Earth 2320: The Boarling

He lumbered across Bleaker Street slowly stepping up on the sidewalk three buildings down from 4450, he turned to look back at Wylie, before turning the door handle, cowbells clanged to life from above as he opened the door slowly and crossed over the threshold, there were a variety of various electronics, TVs, Radios, scanners, there were tools and counters full of jewelry, most of which Magnus assumed to be stolen.  Behind the counter near the register, a large male sloth looked over the top of its horn brimmed glasses at Magnus, it's nose wrinkling and its eyes began twitching uncomfortably. Magnus turned to walk over to the counter, he cut off the end of a cigar and lit it, carefully studying the Sloth through the thick plums of smoke. He walked back and forth almost pacing like an angry miger, The sloth tried to ignore him, but Magnus wasn't having it, moments later Wylie came walking in, he jumped up on the stool in front of the counter, he smiled slyly looking the sloth up and down.

"Why hello Fane, when did you start working for Girth?" Wylie hissed.

The sloth didn't react. he slowly folded his stubby little arms in front of his chest.

"Bout three weeks ago Wylie, a guy's gotta a right to make an honest living doesn't he?"

"Honest? Girth? that's rich, he's the biggest fence in the western U.S."

The double doors from the back room swung open and the large Boarling stepped into the pawn shop, he was tall well over six foot, dressed in a spiked black leather coat sporting a bright red Mohawk, his head was fat and round and his snout protruded from the front of his face at an odd angle, his big floppy ears went straight up and were bent at the tips, his two front tusks were rather short for someone his size, his eyes were bloodshot red like he'd been up for days. He let out a loud snort when he saw Wylie, he stopped in his tracks and leaned toward the wiry weasel, but quickly changed his attitude when his eyes met the menacing stare of Magnus Clinch. He slowly walked up to Girth, The Boarling tried to shake off the uneasy feeling.

"I'm not here to dance with you pig boy, where's Theodus and Pepus? I know you set up the whole caper, you hired them to steal the Alpha Curra, I know you set up the whole caper, and you're going to be the one who fences it when the heat dies down." Magnus snarled.

Girth took a step back, trying to bluff the Miger with a nasty grunt.

"I dunno what your talking about bub! I ain't seen those two in years!"

Magnus stepped forward, landing a haymaker to Girth's lower abdomen, followed by a punishing uppercut to his jaw that sent him flying backward.  He landed hard on the concrete floor, letting out a loud squeal. Magnus didn't let up, instead he reached down, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him back to his feet, landing two more hard punches to his gut and another to his Jaw. The boarling slumped to the ground, crying out in protest.

 

"I swear Clinch! I don't know where they are!" He sniveled

"That's okay doughboy, you don't have to tell me right away, hell, I like beating on your fat ass! and I got all night."  Magnus growled.

He grabbed him by the collar and started picking him up again.

"Alright! Alright! I'll tell you what I know!"

Magnus stood over him, staring him down.

"Where are they?"

"I dunno, They gave me one and a half million to hire Theodus and Pepus to steal the stone then after they did the job they handed it off to me, and I was supposed to call a number, and they came to my shop and got the stone. I was just the go between, I didn't have to fence it, they already have a buyer."

"Who came and picked up the stone?"

"Uhhh, some big mean dude, Ugghhh, His Name is Elmore Ettienne, he had two big mutts with him, mean bastards." Girth whined.

"Animals?" 

"Nah, they were all three human. but I don't know who they're working for."

 Magnus stared down at him lying quivering in one spot, he didn't move, only his hands raised slightly in weak resistance of further assault. Wylie hopped to the floor, and he hurriedly walked over, his long toenails making loud clicking noises on the concrete flooring as he did,   He eyed Magnus cautiously. The Miger looked down first at Wylie, and then at Girth, Wylie's eyes narrowed. 

"What was that name again?"  Wylie asked Girth.

"Elmore Ettienne." Girth responded flatly.

 

Wylie turned sharply and looked up at Magnus, nodding toward the door. Magnus turned and leaned down, staring at Girth squarely in the eye's.

"If I have to come back here, our next conversation is going to get really ugly." He growled at Girth. 

The Boarling franticly shook his head no. When he and Wylie walked out the front door, they walked five blocks in the drizzling rain in complete silence, until Wylie stopped abruptly his furry little head completely soaked in rain, he tilted his head to one side, looking up at Magnus, 

"Elmore Ettienne." He repeated several times. "I know that name Magnus, I'm not sure from where exactly, but I know that name. I'm going to go do some digging, keep your phone number charged, I'll be calling you as soon as I find out anything." he said, turning to walk away. until Magnus stopped him.

"You think you can dig something up on this guy, Wylie?" He asked.

"Why sure. I'm a weasel Magnus, digging up shit that people don't want you to see is my specialty." 

~Scratch. A.B.T. copyright © 2009~

Earth 2320. The Sandoval Corporation.

 

He found the building itself to be cold and impersonal, and it didn’t in any sense seem to reach out to potential visitors in a warm and welcoming way. It rose one hundred stories above ground, and the sides were sheer and gray, and you couldn’t even be sure that there were any windows anywhere on the structure. At the very top in bold white letters, the words “Sandoval Corporation” sprawled across the side almost the entire width of the very top floor. “Someone is definitely in love with their own name here!” he thought to himself as he removed the unlit cigar from his coat pocket. His eyes moved silently up and down the building as he bit off the tip and slowly lit it. Glancing down at his watch, he knew that he was a little early, and it would be another five or ten minutes before the officers from the building’s security force would arrive to usher him to the vault, some four floors beneath the surface. “Strange place for a vault” he thought to himself. “ you’d think that they would’ve put it on the top floor to make it harder to get to.” moments later, two human males pushed open the double doors of the lobby and emerged from the Sandoval building. One was a large black male that was thick and muscular all over, he had a hard face with very dark, almost brooding eyes that seemed to carry a flash of anger in them. The other was a very short, and a bit on the plump side, and seemed rather unassuming, at a first glance, he had thin, short brown hair that he kept neatly trimmed into a crew cut, and he had these nervous looking hazel eyes that didn’t speak in the same self-assured manner as his posture. Both wore standard blue security uniforms.

