From: braley@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca (The Didi-Sprite)
Subject: The Callahan Chronicles - A Didi and Grantkins Adventure - Part 2
Organization: Yale CS Mail/News Gateway
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 04:38:24 GMT


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"I always wondered what it would be like to actually carry on
a conversation with my teddybear!"  Giggles Didi as she, Grant, Cameron
and the teddybear in question, Ramda, set a brisk pace down the road.

"Hmmm ... "  muses Grant, "I think that question still remains to be
answered!"

The two human friends giggle happily together whilst the teddies groan.

"I sure am glad you came along when you did, Grantkins.  I was beginning
to feel decidedly lonely and nervous back there." 

"And, with good reason, as it turns out!"  chuckles her companion.
"Just how did you end up with that battered old beetle anyway?"

"That is a long sad story, my friend!"  sighs the -Sprite.  "Well, not
really.  The train arrived in Boston bang on time.  I wasted not a
second getting to the 'Budget Rent-a-Car' counter.  Still, I was told that
there was only one vehicle left on the lot.  I seemingly had no choice
but to accept that 'Herbie' look-alike!  Unfortunately for Ramda and me,
'Herbie' of Disney-fame ran a lot better than his twin!  Twenty minutes
past the suburbs and the gas guage registers almost empty, and guess
what?"

"I know ... not a filling station to be found!"

"That's right!  So, we follow those funny signs saying that travellers
will find gas and oil 3 miles along the next turnoff.  We barely made
two miles before we coughed and spluttered to a halt.  And, there
you found us!  And, still not a building, not a soul in sight!"

"So I have noticed!  There is a bit of a breeze blowing up.  I would
really like to find some place to stop for supper."

"Ummm ... me, too, come to think of it.  Gee.  I wonder what teddybears
eat?"

Ramda:  "Bread and Honey!"
Cameron:  "Pizza!  What else!?!"

"Sigh.  I would be happy with a bowl of soup, at this point.  It is
getting chilly."

Grant observes Didi shivering a bit and asks:  "Do you have anything
in that bag that might be warmer than what you are wearing?"

"Ummmm ... well ... I suppose my costume ... it has a hooded cloak
that goes with it."

And, it is decided that Didi should step into the shrubbery and change
into her Halloween garb.  

~~*~~*~~*~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Grant cannot help giving Didi side-glances as they continue on their
journey.  She certainly does present a comely presence in her 17th 
Century Serving Wench costume with fur-lined woolen cloak.  He is not
quite sure of the colours other than the glimpse of white, low-cut-'n'-
revealing blouse with black kirtle ... now covered over by her 
luxurious mantle.

Conversation becomes sparse as they hurry along the track, all four
hoping for some evidence of human inhabitance and normalcy.

The moon overheard shines its silvery light on forest and fields,
casting long dark shadows across their path.  Grant and Didi begin a
game.

"That one looks like a fox being chased by a hound ... see?"

"No, no, Didi!  It looks like a dolphin in mid leap!"

"You two had better stop looking at your feet and pay attention to
what is above ground level!"  warns a somewhat testy Cameron bear.

"What?"

Didi and Grant look up and find that they are approaching what looks like
the entrance to a driveway.  Two enormous stone pillars with wrought iron
gates and archway stand imposingly on their right.

"Aha!"  cries Grant, "Civilisation, perhaps?!"

"This is definitely worth a look!  Let's go!"  agrees Didi, almost 
undaunted by the sudden dark caused by a thin line of cloud passing
over the face of the moon.

~~**~~**~~**~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About ten minutes later, teddybears and human friends are confronted by a
hulking dark presence looming in their path.  Suddenly, the moon escapes
through a rent in the cloud cover.

"Grant!  It is a mansion!"

"Stephen King couldn't do this one justice, I am sure!"  Grant looks up 
at the house and shudders a bit.  "Well, any old port in a storm."  

In true Nancy Drew/Hardy Boy fashion, the companions march/sidle right
up to the the enormous double front doors.  Grant lifts the huge brass
door knocker and lets it fall:  "Ba-bang!"  the sound echoes hollowly
back at them.

"I have got this really creepy feeling."  admits Grantkins.

Didi grasps the brass handle/door-knob and gives it a twist.  Expecting
it to resist her effort, the -Sprite is surprised when it gives under
her touch and the doors creak slowly open.

The friends are confronted by a huge square entrance hall.  The black
and white marble tiled floor shines up at them in the path of the
moonlight filtering through between the doors.

"Yoo-hoo!  Anybody home?"  calls Didi, tentatively.

Grant takes the initiative and crosses the threshold.

"Do you think we should?"  asks his companion.

"Definitely.  We can offer abject apologies if anyone complains.  In 
the meantime, it just might be warmer in here."

Didi joins Grant inside the front hall and the doors close noisily
behind them.  

"It is dark in here without the moon."  

     Grant looks about for a light switch and is shocked to find no
electricity, only kerosene and oil lamps in the entryway and adjoining
rooms.  The stairs are completely dark.  The house is drafty and Grant
has to fish into his backpack for a heavier jacket.  So much for his
hopes of warmth.

    "Well," Grant says to anybody in earshot, "It looks like we're on
our own here.  I'm going to the kitchen to see what I can rustle up."

"Hey!  You are not leaving me alone here ... I am coming too!"  Annouces
his human companion ... and there is no argument offered by the teddy
bear population.

