Just over the bridge from the Kingdom of Gold is an old stone
chair. Today the kingdom is gone and the chair is there looking
quite normal amidst the weeds and overgrown trees. That of course
is today. More full moons than wise men can count have passed since
the kingdom glowed of gold and riches. The streets were full of
animals living joyous lives. For so long ago, people were not yet
known and the world belonged to enchanted animals like dragons,
unicorns and winged horses.
The Kingdom of Gold was ruled by one of the enchanted creatures,
the Giant Flying Koala. Being sort of a cross between the koala of
today and flying squirrel, the Flying Koalas could catch the wind
and soar above the eagles. They stood nearly seven feet high yet
for such a large creature were extremely just and fair. They had
risen to their prominence in the world of old in the wars of Oak
Wilde, but that is tale for another day.
The King loved a dainty Canine in the Kingdom. Her grace wooed
the villagers as she walked daily from her home just up the stream
from the kingdom to her furnishings shop in the center of town. The
shop was a beautiful collection of fabrics, furniture and just the
cleverest of details like exotic vases, gilded chests and the glass
plates and bowls swirled in colors that seem to change as you
watched.
There she would sit amidst the beauty of her shop consulting
with her daily litany of customers. There was the Duchess of Oak a
curious creature that resembled more a goat than a horse even
though she insisted there was no relation, and the Count of Aspen
who very much resembled a Great Dane with the coat of an English
sheep dog. None of this surprised the dainty Canine for all the
inhabitants were exotic crosses of animals and everyone was quite
friendly.
This day as she sat picking just the right color of green to
accent a new couch for the Count, the door flew open and in a
breathless moment the king swooped into the room. “My fair
Designer” he started “for what seems countless seasons I have
ridden the skies above our kingdom watching breathless in the wind
as you graced our streets. In my chest beats the heart of the
warrior yet your beauty has taken it captive and hold it powerless
in your presence” The dainty designer coyly bowed her head and
blushed.
She was quite aware that the King had been watching from the
skies and had wondered how long it would take for him to approach
her. Deep within her own bosom her heart had longed for the King
and now it sang in recognition. The king continued. “I have only
one solution. I ask that you would be my queen and rule by my
side.” The designer was thrilled and quickly affirmed her mutual
admiration and agreed upon the marriage. The date was set as the
first full moon in October and that day was the 31st.
Now the wedding plans began. First and foremost a wedding chair
needed to be constructed for the royal wedding. As was the custom
at the time, the couple to be wed would sit in a chair of masonry
to signify the solidity of their convictions and from that spot
they would pronounce the oath of betrothal and be bound together in
life and spirit. And so it was that the king sent for the royal
mason, a dark and sultry lioness who harbored deep want for the
king within her own bosom.
When she heard the king’s request her eyes flashed with jealousy
but she hung her head in respect so that none would see. She agreed
to build the wedding chair and departed their company back to her
workshop. There in the dusty mason shop she selected seven magical
stones to form the back of the chair. The first six of pure Granite
would stand strong against time and the last stone also of Granite
had a pure vein of silver and glowed of lightning in a full moon’s
light. Carefully she hid the vein of silver from view so that all
the stones appeared equal. Then she spoke her spell.
“Stones of Granite and Silver Fire
grant me now my own desire.
Stones together in the seat
a single heart in them will beat
Should a stone go astray
apart forever they will stay”
The chair was set in a garden just over the bridge from the
kingdom. A beautiful garden was planted around it and behind it a
tree of incense scented the air.
On the wedding day the king and his queen to be sat in the chair
before the royal priest and pronounced the oath of betrothal. There
was happiness and singing as the kingdom celebrated the union. A
line formed to give gifts the royal couple as they stood by the
wedding chair. At the end of line was the mason whose eyes glowed
with anger.
Finally her turn came to congratulate the newly weds. She
stepped forward and with a quick motion drew out a hammer and
smashed it against the seventh rock of the chair. The rock
shuddered and fell to the ground leaving a gapping hole in its
place. The skies darkened as rain and lightning fell upon the
panicked crowd. The jealous mason cackled as she danced around
“Your deathless spirits shall lonely roam until this stone is
brought back home!” With that a giant bolt of lightning struck next
the rock casting it into the rain engorged stream.
The queen immediately understood what had happened. The jilted
mason had cursed them to a lonely eternal deathless life without
each other unless she could get the rock back into the hole in the
chair. In a fluid motion she leapt into the ragging waters to grab
the rock.
The racing current had already taken the rock and lifted it into
the stream. The queen could see the glimmer of lightning in the
roaring murky water just ahead of her and she swam as quickly as
she could to catch up to it. Then as the stream widened it fell to
the bottom and ceased to shine. Without thinking she took a great
breath and dove for the bottom. The currents grabbed her and
slammed her hard into the ground nearly knocking the breath from
her. She closed her eyes with the pain.
As she opened her eyes the glow from the stone was right before
her. She fell upon the rock and wrapped her arms around it. Its
great weight held her beneath the water as she struggled against
the current. She felt her breath giving out and the light began to
dim. It was then that she felt the arms of her beloved close around
her and she felt the air as they broke the surface.
With the queen still holding the rock and the king holding the
queen they bounced and bobbed down the swollen stream as the water
grew faster and angrier. The king reached out and grabbed a tree
digging his massive claws deep into the bark. The water rose higher
and higher and the current became un-fightable. In one mighty
movement the king leapt into the rain choked air holding his queen
between his hind legs as his mighty wings fought the turbulent
gusts.
He rose higher and higher till a counter current pushed them
back towards the spot of the wedding chair. There he descended
quickly nearly smashing to the ground. His queen still clutching
the stone lay unconscious beside him. Lightning stuck again just
inches from the dazed couple and the king summoning his strength
grabbed the stone and pushed it back into the chair.
The storm stopped.
The kingdom lay in ruin with its proud castle leveled to the
foundation and the surrounding town washed away. The king surveying
the damage decided to rebuild the kingdom on higher ground in an
area with more resources. He scouted the nearby area and moved the
township to an area that was named Koala Bear Creek and in the time
of people renamed to Bear Creek. There the king and his queen lived
many happy years as the town flourished under their rein.
The evil mason was never seen again and was assumed lost in the
flood with many others. The years past and people came to live
here. The kingdom of Gold became the town of Gould and even that
was unable to survive the frequent and horrible floods. All that is
left today is the Campground of Gould, the foundations of the
designer’s home, the castle and the wedding chair. It is said that
on a full moon in October the seventh rock glows in the chair and
the spirits of the evil mason curses against the wind.
Additional Sights and Sites to See:
- The Tree with Claw marks
N34° 12.713 W118° 10.272
- The Royal Throne
N34° 13.299 W118° 10.680
- The Designers Shop
N34° 13.375 W118° 10.782
- The Designers Home
N34° 13.483 W118° 10.811
- Where to Park
N34° 12.007 W118° 09.890
Initial cache contents:
- Royal Jewels and Coins
- Magic Rocks
- The mystic tokens of the King, Queen and Mason
Truth Stranger than Fiction!
One year after first being place in the Enchanted Wedding Chair
cache, the "Mason Lioness" travel bug was washed away with a flood
after traveling 3400 miles to Pennsylvania. I guess she never did
find her magic...