I'll Be Dog-Gone (12)

I'll Be Dog-Gone (12)

ArtistStudio -- Chryse wonders about the deck, listening

to music which only she can hear. So slight - only a bard would notice - music leaking from somewhere - a harp - not badly played - but a lot of mistakes. The same song played again with fewer mistakes, more refinements. "Someone's composing," Chryse thought. The music was lovely - but dark, sad, in a minor key.

She followed the music, turning her head just so, and a little more and suddenly part of the ship blurred. She sees Artist sitting on the stern bench, playing a harp - not badly - getting better with each pass through the growing song. The rest of the ship is shrouded from her vision - the sounds of the ship dimmed - even the motion seems less.

Chryse unlimbers her lute. After hearing the song grow, she is easily able to play a counterpoint to it. With her melodies she weaves her own mood into the music, until the chords and melodies trip along - moving in an entirely different direction and ending on a high note.

"Sorry to change the mood of your song - it was beautiful - but so slow and heavy."

Artist smiles and leans back. The harp vanishes. "Don't apologize. It was lovely - and much needed."

"You know I've never known you to look tired. But you look it now."

"Well, in the past 48 hours I've been a cocker spaniel, a dragon, a bloodhound, a dogfish (briefly) and a frog. I've been filled with poisonous sorcery, pumped up like an overcharged battery, chained, beaten, cut, my blood has been drained and nearly every bone in my body broken and my organs destroyed. Queen Maleficent and I traded bodies twice and those were the more pleasant bits. I do believe I've earned a few gray hairs." Artist closes his eyes for a moment, then looks at Chryse and smiles. "You are a wonderful musician."

"As are you - but if you were playing an illusionary harp, why were you making mistakes? Couldn't you just make the harp produce the sounds you want?"

"Then I wouldn't be getting any practice. I really do play the harp and I have to practice to be able to do it." Artist gestures and his harp re-appears. "Another round? You start this time."

Chryse selects a classic rondo and Artist joins in. Their music seeps out of the illusiory bubble which conceals them on the stern and becomes a quiet background for the Scoobs, calming the dogs in the hold. Below the mechanic and Viridian sway unconciously to the music as they work on the engine.

JilaCosa -- Coming up on deck...

to enjoy the sunlight, the fresh air, and the whisper of music, Jila sees 'Ghost drifting away from Drum who is standing at the bow of the longboat He wears an intense look on his face, the look a cross between deep thought and trying to see something on the horizon. She walks quietly to his side trying not to disturb his thoughts but trying to be noticed at the same time. Drum turns slightly in her direction as acknowledgement of her presence.

"Hey." she says quietly "Mind some company?"

"Hmmm." he replies just as quietly "I'm not sure I'm very good company just about now."

"That's okay." Jila sighs "Maybe I'm not such great company either. I'm going to miss flying. I went flying with Peter Pan you know."

"Oh really?" Drum half grins.

"Yeah. It's always been a wish...a dream of mine that I could fly. Only in my dream it never took pixie dust to accomplish so I guess that will never happen again."

"Really?" Drum whispers and moves his fingers ever so slightly "Are you sure?"

Turning, Jila looks at Drum with a look of puzzlement on her face. "What do you mean....." As she speaks she notices that she is now taller than Drumheller. She quickly looks at her feet which are now about a foot off the deck. She looks back at his face and the mischief has almost returned to his eyes as he grins broadly. "Okay, Smart Guy, Put Me Down!!" Jila says laughing.

"We'll see." Is all Drum says as he turns back to the bow of the ship.

KaraS -- The longboat suddenly lurched to a halt.

"Hey! What was that?" Chryse asked as she pitched backward into Artist's arms.

"Ouch!" Drum said as he fell forward and hit his knee on the boat's prow.

"O great! What now?" Rae said as she picked herself up from the floor of the infirmary.

"Woof! Bark! Hooooowl!!" came from the hold.

"Hey!" Ragnar yelled down at the mechanic.

