17 July 1870
…once we reached the Consulate, we had to wait. The old master's brother, Captain William Moriarty, questioned each of us about what had happened during the day. I had so very little to report, since all I did was follow Miss Wilhelmina around and watch what happened. I missed the fight with the demon, and then when we went to the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, it became a gun fight. So all I could do there was make certain Miss Wilhelmina ran for cover when she ought. Some of the others had considerably more to report.
The Consulate is in the charge of Viscount Bufton, who is apparently an old school friend of Lt. Wooster's. Wooster calls him "Buffy." The Viscount calls Wooster "Wit." Lord Bufton's butler is a Mr. Pennington, a very organized and efficient man. He asked after Mr. Graves' health, and asked us to pass along his greetings when we return to London.
The Earl of Maynooth arrived. He is also The Ambassador. I don't know how the people who live in those circles keep all the titles, straight, though Salmalin tells me it becomes easier with time, I don't believe I will ever be as good at it as Mr. Graves is. Eventually the Earl, Capt. Moriarty, and Lord Bufton went away to consult with the Belgian authorities. We were told to stay in the Consulate. As long as we remain inside, we are "on British soil," which has nothing to do with the actual earth beneath our feet, but rather the laws we are bound by.
In any case, Salmalin wanted to patrol the building and grounds once we were free to do so. He seemed distracted. The Consulate is a very large building, much of it currently unoccupied. Most of the staff seem to be typical of a noble household in London, with one exception: Baldrik, the personal servant of the deputy consul, Baron Blackadder. Baldrick is a grungy man who looked more like a dustman than a valet.
When we had completed our patrols, Mr. Pennington recruited us to help prepare some of the disused rooms in the west wing for the household to sleep in.
Capt. Moriarty and the others came back and consulted with Sir Cosmo. Sir Cosmo would accompany them back to the capital to confer with even more government officials. It was suggested we all get some sleep while they were away. Mr. Pennington got the household sorted into rooms. Salmalin and I were assigned a small room on the second floor along with most of the household. Salmalin explained our special duties, and he suggested I could nap in an alcove just off the stairway, while Salmalin would take up a post on the first floor.
The others retired to their rooms. Except Edward, who was still sketching more "schmidt traps."
I worked on the Mantra of Vital Energies in an effort to stay awake. I haven't mastered it, yet, so I can not remain conscious while my body rests, as Salmalin does. Thus I was awakened by the return of Sir Cosmo, the Captain, and the Viscount. It was after three in the morning. Though they tried not to disturb the household, Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Whitnell, Mrs. Cuthbert, Edward, Wooster, and the Marquis all eventually made their way downstairs to the office to see Sir Cosmo.
He was using the office that is reserved for Wooster (who is the Assistant Naval Attache to Her Majesty's mission to Belgium--I know because Mr. Pennington had had signs made for the offices) to compose a report to the Foreign Office on our findings thus far. Capt. Moriarty (Naval Attache to Her Majesty's mission to Belgium) was writing his own report to the Admiralty in his office.
Miss Chigwidgeon was quite relieved to see Cosmo returned. Sir Cosmo said that the Belgian authorities were not going to press charges for the destruction of the building. The soldier we captured revealed enough information to convince the Belgian government that Prussia has hidden weapons and soldiers within Belgium's borders and intends to invade France. Sir Cosmo said they thanked us for bringing this to their attention. They have also given us leave to continue our investigation. Sir Cosmo also said, "At one point His Majesty suggested that the next time Britain believes Belgium is in danger from Prussia, it might be easier to send us on holiday direct to Prussia." This caused Miss Whitnell to laugh quite heartily. I had to ask Wilhelmina to explain the joke, later.
Miss Whitnell reported that she had had another prophetic dream, and had seen some of what Mr. Arkwright had included in his missing report. It had included an engineering drawing of an unusual rail car.
Miss Chigwidgeon said she had received a message, in her dream, from Miss Mitzi. Mitzi had received the telegram from Miss Whitnell concerning Agent Schmidt. Mitzi said that we are correct to infer that Schmidt is her half-brother. However, unlike Admiral LeCoq and Mitzi, Schmidt is not half-human. His mother was a kind of arabian demon called an "ee-freet." He is bound by oath to the King of Prussia. Mitzi said that Schmidt has no feeling of love or compassion for anyone. That while we have defeated him temporarily, it would be extremely dangerous to get into another combat with him. We were also warned not to say his full name outloud (apparently some members of the party know his first name), because it may draw him to us.
Mrs. Cuthbert had also had a prophetic dream, though she said most of it concerned Saint Cuthbert warning her about the problems of prophecy. However, she did see that Agent Schmidt's associate, Agent Tot, is still active in the area, working with a group of others who sound, by the way she described them, as more of these half-human, half-other things, such as elves and dwarves and other European demons of various names.
