Episode 6 - Chapter 62

 “The Council of what?” I asked.

“Elements,” Oak replied.

Mary's face had taken on a very serious look. Quietly, she stood up and left the room. Oak's eyes followed her out of the door.

“What is the Council of Elements?” I asked.

“It is the ultimate Authority,” Oak told me. “It was the Council that first understood what kind of danger the Weave posed. The formation of the Forest was their response.”

“I'll assume their involvement is not good news,” I said.

“It is certainly unusual,” he replied. “I know of only a handful of occasions when they've concerned themselves with the Warp itself.”

“And when they do?” I asked, looking at the map rather than see his face when he answered.

He looked at the map with me. “There is usually a swift resolution.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 61

 “What does that mean?” I asked, staring at the map.

“That's a symbol, isn't is?” Edward asked. “A symbol in Buddhism, the wheel of life. That has to mean something, doesn't it?”

“It could mean everything,” Oak replied, “It could mean nothing. One thing is certain, however, whatever is happening here, in this house, is rippling out across the Warp. Severe action will have to be taken.” He paused for a moment, as is hearing something. “I'm sorry,” he said, “But I have to inform you both that I am no longer the presiding Authority in this matter.”

“Well, what does that mean?” Edward asked.

“The Council of Elements has been informed,” Oak said gravely. “They have sent a representative. It is they who will decide what must be done, and when.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 60

 “That's incredible,” Robert exclaims, holding the marble up to his eye. “How did you do that?”

“I did nothing,” Tom replies, “It was all you.”

“I want to do it again,” Robert says, “Can we do it again?”

“Try for something different,” Tom tells him, “Try for a pen.”

Robert closes his eyes in concentration, imagining what a pen would feel like in his hand. He frowns, clenching his hand ever tighter, his whole body tense, but try as he might there is no pen in his hand.

“Why isn't it working?” he demands, looking all around him for Tom. “And while we're at it, when will I be able to see you?”

“You don't believe you can do it,” Tom replies, “And I'm right here. You're just not seeing me.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 59

 “If m'lady is agreeable to these arrangements,” Strauss says, “We will be on our way.”

“I think we're good,” Fiona replies, rolling up her sleeves, “Could be fun actually.”

“You must be cautious,” Strauss says to the captain, “Don't let her draw attention to herself, we do not know who's eyes are looking.”

“I don't know about that,” Fiona tells him, “But you be on your way.”

Strauss bows grandiosely. “Until we return...” he says, before removing his cloak to allow three midgets to run into the crowd.

“Well then,” Fiona says to the sandman, “Time to get to work.”

“FRESH DREAMERS,” she shouts, “GET YOUR LOVELY FRESH DREAMERS HERE!”

Episode 6 - Chapter 58

 “What kind of arrangements?” Fiona asks cautiously.

“We have an acquaintance in the Peacock Court,” Strauss replies. “We will shall contact and ensure an entrance is available. In the meantime, we must find somewhere safe for you.”

“I will protect her,” the captain says, his chest puffing out.

“We are sure that you mean well,” Strauss tells him, “But we feel that someone with a little more guile would be more advantageous.”

“She can stay here with me,” the sandman pipes in, “She'll be safe as houses with me. Nobody messes with the sandmen, we can bring the Weave to a standstill. Might be good for business too. Who wouldn't want to get their dreamer from a wake walker.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 57

 “What's more,” Fiona continues, “You're going to take me there.”

“We prefer not to get involved,” Strauss replies, “With their lordships and their politics.”

“What about you, Captain Bear?”

The captain shrugs. “Wouldn't know how.”

“Fine,” she declares, “I'll go my own.” She looks at Strauss again. “Will a wish get me there?”

“We believe the wish only worked because you were in a fairytale setting. Out here in the Weave, such a thing might work, or might completely backfire.”

“I'll take my chances. I wish...” Fiona stops when Strauss takes her arm.

“There may be another way,” he says, “But arrangements will have to be made.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 56

 “Can you tell me anything at all about them?” Strauss inquires.

“Not much,” the sandman replies, “Though I did hear some of the lads say most of them are in the European Straits if that's any help.”