"Wasn't my fault, the engines are working fine at the moment." the mechanic shouted back.

"Uh oh." Sweetiepie said. "Rag, I think we got a problem."

Then a giant tentacle came up from the water and started to wind about the longboat's stern...

Drumheller -- Drum picked himself up off the deck

"Great, just what I need right know!" He said as he quickly canceled the spell he'd put on Jila.

Jila landed, safely, back on the deck.

"I'll be right back, Jila!" Drum said, then turned, and ran back below deck, to his room.

************************************************************

6th sat at the table, idly scratching Louie on the head, lost in thought. Suddenly the door flew open a Drumheller rushed in.

"What's going...." She began as the ship rocked and tossed her out of her chair.

"Are you ok?" Drum asked as he ran to her.

"Yeah, I think so." She said as she pick herself up off the floor. "What the frell was that!"

"I think we're under attack!" He replied. "All I saw was a giant tentacle come up over the side!"

"We'd better get up there then!" 6th said, heading for the door.

"I'll be right there." Drum replied as he started to rummage through one of his bags. "I know I got a lightning wand in here somewhere!"

"Well hurry up! I'll meet you topside!" She said as she ran out of the room.

"Ok, ok. I'm coming!" Drum yelled grabbing up the whole bag. "I'll just take it all then, I'm sure there's SOMETHING in here I can use!"

Drumheller then rushed out the door and followed 6th back up to the deck.....

Viridian -- “Breakin’ up is hard to do.....”

Viridian leaned back against the rough bark of the ancient tree that served as the housing for Peter’s lair and sighed deeply. The yelling within had gone on for some time now; it had been punctuated by ominous silences. Wendy had wanted to handle this on her own which suited Viridian just fine. She had been through her own dramatic departure many years before and had no desire to relive the sight of Peter’s rage at being abandoned. The lull of silence ended with more yelling and the sound of something breakable crashing into pieces. Viridian’s head whipped around toward the entrance and she started toward the hole that hid the door to the lair. She opened the door to be greeted with Wendy’s terse voice. “It’s all right Harriet.” Viridian inhaled the oh, so familiar scents of damp earth, over-baked rice pudding, (Peter’s favorite), and dirty laundry and closed the little door.

It struck her suddenly how weird it all was; the fighting below sounded like the the brittle ending of a marriage, not two angry children yelling at each other. And yet they weren’t really children, she mused, any more than she had been after decades of living. As much as Peter wanted to stay a child forever, the sheer experience of being alive guaranteed the subtle hardening of one’s soul.

Why, she wondered, had there been so much Real Life fascination with Peter and the Lost Children? Was it simply the Victorians’ penchant for the over sentimentalization of childhood? Was it a case of the grass being greener on the other side of puberty? Perhaps adults like Mr. Barrie, who had first written about Peter, would have felt differently if they had actually lived in the dank hollow of the tree she leaned against. Still, she had to admit, the unrelenting straight-jacket of Victorian womanhood that she had once faced would have been worse. Viridian thought of corsets and Miss Leech, the sour faced nanny who had ruthlessly tried to crush a young Vi’s spirit to resemble the demure and repressed women of the rest of her family and she shuddered. No wonder she had run away.

Her thoughts were disturbed by the rustling of leaves to her right. Instantly on alert, she turned toward the noise to be greeted by the sight of Hook in all his tattered, bloated and malevolent glory. He leered at her.

“I know who ye be, Missy Harriet,” he hissed, his sneering interrupted by a loud belch. Oh dren, Viridian thought, he’s drunk. “My, my, my, the years have been kind to thee.” He lurched closer.

