01 | video

[treasureddoll]

[ So the video function activates - perhaps little Merry has pressed the wrong button after all - and you get . . . well, a video of an ear and long blond hair, neatly tied into small braids. Instead, there's someone speaking anyone and rather crossly too. ]

Hello?

[ A pause then a slight grumble. ] My name is Merryweather Hargreaves, sister to

Comments

[godchild]

[Bleary-eyed Cain picks up the Dreamberry, startled awake from a nap - hey, he has nothing better to do at the moment - by the sounds coming from the Dreamberry. He blinks several times, not sure if he's still asleep or... but then recognition is a go and Cain sits up, the sheet slipping as he gripped the Dreamberry with both hands]

Mary!

1/3

[treasureddoll]

[ BLINKS TWICE. ]

[treasureddoll]

Brother! So it did connect me--

[treasureddoll]

[ -- then contemplates on this strange little device. ] What are you doing inside this little box, Brother?

[godchild]

It's just a projection of a picture. It's - there's a lot to explain.

First, where are you? [Trying to hold the phone and grip the sheet and look for a discarded pair of pants]

[treasureddoll]

Projection of a picture? [ She disappears as the Dreamberry is turned over. ] How?

I don't really know. [ You still have a view of the ground, sorry. ] This isn't London anymore, I think. But for me to have contacted you must mean I'm still in England, right?

[godchild]

No. Mary--

[Brb. Impatient grunting and a muffled curse as Cain struggled to pull on his own trousers] Listen. I'll find you. Just -- [There is a rustle of fabric and movement before Cain reached for the Dreamberry again, flushed, hair mussed] Stay right there. I'll find you.

[treasureddoll]

[ Flips the Dreamberry over again. You sound frustrated, Cain. ]

Brother, are you okay?

[godchild]

[Huff]

Don't worry about me, Mary. I'll be right there. I'll find you, all right?

Stay right there. Promise me. [Overprotective brother is overprotective! Shocker]

[treasureddoll]

Okay, okay. [ Typical Cain. ] But if it's too far away, I can always find a carriage back home, you know.

You're the one who shouldn't worry, Brother.

[godchild]

That's not-- [That explanation is going to be far too complicated and it would sound more like a story coming from someone in Bedlam. So Cain refrains, for now]

Can you please trust me on this, Mary? I'm going to find a shirt and then I'll set off on foot. Can you tell me what your surroundings look like, where you are right now?

[treasureddoll]

Well, there are houses around me. And I seem to be in a plaza-- Oh, I see a church!

[ She looks thoughtful. ] Is Riff coming too?

[godchild]

[Grips the Dreamberry in his teeth for a moment while struggling with the cuff on his shirt, mumbling for her to wait a second. That accomplished, Cain took the phone in hand once more and shook his head, somber]

No. [I haven't seen him, or you, in months. It's hopeless. I've hated every moment of it]

He's not here. But I think I know where you are. I'm coming now, Mary! Please, don't wander off.

[treasureddoll]

[ Cain, do remember that she's watching this from the comfort of her little seat at the plaza and she's going :| at your behavior. ]

And Aunt Katina says I'm too careless at times. [ Pines. ] Okay. But hurry up, Brother! I want to look around.

[godchild]

I promise to show you around, if you promise not to wander off.

[The door to the cottage is slamming shut, the phone bouncing up and down erratically as he walks briskly down the road]

[treasureddoll]

Will you really?

[ She tilts her head to one side as she watches all this. ]