This Wednesday I wrote: "This week's prompts
are two times six words. I continued the story of Susan and Knud going to Iceland.
It's a bit 'drafty' and as is my wont just stops where I ran out of
steam, but as there's more story inside my head -- and more words, I
used them in the order they were given -- I promise to continue given
half a chance in the coming days."
Now having used the last four words: Secret, Thing, Author, and Recess I have to wait for more words before I can continue. "So as not to cause any misunderstandings I'm going to continue in Icelandic," Susan began when they were seated.
"Firstly, I'm Susan, and this is Knud. We know one another from Summer school long time ago. For many years we lived with the supposition that it was a 4H school, teaching us the care of bunnies and grooming of horses. Rósa said you have vague recollections as to what you really were taught there. No wonder you have, Unicorn Farm, as the place was called ..."
Finnbogi called out: "I knew it, there's magic in it somewhere!"
"Yes indeed there is," Susan said, "and much more than you suspect. Unicorn Farm was a school of magic."
"Susan," Knud said, "stop beating around the bush. Show them!"
"All right I will," Susan said. "I'm a bit nervous. I don't know how you'll react to this ... Oh darn it. Truth is the best way out!" Susan said, took a wand from the table and swished it through the air. Sparks stood in all directions and lit some of the papers on the table. "
Slökkvið" Susan said, pointing the wand and the flames died.
"How did you do that?" Rósa asked, nonplussed. "That is the real stuff!"
"Yes, indeed it is, and you were much better at it than me, Icelandic being your mother tongue and your family being witches and wizards way back!" Susan opened the small brown suitcase she had been carrying around all day.
"I want to test our new spell thread on you two if you dare," she said pulling out a brand new pair of pants and a skirt. They were subtly different from what they had had at the Unicorn Farm, colours and make were not totally the same, but still very close.
"That shirt ..." Rósa said in an awed voice. "It looks like the one from my dreams. Can I have it?"
"That was the idea," Susan said, extending the skirt toward Rósa, "and it should re-awaken your magic, if we did it right. Time to test, I think. Please touch it!"
Rósa did and as her eyes lit up, Susan smiled broadly, then laughed. She and Knud high-fived and laughed: "It worked!"
"Your turn, Finnbogi," Knud said, giving him the pants. And as Finnbogi took them he too smiled broadly.
The four magicians sat quietly for a short while, getting used to the strangeness of young friends having become old, basking in the knowledge of magic and the wonder of the moment. Then Knud spoke: "But how come you remembered, half-remembered, dreamt about the magic. That spell the last day made all us apprentices forget. It was only last spring that Susan found her old skirt and had her memory jolted back. And none of the other, we have found had any idea of magic. Only a general unease, maladjustment or a sense of not fitting in. Do you have any ideas?"
"Maybe," Rósa began.
"I think," Finnbogi said
You first, Finnbogi!" Rósa said quickly.
"First of all," he said, we've been handling things of magic here in the museum, on an almost daily basis ..."
"No," Rósa interrupted him. "My dreams goes further back. Before I even heard of the museum. I think it's the Easter fires."
"The Easter fires!" Knud said. "Do you still jump through them?"
"Yes we do!" Rósa said, "compared to the fires on the Unicorn Farm, those fires are a lame show, but I still think they cured us at least partially."
"That was exactly what I was going to say," Finnbogi continued unperturbed. Susan remembered him as a calm, reliable person, a stout supporter and a fairly fast thinker. The years did not seem to have changed him much. "Easter fires, and then of course living in Iceland, speaking the old language, it all helped, I think."
"To make a long story shorter, Susan said. "We need you at the Unicorn Farm. No," she corrected herself, "it's not the Unicorn Farm any longer. Our new place is called Birch Manor. But still we need every one of the old apprentices we can find, for teaching and doing things. We need you, Rósa as a wandsinger and as an accomplished animalist. You could take over Thora's old position? And you Finnbogi for the Easter fires, as you're the oldest male still alive, and also for help with the portals, and so much more. We've found Martine, Fiona, My, Heidi, Tage and Lis, and Sandra, their Mum."
"And Helge, Anna, Olav, Hilde, Monica and Jan," Knud continued. "and that's it, I think."