They almost cautiously approached him, with the shorter, pudgy fellow extending his hand in a luke warm welcoming gesture. “Mr. Clinch? I’m officer Todd and this is officer Gilbert.” he said, nodding to the larger black man with the dark angry eye’s. “We are going to be taking you down to the vault where the robbery took place, Lucas Thorne will be joining us there momentarily. This way, please.” he gestured towards the doubled paned lobby doors. Magnus stubbed his cigar out onto the sidewalk as he followed them into the lobby, where he took notice that the inside was as sterile as the outside, the walls were stark white and seemed more like the lobby of a hospital than a place of business, there were a total of three large potted plants that looked strangely out of place in various corners of the long white room and even though he couldn’t actually feel it, the dark tiled floors seemed as cold and impersonal as the rest of the building. He followed behind them as they moved quietly down along a short hallway to the elevator that would take them four floors down to the vault. He stepped in behind them as Officer Gilbert push the zero button, it made a faint whirling sound as the elevator motor kicked in, and he felt the floor shift slightly as they began to descend to the vault floor. The double doors whisked open and Magnus saw the familiar form of Lucas Thorne standing in the open vault with two other officers, seeing Magnus he turned to face him fully offering his hand to go along an uncomfortable smile. “Mr. Clinch, so good of you to join us, welcome to the Sandoval building.”

He stepped into the vault, stopping beside of Lucas Thorne, who turned now and instructed the officers to wait outside. He led him to the back of the vault, where a large hole appeared directly in the middle of the floor. Magnus knelt down and peered into the hole. He could hear Lucas Thorne’s voice echoing in the empty vault behind him; “I don’t know how they pulled it off, quite frankly I didn’t think that a simple hare and a mole could tunnel through five feet of concrete and steel reinforced flooring.” he said. Magnus produced a small penlight from his pocket and slowly descended into the tunnel. it was about four feet in diameter and could easily house two fully grown human males. He stopped to closely inspect the hole in the actual floor.  

“They used diamond tip nano bits. It probably took them five or six hours just to get through the floor. But the rest of the tunnel took them some time. They were down here at it for at least two weeks. I’ll have to follow it to the opening, then I can start tracing them.” he told Lucas Thorne.

He looked down into the tunnel before turning back to face Lucas Thorne.

“I’m going to follow it back to where it started, I probably won’t be back today, gimme your cell number so I can contact you if I find anything.”

Lucas Thorne handed him a small business card. Magnus Clinch disappeared into the dark tunnel.

