Episode 2-ish.

We spin the clock forward until our little darlings are eleven. Near the end of the summer term, Mister Evro, their current teacher announces that there is a fair at the school in a couple of weeks, and that there may be visiting dignitaries from the various universities, colleges and academies in attendance. It is a good opportunity to show off some of their emerging talents. –  “Not picking your nose, Master Jones.”

At first the students are rather non-plussed, but as the playing fields are set aside for greedy developers games and activities and a large barbecue, their enthusiasm grows.

Sienna decides to invite her parents, and to make Jewellery right there at a stall. Elf and safety won’t let her use anything dangerous like a blow-torch, but that isn’t a problem for Sienna or her family. –Off screen she also lights the barbeque!

Mal decides to build a robot to show visitors around. He also decides to demonstrate a Van de Graaff generator in his little tent.

Cerise has a small tent erected and inside decorated tastefully. – She will be doing fortune telling.

Little Bee erects a large pole in the middle of the area, and rolls out a large mat. “I’m going to put on a floor-show!” She announces proudly. “I’m not sure it means what you think it means.” The others tell her. – One it is established that an eleven-year-old putting on a floor show is not going to get you into a college – (though it might pay the fees) and more likely get the school and her parents into trouble, she opts instead to put on a gymnastics display. “Coz carrying a ribbon stuck to a stick and a large solid ball is a valuable life-skill.” One of the senior school pupils reminds them, scoffing. – It takes about forty minutes to extract the stick. The ribbon is still unaccounted for!

Marigold has fashioned a puppet show in the form of miniature kabuki characters. She finds some old technology in the form of a cassette tape ( “What  the heck is that? – Have you never heard of downloads?”) to provide a soundtrack. She makes a little theatre to fit on a table-top, and disappears to practice her moves.

Lincoln has makes a large target. The others take pot-shots at him with pea shooters. –He puts the target across the field and brings in his bow and arrows to demonstrate his archery skill. The others are not impressed until he fires an arrow which explodes on the target; obliterating not only the arrow, but the target and about three city blocks all at the same time!

Iris has a simple table and three cups on it. Despite pleading for lemonade, the others are disappointed. However, Iris promises great prizes if they can find the purple ball placed under one of the cups. – Try as they might, none of the others can, however hard they try.

Autumn is breaking rocks. – His big sister has come down from the mountains. Luckily Haku hasn’t spent the winter in the cave there so she isn’t in the family way. She suggests that Autumn break them with his head. – Even if it was a joke, Autumn takes it literally and does exactly that. Because he hasn’t smashed a 4-inch granite countertop, she berates him and beats him. When asked about her rather unorthodox methods she simply cites ‘respecting our cultural differences.’ She then gets an inch-diameter metal rod from her backpack and gives him a sound thrashing with it.

The scene where Adolf builds a bonfire and Enrico plays with it…….Is cut.

The evening before the fair, a large transport arrives close to the school. Ever curious, Marigold and the others try to get a closer look. A rather stern looking old woman gets out of the transport flanked by bodyguard robots. – There is no-one to meet the woman.

“How old is this woman?” Iris asks.

“About thirty.”

“Wow! That’s really, really old!”

Marigold is curious to know how alert the bodyguard robots are. She sneaks invisibly to within about a dozen yards before they start reacting. Knowledge gained, Marigold beats a hasty retreat to report.

“About thirty feet. –And I think the woman might even be thirty three years old.”

“Oh my goodness. – That’s positively ancient!”

Very old woman. ( Colonel Cybill Jankya.)

The day of the fair arrives. Miss Hathaway and the old lady from yesterday take the podium. This is their speech verbatim:

“Blah, blah, Blah, Blah; Blah-blah-blah, blah, Blah! – Fair…. Visiting dignitaries…..blah blah blah,  and talent scouts, something….. Blah….. Tomorrow…..Blah …..Demonstration of martial skills, blah blah, blah……Fair open!”

The ‘old’ woman is identified as Colonel Jankya, who is high up in the Atlas military. Most of the boys are too young to fancy her. The girls comment that she’s possibly had surgery – as her chin is rather pointed although not as much as it was in the pre-photoshop days. The adult men are all considering joining up on account of her assets.

The colonel is taken on a tour of the fair, being introduced to our little darlings and also having a try on some of the other attractions-: Guessing the weight of the cake, ringing the bell by smashing the pad, and pointedly avoiding the bouncy castle- much to the dismay of the male members of staff!

She is shown around the fair by Mal’s robot. She comments that maybe he has a career in the Atlas R&D department. Mal’s robot takes her into Mal’s tent, where he shows her something that makes her hair stand on end. – She is seen periodically fiddling with it and trying to get it to go down for the rest of the day! 