Wooster and the Marquis only looked in briefly. I belief Wooster was afraid that if Capt. Moriarty saw him, he would make Wooster write a report, too. They found Mr. Pennington cleaning up in one of the parlors. Mr. Pennington mixed them each up a drink and soon they were snoring in a couple of the chairs.
Everyone returned to their beds and eventually back to sleep. Salmalin woke me as the Consulate servants began to prepare for the day. As the household ate breakfast and discussed which clues to investigate, a group of reporters gathered at the front door. They wanted to speak with Dr. Wilson and Mr. O'Flaherty. Apparently they believe our combat with the Teutonic Knights was something else altogether. According to those books that Miss Chigwidgeon collects, Kid Rocket and Atlas have been battling something called the World Anarchist League. One of the reporters, an American woman, chained herself inside the foyer and insisted on singing. Exactly what she thought to accomplish by this, I am not certain, but it convinced the ladies that we should make a discreet exit.
Mr. Pennington had carriages drawn up behind the building and we left out the back door. We seemed to have made our escape. Except one tradesman's cart was following us. The driver had his face completely covered by a scarf. Since it was a warm summer day, this was rather suspicous. Before I could bring it to Mr. Cuthbert's attention, he had already seen it. He instructed me to take the next right, and the next and the next, while the other carriages went forward, in order to come up behind out pursuer.
When we came back to the original road, the cart was stopped. The Inspector's carriage had pulled over after we split off, and Mr. O'Flaherty had stopped the cart. The drive with the concealed face proved to be an American, by the name of Fritz. And Mr. O'Flaherty knows him, from his days in the circus. He had a passenger in the cart, his employer, another American, this one named Dr. Fate. They gave several contradictory explanations for their actions. So they were induced to accompany us to the villa, Mr. O'Flaherty sitting beside Fritz "so you don't get lost."
The rest of the household was at the villa when we arrived. The Inspector, Mr. Frazer, and Sir Cosmo took Dr. Fate into one of the parlours to question him. Meanwhile Mr. O'Flaherty took Fritz back to the kitchen, where they soon got into a rather boisterous conversation about which one had the worst boss.
Salmalin had decided to patrol the fence around the property. Since it is rather large they split the perimeter into three parts. He and Miss Whitnell took one side, Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Deveril took another. Mrs. Cuthbert and Mr. Cuthbert took the third. The rest of us were getting into clean clothes, or keeping an eye on our new guests.
Until Mrs. Cuthbert starting yelling for help. Then we all rushed out to where she was, at the hedge on the north side of the property, with Fritz and Dr. Fate in tow. Mrs. Cuthbert and her uncle had discovered Mr. Ramsay's walking stick, along with various footprints and drag marks in the dirt. It was clear that Mr. Deveril and Mr. Ramsay had been knocked unconcious and loaded onto a carriage waiting on the other side of the hedge. The carriage was long gone, of course.
Sir Cosmo sent Edward and I to fetch our carriages while the others looked for more clues. Before we had gotten very far, Dr. Fate decided now was a good time make is escape. He threw off his coat to reveal a brace of rockets strapped around his waist. He grabbed Fritz and ignited the rockets. I have watched what happens with rockets of that type when Edward is playing with them. I thought it likely that Fate's flight would end in a fiery explosion before he got too far, but the Marquis seemed to think otherwise, and leapt onto them. I suppose he hoped his weight would prevent their escape.
When his pants caught fire, he decided to let go. As we were stomping out the flames in the grass and the Marquis' clothing, I heard Dr. Wilson mutter something about asbestos trousers.
Even though we still had no reason to believe that Dr. Fate and Fritz were compitent enough to be a threat, let alone whether they actually meant any of us ill, several members of the household thought we should rush across the countryside to try to catch them. Wooster commented that he didn't think they'd come to earth for several miles. Dr. Wilson squinted up at them, murmured something about "trajectory" and "acceleration" and agreed with Wooster's assessment.
We got the carriages and went after the known threat: the people who had abducted Mr. Deveril and Mr. Ramsay. Turgenov led the way, nose to the trail. There was one crossroads where he became confused, but Mr. Frazer and Owen checked the trail, and then we were on our way once more. The trail led to some docks along the river where a number of cargo ships were docked. The abductor's carriage was parked in an out of the way spot, feedbags tied to the horses.