Wylie.

~~~~~~~~

He recognized the sounds of the elevated train that ran between Seventh and Covington streets. The opening narrowed at the top as Magnus pulled himself up to street level and squeezed through the hole. He was in an alley just off of Prater street in the mission district, once out of the hole completely, he began to check the area surrounding the tunnel opening for any signs that would tell him if Theodus Hare or Pepus Mole had been there. He picked up a strange moldy smelling scent Just ten feet from the tunnel, the stench of mole urine.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while, Mags, but I figured that hole in the ground there would get your attention sooner or later, so I just waited.”  

He turned to face the squeaky high-pitched voice from the top of the fire escape on the large red brick building directly in front of him, it was a shadowy area where he saw it standing, a figure about three and a half feet tall slightly sloped at the shoulder, long thin head with fiery reddish colored eyes. Black, wiry fur covered its face and hands. It took him a couple of seconds to recognize it to be Wylie the Weasel, another street hustler who sold information to the police and anyone else in the mission district that could pay his often steep prices. Magnus pulled an unlit cigar from his pocket up to his lips and lit it.  

“Hmmmph! I follow this tunnel all the way from the Sandoval building, and what do I find waiting for me at the beginning? a fricken weasel. Imagine that. So what are you up to, Wylie?”  

“You and I need to talk, Mags, I have some information that you may find rather useful.” Wylie said. Magnus inhaled the thick cigar smoke as he eyed the weasel suspiciously.

“And just how much is this information gonna cost me?”

The weasel nimbly climbed down the side of the fire escape until he was at ground level. He slowly walked towards Magnus Clinch.

“Not this time, Mags. This is you and me we’re talking about here, this information I gonna give you for free. That piece of crap Theodus Hare and his little pal Pepus? I know about some of the key players in this little game of theirs, and I’m gonna give them to you, but under one condition.” Wylie said.

The large miger slowly moved forward towards Wylie the Weasel, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked him up and down.

“What conditions Wylie? He growled.

The weasel slowly extended both hands palm up towards Magnus, smiling all the while. 

“You gotta take me with you, Mags, that’s all.” Wylie said.   

“Why Wylie?”

“Because Mags,” Wylie sneered. “I wanna be there when you take them down.” 

Magnus leaned forward looking down at Wylie, his paw slowly inching towards his head, finally he extended a foreclaw fully and raised it to Wylie's left cheek. Suddenly the weasel didn’t feel quite so confident. “I bring you along Wylie, you watch yourself, if I don’t like what I’m feeling from you, we’ll only have one order of business left to discuss. How I’m gonna kill you. So? You still want to tag along?”  

The weasels eyes narrow tightly. As he slowly nodded to the affirmative. 

“Well then.” Magnus said. “Where do we start?”  

Wylie led him along almost the entire length of Prater street out past the very edges of the poverty stricken neighborhoods and seedy storefronts of the Mission district, out of one back alley and down into the next until they arrived at Bleaker street, where Wylie motioned him into yet another back alley.

“That’s the one Mags. 4450, the gray brick ten stories, with the barred windows. The whole shithouse belongs to a big fat boar by the name of Girth, he’s a local fence, word is, he put the whole caper together himself, but he’s got some outside money financing the whole thing, somebody hired him to nab the rock, and in turn he contracted the job out to Theo and Pepus. He was supposed to hide the rock until the heat comes off and then move it at a later date. Even money says he’s already paid off Theo and Pepus and has the rock stashed somewhere safe, until the buyer gives him further instructions on where to drop it.” Wylie smiled confidently.

The large male Miger slowly walked to the edge of the alley to where the sidewalk sloped down into Bleaker street, he turned to face Wylie, his voice carried a less threatening tone than before, putting the weasel more at ease.

“I’ll go in alone at first, give me five minutes, and then you come in, I want to see how he reacts when he sees you, Wylie.” Magnus told him.

~Scratch. A.B.T. copyright © 2009~

Earth 2320: Meeting The Miger.

 

Harbor City NY. December 5th 2501.

He’d often read that back in the old days before the big storm, that most of his kind were unintelligent animals, that broodingly stalked around on four feet devouring whatever had suffered the misfortune of wandering into their path, or had unintentionally pissed one of them off. But the only memories that Magnus Clinch ever had were of him walking upright on his hind legs amongst humankind, he had to the best of his knowledge always had furry stubby clawed elongated digits on his front paws that he could grab objects and food with, in ways that humans had always used their fingers in. and though his skin was covered in thick striped fur as were most of his kind, Magnus preferred to wear the finest leather clothes especially in the time of winter, when it most often rained in Harbor city. This afternoon the weatherman had called for scattered rain showers off and on all day, so he wore a large floppy hat to keep his head dry.

He moved with ease through the crowds that lined the sidewalks on either side of Barter street, rush hour, it was the time he hated most, humans and the animal hybrids in a hurry, trying to get home from work before dark, and from the way that the sun looked as it slipped behind the heavy rain clouds that were moving in slowly from the western sky, he could just tell by the way that the shadows fell from the skyscrapers that formed the man made concrete and steel canyons of Harbor city, that nightfall was not all that far off. He crossed Barter street near the Tangiers hotel, a six-story fleabag that seemed dwarfed by the much taller buildings that cropped up around the very center of Harbor city that was the hub of commerce there. But it was at the flickering lights of the crosswalk at the corner of Barter and Baker streets that Magnus first noticed the four door black sedan gliding slowly towards him just one block away. He pulled the wide brim of the floppy hat down around his ears as the rain began to fall around him, casually, he moved across the street through the crowd, his eyes never leaving the sedan. Something deep inside was telling him that whatever was inside that vehicle was looking for him.

As he crossed at the intersection he kept a cautious eye on it, and once on the other side of the street he moved back in the direction of the black sedan, never letting on that he was on to the tail. He turned halfway down the block into the narrow alleyway, thirty feet in he pushed his back up against the wall, pulled the black 360 Blaster free from the shoulder holster from beneath the leather trench coat and waited for the sedan to appear at the mouth of the alley. The small black Sedan silently slipped into the mouth of the alley behind him, the undercurrent of air from beneath the Hover car sent waterlogged shreds of discarded newspapers and tin cans flying and clinking in every direction as it slowly came to rest just twenty feet from him. Almost instinctively he leaped up to the lowest rung of the fire escape directly above him, and grabbed hold of it, his powerful lower legs pushed him away from the side of the building launching him into the air in the direction of the hover car. He landed right in the middle of the hood with a resounding force that stalled the engine, forcing the craft to land on the wet alley floor.

