Disclaimer, the usual.
About a week later dorothy and alex found themselves at the village. The village's name, was just the village, it was an odd place where animals, including birds and insects as well had to take on a form similar to that of a human. The mayor, a he was always called. Was keeper of a special enchantment granted to him by Roquat the Nome king. There was however a catch, if a creature left the village they would return to their original form.
"It didn't used to be that way." The mayor would often say to anyone who asked.
There was once a time where an added enchantment could be used to allow the creatures to keep their human like form outside of the village, but after Madeline's assistant, Wendell, left and never came back, the mayor never allowed use of the enchantment again.
Now in the village dorothy and alex were taking tea with the mayor and some of his best companions.
"so, how are things?" Hawkeye asked
"They've been good, how have you all been?" Dorothy asked.
"decent, but the mayor's son and wife are coming 'round today and staying for the week, borders close tonight." Hawkeye said.
"didn't you once say that his son liked to try and climb on your back?" alex asked.
"indeed." The mayor said walking in with a tray of little cakes.
"where's Beatrice at sir?" Hawkeye asked.
"the cellar, getting some Lacasa." The mayor said offering alex and dorothy the tray.
"so, dorothy, how have Ozma's swimming lessons been going?" Alex asked.
"not as well as I would like, she seems to have a panic attack every time she hits the water, and worse yet, she sinks like a stone." Dorothy said sighing.
"is the queen afraid of water?" Hawkeye asked.
"not sure, though she's normally more open with me than she is with anyone else, either she's not sure about it herself, or she just is frightened to tell me." Dorothy said.
"I'm going to go with she doesn't know, I mean, I've heard Glinda mumble in passing that there are plenty of fairies that can swim." Alex said.
"it's true, and it's not just lake sprites or other water fairies either, all fairies can swim, most just choose not to." The mayor said.
"can fay swim?" Hawkeye asked.
"not sure, not sure she's ever left the woods either." The mayor said as Beatrice walked in with a large red bottle of Lacasa.
"so, why didn't you bring your pets this time?" Beatrice asked looking at dorothy.
"they didn't want to come, said thanks but no, they prefer to keep their present shape." Dorothy said.
"well they were only in those shapes for a few days last time." Beatrice said pouring each of them some of the contents of the bottle.
"yes, and they thought it was novel at first but it doesn't seem to be something they're keen on." Dorothy said.
"you were telling me about that before we came out here." alex said.
"wait, are you two going to stay the week or are you going to try to make it out of town before my wife and son get here?" the mayor asked.
"well, I'd like to meet them, but staying for a week…I'd have to think about that, how long do we have?" dorothy asked
"about an hour and a half your majesty." Beatrice said.
Dorothy sighed and looked at the clock. It was just passed noon.
"dorothy, why don't you make a royal decree or something, making yourself and your friends immune to the laws?" Beatrice asked.
"I'm not sure that's how royalty works, and also, I would never do that." Dorothy said.
"anyone for coffee?" Hawkeye asked trying to quickly change the subject.
"Hawkeye, we already have tea, cookies, Lacasa, and a bunch of other refreshments, besides, you're the only one here who drinks the stuff." The mayor said.
"Hey remember that fruit bat, he used to drink it too." Hawkeye said.
"yes, because coffee for whatever reason temporarily restored his vision, I hear he runs a rather nice den in the caves of mount munch." Beatrice said.
"yes, that's what I've been told." Hawkeye replied.
Suddenly however there was the sound of stones against the window. The mayor went over to it and opened it.
"Mayor! The door is jammed again! "came the voice of Clarence, a former caterpillar
"are you sure it's not just locked this time? I haven't heard from El Gato all day." The mayor said.
"knob turns, but its jammed, and I'm not strong enough to push against it." Clarence said.
dorothy and alex both watched over the rims of their teacups as the mayor shut the window and walked down stairs.
"stupid doors' been getting jammed for the last month, even his son can't get it open when it jams, but of all the things we don't have, a carpenter is on that list." Beatrice said.
"well, I think that decided it for us." Dorothy said.
"How do you mean?" Beatrice asked.
Alex stood up and smiled.
"I, just happen to be a carpenter by trade, I'll look at it." he said going downstairs.
Hawkeye and Beatrice both stood up and walked over to the stairs and listened, dorothy did listen but she stayed where she was.
"what are you doing alex?" questioned the mayor.
"I'm a carpenter by trade." He replied.
"oh, well, by all means, take a look, this door has been irritating me for the last month." The mayor said.
"we had a colony o carpenter ants come through maybe seven years ago, terrible carpenters in this form, great dancers though." Beatrice said only to be shushed by Hawkeye.
"seems the wood warped, you didn't replace this door after the soldiers busted it down?" alex asked.
"Nope, it was still serviceable at the time, and that was nearly nine months ago." The mayor said.
"you should have had it replaced, I mean there's a gigantic and easily noticeable crack going straight through the middle, it appears the wood warped has there been a lot of rain recently?" alex asked.
"rain? Not for the last week no." the mayor said.
"well the wood appears to have swollen and warped." Alex said.
"new door is needed, then isn't it?" the mayor asked.
"I'd need to get my toolbox from home or have Madeline do it for me, but yea a new door would be preferable, trying to shave down the door would just cause problems in the future." Alex said.
Dorothy smiled and being thinking about the toolbox alex had built himself, it was made from his name sake wood, teak. It was made from cast off bits of the wood, it had a unique look, a bit like a puzzle. At that moment, however Madeline's voice was heard down stairs.
