So we return to the bedroom in the cottage where Julian has just opened the box and taken out a piece of paper on which are written these words: Think deeply about the key and you will know where the keyhole be!! Everyone is silent for a time after Julian has read this out, then just as he is about to suggest what to do next there is a loud cry from down stairs and some banging. They all rush down the stairs to find Darren is struggling between the two tall henchladies who are looking rather grim......the henchmen meanwhile have hurriedly got dressed again and are looking out from the door to the cellar, they are actually quite scared of the henchladies so tend to stay well back if they can. Before Julian can speak Zoe has stood Darren infront of him and sneered: Doe this sneaky creature belong to you by any chance?

But Suddenly (yes thats right suddenly - it has to make an appearance sometimes you know ) a loud angry voice can be heard from outside and then the cottage door crashed open and like whirlwind in flew Bruno hotly pursued by Arelene and Craig..........

Why is Bruno so angry, why are Arlene and Craig following him, will the henchladies ever let Darren go, and what of the keyhole will it ever be found????????

Utter perfection for a warm sunny Thursday afternoon, sitting in the gardens at Boz Towers, drinking Lady Grey tea and reading a story by ma ecossaise favorite.

Well done, young Star, yet another spiffing episode!!!

Lovin' it!

Scouse xx

yep!! we do!

Apologies for such a long break from this will do my best to catch up lol!!!!

For a moment no one speaks, the room is so full of people staring at each other and wondering what will happen next that no one seems to know what to say. Then imperiously Bruno pipes up "So where is it then, where's my precious keyhole, someone hand it over before I get really angry......"
Be quiet said Arlene and Craig in unison, its not your keyhole and no-one knows where it is so you cant expect them to tell you.

Thats right said Dick bravely we dont know, they dont know (he points vaguely at the henchladies and darren) so stop yelling at us. This silences Bruno for a moment and indeed everyone is distracted for a moment by Darren struggling to get free of the henchladies, eventually he wriggles so much (see how helpful being a latin professional is!!) they let him go and turn their attentions to the henchmen who flee back into the basement at the sight of the henchladies grim faces. Following them Zoe henchlady turns briefly and says: Beware once I've seen to these silly men I'll be back to recieve whats mine, you have been warned.......
She disappears closely followed by Claudia and for a time silence reigns again. Then Arlene notices that Julian is missing and roars loudly: The boy the tall blonde boy has gone, he must know where the keyhole is.......lets get after him............

Does Julian know where the Keyhole is, and where has he gone? Will Arlene, Bruno and Craig find him before its too late, and has anyone noticed that Len is rapidly approaching the cottage with a very unhappy and angry face indeed................

Oh!! Me gawd!! Lawks a Lordy!! Our most favoured storyteller Startwirler is back!

Pass the Sal Volatile, someone! One feels a swoon coming on!

Startwirler, its so good to have you back with us and not lost your edge, eh!!

So everyone determined to find Julian starts to hunt round the house and finding it empty start to make for outside, all annoyed and arguing between themselves so that no one notices except Ann as she leaves the house last, that the front door now no longer has any kind of lock or shall we say "Keyhole" on it ...........she catches Dick's eye and nods at the door, he is about to gasp but stops himself, seeing everyone else is busy arguing they get george and darren and creep away from the cottage, knowing that Julian will have left them a message at Strictly Cottage.......

How long will it take the others to notice the five have gone, will there be a message for them at the cottage, and why is Len kicking wildly at the door of the old cottage as Arlene and Craig try to calm him down............

if we listen closely we can here exactly what Len is now mumbling wildly as he continues to kick the door of the cottage: "I want my special keyhole.." , "All I want is my itty bitty keyhole", " Uncle Len wants his shiny keyhole"...... and things such as that. Slowly he calms down enough to be led into the cottage and given a cup of tea from the henchladies flask with a wee tot of whiskey to calm him down even more........
Meanwhile our brave heroe's the Strictly Five have reached Strictly Cottage and there as hoped for, lying on the hall table is a long slim envelope with Julian's writing on it. Dick picks it up and they all go into the living room and sit quietly as he reads the note to them:

"Hello Friends, if you are reading this then you have sucessfully eluded our foes and are ready for the final part of the journey. You will no doubt have guessed that I worked out where the keyhole was and removed it before the wrong people could get their hands on it. If you are ready to stand with me to finish this adventure, then wait till dark and then make your way to Strictly Rocks where you will find a boat awaiting you to bring you to me. Make haste my friends, Julian."

The five look at each other and each nod silently in agreement that they will tonight follow Julian's instructions and finish this incredible adventure together.........

But oh dear there may be a slight problem, Bruno bored of waiting for Len to be sorted out went looking for a mirror to admire himself in and has just realised that the Strictly Five are missing................

Where exactly is Julian hiding, will the five get to him before their foes get to them, and is that Lady Karen keyhole Lover and where is she heading at such a frantic pace....................

