[Altered Scene: PC Negative [Move, Exterior]]

  It was another beautiful day in Wyldwood until it wasn’t. Juliet was in a panic when she portaled into the bookstore. The new school, old church, was just gone like it was wiped from the map. Some of the more superstitious villagers, former church goers all said that this was God's punishment for closing the church. We jumped back into the site, lots of villagers were standing around muttering, about sin and punishment.

  “If God was so offended that we closed the church and turned it into a school for your children, why doesn’t he strike me dead where I stand. Why didn’t he strike down the two depraved leaders of that church? This was not God, but an enemy of mine and I will deal with them. Has anyone seen any strangers in town? No. If you see any strangers, if you see anything strange or out of the ordinary, contact Juliet right away, meanwhile School holiday kids. Enjoy your day off, because school will reopen first thing tomorrow morning. If you want to help, take a walk and look for anything that doesn’t seem right.”

  “Juliet, I need to go get Lu, I need her nose. We’ll be back in a few minutes, Ok just stay here. At least no one was hurt.” I hugged her and jumped back to the apartment. “Lu can you help me honey.”

  “Of course.”

  We were back and I swiftly told them about Paula and my adventure in this week’s book, about Mistralyn.

  “Why are we just hearing about this now?” they both demanded.

  “Well I honestly thought we’d talk about it in our book club, Friday night, when both of the authors were there to discuss it as well. Lu could you run around and try to scent anything strange. Juliet, could you please walk around, try and calm people down? I know they’re upset. Do you still have portal muffins?”

  “Yes I still have three or four muffins, how did you know to give them to me. Were you expecting this?”

  “No I wasn’t but after what happened in Solene’s book I wasn’t taking any chances. Her book was targeted to draw me out.”

  “Well good thinking.”

  I tried a locate an unknown person's spell, and received no response but I don’t know if I did it wrong, if it’s not possible or if there is another spell to learn. With Lu sniffing out an intruder, and Juliet calming villagers. I jumped back to the shop, Sparky was sitting there eating a sugar bun. I related what was going on and asked about a Locate Unknown?

  “No, a targeting spell has to know what to look for and an unknown is unknown.”

  “I have Lu sniffing and Juliet calming and the whole village alerted to look out for strangers. I just hope no innocent strangers wander in in the next few days. I have an idea, I’ll try it out. This has to be Mistralyn, right?”

  “Not directly, he’s a coward and if he can get someone else to risk their necks he will go that route.”

  “Ok thanks.”

  I jumped back to the site and started writing, The village weather was perfect for what I had in mind. I wrote that if you weren’t a villager or had a villager for family or if you were a traitor to the village, you’d float 100 feet in the air. If you were inside you felt compelled to go outside then started to float up in the air 100 feet.

  The first person I found was Alexander Minstrel, the traveling merchant. I floated him back down, he was trying to sell a new set of pots and pans to Annie Blessing, to calm him down I purchased the set and presented them to Annie with my compliments.

  “But I don’t need them.”

  “No but you deserve them, give your old set to someone in need.”

  She seemed pleased with that idea. Next I discovered my mistake in crafting the spell I’d forgotten to include Lu in the people to keep grounded. Once I had her firmly back on the ground I asked her if she had any luck scenting a Fey or anything not village scented. I knew that was vague.

  “Does the village have a candle maker?" I scented, one I think but as I ran around the village I didn’t see a shop.”

  “They don’t have one as far as I know. Do you still have the scent?”

  “Just faintly, as if they’ve left ..... or been lifted in the air.”

  We looked up again, saw a large man in brown and I started to float him down. When I saw who it was I revoked any Bibliomancer powers he might have.

  “Damon, who gave you the Bibliomancer powers?”

  “Like I’d tell you.” I did a locate Juliet spell. She was in the town square. Lu and I and my new kite walked towards the town square. The villagers were still rightly upset, what if our kids had been in there when it disappeared, some shouted. Juliet tried to calm them.

