The Day of the Toymaker

by Clay Moore

  “Enough gabbing. Let’s get dressed up and ride.”

  They parked their bikes on the street in front of the Toymaker’s workshop. As William swung off his bike, he looked around. The shop was just one building at the beginning of the fall of last year. Now it took over the storefronts and buildings around it. The man’s toys were extremely popular.

  William entered the storefront for the workshop. It looked much as it did, but he was looking at it with different eyes. He was looking for something that he can go to a court and get a search warrant. Deadly toys just did not cut it with the Judges they went to for a warrant.

  It was not fair. Technology was changing so fast that the Judges were not keeping up. He did have to give it to the Judges. They asked for more solid proof that this would happen. The toys they had were either dissected or shot. A bunch of people had to see one of these dolls moving around and threatening people.

  So far the codebreakers had not deciphered the metal tape with its dots. They confirmed that there was an intelligence in the tape. They would eventually break the code. There would be papers on that written by the eggheads in that department.

  Thomas joined William in the storefront. There was enough on display here that would catch the eye of any child. A woman walked in with her children in tow. The men got out of their way as the children went through the dolls trying to find that one they just had to have. Each of the three children found a doll. The Toymaker showed the children how to wind up the dolls and how to get them to move. Then he took the toys to his back room where someone was wrapping paper around the doll and putting them in a box.

  His daughter came out with the three boxes tied together by string. The mother paid out cash to the Toymaker and left with her children in tow.

  William thought he understood what had happened last night. The children pestered Dad until he relented. He gave Mom the cash, and they had an outing to buy one of the toys.

  “This happen a lot,” William asked after the mother and her children left.

  “Christmas was good. Word of mouth sells a lot of my toys. Children—what’s the word?”

  “Wheedle,”suggested William

  “Ah, yes, thank you very much.”

  “I was wondering if I and my partner, here, could see your workshop?”

  “Absolutely not. The secret of my construction of these dolls is mine and mine alone. Now if you have no further business, I would like if you departed the premises.”

  As they hit the street William thought he heard the sound of hammering and sawing metal come from within the premises. They mounted their bikes and rode back to the house. The director was in residence in the house. In William’s gymnasium there was a letter in an envelope.

  William divested himself of the duster, and put on the black suit coat. He handed the envelope to Thomas, who opened it.

  “He would like to see us as soon as possible.”

  “I guess that means now.”

  They got their suit coats on. William walked with his gunbelt, as did Thomas. Thomas remarked to himself that he was a changed man. He wears a gunbelt, and has a doctor’s bag full of tools for machines.

  William and Thomas walked to the Director’s office. The man was seated behind his fancy wood desk. Occasionally he dipped his pen in the inkwell and wrote in a big bound book. They stood there watching their titular boss writing. He was titular because the President actually was the pair’s boss. The director blotted the sentences he wrote. Then he returned the pen to his pen cup.

  “A few Judges decided to bend my ear concerning an attempt by you two to get a search warrant. Failing with one judge you went to another. Some of the Judges got their noses out of joint. They want me to censure in some way you two. The problem is that you could have gone to the President and he could have issued you an executive search warrant. I want to commend you for getting a search warrant. From now on go to the President for a search warrant.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ve been given a very important document to guard. I have it in my Safe in the office. I am holding it here, because I believe that that this is one of the most secure buildings in Washington. I will be sleeping in the bedroom that’s attached to my office. No one knows that the document is here, except for a few people. I have to hold it for a couple of days.”

  “I’ve heard some rumors about a breach loading Naval gun plans,” said Thomas.

  “That serves me for forgetting that you two are like two detectives.”

  “You know us, sir,” said William, “we are as trustworthy as they come.”

  “I know that. We are not putting on any more guards. That would be surely noticed. Since both of you sleep on this floor, you will be inner guard.”

  “Are you armed, director.”

  The director pulled out his colt revolver. And showed it to them.

  “Have it handy. I bet those plans are something the South wants really bad.”

  “Once again, William, you put it mildly.”

  “Ae you telling us, because we are living here and need to know?”

  “I want you to be ready in case the south tries something tonight.”

  “We will be,” said William.

  *****

  Peter Sykes entered the Toyshop late in the afternoon. The Toymaker looked at Peter, but continued to help his customer. Then his customer left, and he put the money in his cash box.

  “What can I do for you, Mister Sykes?”

