On his way back to his room, he stopped at an aethergraph and sent a message to Boston, Massachusetts. He smiled. It had been a long time since he had seen them, nearly a year. He would look forward to seeing them again.
****
The bell rang and Persi carried little Juniper with her to answer it. Her twin brother, Randolph slept peacefully in his bassinette. The boy passed the aethergram to Persi who signed for it, tipped the boy and carried it to Boots who sat in his chair by the fire reading the daily paper.
“My dear, this came for us, but since I have little Juni, will you open and read it aloud?”
“Of course my heart,” he said, taking the paper and opening it. “It says, ‘There is trouble in Canada, in what is called the Northwest Territory, the Old Ones. Sincerely, a friend.’”
“Oh, no,” Persi exclaimed. “So soon, the children, what will we do?”
“Persi, my heart, we will do nothing. We do not know who this is, and we have not been assigned to this work by the agency so calm down.”
Persi smiled and rocked Juni, who was nearly asleep. “I am sorry, my dear, but I guess I’m getting nervous. I have expected our old friends to surface sooner, in all their tentacled grandness.”
“I too wish we could set off again, but perhaps we should learn to enjoy this quiet time in our life, and our children.”
“Again, you are right, my love.”
The doorbell rang again, waking Juniper and Randolph at the same time.
“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Boots said. “Take care of the children and I will get the door.”
The aethergraph boy stood on the top step again holding out a paper. Boots took it, tipped the boy and returned to the parlor where the children were once again quiet. “You are amazing with them, my heart. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Another aethergram, my, aren’t we the popular ones,” she said.
Boots unfolded it and read. “Agents Beacon and Beacon (formerly Shuttleworth),”
Persi chuffed. “Even though we saved the world from multi-armed and eyed monsters, they still cannot abide our marriage.”
“No it appears not,” Boots said, then returned to the aethergram. “Make your way through the Canadian, Northwest Territory to the northern coast and the small town of Kittigazuit. Investigate the disappearance of the entire population. Your contact is the only survivor, her name translated is, Granny Walrus. Though the language barriers are nearly insurmountable, she reports huge squid-like beings with multiple eyes. Good luck.
He looked at his wife, rocking their children. “Persi, I could go and ...”
“Oh no you don’t, Horace Randolph Beacon. You will not leave me here, especially since we have already discussed this and ...”
Boots bent over Persi and interrupted her rant with a kiss. “Calm down, my heart, it was only a thought. I will send word to Grimm, have him get the boiler fired up. Could we leave by tomorrow afternoon?”
She looked at her children, sleeping quietly again, and thought about the stories they would have to tell their children. “Yes,” was all she said.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Born in 1962, Anthony D. Faircloth grew up in the farm country of East Central Indiana.
After graduating from Wes-Del High School in 1980, Anthony joined the United States Navy Submarine Service where he served for 10 years.
Anthony currently lives in Pensacola, Florida with his family.
****
Gabrielle Leigh Lofland was born in Seaford, Delaware, but moved to the Balkan country of Albania at the age of four with her family for missions and humanitarian work.
Gabby moved to Pensacola, Florida to earn a degree in English Literature from UWF and now resides in Okinawa, Japan to teach English as a second language.
OTHER BOOKS BY
ANTHONY FAIRCLOTH
Fiction
Northwest Goldberg Mystery
Nick Saint
Just Us
Pet Haven
Informational
How to be a Happy Writer
Building an Aquaponics System
Important Things You Need to Know About… Soil Fertility
Important Things You Need to Know About… Bee Keeping
Visit Anthony’s webpage at:
www.anthonydfaircloth.com
for other books and short stories.
The Lightning Lord Page 41
