Alan, Julius, Theobald and Natasha

Later in the day, Alexander and Roxana came to find Alan with Julius, Theobald and Natasha in the library. One was the cousin of Verna another was the nephew of Gemma and the third was one of his maternal cousins. Ten, six and five… Quite the age range and while all three did not object to being read to, Alan was in an awful pickle, as he wondered what to read aloud. Anything that could scare Theobald and Natasha, and he would find himself being chastised, anything considered too young for Julius and he would still be finding himself chastised.

So, there sat Alan, tapping his head with a finger while Theobald and Natasha played chess, but really, they were just playing checkers using chess pieces, with Julius watching with an expression that was more than a little amused. Hopping up onto the table, Alexander looked at the sight before him. He had been present for games of chess before and he knew for a fact that was not how chess was played.

Sniffing one of the pieces, Alexander stared at it, so different from others, but yet this was the only chess set the Northern Caracal had ever seen. Were he to see others, then he would think them different! Ever a man of many talents, Captain Smith had made this chess set himself alongside his father, and so one side of pieces showed the Egyptians led by Ramesses the Great while the other showed the Hittites of Muwatalli II, the Battle of Kadesh being fought over and over again, but neither Nefertari or Muwatalli's queen had been present at that battle which had resulted in the earliest surviving peace treaty.

As Julius began to pet him, Alexander looked at the boy with his copper-red hair, so different a shade from Alan's or Gemma's. Meowing at him, Alexander tapped his head against the boy's chin and purred while Roxana joined her mate upon the table, looking hardly impressed by how the younger children were playing chess.

Then came the sound of Alan snapping his fingers and exclaiming: "I've got it! We will read 'Celtic Fairy Tales!' Is everyone fine with us going in order, or should we start with the two that are counterparts to 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' respectively?"

For a moment, Alexander stared at his master's nephew, wondering what these tales were. Had he ever heard 'Snow White' or 'Cinderella' read aloud? He then looked to Roxana with uncertainty, but all she did was rub heads with him.

"But, Alan, 'Snow White' is from Germany and 'Cinderella' is from Italy, both European countries at the Celts are… were… are and were a European people." Said Julius, some what confused as to how refer to the Celts. True, the Celtic Britons, the Celtiberians, the Gauls, the Galatians, the Lepontii and the Picts no longer existed, but the Gaels still did as an ethno-linguistic group, thus Julius was a little bit unsure of what to say. "As the stories originated in Europe, there can't be much difference between 'Snow White' in Germany and 'Snow White' in one of the Celtic territories."

"Well, to start off, Julius, 'Cinderella' originated in Ancient Egypt, the things you learn when you have an Egyptologist for an uncle and guardian." Stated Alan as he grabbed the collection by Joseph Jacobs from one of the bookshelves. "And there is a lot of difference! It isn't like the story is the same everywhere!" Then looking at Theobald and Natasha, he said: "Theobald, Natasha, do you want to finish up and come sit over here?" Although he had not been addressed, Alexander leapt from the table, followed by Roxana. The two caracals ran over to Alan, jumping on top of the couch nearest to him. Alan's response was to stare wide-eyed and take a small step back. Thus, did Alan comment: "Neither of you are Theobald or Natasha." Alexander meowed and Roxana made a chirping noise, to which Alan laughed and said: "Yes, I suppose you two want to hear the stories as well." Taking a seat on the couch, he then uttered: "You two may want to move so there can be room for Theobald and Natasha. You okay with one of the other pieces of furniture, Julius?"

Looking to the ground floor entrance of the library, Alexander stared with wide eyes, ears erect and fur standing on end. Roxana on the other hand had her back arched, her eyes narrowed, her ears flattened against her skull and her hair standing on end. A confused Julius, standing near one of the other couches, gestured at the two caracals and inquired: "What is going on in with the cats?"

Turning his gaze to the felines, Alan opened his mouth to comment only for the sound of a bugle to ring out through the surrounding area, followed by Cnut howling. It sounded as if the bugle had been dug up and never cleaned. Sighing, Alan uttered: "Mr. Dupont has brought his bugle… Wonderful. There always is a feeling of dread before he starts playing and it seems Alexander and Roxana, both felt it."

Taking a seat upon the nearby couch, Julius asked: "You don't think he's going to play it at the wedding, do you?"

"I don't want him to!" exclaimed Natasha, jumping up onto the couch Alan was upon and hiding her face in her cousin's arm. "That noise is scary!"

Alexander completely agreed. He had no doubt he would be hearing that sound in his sleep for weeks to come!

Hopping down from the couch, the Northern caracal walked on over to the open door and proceeded to push it close with his head. With an amused look upon his countenance, Alan commented: "You truly are the Defender of Man, Alexander."

Meowing at Alan, Alexander returned to the group, rubbing against the legs of Theobald before the boy got onto the couch on the side opposite of Alan. Roxana, who was on the arm of the couch nearest to Gemma's nephew, proceeded to walk over and sniff the boy curiously. No doubt she recognized him as kin of Gemma, one of the inhabitants of Quebec Castle that she was closest to. The six-year-old proceeded to pet the Asiatic caracal's head, something that she did not respond to by swatting him with her paw, but rather purred happily.

Upon hearing the bugle once more, even through the closed door, Alexander turned his head in the direction of the door and hissed, however upon hearing Cnut howling, he made no such vocalization. A vocalization from Cnut, that wolfdog who was half Alaskan malamute and half Vancouver Island Wolf, was nothing to get worked up over.

"Is the wolf dangerous?" asked Theobald, more than a little frightened by the wolfdog's howling.

"No, Cnut is quite gentle." Replied Alan as he opened the book to the table of contents. "Besides, he is only half wolf and I'd be more frightened of a wolfdog that is more dog than wolf than is more wolf than dog." Ears perked up with interest, Alexander listened as his master's nephew uttered: "Charlemagne… Owned by a mean old man named Annesley who would always wander Oshawa with a double-bladed axe."

"What happened to them?" inquired Julius. That too was a question that Alexander wished to know. Were there other enemies to worry about?

"Charlemagne got killed picking a fight with a dog named Ahab, half English mastiff and half bloodhound." Stated Alan. Alexander remembered Ahab. He had encountered that ogre when Caligula Filcher had stolen the family loving cup.

"What about Annesley?" asked Natasha. "Is that mean old man still out there?"

Shaking his head, Alan answered: "No. Annesley died in jail last winter." Returning to the subject of "Celtic Fairy Tales", he then asked: "Alright, so, the Scottish 'Snow White', the Irish 'Cinderella' or just go in order?" Alexander did not care and being one whose tongue humans could not understand, it was impossible for either him or Roxana to give an opinion.