and then who would pay the bill. ("It's my turn!", "Let's just split it, Gladstone…", "No… It's my treat…", "Please now - let me contribute something…") It was hardly the top secret chinwag that Oliver had been hoping for. The only piece of information that he was able to retrieve was that Gladstone and Claud were not going to be returning to Charlie's offices - but intended to travel out somewhere, to some countryside location of relevance to Gladstone's visit.
As they made to leave, Oliver quickly collected his walking stick and hurried back to the café where he'd left Laura, his coat and notepad - only to suddenly realise that one of these items was missing…
There was no sign of Laura!!
As it happened, at that very moment, Laura was practically hypnotised - not so very far away and watching with hungry intent at the serving hatch of a small creperie two doors up from the café. She had always thought that such pancakes were more of a french delicacy; but being as they were quite close to the french border and in the Catalan area of Spain it appeared that such things were also a local food custom in Barcelona. The whole region was known for it's merging of french and spanish customs and anyway eating crepes in Spain was hardly something that Laura felt strongly about in a negative way for she loved crepes; she always had them when she was in Paris. She had once eaten six. Now, for a bear like Charlie Grrr that would be nothing - but for a dust-mite six crepes was a pretty big deal and she had moved up a whole dress-size as a result which had taken months to shift.
At one stage Laura had intended on crossing the road to tell Ollie off about his plans to associate with Growlly Growlerson, but the wafting smell of the crepes had quite distracted her; banana and chocolate, cheese and mushroom, orange and chocolate, spinach, pine nuts and cheese - such wonderful aromas… It may have been the enchanting allure of the food or a rush of air as a lorry passed by alongside La Rambla, but all of a sudden Laura suddenly felt light-headed and lost her balance…
Without even having a chance to cry out, Laura tipped forward - plummetting down towards the steaming hob on which the crepes were being made…
All of a sudden Laura had rapidly lost her appetite!!
Next episode, Laura's fate, quite literally, hangs in the balance. Will Oliver learn any more about what is going on? Will he be able to keep trailing them as they head out into the countryside? Up in the mountains outside Barcelona the answer as to what has happened to Charlie Grrr may just be about to be answered...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL (HOPEFULLY) BE POSTED THRICE-WEEKLY: ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY - UNLESS STATED ELSEWHERE… SO TUNE IN AGAIN, ON FRIDAY FOR PART 3 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
This installment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written in Girona, Spain between Sunday 12th and Monday 13th October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
We remain in Barcelona for the second installment of our new adventure - as you can see it was a little wet and bleak in Barcelona, during my three days there from Friday 17th - Sunday 19th October. I have also included some photos of me eating crepes; which were taken on Sunday 12th October in Girona - and influenced the cliffhanger that you have just read. In our next post we will say goodbye to Barcelona and embark on a bit of a road trip - seeing some sights along the way as we head out to the Spanish countryside towards the mysterious city of Alquézar to find out exactly what has happened to Charlie and Augustus Grrr.
PART 1 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALLO DIMENSION...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION... - PART ONE
Welcome to the 1st part of our new internet-exclusive, 15 part, mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, once again set in Spain, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA.
Although the story refers back to some elements from the previous two stories it can be read on its own and below is a brief summary of the events of the two stories so far. The three stories will be published, along with other stories from this site in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS, due in Spring/Summer 2009.
The story so far…
During a visit to Barcelona; Glad, Oliver and Charlie meet a cat waiter called Claud and embark on a pie-crawl around the city. During their adventures they stumble on secret goings-on under a pie factory and discover a map that leads them to The Lost City Of Bearcelona - which just happens to be somewhere on the island of Majorca. The only person who can understand the map is Charlie's father Augustus; who is imprisoned inside a cocoon where he can't cause any further trouble. He isn't dead - and yet he isn't really alive in any proper sense; although he is able to communicate with Charlie psychically and during their visit to Barcelona he escapes and Charlie and he fall through a portal that may or may not lead to the lost city… The portal closes behind them and there is no sign of them for months. As our new story begins, a whole year has passed and Gladstone and his team have not heard anything from either bear...
This story features the same team of Gladstone, Ollie, Claud, Charlie and Augustus from the previous stories, with the addition of Laura Dust-mite, fabulous dust-mite scene queen and general all round glamour-puss.
Barcelona, Almost a year after Charlie's vanishing. Early Autumn.
Laura Dust-mite gave a long sigh as she took in the long line of shops in front of her; marvelling at all the bargains that she might possibly be able to buy if she got the chance. "It's like heaven…" she muttered under her breath. "In fact it's better than heaven - it's ALMOST as gorgeous as Paris; this is GOOD, but nowhere beats Paris for chictastic shopping trips…"
Oliver Louse held her tiny dust-mite purse tight against his chest, so that Laura couldn't grab it; he was beginning to wonder if bringing Laura on this trip was quite such a wise idea as he'd first thought; although, to be fair - she had never been his first choice. He simply hadn't wanted to travel alone; but neither Granny Ernestina (Charlie's former house-keeper - still awaiting the return of her master!), Bell (one of Gladstone's former assistants), Charlie Junior (Charlie's loyal and recently very sorrowful son) nor even Auntie Astrid (guinea pig guru, agony aunt and journalist), had been available to join him. But when Laura had heard that Ollie was looking for a travelling companion she had jumped at the chance; or, at least, she had fluttered about crazily a bit.
"We didn't come here to shop, Laura - you know that…" Ollie reminded her, as they both sat sipping heir appropriately sized lattes at a popular insect bar just off La Rambla…
They were in Barcelona, on a warm October afternoon and they were there on top secret business too; even Gladstone McWhiskers didn't know they were there - trailing his every move around the city…
"I know exactly why we're here, honey pie…" Laura replied, rather snootily. "But I'm sure I'll have a moment or two for a quick spot of shopping; the autumn collection of Jasper Growl's new range of moth gowns is just the wow of the season and it was launched here in Barcelona only two weeks ago…" she informed Oliver, as if he cared one iota, which he really didn't. "I have contacts, you know…" she added. "I have been promised a wonderful discount…"
"There may be some brief moments, Laura…" Oliver conceded. "But they will be extremely brief indeed and I can assure you that I won't be by your side to carry any of your bags - so don't even dare suggest it, lady…"
"It never even occurred to me, silly!" insisted the dust-mite but, of course, it had been on her mind; and it had to be said that it was rapidly slipping her mind why exactly they were actually there.
It was Gladstone's fault, of course - it always was - although more precisely it was Charlie Grrr's fault - or even his evil father; Augustus's fault…
It was nearly a year now since Charlie and Augustus had vanished during their search for The Lost City of Bearcelona on the isle of Majorca. This had ended up with a lot of odd chanting and the sudden opening of a portal between dimensions; which father and son had ended up falling through, before the gateway between the dimensions had been sealed again. There had been no sign of either bear since and at the time there had been rather a lot of speculation as to whether the portal had even lead to the lost city; it could have been anywhere - it didn't really bear thinking about, to be perfectly honest…
Anyway, all of a sudden Gladstone McWhiskers had suddenly announced that he had to return to Barcelona to meet Claud, a former cat waiter - who had ended up running Charlie's business in Barcelona whilst he had been away. It seemed obvious that Claud must have received some kind of lead as to Charlie's vanishing; but Gladstone had forbidden Ollie to accompany him on his trip. Perhaps he was concerned for what Claud had to tell Glad - or maybe they were going to travel somewhere which might put them in some kind of danger and Gladstone had been worried that Ollie might also be put in whatever dangerous situation that this might be and preferred that Ollie remained in London as his Deputy…
But whatever his reasoning, Oliver was cross that Gladstone hadn't confided in him and had simply up and left and given him no idea what was going on; other than that he was going back to Barcelona. Ollie was generally a very loyal kind of woodlouse, but when he felt that people were being disrespectful - even his boss, who he cared a great deal for, he wouldn't be forced to simply accept the situation. He wasn't going to accept Gladstone putting himself in danger - it simply wouldn't do… It had been MP Clifford Dunn's secretary, Alena, who had helped out with organising all his travel arrangements and she had quite happily managed to arrange Laura's tickets too when she had agreed to tag along at short notice.
"I'm just sorry I'm not able to come along and help out too - are you sure you wouldn't rather I went along rather than Laura…" Alena had sighed; Ollie had agreed - but Alena would never have fitted aboard the louse-sized plane. "I'm just so jealous of you lot sometimes..." she had added affectionately. "You lead such exciting lives - but who knows maybe it'll happen one day - I'm planning on being the first female James Bond before I'm 25…" she had teased.
So now, there they were - Ollie and Laura - out in Barcelona at a café near La Rambla, wearing typically stupid disguises opposite a restaurant where Gladstone and Claud were dining, deep in some top secret conversation...
"Are we going to eat soon, Ollie?" Laura whispered, but Oliver didn't seem to be listening. It didn't help that his false grey louse beard seemed to be blocking his ears rather and made him look rather like Santa Claus. He also seemed to be very much distracted - his mind full of plans of his own that he didn't seem to wish to share with Laura right at that moment and he kept stopping to scribble notes into a pad that he kept safely in his coat pocket. "Is that a no, then dear?" Laura asked, admiring his reflection in a shop window and thinking that she made quite a good red admiral butterfly; even though her costume made her feel quite heavily laiden down; at least it stopped her from blowing away - and the weather did seem to be turning from sunny to slightly overcast and blustery - so she reasoned that the heavy wings might actually prove to be a blessing. "You know, darling - I really am famished…" she continued…
…But just as Laura spoke, Oliver suddenly rose from his seat and without a word he strode from their table outside the café and across the busy La Rambla, amongst all the tourist-folk and locals; he seemed to be heading directly towards the restaurant where Claud and Gladstone sat discussing their future plans…
"Whatever is that louse up to now!?" Laura wondered - she had a nasty suspicion that Ollie meant trouble...
Next episode Laura learns exactly what Ollie is planning, unearths further secrets and also pays the cost of not eating regular meals...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION WILL (HOPEFULLY) BE POSTED THRICE-WEEKLY: ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY - UNLESS STATED ELSEWHERE…
This installment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION was originally written on the flight to Spain and in Girona, Spain between Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th of October 2008.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION...
The first two or three chapters of this story are based in Barcelona again - but I wasn't actually in Barcelona at the time; I was in Girona - an hour or so away up the road towards France. However I did return to Barcelona between Friday 17th and Sunday 19th October - which is when these photos were taken. The weather wasn't half as nice as the weather we had when Calum, Quint and I made our trip for my 34th birthday in November 2007, which is why I referred to the weather as being a bit overcast when I typed up this chapter from my notes; as when these chapters were written the weather was good. Dear, oh dear… Far too much information there… Anyway - enjoy some more photos of my second trip to Barcelona over the next few chapters - today I'm covering some of the sights, sounds and foods of the area, to go with the cafe setting. I managed to visit a few new areas and some old haunts too, as you will see - before we begin our tour beyond the city and into the Spanish countryside…
TUNE IN AGAIN, ON WEDNESDAY FOR PART 2 OF THIS ADVENTURE!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS IN FULL COLOUR!!! A NEW MOUSE OF COMMONS PHOTO BOOK!!!
Hi,
Just to announce that there is already a new Mouse of Commons book out on www.Lulu.com called GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS IN FULL COLOUR which you can read more about http://www.lulu.com/content/4051212
Details below:
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS IN FULL COLOUR is a book of photography; compiling all the best photos used in three Mouse of Commons novels: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE BEARGRRRIAN DILEMMA, GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY and THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS. The majority of these photos were taken by Paul Chandler; all over Europe between 2006 and 2008. The book is 170 pages long and is printed in full colour (as the title suggests) and is available in paperback for £19.99. A hardback edition will follow soon.
If you take a look at the link you should also see some sample pages.
Coming soon: A collection of Mouse of Commons novellas - GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER. Due Mid-November.
Well! It happened - on the 5th and 6th September 2008, I finally had the launch parties at the Fitzroy Tavern, London for my most recent 3 poetry books: the new collection - SHY YETI'S INCREDIBLE PIE-CRUST COLLECTION, WOOED AWAKENINGS and WOOED-ER AWAKENINGS as well as, most importantly for this site - the two new Mouse books: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY and THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS.
Thanks to everyone who came along and all those who sent messages of apology for not being able to make it. Thanks also to all of you who bought copies of the books and the cool comments I've had back from you already about the ones you bought.
The next book launch will be to celebrate the launch of GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE COUNTER and also to belatedly go for drinks for my birthday. At the moment I'm setting it for around 14th/15th November - more details when I have them. :)
On the friday we moved on to the Vauxhall Tavern - so the photos are taken in both venues. Enjoy them and thanks again to everyone for coming along. :)
Paul x
Above. Paul and David with one of the new Mouse books.
Above. Harry looks impressed by Paul's impromtu impression of a hamster.
Above. Harry still has a little trouble getting the basic idea of reading.
Above. Neph enjoying the adventures of his favourite person; Charlie Grrr.
Above. Robert finds that he can make a headdress from all the new books - and how fetching it looks too! :)
Above. Miles, Glyn and Gibson with the three newest books.
Above. Glyn and Aitor and the new books! :)
Above. Tom and Paul after a hard night's book launching!
Above. The Mouse Of Commons book launch flyer.
Above. Robert attempts to restrain Paul from his meglomanical plans to rule the world through his books. Tom stands by and just smiles.
Above. Paul suffers for his art.
Above. Miles tries to ignore Paul's attempts to seduce the camera.
Above. Day 2 of the launch - and Gibson came back for more!
Above. Day 2 and a new face: Andrew poses with one of the new Mouse novels.
Above. Nick shows of photos of his mum's 70 year old bears, who feature in one of the new Mouse books.
Above. Paul and Nick and 2 of the new books.
Above. Photos of Julie and Pete from their wedding in 2007 appear in both the new poetry and Mouse books!
Well, the countdown until the first and second 2008 book launch has begun! :)
Two weeks to go...
I've been pretty busy with the writing - typing up a number of short stories that I've been working on since the beginning of the year (and before); including GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PIE-RONIC INCIDENT (set in Venice) and other stories set in Amsterdam and the english countryside...
The main two books I have been working on are the next release (due November): GOSSIP FROM THE CHEESE-COUNTER, a collection of 3 novellas and a short story and the next full length novel: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE COUNTER-CLOCKWISE CONUNDRUM which will be one of my first releases of 2009. I've also been working on a collection of all the stories that I posted on this blogsite late last year and completing a novella that I have been writing with Gareth Bellis who also helps with the Auntie Astrid pieces that have appeared in recent books.
