Nigel, the giant lizard, wandered around the courtyard, looking for more to eat.  He had finished what was left of the loaf of black bead, the meager remains of what was stuck to the sides in his food dish, and now was frantically looking for anything to satisfy the unsatiated grumblings in his stomach.  He thought he could satisfy the gnawing by eating hapless beetles scurrying about the courtyard. Unfortunately, the majority of insects had made plans for that afternoon. Nigel dimly wondered if Ismael would ever return and began whining, piteously.

     Sometime later, Nigel’s bellyaching was interrupted by the sound of a wad of rubber bands being snapped, followed by a loud, popping noise. Ismael, with his horse and wagon, suddenly appeared in the courtyard., Nigel ran up to the wagon and began his wretched pleas for life-sustaining nourishment.                                                                                                         

     Ismael, on the other hand, sat in complete disbelief. He had no idea where he was, and most importantly, how he had gotten there.  Nigel‘s whimpering and bad-tempered kvetching brought him back to reality, and he flung a handful of fireworks at the sniveling lizard.  Nigel ate a couple and wandered away, looking for tastier creepy-crawlies. Ismael sent the horse back to non-existence and tramped upstairs to his laboratory to search for spells and magic that were far more sinister than his attempt at making evil.                                                       

     Ismael knew it was time for a last-ditch encounter with those wanderers.  He searched through the secret drawers that lined the walls of his laboratory and found a magical crystal ball he had stolen from a witch years ago. After summoning the proper spells to awaken it, he found the wanderers in Oxford’s castle.  A plan began to form as he watched them.  The only problem he saw was the wonder-working robot that always seemed to frustrate him. His magic must eliminate the robot.

     Back in the castle, the adventurers were sitting quietly in the living room, recovering from their enormous supper and contemplating the next part of their journey.  They would stay at the castle, for a few days while Amos learned his duties as Mikado, then Adital, Stephen, and Oxford would continue their odyssey to Packard Landing.                                                         

     “No more fire-breathing dragons, talking trees, and strange magicians accosting us!  It would be like a vacation, for goodness sakes!”  proclaimed Adital.                                           

     “Whoa,” said Stephen, “you must never let your guard down.  There is always a great danger in the forest.  Most of it comes when you are least expecting it.”         

      Stephen was the only member of the company who nursed a sense of foreboding during the three days they spent at Oxford‘s castle.  He realized Ismael had only been transported to his courtyard and could still possess a threat.  Stephen’s qualms stemmed from Ismael‘s approach to frightening them.  His deception was a scheme that might have worked with town folks during a sideshow, but this was not your typical sideshow crowd. This was a highly resourceful and intelligent group. Stephen felt Ismael wouldn’t give up that easily.

     Ismael watched all this from the magical-looking glass, then he rubbed his hands together and laughed horridly.  “I have plans for you all.  None of you will ever forget this stroll.”

     Fear?  Although that’s Ismael’s middle name he knew his plan would work best if he used ancient spells and portents. He transported himself to a spirit world and invoked other witches and wizards to form a coven bond. During this ceremony, they would receive a mystic vision of events that could happen. This information was cryptic and didn‘t reveal a specific course of action. Ismael was left with that decision because he had organized the coven. He chose a path that inflicted the most pain and discomfort on these intruders to his realm.  All that was left was to call forth the forces of evil and strike.

     Back at the castle, and oblivious to all the evil planned, Amos learned the Mikado trade quickly and took time to get to know his neighbors.  Most, he found, were totally set in their ways, stiff-necked people. This was most likely because they were old and stubborn. To his dismay, he discovered that everyone he met stood ready to complain constantly. It occurred to him that a great deal of the problem was that the people who lived around the castle needed a village name. He decided to sponsor a contest and award prizes to generate this name and instill a sense of community.

     “I’m nothing except a business manager of a giant nursing home,” thought Amos.  He imagined the endless arguments ahead, then decided to tap Oxford‘s abundant wine cellar for his community party.  “There is nothing like a couple of glasses of wine to create friends from cranky, old people.”  Once the wine worked its magic, it would go a long way to form a community. What could be more fun?

