Friday, May 27, 2022

"Bob's Book": Chapter Two, Page Three

 

[Sliding Board, Extra Large]

“Ah! Mr. Bellamy! So nice to have you back!” His face beamed. I could detect a slight French accent in his voice. “And how was your mission?”

Pa shook his head.

“Bit of a dud, I’m afraid, sir,” he said wistfully, but stating a plain fact. “I got the beastie out of the place, but I think it just moved on. More trouble to come down the line.”

The man tutted.

“You cannot win them all, eh?” Then he brightened, consoling. “Still, future trade for the Bureau!”

They both laughed at that; I found out later that this was an old joke in the Department. As they laughed, the clerk turned to a sliding board on one side of the desk that displayed about twenty-five names. He slipped the shutter with BELLAMY on it from ‘Out’ to ‘In’. He turned to me, smoothly taking up a pen and a form from under the desk.

“And who is your guest?”

“Not a guest after today,” Pa said. He clapped his hand onto my shoulder. “Mr. DeMullins, may I present my son, Bob Bellamy, come to join us as an apprentice! Bob, Mr. DeMullins, our department manager. He knows where it is, who to see, where they are, or where they’ve gone.”

“But not always when they’ll be back, eh, Mr. Bellamy?”


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