MOUSE OF COMMONS. MOUSE OF LORDS.: PART 13 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

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...