The Chronicles of Widget (Phoenix Rising)

by Angela Timms

The troll got closer and closer to the ground and as he almost touched down he grinned and slapped his fist into his other hand. “Now I will eat you all.”

  His feet nearly touched the ground as there was a snort from the door of the goat house. Brenin the Arapawa buck had jumped the gate of his pen and came thundering out of the shed. He leapt the stream and snorted at the fence, knowing he could not jump it.

  Frixie Pfrend raised her hand and Brenin was lifted off his feet, across the fence and he landed on the other side at a run. His hooves thundered on the grass as he built up momentum. His huge handlebar horns were all that the troll could see approaching so fast he could not react.

  There was a snort and Orpheus the brown buck goat leapt out of his pen, leapt the stream and Frixie Phrend lifted him across the fence as well. He had no horns but he scampered as fast as he could towards the troll.

  The troll looked for something to hold onto and realized there was nothing. He kicked his legs, he reached for the ground but Widget kept him high enough that he could not touch it with the last of her strength.

  Brenin hit him at full pelt with his head down and his determination high. He hit the troll with all that he had and the troll soared into the air.

  Frixie Pfrend raised her hand and a portal opened and the troll flew through it. She blew a kiss and it closed and all was silence.

  Brenin snorted and shook his coat, stamped the ground, reeled around and bowed his head. He stood up on his back legs and bowed his head to Frixie Pfrend. His eyes were dark and excited. He then trotted across the grass and waited at the fence for Frixie Pfrend to lift him across. She smiled as he hovered through the air and landed and trotted back in his pen where his little Arapawa girlfriends were very eager to see him back.

  Stormcrow flew back to the area outside the goat shed and Widget climbed off of him. Widget threw her arms around the billy goat’s neck and he bowed his neck around her. “You are my goat, my special goat now. No more arguments with Gadget, you are mine. She can have another one. That is an end of it.”

  Orpheus the brown floppy eared goat had also returned to his shed where he lived with Frixie Pfrend and Elrond. The gate floated back into place and hay from the barn floated out and filled the hay rack where the hay had been spilled onto the ground. He walked calmly to the hay rack and began eating.

  Frixie Pfrend drifted over and stood beside Widget. Her voice was gentle. “The power of three billy goats is of course legendary when one is dealing with trolls.”

  Widget smiled. “Indeed it is. But Frixie, I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you were a goat.” Frixie smiled. “There is a lot about me that you do not know and there is no need to know. As you may have guessed, I am not a goat. I am an ancient fey but I took on the form of a goat a couple of years ago in order to live my life the way I wanted to. You know my son Stormcrow. He is half faerie, half goat. He is indeed Orpheus’ son and I am very proud of him. I am also very proud of Orpheus, he is a very brave goat for a gentle loving creature.”

  “My goat is a half faerie!” Widget looked through the doorway at the curious goats who had been reaching as far as they could to watch

  lxxxvii

  what was going on. “Are any of the others faeries as well?”

  Frixie smiled kindly. “No, they are goats. Wonderful, marvelous goats.” Widget sighed. “Well a few more like you would be handy. It looks like we are going to have more problems. Was that Goblian magic that let him in here?”

  Frixie thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think so. The magic I felt was evil magic. It was Goblian as well. I detected a massive amount of Goblians adding their power together. Mainly I felt the power of evil, anger, disappointment and loneliness. That sort of power comes from someone who gets twisted by their past from what could have been a good person to one who is spiteful and harmful.”

  Widget looked worried. “We can’t fight power like that. Not just the two of us. I have never met anything like it.” Frixie looked sad. “I know, which is why you are going to have to open up that gateway in your magic garden. That is what the Goblians were looking for, they want to bring their own kind through the gateway to add to their forces.

  It is quite simple really, whoever can open that gateway would have a great advantage. It is a portal to your home world and it would mean that your people could come through and exist on this world. If they control it then you cannot.”

  Widget looked around. “I know, I really need to get that portal open. Does it open easily?” Frixie shook her head. “The legends that we tell are that it is stepped out of time. You need to link something now, with something when it was locked and hopefully that will pull it into your time. I am only guessing that is what it meant, I could be very wrong. I’m just a goat.” She laughed. “Whatever you see of the gateway is of this world, not yours. I can’t hold this form in your realm too long at the moment. That I can do it at all is a gift from the Weaver of Dreams

  lxxxviii as it was supposed to be a permanent change. We are all glad that she is back. Instinct tells me that you are going to have to get the TAVERN working to get that portal open. Or find some other way to move around in time and dimension.

  I cannot stay in this form any longer. I am hungry and I want my hay. So I will bid you farewell. My son and I must return to our shed and our eating. We need to be goats again.” She walked back into the shed and climbed back into her stall with her two friends.

  Widget walked to the secret magical garden and began looking around. It took her an hour but she found what looked like a drain cover in the corner. It was out of place and she had a good feeling about it. She pulled and pulled at it and finally she lifted it up and flipped it over. There was nothing underneath, just earth. It was pointless and that meant it had to be the gateway.