The little robot makes a funny tooting noise and takes the visitors to Marigold, who is a little nervous at being in the spotlight. Her hands shake and this makes her little figurines shake and shimmy somewhat alarmingly. The colonel isn’t rude, but it is clear that her attention is starting to wane. However,  Marigold improvises a whole second act and gets her own act together to put on a charming little show. A few words of praise bring Marigold into view just enough to see her blush.

Moving on, colonel Jankya is completely taken in by Iris’ deftness and patter. Despite trying several times to find the lady, Iris manages to dupe her again and again, even to the point where she places the colonel’s hand on the cup over the purple ball!

Exasperated, Iris places the ball in the lady’s hand. “Now where is the ball?”

“In my hand.”

“Good…..Now I move the cups about for no apparently good reason….Where is the ball?”

“In my hand.”

“Nope. Under the left hand cup.” Iris almost adds, “Stupid!” But it’s not right to disrespect foreign military officers. – That’s how wars start!

Cerise is up next, and predicts a busy day of combat tomorrow, and the colonel hints at a display of martial skill on Sunday. She also mentions a potential career in military intelligence, but Cerise points out that it is an oxymoron. –This gets a chuckle from her audience at least.

At Lincoln’s stall, he manages to impress both the colonel and Miss Hathaway, but misses a golden opportunity to stand behind the colonel and let her handle his weapon.

The blasts from the explosive arrows are certainly impressive, but make scoring the round a little tricky. In the end they decide on a final tally equal to the number of bits the targets end up in.

“Say, Lincoln….” The colonel says.

“Lincoln!”  He replies. There is a pause, before he adds, “Sir!”

The colonel pauses. “ – It’s Ma’am. But I forgive you. Does this take a lot of practice?”

“Lot and lots!” Lincoln explains. “I used to put apples on my brothers’ heads and then shoot them off….” He looks forlorn, “ – Have to say I’ve had my fill of stewed apple over the years, though…..”

“How many brothers do you have?”

Lincoln counts on his fingers. “Um….Not nearly as many as I used to……Ma’am.”

Sienna manages to secure an order for several sets of earrings and a necklace. – Some of the seniors snigger at something the little ones don’t understand. Watching her twisting and moulding and weaving and melting metal is a sight to see. – She even bends a spoon for an encore!

 Mal’s robot shows the colonel around some more. Autumn is not backward in coming forward, and gushes enthusiastically to the military woman, who is a little taken aback at his forwardness.

“Hi I’m Autunm, Who are you?”

“Oh! Uh…Colonel Cybil Jankya….King’s regiment, Atlas….Um ….Serial number….never mind….Um….Er….Pleased to meet you!”

Autumn says something that sounds like: “Blah, blah, Mother! Blah, blah, mountains, stitch that, sew on my sow….Blah….Worthless men….Strong women…..Blah…My name’s Autumn!”

Then he breaks a breeze block on his forehead. Then two. Suitably worked up, he goes for an impressive three breeze blocks on his forehead. Both the colonel and Miss Hathaway look rather concerned for his safety.

– Autumn gasps a hasty farewell and promptly runs off to the strong man stall, but can’t quite manage to ring the bell. He’s a couple of inches short. – The seniors are reduced to fits of the giggles. Some big and beefy men also fail to ring the bell and it seems to be completely impossible until a five-year-old girl –who can hardly lift the hammer- smashes the pad and sends the bell into low orbit.

An elderly man and a sharp-faced woman try to wander past Autumn’s stall unnoticed. He leaps on them with his customary: “Hi I’m Autumn, Who are you?”

“I am Ernö, and this is my wife, Erin.”

Autumn looks around. “Are you….um….Grandparents….Governors….or….”

“Just visitors. Very important visitors. Miss Hathaway invited us.”

“Oh!” Autumn pumps the man’s hand. He almost crushes the woman’s hand. They make their excuses and leave hastily.

Ernö and Erin. – So old they’re black and white!

Mal completely fails to guess the weight of the cake. He has the correct number, but the wrong units. “Three point two……um…..hundredweight……?”

The others are trying their hand at a sideshow where carved wooden Grimm creatures bob on a fast-moving circular pond. They manage to snag one each, and win plushies of varying Grimm. – Very cute! – Autumn fails to understand the concept of ‘snag a creature with a hook on a piece of wood’, and instead tries to smash the blocks to oblivion with his fishing rod.

King Taijitu Plushie.

Ursa Plushie.

There is tea and cake. Marigold puts some in a doggy bag with a big rabbit on the side. – A rabbit bag!

Eagle-eyed Iris spots several other grown-ups who are not parents. They might be school governors or something. Two are identified as Ernö and Erin- an elderly couple. –Iris is determined to find out more about them, -but doesn’t.

There is a quick closing speech. “Blah, blah, blah……See you tomorrow!”

A moment later a bell drops from a great height and lands in the field with a dull ‘clang!’