Episode 4 - Chapter 21

“Others?” Raven exclaims. “What others? What are you up to now?”

“Patience I said, my dear Cor....” his companion smiles the oiliest of smiles, correcting himself. “My dear Raven, you and I are about to embark on a marvellous voyage of discovery. Let us enjoy the journey and admire the scenery.”

“What riddles are you spinning now?” Raven spits.

“No riddles here, my ancient foe, I merely wish for us to find a peace that will benefit all.”

“You are up to something, don't tell me you're not. You are always planning and scheming and playing your game.”

“Up to something? Yes, maybe I am.” His companion replies. “But does that make it a bad thing?”

Episode 4 - Chapter 20

“Wait?” My wife asked. “Wait for what?”

“For something to happen,” Oak told her, “Or for the dawn to come.”

“Is there nothing else we can do?” I inquired.

“Such as what?” Oak continued his pacing. “If something happens we will address it when it does. If there is another manifestation, that will be the time for action. Right now, there is nothing we can do.”

“But...”

“But nothing,” Oak cut Mary short. “There are no buts. I have given my word that I will wait until dawn. That is what I shall do.”

“Well then,” said Mary, “If we're in for a long night of nothing, I'm going to prepare us all a little refreshment.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 19

“Nothing is simple in the Weave, is it?” Fiona asks.

“The Weave is the collective human imagination,” Strauss replies, “Both conscious and sub-conscious. How could it ever be simple?”

“Okay, point taken. Any ideas how we might get out of here?”

“We believe we should revert to the original plan.” Larry steps into the wardrobe, quickly followed by Curly.

“There is no way I'm going to fit through that hole.”

“No,” Mo turns back to her. “And you're sure you can't become smaller?”

“I am.”

“Then there is only one course of action available....”

A tearing sound comes from inside the wardrobe.

“....We must make the door bigger.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 18

“Then how are we going to get out?” Fiona asks them as they remove their cloak. Curly and Mo tumble to the floor beside Larry.

“The Lord will have an entrance,” they tell her, “But it will be heavily guarded and could be anything. It may well be the case that the cage is sealed from without.”

“Then why is there a corridor that leads straight back. Is that just to frustrate us.”

“To frustrate you? I doubt it.” They ponder for a moment, Larry rubbing his head thoughtfully while Curly scratches his head. Mo picks his nose in contemplation.

“It will have a purpose,” they continue, “But like everything with their lordships, it will be less than obvious.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 17

“M'lady in the Weave, at the heart of the realm of the Lord of Doors, everything is possible.” Strauss stands and turns towards her. “Though in this instance,” he continues, “there is only one room.”

“But we walked from one room to the other. That makes two rooms.”

“I do not believe so, m'lady. I believe there is but one room. And a corridor. I believe the corridor is within a Möbius field, hence our ability to walk from one room to another.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that both ends of the corridor are attached to the door to this room. Walking down the corridor will always bring us back here.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 16

“What?” Fiona asks. “How?”

“It would seem the dream cage is larger than we first imagined.” Strauss makes his way to the wardrobe, peering in at the tiny entrance.

Behind him, Fiona is muttering to herself as she walks back down the corridor. “This can't be right...” she says to herself as she opens the door to the first bedroom.

She gasps when she sees Strauss peering into the wardrobe. She quickly turns her head back to the second bedroom, catching a glimpse of Strauss peering into the wardrobe before the bedroom door swings shut.

“How can you be in that room and this one? That's not possible.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 15

Fiona hurries after them. As she does, the bedroom door closes itself with a creak. They both pause for a moment to look.

“I fear that cannot be a good sign,” Strauss says before walking on.

They soon arrive at the far door, where Strauss pauses.

“What are we waiting for?” Fiona asks. Grabbing the handle and she begins to push the door open, pausing when Strauss takes her arm.

“M'lady, do you know no caution?” he asks.

“After the day I've had” she replies, “None at all.”

She opens the door, stepping into the child's bedroom they've just left behind.

Episode 4 - Chapter 14

Fiona, realising she's holding her breath, releases it slowly. “Well,” she says, “That was an anti-climax.”

“Not necessarily,” Strauss replies, as the three midgets climb on top of each other and don their cloak. “A corridor in the Weave can hold many surprises. I believe, m'lady, that I should take the lead.”

“Why? So you can get hurt instead of me?”

“M'lady, we are a comedy trio. Misfortune is our stock in trade, and we are not easily damaged.”

“A comedy what?” she asks, but Strauss is already making their way down the corridor.

Episode 4 - Chapter 13

“I can't just stay here,” Fiona tells them, “I've got to find Raven.”

“Ah yes,” Strauss responds, “The mighty Corvus. We are not sure that would be wise either.”

“Why?” she asks. “What did he do? Why did the Lord of Doors get so worked up when I mentioned his name?”

“That, m'lady, is a long story,” Strauss tells her, “and not one to be told within these walls.”

