The Ivory Dragon 14/14

“Your side of the story please apprentice Bell,” said the most senior of the witches.

She explained how she’d followed the salesman selling the ivory models in her world and followed him and the editor through the door. Then she’d followed the salesman until he went into the George and Dragons at Lurbridge. After that she couldn’t find the editor any more and had come here to ask for advice.

“You say you found the door open when you arrived. Did you close it after everyone had gone through?”

“No ma’am, I waited a while to see who was operating the door and Leah come out through a gap in the hedge to close it.”

“Are you sure that you weren’t seen by any of these people?”

“Oh no ma’am, I’d made myself invisible and was floating fairly high up in the air to make sure I was well out of the way. Then I continued following this gentleman,” she said pointing at the editor. “He’s the editor of one of our local newspapers.”

“Yes thank you, we’ve already established that. The question now is what do we do about him. People coming through from your world are becoming a rather common problem recently, do you have any ideas?”

Abigail and one or two of the more junior witches present grinned.

The senior noticed. “I am aware of apprentice Bell’s ability to produce good ideas, I suggest that she now comes up with one very quickly in order to salvage her reputation!”

Jennifer Jane stared at the editor for five minutes thinking hard. The poor man became quite unsettled while she struggled to think of a way out of this mess. After all, she’d come here in the first place to ask Abigail for advice, now everyone was looking at her for a solution. Then slowly she began to smile in relief.

The editor was becoming more and more worried by the minute. The child was obviously some one that the others took note of, in spite of the fact that she was only supposed to be an apprentice. She talked quite casually about being invisible and floating in the air and if that was true, then what on earth were the adults capable of? What he took to be an evil grin began slowly spreading across her face and he began finding it hard not to start shaking.

“I don’t think we have to do anything,” said Jennifer Jane, nobody will ever believe him even if he does tell them. His newspaper has already been discredited over a story he published about Wilfred’s pool. Who is going to believe a story about an alternate world, dragons that talk and invisible witches? He’s likely to be taken away by men in white coats and put away somewhere quiet as a danger to the public.”

“I think it might be a good idea,” said Abigail, “if an adult from the alternate world was here to confirm Miss Bell’s suggestion. It might help those present to make up their minds.”

“Agreed,” said the senior, “I understand you have the journey woman’s instant travel spell at your disposal, so we’ll wait for five minutes while you convince one of your parents to allow you to bring them here.”

Jennifer Jane returned to the meeting well within the time allowed. She had thought it safer to bring both her parents just in case, it was the first time she had taken them to the Witches’ Home instantaneously and they were both looking very proud of her as she led them into the meeting room. She repeated her argument for their benefit and waited a moment while they thought about the possible consequences. Then they both looked at the editor with broad smiles.

“I don’t think for one minute Mr. Taylor would dare publish his experiences in his newspaper,” said Dave. “In my opinion my daughter is quite right, the only way he’d be able to print what he knows, is if it was disguised as a fairy story and he’s not in that business!”

“Right then,” said the senior in charge. “Apprentice Bell you are responsible for seeing that Mr Taylor gets back to his own world without any further exploration of this one. When you’ve done that, in your spare time we expect you to continue tracking down the organisation behind the models in both worlds!”