He smashed his fist through the windshield, grabbing the operator, and pulled him out of the hole where only the shattered remnants of glass remained. He trained The 360 Blaster on where the small man in the passenger seat sat stunned, barely able to move. The alley drew silent around them as the large, angry form of Magnus Clinch leaned in towards him. In a deep throaty growl, he lowered his face to meet the much smaller human's panic-stricken eyes.“Alright little man, why’re ya following me?” Magnus hissed. He didn’t answer, the eyes of Magnus Clinch slowly looked him up and down. Small, thin, white guy, thinning black hair, bookworm glasses, probably approaching middle age, he estimated. 

“ Designer Claudio Cardivale three-piece suit, probably one of them upper crust types. Fricken desk jockey, so what do you want with me, wormy?”

The small, pale human looked up at him before he finally managed a hesitant answer.

“You are the Bengal Magnus Clinch?” he stammered nervously.  

He stepped down off of the hood and moved to the side of the wounded vehicle. Slowly, he placed the 360 blaster back into its holster.   

“I’m Magnus Clinch.” he leaned forward slowly. “Now who are you?” 

 The small human slowly stepped out from inside of the black sedan, noticeably shaken, he tried to steady himself at a considerable distance from Magnus Clinch. He slowly extended his hand to him, between his fore finger and thumb he held a business card. 

“Mr. Clinch. I am Lucas Thorne, I have been retained by the Sandoval Corporation to obtain your services. They wish to hire you.”

He slowly reached out and clasped the card between his fore claws. And brought it close to his face to give it the once over. His eyes raised to look at Lucas Thorne.  

“The Mica street diner in one hour. You come alone if you want me, Thorne.” Lucas Thorne glanced over at the unconscious operator laying in the stench of a garbage heap on the alley floor.

“What about him?” he jerked his thumb in the direction of the operator.

Magnus coldly looked down and then back at Thorne.

“He’ll live, the vehicle is still operational. Let him take it back to wherever you came from, when we finish you can call for another. I gotta take care of something else. See ya in an hour, Thorne”

Contacting The Miger.

One hour later as promised, he sauntered into the Mica street diner, his forepaw pushed open the glass door causing the cowbell that swung from the inside handle to make a clanking noise that traveled through the near empty diner indicating that someone had entered the establishment. A short pudgy waitress wearing a slightly stained white apron, came bouncing in his direction and through tar and nicotine stained teeth she offered him the most sincere “welcome” that she could muster considering that she was talking to what many considered in civilization to be a 6 ft 6 inch miger. She asked him if she could get him a booth, and he nodded in the direction of Lucas Thorne.    

“He’s expecting me.” Magnus growled.   

She nervously nodded and went behind the counter to fetch a couple of menus as Magnus Clinch slid into the seat directly across from Lucas Thorne. The surly looking waitress once again appeared at the booth and offered a pot of coffee, hesitating slightly as it hovered over the cup in front of Magnus. He winked at her and tapped the side of the empty cup with his foreclaw making an impatient sounding clinking noise.  

“Yes, I would Love some!” he told her,  “And might you have some cream and sugar too?” 

Lucas Thorne slowly nodded yes at the coffee as the waitress disappeared back behind the counter. Once she returned with the cream and sugar, he stirred two spoons of each into the hot coffee. His eyes inquisitively moved over the form of Lucas Thorne.

“So?” he asked, raising the cup to his furry lips, “What’s this all about, Thorne?”  

Lucas Thorne stared down into his own coffee cup, slowly he raised it to take a sip before placing the hot cup down on a napkin on the table.  

"The Alpha Curra. Have you ever heard of it?” He asked.

Magnus Clinch slowly shook his head no.  

“It’s a very rare diamond, Mr. Clinch, that belongs to Abigail Sandoval, my employer.” Lucas said.     

Magnus leaned forward, his eye glistening now, full of suspicion.  

“So? What? Does she want me to baby sit the thing or something?’  

Lucas Thorne sighed deeply.

“No. it was stolen, and she wants to hire you to find the ones that took it.”    

Lucas Thorne leaned back in his seat and watched the large male miger thirstily slurp down the remainder of his coffee.    

“Why me? I’m not a cop, or a fed. Shouldn’t you contact one of those?” Magnus asked, slurping at his whiskers.  

“But you’re a tracer, aren’t you, Mr. Clinch? You trace wanted criminals.”  

He didn’t answer as the waitress reappeared to refill the empty cup with fresh coffee. 

“Yeah. I’m a tracer, So?” 

“Well, considering that the thieves that stole the diamond aren’t human, we figured that you’d be the right ma- err. Guy for the job.” 

“Hybrids lifted your stone?” Magnus asked in a surprised tone.   

Lucas placed a folder down in front of him and slid it with two fingers across the table, stopping in front of Magnus Clinch. He opened it slowly, his eyes wandering purposely across the two photo’s inside.

“Theodus Hare and Pepus Mole.” Clinch Muttered.

“So.” Lucas said Flatly. “You know them?”

He nodded slowly, reaching for the cream and sugar.

“Yeah. Last I heard, Theo was locked up someplace upstate, Pepus was inside a cage someplace back east. Both were doing a dime apiece for armed robbery. So how do you know it was them?” he asked.

Because we caught the whole caper on video disk.” Lucas answered.   

Magnus carefully considered the situation as he slurped the hot, sweet coffee, afterward somewhat surprising Lucas Thorne when he produced a cigar from his pocket and lighting it. He stared at the small, frail looking human through the thick smoke as it rose from his lips. He bit down on the cigar, his face almost contorting into a grimace.  

“It ain’t easy to track a subterranean, I’ll have to see the tunnels first, which means I’m gonna have to see the vault that they took the diamond from.”

Magnus told him.

Lucas Thorne nodded in agreement.

“And I’m gonna need three grand a day, American dollars, none o’ that Euro shit, that crap ain’t worth the paper its printed on. And supplies too. I'll get you a complete list.”

Lucas Thorne leaned back in his seat to peer through the cigar smoke into the eyes of Magnus Clinch.

“Anything else Mr. Clinch?” Lucas Thorne asked.

Magnus leaned forward looking Lucas Thorne square in the eye.

“Nope. You get me that, I’ll get you the two rodents that stole your diamond.”

“Consider it done.”

Somewhere in the world Theodus Hare and Pepus Mole were laughing in the face of the Sandoval corporation, after having stole their diamond. Little did they know they wouldn’t be laughing for long.

~Scratch A.B.T. copyright © 2009~

Earth 2320. Prologue.

 

Earth: January 22nd, 2320, Lunar Park observatory, Los Angeles, Ca.

He sat there for a considerable amount of time before he decided that perhaps his facts needed to be reexamined, he began to paw at the folders that lay scattered across the top of his desk searching almost frantically for the one marked “Collision 2320-1” he dropped his round spectacle eyeglasses, and in the haste of trying to pick them up, knocked over a perfectly good cup of black coffee, soaking every paper that lay spread out across the counter top adjacent to his own work space. He stopped, abruptly running his fingers through his jet black hair, his dark eyes darting nervously across the desk top, He could feel a sudden rush of panic that began to slowly sweep over him where had he put that cursed folder?

“Winston!” he shouted. His high-pitched squeaky voice loudly echoed down the empty hallway into the next room. A small framed young man appeared through in the doorway, his hands clasped in front of him, a quizzical look flashed across his thin almost pale face.

“Yes Noah?” he asked.

