As the afternoon wore on, and we became more dispirited, I asked about the method used to transport the people away, and presumably bring us here.

They looked at the quiet one of the Committee.

'They do not talk about the equipment used to open the doorways between the worlds, not in front of Others.'
He put in the capital letter to give it significance.
'However, we have managed to gather some intelligence about it. We have even managed to gain access to it and so bring you here, though I am sorry that, in order to be certain of finding suitable men for our purpose, we also brought you ladies. It could not be helped and we do apologise for it.'

'I take it that we will not be able to return home unless we succeed in this venture.'
There was an awkward pause.
'Or is even that not at all certain?'

The civil servant smiled. 'You do have a knack of asking awkward questions.' he declared. 'I do suspect that we will be staying here for some time.'
'But you could return us to the time of our departure.'
'No. The ring will make a way into another reality, but it is at the present time, there is no way to move back in time.'
'Of course,' I agreed.
'But we do not intend to fail, we will be leaving after dinner to visit some people, that is the gentlemen will be going. We must leave you to your own devices, but we should be back by morning.'

I bit my tongue, endured another dreadful meal and wished them well as they set off into the night. They has some tiny carriages each pulled by four diminutive ponies. They were of the New Forest type, but rather smaller than the ones I normally see at home.

They were not back by morning. The women were very concerned and kept a constant watch for them. Eventually about noon three boys came with the vehicles and a note. They had gone to Wales. Nothing more could be discovered, and so we just had to wait for them to return.