Viridian said nothing, only waited quietly. She gathered her strength and watched how he was moving. He waved his hook at her. “That brat is losing all his womenfolk, HA!” His spittle flew past Vi’s face; she didn’t blink. He lunged at her. She stepped to one side and taking advantage of his own momentum, threw him over her shoulder. He landed on his back with a dull thud. As he lay there, momentarily stunned, she stepped closer and brought the heel of her foot down hard on his unprotected groin. The bellow of pain brought Peter and Wendy out of the hidey-hole. They were greeted with the sight of Viridian grimly tying Hook up with duct tape. Talk about confronting one’s past, Vi thought. She stood up and looked at the small boy who had been the center of her life for too many years. “He’s all yours,” she told him. He gaped at her astonished. She had to agree with him; she was astonished herself. What would her very Victorian mother have thought? she wondered. She shrugged the question away and knew that Rae and 6th would be very proud of her. Their self defense lessons had not been forgotten.

Wendy dropped her bag down by Viridian’s feet. The woman and the girl looked at each other, then turned to say goodbye to the boy, but he was gone-- his rejection of them standing in the place where he had just been.

“Let’s go,” Wendy finally said.

********************************************

Bouyed by Dramamine and Tinkerbell’s fairy dust, Viridian studied the GPSS to find the location of the Longboat. She had left Wendy safely ensconced at the Mansion, under the watchful eye of the Scapers who ran the Farscape daycare center. A long, hot bubble bath and a nap later, she had felt ready to take on some more adventures. Now, even though she knew the where the Longboat was, she opted for landing directly at the wharf at Classics Land. She did so and blew a kiss at the departing Tinkerbell, who flew off in a shower of sparkly light and fairy dust. Then Viridian took in her surroundings.

Although she had never been to Classics Land, the circumstances of her life had made her very familiar with what lay ahead. From the outside, Classics Land looked merely like an island with an enormous mountain rising from it. Beyond the wharf, snug up against the mountain was a large, plain building with huge rolling doors. Vi knew it was The Movie Studio, the entrance into Classics Land. The adventures that waited for the Scoobys were behind those doors and within the mountain. With nothing more to do than wait, Vi unfolded her portable chair, pulled out her copy of the latest Shelby Loven novel, sat down and began to read.

Raven-Kat -- “What the -- “

Rae stumbles out of the infirmary, still not feeling quite herself, and regards the scene on deck. "Giant squid?" Rae flees below-deck. *Thor, I need shrinking powder!*

*Do NOT hold out on me, young man!* Rae yells (mentally) at him *Get the powder and get it to Sixth!* Rae runs into a storage-hold.

Sweetie comes swooping in after her. "Bad time to lose your nerve, bird-brain!"

Rae faces him with an odd smile. "Me, lose my nerve? As if!" Rae scrambles for a pile of canvas lying alone in a corner and pulls it away to reveal a pile of pulse-rifles and gas grenades. "NOW we can fight..."

JilaCosa -- Once her feet hit the deck.....

Jila starts running. She stumbles a bit as the deck rocks under her. Making her way over to Chryse and Artist she skids to a stop.

"Are you two alright?"

Artist winks and holds Chryse a little tighter. "We're fine." Artist chuckles as he helps Chryse back to her seat.

"Great, I'm going to round up Mouse and Kaybe and make sure the dogs make it through this without getting too banged up." With that she takes her leave of Artist and Chryse and heads below deck. She weaves her way down the cabin hallway and bangs on the doors of the others. "Hey! Come On! There's trouble up above and if we don't take care of the dogs they'll either get out or get pretty banged up!"

Kaybe was the first out of her cabin. "Honey! She'll get trampled in there with all of those big dogs!" Kaybe bolts for the hold where the dogs were kept.

Mouse stumbles out of her door as the boat is rocked by the octopus again. "Dren. Juno is Not going to like this at all."

Jila makes one last mad dash up the stairs and heads for the pilothouse to see if Ragnar needs anything before she joins Mouse and Kaybe with the dogs. As she clears the stairs, she hears music drifting through the air.

"They're playing NOW? With that octopus rocking the Longboat? What in Hezmana are they thinking???"

Raven-Kat -- As Rae checks the charge

on the pulse-rifles, she finds herself singing.