It takes the two another ten to fifteen minutes to find their way
to the service area of the building. 

The kitchen they discover is an enormous cave of a room with dark brick
walls, brass pots and utensils hanging overhead along with strings
of garlic, bunches of dill and other herbs.  There is a long, well-
scrubbed wooden table bearing the remains of lunch or tea. 

    Grant looks in cupboards and shelves.  There really isn't any food
to speak of.  Some basic staple ingredients in metal cans, but there's
no refrigerator, and the only source of heat is the immense fireplace!

"Look Grant!  There are no taps with this sink.  I wonder where they
get their water from?  Do you suppose they have to carry it in from
a well in the garden, or something?  This is positively weird!  A place
this huge without running water and electricity?"

    At times like these,  Grant is very glad he has his backpack.  
First comes the fondue pot, and then the alcohol.  He lights the pot 
with some matches he pulls out.  

    Ramda has decided that cooking is very interesting to roly-poly teddy
bears and is sticking his nose in the pot.

    "Get away from there!" Grant shouts, pulling the bear away.  "Sheesh.
Cameron, I hope you have more sense than that."

    "Och, I'll try."  Grant rolls his eyes.  I'll bet you will, he thinks.

    "Well, Ramda, if you really want to help, peel these."  He hands
Ramda a bowl and a large bag of wrapped caramels.  "It's time for some
of my famous fondue."  Ramda starts peeling happily, while Cameron is
cutting up various kinds of apples.  He explains to the two bears how to
make the fondue and goes in search of more substantial fare.

    "Okay," he says, searching the pantry. "Flour, sugar, salt, yeast...
Okay!  Bread time!  Didi?  Do you think you could find that well?
Puhleeze?"

"Hmmmm ... how can a serving wench refuse such a request?"

Sure enough, Didi finds a well only a few steps from the kitchen door.
Before bringing in a brimming bucketful, she tastes some of the contents
from the dipper hanging on a nail beside the rope-pull.  

"Ummm!  Delicious!"

     Back in the kitchen, Grant is hard at work.  He finds a bowl in a
cupboard and starts mixing.  Of course, he has to get some butter out
of his backpack.

"Your water, Sir!"  announces Didi as she heaves the heavy bucket up
on the table.  

    While his loaf starts to rise, Grant takes some wood from the pile 
next to the stove and puts some logs into the stove.  He then lights 
the fire.

    "Shoot," he says, "I'm going to have to rely on the backpack for
bread pans.  Well, things could be worse."

Just then, a head pokes around the door from the inner regions of the
house.

"Hey!  I thought I heard voices and activities coming from in here!"

"Yikes!"  cry Grant and Didi in unison.

"Come on folks!  More humans for company!"

A little while later, after much confused repartee and informative
carrying on, it is discovered that the house is quite full of humans ...
and assorted creatures ... all in search of the "Red Horse Tavern" ...
all denizens of a place called:  alt.callahans!

Will coincidences never cease?

Thanks to Danger Mouse, the group now realize that through some ...
fluke ... they are all now stranded in the year 1691, or thereabouts,
and the conversation switches to whatever should they do next!

    By this time, the bread is beginning to rise and Grant invites the 
group to share the fondue.  It is easier to face the unfamiliar on a full 
stomach, after all!

    "We're making some bread, also," he says. "I'm not sure how long 
we'll be here, but I figured we should at least have something to eat
beside candy!"


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              		   	     *>-->----

Isn't Halloween a blast?  
Even almost two weeks later!
Hope it was a happy one!



                                      HAPPY
                   HAPPY HALLOW     HAPPY     OWEEN  HAPPY
               HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPP
           LOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEE
          APPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HAL OWEEN  HAPPY HAL
         ALLOWEEN  HAPPY   LLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEE   HAPPY HALLOWEEN
         HAPPY HALLOWEEN    PPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY     OWEEN  HAPPY HALL
         ALLOWEEN  HAPPY     OWEEN  HAPPY HALLOW     HAPPY HALLOWEEN
         HAPPY HALLOWEEN      Y HALLOWEEN  HAPP      OWEEN  HAPPY HALL
         ALLOWEEN  HAPPY       EEN  HA PY HALL       HAPPY HALLOWEEN
         HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLO   N  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALL
         ALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN        HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN
          APPY HAL OWEEN  HAPPY HAL        HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HAL
          LLOWEEN    PPY HALLOWEEN        HALLOWEEN  HAP    ALLOWEEN
           PPY HALLOW     HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HAL     N  HAPPY HA
           LOWEEN  HAPPY       EEN  HAPPY HAL        HAPPY HALLOWEEN
            PY HALLOWEEN  H                      HALLOWEEN  HAPPY H
             WEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOW
                   OWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN
                         HALLOWEEN  HAPPY HALLOWEEN


This installment of the "Didi and Grantkins Adventure" was coauthored by:

The Didi-Sprite
Montreal * Canada

braley@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca

and:

Jeffrey Hitchin----------------------------------------------------------------
"Saturday Seminar? The Central Park Shakespear Festival is tomorrow!"
"Zack, I didn't know you liked Shakespeare!"
"I don't, but you can wear tights and a sword and nobody notices."
        Zack and Julie, "Nurses"

UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!jhitch
ARPA: crash!pnet01!jhitch@nosc.mil
INET: jhitch@pnet01.cts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jack-O-Lantern graphic was supplied by Nick Chopper!

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Newsgroups: alt.callahans