“Then we'd better go and find some different walls so you can tell me.” With that, Fiona takes a deep breath and flings open the bedroom door, steeling herself to confront whatever lies beyond.

In front of her is a very plain corridor, with another door at the end.

Episode 4 - Chapter 12

“Well I'm not going out through there.” She tells her companions.

“M'lady, there is no other way,” they reply. “Can you not make yourself smaller?”

“Not without a few months and regular trips to Weight Watchers,” she quips. “Even then there's no guarantees.”

“We are sorry,” they reply, “We do not understand. How can you make trips to these weight watchers' place if you cannot leave through our door?”

“I was being flippant, ignore me” she tells them. “Why can't we use that door?” She indicates the bedroom door.

“M'lady, we fear that would be very unwise. Considering the ire of the Lord Of Doors, we cannot know what terrors were left to guard your prison.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 11

Fiona gets out of the child's bed quickly, gasping as it shrinks to the size of a toddler when she does.

“Ssshhh,” admonishes the three midgets with their one voice, but they do so under their breath. “They will be listening, you can be certain of that.”

Fiona eases open the wardrobe door, kneeling softly to examine their escape route. Pulling back the clothes and shoes, she sees that there is indeed a door. Her heart sinks when she realises it is barely the size of her head.

“I thought you said there was a door?” She asks.

“It is a small door,” the three reply, “But a door it most surely is.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 10

So there the five of us were, sat in our living room, as the evening drew in. Fiona and Robert were, well, I suppose you'd have to call it asleep, though both were absolutely still. From looking at them you might have thought they were dead. Oak paced, in a rather irritating manner if you ask me, while my husband stared at Robert's body slumped in an armchair. Every so often he nibbled his lower lip. My husband that is, he does that when he's very worried.

“Will he be okay?” I asked Oak, nodding towards my son.

“I have armed him with what information I have,” he replied, “I'm sure he will manage if he keeps his wits.”

“So,” I said, “What happens now?”

Oak stopped pacing and looked at me darkly. “Nothing,” he told me. “Nothing happens now. Now we wait.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 9

“There's something odd going on here,” he tells himself. “Of course there is, you idiot,” he continues. “This is the Weave, it's the definition of odd.” He pauses. “And when did I become the type of person who talks to himself?”

He resolves to try not to worry about what he's seeing and just get to the cottage. He picks up his pace and tries not to notice that the closer he gets, the more the building collapses in front of him. The breeze is almost constant now, and the children's laughter uninterrupted. By the time he's covered half the distance, two of the cottage's walls have collapsed, it has lost its roof and what remains has been engulfed by an overgrowing garden.

Episode 4 - Chapter 8

As Robert progresses through the meadow the breeze and laughter become more frequent, but he does his best to hold his nerve and not freak out.

“This is the Weave,” he tells himself, “This is what it's like.”

The closer he gets to the cottage, the more it appears to be in a state of disrepair. The thatch has holes in it, there's no glass in the windows, the garden overgrown. He's barely walked a quarter of the way when a cracking sound draws his attention to part of the chimney falling off. A few paces more and the rest of the chimney follows.

Episode 4 - Chapter 7

 “Just remember who you are and why you're here.” He pauses once more at another new memory, shaking his head again. “I wish I wouldn't keep doing that.”

He returns his attention to the cottage in the distance, realising the chimney has started to look very lopsided. “I'm sure that wasn't like that a moment ago,” he tells himself, as breeze and laughter come again. “I'm just going to ignore that,” he mumbles. “Until it becomes something more....” he struggles to find the right word, eventually settling for “...tangible.”

He continues his journey, noticing as he does that the cottage's thatch is more dishevelled than he first thought.

Episode 4 - Chapter 6

Robert sets off towards the cottage at a brisk pace, his eyes fixed on his destination, the thought lurking at the back of his mind that the cottage could disappear just as easily as it appeared. He's barely taken a dozen steps when he realizes there's no longer any smoke emerging from the chimney. At that moment a breeze ruffles his hair once more, his ears are full of children's laughter which brings him to another standstill.

“Hello?” He shouts again. “You can come out now!” Nobody appears to accept his offer.

“I am in the Weave,” he tells himself. “After everything that's happened, I should know this place is going to be odd.”

  

Episode 4 - Chapter 5

Robert has to look twice to make sure, but it's definitely there, a cottage straight out of a child's book of fairy tales. Its roof is thatched, smoke curling from a little chimney, even roses growing over the doorway. He squints once or twice to be sure while the cottage remains in front of him.

“How did I miss that?” he asks himself, then “Nothing in the Weave is as it seems.” And again he's surprised to have a new memory of Oak. He shakes his head once more as if trying to dislodge any other new memories, then sets his sights on the cottage once more.

“Well,” he says, “At least I've found a place to start.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 4

The breeze comes again, stronger this time, and there's definitely laughter.

“Hello?” he shouts, “Is there anybody there?” He keeps turning as he does, scanning every direction, but there's nobody there, just a beautiful meadow bordered by trees.