By this time, between footprints, scents the dogs had identified, and Mrs. Cuthbert's visions, we knew their were three abductors, two men and a woman. One of the men was as large as Mr. O'Flaherty. The three abductors apparently believed that they had kidnapped Kid Rocket and one of his companions. Mr. Deveril looks nothing like Dr. Wilson-- he's at least ten years older, more muscular, and with completely different coloring. However, he is an American and goes around armed with pistols, which seemed to be all they knew about Wilson.
The trail led to a cargo ship with an Italian name. Edward was sent up the rope to explore. He came back to report that there were less than a dozen sailors. The leader of the abductors was in the captain's cabin, discussing how soon they could leave. The woman, who was armed with a rapier, was guarding Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Deveril in the hold. The giant was on the deck.
Mrs. Cuthbert informed us that another sorcerer was lurking about, spying on the boat. She and Miss Whitnell decided to cast a bewildering spell on the crew so we could attempt to retrieve our companions without getting into a fight. The spell was cast. We boarded. The giant was laying on the deck, looking at the clouds and making up poetry. He didn't even seem to see us. Neither did the other crew members. Sir Cosmo, Edward, and I went to the cabin to capture the leader of the crooks. Dr. Wilson, Mr. O'Flaherty and Salmalin waited on deck, keeping look out. The others went below. Not long after we boarded, a second bewilderment spell swept over the ship. Apparently the other sorcerer cast it.
I missed the fight below decks. The swordswoman had resisted both spells. Apparently she gave Miss Bertild and Miss Whitnell quite a fight. Mr. O'Flaherty heard the sword fight, and headed into the hold. We followed but Mr. O'Flaherty had knocked the swordswoman out by the time we arrived.
I missed the fight on deck. I learned later that a young man leapt onto the ship from the dock. Mr. Salmalin engaged him in battle. At the same time, more men were charging up the gangplank, led by an older man with an eyepatch. This man called out to Dr. Wilson, identifying himself as a member of the Belgian government, arrived to help us and to capture the Scicillian (the leader of the abductors). He told his companion to stop fighting Salamlin. They helped us get our friends and the three abductors off the ship.
And then two carriages full of Belgian police arrived. The man with the eyepatch and his companions had vanished, along with the Scicillian and the giant. We learned from the leader of the police that the others were a probably a group of French agents.
Having been fooled once, we decided to take out captive back to the Consulate, and let the governments sort it out. Once at the Consulate, Miss Whitnell told us the young gentleman, who introduced himself as Manfred Berri, was only half human, like Miss Mitzi or Admiral LeCoq. Miss Sinclair then informed us that he was not a young gentleman, but a young woman passing herself as a man. In any case, Salmalin told me that Berri was as fast as Salmalin in combat. And I missed the fight!
Mr. Pennington showed us an interesting book, made by one of Mr. Arkwright's predecessors, that included small sketchs of several known agents of various nations. The eyepatch man was in there: a French agent named Erick Regnier, and he's been working for the French government for many, many years.
We dropped off the mystics at the St. Jerome chapterhouse, so they could research a way to combat Schmidt. The rest of us returned to the villa, where those who hadn't had time to change clothes did so. We ate lunch. Several members of the household worked on their notes and discussed other leads we should check into. Edward built a machine for Wooster. Or rather, he was building it, when Sir Cosmo asked him to help with another project that they two of them have been building. Edward gave the unfinished machine to Wooster. Wooster tried to finish it. Or make it work. We're not certain which. But somehow he launched a table out of one of the drawing rooms through the window and well out into the field. He significantly enlarged the window in the process.
In the early evening, we went back into town to pick up the ladies. Then we proceeded to a glass factory where Mr. Arkwright had been seen the last night he was alive.
We timed it to arrive after dark, when only the night crew would be working. Salmalin, Edward, Turgenov, Mr. Cuthbert, Mr. Frazer, and I were sent ahead to scout the area. We needed to find a private, enclosed place where the mystics could cast a spell, as well as several places where small groups of us could inconspicuously watch the factory. The Inspector and Mr. Frazer, who are in the country on official police business, intended to try to interview the factory workers.
We found nothing suspcious, and location appropriate places for everyone. The mystics went to work while the Inspector and Frazer went to the door of the factory and banged on it until someone came to talk to them. Soon, they had gone inside.
I felt a strange sensation. As if some mystic force and brushed past us. I had this nagging suspicion I had forgotten something. I heard Miss Bertild and Miss Sinclair having a discussion in their hiding place. Salmalin signaled from his location that something was amiss. We checked those nearest us, and it seemed that several of our party had forgotten why we were here. Worse, some people effected by the curse forgot just about everything they knew.
Salmalin signalled again, we would split the area apart and search for the enemy sorcerer. Except that he struck again. And someone inside the factory began screaming. Several of us went toward the trouble. It seemed that one of the factory workers, effected by the curses, had set burned himself badly. If Mrs. Cuthbert hadn't been on hand, he would have died.