"So I'd like to know when you got the notion...

Yeah, I'd like to know where you got the notion.

Don't rock the boat baby!

Don't tip the boat over!

Sweetie clears his throat. "If you're quite finished..."

"Right, sorry." Still singing, Rae grabs several of the pulse rifles and brings them on deck.

Chryse74 -- Chryse automatically checked her lute

as Jila dashed away. The instrument was the most important thing in the world to her. It was the source of much her strength and magic.

Wondering why she wasn't hearing Artist check his harp. She looked up at Artist and noticed his empty hands. *That's right, it was a illusion in the first place.* she thought. Had they still been in CartoonLand, a bright bulb would have appeared above Chryse's head.

"Artist, quick, bring back your harp. And no practicing this time."

"You want to play another tune? We are being attacked, my dear."

"I can use my music to help with that. But I'm going to need your help. Bring back the harp!"

Artist nodded and the harp was back in his hands. "My magic isn't related to music Chryse. I won't be able to help you much."

"It won't matter, I need you to play something with a strong rhythm, a strong beat. A minor key would help too, just a bit of atonality."

"You've got it." Artist began to play. Chryse listened for a few moments before joining, nodding her approval of his music. It was close enough to what she wanted to change it easily.

Again, she changed the tone of the music, making it more insistent, more martial, more compelling. Her magic began to manifest itself as the music grew louder than it a mere harp and lute could achieve. As the rest of the Scoobies heard it, they felt more confident that the giant squid could be defeated. Unfortunately, it also made the dogs a bit harder to control. They wanted to go back on the deck and attack the creature.

But the real magic was working elsewhere. . .

The longboat had been sailing through an area of large kelp beds. The Scoobs hadn't really noticed because the plants were far below them, almost impossible to see. But the giant squid had made it's home among them and it's tentacles were covered in seaweed. Seeing that, Chryse had directed the music underwater, to reach down into the depths of the ocean to the kelp beds far below.

The Druidic power in the music had an immediate effect on the plants. The music Chryse and Artist were making grabbed them, cajoled them, and insisted that the tendrils come to the surface.

After a minute or two of hearing the music, Rae gasped as she saw the large leaves of the kelp come up around the squid and begin to entwine themselves around the beak and tentacles of the monster.

Chryse and Artist had gotten up from their position and walked over to where they could have a good view of the kelp and the squid, still playing the seaweed charming music.

As the kelp wrapped itself around the monster, they changed the music again. Now the seaweed began to squeeze the monster and pull it off the boat.

The Longboat began to rock dangerously as the squid fought the music and the enchanted kelp. Rae quickly got to her senses and resumed her attack against the monster with her PK weaponry.

Sixth was also up the deck firing at the monstrosity. Ragnar saw the beast's distraction and began hacking away at one of the tentacles. Rae and Sixth changed their firing patterns slightly to avoid hitting Ragnar but still gave him cover from the other tentacles.

Drum wanted to help but felt that trying any of his magic would probably break the spell Chryse and Artist had woven and decided it would be best to pick up one of Rae's pulse rifles instead.

The squid now had an enraged Viking hacking at one of it's limb, 3 projectile weapons firing at it and tendrils of seaweed squeezing and pulling it off the ship. In a desperate attempt to break free and save itself, it abruptly let go of the longboat, setting it rocking in the water.

Everyone toppled over. For a brief, terrifying moment, all was silent. The boat rocked backwards and the kelp tendrils went limp. Then Chryse's lute sang it's song again and the seaweed regained it's hold on the monster.

"Quick, finish it! I can't play for much longer"

Rae got up and got out the biggest gun any of the others had ever seen. Aiming for the squid's large eyes. She fired a shot. A loud BOOM rang out over the ship and all was obscured by a large cloud of smoke. A huge THUMP was heard and the longboat started rocking again.

Ragnar sniffed the air. "Smells like.......fried calamari."

