What happened next

Everyone seemed to have forgotten James and Dotty. Dotty fished in the large bag she wore slung over her shoulder. "Is it aliens again Jimmy dear?" James smiled and nodded. Dotty drew two knitting needles from the bag. "Maximum force?" she asked. "probably best" he said. James stood behind Dotty and placed his hands on her shoulders. They both closed thier eyes. Dotty raised her arms and crossed the knitting needles. There was a tiny blue spark. The alien invaders ceased to exsist. "Oh, jim" said Dotty, a little flustered, "Should we really exert this much power?" james shrugged, "I don't know my love, but if things need doing, someone needs to do it". Dotty returned the knitting needles to her bag. "Let's see what we can do about this hole in the road" she said and strode forward. James pinched her buttock. Dotty slapped him playfully...

Dotty stuck her hand in here bag and fumbled around 'no that's not it, errr ouch no not that either. Ahh found it!' She pulled a black box from her bag with a gold embossed symbol on it. Dotty whispered on to the box and through it into the hole. And then there was a loud rumbling....

the hole was filled and everything appeared to return to normal, but they had disturbed something,it was grumbling way below ground, in the sewers, in the drains, in their water supply when they drank the water they

would quench their thirst, be able to wash and water their animals and use their water mills, but at a great cost. James and Dottie had thwarted the tricatops and mended the gaping hole but they had unleashed a bigger problem. Sir Michael de Motrym knew this: he had seen it all before, some years, previously. He regarded the couple, rubbed his chin wisely, cocked an eyebrow and roared:"You know not what you do". Old, wise and a man of letters and very long words, he knew that by stopping one problem they had created another, more momentous and mendacious. Cause and effect he thought. The basics of physics. "In this world" he pontificated, "You may think you have used magic but alchemy is but a charlatan art. It never addresses real problems and you all must respect the laws of the universe and respect this earth". Cedriic knew and understood what he was saying. He was close to nature and in tune with the rhythm of life. He turned to the astounded crowd. "Pray listen to him my good people. We think we have solved the problem of the tricatops but we have not. We should have tried to communicate with them, learn of their ways. Yes and respect, what to us is an aggressive way of behaving but perhaps........

As Cedric, Melissa and William teleported back to 2015 they knew they had to figure out what was going on and then teleport back in history again to correct what was wronged. Otherwise the world change forever! Then all knew they needed Bertha to help as she was the strongest of them all when it came to this sorcery that was needed.

Bertha ignored their exhortation to help preferring to toot on her flute, turning her back on the impossible world, lost in the music she heard in her head which was slightly better than the music she played. Her previous life had been no picnic more a continuous lunch and she

preferred the hynotic music to let her escape from the world. She was not called Big Bertha for nothing.She sat, budda-like, blubber bulging,bolstering her senses and let the air take over her thoughts, to shield herself from the pains and reality of living. Meanwhile Cedric,Lara, the reporter and the two sirs had a pow wow. It was a good match. Each brought their own strength and gifts to the discussion. "I can teleport", said Will and you Sir Motrym can be philosophical and can consider all options. Cedric is the peace maker. What we need now is

is an intellect capable of harnessing the talents and forging a workable plan of action; he or she must

some how get Bertha back as she was the glue, each of their talents where useless without the Bertha Glue. So it was decided Melissa was going to go and talk to Bertha and try and make her see she was the back bone of the group and was needed urgently. So Melissa went and saw Bertha and after an hour talking to her she arrived back to Cedric with some news. 'She will only come back if William De Smyth will leave.' Melissa bowed her head at William so he wouldn't see her face go red. 'Sorry William' she said in a small voice.

"I wonder Will. Could you go to the Old Dog and Duck and ask dear John what was in his letter and perhaps get some grog. I'm dying to know what was said and to be honest Will your elixir has a strange effect on me and several others " she said with a smirk. Will looked pleased and leapt upon his steed- his mobility scooter. He purred and the scooter purred and snaked up the hill. Will was secretly pleased to be rid of the group and with a backward wave disappeard.Dottie looked aghast."Don't we need Will to help us" The rest of the group exchanged side-long glances. Cedric, eyes askance, Muttered, "We need Will like a pain the arse. He's a good man but not in circumstances like these. He tends to act first and think later and now we need more than a modicum of diplomacy.To be honest Dot, your dabbling in the black arts has left us all with trouble trouble, Double jeopardy. You may have magiced the tricatops away but now we have turbulent cascading torrents of water everywhere. I don't know about you but I do not have fully-comprehensive insurance against waterr damage and my garden will be washed away, along with my plants. Not to mention my pottting shed." Motrym sighed:"God this man is impossible, concerned only with the minuitia of life. We need to look at the bigger picture (secretly he did have fully comp.) What I would do" he said, " is to pray" As a philosopher he had considered religion and found it wanting but he did have a vested interest- Shares in the monastries and a horde of gold to sell for the making of icons. He also knnew that many were scared of the pagans, their one-ness with the earth and their supposed orgies. "We could be liike the Ark but an Ark of people and..............

what we need are a number of cubits and a span or two, also a couple of years to construct a vessel capable of safely floating. A boat with a shallow draught and towering superstructure would only lead to disaster eventually, perhaps tying ourselves to a raft would be best. Praying about it wont work, will only waste time and disappoint those credulous enough to believe in a deity. Then again as we've already used one form of magic perhaps prayer

will suffice but I doubt it. Just in case let's build a raft." The men collected axes and began to fell trees. The women, knowing their place collected animal hides which they tore into strips "Bertha" said Motrym can you collect your caudroon and some of you otherrs take panniers and go to the abyss. Some of that solidified viscuous stuff, when melted could waterproof the raft, I think. It's worth a try. Lara could you make a fire and bake some dampers? As they harder than bread. As the torrents of water may well swamp us we need hard tack to sustain us. There will be plenty of fish, provided they are not poisoned. The children can gather nuts and fruit. It's Autumn and there is a bumper crop and it will take their minds off ttheir fears. Cedric would have preferred to join the kids but under Motryms eagle eye, he reluctantly took an axe and began to chop. He hated destroying natural things. He secretly thought building an ark was a waste of time but decided to tow the line. The women bent to their tasks,muttering and casting black looks at Motrym. They, too, thought it was a waste of their labours. Motrym, not wanting to blister his hands, began to stack up empty bladders. These would add buoyancy to the raft when inflated. All of them beavered all day until the gathering dusk made their toils nigh impossible. Hands cramped and bodies acheing they ceased their labours and........