Niche of Time
Well, for a start, this shall be the home for my Biographical Inventory of Books. After that, who knows?
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Case of Ambrose Abernathy (Part Two)
"Miss Kindermass?" he
managed at last. "I am Mr. Ambrose Abernathy, from the Department of
Extranatural Affairs." He shuffled out his wallet and produced a card. She
took it with her free hand and looked at it as if he had handed her a dead
lizard. "We--I've come to do some follow-up investigation. You remember
Mr. Sackett was here before..."
The lady snorted. It pinched her
nose even thinner.
"And a fat lot of good he
did. You people took your time getting back to us." She shifted the dog to
get a better grip. "Well, I suppose you'd better come on in. Wipe your
feet!" she added sharply.
Abernathy desperately scuffled
his feet on the mat, hung his hat on the coatrack behind the door, and hurried
after the disappearing figure of Miss Kindermass into the dimness of the house.
With the gathering clouds outside it was growing darker by the minute. He
stumbled past obscure pictures and brushed by tiny tables burdened with dusty
flowers and bell-jars, following the flag of the lady's rapidly receding
skirts. She threw open a parlor door after a final sharp turn down a corridor,
flooding the hall with the light of a blazing fire.
The room inside was stifling and
overstuffed with ormolu and chintz. He skittered to a halt, panting and
wheezing, as the lady abruptly stopped, set the dog down, and with a precise
gesture introduced him to what appeared to be an enormous bundle of laundry and
a fragile china doll seated in deep frilly chairs by the fireplace.
"My sisters," she said,
"Miss Anne and Miss Sarah."
He bowed hastily and began,
"Ladies...," but at that instant the pug bounded over to the chairs
and clambered enthusiastically up into the capacious lap of the larger sister.
The attentions of both the seated ladies were immediately galvanized.
"Poopschen!" Miss Anne
oozed. Her voice was like a bubbling pot of lumpy oatmeal. She began vigorously
scratching the beast behind the ears, and he spread himself in ecstasy,
puddling his furry folds across her lap. "Has 'oo come to see your Mumsy?
Yes 'oo has, yes 'oo has!"
The tiny Miss Sarah spread her
arms out to the dog, like a child asking to be picked up.
"Oooh, Chessy, come see
little meez!" she piped. "Hasn't Chessy got a little kissee for his
little meez!"
Abernathy looked back and forth
at them as they caressed and cajoled the pug, at a loss for words. They seemed
totally unaware of his presence. He cleared his throat and started again.
"Ladies..."
"It's no use, Mr. Abernathy,
they're both cracked as cuckoos," the elder Miss Kindermass said
matter-of-factly, as she turned away. "The only things they talk to are me
and that demanding little creature."
"Then why...?" he
began.
"It's only manners,"
she said abruptly. She frowned. "I suppose now you would want to get your
investigation started. So we can get this over with?"
"Oh, yes. Please." The
agent hesitated. "Do you think before I begin, I could get a drink of
water? I tried the well--"
"That old thing hasn't
worked in ages. I'd have thought that was obvious." She sniffed.
"Come into the kitchen."
The hall was even darker after
the brightly lit parlor. As they passed the occasional window it was no better.
Outside the clouds had swallowed up the setting sun, and a growing, grieving
wind was starting to make its presence known.
The kitchen was so filled with
potted herbs that he gagged on the spiciness of the air. As he gulped down a
glass of sulfurous yellow water that he had to pump himself, a low rumble of
thunder rattled the plates in the cupboard. The elder Miss Kindermass -- he now
thought of her as THE Miss Kindermass, as she had not supplied her first name
-- tapped her toe while he drank. His throat tickled, somehow even scratchier
after his refreshment, as she lit a lamp and led him back through the halls and
into the apparent center of the disturbances.
She swung open a heavy pine door
at the very rear of the house.
"The master bedroom,"
she announced. "This is where our father died, and from this room my
brother Wallace vanished, over twenty years ago."