The smoke cleared and the gang saw the giant squid, partially on the deck, with a large black edged hole in it's head. The beak was gone, the eyes were gone, the thing was dead. And it was still covered in seaweed.

Chryse slumped down to the deck. The lute was speckled with blood from her fingertips.

ArtistStudio -- “Calamari anyone?” Rae cackles, slicing

the dead squid into large strips with expert shots of her pulse rifle, then using her sorcery to cook the slices in the entangling kelp and drag them on-board. She adds spices from Kaybee's collection - calling them up on deck as she needs them.

Artist cradles Chryse in his arms, kissing her bleeding fingertips. He watches in fascination as her lute shrinks, the instrument becoming a tiny gold medallion, the strap becoming a fine chain about her neck.

A relieved look crosses Drumheller's face as he watches Chryse relax back into Artist's arms, laughing softly at something the illusionist says about beautiful music. The wizard wraps an arm around 6th and wonders a little as she smiles at the illusionist and the bard, then nestles her face into Drum's shoulder.

The stench of the raw squid becomes a succulant aroma as Rae expertly adds spices and cooks it more, cooking it in mid-air. The Scoobs adjust to the idea of eating their attacker. Ragnar laughs as Rae uses her magic to hold the strips up for him. The viking expertly slices the strips into servings, sending them flying across the ship to serve the Scoobs with sweeps of his broadsword - tossing the razor sharp weapon from hand to hand as he does so.

Sweetiepie Parrot catches a strip in mid-air and carries it to the crow's nest to peck at the spiced kelp.

"Well," says Kara, dragging more of the squid on-board. "The dogs won't go hungry for some time now."

"Chewey," Jila mutters appreciatively around a thick piece. "Where'd you learn to cook, Rae?"

Rae looks briefly confused - then shoots a glance at Artist. The illusionist has his hands full, talking quietly with the bard in his arms. The sorceress contemplates a fitting reward for the unwanted knowledge of seafood and spices, but for once settles for chewing on a slice of squid and muttering around it. It was a good recipie, after all.

Drumheller -- “Finally!” Drum said to himself.

"I can now get back to my studies!" Drumheller glanced at 6th and added, "Would you care to join me? Louie would love the company too."

"Sure!" She said. "Besides, there's some interesting trinkets in there I'd like to check out."

"Wait a minute, what's this?" Drum said as he reached a hand up to 6th's ear.

Pulling his hand back, a long-stemmed flower appeared in his hand.

"Drum, it's beautiful!" She said, smiling, admiring the large curling orange-yellow petals. "What's it called?"

"It's a Bracki flower," He said as 6th took the flower and smelled it. "it can be used to make healing potions."

"It smells nice." She said. "Thank you!"

"I thought you'd like it." Drum replied, and led her back to his room.

As they passed the rest of the gang, Drum chanted another quick spell, and began to laugh softly to himself, as Jila again began to rise up off the deck.....

KaraS -- Then passed three days of tranquility

The longboat made it's way limpingly toward Classic land. The Scoobies cleaned and repaired it, both magicly and by hand. There was, unfortunately, nothing they could do about replacing the mast out at sea, but the longboat had functioned for years without one after all. Sweetiepie did miss the crows nest though.

Several times they brought the dogs out on deck.

"Hey!" Ragnar yelled from the wheelhouse. "Sixth!!!"

A pack of excited dogs flowed out of the wheelhouse like water and raced around the deck.

Artist laughed at the dog's antics as he and Chryse sat in the boat's stern.

"They sure know how to annoy Ragnar." he said.

"Yes, they do." Chryse giggled. "Come here Honey! Honey! Come baby!"

The little cocker spaniel ran up wagging her tail. Chryse patted and hugged her.

"She's an awfully pretty dog." Artist said.

"Yes." Chryse said. "She's my baby."

Artist knelt on the deck and allowed the puppy to jump up in his arms and lick his face.

"Oh yes, pretty baby." he cooed. Chryse laughed.