     While all of this was going on, we must not forget Adital.  He spent a great deal of time in the cellar, exploring the room filled with ancient battle armor. “There has to be some use for all this junk,” he thought. Driven by curiosity and his deadpan sense of humor, he began trying on the Hauberk, the close helmet, and the plate amour.  Eventually, Adital was completely suited. He found a great sword and tramped to the first floor to show Stephen. 

     Needless to say, Stephen was dually impressed with Adital‘s medieval attire.  He was so delighted he spent time outfitting himself in a similar suit and armed himself with a giant, double-sided battle-ax.  Together they were a fearsome pair, indeed.  Adital proposed that they tour the castle and show everyone their forbidding appearance.  Little did they know how far-reaching this decision would prove.

     Speaking of decisions, Ismael retreated to his library and began preparing to cast a spell.  He first began by purifying the space and himself. He knew it was crucial to free both his space and himself of all negative energy, resentment, anger, discomfort, and distraction.  He spent time meditating and cleared his mind of all hopeless thoughts and emotions. 

     Then he created a sacred place with an altar and selected magical crystals, enchanting lamps, and candles to set his mood properly.  After that, he spent time choosing the proper spell and wrote it carefully on a piece of parchment to read at the proper time.  At last, it was time to fix his mind to the task at hand. He meditated and focused all of his mental energies on his evil intent.

      Ismael visualized his sinister spell as a beam of intense blacklight that streamed from him to Oxford’s castle, then verbally uttered his chant.  Ismael disappeared from his altar with a flash and reappeared with a menacing thunderclap in front of Oxford‘s castle.  Evil was set to happen.

     We must not neglect what was happening at the castle at that very same moment.  Adital and Stephen were on their tour of the facilities when they heard the tremendous explosion and rushed out to investigate. They found a strange man wearing a mysterious black robe and a black, pointed hat standing in front of the castle. He had one arm raised which was holding a long black truncheon aloft, while shouting strange chants. Adital and Stephen approached the figure warily.

     “What shall we ever do with this guy,” mumbled Adital?

     “I think we should turn him into a goat,” exclaimed Stephen!

     “It would be a lot quicker to chop him to pieces,” uttered Adital

     Suddenly, a large, brown, and white goat appeared where Ismael once stood.  Adital stood in amazement, staring at Stephen, and opened his mouth, ready to ask a flurry of questions.  Suddenly, he was interrupted by a man on horseback riding down the road, leading a flock of goats.

     “I believe I found one of your goats,” said Stephen 

     “Arrrug! Thanks for capturing him,”                         

     The man whistled, and the transformed goat trotted down the path and joined the herd.  The rider then rode off with his caprices.

     Adital finely exclaimed, “How did you do that?” 

     Stephen laughed and said, “All robots are connected, something we call entanglement. We combined all of our thinking power to change that evil wizard into a more agreeable goat. As soon as we leave this part of the forest, he will change back to what he was.

     “I can’t wait to tell Amos about all this.  My mother writes children‘s books, and I have a distinct feeling that she will include much of our journey in her next story,” marveled Adital.

     “Are you sure, “chuckled Stephen, “Do you think anyone will believe all the things that have happened to us?”

     “Oh Stephen, children have vibrant fantasies and believe many wonderful things.  We call that having a vivid imagination.  It seems that you also have such a magnificent ability.”

     “Are children connected as we robots are?  Sometimes we think as one and make decisions with our combined brain powers. These combined minds told me that the goat herder was coming, so we agreed on a goat.  Ismael has a lizard in his castle who depends on him. So, everyone felt it was best to return him to his original form to feed him. That makes sense, doesn’t it?” 

     “Well, yes, but I’m not sure I would like to be connected to another person.  Above all things, human adults value their individuality,” said Adital.

     “That just might be your downfall,” sighed Stephen.  “Thinking with many brains is always better thinking with only one.”