PART 15 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 15Here 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...EPILOGUEGladstone, 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.
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
PART 14 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 14Here 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 ARCHERFinally 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.
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
PART 13 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 13HAPPY 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...
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 15
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.