It became extremely confusing at this point. Somehow Mr. O'Flaherty had found yet another old acquaintance. He seemed to have been a victim of the same two nefarious spells that had struck us. Mr. O'Flahery said his name was Obediah Sturdy, and that they had known each other in the circus. Mr. Sturdy didn't know what he was doing in the neighborhood, or even in Belgium. We got the injured man sorted out, and tried to track down any other factory workers who were befuddled by the spell.
The Inspector informed us that inside the factory was a large room with a lock to which the foreman did not have a key. Furthermore, he had seen someone, dressed in white, climbing among the rafters of the factory. Whoever the person was, he had gone into the room.
Edward went up onto the roof. I followed. There was, indeed, a man dressed all in white climbing down from the roof on the far side of the factory. Edward ran after him, and I followed. Edward reached him first, and tried to have a conversation with him. He had a small carriag with a matched pair of horses, and had misplaced his coachman.
At about this time, the curse was countered by our mystics. A moment later, Mr. Sturdy came running around the corner. He called the man in white "boss" before the two of them took off. Miss Sinclair and Mr. O'Flaherty were not far behind. They didn't arrive in time to get a good look at the man in white, but Mr. O'Flaherty said it was probably a Mr. Gallant, "though whether junior or senior, I can't say."
We needed to find out what was inside the locked room. Edward was sent inside. I was told to wait on the roof, ready to come to his rescue if necessay. Unbeknownst to us, the Marquis snuck in the factory by a back door. He wanted to take a photograph of whatever Edward found in the room. I guess he thought Edward was going to pick the lock on the door, rather then go through the rafters.
Edward reported that the room was full of crates of rifles and crates of ammunition. Edward was fairly certain that they were manufactured by Krupp Armaments. This apparently agrees with information Mr. Frazer discovered a few months ago.
The mystics announced that they had reversed all the curses and that their history spell had worked. On the last night of Mr. Arkwright's life, he had tried to sneak into the same store room, only to be met by Schmidt, who had been lying in wait. Schmidt beat Arkwright into unconsciousness, and then took him away. We know that after that Schmidt's associate, Herr Tott and Count D'Erlette, tortured Arkwright while Schmidt disguised himself as Arkwright to remove Arkwright's papers from the Embassy in Brussles. Then Schmidt killed Arkwright.
We left the factory and went to the hospital, to check on the injured factory worker. Then we went to the Consulate and reported what we had discovered. Notes were sent to our contacts in the Belgian government alerting them to the presence of the cache of weapons. And then we returned to the villa.
We were not to have a quiet night. While we were away, a woman had come to the door, and when David would not invite her inside, she pretended to faint. Once inside, she rushed to the back of the house and chained herself to a pipe in the downstairs bath. It was, apparently, the same woman who had caused the commotion at the Consulate. She said her name was Miss Cecilly Haverson. She represented something called the Society for the Promotion of Virtue and Justice. She wanted to talk to Kid Rocket, and refused to leave until he would talk to her. Dr. Wilson didn't want to speak to her.
Miss Sinclair, the Inspector, and Mr. Deveril tried to reason with her. Edward tried to trick her into thinking he was Kid Rocket. I asked Salmalin why we didn't just knock her unconscious and dump her out on the rode. He told me the others seemed to want to handle it. Sir Cosmo looked on for a bit with an annoyed expression on his face.
I went to the kitchen, because there was plenty of work to do there. Sir Cosmo came in a few moments later, followed by Miss Chigwidgeon. They went out to the carriage house, then came back with a toolbox. Cosmo climbed into a crawlspace behind the cupboard and banged around on things for a bit. Miss Chigwidgeon watched and handed him a tool when he asked for it. He climbed back out from the crawl and asked Miss Bertild to come with him.
By this time I was too curious, so I followed, as well. Sir Cosmo went into the bathroom, and without a single word to Miss Haverson, disconnected the pipe she was chained to. He then asked Miss Bertild to help him escort the woman out. "You may pick her up if that would be easier."
They left the house and walked out to the gate. When Sir Cosmo and Miss Bertild returned to the house, he announced that the gate was locked and that he had warned the young woman that the servants (us) were armed and authorized to shoot intruders. He went back to the bathroom to put the pipes back together. While he was out, Edward had done so.
Everyone started settling in for the night. There was some chanting and magic yantra drawing in one of the parlours and several members of the household had conversations in various parts of the house. But eventually most everyone went to bed.
I'm getting tired of missing all the fights.
Proceed to More bad news
Contents this page copyright 2004 by Gene Breshears. All Rights Reserved.