A Fragrant Adventure – The Next Adventure

Finding the new field of black roses in  Halfeti  was a source of much excitement to the village as
well as to William Penhaligon himself. He was happy that he had found the main ingredient for his
new fragrance, Halfeti but also relieved to be returning home, back to life in St James where he
could get down to creating his latest fragrances and introduce them to his loyal clients. 

As the town gathered to say farewell to William, he thought about the adventures he might have on
his way home. The trip over was conducted in such a rush, his only thought being the black roses,
that he was relishing the stops to pick up ingredients on the way home. He looked back at all the
faces smiling up at him and waved his farewell. The spectacle of his flying machine had caused
quite a stir. 

The takeoff was just as fast and as noisy as ever but this time he lost concentration for a moment
and found himself thrown backwards. He reached out to hang on to the guy ropes and was thrown
into shock as he nearly fell out. He looked nervously over to where he had placed his case. It was
open and its contents were strewn on the floor. His map book was open and face down. As he
checked it for damage, he noticed a dotted line had appeared from Halfeti to the coast by Kas
before heading over Greece and into Calabria, Italy making its way over via Aix and Paris. 

After a few days of flying, William stopped off in Reggio Calabria to source bergamot; a delicate
citrus that William enjoyed in his Earl Grey tea each afternoon back in London. Arriving here, he
was surprised by this rather unattractive fruit. It may not have looked like much but the oils were
something else. William would use bergamot as a fresh top note in many fragrances to come.
From Calabria on the toe of Italy’s boot, William took a short flight to Sicily where he found blood
oranges. Their juice, ruby red like drops of blood and with the flavour and fragrance is of an intense
orange. The more ingredients he found, the more he knew that this was not going to be his last trip.

The surprising thing was that there was a welcoming committee at each stop as if this trip had
been planned with military precision. Dignitaries, bands, refreshments, transport and
accommodation had been laid on as if everyone was expecting him. Except that it hadn’t been
planned and to be honest, William didn’t know where the flying machine would take him from one
stop to another.

The same thing happened again in Aix en Provence. This time, William smiled as he was whisked
off in a large automobile to see the lavender. He consulted his map for the best fields and then
turned over the page to the next leg of the trip; the journey back to England. He would be home in
time for the weekend. William noticed something strange; another page had been added to the
book; a whole page dedicated to Egypt and the Nile. He sat back in the car and although he could
feel the gentle caress of lavender in his nostrils, his thoughts were taking him to the ancient cities
of Luxor, Dendera, Thebes and Giza. He now knew that this was going to be  his next big
adventure  and he was already composing his next fragrance. 

Most definitely to be continued…