"Good puppy." Artist crooned. "Good doggie. Come to papa."

As the little dog jumped up and wiggled all over him Artist found himself becoming... excited. Suddenly he realized what was happening.

"AAgghhh!" he yelped, jumping up.

"What is it?" Chryse asked, petting the offended Honey.

"I've... got to go." Artist choked out. Then he ran for his cabin.

Sweetiepie landed on the rail next to Chryse.

"What was THAT all about?" Chryse asked.

"Once a dog, always a dog." the bird chuckled. "And I think Honey's coming into heat."

"Oh dear." Chryse said.

ArtistStudio -- Candlelight, wine, cheese, and a grand

Piano on the deck. Artist tickles the keys as Chryse lays across the lid of the piano - a microphone in her hand (though no sound system is evident.) The lady bard wears a slinky green dress that glitters in the moonlight and candlelight - making her absolutely stunning.

The Scoobs sit on the deck, enraptured by the concert - fascinated by Chryse's spell - Artist's magic writhing subtly across the deck. They enjoy the wine and cheese and fruit. The soft moonlight turns everything grey as the boat pulls into dock at Classicland...

That is Artist's spell turns everything grey - or rather black and white. The Scoob's clothing changes - everyone in formal attire from the 30's - all the men have fedoras - Artist's is white. His tux becomes a 30's suit and tie - all white.

Chryse slides her hands along the shoulders of each Scoob as she sings - and each Scoob feels a change - new mannerisms available - cooler, slicker, tougher. A confidence of action in their manners.

The lady bard ends her song on the piano bench, her arms wrapped around Artist, her cheek against his neck as they put the finishing touches on thier joint spell.

Viridian -- “Land Ho!”

Finally, the Longboat made it to the coast of Classics Land. Ragnar waved at Viridian, who had made herself quite comfortable while waiting. She continued reading while her pals departed the Longboat. When the last of them stood on land, she got up, folded her chair and packed up her portable grill.

Ragnar came over to her. “What are you reading?” he asked. She handed him the Shelby Loven novel. A series of strange expressions played over his face as he studied the cover. “You read these?” He tried to sound casual.

“Oh yeah,” Vi replied, taking the book from his hands. “She writes great books. Pretty spicy stuff,” she grinned and winked at him. “I know-- not something you’d ever read!”

Great Grundel, he thought, why did she wink? Does she know?

Ragnar was spared from further worry by the arrival of 6th and Rae by his side. “So is this it?” Rae wanted to know. “I thought there was more to it than this.”

Ragnar indicated the building. “It’s all in there.” He looked around at his friends. “Are we ready?” Heads nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

******************************************************

The huge doors rolled open slowly. The Scoobies paused at the threshold, trying to see in the darkness that lay before them. “Are you sure this is the right place?” Kaybe asked in a soft voice.

“It’s the right place. This is The Movie Studio.” Artist told her. He stepped into the dark; the others followed. Classics Land was all about illusion, the illusionist explained to his friends.

“So you’ve been here before?” Kara wanted to know. Artist nodded.

The doors silently closed behind them, causing more than one Scooby to gasp in dismay. The darkness enveloped them. In a few moments, their eyes became accustomed to what was actually dim light. They were in a cavernous space. It was empty save for a shimmering wall-- the source of the light-- that lay ahead of them.

The Scoobies moved slowly toward the wall. They stayed together; looking around them in quiet apprehension. Chryse pointed at the floor. “Look at that.”

There was a path painted on the floor. It resembled movie film and led to the wall. “I guess we’re going the right way.” Mouse observed.

At the wall, they all stopped. The wall danced before them like quicksilver. “Now what?” Viridian whispered.

Artist gestured with a flourish toward the glowing wall. “This is how we enter-- it’s the way in.”

“Okay... in we go.” Rae announced. She stepped forward into the wall and disappeared. The others soon followed, until The Movie Studio lay quiet and empty.