To finish, here are a few recent photos taken on recent trips to Shropshire and Amsterdam and hopefully next time I'll blog on here it should be concerning the book launch!
THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS - FINALLY PUBLISHED!!!
Hi,
Okay! So, that's two books in one week! :) Yeah, I write them quick...
To be precise, work on THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS begun in spring 2006 and I've been working at it ever since. It was actually was meant to be the first one of the two ready, but it didn't work out like that... Anyway, time for introductions...
THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERSis the 2nd Mouse of Commons short story collection, containing 7 adventures in all and a fair few photos too, along the way. In these adventures, Glad attends a Halloween party to end all Halloween parties, goes on a life-threatening sponsored walk, helps a friend in need find a job, meets a ghostly apparition, dresses up as a fox club to infiltrate a gang, attempts to prevent an assassination and loses his memory during a trip to Stockholm.
Don't forget that GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY has also just been released.
For those not in the know...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAYis all about what happens when The Mouse of Commons decides to give up his position and runs away to the country; leaving his trusty assistant - Oliver Louse - to deal with a scary new foe in old London Town. But what Gladstone finds in the country is equally as dangerous and scary...
Anyway - enough from me. I may well be recording some of the shorter Mouse of Commons stories for the vimeo site within the next few weeks and posting some extracts from the new book on this site too.
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY - NOW AVAILABLE!!!
Hi,
Just to let everyone know that the new Mouse of Commons novel: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY, is now available to be purchased on www.lulu.com
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY is all about what happens when The Mouse of Commons decides to give up his position and runs away to the country; leaving his trusty assistant - Oliver Louse - to deal with a scary new foe in old London Town. But what Gladstone finds in the country is equally as dangerous and scary...
The book can also be downloaded, for those of you who are more digitally inclined, for £4.99.
I had a slight problem with the original design of the cover, as seen here previously - but the back covers are probably more scenic than before. (As below)
The next book of short stories: THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS should be ready by mid-July and I'll be announcing a book launch very soon for late August/early September 2008.
Hopefully I'll also be able to post up a video of me reading one of the shorter stories from this website, in the next few weeks. :)
I may post some extracts from the new book in the next few weeks...
All the best!
Paul x
P.S. Thanks again to Chris Velvin for all his help proofreading this book. :)
P.P.S. I read some poems and discussed lulu, the blogs, the videos and most of all Gladstone McWhiskers on RADIO WEY this evening. I'll post more photos on here in the next week or so - but there is a more detailed review of the night on www.thedaffypoet.blogspot.com
Hi, I can reveal that the two new Mouse of Commons books will be ready by early August!!
With the help from Dr Neph Mexico and especially new proof reader Chris Velvin from http://velvinproofs.co.uk both THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY will be ready by early August; which also means I'll be having a book launch party in early September. Both books have been returned to me with their corrections and I am currently making the changes.
In other news; my friend Owen and I have been working on some videos of my poems, which I have posted up at www.vimeo.com/shyyeti - and I have also posted an example: YETI SPAGHETTI below. I am hoping in the near future to do the same with some of the shorter mouse stories, maybe some of the AUNTIE ASTRID columns and maybe even some of the episodic stories that I posted here on the site late last year. There will be more blogsite exclusive stories posted here later this year and I intend to collect all these stories in a collection called POSTCARDS FROM MCWHISKERS early in 2009.
More details on the new books and which ones I am now beginning to work on now that FURTHER and THROW are almost finished, in the next post. I will say, however, that I've just finished several short stories that are part of future books and these are GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PIE-RONIC INCIDENT (set in Venice), GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PIENTOLOGISTS and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE BAA-CODE BANDITS.
Enjoy the poem - thanks again to Owen for all his help with putting it together!
Mousey Hugs,
Paul xx
PS The photo at the top of the page is from a recent visit to Crosby Beach near Stockport where I couldn't help but pose with one of the scary statues!!!
The two new Mouse of Commons books: THE FURTHER SQUEAKS OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS and GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY, should be available to buy from www.lulu.com in the next month or so. They're currently being proofread SQUEAKS by Dr Neph and THROWS by Chris Velvin and here are a couple of screen grabs of the covers. The paperback and hardback of THROWS and the paperback version of SQUEAKS. :)
PART 15 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 15
Here for your delictation is the 15th and final segment of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca - Valdemossa, Late Autumn.
To be perfectly honest, Gladstone was furious. "Go on, then..." he taunted. "Eat me - see if I care..." he said. "Just don't expect to get away with it lightly; I have friends who are dogs at the highest level and like to eat cats for breakfast..."
The cats that were surrounding them looked uncertain for a moment. "But dogs don't EAT cats; they just chase them..." mewed one of the felines in the crowd, but sounded quite nervous all the same..."
"This one does..." Claud insisted. "I know because I met him and he tried to chew my tail..." he exclaimed and held up his tail for all to see. Indeed, it did look a tad scraggy; but Gladstone knew this to be because of the fight earlier with Augustus - it was partly that and also from years of getting his tail caught in the swing doors at the pie restaurant back in Barcelona.
"We want to know if you saw any bears..." Gladstone continued, wondering if he should mention that his father once tried to eat a cat, but then deciding that as the cat had ended up eating his father, then this was a very poor example indeed, to show just how you shouldn't take a mouse for granted. "Did you see where they went!?" he continued and then added for extra-dramatic effect. "IT'S EXTREMELY URGENT!!"
The cats thought about it for a moment and bundled together into a rather haphazard looking huddle. In the end a grey lady cat came forward with their answer. "We saw two bear; one who looked very sticky and one with a bucket over his head; they both went this way - please, now - follow me..."
Gladstone smiled; it appeared that their earnest words had worked...
Meanwhile, back on the balcony overlooking Valdemossa; Ollie watched in fear as Charlie and Augustus finally confronted one another...
"I should kill you, my boy - except that what you did has actually helped me..."
Charlie quit chanting for a moment and took in the further changes in his appearance. "You really are taking this mid-life crisis thing a little too far, father... Did you get surgery or something? I'm sorry - but it doesn't suit you? Are you trying to attract all the young, hot pies or something!?"
"Silence. I may still have to kill you, Charlie - once and for all. You are a perpetual thorn in my side..."
"Awww..." Charlie made a disappointed face. "What have I done now, Papa!? Well, other than let your little cart shoot off down the hill. You seem to have survived that extremely well..." Augustus said nothing in reply and simply moved closer. "Anyway..." continued Charlie confidently. "I have no time to be killed... I'm busy opening a portal to another dimensions; busy opening the way through to the lost city..."
At that moment, Gladstone, Claud and their entourage of village cats arrived at about this point and Ollie hurried across to be reunited with his friends. "What's going on?" Glad asked.
"Augustus just showed up and Charlie had got some magic incantation going on to open some kind of portal to the lost city..."
Gladstone nodded, but it was Claud who pointed out that something odd was occurring. "So why is Augustus laughing?" he asked and the other turned to look.
"What's so funny, father?"
"You - dear boy... That you've followed me all this way; when there is no lost city; at least if there was then it was never here on this spot..."
Augustus was probably expecting Charlie to be surprised or furious - but there was no time for that; for something else was going on that was taking up everybody's attention...
There, down in the valley - where there had previously been a maze of streets that made up most of the town of Valdemossa - was now a shimmering bubble of light and it appeared to be coming closer and closer towards the bears...
"CHARLIE!! WATCH OUT!!!" cried Gladstone, but the bear wasn't listening.
"If that's not the lost city, father - then what is it? What portal have I opened through all my chanting?" he enquired, casually.
But for the first time ever Augustus genuinely looked afraid. "I DON'T KNOW..." he gasped and then suddenly, before he could say any more the bubble shot towards the two bears and enveloped them in rather cheap looking flash of light and smoke...
"Oh my..." gasped Oliver and Gladstone together.
The two bears, father and son, were gone...
EPILOGUE
Gladstone, Ollie and Claud waited on the hill top all that day, into night - all that night and even into the end of the next day. Even the village cats waited too.
"How much longer can we wait for them, boss?" Ollie asked as the cats bought them food from the village, in between nursing the sick Kob back to health.
"Another day..." replied Gladstone, sombrely.
In the end they waited a week and a day and yet still the bears did not return...
...And at that point there was really nothing for ir but to turn around and head, reluctantly, back to London...
COMING SOON LATER THIS YEAR ON THIS WEBSITE - GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE HULLABALOO DIMENSION.
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in London between Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th of December 2007. It was finally completed on Wednesday 23rd January 2008, due to unforeseen delays in producing the post.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Here, for the final post, I present the remaining photos from my Majorcan trip in December 2007.
PART 14 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 14
Here for your delictation is the 14th and penultimate segment of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca - Valdemossa, Late Autumn.
Out on the streets of Valdemossa, still relatively weak and disorientated, Augustus Grrr was searching for his son. Augustus had been made so youthful by the life forces that he had stolen that he now looked almost like the twin of Charlie - rather than his father. The change was uncanny; you could barely have told them apart if you had been unfortunate enough to have seen them together.
Augustus found that he could no longer read Charlie's mind - partly because of the tin helmet, most probably - however he was still able to detect his scent; although the bear's trail seem to criss-cross itself all over the village and nervous villagers and watchful cats peered down at him in slight confusion - wondering if this was the same bear as they had seen earlier and if so, what happened to his tin bucket helmet and his loyal friend, the wood louse.
Standing outside one of the restaurants in the village; Augustus could smell freshly cooked bread and his appetite began to rush back to him. He raised his muzzle to the sky and howled; food was essential, but getting revenge on Charlie was even more important...
Meanwhile, turning away from the gorgeous view of the snowy mountains; the church with its bell tower and the groves of oranges and olives; Ollie demanded an explanation; for he could see nothing.
"I don't see a portal or an entrance of a door to any lost city, Charlie... Where is it? Am I missing something? Is there some trap door amongst the cobbles that I'm just not seeing? Is the city somewhere beneath our feet - somewhere under the hill?"
Ollie would have hoped for a more mature response; but instead all that he got was a scoffing noise; or at least that was the initial reaction. "The city isn't beneath our feet - nor even above our heads; it is directly in front of us; except that it is on another plain - another dimension. All that is needed to open the door between the two worlds is a little bit of magic; magic which I stole from Augustus when we were exploring one anothers minds.
Oliver wasn't sure that he believed a word of it - but before he could say as much they both heard the sudden and angry growling of Augustus Grrr. "It's his party and he'll growl if he wants top..." observed his son glibly, not even seeming surprised to hear him, it appeared. In fact Charlie was so disinterested that he turned away and back to the view before him and began to growl the magic words to evoke the lost city.
Meanwhile, back on the cobbled streets of the village; not too far from where Charlie was chanting; Gladstone and Claud were making their own way through the slippery snow-strewn streets of Valdemossa. Even thought the snow had now finally stopped - it was still not easy to get about as none of the previous nights snow had yet been shifted. Whereas the arrival of the bears had caused some considerable dismay to the villagers - the arrival of the Mouse of Commons and Claud, had gone by almost totally unnoticed by comparison. In fact as they hurried along the cobbled streets some of the villagers were nervously emerging from their houses - and so, it seemed, were some of Valdemossa's watchful cat population.
"Hey! You!" called one small gang on a street corner. "Are you going to share your dinner with us fatty? You don't look like you need feeding up..."
"Look at him..." chuckled another. "He walks around our streets hand in hand with his lunch; what a very modern pussy cat he must be..."
Claud was quite incensed by hearing this. "I used to work in a pie restaurant..." he snapped. "We used to be paid in pies - and as for the mouse; he isn't for eating - he's the Mouse of Commons and Lords from back in London, England!"
"Hark at him!!" called another cat sarcastically, his english was good, but he had a strong accent - which made him sound quite funny using British slang. "Mouse of Commons and Lords? How posh!? Look who's eating gourmet food now... Normal mice aren't good enough for him!?"
"Don't listen to them, Claud... They're only teasing you; the mice of Valdemossa have obviously upped sticks and left for a better life somewhere where the cats are less rude..."
"We ate them all!" cried another of the feline villagers and before either Gladstone or Claud had a chance to ask about the bears. "We ate them all - and now we fancy a spot of gourmet British mice too..."
In the final episode of this story the portal is opened and Gladstone and Claud have to fight for their lives; whilst Charlie and Augustus clash head on...
TUNE IN AGAIN SOON FOR THE 15TH AND FINAL PART 15 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in London on Friday 5th December 2007. It was finally completed on Tuesday 15th January 2008, due to unforeseen delays in producing the post.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Further photos from December's trip to the lovely Valdemossa and a very special tribute to a Mouse of Commons star, gone too soon...
MOG ARCHER
Finally in this post I have to announce the sad news that Mog Archer - who appeared in photos on this blog, as Claud during the posting of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL passed on just before Christmas. Although he had not lived very long with Pete and Julie, his mum and dad, he was, of course, very much loved during his time with them in Reading and is now sadly missed by them. It is believed that Mog was about 8 years old and had come to live with Pete and Julie from a rescue centre; sadly his illness remained undiagnosed until it was too late to help him; however he was a very active and affectionate cat for all the time that they knew him.
I was lucky enough to meet Mog in late October 2007; when I took some of the photos that are included below and in previous posts. Thanks also to Dr Neph for some of the pictures he took, during this visit.
As you can see, these photos show him off at his handsome best.
PART 13 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 13
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Finally, we return after a short seasonal break with the 13th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca - Valdemossa, Late Autumn.
It was actually Claud who first seen that something wasn't right...
He'd noticed that Kob had been peering over the upturned cart - at one moment; quite casually - but then he'd seen Augustus's paw shoot up to grab Kob's throat and as that happened the cub's strength seemed to be fading away before Claud's eyes; something was very, very wrong indeed...
"Gladstone!! Look!!"
Glad hadn't seen what had happened between Augustus and Kob; but quickly realised what was going on as he turned and saw the horrendous sight.
"Oh my goodness... Augustus is using his black magic again - he's trying to steal Kob's life force to use it to regenerate himself; he did the same to a number of people back in London before he was captured..." he called out as he tried to think quickly how best to address the dire situation. "We have to stop him..." he began, but Claud didn't need telling twice...