“Why are you so interested?” Fiona asks Strauss.

“M'lady, when it comes to their lordships,” he tells her, “We prefer to stay as well informed as possible. We wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire, as it were.”

“Good,” Fiona smiles, “Because I want to go and see this Angel person.”

“M'lady, one doesn't walk into the Court of the Peacock and demand an audience.”

“He's been messing with my head all my life,” she declares, “That's exactly what I'm going to do.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 55

 “Different names?” Fiona asks.

“Well, not different,” says the sandman, “The same name, but in our tongue.”

“So you can tell me who else is on the list, but I still wont know who they are?”

“S'right,” the sandman confirms, “But I can tell you something else that might be of interest. The Angel isn't the only one of their lordships looking for specific dreamers, issuing lists and putting their hands in their pockets. I mean, even The Lord of Doors has started doing it lately.”

Strauss looks alarmed at this news. “Doors has been tampering with the dreamers?” he asks. “What type of dreamers?”

“Couldn't tell you that,” the Sandman replies, “'Is man gives me the creeps.” He shudders, then smiles at them both. “I prefer to work for the Angel, 'is man is all together more polite.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 54

 “Why would he want to 'shape' my dreams?” Fiona asks.

“There is a saying here in the Weave,” Strauss replies, “Control the dream, control the dreamer.”

“So I was right...” Fiona mumbles to herself.

“You're not the only one n'all,” the sandman tells them.

“I'm sorry,” Fiona says, “What do you mean?”

“Every evening, before we set sail,” the sandman explains, “There's a courtier comes down to the harbour with a list of dreamers his lordship is keen to entertain. Some times there's new names, but there are regulars like you.”

“Who else?” Fiona demands, “Who else is on that list?”

“I could tell you, but it wouldn't help. You have different names when you dream.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 53

“You thought it would be better,” Fiona asks, “For me to find out for myself?”

Head still bowed Strauss replies “In all honesty, m'lady, we thought it better if you didn't find out at all.”

“What about you?” Fiona asks, turning to the captain, “Did you know?”

“Don't look at me,” the captain says, “I don't know anything. I'm waiting to go back to being a blind teddy bear.”

Fiona wheels back to Strauss. “Why would he want me?” she asks, “Why ask for me all the time.”

“We would imagine,” Strauss replies, “That he wanted to shape your dreams.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 52

“Did you know about this?” Fiona asks Strauss furiously.

“M'lady, we...” Strauss begins, but Fiona cuts him off.

“Did you know about this?” She repeats.

Strauss bows his head in shame. “We have heard rumours that the Angel is very fond of a particular dreamer. When I met you in the market I then knew the rumours were true, that you were that dreamer.”

“Who's the Angel?” Fiona wants to know.

“The Peacock Angel is his preferred title,” Strauss tells her, “It was he that brought your friend here.”

“Why didn't you tell me before?” Fiona asks.

“What good would that have done,” Strauss replies, “We thought such information would only distress you.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 51

“What did you just say?” Fiona demands.

“You fetch a pretty penny when you're dreaming,” the sandman repeats.

“What do you mean by that?”

The sandman shoots a glance at Strauss.

“Don't look at him,” Fiona commands, “Answer my question.”

“One of their lordships,” the sandman begins, quickly adding “Don't know which one, they send their man to collect you.” He looks away, an involuntary tick rippling through him. “They pay a high price to whoever catches you.”

“What do they want with me?”

“Don't know about that,” the sandman replies, “I just tries to catch you if I see you out there.” He gestures at the waves. “Maybe they likes your dreams.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 50

“Okay,” Robert says, “Where do we begin?”

“With a few simple exercises,” Tom replies. “Let's start with something basic. Close your eyes and curl your right hand into a fist.”

Robert does as he's told.

“Now imagine you have a marble clenched in that fist.”

Robert tries to imagine a marble in his hand.

“You have to really picture it,” Tom continues, “Think about the size of it, its weight, its smooth surface against your skin. Really concentrate on every aspect of that marble.

Robert is trying so hard, his brow creased, fist clenched, that its a few moments before he realises he is actually holding a marble in his hand.