"you called?" Madeline said.
Immediately Beatrice and Hawkeye turned to dorothy, who shrugged.
"Madeline, can you pop home and grab my toolbox?" alex asked.
"Sure, back in a flash." She replied
Suddenly however dorothy found a piece of paper falling into her lap. Picking it up she found it was a note from Glinda and Ozma, giving her their blessing to stay in the village for a week. She smiled and set the paper down on the table in front of her.
"Thanks Madeline." Alex said.
"no trouble, hi mayor, nice seeing you, say hi to Clarence and el Gato for me." Madeline said.
"aren't you going to say hi to dorothy?" alex asked.
"I already delivered the message from Glinda and Ozma giving you two their blessing to stay here for the week, what more do ya want?" Madeline asked.
"an actual hi would be nice!" dorothy shouted.
"HI!" Madeline shouted up the stairs.
"well, talk to you later then Madeline." Alex said.
"yep." She said.
"you know, she really freaks me out sometimes." The mayor said.
"same, hey do you think that window is large enough for me to climb through?" Alex asked.
"yes, why?" The mayor asked.
"he's going to have to get the door open." Dorothy said.
"I need to get the door open, and since Clarence said he isn't strong enough one of us has to push the door while the other one pulls." Alex said.
A moment later the sound of the window opening, and a few seconds after, the sound of the door being forced open. Followed by the sounds of the
"hey, where'd those suitcases come from?" the mayor asked.
"Madeline I imagine." Alex said.
"well, anything you need?" the mayor asked.
"um, not that I can think of, other than materials to make a new door with." Alex said.
"I'll see what I can get." The mayor said.
"thanks." Alex replied.
"but first I should probably see what Clarence wanted in the first place." The mayor said.
"seems like a good place to start." Alex said.
And with that alex came back upstairs and walked over to dorothy, kissed her on the cheek, and smiled.
"First real job outside of Kansas." He said.
"yes." Dorothy said.
"should be fun." He said.
"well, I guess, I mean, I won't be doing much." She said.
"you could help try to keep the mayor's son in line." Hawkeye suggested.
Dorothy looked at alex, he stared at her with a relatively blank expression. She shrugged and sighed.
"I can try, I have problems keeping my own charge in line, and all she ever wants to do is read." Dorothy said sighing.
"nothing wrong with that." Beatrice said.
Dorothy smiled and finished her tea. they all basically tried to make idle conversation until the mayor returned. This was after about an hour.
"so, did I miss anything?" the mayor asked downing his cup of now cold tea.
"Not really, hey dorothy can you pass me the scepter for a moment?" alex asked.
Dorothy nodded and grabbed the scepter, which had been quietly floating next to her. handing it to alex he smiled and pointed it at his cup of tea, which he hadn't finished yet. The scepter glowed brightly for a moment and a second later his tea was once more steaming hot.
"alex, if you wanted a fresh cup of tea, the kettle is still on the stove, you could've asked." Beatrice said.
"didn't want to be a bother." He said handing the scepter back to dorothy.
"alex, I'm going to have to side with Beatrice here, and so far, this is one of the most hypocritical things you've done." Dorothy said.
"how do you mean?" alex asked.
"you're the one who says magic isn't the answer to everything." Dorothy said leaning over and kissing him
"yes, but how often do I use it?" alex asked.
"touché." Dorothy said sighing and grabbing a small cake from the plate on the table.
"anyways we've got about half an hour till the mayor's son and wife get here." Alex said.
"yep, then the chaos ensues." Beatrice said picking a piece of fluff from her dress and brushing it to the floor.
"speaking of chaos, I haven't heard from el Gato all day." Hawkeye said getting up.
"I know, he normally pops in at least once a day to say hi." Beatrice said.
"perhaps he's ill?" The mayor suggested.
"has that ever stopped him?" Hawkeye asked.
"good point, perhaps he accidentally transported himself out of the village?" the mayor said.
"Or maybe, he's been in the room the whole time and you haven't even noticed." El Gato said coming out from under one of the armchairs.
Dorothy and alex looked at each other, and were glad that he didn't come out from under the couch they were sitting on, as dorothy would have likely spilt the glass of Lacasa she had picked up, and it would have led to a lot of cleaning.
"so, little dotty, how you been?" El Gato asked turning to dorothy.
"I've been going with the flow since we last met, I have to thank you for that advice." Dorothy said not even bothering to try and correct him.
"I'm glad it helped." He replied.
"sadly, it had us parted for a good amount of time." Alex said sighing.
"well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that." El Gato said.
"I think that's about right." Dorothy said yawning and suddenly growing drowsy.
"you alright?" Hawkeye asked.
"a tad tired, it's nothing." Dorothy said.
"why don't you finish up and take a nap?" Beatrice asked.
"Dorothy, I have to side with Beatrice on this one, you were up really early, or really late, I'm not sure, I managed to fall asleep before you." Alex said.
"early, I managed, an hour…" But that was as far as she got before she yawned again.
"dorothy, I'm not a doctor or anything, but I highly doubt that trying to live off an hour of sleep is good for your health." Hawkeye said.
"it isn't and a friend of ours, a retired doctor, has said stuff to that effect." Alex said sighing.
"dorothy, you really should rest." Beatrice said.
Dorothy looked at all of them and sighed. Finishing her drink, she got up and grabbed the scepter and the suitcases before walking to the nearest of the guest rooms. Alex got up and followed her, standing in the door way. Dorothy sighed once again and plopped down on the bed, and the next thing she knew, she blacked out.
