Bot Story:
    Book 1 – Nancy and the Ferrets

Chapter 6

After a few seconds, there was a ripple in the air about six feet in front of Scotty's nose and a tiny green faerie materialized. She hung, seemingly frozen in the air for about two heartbeats before her wings became a blur of motion and she darted to one side, hovering. A few seconds later the procedure was repeated, but a tiny blue faerie appeared this time.

"Crawdaddies are yummy, thanks for having us," said the green faerie.

"And ferret parties are the funnest!" added the blue faerie.

"Yea, the funnest."

"And the yummiest."

Both faeries grinned broadly.

"It is always a pleasure having you, come any time," Scotty said.

Mr. Mike looked distinctly uncomfortable at the appearance of the faeries.

The green faerie zoomed up to Mike's face, stopping only inches in front of his nose. "Aw, Mr. Mikey knows we is not little birdies. You can remember that this time Mr. Mikey?" She giggled at him as he nodded his head. Then she gave the end of his nose a kiss. "You is a big fuzzy Cutie!" She giggled again and zoomed away.

Scotty had gotten a clean plate and was dishing up some food at the direction of the blue faerie, who was hovering just over his right shoulder. He set the plate down on the picnic table and walked toward the cart that held the barrel of ale.

"Let's eat sissy," said the blue faerie to the other, as she landed on the table and jumped up on the plate. She grabbed a handful of buttery bread and stuffed it into her tiny mouth. "Yum, garlicky." Melted butter ran from her hand toward her elbow and she licked at her forearm.

The green faerie landed directly on the plate and stepped toward the giant crawdad. "Sissies open this together," and she grabbed the body shell. The blue faerie crossed the plate and grabbed the tail. They gave a mighty twist and there was a snapping sound as the shell cracked. Another twist and they managed to rip the tail from the body. Both faeries scampered over to the exposed tail meat and started pulling pieces from the tail and stuffing them in their mouths.

Scotty returned with a large mug full of ale, set it on the table before the faeries and sat down at the table across from them. He put his right elbow on the table and placed his right palm so it sort of wrapped around his nose, his fingers spread out covering his eyes so that he was peeking at them with only his left eye. "I thought you ladies were going to make yourselves some little gowns or something." His voice was a bit muffled from speaking directly into his right wrist.

"Oh no Mr. Scotty. What a silly idea. We would get too messy if we had clothes," said the green faerie.

"We could not do this," added the blue faerie. And she dropped her piece of crawdad meat and sprang into the air, her wings a sudden blur. She hovered over the mug of ale, shrieked "Beer!" and folded her wings while bending at the waist, and then suddenly straightened so that her feet were up over her head. Thereby executing a perfect jackknife dive right into the foamy ale, and slopping some foam out onto the table. Scotty could see her tiny form twisting under the surface through the glass walls of the mug. She popped to the surface, swallowed a large mouthful of ale, grabbed the edge of the mug pulling her head above the foam and looked at Scotty. A giant grin on her face and her tiny body pressed against the glass.

"Beer!" shrieked the green faerie, she dropped her piece of meat and followed her sister's example; a few seconds later she popped to the surface grinning at Scotty. "I think we make him nervous." She said, addressing her sister.

"Yea, nervous," giggled the blue faerie.

"Oh no, no, not me," but he still had his hand over his face so he could only look at them with one eye. "You know I love having you, no matter how you show up."

The faeries giggled at one another, then the green faerie ducked her head under the surface while still gripping the edge of the mug. She jerked down hard with her arms and catapulted into the air about a foot above the mug. Her wings suddenly became a blur of motion, spraying a cloud of ale droplets everywhere.

"Gaaa!" yelled Scotty. "You should warn me."

"Okay, you are warned," squealed the blue faerie. She suddenly ducked under the surface, but before Scotty could react she was in the air and spraying ale everywhere.

"Hey!"

The faeries just laughed at him. "We eat more," said the green faerie. And the two landed on the plate and dove back into the crawdad tail.

