Enchantress

"He's a great companion if you need a friend," said Octavia as she held a weeping Hollie.

"I CAN SEE THAT," chuckled Death as he sliced the line of octarine light between Gaspode and his spent body. "COME ON BOY, LET'S GO... WALKIES!"

As they walked beyond the veil, Death and his dog, the grieving family could hear Gaspode saying, "Oh boy, walkies! Did I ever tell you about the time that I went for walkies through the University kitchen?"

With the loss of his best friend in the world, Nick locked himself into the bookstore and wrote down his feelings about it until his heart stopped aching. He let Octavia read it then he locked the manuscript away and never looked at it again. Nick was still sad, but he was glad to get the pain off his chest.

One mountain winter night where the wind howled and the snow fell a foot an hour and the children gathered around mom and dad for entertainment and warmth, Nick turned to Octavia with an important question. She was nursing their youngest child, a wiry haired little girl who reacted to the name Gaspode with her first fart. Nick was just kidding when he offered Gaspode as a possible name, and the moment he did she released a little beep of methane and coo'd happily. To the world her name was Gwendolyn but to her family, Gaspode was her name.

They had all the children in bed with them, the twins, Llywellyn {Lou} and Llewela {Loo Loo}, Marlon their oldest, Hollie then next in line, Dhani the runt of the litter, and now their baby sister Gaspode. "Honey?" asked Nick as he read a picture book to Hollie and Llewela.

"Yes?"

"This is a wizard question, so you're best for it... whenever we have a child, the house grows to provide room for the additions to our family...."

"Yes?" asked Octavia. She was getting upset with Gwendolyn, she wasn't nursing, she was just playing and Octavia has Nick to do that for her. "So, what is your question?"

"If the whole house can expand around this family, why can't we get the bed to do that too?"

"Ha-ha!" laughed Llywellyn from somewhere under the quilt as he tickled Dhani. Nick was mostly kidding, he loved every moment of life with his family, yes he misses Gaspode, but Gula is still with them, she and her six daughters. {Every now and then a round rock would turn up and it would sit on a shelf or in a forgotten box until Octavia had a child and the rock would crack open and there would be a tiny gargoyle}

Octavia looked at Nick and said, "Would you mind greatly if I took your memoirs about Gaspode to a publisher?"

It wasn't a bad idea; money was a bit tight and Hogswatch Night is only a month away. "Who is going to publish it? And why? Only the ultra-rich are going to read it, they're the only ones with the money for a book about a dog." Printing on the discworld is still incredibly expensive and only the richest have the money and time for leisure reading.

"Maybe here but not on a..." and she mouthed, "Round World."

Yes, Nick did think about publishing his book, but he was thinking about doing it locally. There was a little printing shop in Lancre Town named Gute Tinte who could handle maybe five hundred copies, but the cost would be incredible. On a round world where the market is huge, they could not only print five hundred copies, but sell them also! "Give me a day or two to think about it?"

"Take all the time you need."

The next day the storm continued without letup as mountain storms normally do. Luckily, he didn't have any pregnant girls in Tallywiffle County expecting anytime soon, but he's going to be busy in nine months. Snowstorms have a way of generating babies. Queen Magrat was right, the women of Lancre didn't care if their witch was man or woman, human or dwarf, just as long as they were honest and competent.

He put on his warmest coat and mukluks, strapped a pair of snowshoes to his feet, kissed all of his babies goodbye, from Octavia to gassy little Gwendolyn and headed to the bookstore. When he got to Main Street, he met the boys who gathered around Trei's furnace as the blacksmith made horseshoes for Allyn the Ferrier. Allyn had plans to go out and re-shoe a few horses as soon as the storm lets up. Kevyn Haven the miller looked up and noticed that Nick had joined the group. "Duke Wægn! How is life in the nebulous realms of royal society, yer grace?"

Nick chuckled every time someone calls him Duke of Wægn, a Wægn is a cart or a wagon and that's how he transports his children when he comes down to the village center so the title is fitting, however Wægn is pronounced Wayne. {and for some reason he liked being called Duke Wayne, it just sounds so right.} As "the boys" chuckled over their royal neighbors growing brood, Trei asked "What brings you down off the mountain in this weather your grace?"

Trei wasn't poking fun at Nick, Trei said it with respect. Trei was there when the king named him Duke of Wægn, which is the entire hubward quarter of the kingdom of Lancre. It's a title that Nick takes seriously, and taking care of problems that he can fix takes a lot of weight off the king's shoulders. Up until the time that the last Duke of Wægn had his head separated from his body, he did nothing except collect taxes. Under Nick the tax burden plunged because he only collected what the people actually owed. "I'm just thinking about my dog."