The room was bare, absolutely
bare, except for a sturdy bed draped in a dust cover and a huge built-in
wardrobe. After the crowded nature of the rest of the house, it was like
stepping into a lifeless arctic wasteland. With a grim, measured gate Miss Kindermass
entered the space, lamp held high. It seemed to stream shadows more than light
down into the room. The agent shivered. In the quivering flame, the bed looked
like a squat, bestial specter.
"Vanished," she
continued. "And with him, his beloved bitch, Topsy. Over the years,
several other dogs have gone missing from this house. Spotty, Gertrude, Mattie,
Brownie, Lucinda, Ginger..."
She sniffed. Abernathy looked up
at her and was surprised to see tears watering in those severe blue eyes. She
sniffed again and shook herself.
"These disappearances always
centered on this room. The girls would be gone, and we would find the door
hanging ajar. We kept it up, you know, as a guest room, but eventually we
stripped it down and put a lock on it, and since we got Chester, we've had no
problems with the other phenomena. But I still worry."
"Other phenomena?" The
little agent hastily pulled out his notepad and a stub of a pencil. "What
other phenomena would those be?"
"I told your man Sackett all
that." She frowned. "Didn't he report any of it?"
Abernathy thought guiltily of the
dossier that he had glanced over briefly in contempt, now lying buried some
certain fathoms below the earth inside his lost kit.
"Oh, well, of course,"
he stammered. "But we like to go over it again firsthand. Confirmation
from primary sources, and so on. Just to make sure, you understand?" He
smiled at her and nodded his head, trying vainly to garner assent.
The lady sighed wearily.
"The stupid waste of it all!
Our tax dollars at work, I suppose. Not to mention the time. Very well. There
are sounds, every now and then, not very loud, like groans or rumbles, not
human, you know, not voices, but not the house settling. I know that sound very
well, and this is nothing like it, so don't try to persuade me that it
is."
"Oh, no, of course
not," he said. His pencil flew over the notepad.
"And some people have said
they've seen a pale, fishy kind of light. I never have, myself." She
walked over to the window and set the lamp down on the sill. "They can
never tell quite where it's coming from. But I have smelled the smell."
"The smell?"
"Please don't ask me to
describe it; it's like nothing I've ever known. The most I can say is that it
has something of a chemical tang, but also earthy, somehow. Oh, how can one
explain a smell? Other people have smelled it, and have had the same difficulty
as I."
Abernathy raised his eyes.
"Other people...?"
"Cleaning girls; we used to
have them. Also, neighbors and friends, when they would still visit. Dead now,
most of them, or too old to get about, and the young folk don't care to ... well,
the young are mostly unpleasant people, anyway." She shrugged, and closed
up again, like a touch-me-not.
"Well, are you going to
start 'investigating' then?" she asked.
"Of course, Miss
Kindermass," he said hurriedly. What a lonely life she must lead, he
thought, and felt ashamed of the sudden personal insight behind the spiky old
woman's facade. The case, the case, he reminded himself. "Would you mind
leaving me alone for a bit, while I perform the preliminary examination?"
"What? Why?" Her voice
was sharp with suspicion.
"Well, I need quiet … the etheric
vibrations ... psychic emanations, and so on ... don't want to skew the
readings and impressions -- strong personal influence, don't you know..."
"Sounds like a bunch of
humbug to me. Well, I have to check on Anne and Sarah anyway, and start
supper." She passed him and headed out the door. She turned quickly with
one hand on the knob before she left, a finger on the other raised in warning.
"No pulling up the
floorboards, mind. Or punching holes in the walls, either."
Abernathy, who had begun to relax
a little as she left, contracted once more in alarm.
"No, of course not, ma'am,
of course not!"
She shook her head vigorously
once, in grim, satisfied affirmation, and pulled the grinding door shut. Abernathy heard the lock click with a little
jump of his heart. He was alone in the desolate room.
Notes
Of course there had to be three old spinster sisters at the house; that's traditional, almost like the Three Witches or Triple Goddesses in the old tales.
I'm sorry I do not have the LOTR post that might nave been expected today just yet; I'm feeling uncommonly lazy on this cool morning. Perhaps later this afternoon, if I can get more steam up.
