The Barker Street Irregulars case 2 A vision in pink

[Ranger Reid]

Reid walked back into the house with Toby under one arm. 

"I will, but in order for it to work, you need to learn the really simple basic stuff first.  Like a house that has good solid stones on the bottom.  But if you put the work in, you will get really good at it."

[Stella Gaslight]

Toby saw images of himself becoming a hero just like in his books and smiled up at Reid.  "Do you want some cake? Beety brought some and mama's honeyed cakes are the best." Leave it to him to think with his belly.

[Ranger Reid]

Reid enjoyed the moment with Toby.  He expected the child to have a hard future considering the dangerous path he and Celia were on.  It made it all the more tempting to stay.

[Stella Gaslight]

Toby froze as he entered. Where was his mother?  Beety looked unworried and the new people seamed to be looking at him with the same sense of unease.  He would never admit it but he had been sleeping in the same room as mama ever since they came back from the market. Toby had dream after dream where she vanished like smoke between his fingers and it scared him more than anything. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night just to make sure she was still there and breathing.  Trying very hard not to show his fear he asked."Where did mama go?  She didn't finish her food."

[Steampunk Away]

"I am afraid it is real. I do not know what it is. And I am scared. My patrons in Valhalla have given me no messages since this happened, nd it is affecting my sleep. But I have good news."

Abraham moved to uncover something next to his seat.

It was a portrait...

With the main characters missing.

"Sven smuggled this to me late last night, as I was still awake."

[CPT_J_Percell]

As the young elf Knight entered the parlour and dropped his bags, everyone turned towards him, there were gasps and weapons were draw. He lifted his hands away from his swords Held them out to the sides, "My name is Tobias Authorious Wolf and I am told this is my home."
Toby turned around to see what all the fuss was, in front of him stood the older version of him but instead of looking more human like the younger toby, Tobias look more then 20 years older.

[walking stick]

He smiled up at the knight and said "Cake, you must be starving."  He could feel how uncomfortable Tobias was and food always helped when he was scared.

Tobias looked back at the boy, he remembered being that young but had he ever been that hopeful.

Beety offered "Fruitcake, sponge or honey cakes? And would you like tea?"

[Prof. Isambard Ravenwood]

"Use your blocks to your advantage, defend yourself in all places but a few, so you know where your opponent will strike. You see when Reid pulled his blade out from underneath mine and swung upwards, He would've caught me if I didn't anticipate his movements. Also, like Marley showed you, you won't always be fighting against someone who obeys the rules, or even knows fencing, they might just come at you with brute strength and ignorance. In that case, play extra dirty!" Said Mallard.

[Stella Gaslight]

Toby was confused the other him was different but didn't feel like the one the white knights were controlling.  He wondered why the other him was here. "Are you here to see mama?" He asked himself and then he turned to Beety. "Can I have some honey cake?"  As odd as this was the sword practice had made him hungry and he would not be Toby if he didn't have some cake.

"Oh it is more widely spread than I thought. Perhaps it is not a dabbler then." Celia said with a frown.  A more professional mage would be harder to catch.  "I can do some research on what is happening to your neck.  It may take me a while but I will do my best.  We should ask Beety as well.  She knows some very esoteric things that I don't."

[MWBailey]

'Ello, Temporal Disturbance," Bill said from his perch atop the bust of the philosopher. "Got any raw meat for the birdie?"

"Would you mind your manners, Bill?" Marley said reproachfully, and to teh others, "The rest of you, too, He's not going for any weapons that I can see, and..." he pulled out his watch and moved closer to the elfin (elvish?) Toby, and flipped out a fourth and fifth face from odd places on the device, "He doesn't seem to be holding or marshalling any thaumic power, though some latent bits are in his gestalt, as it were... The gyres and vortices aren't ... no, hello, St. Paul's is knocking odd now ... there it goes back again ..."

He turned back to the others. "I think he's safe, just a bit..." he turned back and looked the older Toby in the face, "anomalous, let's say." he closed teh watch up completely and put it back in his waistcoat. I've seen your insignia before, Sir Tobias, how did you come by it? Camalonia don't just let the Pendragon sigil be purloined, you know."

