CafeLitMagazine: The Crispin Chronicles 24 The Vengeful Butterfly

by Dawn Knox

Red Bull

Previously: Doggett and Nina are now Gnome and wife and the items on Crispin’s To-Do list are rapidly being ticked off. Doggett is so happy he’s sparking, Nina is ecstatic but there’s one guest who is out for revenge…

The Vengeful Butterfly

During the commotion caused by the arrival of Mavis the Owl, several guests arrived unseen—and very late. McTavish hadn’t returned home until the early hours after a few games of cards with his friends and so he’d insisted on sleeping until well after sunrise. It had taken several cups of strong coffee to get him feeling himself, which meant that he, Bess, Beryl and Bella had arrived at the ceremony after it had started. They’d slipped in at the back and luckily, no one noticed their lack of punctuality. From her seat, Bella couldn’t see what was happening at the front although she’d spotted Crispin as she crept in and of course, she’d heard Lulu’s approval of the ‘best Best Elf’.

Her heart was breaking.

Mr Lambert alone had seen the glistening tears trickle down Bella’s cheeks and he vibrated with anger. Once the ceremony was finished, and Doggett and Nina were finally Gnome and wife, McTavish had insisted he couldn’t go on without a cigar and more coffee. Beryl, Bess and Bella had returned home with him but Mr Lambert had remained. He’d flown into the bushes and watched, looking for an opportunity to make the smug Elf sorry. But Crispin was surrounded by people, including those two creatures who’d defended him before and Mr Lambert knew when he was outnumbered. He needed to be shrewd. He was too weak to mount an attack on his own. Dare he grab a bee around the middle and fly at Crispin with the business end pointed at him? He decided he didn’t. Could he perhaps find some sort of weapon to use as a battering ram? He would scour the woods for a sharp stick or suitable stone. Flying over the clearing where the maypole had been erected, he saw a shiny, white pebble which he thought would be perfect. As he landed, he noticed there were two pebbles. He probably wouldn’t have been able to hold two separate stones, so he was thrilled when he clasped one pebble, rose into the air and discovered that the second stone seemed to be attached to the first. But they were much heavier than he’d anticipated, and he struggled to rise into the air. He was, however, quite determined, and with super-lepidopteran effort, he flew upwards, clutching the pebbles and made his way back to the Sunken Garden. After a few beats of his wings, he realised that what he was carrying was heavier than just two pebbles. He couldn’t see because he was afraid with the extra weight, that if he looked down, he might plummet to earth so he looked forward in the direction of flight and flapped his wings vigorously. But he had the distinct impression that he was carrying some sort of geological formation which involved lots of pebbles joined together in such a way that they periodically clashed together.

Spanners rushed back and forth, moulding the group of people into a tasteful arrangement.

“Rightio, I want the bride, groom, bridesmaids and best Elf. Everyone else, please could you step out of the picture… including you, Queenie and Granny… please… okay, I’ll do one more of you two and then perhaps you’d step aside… please.” He finally managed to prise the bride’s mother and her mother from the bride’s side although they were poised at the edge of the photo, ready to rush in again at the first opportunity.

Mr Lambert made it back to the Sunken Garden with his guided missile although he was nearly exhausted by the time he arrived. But the memory of Bella’s tears drove him on and once he’d spotted Crispin posing next to that large hussy, he found renewed strength to fly the distance towards the Elf’s smug face. Crispin had hurt Mr Lambert’s beloved Bella and now he was going to feel pain.

The first person to spot Mr Lambert was Wendy, who shrieked “Watch out, Cwithpin! Incoming inthect, and it hath teeth!”

Spanners unclipped his camera from the tripod and pointed it at Mr Lambert, “Sorry, folks, I’ll be back with you in a second. I’ve never seen a butterfly with such a large grin and I’ve got to photograph it while I’ve got the chance.” He checked the digital screen on the back of the camera and nodded in approval. “I’ve definitely got some award-winning shots here.”

Mr Lambert’s muscles were going into spasm and he knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain his grip on the weapon much longer, so he flew as fast as he could at Crispin’s head, quite prepared to sacrifice himself as he was dashed against the self-satisfied face of his nemesis.

“Ow!” shrieked Crispin as Mr Lambert flew into his forehead with all the strength he could muster, slamming his weapon home.

“I’ll get him, leave him to me!” bellowed Lulu, swatting the butterfly with her lollipop posy. But she needed have bothered because the violent sound waves from her ear-splitting shout had forcibly driven Mr Lambert backwards. He tumbled over and over, spiralling into a perilous spin and dropped to the ground. Luckily, no one noticed his nose dive as they were all crowding around Crispin, who had teeth marks on his forehead and Granny, who was gleefully holding her lost dentures aloft.

By the time Mr Lambert had recovered sufficiently to move out of the way of stampeding feet, Granny had cleaned her dentures off in the fire bucket and was demonstrating to everyone how they worked.

Spanners continued taking photographs and assured Crispin he would use some photo-editing software to remove the angry bite mark on his forehead. He lined Nina, Queenie and Granny up in height order, ascending and then descending and got some good close-ups of Granny displaying her newly-found teeth. When he was satisfied he’d photographed everyone, he left to download his shots and promised to come back the following day with a laptop to display them.

Mr Lambert, in the meantime, had rested and after drinking nectar from some flowers that Wendy and the Fairies hadn’t spotted, he regained enough strength to fly back to Bella—a desperately disappointed butterfly.

About the author

Dawn’s two previous books in the ‘Chronicles Chronicles’ series are ‘The Basilwade Chronicles’ and ‘The Macaroon Chronicles’ both published by Chapeltown Publishing.

You can follow her here on https://dawnknox.com
on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunriseCalls
Amazon Author: http://mybook.to/DawnKnox

The Crispin Chronicles

Links to the previous chapters:

Chapter 1 – Her Ladyship’s Garden - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/04/the-crispin-chronicles-1-her-ladyships.html

Chapter 2 – The Letter from OFSGAR - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/search/label/The%20Crispin%20Chronicles%20-%20The%20Letter%20from%20OFSGAR

Chapter 3 -The Sweet Smell of Success - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/05/the-crispin-chronicles-3-sweet-smell-of.html

Chapter 4 – A Visit from Peggy the Pram - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/05/the-crispin-chronicles-4-visit-from.html

Chapter 5 – Nightly Disturbances - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/05/the-crispin-chronicles-5-nightly.html

Chapter 6 – Just Desserts - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/05/the-crispin-chronicles-6-just-desserts.html

Chapter 7 – A Little Girl at Large - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/06/the-crispin-chronicles-7-little-girl-at.html

Chapter 8 – The Halloween Party - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/06/the-crispin-chronicles-8-halloween-party.html

Chapter 9 – A Glimmer of an Idea - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2021/07/the-crispin-chronicles-9-glimmer-of-idea.html