Found Another One
Monday, October 14, 2024
What Is Made Of It?
Sunday, October 13, 2024
October 2019 Diary
10/2/2019: Tried to go in at 7:30 AM to make Kam bacon
and eggs as he asked me as I thought he had to go to school early. Devotions.
Went back at 9 AM and got the stuff and brought it out to cook. He left about
10:35 AM. Catechism. Nap. 2 PM leftover cabbage. Thoughts all morning about
Jocasta story. Two characters: the lawyer who brings the children, and the main
servant. Omniscient narrator. Supper pork chops and sauerkraut. Rosary. Wash
dishes, and talk to Susan, who is packing for Kameron.
10/3/2019: Up about 6:30 AM. Devotions and catechism.
Andy brings me some grapefruit and an elderly banana just as I'm stepping out
from the shower. Go out and wait a little after 8 AM to say bon voyage to Kam
[he went to Germany with Andy’s parents]; 8:20 AM the grandparents came to pick
him up. They loaded up and I said my good travels and went in. At 9 AM went in
and got leftover cabbage, taters, and pork chops and made into a stew with
tomato sauce. Right now it’s about 10:30 AM.
10/4/2019: Instead of doing any work, I mostly napped. It
started well enough, with prayers, catechism, AND Bible this morning. Then I
went in at 9 AM and ate the leftover broccoli salad (quite a bit this time) and
the chicken salad (a lot - do they even ever eat any?), then watched a lot of
"Minty" videos on old 80's movies, then bloated off to sleep. At 2 PM
I get up, feeling pains in my legs (am I headed into the October trifecta?), go
in, and grass dogs early - they were pretty loud. Came in and started DW shows.
Also turned on the AC this late. Feeding, grassing at 4 PM. Rosary at 4:30 PM.
No dishes or cleaning; I went to bed very early.
Sent John: I am sad to report that I didn't get very far
on my writing this week. Various unusual circumstances, both good and bad,
knocked me off my routine and set me atilt. It torments me, and fills me with
guilt, and makes me think of how I am wasting my limited time. The solution, of
course, is to simply apply myself, but the mechanism seems unusually tetchy
right now. I am, perhaps, relying too much on an autumnal boost; also, I am
diverted by an idea for a new short story based on a very old dream [Aunt Jocasta], that would
fit in very well with the month. I came up with an unusual twist for the old
idea, and it rises up like a ghost in front of BB2. Perhaps I should get it out
of the way first, while it's hot. All I wants to do is binge on Netflix (I'm in
the middle of "The Good Place", a Bangsian fantasy), watch YouTube
reviews of 80's movies and novelty songs, and sip tea. But the night is young.
His reply: There is an odd antsy-ness in the air- I
suppose mostly it is the expectation of fall weather- but also in the larger
world- this impeachment business has drawn a very stark picture of our
bifurcated society- one side seems to be gloating that they have their man
red-handed, and as good as gone, the
other gloats that their opponents have finally totally overplayed their hand,
and are as good finished- and who the eff really knows what is going on. It's like
an enormous rubber band that's been pulled to its extreme on both sides, and
all we can do is watch and wait to see how it's going to snap. [It hasn’t
changed much, has it?] Alas...I think if you have a hot idea you should pursue
it, even if it was unplanned for. Discipline is of course the key to bringing
things to conclusion, but inspiration brings things out of nothing, and that is
a mighty fine gift that can't be taken for granted or put off. Follow the fire, my boy!
10/5/2019: Woke up about 3 AM and wrote down a dream,
checked my e-mail, played WWF, then fixed the first paragraph of AJ (Aunt
Jocasta) [published elsewhere on this blog] so that I should be able to pick it up when I want to. Prayers,
catechism, Bible. Ready to lay down a while now.
Up again at 7 AM, and between shows of celebrities who
died young and making breakfast, managed to get up to page 4, and the
appearance of Aunt Jocasta. It is now almost 11 AM, and I think I might nap
again.