Episode 6 - Chapter 49

“Just let me get this straight,” Raven asks, “You write accounts of every dream and store them here?”

“Oh we don't write them,” the woman replies, “I don't know who does that, the books just arrive, sometimes in bulk, sometimes we'll just find one on a desk somewhere. We just catalogue and store them.”

“You catalogue them?” A spark of an idea flickers in Raven's mind.

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“So we can find them again.”

“Cross referencing?”

“Name of dreamer,” she tells him, “Date of dream, subject matter, duration, interference, etc.”

“So if I wanted to know about the dreams of a particular person, at a particular time, you'd be able to find that information relatively quickly?”

“A few minutes at most,” she beams.

Raven turns to the guide. “I was wrong,” he says, “We do have time to find out a little bit more.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 48

“So, where are we?” the guide wants to know, “Where is the Library located?”

“At the very heart of the Weave,” the woman replies, “At its absolute centre.”

“But that's impossible,” the guide protests, “The heart of the Weave is well mapped and documented, it can't be there.”

“For Mountain's sake,” Raven says sharply, “This is the Weave you idiot, everything is possible. Even I can think of a dozen explanations.”

“True,” replies the guide, “I hadn't thought that through. How old is the Library?”

“I can't tell you its age,” the woman says, “But I can tell you it was here when the first of the Fears first opened their eyes.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 47

Quick as a flash the guide replies “You could tell us about the Library itself. Does it really contain an account of every single dream that's ever been had?”

“We don't have time for this,” Raven growls.

“Please,” the guide pleads, “Just a few moments. I'm supposed to be a guide to the Weave, yet I know nothing about this place. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't endeavour to correct that.”

“Every single dream,” the woman confirms, “Both the natural dreams, and those shaped by the Weave, along with daydreams, whimsies and passing notions.”

“Why?” Raven asks.

“For posterity,” the woman tells him, “For anybody who might want to know in the future.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 46

“The what?” Raven demands.

“The Library of Dreams,” the guide tells him. “Most people in the Weave don't think it exists, but here we are.”

Raven finally puts his feet on the ground. “Tell me about it,” he says.

“I'm afraid I can't,” the guide confesses, “I don't know much about it, except that it's said to be older than the Fears themselves.”

“Oh my,” says a woman's voice behind them, “Visitors. To the Library. How marvellous!”

Turning, they find a middle-aged woman in a violet cardigan, wearing one set of spectacles, while another pair hang from her neck.

“Gentlemen,” she greets them grandiosely, “Welcome to the Library of Dreams. How may I assist you with your enquiries.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 45

Further down the ladder and Raven can begin to make out the landscape below. He and his companion are descending into a massive cavern of a warehouse. To his left, Raven can see one of the walls, but to his right the wall of books just disappears into haze. Down on the ground, there are ten rows of blocks, cupboards or shelves of some sort. Each block is separated from the next by a group of six desks, arranged to face each other, with three lamps. It soon becomes clear to Raven that he is climbing down into a vast library, full of activity. There are people everywhere, putting books on shelves, moving them around, reading them, sorting them.

“Bravo,” declares the guide above him, “I think we've found the legendary Lost Library of Dreams.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 44

As they slowly climb down the ladder, the darkness begins to fade. Looking round, Raven realises they are no longer in a hole, but descending a wall of vertical bricks. It takes him a few moments to realise they're not bricks at all, but the spines of books, each almost identical save for a few markings.

“No, no, no, you're doing it wrong” Raven hears a woman's voice admonish faintly below him. “You're mixing the natural and the manufactured, you've got to keep them separate. Where did you people train?”

A little further down the ladder, the books in front of Raven look younger than the ones further up. The markings are clearly letters and numbers; a cataloguing system he has no doubt.

“You boy, stop right there,” the woman's voice exclaims once more, “The musings and the daydreams go to the other wing.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 43

“Corrrvusss” the voice echoes around them, sounding much closer.

“Quickly man,” Raven commands, “Pull that door shut.”