The cat shot across the snowy grass and went directly towards Augustus Grrr's ankles; not that they were so easy to locate as the bear's legs were so stocky and covered in fur. Other than his arms, it appeared his lower legs were just about the only part of Augustus not suspended and the first part of him that began to wiggle back into life; which also made them the perfect target for Claud's attack. In a moment he bit the bear's ankles to distract him from what he was doing to Kob; this certainly seemed to do the trick though and Augustus gave out a yowl of pain and he attempted to lash out at Claud to defend himself. Unfortunately he caught the cat on his left side and sent him flying before he rose to his feet; and as he did so he cracked the casing that had imprisoned him so completely until now and shaking himself down; climbed from the wreckage of the trolley. Gladstone cowered in the undergrowth and watched as Augustus gave a roar, before heading on up the hill; bellowing nonsensically in Beargrrrian. He definitely appeared noticeably younger as he charged up the hill toward the small hillside village of Valdemossa.
By the time Gladstone considered it safe to leave his place of hiding and reached the silent and crumpled figure of Kob; Claud was back on his feet and watching Grrr Senior stumbling away up the hill.
"Is he okay!?" Claud croaked, as Gladstone attempted to check the bearcub's breathing.
"He looks pretty weak; help me get him into the taxi - we have to get up to the village to fetch him help and to warn Charlie..."
It certainly wasn't the best situation to be in right now and having to leave Kob wasn't the best solution to the matter either; but Glad was just relieved to see that Claud wasn't badly hurt on top of everything else.
They had to move quickly now, though - before things got even more out of hand...
Meanwhile, back up in the village, oblivious to all that was going on back down the hill, Charlie was striding around the village of Valdemossa looking very distracted; having left the van in the car park. It probably didn't help that the bear looked even more peculiar than usual wandering about with his specially adapted tin bucket helmet on over his head. Ollie was trying desperately to keep up with him and largely he was failing at this. The only reason that he was even able to keep him in sight was that the bear kept changing direction and coming back on himself; going backwards and forwards and passing him each time. As the sun rose slowly across the cobbled streets and despite all the coming and going Ollie was still quite taken by just how pretty the village was. The views over the mountains with the olive groves and orange trees was quite exquisite; but he also noticed the watchful eyes of the village cats too. They kept away; for they were afraid of the bear and not interested in eating an insect as small as he.
"But if Gladstone shows up, then I wouldn't be so sure... He'll have to watch out for himself..." Ollie worried, trying not to get himself into a fluster about the possibility; for, at least, Gladstone had cat company in the form of Claud.
As he tried to keep up with Charlie, Oliver was also amused to see the reaction of the waking villagers; one by one they opened the shutters over their upstairs bedroom windows and then glanced down onto the streets below; only to slam them hurriedly shut again once they saw Charlie wearing his peculiar tin bucket helmet. To be honest Ollie was slightly concerned about one of the villagers emerging with a shot gun to try and chase the bear out of town; but thankfully that didn't end up happening. He was concerned that they might encounter the same reaction to their arrival as they'd met in Soller; or maybe even worse.
However, nothing happened - and the streets remained deserted...
Ollie had just plucked up enough courage to tell Charlie that he couldn't believe what he'd done to Augustus when they emerged into a small balcony area which overlooked the town below.
"AHA!" exclaimed Charlie suddenly. "This is the place..." he announced proudly. "This is the gateway; here we will finally locate the portal to the lost city of Bearcelona..."
They had, at last, reached their destination...
Next episode Augustus, Claud and Gladstone arrive in Valdemossa and come face to face with the local cat population...
TUNE IN AGAIN SOON, FOR PART 14 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in London on Tuesday 4th and Friday 5th December 2007. The post was finally completed on Thursday 10th January 2008, due to unforeseen delays.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
As promised - more photos from the lovely Valdemossa...
A MOUSE OF COMMONS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: THE DAY CHARLIE GRRR ATE CHRISTMAS!!!
To keep you all going until we return on 2nd January with the final 3 parts of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA we have a special Christmas story to be posted here and now ; we hope you enjoy it.
THE DAY CHARLIE GRRR ATE CHRISTMAS... (A story by Paul Chandler for Christmas 2007)
Well, what a very strange Christmas it was that year...
The first I knew of any trouble that December day was when I heard my trusty woodlouse assistant, Oliver, pounding on my bedroom door early on Christmas Eve morning.
"Boss! Boss!" he cried. "Charlie's done something terrible..."
This was hardly news; it was really just a fact of life...
"What's he done now?!" I sighed, presuming that he'd probably accidentally wrapped himself up by mistake whilst wrapping his son Junior's presents up. "Don't tell me he's used all our supplies of sticky tape up again!?"
The bear had stuck himself to the ceiling earlier in the year as a birthday surprise. In the end the surprise had been on him as Ollie had arranged me a trip to see Shy Yeti performing in concert on the Isle of Wight and we'd not come home for two whole days and Charlie had been stuck to the ceiling for the whole weekend; eating nothing more than cobwebs and the dead toenails of untidy spiders.
But this time it wasn't anything to do with sticky tape...
"It's worse than that, boss..." replied Ollie and I was about to offer another guess when he came out with it all at once. "Charlie's only gone and EATEN Christmas..." he blurted.
There was silence after he'd said this - for, at least, thirty seconds whilst I tried to take it all in.
"He's done WHAT? Eaten Christmas? What on earth do you mean by that? Eaten all the food for Christmas dinner; do you mean?"
"Umm..." Ollie thought for a moment before replying. "Worse than that; really. Sure, he's eaten some of the food for tonight's banquet - but what's more he's eaten the tree - the tinsel - the fairy from the top of the tree and about 90% of the baubles too..." I was speechless and so Oliver continued after a quick pause. "He SAYS he did it all in his sleep..." he concluded.
"Of course he did..." I sighed. "...And I suppose now he expects us all to sort it out..."
There was more silence at this point and then Ollie finally gave his reluctant reply. "Well, erm - not exactly..." he explained. "He actually said that we weren't to worry and that he'd sort it all out..."
"Charlie said NOT to worry!?" I exclaimed, jumping up and pulling on my dressing gown in a hurry.
"That's right; he said not to worry..."
Now if anything was a cause for worry; Charlie telling us NOT to worry was a definitely an alarm call!!
We both recalled how he'd told everyone not to worry when he'd taken over the organisation of a mutual friend's Halloween party a year or so ago. Along the way he'd turned everyone into monsters with his cursed (and slightly over-baked) zompies.
The idea of him taking over the Westminster Christmas Eve Party was something that sent shivers of fear down my spine.
I began to wish that we hadn't volunteered to remain in Parliament care-takering the building for the holiday period. We'd been invited to spend Christmas in all sort of pleasant places; places where Charlie Grrr would have been too large to fit through the door, for instance.
"Ah!! Gladstone!! Oliver!!" beamed Charlie some minutes later. He was a portly old bear with pepper and salt brown light brown fur; a friendly growl and a belly almost twice the size of his head. What's more he far too large to have been clambering up and down Christmas trees after the decorations. "Hello! Hello!" he chorused jovially. "How are you!?" he continued, trying to look as calm about the whole matter as possible, as he plucked a bit of tinsel from his teeth.
"Not so good, to be honest..." I snapped. "What's all this mess? What have you done? What got into you?"
Charlie stared about the debris of the Great Hall. "Do you know what, I don't understand it either..." he replied and shrugged. "I did have the most curious dream where I had entered an eating competition; which I won, of course!! But well, I imagine I must have been sleep eating..." I was about to lecture him about how irresponsible he was and how much trouble it would take to sort everything out; when he suddenly made a surprise announcement. "Anyway - it'll all be sorted by the big meal tonight; I have it all in hand!"
"All in paw; ah yes - very good Ollie; very amusing..."
But I still wasn't amused by the idea of Charlie getting involved. "Charlie - you're not to cook for the people; last time you cooked you turned everyone into zompies and reverted yourself back into a cub in nappies..."
Charlie was obviously upset to have this matter brought up again; but he tried not to show it. "I shall not be cooking anything, I'll have you know, Gladstone..." he insisted as he led us both through into the kitchens when I was surprised to recognise the leading badger chef Jamie Cauliflower busying himself around the kitchen with several of his badger cub assistants. "Jamie is helping replace all the food I snaffled; although to be fair I didn't eat all of the food - it was actually the decorations that I took a fancy too in my sleep-walking state..." he explained, looking a bit dreamy as he thought back to what he had done. "Mmmm. Those baubles were ever so crunchy..." he sighed and before I had time to berate him he added. "I've bought new decorations; they were just delivered - so if you would like to come and tell me where to put them back up, then I'd be very much obliged..." he growled.
"Yes... Yes... Very well..." I agreed grumpily; I'd been hoping for an early night and a chance to curl up in my tail and eat cheese - but that didn't look like happening now.
I was about to suggest that Ollie came along to help out only to see that he had been put in charge of stirring something and looking after the pound coin that was to go in the Christmas pudding.
It was a relief to see that Charlie hadn't actually eaten the whole Christmas tree - although he was right that he had demolished all the decorations and I was concerned when he began to give the new box of baubles the eye as I passed them up to the bear.
"Can't I just try one!?" he growled sadly at one point. "You know - just to see if they taste okay - I mean, it wouldn't be very good if they'd gone off, now would it?"
"NO!!" I exclaimed. "Baubles don't go off and they don't need to taste good to be good at their job; which is basically to hang on the ends of the branches of Christmas trees and just sparkle!!" I explained, sounding quite cross again.
"Oh..." Charlie replied. "Oh, I see... Is that so... What a pity..."
I couldn't help feeling a little bit sorry for the bear; but in the end I went well beyond the course of duty in helping him put the room back into shape. At one point I was swinging dangerously up in the rafters putting the tinsel up because Charlie was too heavy; and so he just stood on the floor below and applauded every few minutes and promised to catch me should I fall. In the end we ran out of sticky tap and some dustmites; including my good friend's Laura and Paola had to be asked to come and hold the last of the decorations up by hand. It was quite a scary task because any breeze occasionally caused some of them to lose their grips and then their other friends had to waft them back in the right direction.
Quite quickly the hall began to look quite festive once again and I found myself stranded up on top of the tree. Charlie seemed quite distracted because his son; Charlie Junior had arrived and they appeared to be comparing fancy dress outfits; one of santa and the other that of a Christmas fairy. Junior was the spitting image of his father; although his fur was a darker brown and his belly was only just beginning to develop. It had to be said; that out of the two of them it was Junior who was the more responsible.
"Hello Uncle Gladstone!!" he called, waving to me where I perched at the top of the tree; I attempted to wave back, but almost fell off so remained still until help came.
"You're not getting me wearing that..." I insisted; indicating the fairy costume as a couple of fire-flies brought me safely down to earth; but Charlie Senior didn't appear to be paying very much attention to me.
"Sorry Gladstone, old thing..." he apologised. "We have to go and get ready. Don't worry; the fairy costume isn't for you..."
I was concerned about Charlie getting his son to dress as the fairy and sit at the top of the tree in case he fell off; or worse still - in case he decided that he might take a fancy to eating baubles like his father. However, in the end I didn't get much chance to say so.
"The hall looks very nice, Uncle Gladstone..." Junior assured me as they both hurried passed, but I was almost too exhausted to reply.
It was then that I suddenly realised that it had been a while since I'd last seen Oliver and so once the bears were gone I hurried back through into the kitchen. However, when I asked Jamie Cauliflower where Ollie was he seemed a trifle vacant and unsure of how to answer. They were almost done with preparing the food now and the first guests were arriving; very soon they would be serving up the starters and it wasn't the best time to be discussing with me the whereabouts of my lost louse assistant.
"The last time I saw him he was over there..." was his only (and very vague) reply.
On the table where I'd last seen him there sat a steaming Christmas pudding and several trays of cooling mince pies.
Desparately I shot up the table leg and began to call out Ollie's name. Could it be that he had somehow ended up in the mince pies? Maybe he had taken a nap under one of the uncooked pastry lids or what if he'd fallen into the Christmas pudding still holding the one pound coin; it wouldn't be the first time that the louse had fallen into food; he'd nearly drowned in a gravy boat in Barcelona not so very long ago...
The only trouble was that this time the pies and pudding had been cooked; which could only mean that had poor Ollie fallen asleep in the unbaked pastry then...
"Hi boss!!" exclaimed a cheerful voice in my ear. "So, what are we looking for?"
"YOU, OLLIE!!" I exclaimed, too pleased to see him to sound cross. "I thought you'd fallen into the dessert and got cooked!"
"Ooooops..." replied the louse, who appeared to be holding a new roll of sticky tape. "I just nipped down to the shops to get more of this; sounded like you needed it - I used the coin that was supposed to go in the pudding. I've got 27 pence changes and I was just going to chuck that in when I got back; but it took me slightly lnger than I expected because I a bunch of carol singing weevils demanded that I listened to them sing "Once in Royal David's City..." before I came back inside.
"Never mind..." I sighed, simply glad that he was all in one piece.
"Ho... Ho... Ho..." boomed a voice, out in the festive hall and it sounded as if the guests were now starting to arrive.
"Shall we go and see Charlie do his santa impression!?" I grinned, rather relishing the idea of seeing the plump bear dress up in such a manner.
"I think he'll rather suit a big white bushy beard..." agreed Oliver.
But as it happened we were both surprised; because it was little Charlie Junior as Santa out in the hall; busily handing out presents to the new arrivals.
"But where's big Charlie, boss!?" Ollie enquired and I was about to presume that he'd simply wandered off somewhere to find food when all of a sudden I saw him...
There he was; up on top of the newly decorated Christmas tree - dressed as a fairy with a face full of candy cane and mistletoe; causing the top of the tree to loll sideways rather worryingly as he snored his way through the songs that the carol singing weevils were singing down on the hall floor below.
Perhaps I should have been cross again; but quite honestly I just didn't have the energy.
"Charlie looks lovely up there dressed like a little fairy, doesn't he boss!?" Ollie giggled. "He looks absolutely beautiful!!"
"You're right..." I agreed. "One might almost say he looked bear-utiful..." I added with a laugh. "Yes, absolutely bearutiful indeed, Ollie..."
It really had to be said; that despite Charlie Grrr's worrying appetite - in the end we really did have a most pleasant Christmas that year...
This story was written between Saturday 22nd and Monday 24th December 2007.
The photos that follow are part of my own Christmas experience in 2007 + a little bit of Charlie! Charlie is currently vacationing in Mexico with Mr Neph so apologises for not being able to pose for any new Christmas photos.
We return on Wednesday the 2nd of January 2008 with part 13 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA.
