Gloriosa was the land of flowers and it seemed the most unsurprising of facts to know Ansibby Falofa came from there, for her people traditionally wore the scarlet or purple mimsy blossom on all occasions. It was rumoured they were born thus and a girl or boy was indicated by the colour of the petals immediately at birth.

Yet as the prefect had stated, the Mimoa were visitors from some other Winkel who had for reasons lost in the mists of time emigrated long ago to their present location. The very origin of the tribe was unknown and but fragments of their heritage remained, fragments that were becoming increasingly scarce with each passing generation.

No written records existed and the legends of the past were memorised and recited in ceremonies that were scattered throughout the year. Bards trained all their lives to remember the stories and if a detail got distorted there was no way of recovering the original version. Which went a long way to explain the tale of the blue donkey ridden by an argumentative sponge, a fable still popular among the Mimoa children, hence its persistence in the canon of tales told at autumn festivals to a puzzled audience.

"Our most revered ceremony is the Battle of the Spoons," Ansibby explained to the two girls. "These are mock battles I hasten to add."

"Stirring tales no doubt," Victoria observed.

"Indeed, only they change each year for the original ceremony associated with them has been lost or confused with other similar events. We seek as a people to rediscover our past and the meanings attached to such pieces of it we have managed to preserve. The Battle of the Spoons is a reaffirming of all that, but the actual event is but a contrived pageant involving the great wooden spoons each family cherishs as an heirloom. Every year some competition is created and the three great families fight for the honour of precedence and possession of the most revered relic."

"Has your family ever been awarded the wooden spoon?" Sophelia innocently asked.

"Alas no. Last year a plan was devised to throw hoops over spoons embedded in the turf and my two brothers finished second and third respectively." She sighed at this near miss. "It was suggested the Anugoa family used bigger hoops in their attempts."

"Perhaps they forked out for better rings," Victoria suggested. "What's the plan for this year and why is it perhaps the last chance for Falofa glory?"

"There has been no definitive event arranged so far, partly due to the astonishing news which upset me so much. A drought exists in the south of Gloriosa near to the valleys the Mimoa occupy. Our territory is lush thanks to frequent rainfall amid mountainous terrain, but beyond in the plains the harvest of last year failed and the thousands of Gloriosans who live there were near starvation during the winter if not for a mammoth effort to transport food across the storm barriers at every opportunity. Our people are not numerous and could offer little help but we did what we could. And now we have a chance to do even more and prevent the crisis from ever happening again."

"By throwing giant spoons at each other?" Victoria frowned and the girl laughed at this image.

"I shall put that in the suggestion gourd," she said brightly, "when I return home, as I graduate this spring and will attend the festival."

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"Ooh! That's Spring Break time isn't it?" Sophelia said.

"Certainly is."

"Midgy would love a holiday in Gloriosa, carrying my luggage and things," the Deepwold girl said, fluffing up her dark hair and staring meaningfully at the blossom in the other's equally dark hair.

"Well, I see no reason why your pet blue donkey might not pay the Mimoa people a visit while there," Ansibby said, catching on to the girl's heavy hint.

"Blue donkey?"

"I'll explain later." There was a clatter at the door and two identical blonde girls bustled into the otherwise empty library. They paused near some shelves and looked puzzled.

"Why are all these books here?" one said.

"Somebody probably kept booking them in," the other suggested.

"Good evening girls, may I help you?" Ansibby said, standing and striking up a formidable prefect pose.

The twin girls stood a little closer together protectively and it was endearing to watch how they reacted to this sudden, unexpected threat by a gesture of mutual support. There was always one who took the lead, the elder twin naturally, and thus Divvy Massking stepped forward.

"We took a wrong turning at the top of the stairs," she said.

"To rectify this we took a second wrong turning where two corridors joined, chosing the one with the nicest carpet," Fizzy Massking added additional detail.

"Having noticed all the doors at the end of the corridor were completely wrong, we chose one of the wrongiest doors as it had the shiniest plaque upon it. Niciest scribbly writing on it too, I thought." Divvy was in superlative mood right then, though grammar fell a victim to it.

"And here we are!" Fizzy concluded, making a sort of half curtsey mimicked perfectly by her sister. Their smiles were bright and disarming to the unwary, but Ansibby Falofa was not so easily conquered.

"Well," she said, "if this is your study hour you may take a book each from a shelf, sit at a table and read quietly."

"Why?"

"This is a school, a place of learning. Did you notice that at any point since you first arrived here?"

"Ah," Divvy said, raising a finger. "That might explain why strange women stood up in front of us in crowded rooms earlier and talked for ages. Happens a lot here that does."

"We couldn't get our head around it," Fizzy admitted. "Thank you for explaining that bit. You should work here."

"No, my working time is over and I shall be leaving soon," Ansibby said with a laugh.

Victoria and Sophelia watched this exchange silently, the one sniggering at the facetious fun of the twins, the other lost in thoughts on how to plan a trip to Gloriosa for Spring Break and where she might find a blue donkey. Suddenly an idea occurred to her.

"Victoria!" she blurted out. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could come with us. I mean, if you have no plans for Spring Break that is," and she blushed a little at her daring words.

At first it appeared as if her suggestion was not well received for her friend frowned thoughtfully a moment.

"Yes," she eventually said in a tone laden with conditions, which she immediately revealed. "If those two girls might want to join us," and she indicated the Massking twins who had wandered off to look for books with pictures in them. Sophelia glanced at Ansibby who shrugged.

"More the merrier," she agreed. "After all, it may be the last time anyone might ever witness the Battle of the Spoons. I am half inclined to invite Miss Plazenby herself."

"Um, let's not go too far with this," Victoria shuddered at mention of the headmistress as a possible travel companion.

"Excuse me," one of the twins wandered back to the duty desk holding a book. "Can anyone tell me why this one's all floppy?"

"That's a paperback," Ansibby explained.

"Oh, okay," and the girl disappeared behind the shelf to whisper with her sister and make further educational discoveries among the repository of knowledge.

The Gloriosan prefect sighed. What a strange audience was being assembled to witness a revered ceremony handed down through the generations of the Mimoa tribe. She really hoped they would be able to appreciate the experience.

"This one's upside down!" she heard a loud whisper from among the shelves.

"No it's not. You're holding it wrong, see?" came an equally loud whisper in response. Ansibby Falofa sighed again.

"Oh bother!" she finally said.