A Rainy Day at the Academy

It was a dark and stormy day at Rivendell Academy. The students in the academy were hard at work with their lessons. Well, some of them were anyway. Lady Celebrian was giving the middle grade girls a lesson in Elvish history.

Professor Arthur was attempting to teach the little girls a reading lesson. I am afraid our resident pixie and fairy were rather distracted with whispering to each other during the lesson.

The should have known better than to behave in such a manner with Miss Merriweather so close by. When the girls heard an "ahem" right behind them, they decided it was best to save their conversation until later. However, it was terribly hard to concentrate with the gloom of the rain dampening everyone's spirits.

Master Allanon was teaching the older girls a lesson in basic elements. The girls were given an assignment to collect and write a report on a mineral they found outside. The going outside after the rain and finding a mineral they were rather excited about. The writing the rather lengthy report required they were rather dismayed about. The were all silently thinking about exactly how long they could put off the writing part and knew they would compare procrastination strategies later.

Finally, lessons were over for the day. The younger girls, and sweet, obedient little Betsy went back to their dorm to play.The older girls and...err...not always so obedient Merilwen...went upstairs to Amberle's room. Since the rain prevented them from beginning to find and collect minerals, they discussed alterate entertainment ideas.

Merilwen was the first to propose an idea.

"I know...we can go find the haunted Hitty house!!!"

"Hanted Hitty House!!!" The other girls exclaimed in unison.

"Yes....the Hittys all used to live in a big, pink mansion. But then, there was no room for it upstairs and it was moved into the basement. The Hittys moved into the smaller cabinet they live in now, since nobody wanted to live in the basement. The house has been down there empty for quite sometime. But....I heard Hitty Rown saying that a cricket who came upstairs from the basement told her that there were often strange noises coming from the house. Like rustlings. I bet a ghost has moved in there and now the house is haunted! Maybe we could be like that movie we saw with our person on television a few weeks ago...you know...Ghostbusters!"

"Well, I don't know Merilwen," Claire hesitantly replied. "If there is a ghost, we should tell Master Allanon what we suspect. I mean, how would we get rid of it anyway?"

"Well," Amberle thoughtfully replied. "I have a potion that might get rid of a ghost. It makes a bright light, anyway. I originally made it for the fourth of July, but didn't get a chance to use it. Shouldn't a bright light scare away a ghost?"

"Uhmmm..Amberle...does Master Allanon know about that potion?" Marley tentatively asked.

"Nooooo....not exactly...but he doesn't have to know everything does he?" Amberle replied.

"Well, I think he pretty much knows everything anyway...or finds out what he doesn't know eventually. You know he will catch you sooner or later." Claire warned.

"Oh...he won't catch us. Come on, let's have an adventure for once!" Amberle exclaimed excitedly.

Soon enough, somehow or another, the girls found themselves staring down the rather shadowy basement steps.

"Uhmmm...you know, we are forbidden to go in the basement. Master Allanon and Miss Merriweather said the stairs are dangerous, the dangerous dogs are often down there in their beds, and it is no place for young ladies to be wandering alone." Claire said as they sat at the top of the steps trying to gather their nerve.

"Well," replied Merilwen, "The dangerous dogs aren't that dangerous anymore since they have gotten older. They just ignore us now and never chase us. And, if we go slowly and carefully, we can handle the stairs. Don't be such a worry wart, Claire. "

Before they knew it, the girls actually stood in the forbidden basement. The first thing they saw was....

The cords to the video games.

"Ohhh....I know what these are!!!!" exclaimed Merilwen. "Mr. H used to have this upstairs!!! It's VIDEO GAMES! Oh, I've always wanted to try them! They looked like such fun!! Miss Merriweather forbid it...she said there are more productive uses of a young ladies' time than playing a 'Rocky' boxing game and it was an uncivilized game anyway. But, it looked like fun to me, uncivilized or not!"

It didn't take the girls long to figure the games out....in the manner of pre-teenage youngsters everywhere, video games seemed to come naturally to them. They were happily playing the games when all of the sudden, the power flickered and the games went out.

"Oh look!" Amberle suddenly rather shakily whispered, "Is that...is that the haunted Hitty house?"

"Oh....yes...yes it is." replied Merilwen, rather unsure of herself about the whole Ghostbusting mission now that they were standing on its threshold.

However, not wanting to look like cowards, the girls decided to proceed with their mission.

With great effort....and much pulling.... And pushing...all of them were standing at the doors of the house before they knew it.
They hesitantly opened the door to find.....
Nothing...nothing but an old mansion with a few scattered pieces of furniture. They rather quickly forgot about ghosts and enjoyed exploring the old house.
That is, until the lights flashed again and they heard a rustling sound coming from behind a chair. In a panic, the girls began to flee. Remembering her potion, Amberle raised the bottle and threw it at the rustling chair.
There was a brilliant flash.....
Then darkness! The girls shrieked as they were caught in darkness just as Marley was crossing the gap between the house and the couch. It was quite a long way down and suddenly she felt herself slip from Claire's helping hands....

The girls screamed in horror as their dear friend fell.....

Suddenly the lights came on and they almost sobbed with relief to see Marley had been saved from terrible bruises or worse by an unexpected source. Just as quickly as their relief came, it vanished as they realized fully just who had come to their rescue.

I am afraid the trip back to the academy was not near as much fun as the adventuring forth from the academy.

The arrival back at the academy was an adventure of a different sort, although not one the girls would have wished for. After they told their story, Master Allanon assured the girls there was no ghosts living in the old Hitty House and that the power flickering was quite common in the basement area. There were however, a family of mice living in the old house quite contentedly that the girls had likely disturbed.

After the girls made their way back to Amberle's room, the rain had stopped and the day ended much like it started, with the girls contemplating what minerals they might find in the hour they would be allowed outside...under strict supervision. They would need to gather their minerals as quickly as possible. After all, they would have to work extra hard now to finish their paper on minerals....and their newly assigned...very, very long paper.... on ghosts and how to get rid of them. Somehow, ghostbusting really didn't seem to be such an interesting subject anymore.

As they sat contemplating their fate, Merilwen again was the first to speak.

"How long exactly do you think 'grounded indefinitely' means?"

The other girls replied in unison,

"Oh, be QUIET Merilwen!"

And so ended the saga of the Rainy Day at Rivendell Academy.

Hitty Rowan