  “Villagers, we caught the perpetrator, I’ll bring him before the king for justice. This is too serious for town justice, this man needs to be banished or imprisoned, but that is for the king to decide.” I brought him down to 30 feet above the ground. “Tell these people why you made the school disappear.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Then in ten seconds you won’t float either. One, Two, Three, Four, Five.” At this point I think most of the villagers would have preferred watching him drop.

  “To get my revenge on these two bitches.”

  “Ok enough.” I floated him back up to one hundred feet. “Villagers, I think we can all agree that he is not God and the school will reopen tomorrow morning. The new school also has the town library attached and a playground for the kids after lunch. Anyone can use the library, just take a book, when you return it take another. If anyone lost anything that was left in the school just let Juliet know and I’ll see that it’s replaced. Guards I’d like a few depositions of what Damon admitted in front of hundreds of witnesses.”

  I thanked Lu for helping to catch Damon and sent her back to the apartment, so she could go to work.

  “Juliet, be extra diligent, there is a Fey Bibliomancer out to get me, and this is where he can hurt me the most and I think he knows that. Any sign of trouble you and Ivy jump to the bookstore that way you’ll be safe and I can face this guy down. I’m most vulnerable here because I have the most to lose here, but I’m also the most powerful here. I talked to Sparky about him. He said that Mistralyn was a coward but he’s also sly, so while he’s out there just be very careful. You are the sister I choose, I don’t want anything to happen to you or Ivy or your village.”

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  The guards gave me the paperwork, I told Juliet I’d see her Friday night and jumped to the capital. I showed the castle guards the paperwork the town guards had given me and I was ushered into the courtyard.

  One of the king's councilors came rushing out demanding to know why a mage seeked audience with the king. I told him I’m here for the King’s Justice. He said that the next King Court was on Monday. Fine I’ll just tie him to the door here and I’ll be back on Monday.

  “Wait…”

  “Perhaps the King doesn’t want to wait.”

  I was ushered before the king.

  “This is most irregular.” the King said.

  “Yes your majesty, but I was afraid for the villain's life if I left him in the village, he used magic to destroy the new town school. I’ve deprived him of his magic and promised that he’d be brought before you for King’s Justice. Shall I unfloat him, your majesty?”

  “Yes I suppose you should.”

  “What do you have to say for yourself young man?”

  “This bitch tricked me and sent me to Lulworth Abbey.”

  “Tell the king why.”

  “She said I committed sexual assault.”

  “Didn’t in fact you brag that you’d committed sexual assault and stated to me that there was no way I could stop you? Did you commit any sexual assaults at Lulworth Abbey?”

  “No.”

  “See I stopped you.”

  “Young man, I sentence you to ten years. Use that time to reflect on what you did.”

  “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you when I get out.”

  “Thank you, your majesty.”

  [Attain, Goal]

  I pulled Juliet over early for book club because I wanted to hear how the village was doing. I'd stopped back and informed them of the King’s sentence most seemed pleased but a few thought it should have been more.

  “I must say good job on the school, library and playground. Most of the kids are back at school. The kids that aren’t allowed to go to school because their parents are concerned that it’ll vanish again with the kids in it, are jealous of the kids allowed to go. For the kids the playground is the main attraction, for the adults the library. I’ve been talking to a few of the village women and we’re starting an adult literacy program once a week at night in the school, and daily in the library. Now that we have reading material everyone wants to join in.”

  Lu arrived from Jack in the Green, at the same time as Lily and Salome. I jumped to the English Hospital and jumped Paula and Solene back to the book shop, Paula with an arm load of wine. “Ladies, I'd like to introduce our guest author Solene Blanc who edited Sienna Rousseau’s Journals for publication. Solene, please say a little something about the world we’ll be jumping into tonight. While I pour everyone a glass of wine.”

  “Thank you for having me, and thank you to Rose for saving the journal from wanton destruction. 1849 was a brutal time in American history. Seventy years before women were allowed to vote in Federal Elections, Sienna stepped off a train 3000 miles from home. She had just graduated from college and also found out that her father had lost all the family money and the family would soon be forced from their home. She was determined to prevent that. So a single woman alone in a lawless town. One change the person who attacked the journal actually did change one event. The robbery of the mining equipment didn’t occur originally, but we can see how determined Sienna was but not letting the loss deter her in the slightest. Let’s go to the wild west.”