On the edge of moi's seat, young star!

dearheart thou shalt not have to wait long.......well maybe till tomorrow lol

Desrest Star!

Shall wait with baited breath!! Well, will clean the gnashers first!

late that night when they were sure the coast was clear, the Strictly Five crept out of Strictly Cottage, silently mounted their handily convenient bikes and rode swiftly towards the equally conveniently close coast and Strictly Rocks.........

Meanwhile all is not well at the old cottage on the hill, Sir Len Keyhole is still trying to kick anything he can get near, Lady Karen is trying to calm him down while at the same time trying to get Bruno to stand still long enough to tell her whats up and Arlene and Craig are in a corner having a secret confab behind thier hands and giggling evilly every so often. Suddenly Sir Len stops dead looks at his wife and hollers "Find those whippersnappers and bring me my keyhole or else......... .........

So for the moment we'll leave the old cottage on the hill and a group of people all very white faced and staring terrified at Sir Len and not sure what to do next, and return to the Strictly Five who have just arrived at Strictly Rocks and handily as described there is indeed a boat waiting for them, they pile in and lilia george casts off and they sail slowly off into the darkness with only a tiny pinprick of light to guide them.............

Will the group at the cottage get their acts together and start looking for the five? And what and where exactly is the light that they are sailing so bravely towards and will Julian be there when they arrive.........?

Lawks a-lordy!! Its our most favourite storyteller!!

Yet another spiffing episode then, young Star,

Isn't it time for another episode Dear Star, i'm thinking it would cheer up her Ladyship, when she comes back. Your keeping us all in suspenders, waiting to find out what happens next.

let us return to Julian and find out exactly where he is awaiting the arrival of his trusty friends..... to do so we must cast our eyes along the Strictly Coastline to that pinprick of light that the Strictly Five are gamely making their way towards. This light is that of a lantern hung over the entrance to "The Strictly Grotto " a very cleverly hidden cave hewn into the side of strictly Rocks and not noticable if you dont know its there. Inside there is an old plank to make do as a table and a rough ledge that makes do as a seat. There Julian is sitting, the Silver Keyhole safely hidden awaiting the arrival of his friends and to bring this story to a final end.

Back at the cottage the group have finally stopped arguing and started to work out a plan to find the Strictly Five. However, it is very late and they are all knackered so they make do and bed down for the night. In the morning Lady Karen will take Lord Len home and try and calm him down, while Bruno (once wrested from the mirror which he has just found and is grinning inanely into) and Arlene and Craig will search for the Strictly Five, starting by a visit to Strictly Cottage.........

Meanwhile the Strictly five are approaching that light and Lillia George is as always cleverly negotiating the dangerous rocks in almost pitch dark, what a clever girl........

Enthralling as ever Dear Star, can't wait for the next Episode.

at last the Strictly Five arrive at the Strictly Grotto and after cunningly hiding their boat in the handy hidden harbour below the grotto, they climb a short rocky path and walk into the grotto calling Julian's name, however as they adjust to the dim light in the grotto his name freezes on their lips as they find he is tied up with a gag in his mouth and sitting at the grotto table with a henchman on either side of him and the two henchladies towering above, all looking grimly at the approaching five.........

Meanwhile over at the old cottage its beginning to get light and Lady Karen wakes Lord Len up and after a few protests and mumblings about chesticles and bony knobs, she leads him off homeward for a lie down while Arlene, Craig, and Bruno (with mirror in his hand) begin to make their way to Strictly Cottage..........

Back in the grotto the henchladies have forced the five to sit down and are trying to get them to reveal where the precious keyhole is. Unfortunately they have no idea so the henchladies arent getting anywhere. Fortunately Cola the dog appears from the back of the grotto, (turns out there is passage way all the way to the grotto from Strictly Island and clever old Cola found it, he frightens the hench people and bites off the ties on Julian's hands and sets him free, however just as they think everything is fine, three figures loom out of the dark entrance of the grotto, alas Bruno, Arlene and Craig have managed to locate the grotto and have come to seek their prize. ..........

For a few moments everything is very noisy and confused, and in the confusion Julian disappears a little way up the passage way with Cola, places something wrapped in a cloth in his mouth and tells him to go back to the island and hide it. Cola disappears and Julian returns to the main room just as Craig turns and spots him and cries: There he is, thats the one who has the keyhole, catch him someone............

Will they catch Julian, will Cola get the keyhole safely hidden and where is Lord Len off to now..........................

You've left us all dangling again, Oh! the suspense of it all, it's almost too much. Excellent as always Dear Star.

As China Doll so sweetly says "hanging in suspenders" here, dearest Star!