"Agh. Now my manners've gone by the wayside as well. Terribly sorry, I'm Lt. Marley Whippett, Knights Temporal. Shall we salute or shake hands?"

"'en't got any manners, Looby, 'm just a raven after all..." Bill groused from atop the bust.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Tobias knelt down to look at Toby, "I've come home to see my brother and hopefully my mama."
He stood up to look at Marley and held out a hand, "After the Old Wolf took the sword parts," he said as he unfastened the broken swon and handing it to Marley, "he found the shard of my soul and taught me how to reclaim live and be a living person again. When He had finished, he sent me back in time and enlisted me in the Pendragon army. This is the first time I have been permitted to leave the castle in ten years."

[MWBailey]

Marley took up the sword, wishing he had a flatspace bag. "Things like this particular sword, broken or not, tend to be a locus for all sorts of shenanigans and silly buggers," Marley murmured "Might not be a bad idea to find a vault and lock the shards in it 'til it can be reforged, or stored so no evil mustardminds can get ahold of it." A jolt went up his arm. not a big one; in fact it as just barely noticeable. "huh. Seems it's not completely exorcised," he said.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Tobias took the sword back and removed it from its sheath, it was shorter then before but the blade had been reforged.
"No, the blade stays with me at all times, it is mr anchor to this word."

there was a knock on the door and Mr smith entered, "Ah good, they haven't attacked you then, Sargent!" he noticed reid, "Ah Mr Reid, this arrived for you!" he said throwing a wakisashi towards him.

[Ranger Reid]

Reid caught the sword in midair, but stood frozen as if slapped.  He looked at it incredulously.  A strange sadness came over the ranger's features and he quietly left the room.

[Stella Gaslight]

"So you're my brother?" Toby had to admit he liked that idea more than the man being him. "As long as you protect mama I guess that's fine." Toby felt oddly jealous of the other him being able to fight.
 
"I hope you plan on having vegetables with that slab of cake dear." Celia said from the doorway almost laughing.

"Yes mama and some meat too." He was hoping that she would forget that later.

'You know I will hold you to that little man." She said ruffling his hair.

"I know mama.  My brother is here to see you." He said hoping to change the subject.

It worked fairly well jugging from her look. "Your brother?"  Celia asked with confusion looking at the young man in red.  She could see the resemblance but his eyes were different and deeper and the body was more elfin and less human. Was he another changeling from the same person or did he claim to be from Toby's human parents? Either way she was unsure of him.

[MWBailey]

Marley snagged a piece of Roast beef that was a bit rare from the sideboard, and tossed it up to Bill, who caught it deftly in his beak, and cawed his thanks. Marley nearly cawed in response, but caught himself.

"Transfiormations are a tricky business," he said. No offense, young fellow, but how do yo know you're you?"

"Ha. You're one ta talk, Looby," Bill said derisively as he pecked at the piece of meat, which he held down on the crown of the bust with one taloned foot.

"what I mean is," he rolled a warning eye back toward teh saucy raven, "speaking from experience, it can take a while to get back to oneself."

[CPT_J_Percell]

"Hows does anyone know who is who? I have fractured memories of before the sword was broken but now I act to be the soldier I was train to be and that is all I know."

Tobias turned to look at Mr Smith and realised that he was also wearing the red uniform of the Pendragon's of Albion. His boots came together with a snap and his had immediately came up to his head in a salut. "Sorry sir, what can I do for you sir."
Mr Smith smiled and saluted back, "I have new orders for you lieutenant,"
"I beg you pardon sir, but Im not a Lieutenant!"
"According to you new orders, you have been promoted to the position of Lieutenant and been assigned to work London under my command!"
"Sir, I'm not going back to the Castle?"
"Congratulations Tobias, the council of Highlords have given you your freedom!"

[Stella Gaslight]

"Oh." Celia said watching Tobias' face. In that moment of joy she knew exactly who he was  He might be older and more worn but looking back at her was her own little boy.  "After we all talk for a while I best find you a bedroom.  The one connected to mine is far too small for a full grown man."  Celia turned to the rest of the room. "I think you all know about the magical dabblers that have been popping up and causing problems but now I think someone has stepped beyond that.  Have a look at this and see if you can tell what is off about it."  She put the portrait Abraham had handed her on the table so they could all see it.