  So she went to the toolshed and got herself a trowel and began to dig and dig and dig. The hole got bigger, the pile of soil got bigger but her enthusiasm got smaller, a lot smaller. She dug a little more and her trowel scraped something metal. She dug with more enthusiasm and she found a small metal box. She pulled it from the soil and wiped the sticky soil off of it. She opened it and there was a small piece of paper in it. She took the piece of paper out of the box and unfolded it. The language was Frixian so she had no trouble reading it.

  “To whom it may concern, If you are a Frixian then you can read this. If you are a Goblian then you wouldn’t be reading this as you will already have been blown to oblivion and this paper would be back in the box. Then there was absolutely no point in writing that as if you were a Goblian you wouldn’t be reading it.

  So if you are reading this, congratulations. I left this message just in case we need to open the gateways again. I closed this gateway on the 13th December 1972. Mankind was getting dangerously close to finding a gateway on the Moon and to

  lxxxix avoid this we had to close all gateways. To date they haven’t been back to the moon and if they do they won’t find anything. They were showing far too much interest in the dark rock which indicated an eruption. We were worried that a further visit to the moon would take them closer to the volcanic site where they would find the gateway. So we encouraged this not to happen. I also lost the key. Sorry.

  If it is essential for you to open the gateway then this can be done by taking a time travelling device back in time to that date. On that date you should bring some of that rock to earth. Don’t let them see you. It is easy enough, wait until they are gone. There is a metal in that rock which can be used to fashion a key that will open the gateway. On the bottom of this note is the time and place to go and place the metal from the rock. That metal will then be found and then used to make a key and that will be the key that you need.”

  Widget walked back to the house full of thoughts and confusion. She went inside and sat down on her chair and poured herself some of her apple juice. She could hear Gadget upstairs moving things around and smiled. She sat on the chair and she thought and thought. If she could open the ga
teway then she could bring more Frixians to Earth at this time and if there were more of them they would be able to defend the people from the Goblians. So opening the gateway was very important.

  So how was she going to fix the TAVERN. The control box was gone not just broken. It had been a good control panel. It looked good and had flashing lights. It was made of bits and pieces from electronic equipment which was transformed by Frixian Magic into the control panel. It had even had a holographic element where the controller could talk to the TAVERN spirit.

  Of course it was gone now. It had developed a fault and the Frixian Friend Kevin had taken it to Telford to make it better. He had been moving house and had put it in a garage with his things to keep it safe while he moved.

  Evil Goblians had influenced wicked thieves who had broken into the garage and stolen it. Why else would they have taken what

  xc looked like a worthless plastic box with circuitry stuck in it? Well they might have the box, but they don’t have the TAVERN so it is no use to them of course. Other than to be really annoying and to make it really difficult for those who want to use the TAVERN. Widget took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  She got up and walked into the kitchen diner and turned on the laptop which was still connected to the television from the night before. She went to the cupboard and pulling with both hands she pulled out the wallet that held DVDs. She pulled with both hands and unzipped it.

  The wallet fell open. She pulled out a DVD and climbed up on a chair with the remote control. She sat back, crossed her legs and watched an episode of Dr Who. An idea was developing and she felt somehow watching a program about a time travelling device was important. She watched episode after episode looking for comfort and inspiration. Then she slapped her head with her palm. The answer was so simple. All she had to do was ask Angel and Niall to take her with them when they went to the Dr Who Exhibition and she could borrow the TARDIS, cross the dimensions and go home. When she got home she would be able to bring back some of the Elahais Crystal which would power the new Control Box. That was the only component she could not make on Earth. Then all she had to do was get hold of a lot of Earth technology, get her screwdriver and soldering iron out and if her friend Kevin would help, build a new Control Box. Insert chapter ten text here. Insert chapter ten text here. Insert chapter ten text here. Insert

  xci

  12 It had been an exciting morning. There had been a lot of rushing around and last minute packing. Everything necessary was packed in the car and so was I. I was in my basket and looking around as the car drove away, leaving Gadget, my beloved goats and everything behind.

  But, this is important. I have to make this journey and if I don’t bad things will happen. So I’m sitting here in my usual silence, worrying about what was going to happen next while Niall drove his car to Cardiff. His car was the shiny silver one, much more comfortable than Angel’s Ford Focus and with all the speed and gadgets as it was a BMW.

  It is only a two hour drive, via Swansea and past Neath but it seems like an age of course. I’m planning, of course I am. I should be looking forward to a weekend away but I can’t. I can’t wander about like you do so I will have to sit in the body and wait until they take me to the Exhibition. Then I will take the risk of leaving the puppet and hopefully Frixian magic will let me use the Tardis or possibly as it is out of phase I may be able to use it anyway. It is a bit of a risk but I have to try.

  The weather is good and it is actually sunny which is a little out of keeping as this is our Christmas trip out. All is green, all is bright. Green grass passes the window and the grey of the road stretches

  xcii into the distance and I feel like I am taking an awful long journey. For someone who has travelled time and space for two thousand years that seems odd I know. That is when you know you have found your home. You don’t want to be anywhere else, however sparkly or important.