While Craig and Arlene chase Julian round the grotto, not easy cos its very small and there are a lot of people in it lol (tho Julian is very lithe and limber so can move rather beautifully and rather fast.....and is leading them a merry dance.....) we find our way to Strictly Island where Cola has just emerged from the end of the tunnel and is looking round for a good place to hide his prize. Its getting dark however, and distracted by a bump on the rocks he misses his footing and falls down a hole and lands on the soft sand below him, in a handy undetectable cave once used long ago by our hero's in one of their early adventures and still in pristine condition!!!! Shaking himself down cola finds a crevice in the back of the cave and drops his prize into it and settles down for a well earned rest before he makes his return journey to the grotto to help out his friends.

Down by the shore we can see a boat is now moored and walking up towards the centre of the Island a shadowy but familiar person's outline, and one who appears to be mumbling about the best way to do a botofogo, and random comments about chesticles and of course keyholes. Yes Lord Len has escaped the watchful eye of Lady Karen and has made his way to the Island convinced that here he will find his prized Keyhole at last.........

Will Cola wake up and get to his friends on time, will Craig and Arlene ever catch Julian and what will they do to him if they do, and what has Lord Len found on Strictly Island and who is he planning a final showdown with in order to get his final revenge................

What an absolute delight to read, Young Star.

Another Danielle Steele in the making!!

think I'd better add something to this before it drops off the end of the screen lol.......

So Lord Len is stumbling about in the semi dark on the island mumbling about botofogos when he walks into something rather hard and from what he can gather quite tall. He fumbles in his pocket and finds what looks like a mini keyhole but is in fact a keyhole shaped torch (of his own design of course) he turns it on and its tiny light shows him what looks like a very tall tower, (yes tis the very same tower built many moons ago by Lillia george's father and now abandoned) he moves round it to find a door and just as he does he is stunned to see a light emitting from the very top of the tower, and as it would appear making a signal. Very strange as the door is locked.

Who or what can be in the tower? Well if we return briefly to the grotto we will find that Julian did indeed outwit Arlene and Craig and he too escaped along the passage that Cola found earlier, and also while Arlene and Craig were trying to work out where he could have gone, the others made their escape first pausing to untie Arlene and Craig's boat and then getting into their own and sailing as hard as they can for Strictly Island. So yes you guessed it is Julian in the tower, because handily the tunnel has more than one branch one of which led to a secret trap door underneath the tower.

So will the rest of the five see Julian's signals?, will Lord Len find a way into the tower, will Arlene and Craig escape the grotto in time for judging duties later this year, and is that Lady Karen sailing towards the island????????

Gadzooks!! Dearest Star, you have tumbled from the arms of your prince to write another spellbinding episode.

Well done!! Bravo!! Encore!!

Your most loyal fan
The Lady Boz

Many apologies for being so neglectful, this was not just falling off the page but about to fall off the forum lol So I'd better add to it pronto before it does..........

So we will re-join the rest of the intrepid five who are sailing furiously for the Island while Julian frantically signals from the tower. Soon they get close enough to the island to see the signals and noticing them Camilla Ann whoops with joy and points them out: Look look Julian is ok he's telling us where to meet him.......yes replied Dick he's saying Cola has found our old cave and we should meet him (Julian not Cola) by the old wreck and he will take us there to make our final plans to thwart Lord Len et al......
Hoorah they all (whisper) so as not to be heard as they approach the Island and begin to disembark in the handy secret Cove.............

Meanwhile Lord Len rather tired and somewhat bamboozled by the tower appearing to have no door decides to have a rest, he sits on the ground and leans his back against the tower, thinking no one could get past him when he is so close to the tower.........but alas Lord Len is so tired that he falls asleep and does not notice Julian (such a clever boy isnt he) gently abseiling down the side of the tower and then creeping off into the darkness to meet his friends...............

Back at the Grotto Arlene and Craig have discovered their boat is gone and Craig has been having an almighty sulk because he thinks they will be stranded and not get back in time for SCD4 and so he wont be able to wear all those fetching Cravats with a little jewel on them that he suits so much................. Arlene is thumping about in a bad temper and trying to find a means of escape, and oh my just as she is about to give up she comes upon the secret passage Julian used to get to the Island............
She tells Craig to pull himself together because they have a way out of here, he comes to look and moans that its dark and damp and will ruin his suit and as for his fake tan........get into that tunnel this minute bellows Arlene, if you think I am going to miss my chance to drool over any half decent male that stands before our judging podium then you have another think coming......(actually Craig likes that idea too) so he enters the tunnel with Arlene close behind him.........

Back at the Island a second boat is mooring in the secret cove and the shadowy figure of a woman walks up to the main part of the Island and finding Lord Len asleep shakes him hard and tells him off for being such a fool........Lord Len awakes to find Lady Karen standing over him with a face like thunder............

Will Arlene and Craig make it to the Island and if they do will they find a way out of the tower in time.......will Julian reach his friends and get them to the safety of the cave, and will Lady Karen ever calm down...................and what will she do when she does.............................
Last edited by startwirler3 : 18-09-2006 at 11:15

Dear Star, thank you for another excellent episode. I'm sure her Ladyship will enjoy reading it, upon her return. Don't leave it so long next time, although I know you've got other distractions.