The guide reaches up through the hole and grabs the handle, pulling it towards him. “Corrrvu...” Raven hears, catching a glimpse of a giant talon before the door slams shut, leaving the pair surrounded by silence and darkness.

“You can let go of my hand now,” Raven tells the guide, grasping the ladder with both hands. “Onwards and downwards,” he declares, beginning to descend once more.

“How does he issue proclamations,” Raven asks as they climb, “If he doesn't speak.”

“He appoints an official 'Voice',” the guide replies, “It's a very desirable position at his court, though I can never understand why.”

“Why's that then?”

“They never seem to last very long, you know what his temper is like.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 42

“Corrrvusss,” the voice booms again.

“Is that...?” the guide asks in panic.

“Who else?” Raven replies, moving to sit with his feet in the hole. “Watch out,” he shouts as another hedge hurtles past them. “You don't recognise his voice?”

“He never speaks,” is the reply, “Not since your... not since he met you.”

“Well I don't want to meet him again. How on earth did he find us?” Raven quickly manoeuvres himself to face the ladder. “Quick,” he says, “Take my hand until we're both through the door.”

The guide takes his hand and Raven begins his descent with one hand on the ladder.

“You opened a door but didn't go through, he'll be looking for that. If the stories are true, he's very eager to make your re-acquaintance.”

“Corrrvusss,” they hear again, as the guide begins his clumsy descent.

Episode 6 - Chapter 41

Raven looks aghast at the hundreds, maybe thousands of hedgerows that dance and twirl all around them.

“We need to be anywhere but here,” he says to the guide. Wasting no time, he drops to his knees and quickly draws a door in the ground. Lifting it open, he looks down into a hole with a ladder, disappearing into darkness below.

“Look out,” shouts the guide, pushing him out of the path of a steamrollering hedge, which obliterates his door.

“Bugger,” says Raven, then “Thanks.” Once more he draws a door in the ground, yanks it open while shouting “Fiona.” Below them is the same hole, the same ladder.

“Corrrvusss,” a dark, ancient voice booms around them. “Corrrvusss!”

Episode 6 - Chapter 40

“So you want to help me discover how powerful I am?” Robert ponders.

“More than that,” Tom replies, “I want to help you understand how to control your environment, manipulate the energies of the Weave as they flow around you.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“I have a variety of reasons,” Tom tells him, “Not least of which would be my unmitigated joy at seeing the Fears cower before you.”

“Why would you want that?”

“There is hierarchy in the Weave, just as there is in the Warp. In the Weave, the Fears tower over everything, like the gods of Mount Olympus. They bicker, constantly, but it is the rest of us that pay the price.”

“So you want me...?”

“...To give them a taste of their own medicine.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 39

I finished the story and both Mary and I looked at Oak, intrigued as to what had happened on Pilgrim's Wake.

“Well?” Mary prompted when he failed to speak. “Are you going to tell us what's happened there?”

“What?” Oak replied, as if suddenly roused from a dream. “Oh yes, sorry. Graffiti. A group of teenagers have written 'The Hobbled Kollop knows where YOU live,” eight feet tall and decorated in the modern style.” He pondered for a moment before speaking again. “Show the connections.” he commanded, and lines began to make their way across the map, resulting in what can best be described as an eight spoke wheel, with our house at its centre.

Episode 6 - Chapter 38

My husband licked his lips in anticipation, about to tell one of his favourite stories. “This road,” he said pointing to the map once more, “Used to be called Pilgrim's Wake. There is a story of a woman walking this road, who finds a golden egg. How fortunate, she thinks, scooping it into her pocket before she continues her journey. After a while she hears a tinkling noise coming from that pocket. She pulls out the egg, only to find it's turned to silver. That's better, she thinks, it's less likely to get stolen. Onward she goes, until she hears another tinkle and finds the egg has turned to stone. That's perfect, she thinks, for a door stop, and on she goes. When she gets home, the stone has become a real egg. Marvellous, she thinks, something for supper. But when she comes to crack it, it vanishes from her hand and a pixie appears on her table, giggling. It tells her it is the Hobbled Kollop, and runs away laughing. Now I've got a tale to tell, the woman thinks, and marvels at her own good fortune.”