Wah. Due to cold and flu-eyness and also due to the fact that I've left my note book back in the office the final three parts of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA will be posted between Tuesday 2nd and Friday 5th January 2008.
HAVE A LOVELY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND A VERY HAPPY 2008!!!
There are loads of exciting new things coming along in the new year for Mr McWhiskers and his associates...
PART 12 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 12
The 12th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
To be honest, Gladstone wasn't sure whether it was more alarming that Kob had simply gone back to being silent once he'd ushered him back inside the taxi. He'd expected further fuss - but there had been none and so now he was wondering whether there was worse to come or whether simply he was more distracted by trying to catch up with Charlie and Augustus Grrr.
"Don't be offended, mouse chum..." he had beamed sarcastically, once they were all safely back inside the taxi. "It's just that I've grown accustomed and attached to your company and don't want to lose my favourite travelling companions..."
With that he had closed the side door; plugged up the hole in the metal work; chucked the dangerous looking oranges on the passenger seat and driven off in the direction of Valdemossa; after Charlie, Augustus and Ollie.
"I thought you were a goner there, Gladstone..." Claud had hissed once Gladstone was returned to him and Glad was relieved that, at least so far, the cub had not resorted to any violence. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine..." nodded Gladstone, although he was a little shaken up and slightly sore from trying to squeeze through the small hole in the side of the car.
After this the journey seemed to take an age and in the bad weather progress was slow. In fact their decision to take the mountain route up to Valdemossa caused a bit of a stir as police were just about to cordon off the road; but they saw Kob driving the taxi and knowing the trouble that Charlie and Augustus's arrival had caused they simply dragged back the road block and let them through; relieved that the curious bear tourists were now someone elses problem.
The last thing they wanted, despite being petrified by them, was trouble from offended bears; especially offended bears who were part of the dwindled tourist trade who could potentially boost the economy in some positive way during the island's winter months.
"They don't look used to bears..." Claud pointed out to Glad, in a whispered tone. "Perhaps they think Charlie will eat all the village children if they try and stop them driving about..."
"Only if they're pies..." Gladstone observed. "...or unless they're in pies already, perhaps. I don't think Charlie's ever been known to eat a child or even an adult for that matter - too many of his friends in the record business are people - and that's also why he'll never eat mouse or cat pie..."
"People are very chewy..." Claud added and then quickly explained himself. "Not that I've ever tried - I just read about it in a pie magazine once... I'm vegan, anyway..." he continued, blushing under his fur. "So, I won't be eating any of my friends either..."
It was a rather odd thing to have said; but Gladstone smiled - the poor cat was getting himself in quite a fluster about the whole traditional cat/mouse relationship; but just so that the cat wouldn't feel stupid for too much longer; Gladstone curled up on his head and decided that it was time for them both to take a quick nap.
They fell asleep pretty quickly and must have dozed for quite some time; for when next they woke they were high up in the mountains and the snow was much thicker; it was also beginning to get light.
"CRAZY CUCUMBERS!!" exclaimed Kob suddenly, startling both Gladstone and Claud awake in a moment. "WHAT ON EARTH!?"
The two friend both sat up and saw exactly what it was that the cub had been so shocked about; for coming speeding down the hill towards them at a rapid pace was Augustus Grrr; stood upright in the back of the cart and coming right at them...
Gladstone threw himself at Claud's collar for balance and Claud clung to the door handle - as Kob tried to swerve the taxi out of the way of the speeding cart.
But he wasn't quick enough...
The taxi clipped the edge of the cart and stopped it dead in its tracks; tumbling sideways. Meanwhile the taxi ploughed off the road and into a ditch; but thankfully at quite a reduced speed; but it was still a surprise as it all happened so quickly.
Kob didn't even wait to see if Gladstone and Claud were okay, but jumped from the car and hurried across the snowy road to where Augustus and the cart lay silently.
The side door had shot open during the crash and so Gladstone and Claud were able to scramble out; but there was no doubt that any chance of them getting the car back on the road without help from a tow-truck seemed very small.
"This wasn't something I was expecting..." Gladstone gasped - only just catching his breath at this moment. "It rather looks like Charlie and his father have had a bit f falling out..."
What neither Gladstone nor Claud had noticed was what was happening to Kob at that very moment; as he peered into the up-turned trailer at the silent figure of Augustus Grrr.
Suddenly the preserved bear's eyes flicked open and a large paw grabbed Kob by the neck. "Now you're mine..." he growled menacingly. "NOW YOU'RE MINE..."
Next episode Gladstone and Claud witness the revival of an old nemesis and Charlie and Ollie finally reach their goal...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 13 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in London on Tuesday 4th December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
As promised - more photos from the lovely Valdemossa...
PART 11 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 11
The 11th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
It wasn't so much that the snow was getting deeper as they dragged Augustus's trailer on up the hill; but that it was by now almost totally dark and that inbetween shouting at Ollie to brush the snow off his father's head Charlie seemed more interested in eating the remains of his paella.
"You know what, Ollie - I had no idea that it snowed in Majorca, although my father tells me that it does from time to time; however I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't just used some of his magic to make the weather worsen; partly to stop the competition - and partly because he always was a bit of a sucker for traditional Christmas card scenes..."
"The competition!?" exclaimed Ollie in some confusion. "What competition are we talking about?"
"Oh come on - I'm sure I must have told you! They're right behind us - that's why we really had to ger a bit of a move on back in Soller..."
"But who? Gladstone and Claud, do you mean - I thought you said that they were safe back in Palma..."
"Well them, yes..." Charlie agreed, nearly overturning the whole van as he took a particularly tight corner at too great a speed. "But those two don't really count as the competition... It's that bear from back in Barcelona who's the biggest danger, now..." he explained, although Ollie was obviously still quite unsure of who he meant. "You know - the one who was digging for the map under the pie factory... He used to work for my father - but then when dad became incapacitated he went rogue - but without father's help he couldn't make head not tail of the map..."
"But now he's back in action things have changed!?" Ollie suggested warily and Charlie nodded with a smile on his face.
"I'm sure he's convinced that he's searching for the lost city in my father's name - but dear papa has no interest in anyone else assisting him now that he has me on board..." he chuckled. "Bless; it's one layer of treachery on top of another at the moment; it really is..."
To be honest Ollie wasn't sure what he meant and had given up trying to removed the snow from Augustus's head and come back to sit next to Charlie. "I don't understand - what do you mean? Your father using you like he has; hardly counts as treachery! You made a pact with him, didn't you? Sorry - but you got all you deserved..."
Charlie gave the louse a rather disparaging look. "I don't mean what he's done to me, Oliver Louse - I mean what I'm about to do to him..."
Ollie wasn't sure what he meant, but was certain that it wasn't good news. "What Charlie?" he enquired dubiously. "What have you go planned, exactly!?"
"Well, we don't need him anymore... Augustus thought he was using me to physically get him to the entrance portal at Valdemossa - but all along I was usuing him! Now I know all I need to know i can press eject..."
Ollie stared at the bear and was shocked at what he saw; not the usual friendly Charlie that he had come to know over the years; nor was it the one that he'd seen possessed by Augustus somewhile earlier. This Charlie had the look of a bear full of genuine anger - of bitterness for all the years that his father had haunted his family; resentment for things done, which Ollie knew precious little about.
"You're going to abandon Augustus out here on the mountains? Just jettison him without further thought?"
Charlie looked quite hurt. "Oh, I beg to disagree - I've been thinking about doing this for hours now - I've thought of nothing else - I've just had to hide it from dear papa's prying mind..."
"But surely you won't just leave out in the snow..."
"Oh, come on now, Ollie..." Charlie insisted grumpily. "None of you have approved of me hanging around him from the start; but I've got all I need from our renewed contact now; thank you very much... I've also got myself a helmet that will protect me from his invasive thoughts, too..." he added and placed what appeared to be a bucket with eye and mouth holes carved into it rather poorly. "I made it myself on the boat on the way over using just an old toothbrush and a pomegranite..." he beamed proudly.
"But Charlie..."
"No buts Ollie... He's holding us back - it hard enough driving up these hills in this weather, let alone having him hold us back. Without his weight to slow us down we'll make it to Valdemossa by sunrise..."
Ollie was about to protest once again, but it did no good, at all...
"Au revoir, dear papa..." exclaimed the bear melodramatically; stabbing a button on the dashboard and Ollie turned to watch in dismay as the trailer suddenly disconnected from the van and with a roar of rage from Augustus the little trolley sped away from them back down the hill.
"Now that's what I CALL a fond farewell..." chuckled Charlie as Oliver watched Augustus's trailer disappear amongst the snowy whiteness behind them.
Very soon they had turned a corner and the little white van continued on its way...
Next episode Gladstone and Claud have to face up to Kob and Augustus makes an unexpected come-back...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 12 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca and London from Sunday 2nd - Monday 3rd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
This week's photos are of the town of Valdemossa where the last part of this story is set. The photos were taken on the 1st December 2007 on a very sunny saturday indeed.
PART 10 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 10
The 10th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
For a moment the cub simply couldn't believe his eyes. "I have to protect Mr Augustus; his son is not one of us and his friend's are trouble..." he muttered to himself under his breath.
Kob blinked and realised that the restaurant owner was standing there before him and that the man was talking to him and sounded quite dismayed about something. "No more paellas for bears, senor!!" he implored and then pointed to the sky. "No more paella - it is snowing now; the sea creatures are tucked up in their beds - too cold..."
It certainly was snowing; but Kob wasn't really that interested in paellas; well, not today, at least - he just wanted to get hold of Augustus Grrr; his one ticket to reaching the lost city of Bearcelona...
Meanwhile, back in the van - Charlie was driving, once again - whilst Oliver had been given the rather unattractive task of waving spoonfuls of piping hot paella under the nose of Augustus Grrr from the back of the moving van. The spoon itself was almost too heavy for him to lift and it was even worse with chunks of steaming rice piled onto it.
"Flick it at him, Ollie - if you have to..." advised Charlie. "Just as long as some of it gets in his box and he can snuffle it; the very smell of it seems to be reviving him..."
"He's giving you new directions?" Ollie enquired, trying not to let go of the spoon.
"Yes... Yes..." nodded Charlie, sounding a little distracted. "He wants us to go up into the mountains towards Valdemossa..." he declared, after a moment or two's silence and then filled his mouth with another pawful of paella. "What a shame we had to have take-out..." he sighed. "I'd have liked to have kept on eating in that Square; snow or no snow - it looked nice..."
"You just liked the fact our arrival caused so much attention..." Ollie replied, still having not quite gotten over the embarrassment, yet.
"Oh no!" Charlie disputed, but he was grinning through a mouthful of rice. "It never even occurred to me that our arrival would cause such a stir..."
"Perhaps it was you growling furiously at the manager of that restaurant..." Ollie suggested, but Charlie didn't seem to be listening again.
"Any chance you can blow some of the snow off father..." he muttered instead. "It's causing a few problems..."
"With his telepathy!?" Ollie enquired, as he attempted to poke the newly fallen snow off the bears head with the end of the paella spoon.
"No - it's just making him growlly and his noggin's getting a little chilly..." he chuckled and then mouthed. "He's gone a bit bald on top in his old age..." he added and then corrected himself. "Actually - that shouldn't be a problem now he's half the age that he used to be a this time last year..."
Ollie really wasn't sure quite how to reply to that; so he didn't and just kept on trying to poke the snow off Augustus's head as they drove on up into the snowy hills towards Valdemossa...
Back in Soller, meanwhile - Gladstone was hurriedly trying to find a way out of the taxi and had just learnt that he had good news AND bad news to impart to Claud.
"I've found a way out..." he said, but didn't look at all enthusiastic. "But there's a problem... It's a mouse-sized exit - not a cat-sized one..."
Claud didn't hestitate for a moment. "Just take it, Gladstone... You've got no choice... You've got to get out of here and try and catch up with Oliver... I'll be okay - when he opens the door I'll spring out on him; he won't see me coming..."
But Gladstone shook his head. "I'm not leaving you, Claud - that's the end of the matter; either we both go or we both stay..."
"Well, what if you get out and then find a way of getting me out or something..."
"That's not going to work..."
Claud sighed. "Throw a rock through the window or something. Look - just get out of here whilst you can, Glad - PLEASE..." he insisted and Gladstone had a sudden guilty change of heart.
"Okay..." he agreed. "But I'll be back for you - so be ready to go, alright!?"
Claud nodded, eagerly - pleased that he'd been able to convince Gladstone to go. "I'll be ready..." he confirmed and with that Gladstone turned and began to burrow down the side of the back seat where he'd been exploring before.
As he delved deeper he soon spotted the hole in the side of the car, just up ahead of him. He could feel light and the chill of the air outside from the snow. It took a little struggling to get himself through the hole, but he managed it and dropped to the snowy tarmac below...
"Stop right there; you're not going anywhere..." snapped a familiar voice and reluctantly Gladstone looked up into the face of Kob who was pointing what appeared to be a bunch of oranges at him. It was only when he looked closer that he realised that they were merely being used to conceal a deadly looking gun which the cub held in his left paw. "Don't you move - this fruit is loaded and dangerous and I'm not afraid to use it..." he threatened, looking like he really meant it too.
Gladstone didn't doubt him for a moment - he wasn't going anywhere...
Next episode family problems between Charlie and Augustus cause Oliver much concern...
TUNE IN AGAIN, ON MONDAY FOR PART 11 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca on Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Next week the story heads to the snowy town of Valdemossa; although when I visited there was only lots of sun. That said; I did see a few postcards of the town in snowy weather - so I presume that it's not inaccurate to have set a story in the town in such wintry weather. Anyway - here's a preview of the location of the last 5 chapters of our story...
PART 9 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 9
The 9th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Soller - Majorca, Late Autumn.
"I AM AUGUSTUS GRRR!!!" bellowed Charlie. "...AND I WANT PAELLA - SO YOU WILL COOK ME PAELLA AND YOU'LL COOK IT FOR ME NOW!!!"
"Si Senor..." the restaurant owner looked really panicked and backed away. "Si... Si... I will cook for you my best paella, senor; but I don't want any more trouble, por favor... Let me serve you a drink - it will not take me long..."
...And with that the waiter hurried back inside; leaving Charlie the silent Augustus and Oliver facing one another...
"What on earth was all that about!?" Ollie exclaimed when the waiter had gone. "Was that you mucking about or was it Augustus controlling you? You really scared that man - not to mention frightening me too!"
