There was a silence. None of the three friends knew what to say. It all seemed so sad - and so terrible.
Even Mr Mouse couldn't think of anything.
Well, for about ten seconds!
"Guys, guys!" he said. "C'mon! If we can't sort you, no-one can! That's what we're here for, get me? Ain't that right, my friends?"
"Yes... " said Dot very slowly. She had to say that, of course - Cambor and Poolbear seemed so worried and upset - but if the guardians of all the memory in the Internet didn't know what was going wrong and why everything was going missing, how was she going to find out?
"Help us out, for starters!" went on Mr Mouse spreading his arms wide and smiling at Poolbear and Cambor Zildith as they stood there looking sadder than ever. "First off - who the heck are these kids - the children in the basement or whatever?"
Wizzie groaned and shook his head. "It's the Children of the CASEMENT, cheesechaser!" he said. "Why don't you listen up for once in a while?"
"OK, OK, Children of the Casement, whatever" said Mr Mouse, waving his paw in the air in his grandest manner. "What's their story?"
Poolbear looked at Cambor and Cambor looked back again. "It's a most precious secret" said Cambor at last, his long dark face looking very serious. "The whole of Phargon depends upon it!"
"Well you gotta tell us" said Mr Mouse. "Be reasonable! How can we help you else? C'mon, let us in on the thing!"
You know, there are times when Mr Mouse is the only answer. He may be rude. He may be irritating. He may take things too far. But he DOES get results!
Poolbear was the first to speak. "The mouseperson is right, my old friend" he said, shaking his curly white head, and making one of the moving polar bears on his jacket wake up with a big yawn. "And after all, don't forget, he and his two friends come from our trusted and loyal servant, Sam the Server himself!"
"Yes... yes... " went Cambor. Then he took a big breath and spoke.
"All our memories" he said "which means - the good and true memories of the Net, from everything you can read in Wikipedia to the tiniest website with your aunty's address on it - all our memories come through the Casement. This is a kind of window - "casement" is an old-fashioned word for window... " (I knew I'd heard that word before, thought Dot - I heard it when I was at the court of King Henry VIII *, and nearly had to stay in cyber-world to be in charge of all his music!)
"... or a portal if you like. But we call it a casement. The Children of the Casement guard it, to make sure nothing happens that can harm Phargon. To do this, they will only allow what is true and fair to come in. They are our guardians. They can sense what is not right for Zildith, you see - sense it and stop it in a way no-one else can."
Cambor sighed. Then he went on.
"Also, because they are children their minds are open and ready to learn - and full of the wonder and joy that is life. So they make sure that all that is new and wonderful comes to us."
He stopped and looked down at the forest floor again.
"Or they did, until Drindel Zildith disappeared - and took The Day of 23 with him!"
*See Dot and King Henry VIII