He watched them a little while, still peeking at them from behind his hand. "I think I'll see what the others are up to." He started to get up from the table, but paused when Mike said:

"Millie approaches," and Mike stood up also, facing east.

A few moments later Milliscent came walking out of the shadowy path under the trees from the east. "Hello all," she called out. "Am I too late?"

Scotty answered, "There is one left." He picked up a clean plate and the tongs and leaned over the stockpot. "Would you like some bread and salad too?" He asked her, placing the last crawdad on the plate.

"Sure."

Mike said to her, "I thought your shift did not end for another hour?"

"Don came, the big sweetie. He said he'd take over early so I could come here, see if there was anything left to eat." She took the plate from Scotty.

"Well that was awfully nice of him," Scotty said.

Milliscent sat down next to the faeries. "Hi Lumina, hi Nimbus, how is your world coming along?"

"Hi missy Millie," both faeries said in unison.

"Stinky girl," laughed the green faerie.

"Pretty stinky girl," added the blue faerie, smiling.

Millie just laughed. "I may be 'stinky girl', but you two are messy girls. Where did you learn to eat that way? And look at this table." She twisted off the lobsters tail and attacked the meat. "I'm starving."

"We be faeries," said the blue faerie, by way of explanation.

Mike had drawn a mug of ale and returned to the table, setting it down in front of Milliscent. "Always a pleasure to have you drop by Millie." He pointed toward the gazebo and the other ferrets. "I'd better see that they're okay." He turned away.

"Me too," said Scotty as he turned to join Mike.

The green faerie addressed Milliscent, "We've been distracted. I've not worked on the temple area in about two weeks, but I started a new airship, almost done with it too."

"And I've been making some objects for A.W.R.P.G.," added the blue faerie. "A blacksmith shop and pieces for a castle."

"But we plan on getting right back to work on our world soon," added the green faerie. "Will you be coming to visit us again?"

Milliscent split what was left of the tail to get at the last meat in the tip. "Great, I'd love to," she said. She dropped the empty tail shell on her plate and picked up her piece of bread, taking a bite out of the buttery center before attacking the crust.

There was a shout from where the ferrets and two humans were partying near the gazebo. Laughter and shouts of "Marley, Marley."

"Marley is a big poodie boy," said the blue faerie, she stuck out her tongue to show how she felt.

"Meanie and poodie," added the green faerie, she covered her nose and mouth with her tiny hand to demonstrate what she meant by 'poodie'.

"I don't know when he had a bath last," said Milliscent. "I think he's always been dirty."

"He needs a bath," offered the blue faerie.

"You two need a bath," countered Milliscent.

"We have beer!" squealed the green faerie, and she hopped off the plate, scampered over to their mug, and then vaulted up over the rim and into the mug. Her head broke the surface; she had a big mouthful of ale, which she swallowed.

"Beer!" and the blue faerie duplicated her sister's movements, slopping some ale onto the table.

The two faeries bobbed up and down getting mouthfuls of ale. "See, we be clean now," offered the green faerie.

Milliscent shook her head, "You two are going to be a sticky mess when that dries. Polite people do not play in their food."

"We be faeries!" they shouted in unison. "Not polite people," added the blue faerie.

Milliscent had noticed that they had eaten almost everything on their plate. "Where do they put all that?" she thought.

There was some more shouting and laughing from the ferrets.

The blue faerie turned to her sister bobbing in the mug next to her, a gleam in her eye. "Bath," she said significantly.

The green faerie grinned showing all her teeth and repeated, "Bath. Poodie Marley." Then nodded.

"Okay?"

"Yea, okay."

Both faeries firmly grabbed the rim of the mug, ducked down stretching their little arms up over their heads, then yanked down launching themselves out of the mug and up about a foot in the air. Their wings exploded in a blur of action and a cloud of ale droplets.

