Difficult to know what to do, whether to say anything or to keep quiet until she was sure of what was coming. Aunt Mildred wasn't a Venerable for nothing and all her experience and intuition was telling her that the wood and all the creatures living in it, including the gnomes, were facing a great peril - the problem was that she didn't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily and she just wasn't feeling sure.
She had been walking in the forest and listening carefully, even the trees seemed agitated and the whole atmosphere was one of rustle and anxiety. 'What to do, what to do? 'she muttered to herself 'I must pick up a sign soon or there won't be time to make a plan and for the Council to take an action'.
She found herself walking into the old lady's garden and taking up her usual place under the clematis, 'perhaps a little dream time might help to clear my mind', and with that she settled herself down for a short nap.
She awoke to hear the old lady's voice raised in distress and the voice of her eldest son trying to soothe her, they sounded as though they were having a very heated discussion. Aunt Mildred sat bolt upright in alarm, she was sure that the old lady was talking partially for her benefit, as she had never heard raise her voice so loudly. As she listened all her forebodings came into focus, for her worst fears were realised as she heard the son trying to persuade his mother to let him take over the management of the forest and to let him apply for planning permission for his new housing scheme.
'It will be the end of our world and of our lives as we know them, all the weaving will be undone and the great understanding forgotten again. Oh my, Oh my, I must hurry home and tell Humperdinck and ask Hortensia to blow her trumpet to summon the Council, Oh my, Oh my such a to do and so much danger all around.' For Aunt Mildred knew that such ideas once stated, had a nasty habit of being very difficult to change.
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