Episode 6 - Chapter 75

Raven drops to his knees to quickly draw a large trap door into the stone floor. Once he's done, he hauls the door open to reveal a descending wooden staircase.

“That's a blessing,” he says before grabbing the guide's arm. “Come on, there's work to be done.”

He repeats Fiona's name under his breath as they walks down the stairs, pulling the door closed behind them. The stairs descend a short way to a stone floored landing, which leads to a second set of stairs, leading a downward spiral.

The stairs are illuminated by intermittent torches, so the light is less than perfect. Raven thinks he can hear the rattle of chains below them.

“I hope she hasn't got herself locked up,” Raven quips as he begins a cautious descent.

Episode 6 - Chapter 74

The delivery room, it turns out, is a small featureless, white walled space. There are no windows nor are there any other exits. In the centre of the room is a simple square wooden table, about four feet in length.

“This is the delivery room?” The guide asks. “Where do the deliveries come from?”

“That,” the librarian replies, “Remains a mystery to us. The books just appear on the table. Sometimes single volumes, sometimes the table is piled high. The books never appear when somebody is here.”

Raven has chalk in hand, trying to draw on the wall, but the line disappears into the white of the wall.

“Bugger,” he says, “It's going to have to be another trap door.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 73

The guide returns quickly, the librarian following closely. “This is simply such a marvellous place,” the guide remarks, “And I've been given license to return.”

“Did you discover what you wanted to know?” the librarian asks Raven.

“Not entirely, no,” Raven replies, “But it was informative so I thank you for your help.”

He reaches forward to shake her hand.

“It was a pleasure to be of assistance,” she replies, taking his hand. “The same licence is available to you, though I suspect you're less likely to use it.”

“Well,” Raven says, “I don't belong here. Now, I need a wall.”

“There are no walls in here, only shelves,” the librarian says, pointing to a doorway in the distance, “You'll have to go through to the delivery room.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 72

“Every night when she closed her eyes,” Raven says, to no one in particular, “The Angel touched her dreams, a gentle brush one night, a sharp prod another. He shaped them, moulded them, to bring me to that house.”

He looks around him, searching for the guide.

“Still doesn't put me any closer to an explanation though.” He rubs his chin in thought. “Why does the Angel want me here? Why go to all that trouble?”

He sits in contemplation for a few moments more, lost in thought. Suddenly he leaps to his feet. “Only one way to find out,” he declares. “Guide!” he shouts, “Get your coat, it's time to move on.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 71

Raven sits at a desk in the library pouring over tome after tome of recorded dreams. For hour upon hour he reads, sighs once in a while, grunts occasionally. Most of what he reads makes no sense at all, which is what he expects, but after a time he begins to see a pattern. He confirms this to himself when he thinks he knows what elements the next dream will contain. His prediction is correct, and suddenly the pattern is very clear.

The guide, meanwhile, is off with the librarian, taking a tour and finding out as much as he can.

“Remarkable,” Raven says as he closes the final book, “She never had a dream of her own.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 70

“I think I'm getting the hang of this,” Robert says, looking at the notebook he's just imagined into his hand. He puts it on the ground, alongside the marble, pen, scissors, comb, tin can and yo-yo he's created while practising.

“Okay, one more,” he continues, closing his eyes and concentrating. “Let's have a gun this time.”

“I'd advise against that,” Tom tells him. “Guns do unexpected things here in the Weave, and it's not as if you can kill anything here anyway.”

“If you say so,” Robert replies. “Well then, a sword.” In moments he feels a cutlass in his hand, heavier than he was expecting.

“Very good,” Tom says, “Now why don't you try for something bigger.”

Episode 6 - Chapter 69

Edward was scratching his head when he said “I don't know, Mary, violence seems a little extreme.”

“Violence,” I declared. “They might be about to destroy our home, that's violence.”

“You don't know that's what they're planning. You don't know anything.”

“No,” I said, “I don't. But I'm sick of being ordered around without being told what's going on, I'm tired of our lives and feelings being so inconsequential. It's time for us to stand up to them.”

At that moment the cats... the ladies who were also cats... it's hard to know what to call them... anyway, at that moment they waltzed into the living room.

“Hungry!” they declared in unison.