Date: 26 March 2005
Characters: Caradoc Dearborn [Cai], Arabella Figg, Marietta Edgecomb
Location: Little Whinging, Exeter, Stoatshead Hill
Status: Private
Summary: Arabella makes her move with a little help from Cai and Caradoc.
Completion: Complete
(
Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new )
So when a little elf in a pink chintz pinafore popped into the sitting room at 10 o'clock, Arabella wasn't at all surprised.
"Hello, Cai. I'm Arabella Figg. Thank you for coming."
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The little old elf looked about. "Furnitures is not all fitting, Cai thinks, Mizzes. What is Mizzes wanting dones with furnitures?"
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"Oh, you don't think all my furniture will fit in the new house?" Arabella pondered that a moment. The elf was probably right, and Arabella actually loved some of the furniture in the cottage. "Would you be able to shrink all of it and put some pieces aside so they can go to storage, while keeping other pieces together to move to the new place?"
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The elf looked about, "Is Mizzes liking boxes all in sitting room or in same rooms in new house? Is easy to put all bedroom in bedroom ands all kitchens in kitchen, if Mizzes likes."
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She thought a moment on Cai's proposal. "If you don't mind, I'd like all the boxes to go to their proper rooms." Cai was not only bossy but also thorough.
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"Cai is good packer, Mizzes. Cai comes and goes and says when done, Mizzes." With that the elf surveyed the room and began her work as Arabella took herself off to the kitchen.
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"As you wish, Cai," she said, retreating to the kitchen. She spent the next two-plus hours wrestling with the morning paper as she played Sudoku and worked the crossword puzzle. She was good at crosswords, so she'd hoped to master Sudoku quickly. Unfortunately she wasn't good at logic puzzles, so she'd spent many hours cursing the number puzzle under her breath. This morning was no exception.
"Bloody... stupid puzzle!" she fretted, breaking the point of her pencil as she stabbed at the paper in frustration. Suddenly Cai appeared in the doorway.
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Cai quickly shrunk what was in the kitchen and took herself off with the last of the furnishings as the nice lady went to let in her guest.
"Good afternoon, Arabella! All finished?"
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Glancing around quickly, Arabella realised that almost all of her possesions were -- "They're gone! She's sent them away somewhere. Goodness," she put a hand to her heart, more than a bit shocked. "I'd forgot how powerful elf magic is." All that remained in the sitting room was Arabella's hat, coat and handbag and Tufty's carrier with the cat inside. "Well, shall we have lunch, nephew?"
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"Of course, Auntie. Where are we off to today? As I recall this is your treat."
Caradoc considered the cat for a moment. "Do we need to take Tufty to your new home first? I am unsure if cats are allowed in eating establishments in England or not."
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With that she put on her coat and hat, grabbed her handbag in one hand and Tufty's carrier in the other and gave Caradoc an expectant look.
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The couple and the cat apparated just outside Arabella's claim. He thought that she might want to enter through the door of her new home for the first time.
"Welcome home, Arabella." He handed her the key. He had gone to Exeter to obtain a new muggle lock for the door, then charmed it to only unlock for the two keys he just gave her. "Don't copy the keys. They're enchanted and have to be duplicated in a special way. I didn't want anyone to be able to use magic to open your door, but I needed a way for you to come and go without having magic yourself. Give it a try and make sure the key works."
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"OH!" She was almost overcome with excitement. "It's really true! I'm going to live here!" She took one of the keys from Caradoc and fitted it into the lock, which turned easily and allowed her to enter. She carried Tufty, still asleep in his carrier, into the sitting room and set him down. "I do hope Tufty won't wake up while we're gone," she told Caradoc. "He might be upset when he doesn't recognize the house." She sighed. "Well, he'll just have to make do while we have lunch and visit the Ministry."
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When she mentioned the cat, Caradoc told her, "he should sleep for a while yet. Cai?"
"Yes, Master?" The little elf appeared.
"If the kitty starts to wake up, could you put him back to sleep until we return?"
"Cai is doing that, Master. Mizzes, is Cai to unpack?"
"It's up to you Arabella. She'll do as much or as little..." here Caradoc stared at his elf seriously "as you'd like."
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