Charlie paused and thought for a moment. "Hmm..." he said. "Maybe a little bit of both..." he chuckled, as if it wasn't a big deal. "Still, it got us some quick service now, didn't it? We're both hungry bears here, I'll have you know..."
"Well, yes - obviously..." Ollie replied, not quite knowing how else to reply; but the fact that Augustus had spoken so forcibly through Charlie was surely not a good thing, if that was what had really happened.
Meanwhile, back in the taxi - It wasn't much later that Gladstone, Claud; and the suspect Kob finally got a clear glimpse of Charlie and his companions from the back of the taxi; but Soller was suddenly becoming a town on red alert...
Some of the roads around the Square had been roped off; although quite who had done this, it was hard to say; for it appeared that even the police were afraid of Charlie Grrr and had retreated along with most of the local residents.
"He must have done something pretty bad..." Claud said as he also noticed that the trams had been stopped just outside of the Square too.
"There they are..." exclaimed Gladstone, as he caught a brief glance out of the window as they by-passed the edge of the area.
Hurriedly the cub screeched his taxi to a halt at the nearest place he could find to where the bears and Ollie had been seated. "Stay there!!!" he ordered. "I'll sort this out..." he called out, slamming the door as he departed and locking them behind he as he hurried off across the street.
Gladstone and Claud watched as a traffic warden began to approach the car, but as she saw the cub rapidly hurrying towards her she dropped her bag and ran off down a side street and away.
"It's started to snow..." Claud observed nervously, but as soon as Kob was gone Gladstone hurried to his feet. "Come on..." he urged. "He's locked the door; but we need to find a way out of here - and quick..."
Meanwhile, out in the Square - Kob was trying to find his way back to where they had briefly seen Charlie and the crated Augustus - but seemed to be causing a scene no matter where he went. His very presence on the streets appeared to be creating some kind of stir. The townsfolk knew that they weren't allowed to catch the bear; but they weren't quite sure what they could do instead or how it was reasonable to react; so for now, they simply got out of his way as he dodged past them and between the trams as they stood waiting on the rails for the commotion to conclude. Shop keepers peered around pastries and fruitcakes that sat in their windows watching him progress; their customers cowering behind them.
All of a sudden Kob skidded to a halt - there he was just across the street from the cafe where Charlie and his companions had been sitting only minutes before; the waiter was still there - fearful at the sight of him - but as for the bears...
...THEY WERE GONE.
Next episode Charlie and his group head for the snowy mountains; whilst Gladstone has to make an extremely difficult decision...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 10 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca on Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
The many various views of Majorca; around the Soller area. Tomorrow we preview the location of the final third of this exciting adventure; the town of Valdemossa...
PART 8 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 8
The 8th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
Claud looked very pale as he heard Gladstone's theory; but he had to admit that it did make some kind of ludicrous sense. Thankfully Kob, or whatever his real name was, was too busy following the GPS system, after Charlie's van - and almost seemed to have forgotten they were even there.
"So why did he pick us up like that!?" Claud asked. "I mean, what good are we to him?"
Gladstone frowned. "Perhaps as hostages - perhaps simply in revenge for all the trouble that we caused him; after all it was you and I dressed up as the pie man that made him lose control of the digger; and probably gave him that limp too!"
"We have to get out of here..." Claud continued, trying not to panic too much, but Gladstone had a plan.
"We definitely need to get out of here, for sure - but the car door is locked; we have to choose our moment and hope that the car has to make a stop..."
Claud nodded, after a moment's thought and just at that moment the cub turned back to them, smiling. "You okay back there?" he enquired, pleasantly enough. "We're just going to have to stop for a moment or two; Charlie's van has stopped in the town of Soller, just ahead - but the signal has become muffled. He paused before continuing. "You might as well know this - but Mr Grrr told me that this could turn out to be a pretty dangerous mission; he never mentioned anything about stopping on the way to the lost city - so this may mean that there has been trouble..."
"He probably just needs a pie..." Gladstone replied airily, but Kob didn't say much.
"We'll see..." he sighed and Glad shot a quick glance over at Claud.
"This might be our chance..." he mouthed. "Once he's gone we must try to escape..."
Meanwhile, a little way ahead in the town of Soller, Charlie - Ollie and the crate containing Augustus, were sat around a table a restaurant just off the main square.
Times had changed in the last few years and in the big cities across Europe most shops and eating establishment; most people, for that matter - now welcomed the integration of talking bears into the community. A lot of the Beargrrrian bears had a lot of money to spend - so it was good for business and the bears were very well-mannered; so what was the problem!?
But Soller was still just a small town and not used to bear visitors, still - and they were definitely more alarmed at the arrival of Charlie and his father; especially at the restaurant where they had just seated themselves.
The manager came scampering out nervously from inside. "Senor, we are closing... So sorry..." he explained, as cheerfully as he could manage, having watched their arrival with great dismay from behind his cash till.
Other shops in the square were also closing; not because it was late or because it was siesta time - for it wasn't. Although it was beginning to get dark now; this was because it was late autumn and in fact it was bearly 5 O'clock and ordinarily the shops would have been open for another hour or more; the restaurants far later. As they'd driven into the town a lot of the shops were only just starting to re-open after their afternoon rest - but now, since they'd been spotted - it appeared that they were now all pulling down their shutters once more.
"Sorry senor - we're closing..." urged the manager again, but Charlie appeared to be pretending that he couldn't hear.
Ollie, however, was feeling a little embarrassed. "Shall we go!?" he suggested. "It's freezing out here, as it is..."
But it seemed that niether Charlie or his father were going anywhere. In fact Charlie had risen to his full height and was now taller than the owner or any of his lurking waiters. "Senor..." hissed the manager. "Please, Senor..."
"Listen..." snapped Charlie. "I don't care if you're closing..." he continued. "You will re-open and you will cook us your bestest paella ever..."
"Charlie..." Ollie began to protest, for he was quite taken aback at the bear's rude behaviour, but it appeared that he hadn't finished quite yet.
"Do you hear me!?" Charlie bellowed furiously. "MY NAME IS AUGUSTUS GRRR AND YOU WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT I COMMAND..."
Next episode Charlie demands quick service - Gladstone and Claud make an escape plan and Kob heads onto the streets to hunt down Augustus Grrr...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 9 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca on Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Today I conclude my photos from Soller and the nearby port, before we head to other locations for later episodes of this story...
PART 7 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 7
The 7th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
"Charlie!!!" Ollie was quite furious right at that very moment. "Charlie - I can't believe that we're going to find paella for your evil insane father - especially when he is covered in a cocoon and all that can be seen of him are his eyes and the bottom of his legs. How's he supposed to eat the paella? Are you sure it's not just for you - because you've got a sudden hunger on?"
"Oliver Louse - how dare you!! I can't believe that you'd think such a thing... Obviously I'll have a little bit - but..."
"But how is Augustus meant to actually EAT the paella, in the first place?"
"He'll manage..." replied Charlie stubbornly. "Anyway - the scent of it he needs, as much as anything - to revitalise his psychic presense..."
"His what, Charlie!?" Ollie really was finding this all very difficult to understand.
"Listen, Oliver.... I know you disapprove of this whole thing; Gladstone is the same and I'm sympathetic - but the only way we're ever going to find the lost city is by harrassing my father's knowledge and that means that I have to engage his telepathic discussion with him..."
"It sounds extremely dangerous, Charlie - you were driving that car and you weren't even aware that I was there..." Charlie said nothing, just made a sort of scoffing noise of distain. "What about Gladstone?" continued the louse. "Why have we left him behind?"
"Ah well... Better safe than sorry!!" the bear exclaimed, still driving them around the streets of Soller town as he spoke. "This is dangerous work; bear's work - not work for mice or cats..."
"But I'm a wood louse!"
"Ah, but you're plucky - you have spunk and what's more you're easier to boss around! That Gladstone can get terribly prissy at times..." the bear continued and then added. "I like to think we're friends, Ollie - you know... I hope you feel the same..." Oliver just nodded, rather gob-smacked at Charlie's last speech. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "A paella restaurant!! Perfect... Father - paella here we come and then, after that I expect you to get directing us again..."
But only time would tell whether this would be the case...
Meanwhile, not so far behind, Gladstone was beginning to have some doubts about their driver. They had eventually caught up with Charlie's van - but Kob seemed to deliberately hold back some way behind them; as if not wanting to be seen.
"Something's up..." Glad hissed to Claud. "I'm pretty much certain that this cub doesn't actually work for Charlie - or else why wouldn't he have spoken to him - why would he be skulking about in the background like this - trying not to be seen... If anything he seems to be trailing the van; like he's some kind of detective..."
"You think he's with the police?" Claud whispered back, a little nervously.
"I'm not sure about that either; I think it could be something even more serious - more serious for us, I mean... Well - potentially..."
Claud looked even more pale than he had before. "Something MORE serious; Gladstone?" he repeated in alarm. "Like what!?"
Gladstone wasn't even sure, but he'd begun to rearrange a word in his mind; Kobab - the cub had said his name was; it was quite an obvious anagram once you thought of it; almost too obvious. K.O.B.A.B. or B.A.B.O.K?
Babok; or so Charlie had told him - was the name of the ancient bear god who had rowed away with the island of Bearcelona; the one who he'd been telling him about on the boat earlier.
"I rather suspect him to be a follower of Babok - so he's probably a little dangerous..." Glad hissed. "He must be - and he's either working with Augustus against Charlie - or perhaps he's working for himself because he wants to gain acces to the lost city for his own devices..."
It all made sense - the more Gladstone thought about it; and it probably explained the cub's limp...
Kob was the bear from the cavern back in Barcelona - the one who'd escaped the destruction of the pie factory; back here on Majorca looking for the lost city and also for revenge... "Oh my..."
Next episode Gladstone and Claud discuss what to do about Kob; whilst Charlie and Oliver go in search of paella for a meglomaniac...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 8 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca on Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Further pictures from my recent visit to Majorca - these ones specifically from the town of Soller; where the events of the next few episodes take place... Tomorrow's photos are from the same town and also from the nearby port.
PART 6 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 6
The 6th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
It had to be said that Gladstone really wasn't at all sure whether they should actually follow the cub; but as he'd approached them and knew his name - and as he had Claud for company he decided that things couldn't go too wrong. and so introdcuing the cat they hurried through the crowds after him. The cub had a slight limb, so didn't move all that much faster than them; which was a bit of a relief to Gladstone, who thought that they might get left behind.
"Names Kobab..." he called after him. "But you can call me Kob, if you like... Kobab's my Beargrrrian family name..." he explained helpfully. "Your friend; Mr Grrr hired his vehicle from my company; but considering his rather large cargo and the nature of his work he also asked me to be his guide and give you both a lift..."
"So, do you know where we're heading?" Gladstone asked hopefully and as they reached what appeared to be a rather battered taxi cab, that reminded Glad of an early protoype of his own treasured car; Marigold, who he dearly missed and could really have done with, right at that minute.
"Yes - yes... Don't worry - I have my GPS system installed - so we can catch up with him soon enough..."
Gladstone sighed as they both got in the back of the cab; the taxi was really made for bear or at very least cat sized travellers and so Claud had to help Gladstone up so that he could even see where they were going. Once he was up there, however, Glad was pleased to find that indeed there was a small mouse seat belt afterall.
"Hold tight..." warned Kob. "Here we go..." he laughed, as they all clicked their safety belts into place and the cub pulled their taxi away from the kerb. As they head off out into the traffic Gladstone noticed that the doors had suddenly locked, but the cub drove so fast that there was no chance to think any more of it...
Meanwhile, back in Charlie's car Ollie was furious with the bear; but couldn't even get him to notice it. It was bad enough knowing that they were towing along an evil genius in a cart attached to the back of their truck; let alone to discover that the driver of the vehicle seemed to be in a world of his own.
"Charlie..." he persisted, but his voice wasn't loud and the bear did seem still to be a million miles away.
It was later afternoon by now and it wouldn't be too long before it was dark. He could see signs for passing towns, flashing passed the window - but he still had no idea where they were heading.
"Port de Soller - but surely that's not right... We're almost there now..." Charlie complained to his invisible companion, who Oliver took to be his father.
There was silence as they drove by the port and Charlie seemed to be deep in thought.
Ollie dug into his pocket to see if he'd remembered his mobile phone, but because he'd expected them to return to the boat before heading off; he had left most of his belongings back in Palma. That said he was becoming increasingly worried as to what influence Augustus Grrr might be holding over his son; whilst he was busy driving them.
All of a sudden their car skidded to a halt and Charlie was suddenly looking extremely cross about something. "Good grief, father!!" he exclaimed. "You're as bad as me..." Oliver decided not to say anything, but just remained with a questioning expression on his face, as Charlie turned to him to explain himself. "Well, Oliver... Apparently he won't direct me any further unless we find him food - before he'll direct us to the entrance of the lost city we only have to go and find dear papa the best paella in all Majorca..."
Oliver raised an eyebrow; now he had heard everything...
Next episode the search for the lost city of Bearcelona hits a problem and it appears that paella is the answer... That and Gladstone and Claud become suspicious of their new colleague...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 7 OF THIS ADVENTURE...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca between Saturday 1st December and Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Further pictures to illustrate the story; photos from Palma and the area surrounding the city.
PART 5 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 5
The 5th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.
It wasn't much later that the yacht containing the intrepid explorers docked at Palma Harbour and Gladstone found himself hanging back on board, whilst Charlie (with a little help from Ollie), arranged a car which also allowed for the safe transport of Augustus.
Claud remained with Gladstone and neither spoke for quite some time, except for the occasional, "They're taking ages, aren't they?" sort of comments...
Indeed, they were, but Claud and Glad weren't the only people who were finding the wait unbearable; for Oliver was feeling much the same too...
"Of course it all makes sense now that you think about it; Majorca is one of the Belearic Islands; of course - back in the days of Babok it was known as the Bearcelonan Isle and was one of the Bearic group of Islands..."
Ollie raised and eyebrow; or the nearest that he had to one - he really did suspect Charlie of making half of these stories up!! They had just attached Augustus to a trailer on the back of a little buggy and had pulled away from the harbour into a busy stream of traffic. They looked quite an odd sight, it had to be said and they were getting quite a lot of peculiar stares. It was only when Ollie had decided to ignore this that he realised something else.
"Charlie!? Where are we going!?"
"Don't worry; Augustus knows the way - he's giving me directions - we won't get lost..."
But this wasn't what Ollie meant, at all. "I meant where are we going; because we've left Gladstone and Claud back on the boat.