*************************************************

The Scoobies stepped out from an enormous movie screen into a huge theater. It too was empty and the stillness made the giant place seem peaceful.

“Where are we?” 6th demanded. She turned to her friends. “Oooh, boys, look at you!”

“Jila, you look great!”

“What the frell am I WEARING?” That last one was from Rae, who stood dumbfounded, staring at the midnight blue satin evening dress that started from off her shoulders and draped itself smoothly to her feet. She gaped at her friends--

The guys were dressed formally in black tuxedos; beards were trimmed neatly and their hair was slicked back in place. Each sported a white silk handkerchief in the breast pocket of their jackets. Spyral stared in amazement at the gold cuff links he wore, his one wing looked pearly against his black tux. The guys had never looked so debonair.

All the women looked sleek in their evening dresses. 6th wore a deep green, Kaybe’s was a rich chocolate brown; both colors made the red-heads’ hair glow with an inner fire. Sapphires dripped from the lobes of Chryse’s pointed ears and matched the royal blue she wore. Mousie was in violet, Sun Aeryn shone in gold, Ghost shimmered in the palest blue. Kara, hand on hip, fingered the pearls around her neck and decided that black satin wasn’t so bad. Jila spun around in a circle; the skirt of her ruby dress floated around her. She giggled delightedly.

Artickat, on the other hand, would have none of it. She stood with shoulders slumped, given half a chance, she would slink out of the white silk she wore. “Why in the hezmana do I haveta’ wear a DRESS?” she growled.

Viridian glided up to her, draped in rose satin. “It could be worse, Artic,” she offered, “remember the pink taffeta Lochinar stuck you in?”

“Yowzer! ‘course I do-- as should you!” she poked Vi in the arm. “Since you now own it!”

Kara and 6th came over to Artist. He bowed to the ladies and they curtsied, laughing. Ragnar swept Mouse into his arms and humming a tune, began.to waltz. Spyral soon followed suit with Chryse, as did Drumheller with a startled Rae.

Viridian wandered over to the edge of the stage they were on. She looked out over the theater at the rows of red velvet seats, the three balconies that rose in the back, to the ceiling high above them, a series of arches with lighting coves separating each arch. Jila came over to stand next to her. “I know where we are,” Viridian announced.

“So do I,” Jila said.

Kaybe joined them. “It sure is a big place-- I wonder how many people can fit in here?”

“6,682,” came out of Vi’s mouth.

“It was designed by Donald Deskey.” This from Jila.

The two women stared at each other, their faces moving from looks of question to open surprise. Their eyes got bigger and bigger, then Viridian snatched up the skirts of her dress and executed a precise high kick-- Jila then did the same. With a squeal of delight, the two fell into each other’s arms, laughing and chattering excitedly.

“I can’t believe you did it too!”

“Oh, YEARS ago!”

“Do you remember Violet?”

“Do you remember Russell??”

Kaybe looked at Artickat. “Do you know what they talking about?”

“Frell if I know.”

Jila and Vi finally looked up at the expectant faces of their friends. “It seems we had the same job at one time.” Jila announced, trying not to giggle.

“Which was?” Ragnar prompted. Artist was smiling broadly.

“We were ROCKETTES!” Viridian shouted gleefully and then launched into a dance routine with Jila joining in. It was near to impossible to do high kicks in long dresses, but they did their best. They finished their dance to the applause of the other Scoobies.

“So I guess we are in Radio City Music Hall?” Spyral asked, when the clapping died down.

“That we are,” Artist answered. “It opened in...” he looked at Jila.

“1932!” she answered.

“Well then, follow me,” Artist instructed. The Scoobies followed him over to stage right and then down a set of steps and into the auditorium itself. They went up one of the aisles, under the overhang of the First Mezzanine and out into the Grand Foyer. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the 60 foot high mural that dominated the Grand Staircase and the gold leaf that adorned the ceiling.

“It’s real gold leaf,” Viridian told Kaybe, pointing at the ceiling.