"We know that Aamu and Sarah are alive as well," Susan added, "but we have not yet found Aamu. Sarah is indisposed. But as most of us have had children and grandchildren, there's no lack of apprentices!"
"You're missing at least one," Rósa said. "My cousin Kirstin, she's also still alive, and she's living near here."
"Kirstin!" Susan said with a sad smile. "I remember her so well, as dark as you are blond and always positive, almost happy. But ... I mean ... we read in the papers that she died while swimming after her graduation ceremony."
"Well, no, she did not," Rósa said. "It's a misunderstanding. She graduated, she did go swimming with more of her co-graduates, there was an accident, but it was another Kirstin who drowned. My cousin was in hospital for a long time, and she ... but you can help her? Can't you?"
"Fiona can, I think, and Marit." Knud said. "Fiona worked wonders for Martine. But what's wrong with Kirstin?"
"As I said, she almost drowned. She hurt her neck and her brain was damaged. She is not a moron, but not as you knew her. Reduced would be the rigth word I think."
Finnbogi nodded.
"We've better start the setting up of a portal somewhere near," Knud said. "I would not dare give Kirstin her magic back without consulting with Fiona and Marit first, and preferably Martine and Sandra as well. They are our counsellors and old, wise persons. Ella - you remember Ella from Germany?"
"The girl without magic, she with the granny?"
"Yes her, she's in it too, she knows the magic society in Germany, even if it's small and partly esoteric, they exist!"
"A portal," Finnbogi sounded almost happy. "I think the old ones inside the mountain were never ruined."
"The old secret ones?" Susan asked. "Those where the cells are - those ghastly one-way traps?"
"How do ou know about those?" Finnbogi exclaimed. "I thought I was the only one. Gilvi showed them to me, Sif and Elvin one day in the week leading up to that ill-fated summer party."
"He knew." Susan said surreptitiously wiping away a tear: "That week was a busy, emotional week. We all learned lessons way beyond what we could do. He knew what was going to happen, not only at the party, but in the future. Now. As did Thora and the Kuusisaari twins. But how I know about the portals is not my story to tell. Me and another apprentice ended up there one day in the autumn before. Can they still be used and can you take us there?"
"Yes and yes," Finnbogi said simply. "But you'll have to trust me. I can - I think - teleport us there. and from there we can go anywhere portals still exist. Those are major portals, enabling you to go to any portal, not like the simple ones leading to Unicorn Farm and back. Where do you have portals still?
"Elsinore, my old one. Bergen, Tromsø, and of course Birch Manor have new ones. The simple variety. I did not know of major portals at all. Tage and Lis sat up the three portals with help from us all."
"Me and Aamu and Jouka, we were taught how to make portals major in that week," Finnbogi said. "The purple team only learned how to make simple ones."
"Ah! that explains a lot," Knud said.
"We have to meet as soon as possible, all of us!" Rósa said.
"We could go to Denmark," Finnbogi said. "Now is the low season, only American tourists are here, mostly for the thrill of the necropants. Jon and Frey can handle that alone. We have to go to Denmark to study something that you two - amateur magic sleuths told us of?"
"I'm a retired historian," Knud said, "I did some dabbling in witch processes in my time. Can you come and help me with that?"
"Nice one!" Finnbogi smiled.
"Take care," Rósa suddenly said, "the one who stole the wand and those other things are still at large. We do not know who or why."
"True!" Susan and Knud said as one.
Finnbogi rose "Jon and Frey are done with their daily chores now. I'll tell them of our plans."
Susan swished the wand and cancelled the
Mál Sameinast spell: "No way our speaking perfect Icelandic will help further our plan!" Susan smiled.
Shortly Finnbogi returned with two youngish, very Icelandic looking people, almost too much so. Home knit sweaters, Jon with a wild beard and Frey with two long buttery yellow braids. Behind their back Finnbogi gave the sign for caution.
Susan and Knud rose, shook hands with them and Knud told shortly of his worklife.
"Ahh, Jon said, "You're the author of that book on Danish absolutist kings?"
"Yes," Knud said. "Pleased to meet you."
The matter was soon settled, Finnbogi an Rósa were given two weeks recess to go to Denmark and see if there was anything of interest in Knud's notes.