"Hey!" Milliscent sputtered, but the two faeries where already zooming toward the dance party and Marley. They reached the dancers in only a few heartbeats and flew about head level, weaving in and out, squealing their "hellos" to everyone.

They sought out Marley and hovered right in front of his nose.

"POODIE MARLEY," shouted the green faerie, holding her nose.

"NEEDS A BATHIE," added the blue faerie, also holding her nose.

"Huh, what?" was all the more he was able to say before they split up, circling around on opposite sides and coming up behind him.

Each faerie grabbed a double handful of Marley's skin near the nape of his neck. The green faerie near is right shoulder and the blue near his left.

"Up!" shouted the green faerie and they rose into the air.

"HELP!" squealed Marley, but other than few kicks he did not struggle much. Picking him up by his nape caused him to instinctively go limp.

"North!" shouted the blue faerie and they turned and zoomed over the garden, up the rise, and into the dark forest.

A few seconds later there was a loud splash and squeals of laughter followed by two smaller splashes. Marley started shouting and cursing, answered by high-pitched shrieks of laughter from the faeries.

Moments later Marley came storming back into camp, the faeries buzzing around his head. "Aw, Marley. Don't be mad Marley. We needed a bath too Marley," and finally "That was fun Marley." He was damp, but not much cleaner than before.

Mike was smirking, but Sparkle had her paw over her face embarrassed for him. Nancy stood staring, panting from having danced nonstop for the last half hour.

"Aw, poodies," said the green faerie. "I thought it would work."

"I need to rest. Tired," said the blue faerie.

"Okay sissy."

The two faeries slowly flew back to the table and landed on a clean spot on the tablecloth.

Milliscent was watching them, cleaning up the last of her raisin salad. "Ferret musk is oily, he'll need soap and scrubbing to get clean." She picked up her plate in both paws, licking it.

"Aw, poodies," was all the green faerie said. She looked down and kicked idly at the table.

The blue faerie lay down on her back, her knees up in the air, one hand under her head, and the other across her stomach. "I don't feel well, I need to rest."

"What is it sissy?" the green faerie knelt by her side. "Did you have too much to eat?"

"No, tired. I need to rest awhile. Go lay down." She closed her eyes.

"Sissy, sissy." The green faerie shook her sister's shoulder. When there was no response she sat down and reached around behind her back and produced a faerie-sized version of the tablet computer, seemingly from thin air. She removed the stylus and tapped at the screen. "A.F.K." she mumbled. She replaced the stylus in its slot and put the tablet down on the tabletop. She drew her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs, and sat rocking back and forth. A tear formed in each eye.

Milliscent was watching. "Umm, I'd better go get Scotty." She quickly rose and left the table.

A few moments later Milliscent returned with Scotty, who sat down in front of the two faeries. "What is happening," he said softly.

"She's A.F.K., she said she was tired," said the green faerie.

"Well, she'll be back won't she? She'll just be gone a little while..."

"Scotty, last time she did this, she was gone five days. I'm worried." The green faerie bit her lower lip.

"Oh." Scotty sat there in silence for a bit. Then to no one in particular he said, "Life sucks sometimes, but why does it have to be her?"

Milliscent looked confused, she stood awkwardly at the end of the table.

Finally Scotty said, "We cannot transport her avatar between worlds while she is A.F.K., and we should not just leave her here on the picnic table. I think we should move her to The Center. She will be safe there."

The green faerie just nodded, but did not say anything.

Scotty stood, then carefully picked up the blue faerie and placed her in his left palm, holding his hand close to his chest, with his thumb bent, so he would not drop her.

The green faerie picked up her tablet and passed it around behind her back, where it seemed to vanish. She leaped up into the air, then flew to his right shoulder and landed on it, sitting down.

"You should come too," Scotty said softly to Milliscent.

And so Scotty and Milliscent, with the two faeries riding, walked north out of the ferrets' camp toward The Center. The moon was just a sliver, but the starlight was enough to see the pathway faintly glowing under the trees.