"Turn left at the traffic lights..." mumbled Charlie to himself; completely oblivious, it would seem, to what Ollie was saying - and no attempt to distract the bear had any effect whatsoever...
Meanwhile, Gladstone and Claud found it hard to fathom what on earth was going wrong - it was made even worse by the fact that the port was so busy; full of sailor cat who seemed to find it very funny to see another feline hanging out with a mouse.
"Cobarde!" taunted one in Spanish and then laughed and added. "El gato cobarde anda con ratones..." which caused all his friends to laugh too.
"What did he say?" Gladstone whispered and Claud pulled an embarrassed face.
"Something about being a coward..." he replied, a little uncertainly. "I think they're suggesting that I'm a bit of a sissy for hanging out with a mouse; but my Spanish isn't perfect..."
Gladstone looked apologetic; sorry that the cat was getting taunted for helping him out - looking around them as they continued to chat. "Where on earth did that bear get to with my louse..." he complained, but just as he did a furry paw landed on his shoulder. "Oh - there you are, Charlie..."
But it wasn't Charlie, at all...
"You must be Gladstone McWhiskers..." said the cub, with the spiky fur, who stood before them. "I've been looking for you too for ages..." he added and then indicated a direction. "Come on..." he continued - urging them to pursue him. "Come with me and I'll take you to your friends..."
Claud looked at Gladstone and Gladstone shrugged; it seemed that there was nothing for it but to follow him...
Next episode Gladstone and Claud learn more about the mysterious cub and Oliver and Charlie head out into the countryside in pursuit of the lost city...
TUNE IN AGAIN ON MONDAY FOR PART 6 OF THIS ADVENTURE
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca between Friday 30th November and Saturday 1st December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
To conclude the week I present further photos from the beautiful isle of Majorca - and probably one or two with me in; that might spoil things - but that's the price you have to pay...
PART 4 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 4
The 4th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
The Ocean, Off Barcelona, Late Autumn.
"I can't believe I'm letting you do this, Charlie Grrr..." grumbled Gladstone under his breath, knowing that strictly he had no say in the matter, at all.
Things had moved on somewhat - it was now the next day and they were on a boat and heading out to sea. Ollie and Claud seemed to have adapted to the change quite quickly, as they involved drinking gravy cocktails on the back of a posh yacht on a sunny, warm autumn afternoon.
Gladstone, on the other hand, hadn't quite gotten used to having watched Charlie on the monitor screen; talking in a series of short grrrs and growls to his semi-mummified father. Once the bear had shown him the map there had been a number of further growls before Charlie had casually folded up the map and given his father a quick wave goodbye and emerged from the chamber.
"I know where the lost city of Bearcelona is..." he had announced, once he had returned to the office. "It was once here in Barcelona itslef - or so tradition has it - but that was many thousands of years ago..." Gladstone and the others really hadn't understood, but Charlie had explained. "Once upon a time the city of Bearcelona had been part of the coastline of Spain which was ruled over by the growliest of the bear gods; Bear Babok. However, the other bear gods wanted to steal back the land - but Bear Babok caused an earthwuake and separated the city of Bearcelona from the coast and rowed away with it..."
"He rowed away with the whole city!?" Claud had exclaimed incredulously, quite awestruck by the thought.
"That must have been quite a tough thing to manage..." Ollie had observed. "You know; for just one bear god to manage on his own..."
"I don't believe a word of it..." Gladstone had declared; he still didn't - it was just one of those silly stories that bears told their cubs at bedtime - to distract them from wanting to eat yet another pie.
Anyway, now they were on the yacht and heading out to sea. "So..." sighed Gladstone, relaxing for a moment. "What is this supposed lost island now - I've never heard of any island called Bearcelona..."
Charlie grinned. "It's not called Bearcelona now; no - it's called Majorca - you may have heard of it..."
"Majorca!!" exclaimed Gladstone in surprise. "Of course, I've heard of Majorca..."
"Well, over the years - like many places that once belonged to bears, it has been taken over and renamed..."
Gladstone fell silent; not sure what to think about everything Charlie had told him, so far. "Som it the lost city underground!?" he enquired, trying to be as civil as possible.
The bear looked a little unsure. "Well, that's a difficult one... It's neither above, nor below - or even anywhere in the middle... It's just there - waiting to be discovered; but you need to know the magic word!" he explained, with an excited and yet quite unbeary giggle. "This is why we had to bring him..." he explained, indicating the crate that contained his father at the far end of the yacht. "He knows the magic words and he knows where the portal to the lost city is - he's going to guide us on our way..."
This was another thing that was making Gladstone furious. "I really don't think this is safe, at all... Carting your father around Majorca like he's so much baggage..."
But all Charlie did was grin in a way that made Glad uneasy; before glancing almost affectionately at Augustus and staring out to sea at the island ahead of them. It was getting closer and closer by the minute and whilst Gladstone was nervous about their arrival; Charlie on the other hand was getting increasingly excited about the prospect.
"Oh..." he chuckled. "My dear, McWhiskers - just you wait and see! You'll soon understand - none of this would be possible if it wasn't for my dear papa..."
This was really the last thing Gladstone wanted to hear...
Next episode the travellers arrive on Majorca to begin their search for the lost city of Bearcelona. What problems await them? Whatever it is - the going is never going to be easy...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written on a plane heading for Spain on Friday 30th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
The truth is out!!! Yes... This story is to be set on the lovely Spanish Island of Majorca. Did anyone guess? I don't think so - because nobody is actually reading, are they? Are they?! *cries* It's very lonely here... hehe. *sobs* Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.
PART 3 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 3
The 3rd part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Barcelona, Late Autumn.
Claud looked very pale for a moment and when he tried to speak his purr sounded very weak and nervous and his voice wavered uncertainly. "Maybe we're wrong - maybe he WAS smiling before!? What do you think, Ollie!?" he asked worried, as he, Oliver and Gladstone sat in Charlie's office some while later; watching the silent Augustus Grrr inside the safe, via a monitor screen.
"I dunno, Claud..." Ollie replied weakly. "What about you, boss!?"
"I really can't remember, I'm afraid..." sighed Gladstone and shrugged. "I really can't - he always looked plain mean to me whatever expression he's wearing. Apparently he does occasionally undergo small changes like this and his ear fur keeps growing so it has to be trimmed from time to time. Alena tells me that he still gets belly button fluff, which has to be harvested and which is sold to the shelving imps to make tea. When they come for his belly button fluff I'm told that Augustus sometimes makes a sound like giggling because he's especially ticklish around his midriff and apparently he can still feel it when people are poking him down there..."
"I can't imagine Augustus Grrr giggling about anything, to be honest, boss..." Ollie admitted, having met the bear on a number of occasions. He found it hard to associate him with anything other than evil-doings and maliciousness; there was nothing endearing or cute about the bear.
"Shhh now..." urged Gladstone. "He's going in to the room now... As much as he hated the fact that Charlie was even doing it, as he was being such a stubborn single-minded bear - Gladstone wanted to ensure that he kept an eye on every move the bear made..."
"What's he up to?" enquired Ollie excitedly, for he couldn't make it out as Claud and Gladstone were blocking the screen."
"Umm... He's eating pie..." Glad replied.
"Phew!!" Ollie gave a small sigh of relief. "Everything's pretty much normal so far, then..."
Down in the cell, Charlie looked up from his third cheese and marzipan pie in a row and across at the silent figure of his father. Except that he wasn't quite as silent as he had been before, he appeared to be letting out a growl; a very low rumbling one that got louder and louder with time. As he did so his eyelids began to flicker open and now, all of a sudden, Charlie found himself looking directly into his father's eyes in the first time in over 9 months.
"Hello father..." he smiled, but tried to remain composed over the whole matter and so he started to nibble at another pie - although gradually became aware of a voice in his head.
"Charlie..."
It was his father using his telepathy - and it was quite powerful, at that. Charlie was well aware that Augustus had developed such skills over the years and also that he had been capable of effectively controlling certain people. This latter skill was impossible for him now; but Charlie was shocked to find that his telepathy was still so strong.
"Charlie..." whispered the voice again. "The lost city can be ours... We can go there together... We can share the pies of the lost city... Pies beyond our wildest dreams, Charlie..."
Again, Charlie was still a little taken aback because his father had obviously been reading his mind as soon as he'd entered the cell and appeared to know exactly what his son had come to discuss with him. All the same, Charlie tried to appear composed and rose from the table as he completed his fourth pie and as he approached Augustus he picked up the ancient and dusty map up from the table.
"Maybe..." he said, as he drew up close to the bear, shocked to recall how much younger Augustus looked due to the life-force that he had stolen back in London, before he had become imprisoned and encased in his current manner. "Maybe we can share the lost city and all it's pies..." he continued. "Although you're hardly in a position to enjoy it, right now..." he paused and then tried to sound as kind a son as possible. "Father..." he began. "Do you know where the city is hidden?" he enquired, lifting the map into position so that Augustus could see it. "Look at it..." he requested. "Look at the map - does it mean anything to you - does it make any sense!? Can you see where it directs us to - to find the lost city!?"
As Charlie watched his father's eyes flicker across the parchment he knew immediately that the answer to his questions was undoubtedly, yes... It all made perfect sense to Augustus Grrr and yes - he knew where the lost city was, alright.
What will happen as Gladstone, Ollie and Claud go in search of the lost city? In tomorrow's episode they take a trip in the right direction.
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written on a plane heading for Spain on Friday 30th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
Further photos relating to the setting of this story - tomorrow the truth of our location is revealed...
PART 2 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 2
The 2nd part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Barcelona, Late Autumn.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building - Gladstone's trusty assistant Oliver Louse and Charlie's right hand man; former cat waiter, Claud - were busy overseeing the arrival of Augustus Grrr into the building. Claud was quite proud to have been offered the post as Charlie's helper - what with Granny Ernestina and Junior busy elsewhere arranging other projects - Charlie was dearly in need of a sidekick to fetch pies and answer phonecalls. Claud was also quite a fan of both Gladstone McWhiskers and Oliver and so to suddenly be working alongside them was the biggest compliment ever. Ollie suspected that Charlie probably was taking advantage of this situation by not paying the poor cat a very good wage; but he seemed happy enough, for now...
Down in the bunker beneath Charlie's offices it was quite chilly, as the autumn days dragged on. Barcelona was warmer than London; although on that particular day Ollie was hard pressed to tell the difference. As the lorry pulled into the chamber to deliver the suspended figure of Augustus Grrr the two colleagues watched as the evil former-dicator was wheeled into a secure, yet transparent reinforced perspex cell deep within the bunker; that Charlie had taken great care to have installed before the arrival of his father.
"Ollie..." Claud whispered as they watched the workmen going about their business. "How do we know that one of these workmen isn't our friend the boiler suited bear from the pie factory!?"
"Actually, we really don't know that..." Ollie observed, rather bleakly. "We don't know who that was - we never even saw his face. It could be any of them..."
"Well, now we have the ultimate bait - that's probably why Charlie brought him here..." Claud commented and then shivered at the very idea.
"It never occurred to me until now..." Ollie admitted.
"You just wait - they'll be some press leak next..." Claud chuckled. "He'll be advertising tickets! Come and see the psychobear..."
"Oh my goodness!!" exclaimed Ollie. "So that what those t-shirts were for; I thought they were to advertise one of his tours..." Claud looked worried, but Oliver suddenly burst out laughing. "I'm joking..." he assured him, although the cat didn't look too sure.
Another person who had definitely had a sense of humour failure about the whole matter was Gladstone, who having discussed the bear's plans with him had gotten himself into quite a state about what Charlie was planning on doing and what this might involve for them all.
"So, if the lost city wasn't under Barcelona - then where WAS it?!"
"I'm not sure..." admitted Charlie. "But as I was saying before, Augustus may well do - especially once he's seen the map... It could be anywhere - under a mountain, at the bottom of the sea - perched on the edge of a cloud - who knows..." he continued, sounding quite flippant about the whole situation. "All I do know is that all this digging that was going on under the pie factory was all about finding the map in the first place and not actually unearthing the city itself... All we do know for sure is that Augustus; my father - was involved from the very start..."
"And you intend to do what!?"
"I intend to spend some time with him tonight in that cell and I intend to show him the map and see if I can get any inspiration as what it all might mean..."
"But I can't allow you to do that..." Gladstone insisted. "I've thought about it and it's far too dangerous... What if he tries to take you over!?"
"He won't - he can't... Anyway - a little possession never hurt anyone - if he wants to share a little knowledge with me then that's just fine... I can try and read his mind just the same as he can try and read mine..."
"But I forbid..."
"Forbid me nothing, McWhiskers - this is my building and my bunker and cell and whatsmore - it's my evil father to boot - so you have no say in the matter..."
Ollie and Claud watched the argument from a distance, not wishing to get too closely involved. They were close enough, however, to observe the suspended Augustus in all his melted glory; even though he now was installed on the other side of the reinforced perspex prison. Claud turned to look at him and nearly jumped back in fear.
"Ollie!" he exclaimed. "Did you see that - I'm sure he moved... Do you see his face? It looks as if he's smiling..."
Oliver took a look and had to agree - although he didn't remember his expression being that was when he'd come in; he definitely did appear to be smiling now; less a smile though than a mocking leer...
It was as if Augustus knew what was to come and held a deadly secret inside of him and was just waiting - waiting for the sinister events to unfold...
What will happen when Charlie approaches Augustus in the cell? Will his father help him to unravel the secrets of the map - or will the reunion prove to be a fatal mistake?!?
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written on a plane heading for Spain on Friday 30th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
In today's photos I reveal a little more of our secret destination - but you'll have to wait until part 4 for the answer... Any guesses, yet?
PART 1 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 1
The 1st part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to the previous story GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Barcelona, Late Autumn.
Charlie Grrr sat back in his sleek new office, gave Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons and Lords, a very uneasy stare and then sighed. Bears didn't like to make decisions - but today he was in a situation where he had to choose and it was a choice that he really didn't want to make.
Today Charlie was due to be burying his father; the evil Augustus Grrr, once and for all...
The only problem being that his father wasn't actually dead, yet - more preserved...
Augustus Grrr's current state of petrification had come about after he had tried to steal the life force of a theatre full of tourists and been imprisoned like a living statue thanks to a bit of theatrical wizardry from Charlie. (The full details of this adventure are described in the novel GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS THROWS IT ALL AWAY - due out Spring 2008.) Stealing the life force of some of the punters had resulted in Augustus growing younger - however he hadn't gotten away with his wickedness and had spent the last 9 or 10 months in suspended animation and used as a hat stand back in the offices of MP Dunn, in Westminster.