"That smelly ol' wire haired terrier?" asked Merle Rorie a farmer turnwise of the village. "He was a great dog but he could be kind of ripe, if you know what I mean."

"He was a good dog," said Kevyn. "It was almost like he could talk."

"That's what he would tell me," sighed Nick.

The boys chatted on and on about things that were important, the price of corn, Merle's prize ox team, that new suitor that was sniffing around Crown Princess Esmerelda Margaret Check Spelling. Ever since her husband, Prince Cuthbert, died of pneumonia, the palace has been a sad place to be.

"I'm going to grab a manuscript and head back, stay warm you guys," and after a round of good natured ribbing Nick walked over to the bookstore and noticed something hiding behind a rock back behind the store. He walked back to the rocks and there hiding from the wind was a tiny young wolf pup. He was a beautiful Lancre Wolf, a breed of small wolves that live in the Ramtop Mountains in and around the small kingdom of Lancre. Here at the base of Bear Mountain, Lancre Wolves were a common guest in the trash bin of most folks in Creel Springs but they stayed away from the chickens and cleared the rats out of the barns, so they were a part of life in the area. This little wolf had a silky coat, and he was freezing, the poor pup was shivering so hard that his head was shaking, and he was tiny even for a Lancre Wolfe. Nick scooped him up and he didn't fight or try to run, he just shivered and looked at Nick with those big brown eyes that looked so much like Gaspode's eyes and there was no way that Nick could put the pup back down.

"Come on mate!" said Nick gently as he carried the pup into the store with him. "I don't have a fire going in the stove here, but the cottage is nice and warm and there's some young folks who miss having a dog around." Nick found the manuscript and tied it up in oilskin and carried it and the wolf pup outside with him. He looked into the wolves eyes and there was a glint of comprehension. "Gosh, you remind me of Gaspode. Maybe my doggie had a date with your momma?" He was hoping to see a glint of recognition from the cub when he said that, but the little wolf just started shivering again. "Just wishful thinking on my part."

Nick strapped the snowshoes back on and tucked the little wolf into his jacket where it would be warm and he headed back up Nana's Driveway to his family. He talked about his friend Gaspode the entire trip and when they got to the cabin the wind had stopped but the snow was still coming down. Inside the cottage Octavia had the children singing Hogswatch carols, not the modern carols that are about nothing but presents and food, but the old ones about family and joy, the beautiful ones that he used to hear coming from the Temple of the Lost Gods back in his childhood. That temple used to sit next to the fire brigade, but the alchemists blew up the temple too.

"They're singing for us," said Nick as he mounted the steps and hung his snowshoes on the porch before kicking the snow off his mukluks and entering the cottage.

The kids had the young wolf fed, watered, brushed, hugged, kissed and named Remy before Nick could get his muckluks off and his coat hung up.

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After a long hard winter, the summer was glorious. One day the temperature was so high that Trei shut down his forge, it was too hot for him to work, and when a blacksmith complains about the heat, it's hot. Nick was watching the children and they ended up swimming in the pond. Several neighbors came over and a few Bruces from Four Echs stopped by with some steaks and a box of prawn to grill. Cooking would commence when Octavia got back from Ankh-Morpork, but she was running a little late because she stopped to talk to a publisher and was delighted to see that Nick's manuscript was published and it was flying off the shelves.

By the time she reached their home Octavia was sweating fiercely and all she wanted to do was drop her clothing and fall face first in the pond, but the cries of "Watch me!" and "Watch me grandma!" let her know that there were visitors. Shrieks of childish laughter rang through the forest and the sound of splashing reached her ears - those poor bass! She stepped out of the forest and became a witness to a pond full of joyful mayhem. Princess Esmerelda Margaret Check Spelling sat on a wooden bench that was in the shallow end of the pond with her mother Queen Magrat watching the royal children play with the duke and court wizard's children. Gula was in the pond at the outflow stream spraying any child that yelled "Spray me!" while Gula's children were stationed around the pond and on the waterfall squirting and spraying randomly.

One of Gula's children sat at the edge of the pond spraying water into the mouth of Remy, the wolf pup that Nick rescued. Both the young wolf and the young gargoyle enjoyed their game tremendously.

"Your highness, if you would indulge me..." started Octavia.

"What would you like?" said Princess Esmerelda Margaret Check Spelling as she laughed at the diving and splashing of children. Queen Magrat Garlick had Nick and Octavia's youngest child, Gwendolyn, on her lap.

