17 July 1870
After driving off the schmidt-demon and getting into a gun fight that destroyed a building, we have taken shelter in the Consulate. All of the humans had to answer a lot of questions. Owen and I spent most of that time taking a nap, since Benton wanted me to stay in the room.
Then the humans had to wait around nervously for a long time. I don't know why. It was one of their usual irrational reasons, but this time we were allowed to explore the building. We found a very nice lady in the kitchen. There was also a nice man who was in charge of all the rooms. I do not like the Deputyconsul. He is a very grumpy fellow, and his assistant is extremely dirty. Eventually the humans were assigned to sleeping rooms. No one stayed asleep very long. Benton had bad dreams about That Woman, again. He woke up just when Sircosmo and the Consul returned. He went to investigate.
Several of the other humans were awake. For some reason Misssinclair and Benton were even more shy around each other than usual. Sircosmo had straightened out whatever trouble we were in because of the building. Misswhitnell told the others she knew what was in the missing papers that belonged to the Murdered Man. I don't know why they are concerned with that. Benton has explained before that he needs to find out things like this they tell him Motive and Opportunity and Means. When he knows Motive and Opportunity and Means he can find the killer. Except we all already know that the killer is the schmidt-demon, so why are we still looking for these other things?
It was obvious that nothing really interesting was going to happen, so I went back to the room we'd been given to sleep.
18 July 1870
I woke to the scent of frying bacon, sausage, and kippers. I met Owen in the kitchen. The nice lady was there. The nice lady had to open the door to the outside several times. Owen and I investigated the stoop when she did so. A very unhealthy mutt has been coming begging for several days. The nice lady seemed to be looking for him, and was worried that he didn't show up today.
In the dining room the humans were discussing their projects again. We ate more breakfast. The humans were talking about rail cars, the schmidt-demon, the Murdered Man's shoe, and several other things for some time. Then the man in charge of the rooms came in to tell our humans that Reporters were at the front door. One of the reporters had chained herself to the door and was howling. Our humans discussed this for a bit longer before they finally got things Settled.
We got into several carriages at the back door. Benton said we were going to a villa Sircosmo had rented in the country. We arrived at the villa, with an extra carriage. Somehow Misteroflaherty and Mistercuthbert had found an extra carriage with two new humans in it.
I wanted to run around the grass and bushes, but Benton said we needed to check the house first and interview the two new humans. The humans split up inside the house, some going to bathe and change clothes. We went to a sunny room where Macgregor and Benton interviewed one of the new humans. Sircosmo, Misssinclaig and Misschigwidgeon joined us. The human's story didn't seem very interesting, but our humans keep making him repeat it.
I was just settling into a nice nap in a sunny spot on the rug, when Missuscuthbert started howling for help. Benton stayed to keep an eye on the new human, but said I could go help. Most of the rest of our humans ran to Missuscuthbert's location. Misterdeveril and Misterramsey had been knocked unconscious and taken away. Three humans had attacked them, a large male, a smaller male, and a woman. They he fled in a wagon pulled by two geldings. Benton and the others with the new humans joined us at the site. The trail would have been simple to follow, and the attack had happened very recently, but we had to wait to get the carriages before we could chase them down.
Before that could happen, one of the new humans took off is coat and ignited the fireworks he had strapped to his body. He snatched the other new human and tried to fly away. The marquis apparently decided to go with them, though why anyone would want to be that close to buring fireworks, I don't understand. He didn't hang on very long. His legs were on fire when he landed in the grass. The other two vanished into the distance. I never heard an explosion.
I was finally allowed to chase the bad people's wagon. Benton and the others followed in the carriages. The wagon's trail crossed another wagon. A human jumped off the second wagon and chased the first wagon. The second wagon doubled back on itself. And a she-wolf, a very strange she-wolf, had also been involved. The scents and trails were hard to sort out. I thought, at first, that the wagon I was chasing had tried to double bag.
Benton and Owen investigated the crossings. We discussed them. Benton decided the first wagon had gone forward with the strange human chasing it. The she-wolf had not gone with either wagon or come from either wagon. I wasn't certain Benton was right, but he was, so we continued. The two wagon trails kept going in the same direction. The strange human had caught the first wagon and must have climbed on. The trails led out of the country and down to some docks.
I found the first wagon parked in a blind alley between two warehouses. Feedbags had been strapped onto the geldings. The second wagon had continued on. It would have taken a long time to sort their trail from all the others. But the bad humans had walked from the wagon, down the docks, and to a big boat. When the breeze was coming from the boat, I could smell the big bad man, so I was sure they were on the boat.
Edward was sent to investigate the boat while we stayed out of sight. Edward climbed the rope and disappeared onto the boat. He came back and reported that Misterdeveril and Misterramsay were tied up in the hold, many humans were on the boat. The big bad man and the small bad man were in the cabin. The woman was in the hold.
Misswhitnell wanted to do magic. I didn't want to get singed, so I waited on the other side of some crates while they did the magic. Macgregor led everyone up onto the boat. Most of the humans were acting as if they were drunk, though there wasn't much alcohol sent around. We went down into the hold.
Misterramsey and Misterdeveril were tied up in chairs. I could smell the bad woman, but couldn't see her. Then something happened to me. I don't know what it was. Benton told me there was bad magic and it made several of us confused, just like the humans who were acting drunk. There was a fight. I don't know what happened, but our humans won. There were some humans who came to help our humans. Except that they weren't. They were French agents, and they got away with two of our prisoners before the real police arrived. We still had the bad woman, though.