Noah Kramer was trying to soak up the contents of the coffee cup with a roll of paper towels, and without looking back, he began to interrogate the nervous young man as to the whereabouts of the folder in question.

Winston Harper was leaning forward slightly, his hands still clasped tightly together in front of him, his own bright blue eyes darted, trying to see everything at once, finally resting on Noah Kramer, who had now turned to face him.

“The collision 2320-1 folder, where is it? do you know?”

“Yes sir, I put it in the drawer right below your monitor, so it wouldn’t get-”

“Damaged by my Clumsiness?” Noah Kramer Interrupted.

“I-I wasn’t going to say that, sir!” he stammered.

Never raising his eyes to even glance in the nervous young man's direction.“it’s alright Winston.” he smiled, “I said it for you.”

He reached down and opened the drawer, his hands carefully reaching in for the folder, he nervously spread its contents across the surface of his desk, he carefully read through each numerical equation twice, before he would call his superiors to confess the error, he sat down and wrote a note to the director of operations, pausing momentarily to reflect on what he would write before he concluded that a note simply would not do, he should be told face to face. He closed the folder and stood up to gather his new notes and stuffed them into the folder with the others. It was one year ago, to the day, when Noah Kramer saw the strange anomaly in deep space as it silently made its way towards earth, it wasn’t a meteor, it wasn’t an asteroid, and it certainly wasn’t a comet, the only thing that he was certain of, was that whatever it was that it would eventually turn out to be, it was on a direct path to the earth. The team that was assembled to observe the anomaly determined that it would be a full two years before it was close enough to do any damage to the planet itself, but here in that very same observatory, Noah Kramer discovered a flaw in their mathematics. And the earth wouldn’t have another year before the strange object reached its atmosphere, it had one month.

The director sat and listened silently with other members of the assembly, as Noah Kramer cautiously explained the entire situation to them. He could feel the skeptical stare’s as they almost seemed to pierce through his very skin, and the silence after he had finished with his presentation of the grim news was deafening. The director removed his eyeglasses and began to rub the bridge of his nose. Other members of the panel muttered to themselves, others turned towards their colleagues and cursed softly. He patiently answered their questions, no, the object actually wasn’t simply one object, but rather a large cluster of small ones, almost like a meteor shower, no they could not be certain of what effect that an impact would have on human life on Earth, all that he really knew was that an impact was indeed coming, and it was coming very soon. Despite the warning’s of Noah Kramer, it was decided that the particles contained in the anomaly would burn up and turn to dust once inside the Earth’s atmosphere and there really was no cause for alarm.

And when the large cloak of dust rained down on the planet one month later and turned the entire sky to gray for three days and nights, the whole world held its collective breath for humanity and waited for the sun's return. On the fourth day after impact, the whole world breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the sun had indeed returned and brightened the beautiful blue skies of Earth once again. It appeared as though the cosmic dust storm would have absolutely no effect on life on Earth at all. But unknown to human kind, it only SEEMED that way, for just beneath the surface of normalcy, evolution was stirring. The dust storm hadn’t changed life on earth for the HUMAN race. But the animals. The animals were another story…

~Scratch. A.B.T. copyright © 2009~

I Shall Have No More of It.

 

York County, Pennsylvania, Dec 7th 1863. 

We had marched for many days through the near frozen soil in little more than socks to cover our bare feet and little food to fill our bellies. My name is James Lee Earle of Ashland, Virginia, and I had just turned 17 years old. My brother, who was one year my senior, and I were both told that it was our duty to fight for this confederacy, we were told and taught how to kill the Yankees for the sake of our way of life, so we both chose to pick up the musket and fight, this we did willingly. I had been on the march with my fellow soldiers for that past year, and I had with my young eyes, seen many a young man on both sides fallen in the rain and snow drenched soil, as hot musket lead and mortar fire ripped apart their bodies, yes, I had seen many a good man, some blue, some gray, barely past boyhood. I had watched as their blood, soaked the muddy soil where they lye and breathed their last precious breath of life. I had seen the horrors of war up close and personal, and to that point, I had survived the tragedy, and then one week prior, I received word that my older brother Jeremiah had lost his life in a place called Vicksburg.

Still with musket in hand, I like so many others, with a heavy heart, and a terrible sadness troubling my every thought, together, we marched on. the morning before, we were no more than one mile from that place, in a beautiful grassy field, with rich dense thickets of oak and hemlock trees in the distance. We marched in double columns along a muddy road of which I knew not the name of, first came the rain, small droplets at first, and then we were besieged by a torrent, we moved perhaps another twenty yards along a long ditch, and then all hell broke loose, as cannon shot exploded around us tearing through our ranks. I was thrown through the air landing hard on my side in the ditch, I could no longer hear, as the violence swirled around me, the thunderous sounds of musket fire that echoed in my ringing ears became muffled, soft, almost distant cries of pain, brief flashes of light, drifted through the drops of rain and then ever so slowly my vision relented and everything went black. 

I do not know how much time had passed, when my eyes slowly opened once again, it seemed to be a time of early morning. The distant sounds of chirping birds filled my ears, and although the rain had stopped ever so briefly, as I lye on my side in the wet grassy ditch, my uniform soaking wet, I reached for my musket and pulled myself up to the edge of the narrow trench. The sight that awaited my eyes, lifeless bodies of blue and gray stretched out for what seemed like miles, in the rain soaked bloody fields, nothing moved, for what felt like hours, but in reality was only mere minutes. Then, out of the corner of my eye, something moved. I wheeled the musket around, only to find myself looking down the barrel of a Yankee musket. We both froze, our determined stares locked, unmoving, both muskets poised, ready to fire, he stared at me for a time, and we both slowly lowered our weapons our eyes never moving from the sight. He was also quite young, perhaps close to my own age. Finally, I heard my own voice breaking the tension.  

"You alone there, Billy Yank?" I asked.

He slowly nodded.

"I think so. You Johnny Reb?" He returned.

"Well, I don't see anyone else moving, so it would appear so." I answered.

He shouldered his musket and moved up to the top of the ditch, slowly sliding down in beside me. We both stared down at the ground for a time, both of us trying to catch our breath. We sat there, both unsure of what was to follow, were we enemies? or, at best-for a time, cautious allies? he told me his name was Samuel Thomas Geddy, from the small town of Bixby, in the great commonwealth state of Massachusetts, and he too was merely seventeen years of age, older than me by two months. After surveilling the horrifying scene that lay before us, we had determined that we were indeed the only two survivors of that engagement, and tentatively we reached the agreement that we would call a truce, and seek refuge from the storm clouds that were gathering over our heads. We retrieved several haversacks, filled with rations and ammunition for our muskets, before we set out into the woods seeking shelter from the coming storm. We followed a long winding trail through the thick woods, Samuel Geddy concluded that the battlefield we had left behind, was more or less a mile and one half, then to our rear. 