Charlie had been away organising variety festivals all over Europe with his son, Junior and House Keeper, Granny Ernestina and he'd also been engaged in a bit of treasure hunting to boot. The call had finally come from MP Dunn for him to remove his petrified father from the Minister's office, as not only were animal rights supporters protesting about it - but, of late - the suspended Grrr had been letting off a number of rather disconcerting growls whenever food had been brought into the office.
"The trouble is..." Charlie had explained to Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons and Lords. "Although he's like a mummy and is effectively away on some far off plane somewhere - he is still effectively alive..."
"Alive and bothering the Minister..." Gladstone had agreed. "Well, if you're basing yourself in Barcelona for a while - then you're going to have to have him back over there with you..." The Mouse had demanded, but had added. "That said, you can't just bury him - no matter how evil he is..."
Charlie had scoffed at him, but had soon come up with an alternative. "If I can't bury him then I will simply store him away..." he had said at the time, but in the period since then there had been a number of things that had changed his opinion on the matter...
It had to be said that Charlie's mind had been distracted of late; it was a four or five months since Gladstone had last visited Charlie in Barcelona, when he and Ollie had accompanied him on a pie-crawl, which had led to the bear finding a treasure map for the Lost City of Bearcelona under a dilapidated pie factory. The bear who'd originally been conducting the mission and who had been digging beneath the factory had been scared by their arrival and had escaped; leaving the plans of his mission - which Charlie had been studying in free moments over the last few months. A lot of the papers had made no sense to him - but there was one thing that had made sense - one thing that led to the decision he was making that day...
"Every bear has heard of the lost city of Bearcelona..." he had explained to Gladstone. "Every bear knows of the exquisite pies that are buried in the tombs there..."
Gladstone had agreed to accompany the preserved Augustus on the journey between London and Barcelona - for he didn't like the idea of the bear being unsupervised for the duration. MP Dunn had agreed for Gladstone to travel with a number of his security staff - but the journey had passed by uneventfully.
But then again, things involving Augustus Grrr, were most often pretty serious...
Afterall, he had a very evil history; including becoming dictator of all Beargrrria and kidnapping his son along the way. Augustus wasn't the kind of father who it's fun to have around - but Charlie had some unfinished business to take care of before the doors closed on his father; unfinished business that he hadn't even had time to discuss with Gladstone, as yet.
"I need to speak to him, that's all..." was all the bear would say to the querulous Gladstone. "You were right - he will be safer here in this building with me... I've been irresponsible leaving him back in London, what with me here in Spain..." he'd added, sounding unusually serious about the whole matter, for once.
"Well, it's nearly 9 months that he's been in that state..." Gladstone reminded him. "The last thing we need is him suddenly springing to life in the middle of Whitehall... The whole growling thing was beginning to disturb people..." he added, allowing himself a little smile. "Although he's not dead and we can't bury him we can effectively imprison him - he doesn't need food, we've established that; Alena used to water him occasionally..."
"...And a very good job she did of it too..."
"Indeed. Still, I must say I'm slightly concerned about you spending time with him... Are you sure it's safe? I'm not sure what you mean about being able to speak with him, at any rate..."
"I can contact him telepathically..." replied Charlie proudly. "With the power of my beary mind... I have recently discovered something in the paperwork, found beneath the pie factory, that puts quite a different light on matters..."
"Like what, exactly!?"
"Like that my father is somehow connected to this whole business with the lost city..." he explained and showed Gladstone a notebook that he had found in the rubble. "Some of the diary entries in this journal detail the fact that my father has been sponsoring the whole search for the lost city for some years now - since long before he tried to take over Beargrrria..." Gladstone nodded, suddenly quite fascinated by the whole subject. "We also now know that it wasn't the lost city that the bear was digging for under the pie factory - but just for the map itself, which had long since been buried... We have the map now, but we can't understand it... I've been studying it for months and speaking with all sorts of bear scholars and none of them can understand it all..."
"But you think that somehow your father might be able to help?"
Charlie smiled. "Exactly..." he grinned. "If anyone can - Augustus Grrr can..."
Can the evil Augustus Grrr help them understand the meaning of the Lost City Map? What will happen when Augustus arrives in the building - next episode Oliver Louse meets him face to face...
This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written on a plane heading for Spain on Friday 30th November 2007. BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
I included a lot of photos from my November 2007 trip to Barcelona during the posting of the previous Mouse story, on this site. This sequel is set a few months later and also begins in Barcelona - before moving to another Spanish destination. I've posted a few photos, so far - but do not intend to give away the location just yet... As you can see, despite it being December, the weather was awesome.
PART 15 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 15
The 15th and final part of our internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona. Part 14 was posted earlier today.
As it happened that particular explosion was only the first of several that filled the cavern and later decimated the pie factory building altogether. It appeared that whatever it was that the stranger had been digging for; as Gladstone and Claud had approached the mysterious bear in the boiler suit he had lost control of the machine and this had caused it to go out of control and into overload.
Despite the first explosion; they had all managed to get out of the building in good time; but they had been covered in gravy and pastry and all sorts of mud and rubble dust from the cavern.
The mystery remained, however - for the boiler suited bear had vanished without them getting to speak to him. They had presumed that he was both the manager of the pie factory and was responsible for all recent appearances of the Pie Man to keep the locals scared. Gladstone recalled noticing that he was gone just moments before the first explosion - but had been too distracted by Charlie to say anything - and then the explosion had hit.
They never did find out what had happened to the mystery man and who he was - at least not at that time...
They did, however, learn what exactly he had been up to; it had been Charlie who had uncovered that - and it was quite a surprise, at that:
It had been lunchtime, on the next day that Charlie, Gladstone and Ollie were joined by Claud for coffee and Boccadillos in the Poblenou district of town.
"I really don't think I want to go on any further pie-crawls, thank you - Charlie…" Gladstone had said, a trifle distrustfully. "…and ghosts hunts are out too…" added Ollie and even Claud seemed to agree with this.
"You're so unadventurous…" Charlie frowned, having enjoyed every minute of their little run around last night. "I'm really disappointed with you all…" he sighed, sounding really disappointed and let down by them all. "It’s just that I had another little adventure planned that I thought you might like to know about…" he teased. "I thought you might like to know what our mystery Pie Man was up to…"
It was hard to resist finding out what had been going on and sure enough they all sat with baited breath as Charlie took the copper tube from his coat pocket, removed the scroll and then unrolled it; these were the papers that Gladstone had seen him steal from the factory.
Slowly; very slowly amd for maximum effect, Charlie laid out the papers on the table before him and then read out the heading on the largest sheet of paper - words that were written in Spanish and which only he and Claud could read without difficulty…
THIS IS A MAP… he read slowly… THAT LEADS TO THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA…
"It's a treasure map!!" gasped Ollie, Claud just looked dumb-struck.
"It's someone else's treasure map…" Gladstone reminded him. "Someone else who escaped from the explosion at the pie factory and who probably suspects that we've stolen it too…"
But Charlie wasn't swayed from his decision.
"It WAS someone's treasure map…" he corrected Gladstone. "But NOW it's MINE!!" he growled greedily. "And I'm going to find all the pies that the lost city contains - they're all mine now - every last one…"
Claud, Ollie and Gladstone stared at him in a mixture of surprise, horror and admiration - the bear meant business and very soon the bear would be heading out; DESTINATION: THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
"Boss…" whispered Ollie. "We can't let him go alone, can we?"
Gladstone said nothing; they all knew the answer to that...
Will Gladstone, Ollie and Claud join Charlie on the search for the lost city? What troubles will the map lead them into and will the mysterious stranger re-emerge to try and steal the map back from them.
COMING SOON: GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA.
First part of this new adventure posted Monday 3rd December 2007
The final instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL was originally written in Barcelona on Sunday 11th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
Final photos from our fabulous trip to Barcelona. Not forgetting, as promised - my good friend Tom Crittenden's stupendous Pie Birthday Poem that he wrote in my birthday card.
BEARSONONA!!!
(A Poem by Beardad…)
Bearson is spending his birthday in Spain, He didn't fly there, he got there by plane. Else he would have ached and the pies that he baked - Would be left to go cold from the pain.
I hope that he's not a whiner and moaner, If, when he wakes up in fair Barcelona, He finds no pies to fill up his insides - And his belly's a big furry groaner…
Are pies there in Spain like those in UK? Do pies there have genders? Can pies there be gay? If a pie's not a fella, is it called a pie-ella? Is that how paellas got named?
Thanks again to Calum and Quint for making my birthday weekend so special! It was a great weekend, thanks guys!! :)
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007. Birthday Pie Poem by Tom Crittenden - copyright Tom Crittenden, 2007.
PART 14 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 14
Part 14 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.
Oliver Louse took a deep breath and decided that the only thing that he could do was to stand up to the furious cub-waiters with their rolling pins...
"Now I can explain..." he called out - after having found himself lost for words for a moment or two.
The trouble was that the expressions on the faces on the skele-cubs suggested that they really didn't want him to explain; he had rather spoilt whatever scam that was going on in the pie factory and if the fact that there were no ghosts got out then there was a chance that the newspapers would get hold of the story and ruin the business. (Not to mention the matter of the ghosts keeping people away from investigating what was going on underground - something that Ollie didn't even know about, as yet!) Ollie was sure that they wouldn't let him get away - but on the other hand he had no intention of letting them beat him to a pulp, either; his head simply wasn't made for battering with a rolling pin - not even once. He was a very small woodlouse and the chances of surviving any kind of christening with even one such weapon was extremely small.
"If you intend to murder me then I promise I'll come back and haunt you..." Ollie declared, as bravely as he could manage. "Believe me - I've met ghosts - there just aren't any in this building..." He continued and then added. "I have very friends in very high places, you know..."
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" was all the cub waiters had to say in reply, which was presumably Beargrrrian for "PREPARE TO BE BATTERED LOUSE BOY", or some such unfriendly promise.
"Please..." whimpered Ollie. "Please - have mercy on me... It was the allure of the gravy!!" he pleaded.
But he didn't have to plead for very much longer...
"GRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!" boomed Charlie Grrr suddenly, from behind the cubs, sending them scattering away in fear. "UNHAND MY FRIEND AND TAKE ME TO THE MANAGER!!!" he demanded, his furry face distorted with rage - although as he turned his head he winked to Ollie, just to emphasize that he was really only play-acting to create a scare. "I SAID - TAKE ME TO THE MANAGER!!!"
This time the cubs seemed to get the message and started to jabber; half in Spanish and half in Beargrrrian - with a very scared look upon their faces. Ollie couldn't make much of it out, but even he could tell that they were petrified of their boss; but then again at this precise moment they were torn due to being even more frightened of Charlie.
"Hello Ollie... Aren't you clever?" grrred Charlie with a big smile, chuckling as he scooped up his friend and placing him behind his ears. "Hold on tight, now... We're off to see who's behind all this..." he continued brightly - seeming to have sobered up from the effects of all that excessive gravy sniffing; he didn't even appear at all indignant over Ollie having had to show him the truth.
Together they returned to the ground floor and then following the direction of the distressed cubs began to head down to the kitchen and then down to a level even below that. The sound of the pie kitchen were soon drowned out by another noise - the sound of a drilling machine to be precise.
"HERE WE ARE!!!" boomed Charlie as they emerged into a dark and dusty cellar where, indeed, there seemed to be a lot of building work going on. "I DEMAND TO SEE THE MANAGER!!!" he bellowed, once again, causing Oliver to put his hands over his ears.
As they both peered through the haze of dust in the cavern below the pie factory they soon made out two figures; however one of the appeared to be slumped unconscious by the digging machines - which still seemed to be busily digging into the earth beneath the city.
As for the second figure; well - from what Oliver could tell, from all the descriptions he had heard from Charlie and Claud - the second figure appeared to be THE PIE MAN!!!
"Are YOU the manager??" Charlie snuffled, sounding a little less confident now that he was facing the giant pie-faced villain.
"Isn't he supposed to be a ghost..." Ollie hissed. "He looks pretty solid..."
But before Charlie could reply, the Pie Man stepped forward and stared at them both with an intense gaze that made Ollie close his eyes in fear. It was almost as if the Pie Man's pie eyes could see inside his brain.
"No, dear boy - I reckon he's the manager..." squeaked a familiar voice. "But I think we rather scared him out of his wits when we crept up behind him through the dust..."
The Pie Man suddenly flipped up his head and standing there, on the shoulders of Claud the cat, was Gladstone McWhiskers.
"WHATEVER ARE YOU UP TO, BOSS..." Ollie exclaimed. "And what ON EARTH is going on down here??"
"What UNDER earth, more like..." growled Charlie with a smile. "Trust a mouse to find a whole burrow of trouble underground..." he teased, as he wandered over to a table with what appeared to be a whole pile of dirty artifacts upon it. "Somebody's been digging up treasure..." he muttered as he began to file through some of the items that had been exposed; including what appeared to be a scroll of paper protected inside a copper tube.
Gladstone was about to reply to Charlie, who appeared to be stuffing as many of the trinkets into his pocket as he had space for - when all of a sudden Oliver called out. "Whatever that machine is doing it looks as if it's about to overheat or something... Shouldn't we try to turn it off!?"
"No time for that..." mewed Claud. "It's on fire..."
They were both right; but there was little time to do anything; as before any of them had time to make a move towards the exit to make their escape the whole room filled with steam and there was an almighty explosion...
TO BE CONTINUED, LATER TONIGHT.
How will the four friends escape the explosion underground? Will they ever discover who the Pie Man was and what was being dug for? Find out later tonight in the final instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
This instalment was originally written in Barcelona on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
Penultimate posting photos from Barcelona from the clot what wrote this story. (See photo below!!) hehe.
PART 13 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 13
Part 13 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.
It had to be said that it was very dark where Gladstone and Claud now stood and there was really no room for error now in their plans and so Glad was keen to ensure that Claud knew exactly what he was meant to be doing. He felt a little bad for suspecting the cat of foul-play and wrong-doing, for even though he'd nearly knocked him off that ladder and had purred rather scarily at him when they'd first met - he really wasn't a bad cat at heart, just a trifle over-exciteable.
"So, you know what you're doing, Claud?" Gladstone hissed.
"Yes... Yes... I know..." There was an uncertain pause. "I think I know... No - no - I do know - there's no problem at all..."
