A WYTCH STORY

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

BuckinghamPalace

In the rear gardens ofthe Palace a group of shadowy figures crashed over the wall and intothe bushes. For a moment they remained crouched and hidden. Only whenthey were sure that they hadn't been spotted did they dare stand up.

One of the first tospeak was a young Wytch from the West Midlands "Oi can't catch mybreath, oi'm 'nackered" she said gasping for air.

A slightly more refinedWytch agreed "Yes dear..." she said "...that was rather astrain".

Stepping forward, twoWytches dropped a large black hold-all on the ground with a loud'Thud!'

"What are we goingto do with this?" they said pointing.

Everyone just stoppedand stared

"Yow shouldn't dropit loike that, yow knows it's a bit dangerous" said the youngestWytch.

The elderly Wytch alsoexpressed concern "Perhaps it would be prudent to exercise a degreeof caution?" she said raising an eyebrow.

The two who had beencarrying the large and heavy hold-all just shrugged.

"It's just a biglump..." said one of them before giving it a hefty kick, causingthe elderly Wytch to nearly faint. The youngest of the group caughther by the arm and complained loudly.

"Stop kicking it!"before adding "...look at the state yow've got Brenda in...".

This informalityclearly annoyed the senior member of the group "It's Breedaegth mydear..." she said before quickly gathering herself together andreminding everyone of her lineage as a descendant of the ancienttemple nymphs of Dalradia.

The young Wytch lookedat the others blankly "Must've been before my time...".

Before they could sayanything more they were interrupted by the sound of a Policehelicopter sweeping the Buckingham Palace gardens with its expensivebig light.

The two Wytchescarrying the hold-all prepared themselves to move

"We can't wait hereany longer" one of them said.

The younger Wytch wasmore cautious "Shouldn't we wait for the white dragon first? "

They shook their heads"We were told if she wasn't already here, we were to take itourselves"

Turning towards thePalace, the elder Wytch pulled the hood of her cloak over her head

"It appears we areleft with little choice".

Despite the commotionfurther up the mall, the Royal household remained undisturbed. TheQueen was asleep in her chambers while members of her personalbodyguard remained outside the door. The monarch's bodyguards werealso from the specialist protection command SO1, the same detachmentwho had been involved with the 'incident' on the Royal train. Afterthat embarrassment they had now doubled their efforts to remainvigilant and the Royal household was on full lock-down, not even amouse could move without them knowing.

There was one slightexception and that was his Royal Highness, Prince Philip the Duke ofEdinburgh. The elderly Duke was restless and unable to sleep so he'dmade his way down a private staircase that led to a small kitchen atthe rear of the palace. Shuffling his way down the stairs he feltuneasy, there was definitely something that he just couldn't put hisfinger on. Perhaps a bite to eat might help settle it.

Fumbling around in thedark he eventually found the light switch and mumbled to himself ashe shuffled across the kitchen "Bloody ...sardines somewhere".Shuffling in his royal slippers towards the fridge he failed tonotice four dark hooded figures huddled together in a corner of theRoyal Kitchen. Opening the fridge door he mumbled to himself "Whatis one expected to do with a bloody string of cheese?" Then hepaused, something still wasn't quite right and he scratched his chinbefore closing the fridge door.

Reaching for the kettlehe began mumbling to himself again and swearing as a teaspoonclattered to the floor. All this time four pairs of eyes nervouslyfollowed his every move.

Eventually he halfturned and announced casually "Everyone for Coffee?" The fourWytches huddled at the other end of the kitchen all looked at eachother a little surprised "...err yes, coffee would be great....thanks?"

Just then anotherteaspoon landed on the floor with a clatter "Bloody thing... it'sokay, I've got another" and he opened a drawer crammed withteaspoons. Turning to the Wytches he smiled "...everywhere we go, Igrab a handful".

The Wytches justlooked at each other, then one of them spoke "It's very nice ofyou, but we were told if anything was to happen that we should comehere..."

Making his way acrossthe kitchen with a plastic tray there was another clatter! "Bloodything... I've got more..". Nodding towards the table he invited theWytches to sit down. They all looked slightly unsure at first, beforethey carefully edged their way towards the table.

The elder WytchBreedaegth (Brenda) decided that as the senior member of the group,perhaps she should speak "Excuse me your Highness, we don't mean tointrude, but we were told to come here if anything went wrong" Theothers agreed.

"It's nice to meetyou and all... and thank you for the coffee, but is there someone weshould talk to?" said one of them as if talking to an elderlyrelative.

The elderly Dukeseemed more interested in rummaging around in an old biscuit barrel"Chocolate hobnob anyone?" he said offering the biscuitbarrel round.

The Wytch's looked ateach other, surely this couldn't be right? They were in a smallkitchen at the rear of Buckingham palace having coffee and chocolatehobnobs with the Duke of Edinburgh.

They all watched himtake a long sip of coffee, wiping his chin with the back of his handhe lent forward "I understand the Breachnadin is here, do you haveit?"