Treasure Hunting

[Winter Pearl]

Velen and Pearl had milled around at the Ball, but left early. Pearl, still dressed in the white satin and lace gown, had a number of gifts hidden in places about their home and yard. Each gift had a clue to the next. Mostly, they were small and practical things like gloves, a scarf, a winter hat, and sheet music. Next to last was In the conservatory, she'd tucked away a box with a handmade ocarina. She was sitting there while Velen searched.

In the gazebo, she had placed red and white roses next to a six inch square box, inside was a snowglobe, one side had a diorama of the Shanachie, the other of their current home. A note was tucked into the box with Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
Will you share making music and dreaming dreams with me for the rest of our days?

[Velen Ilnaren]

Velen had to admire Pearl's cleverness in devising the various clues for him to decipher and hiding places to locate. He almost lost the thread with the sheet music, but then he reread the little note meant to guide him. Look among the measures to find that which belongs and yet does not. He started in the kitchen, looking among the various measuring cups and bowls to no avail. Then it hit him - musical measures! Heading for the library, he scanned the shelves of music there; second from the top was a volume that had been placed upside down, a new collection of gnomish folk songs that Pearl had somehow acquired. Tucked next to a song about a love who waits--directing him to the conservatory, where Pearl was indeed waiting--he found a note about whistling lilies, and so he searched among the lily stalks to find the little ocarina. Seeing that, Velen turned to beam at Pearl and raised it to his lips to blow a few notes.

But there was something rolled tight and tucked within the little clay instrument, and so he deftly retrieved and unfurled it. The clue guided him to that which was without and within in equal share, and he frowned. Outside and yet inside? That seemed to indicate the conservatory itself, but surely that would be too easy! His gaze panned all around, until he spied the answer through the glass panes. The gazebo!

Quickly he dashed out back and along the garden path to the gazebo, its columns bedecked with vines and topped with snow. There was a bench there, an ideal place to sit and enjoy the peaceful afternoon, or listen to the birds play. Beneath the bench, he spied a little box, and within it a lovely snowglobe and... a note.

When he returned to the conversatory, Velen looked at Pearl, then crossed over to drop to one knew in front of her and took her hand in his. Their eyes met, and he smiled. "Yes."

[Velen Ilnaren]

Velen's own gift to Pearl was a collection of music he had written for her to play on violin, some with assorted accompaniment for him to join her. They ranged in style from elegant, almost ethereal melodies to fast, energetic reels that would set one's feet to dancing.

- "Willowwind", a flowing instrumental that, as its name implied, evoked the feel of the wind among willow trees
- "Under the Starlit Skies", another soft melody, this one a duet between fiddle and flute
- "Heels High", a high-tempo reel that would test Pearl's fiddling skills
- "Gazebo Seasons", a folksy ballad for fiddle and guitar, the lyrics singing of the passing seasons as seen from the gazebo bench
- "Shine Bright, My Love", a gentle, romantic ballad
- "Heartbeat In Rhythm", a mix of old Earth country with a rock edge
- "Whistle and Bow", named for its instruments, this was a spirited duet for fiddle and flute, not quite a reel but with a good tempo

There was one more that he wrote, not for Pearl to play, but to play and sing for her. "Gold and Green" was an unabashed love song from him to her. It was composed in a smooth jazz style, the verses separated by mellow saxophone solos. He played it for her, there in the conservatory, and when the song was finished, he lowered the saxophone and looked at her. "Did you like it?"