  The toymaker already knew what he could do, or rather what his toys could do. He hoped that this one would keep his hands to himself. Evie did not take it well when a man tried to force himself on her

  “I managed to find out where the plans are being stored. It is in a safe at a house that the secret service uses as a training area. The director of the Secret Service is sitting on the plans like a roosting hen. Can your people get in there and get the plans?”

  “Of course, they can. We’ll do it tonight. Come back tomorrow morning. I should have what you want then.”

  “Very good. I’ll take possession of them tomorrow morning.”

  Sykes rapped his knuckles on the display table. The toymaker hated people who liked to punctuate their speech with noise. Sykes was a knuckle rapper. He would make a declarative statement and then rap his knuckles to underline it.

  The toymaker watched him go glad to be rid of the confederate spy. He would never have consorted with the confederates had he known the type of people he would have consorted with. Now he had to use his mechanical genius for the benefit of people who were selfish and wanted the status quo.

  Evangeline came from the workshop. She put her hand on her father’s shoulder.

  “What is it, Papa?”

  She could read his mood almost as good as his wife. The Toymaker looked at the doll that was his child. She looked so innocent, so flawless. She was anatomically correct. Everything on her works. The only thing she could not do was conceive and give birth to a human child.

  “How many of the Soldiers do we have ready at the moment?”

  “We have fifteen left.”

  “That will have to do. I need for you to go below and have the others start making more. Also for your personal protection have more of the Apes made. Start moving the factory to the place we found in the sewers.”

  “What’s the matter, Papa?”

  “We are about to stir up a hornet’s nest.”

  “That’s bad.”

  “I am afraid that we are not prepared to survive this hornet’s nest. I’m sorry that it took me so long to build the factory automata. We have enough to make a moderate army of dolls.”

  “You want more?”

  “All we can get that shoot or run people through. Don’t forget to build the foundry as I showed you.”

  “These are things that you have told me before.”

  “I know, but I want you to carry it out. You must be protected. You are all I have left of your mother. That is precious to me. Promise
me that you will defend yourself.”

  “Yes, Papa, I shall. You talk like you will not be around much longer.”

  “Lately I have been having pains in my chest. I know the signs. I need to make sure that you are protected before I go. Go and get all in readiness. I’ll take the soldiers to the house they are to assault, and bring them back.”

  Evangeline touched his shoulder as she went back into the workshop to complete the new clandestine workshop. She thought that the exterior of the toys were not needed if they were to be used as toys anymore. It meant more hands to make the chassis for the advanced toys.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Attack on the Secret Service

  *****

  WITH THE DIRECTOR in residence, the house staff practiced their second craft by serving a formal dinner. Johnny did not want to put on the formal clothes his mother bought him. She had William wash behind the recalcitrant Johnny’s ears. Then he applied pomade to the boy’s hair.

  When he came out of his room, he rushed to his Mom’s arms, tears in her eyes. She had seen this tactic before, so she had some of the younger maids come into her room.

  They made much of the young master. They hugged him and bestowed kisses on his cheek. He made a big deal of the fact that he could do without women in his life. His smiles and the lipstick on his face put his argument against the need for women to flight.

  Then Rowena looked at the other of her men in her life. William wore a black tuxedo. For this one night, he did not wear his weapons. When he stopped and opened his arms to her, she rushed into his embrace. She checked the right arm by simply grabbing it. He did not even wear the device that Thomas made him that delivers a derringer to his hand.

  For the first time that she knew him, he was without his weapons.

  “As much as I like hugging and kissing you, we have to descend for dinner.”

  “Do we have the precedence tonight.”

  “I don’t think so. The Director holds the authority of the President, so he will be at one table end. You might get to sit opposite him as the hostess.”

  “Gladys?”

  “There is nothing formal between her and your brother. On that score, that is your duty to act for Gladys. They are both in love with each other. Maybe if they got engaged, then that would knock this schoolboy crush he has on her into an adult type love. Anyway, she is almost finished with her rotation here. She is scheduled to the President’s residence in Chicago at the end of the summer season.

  “A marriage license might end her days as a Secret Service Agent, especially if she is pregnant.”

  “Why?”

  “As often as he has taken her to his bed it’s bound to happen.”

  “You and I have been having fun. I could get pregnant as well.”

  “I have been careful, withdrawing before my culmination.”

  Rowena chuckled. That particular form of birth control had been around at least since the Romans.