We went back to the consulate. There was more talking. It didn't take as long to get Things Settled as usual. We left in the carriages, again.
Misswhitnell, Missuscuthbert, and Misterramsay were left at the chanting house while we returned to the villa. The humans who hadn't had time to bathe or change clothes did so. Misswhitnell wanted Owen, Misssinclair and I to investigate a thing she found at the fence. There was a spot where a small animal had clearly been crawling under the fence. The small animal was a dog, a male mutt who wasn't very healthy. Owen and I agreed it was the same mutt whose scent was at the back stoop of the consulate. We followed his trail to the kitchen door of the house. He had begged for food, then walked around the house and peeked inside the windows. But it had all been some time ago.
There was a great deal more talking among the humans while we had lunch and rested. Several times one or the other of them talked of going back to the rode to that spot where the strange she-wolf trail was, but then one of the others would talk about why we shouldn't to it.
Edward built some kind of toy for Wooster. Wooster destroyed a window and a table with it. Several of the humans wrote things on paper, or looked through papers. Some others did exercises.
Eventually everyone got back in the carriages and we went back to the city to pick up Misswhitnell, Missuscuthbert and Misterramsay. We stopped at the Consulate again afterward, then headed out to something called a glassworks. It was stinky, in a stinky part of the city. We scouted out the area, looking for a place where Misswhitnell and the others could do magic unobserved. Then everyone found places to hide where they could see the glassworks.
Benton and Macgregor were going into the glassworks to interview people. Benton wanted me to come with him, but the place was painfully hot, and even stinkier up close. I decided to stand lookout at the door. Benton and Macgregor talked to a couple of the factory humans, then went inside.
They were just coming back when someone inside screamed. The scent of burning person was unmistakable. All the humans, including ours that were supposed to be hiding, ran inside to help the hurt man.
I stood lookout at the door. Owen came over from where he had been standing lookout at some crates for a closer look. He seemed less troubled by the stink of the glassworks.
There was a lot of talk among the humans for a while about nothing very important. Somewhere Misteroflaherty had found another old friend. Then we all left the glassworks and went back to hiding places, because there was still some investigating to do. Edward and the Marquis each snuck into the glassworks by different routes while we waited.
Edward came back and reported that there was a room full of rifles and ammunition inside the factory. I asked Benton if it was worse than the times he found all those rifles and ammunition in a warehouse. He said it was just as troubling and more of a threat.
We once more boarded the carriages. This time we traveled to a healing place. Then we went to the Consulate once more before finally returning to the villa.
When we arrived at the villa it was clear all was not well. A strange woman had tricked the servants into letting her into the house, then chained herself to a pipe in the first floor water closet. It was the same woman who chained herself to the door of the Consulate. She wanted to talk to someone who wasn't with us. Misterdeveril, Misssinclair, and Edward attempted to talk her out of the room.
Benton seemed to think it wasn't worth the bother and went upstairs to unpack and iron his shirts. I decided to watch what the others did with the woman.
Sircosmo looked in for a few moments, then left. He came back a bit later, with some dirt on his clothes, and a box of tools. He disconnected the pipe. Missbertild picked up the woman. Sircosmo and Missbertild carried her outside and away. I could still hear her shouting in outrage long after they left.
Supper had been laid out, so I joined Owen and the other humans in the dining room. Sircosmo and Missbertild came back without the strange woman.
Misssinclair and Benton practiced German in one of the parlors. I was going to doze in the corner, but Misssinclair started asking questions about how Benton and I met. I tried to tell her the story, but Benton had to do things his own way. He always leaves out the important parts and spends a lot of time talking about unimportant things.
Misssinclair asked questions about the last time Benton and I fought the schmidt-demon. He was trying to help him tell the story right, but he kept going off on his side tracks. Misssinclair became very tense and upset partway through. She asked about That Woman. Benton became tongue-tied.
I told him to stop holding back and just tell Misssinclair the important parts. But he was feeling guilty again about what happened to That Woman, and he was embarassed. So I told him that whatever happened to That Woman was her own doing, and she deserved it, besides. I know it upsets him when I say that, but he knows I'm right. He just doesn't want me to be right.
They were both very upset by what little tiny bit that they said. Misssinclair bid us goodnight and went to her room. Benton and I returned and he did more ironing. I curled up at the foot of the bed to sleep.
Except Benton wanted to talk. And talk. And talk. He was talking to me in the words of my mother's humans. He only does that when he is afraid he will be overheard.
I told him to stop wasting time and tell Misssinclair how he feels.
He told me that humans don't do things that way. Other things have to happen first.
I told him that the important other things had already happened.
He claimed he didn't know what I was talking about.
I felt a very strong urge to take him by the scruff of the neck and shake him.
He was spared by the arrival of Misswhitnell, who wished to speak with him, in private. I yawned loudly and laid down. They went downstairs. I slipped out the door and followed. I listened outside the room.
Misswhitnell asked about That Woman and about the demon-schmidt. Nothing really important was said. They finished, and I had to hurry up the back stairs to beat Benton back to the room.
Benton was more subdued than usual when he returned to the room. He finished the ironing in silence. He updated his notes. Then went to sleep. I don't think he had any bad dreams.
At breakfast everyone seemed in a better mood. There was news from England. Some woman has been murdering children. Benton assures me that the women will almost certainly be hanged, which is what humans do to Very Bad People. Everyone was understandably upset at the news.
There was also some news about the rifles. Apparently they aren't in the room any more. The local police didn't get there in time. I asked Benton if we were going to find the theives. He said we were.
At last. A mission I can understand.
Proceed to Missed the fight, again
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