Decisions and careful packing....

Hector had been thinking about Eleanora and how much she was worrying about what the future might hold for the Forest Gnomes, ever since she had left on her onward journey he had felt out of sorts. Eventually he had stopped rushing about being busy, and sitting down and resting under a holly bush, he had begun to seriously consider a new possibility. 'Perhaps some company might be of assistance, perhaps I could help with negotiations....' The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he wanted to be with Eleanora on her visit south. 'Well, the moment has come - I must set out at once!'

Hector very carefully set about packing, having spent many years living with his human, he had copied many of his particularly useful ways of doing things. Of course Hector didn't have to travel on a motorbike, but he still packed as though everything might have to fit into a small space. He was wearing his favourite black leather outfit with a jaunty black cap with red leather piping. 'Want to maintain standards, been years since I've given Aunt Mildred a shock!' He thought with fondness of Aunt Mildred's valiant efforts to persuade him to wear a pointy felt hat. 'No reason to conform to humans expectations' he had told her the last time she had presented him with a green felt floppy 'normal' hat.

Of course it is true that all gnomes love a good hat, in fact they find them an essential item of clothing. Humans seem to have an expectation that all gnomes wear pointy hats - this is of course ridiculous. Much as they love a pointy hat, gnomes wear hats of all shapes and sizes and materials. Hat making is a favourite winter activity and can lead to more than a bit of competitive planning and construction. Hector packed a large selection of spotty handkerchiefs and stripy socks, popping his comb into his top pocket  for he had very unruly red curls, and then making a final check of the plants under his care, set off to catch up with his beloved sister Eleanora.

Eleanora laughed out loud for when stopping for a little rest and a biscuit, happened to look into her Blue Seeing Stone and saw Hector huffing and puffing as he rushed to catch her up. 'Oh what a delight! I'll just rest here and wait for him - poor Hector, he hates leaving the city, he must really want to come along.' Gnomes when travelling long distances usually follow the same ancient paths, so she settled down for a little snooze to wait for Hector's approach.