  “Don’t forget everyone no interacting with the main cast, we don’t want to cause any damage, like suit guy did. Nathan Delaney may try to interact with me as I was forced to interact with him to find suit guy.”

  Then we jumped, first we watched rat face steal the mining equipment then I explained he in turn sold it to Delaney. Then we jumped to the scene where she stakes her first miner Zeke McCormack. Next we jump to the scene in the hotel where she is celebrating her partnership, she is attacked and dragged through the lobby and headbutts the attacker saving herself. Next we jump to her second partner Hamish O'Brien. Next jump to the hotel dining room where Nathan Delaney tries to bully Sienna but she sends him packing. Next we jump to the scene where Bianca Russell tries to sell her baby to Sienna because she can’t afford food to feed it. Sienna refuses but hires her instead. Bianca would remain with Sienna until her death. Jump the scene she tries to matchmake Zeke and Bianca. Her only venture to fail spectacularly. Jump to the scene in the alley where Sienna is attacked at knife point, quick thinking and a couple knees to the groin. She knows this attack was ordered by Delaney; she confronts him, threatens him. Sienna starts a Mail order Bride business with her friend Donatella Fischer, it breaks even. Mining money from her many partnerships starts to roll in. Dona and Sienna start another new business. Jump to confrontation with the Preacher's Wife. Jump to 10 high class hookers arrive from New York city at the same time Sienna is voted Guildmaster of the Miners Guild. Hammish and Zeke both strike it rich, so does Sienna as a partner. Jumped to The Miwok tribe recognizes Sienna’s abilities as a tough business woman vote to make her Chief so she can negotiate on their behalf with the department of Indian Affairs.

  Jump to "Aphrodite's Place" in San Francisco, the final scene in the journal. Jump back to the bookstore.

  “Well that was exciting, let’s pour some wine and talk about it. First, any questions for the editor?”

  Salome asked “I have one, Paula did you and Solene know that your books were connected to each other?”

  Paula answered “I noticed the name right away, but although I thought Madd Maggie was great I also thought she was crazy, I never believed in Emain Ablach.”

  Solene answered “I still find it hard to believe and yet here I stand. But I never met Maggie like Paula did. Do you all believe it’s the same Maggie, I mean there is 170 years in between.”

  Lily said “Yeah but time passes differently here.”

  Solene looked concerned, “I’m not going to go home and find 100 years have passed, am I?”

  “No, I think the Bibliomancy jumps keep the timeline straight. Paula, you were here for a few hours last week when you got home. How much time had passed?”

  “Just the same a few hours, Rose.”

  Salome asked “What happened to Arielle and her sisters?”

  “When Sienna and Arielle made the trip back east, they returned to San Francisco with the family reunited. When Sienna and Bicana retired Arielle and her sisters took over the administrative side of running the house.”

  Lu asked “What about Zeke and Hammish, they remained partners with Sienna. Hammish ran for public office and became an Alderman.”

  “What about Dona, what happened to her?” Lily asked.

  “She married Hammish and remained close friends with Sienna for the rest of their lives.”

  Salome asked, "Is there another journal Sienna started after the move?”

  “Not that I’ve been able to find, but the search goes on. I loved to hear about how all the girls made out, that journal if it was ever written might be in the attic of a relative of any of those girls.”

  “History is pretty interesting when it’s about people like Sienna and not some King somewhen declaring war on someone. I’d much rather hear about the ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

  “Any more questions? Well thank you Solene for a really fascinating look at the American west and a really special woman and thanks to Paula for providing a really nice wine. Let me know by Sunday what you want to read next week. The wine’s gone and the questions all answered, I declare this week's book club a success and closed.” I jumped Paula and Solene back to the hospital, and sent Juliet back home. While Lu and I walked up stairs marveling at the action packed life Sienna had.