[MWBailey]

"'working London?'" Maqrley said, dubiously. "What does that mean, exactly?" Putting his hand in his waistcoat, he began an alert aethertelegraph to the Grandmaster's Office.

Alert, Highest AlertSTOPCamalonian officers of the Pendragon here at the Ballast's clubSTOPone highlord and one newly promioted Lt.STOPthey say they are 'working London'STOPPlease adviseSTOP

.

[CPT_J_Percell]

"I am afraid  Lt. Marley Whippett of the Knights Temporal," Mr Smith replied using his formal title, "that there are something that even the Knights Temporal must not know. It is enough for your order to know that we are here on a purely observational manner."
"I was negligent in my duties before, but now Mr Tobias has arrived I must make a formal introduction." He adjusted his uniform and adjusted his single officers saber, Captain Jerramia Smith of the Pendragon army of Albion. With Highlord Purcell absent from events, the duty falls upon Tobias and myself to help out in what ever manner that we are permitted to."

[Prof. Isambard Ravenwood]

Mallard was sitting in the shadows in the corner of the room, most of him concealed in darkness. Everyone had come to know not to disturb him when he was like this, he could become almost intolerably grumpy when someone interrupted when he was thinking. The deductions were formed in his head, like the strings of an intricate spiderweb, joining to one another, but it was up to him to join the dots in the right order. He had guesses as to the intricacies of the case, based upon heresay, the papers, and his little army of street urchins, one of which had told him that the mysterious Charlie had recently been spotted on a coach to the country side. He was also beginning to piece together who these new folks were. The resemblance was remarkable... long lost family? not with the same name... little Toby... "we all knew that Purcell was a time traveler of sorts, we discovered that when we first met him. Not to mention the other Toby before..." Thought Mallard. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together...

[MWBailey]

Marley grunted in response. "Hmm. Well, the damnable thing about secrets is, sooner or later, everyone knows everything about them. I'm sure it will all come out - in time..."

"Well..." He said after a rather pregnant pause, "I suppose I should get back to work. I have to inspect the dragon train at Westminster before noon tomorrow; seems it's mis-predicted a lunar standstill. Good evening to you Tobias, Jerramiah. Good luck in your endeavors - especially keeping secrets. In this town, it's a bit of a problem, I can tell you. Milady Celia? Ladies. Gentlemen, I bid you good evening. Come along, Bill, we have business."

Upon shutting the door behind himself out in the street, he heard the watch clicking away in his pocket, and followed the instructions given. He turned right, stepped into the gutter, snapped his fingers, and was gone. No flash of light, no spectacular fireworks or impressive booms ior whooshes. He and Bill were simply there one instant, and not there the next, and a hansom cab thundered to a stop where he had been an instant before.

"Sir? Sir-!" The driver vaulted from his seat up behind the passenger cab, and skidded to a stop beside the snout of the draft horse. The light from the cab's lanterns revealed nothing of teh long-coated form that had been there a moment before, or the bird that had sat itself so familiarly on the man's shoulder. "Now, where in creation'd 'e go?"

[walking stick]

Beety appreciated the pun, she was aware that the second Toby had grown from the piece of soul trapped in the shard of broken sword.  Since Mallard seemed to think magic should be scientific she looked forward to seeing how much he worked out despite his prejudice.  He might spot something she'd missed.  

She was more concerned about the connection between image magic being used to attack her and whatever was stealing the figures from portraits.  The Young Widow A Picture Of Grief had only been on display for a week.  Something nasty was working fast.

[Ranger Reid]

Reid sat at the small desk in his room with his head in his hands.   The wakizashi was laying on his bed.  With the lights off, the ranger still knew exactly where and how the cursed blade lay.  He could remember the moment this blade had changed his life forever.   

He sobbed quietly.

[Steampunk Away]

Abraham observed the portrait quietly, before rising to speak again, "Sven said this portrait was the latest in the series of disappearances. Now excuse me if I don't a lot of attention to the elf on the room, when we have a case to solve."

He quickly handled a knife and stripped the frame off of the painting, revealing a black, glue like substance on the back and edges of the painting.

"Someone get Reid. This reeks of when he almost brought the shadow in the house. And also, if one could, get me a glass of water."