At The Center For Advanced Stuff, Scotty walked in the front door and up the stairs, the lights coming on automatically. He had a bedroom here, mostly for show because he never used it. He opened the bedroom door, entered and walked over to a dresser. Opening the top drawer with his right hand he took out two tie-dye t-shirts. He placed the first, still folded, on top of the dresser then laid the blue faerie down on her back in the center of the shirt, carefully arranging her wings. He partly unfolded the second shirt and draped it over the little faerie, like a blanket.

The green faerie jumped down from his shoulder and walked over to her sleeping sister. She knelt down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Nite, nite sissy. Come and find me when you wake up." She stood and took a few steps backwards before turning.

Addressing Milliscent Scotty said, "I'll lock the door. She should be perfectly safe, but keep an eye on her okay?"

Milliscent nodded.

Then to the green faerie he said, "I'll give you the access code so you can come and check up on her."

"Okay." And she flew back up and landed on his right shoulder again.

They backed out of the bedroom. Scotty pulled the door shut and pressed a control to lock it. "I'll 'gram you the code," he said as he removed his tablet from his belt and pulled the stylus out of its slot. He tapped on the face of the tablet for a bit. "There you go."

"Thanks Scotty." A soft chirp seemed to come from the faerie, indicating she'd received a telegram on her hidden tablet computer.

The three companions went back down the stairs and out the front door onto the deck. Scotty stopped and looked up at the stars, the sounds of the party were faint, directly to the south.

"Well poop. I don't want to party now," said the green faerie. She flew down from Scotty's shoulder and landed on the deck. Reaching around behind herself she produced the tablet and holding the stylus in one hand she studied the screen. She tapped it twice and suddenly vanished, then just as suddenly a full sized young woman stood where the faerie once was. She wore a brown dress and had a large gold medallion around her neck; her blond hair was pulled back behind her ears. A normal sized tablet computer in her hand.

"I don't even feel like being a faerie any more tonight." She sighed.

"What would you like to do?" asked Scotty.

She was silent for a moment then a sly look came to her eye. "We could go skinny dipping by starlight in that pond down there." She pointed down below the deck, where the stars were mirrored in the surface of a large pond.

"I umm, well..."

She continued, "Millie looks sleepy, she should go to sleep and you and I can go swimming."

"I don't think..."

Lumina laughed at him. "Gotcha! You are so funny when you get nervous."

"I'm not really sleepy," stated Milliscent.

"And I'm not nervous," Scotty said defensively.

Lumina grinned at Scotty, "I was just kidding. You know, it is so cute the way you react some times."

"Okay," Scotty said slowly. "What do you really want to do?"

"Oh I know," said Milliscent. "Lumina said she's been working on a new airship. I've never seen a real airship. Can I please?"

"What, another airship? You never seem to tire of those."

Lumina looked at Scotty, "Practice makes perfect. Besides I have a new design for the gas bag, and I have horizontal sails for propulsion." She looked at Milliscent, "Would you really like to see my airship?"

Millie grinned and nodded.

"Then it's decided," Scotty said. "We go to Amon-Ra to see the new airship." He retrieved his tablet from his belt, pulled out the stylus, and tapped at the screen. "Millie, I'll link you to me so you can come to Lumina's world."

He addressed Lumina, "do you still have me on the 'allow bots' list?"

"I don't know," she said. "I think we redid the rights lists a few weeks ago. Maybe I should go ahead and check, then I'll 'gram you when it's all set up."

"Okay."

Lumina stared at her tablet for a second, tapped it, and then faded from view.

"Oh, I'd better tell Mike," said Scotty. He went to work tapping at the face of his tablet. He'd just tapped the 'send' key when his tablet chirped. He selected the new telegram and read it. "That's her. Ready?"

Milliscent nodded.

Scotty tapped his tablet twice, then faded from view. A second later Milliscent also faded from view.

Nearby, a night bird sang over the now deserted scene. And faint sounds of the ferrets' party could be heard to the south.

<end of chapter 6>