We walked up and over two more small forested hills before the next drops of rain began to fall though the canopy above us. We came to a clearing and there below us were two small buildings, we unshouldered our muskets and approached with caution, slowly making our way up along the side of what looked like the main living quarters. There was no movement inside either building, so we cautiously entered. Whoever had been living there must have heard that we confederates were coming because they had left in quite the hurry, leaving behind much that we could use. Our desperation had gotten the better of us, we had found dry clothes, in an old chest of drawers, many that would fit, there were dry socks and I even found an old pair of shoes to wear. We wasted no time in removing our wet uniforms, and securing them inside our blankets with twine. The dry cloth felt warm against my skin, and I sat with my back against the wall, for the first time in many months it felt good to be alive, but what we found near the door made our bellies rumble, there was a large basket full of fresh fruits. Apples, peaches, plums and apricots, we filled our haversacks, and opened the front door. 

We did what we had to do and then decided that we would wait for the storm to pass in the small barn house beside the main. If the owner came back during the night, we didn't wish to give them a start while being inside the main house upon their return, so we went to the small barn house to wait. Once inside we could see that there were several work benches that lined one wall, beneath those there were bins made for storing fruits or vegetables, we'd guessed, but it was getting too dark to see what was in them. Above the main entrance there was a small hay loft, even in the failing light we could see the pull down ladder, and Samuel pulled it down and one at a time we climbed up and made our way to the back. Darkness settled in around us, and though we were both tired, sleep eluded us both, and through the long dark night we exchanged stories of our lives before the war. We each spoke of our families, our homes, where we had grown into the young men that were too soon forced to become. We spoke of fishing trips with our brothers and fathers, and the love and pride that we held fast in our hearts every time we had stared into the eyes of our loving mothers. 

We had talked long into the cold dark rainy night, we spoke of our little sisters, of teaching them to ride their first horse or tie a shoe. We spoke of walking alone down a country road lined with cherry and apple trees, holding hands with our sweethearts, of stolen sweet kisses, and promises made that we might never get to keep. Finally, we spoke of the fear and unbearable shame that we'd felt for the first time, when forced to take the life of another human being. How would God finally judge us? We both wondered out loud, though finding bitter and cold discomfort in the question, we quickly changed the subject. The night drew colder and even darker than before, and the rain, though it slowed at times, never did quite fully relent. As sleep finally began to tug at my weary mind, I found solace in the fact that I would never again see Samuel Thomas Geddy as my enemy. When I woke the next morning, Samuel was already awake and had retrieved two ripened melons from under the work bench and cut them open, we ate fresh melon and soaked hardtack. With our bellies full and the rain slowing to a slight drizzle, Samuel produced a compass, and told me that his father had given it to him before he'd left home to enlist, "Now son," his father told him. "No matter where you go, you can find your way home."

We walked along the grassy side of the muddy road, leaving the small farm house behind us, we walked almost one hour before the trail had ended in a fork Samuel used the compass to tell him the way north, and he told me the way south, "We should probably stay off the road for a while until we can both be sure we can find ourselves in friendly company." He said. I nodded in agreement, he smiled at me, and for the first time in over a year I smiled back at another human being without suspicion, without any hesitation, without regret. "Be safe James." He said. "You too, Samuel." I replied. He turned, as a look of melancholy crossed his face, and then another small grin pushed his lips up at the ends. "See you around sometime, Johnny Reb." He said, slowly extending his hand. I took his hand and offered my own smile and then replied. "Not if I see you first, Billy Yank." I watched him for a time as he turned and headed north, his figure getting smaller and smaller with every step, until he finally disappeared over the small rise. I walked for a time until I found a hollowed out log, I sat down for a while, lost in thought.

I wondered, why grown men had to do such terrible things to one another, simply because they looked different, or wore different clothes, or waved different flags, or thought different thoughts. My mind briefly returned to Samuel, I wondered, how it was that two young men, were able to find common ground, young men, much younger than those chosen to lead  whole nations into the perils of war, because they simply lost the ability to see first how we are the same instead of how we are different. I suppose talking as such is difficult when some have simply lost the ability not only to reason, but to listen as well. My heart was heavy, the ugliness of war having scarred my soul. War, is an ugly animal, ugly and cruel, a human invention of cruel and ugly men. It destroys, murders the human flesh and spirit, and leaves nothing but death and suffereng in it's wake, it truly is a tool of the devil, and shall be the ruin of all who engage in it's practice. A distant sound pulled me from my thoughts as I rose to my feet, the horse and rider wearing the red and gray uniform rode silently toward me. I shouldered my weapon and stood resolute. My fate was no longer of my own making, for in my heart, in my mind, no matter what they did to me? this war? I shall have no more of it.   

Epilogue. 

Bixby Massachusetts, Tuesday, September, 17th, 1889.

My mind, it has returned to me, my soul though permanently scarred is now at peace, I, through a lot of perseverence and determination survived the destruction of that horrible war, and eventually I returned home, my brothers body was recovered and returned to our parents who laid him to rest in Travis cemetary in Ashland Virginia. I was twice injured, the last time a lead shot went through my right calf and I could no longer walk without a cane, I was able though and  returned home in august of 1864. I became a wine merchant and still own and operate that business to this day. And now I sit here alone in this club car, I can feel the vibration of the train as it lumbers along. Armed with the information the detective agency provided me, I await my final destination, as the train slowly rolls to a stop. I look to my own hands as I write these words, both aged considerably by time and violence, I raise my head and in the mirror I see gray hair that plays at my temples, but the eyes that stare back at me are those of a 17 year old frightened boy, forced to do horrific things that he can never unlive. I rise from my seat and remove the response to the telegram that I had sent two weeks earliar, on the response were three words written, "I'll be there." As the train rolls to its final rest, I step down into the station yard my eye's searching through the small crowd, until I see him there, the face has aged but the smile is unmistakable. Samuel Thomas Geddy and I shake hands, and share a brief embrace, both our shoulders shaking slightly as we openly weep. Two brothers in arms, with a shared experience and a common goal, to live the remainder of our lives in peace... As brothers.