About 2 PM I had lunch. About 4 PM Andy brought me out 4
bananas and the rest of the oatmeal cookies. At 9 PM said the Rosary, with a
decade for Kameron's safety.
10/6/2019: Woke up again at about 2:30 AM, wrote down
dream, went on a quest for the old blue bat with a rubbery lip; never found
him, but found many other amazing "vending machine" and "rack
toy" treasures. Went back to sleep about 4 AM, with my right leg entering,
as it seems, a new level of painumbness.
Woke up about 6:30 AM, got ready for church despite leg
and left at 7 AM. They were asking for help with Jamaica for the second
offering, but I didn't even have anything for the first. The bells seem fine
now. Walked home, saw Gloria and Ginger/or Mary Anne(?). Had 2 bananas and the
last Pumpkin Delight for breakfast. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.
I don't envy J. K. Rowling; she has to compete against J.
K. Rowling.
At 11:30 AM I went in and got 2 ramen, cooked them,
napped about an hour, then ate. About 2 PM I went out and swept the back and
kitchen porches, carelessly rubbing a layer of skin off my left thumb. More
annoying than painful; you get that squeaky new skin. They had the first 2
Hobbit movies on today. I tried to watch, but I couldn't take it very long.
Rest of the day? Not much. Tried to keep my hunger at bay
with tea and peppermints. Unboxed the Peanuts toys. Tried to read Proust. Wrote
a little on AJ.
10/7/2019: Up pretty early; about 5 AM. Prayers, Bible,
Catechism. A little before 8 AM Andy brings me a couple of huge tacos: Chorizo
eggs, beans, and I think cream cheese. I write on and off all day. At 9 AM
start wash, and have the windows open, as it is a beautiful, mild, windy day. Finish the wash about 1 PM. Lunch, a turkey
and cheese sandwich and a ramen. Make broccoli salad. At 4 PM grass dogs, feed
cats, start supper: salmon rolls and parmesan couscous. Eat couscous for my own
supper, as well as salad. Watch DW shows.
Went in at 8 PM to wash up and was given a couple of bean
and sausage breakfast tacos as well as the rest of the couscous. Susan told me
about their Halloween garage sale this Saturday; I might throw in a few items.
Rosary at 9 PM. Reached the 10th page of "Aunt Jocasta".
10/8/2019: No writing today. All things went per usual.
Weather nicely cool; didn't need AC until 2 PM. Susan worked on her Halloween
garage sale all evening. There was a bit of tension when a cruise ship was
damaged on the Danube, but it wasn't Kameron's, which was a relief. S&A
gave me left over oatmeal cookies.
10/9/2019: Woke up from dreams about 7 AM obsessed
(again) with ideas about re-writing the past: what I should do, what special
conditions and abilities I would want. Washed dishes, prayed, catechism, read
Bible. Caught up diary. Now 8 AM.
Got a spreadsheet from Kris Jerome; it shows a profit of
$5.65 on the 3 e-books sold. No word about the money on the 22 physical copies
yet. Checked on my Amazon page and found a second review, a 5 star review, no
less! Hope it's sincere. Reads: (Lenny the Pep) I loved it! Definition of a
page turner! I could not put it down, 5 stars for sure! [That's a lot of !!!. I
love it! - BB]
Went in and picked up the witch wind-excluder and
repaired her boot and cloak for Susan. It's now 11 AM, weather a little sultry,
and I feel ready for another nap.
Went in at 1 PM and baked jalapeno cornbread, and had
cabbage and taters for lunch. Went in at 4 PM and made crab chowder. Rosary at
7 PM, then at 8 PM went in to wash up. Susan gave me a sheet, and we talked a
bit.
10/10/2019: Leftover chowder for supper. Prayers, Catechism,
Bible, Rosary. Wrote up to page 14 of AJ. Gave Susan the "orc sword"
for garage sale. Going to library sale with J&A tomorrow at 8:30 AM.
10/11/2019: Got up about 6:30 AM. When I turned off the
AC heard wind and a bit of rain. Showered, dressed, prayed, read catechism and
Bible. Now 7:30 AM, and I await going with J&A, and wonder about mud, dogs,
and rain when I leave. Going into sale without hopes or expectations, but ready
for good surprises.
