Raven's Saturday Wordzzle Challenge # 101

Raven's Wordzzle Challenge #101

smoothness, crafty, purchase, brief, chirping, forever, shift, moonrise, lampshade, stereotype

remembrance, Dr. John, Agent 012, dragons, Fortress

The Slumber Party Mystery
Chapter 47 - Remembrances

The General shifted position a little in his chair, still looking at his granddaughter. Through the open door to the terrace they could hear birds chirping outside as the rain began to fall.

"Do you know, gentlemen," he said, "my Diana is a very crafty young lady. And then I'm not talking about embroidery," he added, nodding at the sampler Diana was stitching on. "Nor about painting, although she's very good at that too."

"She really is!" said William. "I remember at school...You were phenomenal!" He somehow managed to look admiringly at Diana and triumphantly at Skittles (who was sitting next to her) at the same time. ("Ah, so they know each other since childhood," thought Skittles.)

Diana started to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden noise out in the hall. It sounded like something had fallen to the floor. A moment later, the door opened, and Bumblebee entered carrying a tea tray. William hurried to remove the treasure chest from the table, and Bumblebee put the heavy tray down.

"I'm sorry, sir, miss," he said, turning first to the General, then to Diana. "I'm afraid I happened to knock over that lamp in the hall. My elbow got caught in the lampshade."

The General frowned and looked displeased. "That lamp was quite a good purchase back when I bought it," he said. "Please keep in remembrance that..."

"Oh, never mind the lamp!" said Diana. "It was an ugly old thing. Just serve the tea, please, Bumblebee. We have some things to discuss here and if we don't get on with it we'll be here forever - or, not to use stereotypes, at least until moonrise."

There was a brief silence while Bumblebee, managing to regain his usual butlerish smoothness, poured the tea, and plates were passed around.

"Now," said Diana, when the butler had shut the door behind him again, "will you get on with the tale, Grandpa, or shall I?"

"Yes, that's the question," said the General. "In a way, some of it is really your story rather than mine, isn't it?" Turning again to the police officers and the doctor, he continued: "Diana, you see, has the aspiration to become a novelist. She has always been good at making up stories. When she was a little girl, for example, she used to pretend this house was a fortress, and that I was the dragon guarding the treasures. And the first time Dr Challenge came to visit..."

"Yes, yes, enough about old times!" said Diana, suddenly blushing and seeming a bit embarrassed as she glanced at Skittles. "The thing is, now I'm writing what I hope to be a real detective novel, but there were some details I wasn't feeling quite sure about how they would work out in real life. So, as I already told you, John, I tried some experiments. Of which some turned out more successful than others. No, please don't interrupt - you have not yet heard the full story. Grandpa and I talked it over, and we decided the best thing would be to gather everybody together again who was here on Friday. Of course we hadn't counted on the extra addition of Agent 012 here" (she nodded at Matthew Turtles) "but that doesn't really matter."