The End.

       

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2024~

Doctor Phillar and The Monster Of Bella Doras... Finale.

The rain had started up again beating softly against the cobblestoned streets of Northwich, Doctor Phillar ushered the young woman inside and called out to Sebastian Mills whom he instructed to saddle up a horse and ride to the police station on Pemberton Row to fetch Inspector Pendergrass and to bring him back to Blackpool Terrace. The girl from the Grimsby Tavern was still alive, but even more importantly, she quite possibly came face to face with the murderer and might give them a proper description. He followed the young woman back to her flat to a waiting Bessie Todd, and with proper introductions made, all three walked all of two blocks back to Blackpool Terrace to await the arrival of Inspector Pendergrass. Doctor Phillar had Annie Greenstreet prepare them a pot of tea while they waited, and there at the kitchen table she related her terrifying experience back to Doctor Phillar. It was almost dark when she had first noticed him following her, he was very tall, a large broad shouldered hulk of a man, bald with deep set eyes with bulging eyebrows, raggedy, his large feet were large as well and horribly disfigured he reminded her of a human monster. It was within the hour when Inspector Pendergrass  arrived with his own coach to take Bessie Todd to the police department to take her into protective custody until morning when he would escort her home. More convinced than ever, he confided in those present that he was convinced that their killer lived in Bela Doras.

The following morning there were low-hanging clouds in the sky, the air was cold, thick and everything was gray when Doctor Phillar was awakened in the early morning hours by yet another knock on the door it was 6:00 am the lack of sunlight made the hour feel much earlier. He opened the door to find a concerned Inspector Nathaniel Pendergrass. He ushered him inside, 

"Gideon we have a problem, Bessie Todd and her husband visited the church of the Reverend Ellery Carroll early this morning I fear that she told everything that we discussed the possibility of the murderer being from Bella Doras to the Reverend Carroll, I believe that with Bessie's description of the suspect it was enough to drive the Reverend to action, he and twelve men left town moments ago on horseback, and they were taking Old Mill Road, if so, that miscalculation would take them five miles out of the way and if we leave here soon we could possibly get there ahead of them." 

Maxwell knew they would be heading to Bella Doras that very morning, so before dawn, he had already harnessed all four horses to the carriage, and Pendergrass, Doctor Phillar and Sebastian Mills with Maxwell in the coachman's box would all left for Bella Doras ahead of the storm that was brewing. They instructed Maxwell to take the Suffolk River Road it was narrower but straighter with fewer ruts and was a shorter more direct path to Bela Doras, and they could quite possibly be there in as little as three and one half hours. A half a mile from the village the sky turned black as the rain began to pelt the carriage, once inside Bela Doras there was still no sign of the reverend Ellery Carroll so they began to go from shop to shop giving the description of their murderer to patrons and shopkeepers it didn't take them long to put a name to the face, the man they were looking for was a man named Yannick Krausser, and not only was he a butchers apprentice he was also the shop owners nephew, and he hadn't been seen in town in three days time. The more they learned about him the more they came to uncover a possible motive to his crimes, it seemed that Yannick was little more to the local villages than an oddity and his grotesque appearance would earn him scorn from the local women of Bela Doras.

They walked into the Prager butcher shop only to find the butcher lying on the floor badly beaten, but still conscious. They sat him up on a chair and Doctor Phillar told Sebastian to fetch the village MD, he told them that his name was Otto Prager and Yannick Krausser was his nephew, and when he'd heard the news of the women that were murdered in Northwich he knew that they were all from Bela Doras and that somehow his nephew was responsible, when he confronted him with the story Yannick became angry and beat him mercilessly, He had always been a large, brooding, angry young man who carried within him a terrible rage, and the scorn and ridicule for his deformities from the locals had only intensified his anger, and often made him violent. He hadn't been seen in three days time, and Otto Prager informed them that the place that Yannick would often go to was a deserted mill up near the Betholm falls in the hills of Iris Shallows. As they left the butcher shop and rejoined Maxwell at the carriage, he informed that The Reverend Ellery Carroll had arrived and was talking to some of the locals, who began to point up to the hills behind Bela Doras. The good reverend and the members of his flock were already on their way to Iris Shallows, and they were all armed.

They arrived at the base of Iris Shallows slightly behind The Reverend Ellery Carroll's angry mob, the deserted mill stood one hundred yards away as they pressed on through the raging storm, and as they drew closer to the mill they could hear the shouts, and above on a trail leading to the hilltops was what Doctor Phillar assumed to be the fleeing form of the murderer Yannick Krausser. He climbed higher and higher, with the Reverend Carroll's flock beating fast on his heels, yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs. Inspector Pendergrass grew more and more concerned as they slowly gained ground on the angry mob, Yannick would climb up until he reached the end of the trail at the very edge of the cliffs overlooking a large rock quarry at the bottom.  When he could run no farther, he turned to face the men coming up the trail toward him. In desperation, he began to pick up large rocks the size of small boulders and lobbed them down the hillside at the angry mob. The first one struct the man standing next to The Reverend Carroll on the head killing him instantly, several of the men carried with them Flintlock pistols, and took aim from behind the cover of trees and began firing several shots, three of which struck Yannick in the chest causing him to stagger but not fall.

The remainder charged up the hill with clubs in hand and attacked the wounded giant with ferocity, He fought back, and caught The Reverend Carroll off guard and grabbed him by the throat, the frightened giant hoisted him up over his head and another shot rang out striking him in the neck, he staggered once again backwards and finally fell from the top of the cliff taking the reverend with him. Doctor Phillar and Inspector Pendergrass made their way down to the rock quarry as a silent mob began to gather on the cliffs above the quarry, below them Doctor Phillar and Inspector Pendergrass arrived at the bodies that then lye still and lifeless in the quarry, both men looked up at the thinning mob which had begun to disperse and head back down the hillside. Sebastian Mills finally appeared at their side.

"And so it is done." he said, "The mob has murdered the monster."

Doctor Phillar knelt down beside the lifeless body of Yannick Krausser, and removed the hooded cloak from his head. He curiously looked over at the body of The deceased Reverend Ellery Carroll. He rose to his feet, turned slowly toward Inspector Pendergrass and Sebastian Mills.

"But are we with absolutely certainty, young Sebastian, sure of which monster they killed?"

"I don't understand."

