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pickup on mean street - 16. a sunny afternoon

by bofa xesjum

part sixteen of 16

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the morning had been unseasonably warm, but a breeze sprung up just after noon, to the extent that lady amelia could stop fanning herself. beside her, sophonisba remained absorbed in her book. that book must be quite interesting, lady amelia observed. you have hardly said a word all morning. yes, it is, aunt, sophonisba replied. at that monent palmerston, ladty amelia’s terrier, emerged from the trees at the east side of the garden, with a rabbit in its mouth, and dropped the creature, quite dead, at lady amelia’s feet. oh, the poor thing! sphonisba exclaimed. and on such a beautiful day! bad dog! really, sophonisba, lady amelia laughed. you must not be so sentimental. you can not blame the dog. it is only doing what it does. the end

pickup on mean street - 15. the road

by bofa xesjum

part fifteen of 16

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dusk, falling on a dusty road. three figures - abraham lincoln, babe ruth, and billy the kid trudge along silently. if you are an inhabitant of the united states, of a certain age, these names are probably familiar to you and you have at least a vague idea of what they must have looked like. if you are not an inhabitant of the united states, or if you are an inhabitant of the united states but of a younger generation, the names might mean nothing to you, and the three figures walking down the road might as well be named adam lawrence, burfield rainsford, and william kenworthy. but for now we will continue referring to them as abraham lincoln, babe ruth, and billy the kid. abraham was in no way the “leader’ of the little group, but the other two regarded him as a person who had some experience of authority, and often, but by no means always, deferred to his judgment. they moved along silently. darkness began to fall, and they could not clearly make out the sides of the roads, especially when they passed large amounts of trees on either side of the road. they were glad that it was not raining. they were lost, and had no idea where they were. this was not an altogether unwelcome state of affairs, as it meant at least there were no armies in the immediate area. armies that might have been disciplined and inclined to dragoon them into their ranks, or undisciplined and ready to rob them of what little they carried. and they carried very little. but the road was long and winding. and everybody who has ever lived, and everybody who will ever live, was walking down it. next

pickup on mean street - 14. a caller

by bofa xesjum

part fourteen of 16

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the butler walked into the sitting room. he had a big red nose and stammered a bit, but he had always been a faithful servant. outside, night had fallen, and a cold wind blew through the ancient trees that surrounded the old house. a man is here to see you, madam, the butler announced. a man, babe? not a gentleman? i would say by no stretch of the imagination a gentleman, madam. i tried to dissuade him, but he is most obstreperous. i thought of summoning bailey but he is laid up with the gout, so i thought it better - very well, show the creature in. wait - this is the 5th of june, is it not? indeed it is, madam. yes, i had forgotten. show this individual in by all means. you have done right, babe. lady amelia did not add, you have done well by accident, but you have done well. babe departed , and quickly returned with the individual who was by no stretch of the imagination a gentleman. what a foul looking creature, lady amelia thought. of course, i may be prejudiced, as he is here to divest me of my inheritance. the visitor was short and square, wearing a ragged brown suit two sizes too big for himself. he had a high collar which almost covered his face. he carried a large carpetbag which looked to have been made from a faded old rug of oriental design. he did not carry his hat, if he had one, in his hand. it was this last circumstance which most disconcerted lady amelia. please state your business, sir, she addressed him as civilly as she could. permit me to introduce myself first, the visitor replied with what might have been a smile (for his face was mostly hidden by his high collar). my name is horatio limbo, and i was, until recently, the third mate and ship’s doctor on the pirate ship bucephalus, commanded by none other than the redoubtable captain william kidd. so you are not a lawyer, nor yet a lawyer’s clerk? lady amelia replied in astonishment. why, no, whatever gave you that idea? that is neither here nor there, lady amelia answered stiffly. what then is your business, sir? i have a message for you from your nephew uriel, who was a shipmate of mine on the bucephalus. uriel! that worthless scamp! i am afraid i have not thought of him for many years. but he apprently thought of you, as he charged me to give you this message. and is this message in writing? no, i shall have to relate it, and it is rather long. i see. tell me, does this message involve some sort of buried treasure? why, of course, what else would it be about? the man calling himself horatio limbo looked around the sitting room. please be seated, sir. would you like a cup of tea? i would prefer a glass of grog. i do not believe i have any grog on the premises. well then, i accept your generous offer of a cup of tea, lady amelia rang for babe the butler. but babe was nowhere to be found. he had taken to the highway. next

pickup on mean street - 13. the hat

by bofa xesjum

part thirteen of 16

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when sophonisba awoke, mademoiselle duval - or the woman sophonisba had taken to be mademoiselle duval - was gone. so was the cup which had held the wine. there was no trace of the wine which sophonisba remembered spilling. and the candle was gone. the table was empty except for sophonisba’s face, which she lifted off the table to look around. the hut was empty. the chairs were gone, and the kettle and the tripod on which it stood. there was no sign of a fire on the fireplace, not even ashes. the door of the hut was slightly open. sunlight streamed through it, and through the single tiny window beside the door. i must have dreamed the whole thing, sophonisba surmised. what else, she thought, have i dreamed? did i dream the three rascals i encountered at the crossroads. and their story about soup and a pea and a something woman? did i dream the war, and the fall of the kingdom, and the sacking and burning of the castle, and the roads filled with soldiers and demons? it would be nice if all that were a dream. and if juiie, her faithful maid, were to suddenly appear with a pot of tea and some cream tarts. but neither the cream tarts, nor the tea, nor julie or any other maid appeared. sophonisba got up, stretched her sore arms and legs, and went back outside. the first thing she saw was a hat - an ordinary brown hat such as a peasant might wear to market - lying on the ground just outside the door. there was a piece of paper in the hat. she picked the piece of paper out of the hat. on the paper were written the words - wear this hat and good things might happen to you. she put the hat on. it fit perfectly and served to keep the sun out of her eyes. she got back up on to the road and began walking. next

pickup on mean street - 12. wake up

by bofa xesjum

part twelve of 16

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gabriel woke up. his surroundings looked familiar. he was lying on a cot, in a small room with one little window with bars on it. where was he? aspen, colorado? abilene, kansas? ardmore, oklahoma? but he had passed through all those towns… and arrived at the apartment building outside shreveport, louisiana… it all came back to him… knocking on the door… not being let in…. going back to the bus station… was it all a dream? was he back in jail somewhere in kansas? or in oakland? he had an old rough army blanket covering him, but he was cold. he went back to sleep… he dreamed he was back in the bus station…. and a little animal - a rat? a rabbit? - was trying to talk to him…. and his old schoolmate , the archangel jedediah, was pointing to something on the floor … something white, a letter or scrap of newspaper… the white thing turned into a ship and he was riding in it with alexander the great and sinbad the sailor and blackbeard and bluebeard and marie antoinette … a storm came up and captain cook cried, all hands on deck! a white wave crashed over him… when gabriel woke up again gray light was coming through the bars on the window. after a while he heard heavy footsteps. the iron door opened with a creak and sheriff jake brown stepped into the cell. gabriel had encountered sheriff jake on numerous occasions in his travels. well jake, gabriel said, i see we meet again. i am sorry it could not be in more salutary circumstances, but before we begin i would like a cup of joe if you could see your way clear to providing me with one. certainly my friend, the sheriff replied smoothly in his booming voice, just step this way if you please. next