So much happens today, April 30th, 2024, that there is no way to chronicle it all outside of reading Guardians of the Twilight Lands.
The plan was to have a pleasant day of games to celebrate the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Battle of Roanoke—where James Darling and the other Six Musketeers finally defeated the Terrible Five, putting an end to the period of terror and mayhem known as the Terrible Years.
Since the first day of the celebration fell on Walpurgisnacht (Witches’s Night—kind of a German equivalent of Halloween, but the day before May Day), the club known as the Knights of Walpurgis had been asked to provide games and entertainment.
The leader of the Knights, Vladimir Von Dread, took this very seriously and a series of games had been prepared, including, among others, Gaius Valiant’s favorite game, Hurling.
Brief aside: I first heard of Hurling in Brian Froud’s Faeries book. It was a game played in the court of King Finvarra. So I thought it was a fictional game, something only fairies did. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out it was real. They play it in Ireland. They must have played it occasionally in Cornwall, too, because there’s a group of standing stones in Minion, Cornwall—which is Gaius Valant’s hometown.
Only, the day did not go as planned.
Thanks to Rachel and her quick thinking, the terrible things planned for this day did not happen, but it was a hard day for Rachel. And yet, it was a day of wonders as well.
A hurling game does happen, however, and Rachel gets a much closer seat than she expected.
I won’t say anymore, but come read Book Six and find out!