"We came here under the banner of the law to arrest a murderer, they came here to root out and murder a man they perceived as a monster, but was in all reality a man nonetheless. A man regardless of guilt or innocence that deserved the same fate as any other protected by the law regardless of what his appearance bore, a fair trial. But what instead was hunted like a rabid animal by a mob who let the emotions of their fanatical leader, allow them to submit all logic and reason to hatred, anger and fear, and now what do we have Young Sebastian? not a dead monster, but two men, not one, who have died on the mantle of mob justice."  

They returned to the carriage, the storm subsided, and howls of angry men no longer carried on the wind, there were still bodies to collect, and understanding achieving, and questions still unanswered would have to wait for another day to be addressed, and so they turned back in the direction of Northwich, leaving all present to ponder the reality of monsters, those who hide and stalk their prey in the shadows of the world, and those who hide behind the malice and fear that dwells in the human heart, and what differences may lie between.      

    ~Scratch A.B.T. copyright© 2022.~  

Doctor Phillar and The Monster Of Bella Doras... (Part Three.)

 

They arrived in front of the gray stone building that housed The Grimsby Tavern just before eleven in the morning, and even at such an hour for a tavern it was bustling with activity, when they walked through the door, the older gentleman behind the bar immediately took notice of them. He was a short fellow with a round face and bald to thinning hair from the top of his head to the sides, his round spectacles made him look much older, his name was Julius Furlong the owner and proprietor of The Grimsby Tavern, he gave Dr. Gideon Phillar a nervous look, as he approached the bar they exchanged a warm greeting before Julius informed him that one of his barmaids was missing. Her husband came looking for her when she failed to go home last evening, and no one had seen her since the evening previous. He told them that there had been a photographer come through town a couple of months ago, and he paid them to take everyone's picture at the Grimsby tavern, He showed Dr. Phillar the photograph and pointed to a woman in the picture.

"Third one from the end Gideon, her name is Bessie Todd, Bessie's a good girl, everyone likes her, likes her husband, good people. lord help us. I pray she's okay."

He leaned forward up against the bar, looking Julius Furlong in the eye then.

"Julius, have you seen any strangers that may have looked out of place come through here recently?"

"Not as I can recall, anyone in particular?"

"No, but he would be tall, very tall, barefoot, disheveled clothing, perhaps. He would look different, stand out."

"No… No one like that, I would have remembered seeing such a man. do you think this man you are looking for murdered those four women?"

"Nothing as of yet is for certain, we are only in the early stages of making our enqueries."

Julius Furlong leaned forward.

"I heard Inspector Pendergrass himself say that the four women were all murdered in the early to mid-evening, if that tells you anything." He said.

Then it was Dr. Phillar's turn to lean forward.

"Indeed it does Julius, it tells me our fiend hides under the cover of darkness to hunt his prey, probably keeping to the alley's to conceal his identity, waiting for just the right time to strike."

He nodded toward the photograph.

"I will look into Bessie's disappearance as well, Julius, Thank you for your time, my friend."

They returned to the buggy and headed to Pemberton Row, he was going to need to be speaking with Inspector Pendergrass to see if there were any new developments on his end. They arrived at 1411 Pemberton Row just before the one o'clock hour, they both went inside to see if Pendergrass was on the premises, the front desk officer motioned them to Pendergrass's office the three exchanged brief greetings before Doctor Phillar and Sebastian sat down in front of him. The good inspector did not look pleased, he passed the morning newspaper to Gideon.

"Have you read it yet?" He asked.

"Yes Nathaniel, I have, are you aware of the missing girl?"

Nathaniel Pendergrass gave him a surprised look.

"No Gideon, I was not informed, Who is she?" 

Doctor Phillar passed him the photograph.

"The third girl from the left side of the photograph, she's a barmaid at the Grimsby, her name is Bessie Todd, her husband said she never made it home last night."

"I'll keep my ears to the ground, and have someone look about to see what they can dig up. in the meantime I have a new problem all my own, someone in this office is relaying information to the newspaper, I had only dictated this information about increasing patrols of the city watch in an internal memo, we are already terribly undermanned in this department now I have to commit to spreading our resources even thinner. Someone in this office is spying for the newspaper."

Two officers entered, and while they discussed several details with Pendergrass, Doctor Phillar busied himself with reading some more of the stories from the morning newspaper, there were two articles about the church of Ellery Carroll, there were two stories about the county commissions meeting on Thursday, another about the Old Crown road bridge being washed away and when the possible rebuilding could get underway, there were a few personal ads taken out about missing pets, about people needing gardeners, and the Prager Butcher shop had an employment position for a new Butcher's apprentice opening up in the nearby village of Bella Doras. It was then that something odd struck Doctor Gideon Phillar, he patiently listened and waited for the two officers to leave, He calmly placed the newspaper in front of Nathaniel Pendergrass, he gave Doctor Phillar a puzzled look.

"Nathaniel, I believe I may have just happened upon something that we may have overlooked. Were all four of the murder victims from Northwich?"

Inspector Pendergrass removed a stack of papers from his desk drawer, bound together in a paper folder, he opened them up to read, his stare slowly glided up and down each page studying the information carefully. His eyes slowly rose to meet Doctor Phillar's.

"None of the Victims were from Northwich, Three of them brought carriages from the village of Bella Doras, the fourth rode a carriage from Papridge a coach station between here and there. None of them were from here, Gideon." 

"And perhaps neither is our murderer, perhaps all four of our victims were followed here from Bela Doras, and it is becoming increasingly likely that they may have all four crossed paths with him somewhere in the village because he lives and works there. And they may have conducted daily business with him, he may have been studying each of their movements days before following them here and ultimately murdering them." 

It was the first solid lead in the case that Inspector Pendergrass would have, there was still the missing girl to consider, He would have to concentrate further on finding her while Doctor Phillar and Sebastian Mills would take the buggy the following morning and drive to Bella Doras. It was late afternoon when the returned to Blackpool Terrace, it was later in the evening, one hour past nightfall, when Doctor Phillar heard a rapid knock on the side entrance door of the building nearest the kitchen. He rose from his chair and went to investigate when he swung open the door, even in the failing light he could see it was a young woman panic-stricken, she asked him if he was Doctor Gideon Phillar, the one who was helping the police, when he nodded to the affirmative the young woman told him that her friend Bessie was in hiding in her flat and a man who had been following behind her after she left the Grimsby Tavern the previous night tried to grab her, she got loose and ran to her house where once inside they locked the doors and shuttered the windows, Bessie Todd was terrified but still very much alive. 

~Scratch A.B.T. copyright© 2022.~