“The Weave is full of tricks and twists,” he says to himself, suddenly remembering something Oak told him. Something that was said in a conversation he's pretty sure never had. He pauses for a moment, wondering how he can remember something that never happened, before shaking his head and setting off towards the woodland.

The breeze comes again, and with it more laughter. He turns once more to see if anybody has appeared, but he is still alone. As he turns back he notices for the first time, at the far end of the meadow, there stands a cottage.

Episode 4 - Chapter 3

It's a beautiful spring morning. Robert isn't sure how he knows this, but he is absolutely certain that it is morning, and it is spring.

“In the Weave, navigation is imagination,” he mutters, half remembering something. “Where did that come from?” he asks looking round, as if someone else might have spoken for him.

In the distance he can see the edge of a wood. He's about to set off in that direction when a sudden breeze ruffles his hair and he's sure he can hear faint traces of children's laughter. He turns and turns, scrutinizing every direction for signs of life, but there's nobody there.

Episode 4 - Chapter 2

Robert opens his eyes and looks around, more than a little astonished. “It worked,” he mumbles to himself, getting to his feet. He's a bit wobbly to start with, there's a little dizziness and his head feels like it's going to burst because it's too full.

When he'd closed his eyes in his parents' living room, he hadn't really expected anything to happen. He thought he'd open them there a few seconds later, feel a little foolish and try something else. “IT WORKED!” he shouts, laughing with shock, a little giddy at his own boldness. “So this is what the Weave looks like, is it?”

He finds himself in a meadow, just as he'd imagined. The grass is long, and littered with daisies. He can hear the babble of a brook somewhere nearby. “Now then,” he says to himself, “How am I going to find Fiona? Where do I start?”

Episode 4 - Chapter 1

Now here's a riddle, a hey diddle diddle, a cock on the fiddle, got stuck in the middle and try

try

try

not to giggle.

A prince with the swagger of a born again blagger, euphoric stagger, all cloak and dagger, a wisp in the night

night

night

or carpet bagger?

This is the way that plots are hatched, centred on buildings that used to be thatched, pieces brought closer, so easily matched, a scheme's not a scheme

scheme

scheme

if easily snatched.

Wide awake in a land of wonder, husband and wife, their life going under, not even together but torn asunder, without a clue all they can do

do

do

is blunder.

One's a puppet freed from child's fear, three friends she has, one voice she can hear, while elsewhere a peacock with all it holds dear, takes ancient foe

foe,

foe,

drawing it near.

Now do all the players stand on the stage, or are there a few who lurk off the page, if you had the answer you'd get a fine wage, for the heart of the Weave

Weave

Weave

is where such questions rage.

Third Interlude - Part Fourteen

A man on a screen shuffles papers as he smiles for the camera. “Now,” he says, “It's time to join the news teams where you are.”

The picture cuts to a village church surrounded by people. Dramatic music plays. A voice speaks “Villagers commemorate a tragic anniversary, a man finds a stick that's more than it seems, and what would you do if someone turned your car upside down for a prank. That's all coming up on tonight's local news.”

More dramatic music and a selection of scenes from the region eventually give way to a man in a television studio.

“Good evening. Today the residents of Knutswick gathered together to commemorate the first year anniversary of the tragedy that destroyed the village school and claimed the lives of 38 children, as well as that of their teacher. One year on, and investigators are no closer to discovering the cause of the blaze....”

Third Interlude - Part Thirteen

 Ms Firnley is outraged at Beech's remarks. “What do you mean, not an option? You can't just ship them all off to special needs you know?”

Beech glowers as he replies. “It may have escaped your attention, but something has harnessed the collective power of these children's minds to attempt something we do not yet understand. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want it to succeed. That it must be stopped, no matter what the cost.”

Before she can reply, Fox places a hand on her arm. “We'll do our best to look after the children,” she tells her. “We just need to discuss the options. Why don't you have a look at the video they saw, then you can tell us what you think.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Ms Firnley replies. As the video begins to play she is aware of the two of them whispering, but her attention is drawn into the cartoon. “Oh this is rather good!” she declares.

Moments later, Ms Firnley is aware that she is reaching for a pencil, though she is unsure why. Not long after, her world goes dark.

Third Interlude - Part Twelve

“What do you mean by structural alterations?” Ms Firnley asks. “You'll have to speak to the board of governors before you can alter the building.”

Beech surveys the room full of children and sighs. “It may be extreme” he replies to Fox, “But I don't think there is another option.”

Ms Firnley grabs a text book and slams it on the desk in front of her. “I know you people have a job to do,” she declares boldly, “but I will not be ignored in my own classroom. Now what on earth is going on with the children and how are you going to get them back?”

Beech turns towards her. From the look on his face, Ms Firnley is sure that he has just noticed her for the first time. “Madam, there are dark forces at work here,” he tells her. “Saving the children may not be an option.”