"Where is my husband?"

Queen Magrat and Princess Esme pointed at the far end of the pond where three children were moving through the water sitting up, closer inspection revealed that they were riding on the back of a river porpoise. Octavia stepped into the pond and slapped the surface of the water five times and the porpoise turned and started swimming toward Octavia. "You have your husband well trained," remarked Queen Magrat.

After a marvelous dinner on the lawn, when the guests had gone, the children were in bed, and the bonfire burned down to a pile of red coals, Nick sat on a chair on the porch under a lamp reading a book that Queen Magrat wrote on holistic healing using crystal power and herbology to enhance the body's ability to heal itself. One of the main problems with this book was that the queen spells as well as whoever filled out her birth certificate. Remy sat next to Nick and happily panted as Nick petted and scratched behind his ears like he did with Gaspode.

Octavia came and sat down on his lap and said in a singsong voice, "I've got a surprise for you!"

"You have a blanket and we're going down to the root cellar and make love in the cool, cool dark?"

"Mmmm, good suggestion, we may end up there, but look at this first," and she handed him a book wrapped in brown paper. He unwrapped the book and it was his! The gold embossed leather cover proudly declared, "Gaspode and Me" by Porter de la Montesquieu, and dedicated to "My True and only love, the mother of my children, Façade Incognito."

Octavia gave him a kiss, "Congratulations! You're a published author!"

"In a different universe," he sighed.

"It's a start! Baby steps!" she said with a smile. "We'll figure out how to convert their ceramic coins into Agatean gold later." The Agatean empire is corrupt and always three steps from collapse, but they have a lot of gold and will part with it willingly if you figure out how to ask nicely. They also overpay for all kinds of trinkets.

"Now I have to make a confession," she said nervously.

"What is that?" Nick asked. For some reason Remy's ears pricked up when she said confession.

Octavia placed another wrapped book in his hands and waited nervously as Nick unwrapped it. "It's the same..." he looked again, it was Gaspode and Me but it was an old book, tenth edition, the leather cover had signs of use, much use, it was definitely a well-loved book. Nick flipped through the book and found years and years of wear, and in the back on the end paper was an envelope with a card in it, the last date read 02/15/2018. "What a strange date format."

"I said the same thing," said Octavia. Then she sighed and said, "I read this book when I was twelve, and loved it more than any other book so when I traveled back in time to deal with the planet eater I used Façade Incognito as a pseudonym because the author of my favorite book was so in love with her. When you told me your true name I was shocked that it was so close to the author's name Porter de la Montesquieu that I thought it was fate that we met. When you asked for a pseudonym I gave you Porter Strongback because of the book, I didn't realize that I created a time paradox.

Then the light shined on Nick. "This is what you were checking on constantly!"

Octavia nodded, "whenever we moved through L-Space I checked it and there was a change every time I looked. I was so terrified I'd find an entry that said your widow finished the book, or you found someone who didn't endanger your life constantly."

Nick was smiling and nodding. He grinned and said, "then you decided to check it out and keep it as long as you want so you can move through time in L-Space and return it with time to spare. Very crafty!" He gave her a kiss and she frowned. "What's the matter?"

"I didn't check it out and I didn't intend to return it."

Nick whooped with laughter and Remy bounced up and put his paws on Nick's leg, the happy grin on his face gave Nick the impression that he found it funny also.

"I thought you were dead! This was my only link to you, but I was terrified to open it, I thought that all the pages would be blank because you died before you could write it... I was terrified!"

"Then what happened? You say you were terrified I had died, but when I got back it's like you were waiting for me."

"I was waiting for you. Nana finally convinced me to open the book and I saw a chapter was added, the reunion chapter. I was all alone trying to figure out what to wear but then Queen Magrat and Princess Esme showed up and then you arrived. Poor Gaspode, he was so sad." At the sound of Gaspode's name Remy perked up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to tell you I was OK," said Nick.

"You should write more," said Octavia. "People in the other universes love the discworld."

"I don't have any stories to tell, nothing much happens here."

"Stop!" said Octavia as she got up from his lap. "I'm going to get us some wine," and she picked up the old library book from his lap, "and I will return this tomorrow, now that I have an autographed first edition," and she disappeared in the cottage.

Nick held the print version of his book on his lap and sighed happily, a published author... in a different universe. How many writers and book nerds can claim that? As Octavia returned with the wine, Remy started nudging Nicks arm with his nose. "What's the matter boy? What do you want?"

Remy looked Nick in the eye, his tail wagging and his ears alert, then the little wolf said, "Read it to me."

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