  I am now and will be with friends, I know that. Angel is in the passenger seat, Niall is driving. They were meeting friends there and I know Sarah, she is Frixian friend, Ian and Mike arrived there last night and Michelle lives in Cardiff.

  Cardiff is a big place, full of Christmas excitement. I know I’ll only see what I see from the car window but it looks pretty exciting from where I’m sitting. The fun fair looks amazing and the streets were full of people. We weren’t completely sure which way to go so we did end up driving around a bit. So we passed by the castle. I didn’t know it had a castle. I didn’t see much of it other than the wall as we drove past. It was Christmas, it was shopping time so lots of people were wandering around. Children were looking around with faces full of wonder and they are obviously full of the Christmas spirit. The parents often have worried expressions. I bet that is something to do with the credit card bill after the tinsel and pine needles have gone into the recycling.

  Christmas brings so much expectation, so much pressure for it to be a perfect day with perfect presents when the only real important thing is that it is one day when people still sit down together. Good for those who have those love ones left. It has to be hard on those who don’t. For them the toast will be absent friends. A lot of pressure on people to buy things when by what I have read it is the celebration of a simple couple on a donkey who didn’t have anywhere to stay and probably very little money to support themselves and their soon to be born baby. I can’t see the connection with the man who used to put naughty children in his big sack and reward good ones. It is a fascinating story of someone totally scary who becomes a benevolent old man with a long white beard who brings good children presents still. It seems that with health and safety he is no longer allowed to take them away and do whatever he used to do with them.

  xciii The navigation system is showing the way not to go. It seems that someone forgot to put the smaller roads in so after a rather interesting trip down one of these, thinking it was the one they wanted, they were back on track and heading for the Bay. I sniffed, no Goblian magic working there, but there might as well be.

  I know I am in Cardiff now as there is that huge silver tower that could have water running down it. They featured that in Torchwood and I bet that Dr Who fans make sure they visit it and get a photo. I wouldn’t have minded a photo but we were in a hurry and I was in the car. I wouldn’t get to come out again until we go home so I might as well get a good view of it.

  It would be wonderful if there was a secret organization based under there. Then again, if Torchwood existed they would probably try to keep Gadget and me under lock and key. I can’t imagine what I’d make of Captain Jack Harkness if I met him. Or what he’d make of me.

  Next to it is the Millennium Center in all its elegant practicality and after a drive up and down the road and a few wrong turns there is the hotel. Not quite where they thought it would be but we had found it. Not quite what I was expecting either. The picture of it is obviously taken from the other side where there is a canal. Or is it a river? I don’t know. Approaching it from the car park makes it look a little like a care home. Here is our venue for our great adventure. We were staying in The Holiday Inn, Cardiff Bay. Well nearly near the Bay. Then again the Bay is a big place. I had imagined a hotel at least somewhere near the bars so I could watch people out of the window when they leave me in the room later.

  We parked up and they gathered together their luggage and Angel’s handbag and we went inside. Well I was more like luggage too as there was no way I was going to be able to move in such a public place with so many unbelievers.

  The glass doors were pretty standard for hotels but the amount of it and design was more like a shop front. Inside the hotel was small, clean and plain. The long counter was basic and the place was decorated for Christmas. The staff seemed friendly enough as they booked us in but it did lack any finesse which annoyed Niall as he would have preferred a four star hotel.

  There was no restaurant, but part of the bar seating was the breakfast room and they could open up another room if they had more guests wanting the
help yourself buffet breakfast. Plain and functional, that was the room as well, small and with a shower. There were no soaps and that sort of thing although there was tea and coffee. Still it is only a base and somewhere to put things. That will be me later when they want to go off and do things and take a look around town. Of course there is a television, that will keep me amused. For now there is my great adventure to have. If I survive that I expect I’ll be happy for a sit down and to watch the television.

  We had originally planned to arrive the night before but that didn’t happen. It was better for the animals even though Thomas who knows them well is looking after them. In truth I don’t think Angel wanted to leave them. I can’t blame her, I didn’t want to leave them either. It did make things a bit of a rush but at least we were here. In a way changing plans could be a good thing as the Gobilans are bound to know where we are going. They are on Facebook you see and although it was kept secret and only a few knew that we were going they are trixy beasts. I don’t want to be in a strange place any longer than I have to be. This is especially frightening as I am on my own. I know that Angel, Niall and the others are here but I would have preferred to have had Gadget here. Two Frixians are better than one. Then again we would have all our Frixians in one basket, literally. The basket is one of those wicker ones with a handle, the same as I was put in for the Vale of Rheidol Railway.

  The hotel is a strange place and it feels like a railway station. It has an odd atmosphere which may be something to do with the people coming and going. It smells odd and it also smells of Goblians. I can feel the anger and depression that they radiate. It is reflected in the faces. People aren’t quite as happy as they should be and for some reason there are police hanging around in the bar area drinking coffee. Something is going on, I’m sure of it. I can just hope that they don’t get into any danger tonight when they are out enjoying themselves. For now I have to focus on borrowing the Tardis. I can’t worry about later. If I get it wrong there won’t be a later.