Went and sat on the porch and nice and cold, very windy,
sky dark grey with clouds. They appeared at 8:30 AM and off we went to New
Braunfels. We had very good conversation on the way up. Got there and started
the hunt. I found some good books, including: Medieval English Verse; 82
Charing Cross Road; After the Victorians; Brewer's Phrase and Fable for the
20th Century; America in Legend; and at long last a hardback of The Once and
Future King. Afterwards we ate at IHOP, where I had an omelet and 3 pancakes.
We headed back, and I got home a little before 1 PM. Immediately opened the
house to catch the winds, and read the Charing Cross book. Laid down a bit, fed
and grassed pets at 4 PM. Later went in at 6 PM, said hi to Kaitlyn, and got
chicken and broccoli salads for supper. Rosary a little after 8 PM. No AC all
day! Now working on the After the Victorians book.
10/12/2019: The day of Susan's Halloween garage sale and
(what I was even less involved in) the library 'creators' event. Looked out
about 7 AM and they were already gone. The Rotts had torn up one of the red
pillows on the back porch bench. In a little bit I cleaned that up, and
gradually I swept the kitchen porch (watching out for my blister scar). Had
breakfast, and crab chowder for lunch (the cornbread was already bad; had to
throw that out; cook it longer next time), and for supper an orange. Read the
AV book all day. Prayers, catechism, Bible in the morning, and Rosary about 8
PM. Finally saw Kameron at about 11:20 AM; went to hug him but he stopped me as
he has a cold. Got him some Sprite and let the dogs out and fed the cats. About
4 PM Gloria brought me a jacket and some more shirts, which was sweet but a
little problematic for me, as I don't have much room and not sure how they'll
fit. About 5:30 PM let the dogs out again, and the little raccoon with the bare
tail was already out and about and ready to eat. S&A and Kaitlyn came back
about 8 PM, I guess, but never checked in with me, as I imagine they were busy
for a while putting stuff up. Went to bed reading, and never had the AC on all
day, though it did clear and warm up as time passed.
10/13/2019: Up about 5 AM; laid a while then decided to
catch up dream journal and diary. Did so, and now time to get moving, I guess.
Prayers, Bible, and Catechism. Left for church at 7 AM, catechists there today.
Home. Andy brings me Pumpkin Delights [it's that season again!] and bananas, AND $20 from the garage
sale. Went to FD about 12:30 PM and got 3 cans of Pringles for $3 and some
shrimp ramen. Spent all day eating, reading, and glancing at YT. 8 PM Kameron
calls and says no school tomorrow (Columbus Day). Spent time going through the
shirts from Gloria.
10/14/2019: Up about 7 AM. Got dressed. Andy comes and
tells me to make chicken salad again, and I joke that is he sure? Will they eat
it this week at last? Started wash and
went in to salad and make my ramen. The shop cat is here; Kameron says because
work is too hot, but I get the feeling that it's on its way out. Listening to
GGACP.
Today feels very ... well, sehnsucht-y. Maybe having the
windows open and hearing all the migrating birds calling and quarreling. And
trains over the weekend. I'm finding it
hard to watch anything at all or read anything fantasy (I'm reading After
the Victorians, but it's not a feeding reading, if you know what I
mean) much less write anything. They take the cat Fluffy to be put to sleep.
Between 12:45 PM and 2 PM I make broccoli salad,
interrupted when Kameron asks me to grass the chis. At 2 PM make lunch. Then
Fluffy's bag is on the back porch; take to my bathroom. At 4 PM feed cats and
make supper (fish rolls and couscous). About 5:40 PM Susan comes around with
guy to look at window. Finish prayers, then catechism and Bible. The pile of
shirts on the bins, swaddled in white plastic, make that side of the room look
lighter, and I keep thinking the kitchen light is on. Andy comes to get Fluffy’s
body about 8 PM I go in and clean up. Read, rosary, slump to sleep.
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Bus-te-e-ed!