"Okay then... Is there anything you need to know, Claud?"
"One last thing, Senor McWhiskers..."
"What is it, Claud?"
"When this whole business is all over and done with, can I please have your autograph?"
"Of course, Claud... It would be my pleasure..." Gladstone took a breath and hoped that the cat could be trusted not to mess up their plan. "Okay then..." he sighed. "Let's do this, shall we?" he exclaimed bravely, as he reached out into the darkness for the button that worked the lift - pressing it with a confidence that he really didn't feel. But it was done now and slowly, but steadily the lift cranked into action and steadily they began to sink down below the floorboards in gradual pursuit of the boiler suited stranger who they'd seen descend there no many minutes before...
Meanwhile, back in the pie factory, Charlie was just about to start tucking into his 13th ectoplasm pie when there suddenly came a gasp from a number of the cub waiters and the disturbing smashing of crockery close at hand.
"CAREFUL OVER THERE!!" cried the bear. "I HOPE THAT'S NOT MY NEXT COURSE THAT YOU'RE DROPPING ON THE FLOOR THERE..." he'd completely forgotten about Oliver and Gladstone and it had to be said that he was still a little intoxicated by the smell of the beef gravy.
*CRASH!!*SMASH!!*CRASH!!*
Charlie looked up again in dismay as he realised that all the smashing of plates was coming from all around him and that one of the plates had almost hit him on the head. "HEY!!" he cried - wondering what was up with the poltergueists - but this time he saw the truth; this time he saw the smashed plates and the chewed wires that were attached to them and the furious cub waiters who were pointing at the ceiling; enraged that the tricks of their trade were being exposed.
"I THINK I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER!!!" he boomed, but none of the cub waiters appeared to be listening to their V.I.P. guest. "I SAID - I THINK I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER!!!" he bellowed.
But still no-one was listening...
Meanwhile, back upstairs - Oliver Louse sat back and took a well earned rest; his teeth ached from all the nibbling - but he hoped that he had least exposed the crime behind the supposedly haunted pie factory...
"He'll be cross, though..." Ollie reasoned. "Charlie Grrr doesn't like to be proved wrong about ANYTHING!!"
Giving himself another few moments he finally rose to his feet and took a quick look around before heading back the way he had come on his way up...
Only this time his way was blocked; blocked by three bearcub waiters dressed as skeletons - each holding rolling pins and wearing expressions of fury...
There was no doubt about it - these cubs wanted their revenge...
TO BE CONTINUED, TOMORROW.
How will Oliver escape the revenge of the fury-filled bear cubs? What is the lesson that Gladstone has in store for the boiler suited stranger? All this and more in tomorrow's episode. This instalment was originally written in Barcelona on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
PART 12 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 12
Part 12 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.
Only minutes later, Gladstone McWhiskers and Claud the cat waiter were back down in the basement below the streets; it had taken no time at all - accept that Claud had rather had to squeeze himself down the vent that Gladstone had emerged from.
"I'm not as slim as I used to, Senor..." he had said, with a blush. "That's a rat sized gap - not a cat-sized one..."
But he had made it and they had spent a little while exploring the room that Gladstone had seen earlier; with all the costumes in and the drawing upon the wall. For the moment the room was silent - the noise of the "washing machine" or more precisely, the drill had fallen quiet for the moment - but they both took a closer look to see if they could find out where the sound was coming from.
"There doesn't seem to be any other way out of this room - other than up through the vent or back through the crack in the wall that leads back to your pie restaurant..." Claud nodded in agreement, as Gladstone disappeared under a table and emerged carrying something hollow and round. "This must belong to the costume I found earlier with the spooky claws... What do you think?" he tried it on - but it was so big that he disappeared inside it. "Hmm... Not my size..." he laughed - peering through the eye holes; but he was shocked to see the fearful expression on Claud's face.
Indeed, now that Gladstone looked at it in the light the head was very much in the shame of a pie; which was rather disconcerting and disturbing to say the very least - especially when it was coupled with the rest of the costume; with it's leering eyes and twisted nose and mouth.
"Well, Claud..." sighed Gladstone, taking it all in. "All I can surmise from all this is that if this is the actual pie man and not just a replica of him; then I guess that the whole pie man legend is nothing more than some sort of false ghost story to keep people away - to scare them off from whatever is going on underground. As you can see - this is just a costume, nothing more..."
Claud nodded, agast to realise that there was some sort of con going on. "But all the restaurant owners - they leave money to pay him off - so that he doesn't put a curse on their restaurants and stop their supply of pies..."
"Well yes... I recall Charlie mentioning something about that - which made me suspicious at the very start... I mean, what would a ghost need or want with money. The restaurants have simply been lining the pockets of some crook or other - whoever it is digging down here, underground... Whoever it is might be able to scare the staff or rough them up - but I'm not so sure that they could put a curse on anyone..."
Claud was about the ask who it could be that was doing such a thing; who it was who was ruling the Barcelonian pie restaurants with a reign of fear and deception; but just then there came the soon of stone scraping again stone and the floor began to shake.
"Sounds like someone is coming... And it sounds like they're coming up from down below..." Gladstone reasoned.
They'd been so busy looking for doors in the walls, that they'd not thought to look beneath their feet - and it was an obvious thing to do when you thought of it. Sure enough, as they scampered under the shadow of the table they now saw a a circular portion of the stone floor opening up and a cloaked figure emerged. It was obviously bear shaped - but it was impossible to make out who exactly it might be; for he was wearing a boiler suit with a protective helmet which disguised his face.
Gladstone and Claud watched as the bear rifled around in a cupboard at the far end of the cellar near the crack in the wall as he retrieved a range of drill heads before returning to the raised area of floor and slowly disappearing below once more.
"Hmmm..." mused Gladstone. "I rather think that this might be your pie man... He seems to know his way about. I rather think he should be taught a lesson - don't you!?"
Claud grinned, then nodded - he liked the sound of that...
Meanwhile, back in the pie factory Ollie had found the source of the strings that suspended the pies that were currently floating about above Charlie's head and was busily trying to find a way to cut the threads and to break whatever spell the smell of the gravy had over the silly bear.
"There are no ghosts here - just con-men trying to kid gullible bears like Charlie to part with their hard grrr-earned euros..." he had decided as he struggled his way towards the upper floors of the building.
He'd even seen the bear accept a totally empty pie that had been described by the cub waiter as an ectoplasm pie...
It was TRULY OUTRAGEOUS!!
Ollie couldn't find scissors or a knife and although he wasn't a mouse he still had teeth and so he furiously began to gnaw through the string with a look of furious concentration on his face.
"Let's see how spooky this place is after I've finished with it.." he vowed and there was no doubting that he really meant it too.
When Oliver Louse was determined to do something; then do it he did - one way or another...
TO BE CONTINUED, TOMORROW.
What is Gladstone's plan to teach the cloaked stranger a lesson? Will Ollie manage to nibble through the ropes? Find out next time...
This instalment was originally written in Barcelona on Saturday 10th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
Some more of the beasts of Barcelona!!! No - I don't mean me and the boys, either... These photos were taken in Barcelona zoo on my birthday - it was a lovely place to hang out. Just check out that pelican's hairdo! :)
PART 11 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 11
Part 11 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.
Meanwhile, back in the pie factory all kind of strange things were going on; but Ollie was quite certain that none of it had anything to do with ghosts.
"Look! Isn't it exciting!?" growled Charlie with beary glee. "Isn't it just spectacular - poltergueist pilotted pies - whatever next..."
Ollie didn't wish to creat a stior - but it was quite obvious to him that there was no mystic forces propelling the pies; but in fact nothing more than some fine thread attached to the plates upon which the pies were placed - stuck down with extra sticky gum made from old wellington boots.
There was no way that he could cut the string from down on the dusty restaurant floor - for he was far too low on the ground - however there was a way. "Just you watch, Charlie..." he declared. "Just wait and see and I'll prove to you that your pies aren't pilotted by any type of ghost, as all - it's all just trickery..."
...And with that he jumped from his seat and hurried off to find a way upstairs...
Back down in the cellar - and much to his dismay; Gladstone had lost his hold on the ladder and had fallen backwards into thin air. Something had knocked him from the ladder that he'd been climbing; it had looked like a paw or a claw or a finger; he wasn't sure - but had been something far larger than him stretching down from the street above. This really wasn't something that he'd planned for either; something like that never is. It wasn't that his life flashed before his eyes (for he'd done so very much that this would have probably taken too long or have flashed passed so fast that he wouldn't have been able to take anything in.)
Suddenly though, as he'd felt the wind passing his face; as he fell - whatever it was that had knocked him off the ladder, actually reached out again to save the mouse and lifted him up to safety.
"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT!?" he snapped as he emerged into the cold night air; but then he suddenly fell silent as he came face to fave with his savious; it was the cat waiter, Claud. "Ohh... Ahh... It's you, fella..." he said, unsure quite what the reaction of this strange feline might be; he was relieved to see that Claud looked as nervous of him as he was of Claud.
"I'm terribly sorry, Senor McWhiskers..." exclaimed the cat apologetically. "I heard this noise and I thought the pie man had come back..."
"The pie man!?"
The cat looked so unnerved that he ceased being so cross, for he also recalled some of the things that Charlie had been telling them about ghosts and ghouls and the like that haunted the streets of Barcelona. There was also all the strange costumes and drawings on the wall in the cellar room below.
"Tell me about this pie man, Claud..." he requested; he also wanting to know whether the cat had seen either of his friends - there was something else that had occurred to him, as well...
...the sounds that he had heard in the basement that he'd presumed was a washing machine - wasn't a washing machine at all!
All of a sudden he knew what it was...
It was the sound of a heavy vehicle or drill secretly digging deep underground; but digging for what and why!?
"Claud..." declared Gladstone. "I need you to come with me - we need to go underground... There's something I need you to see..."
Claud gulped nervously. He didn't like the sound of that at all, but this time he decided that he needed to be brave.
"My pleasure, Senor McWhiskers..." he mewed as confidently as possible. "Please, lead the way..."
TO BE CONTINUED, TOMORROW.
What will become of Claud and Gladstone back down in the cellars? Can Ollie expose the truth behind the supposedly haunted pie factory? Will the Pie Man strike again and if so where will he strike and what is the truth behind his existence!?
This instalment was originally written in Barcelona on Saturday 10th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
Today we're just taking more of a look around Barcelona - just to set the scene...
PART 10 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 10
Part 10 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.
Meanwhile, back outside of the pie factory Claud was feeling pretty miserable; as it stood he didn't have Gladstone McWhiskers autograph and he'd just let the mouse's best friend; Oliver Louse slip away from him by being too cowardly to accompany him into the haunted pie factory.
"I'm going to rgeret this..." he muttered to himself furiously. but then he reasoned that if he didn't get back to work pretty quickly he was going to lose his job as head waiter and then he would also regret that too.
Claud was half way between the restaurant and the pie factory down a dark, dark alley when he paused - for suddenly he was having second thoughts about what he should do...
"You're a coward, Claud - go back and help Senor Louse..."
He had almost decided to do this; to go back and assist Oliver, when there came a noise from the shadows - a shuddering, shaking noise from the belly of the earth beneath his feet. The sound caused a dustbin lid to crash to the street and something tall and dark skittered off down one of the side alleys; scared by the sudden crash. The sudden movement made him jump; but he reasoned that it was probably just a rat. That said, Claud didn't much like Spanish rats - for they were mean and bullying and they didn't have very many manners and had been known to beat up cats. Still the chattering noise continued beneath the streets - it sounded like something coming up from the sewer.
There was only one thing scary enough on the streets of Barcelona to scare a Barcelonian rat - that the pie man was back in town and on the loose...
Meanwhile, down in the cellar somewhere beneath Claud's pie restaurant - having followed the wires from the speaker through the crack in the wall; Gladstone had emerged in a most peculiar room and one full of all sorts of pie making devices; although he couldn't tell what everything said as his Spanish simply wasn't good enough.
The ghostly noises were still playing, but now he was in the next room it appeared that not only was the recording of the woooowoooowoooo-ing ghost being used to scare people off - but also that it seemed to be disguising some other sound; although he couldn't yet, quite make out what it was.
"It rather sounds like someone is doing their washing and the machine is on it's last legs - although having said that, I'm pretty sure that it's not a washing machine, at all..."
As he explored the room he noticed that there were quite a lot of drawings of bears wearing frightening masks and costumes upon the walls and there was one costume that seemed to be half bear half... Well, quite frankly he wasn't sure - for the head appeared to be missing; but the twisty sharpness of the claws alone were enough to send a chill down his spine.
All of a sudden Gladstone decided that he really did need to get out of ther cellar and he was about to retrace his steps when he remembered the potentially cross spiders in the basement of the restaurant and noticed a ladder that seemed to lead up to a vent that hopefully would lead out onto of the cellar and so he decided to hurry his wau up that way towards fresh air and street lit civilisation; away from the peculiar chamber of horrors below.
"OLLIE!?" he called - recalling suddenly why he had first entered the cellar - wondering if his friend might have come this way too. "OLLIE!?" he cried as he neared the top of the ladder.
All of a sudden, something large and strong punched out at him in the darkness - Gladstone swayed - tried to avoid the thing and lost his balance...
With a frightened cry; Gladstone fell back down towards the cellar floor...
TO BE CONTINUED, ON MONDAY.
What will become of Gladstone? What is going on back at the pie factory and what is the truth behind the legend of the sinister pie man phantom?
Find out all this and more next week on GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!
This instalment was originally written in Barcelona on Saturday 10th November 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL
To finish our second week of this current serial I am putting up a whole range of photos from our time in Barcelona. Hopefully they're less scary than yesterday's pictures. Next week I have some Barcelonian animals to introduce you to and one of them has a very odd hair-style!!! More on monday, then...
This is the website of the Gladstone McWhiskers; Mouse of Commons and Lords and the series of books written by Paul Chandler about his weird and wonderful adventures that feature Gladstone, Oliver Louse, Bell, Charlie Grrr and others. The Mouse of Commons books are designed for both big kids and small. Unless stated otherwise, all Mouse of Commons characters, text and photographs are Copyright Paul Chandler 2000-2009.
About Me
Name: Paul Chandler
Location: London, United Kingdom
Book writing, poetry rhyming, pie eating, coffee guzzling, music listening, Yeti-loving, Dr Who wannabe, 35 - seeks well, you know - stuff... But only if it's presented to me as an amusing rhyme!
Hi,