  “We will want a child, right?”

  “Yes, I want to have it after the wedding ceremony. Then the child will not have the sobriquet of bastard. I won’t have that for this child.”

  “Then let us continue as we have been doing.”

  When William had suggested a course of action to wait till after the wedding, she felt her love deepening for the tall, handsome, and sometimes infuriating man. Infuriating because when he had a better plan, William’s plan had the temerity of actually being better than her plan. That is what she got for trying to match planning talent with an officer of the US Army.

  “Why do I have to wear this thing,” complained Johnny.

  Rowena could swear that Johnny knew that she was thinking of something other than him. Then he would say or do something to bring the attention back onto him.

  “You look wonderful in it. I’m sure that all of the maids will like how you look in your tuxedo. You look like William.”

  Rowena stopped trying to use the pretense of calling William Uncle. She could not call him Dad yet, although she knew that he had engaged a lawyer to begin the adoption proceedings the day after the wedding. When that happened, then he would be known as Johnny Hazard. Rowena stifled a chuckle. She had to be excused because it sounded like a character out of the boy’s adventure magazines coming out.

  The clock in the room started tolling the hour; seven pm. William gathered up what would soon be his family. He felt a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment.

  They walked out of their apartment. William knocked on Thomas’s door; Thomas led out Gladys. She wore a dress in deep green satin. Then William noticed the ring on Gladys’ left ring finger. William drew Rowena’s attention to the ring.

  “I’m so happy for you, Gladys,” said Rowena

  “William, can I speak with you over here.”

  Thomas walked away with William following him.

  “I noticed that your date would work for us. Would you be adverse to Gladys and I hitching on what is to be your day.”

  “I have to run this by Rowena. She’s already done this before. She likes Gladys I can’t see why she would object, but let me run this by her. For some reason Weddings belong to the bride.”

  “When are you going to ask her?”

  “Tonight, I can tell that I am not going to get much sleep regardless of what her reaction is.”

  They both went back to their parties. They descended down to the first floor and the formal dining room.

  They waited for a few moments standing by their chairs. They were waiting for the Host. He came in with his own date, who sat opposite the Director down the table. William, Rowena, and Johnny were placed in the middle of the long table. Across the table were Thomas and Gladys. There were a few cabinet Secretaries, and their wives spattered around the table.

  When the Director sat, everyone took their seats. The soup was served immediately. As soon as the soup was produced, the conversation began. The Secretaries of State and Commerce were astonished that William and Thomas were THE Secret Service Agents badge numbers one and two. The company was delightful, and William found his tongue wagging. It took Rowena’s foot-stomping on William’s to reign him in.

  He realized that he was treading close to violating the secrecy veil that covered that operation. He looked at Rowena with a pained face. She tried hard to fight off a desire to smile at William’s face. He never expected her to resort to physical suasion to stop her fiancé from sticking that foot in his mouth.

  The main point of the conversation was the near run thing at Shiloh. As the military expert, William was expected to pronounce on the tactics. He had nothing bad to say about Grant or Sherman other than they had given over to their prejudice about non-career officers. That causes them not to listen to the report of sounds from the front where these officers were located.

  “You see the Commanding General has very little to say once the battle is joined. All he can do is move units into line. Some of the older generals are loath to move on the word of some of the non-career officers. It is the line officer, the man standing with his men overseeing the line that has the most influence on the men. These lieutenants and Captains can make or break a General.”

  “What was your rank in the Army, Mister Hazard?”

  “I was a Major in the cavalry. I commanded a troop in the Mexican war. I went back when it looked like the South was going to rebel. I was asked to be President-elect Lincoln’s guard until he got here to Washington DC. Doctor Thomas Derek was also sent on that detail as well. We learned to fight well together.”

  “Is that true Doctor Derek?”

  “Yes. It is easy fighting alongside William. He pushes you to do your best. I have had more output here, than at my lab in Chicago.”

  “Will you stay in the Secret Service, Doctor.”

  “Once it is up and running and the war is over, I may resign to return to academia.”

  “We may find our services required even more after the war. Not everyone will be defeated when the war comes to an end
. They may decide to use the munitions to force political change or simply to extort money from the Government.”

  “William, you’re such a sourpuss.”

  “I am a realist, Thomas. Human nature has not changed much since the beginning. We are all in this for ourselves and our families second. The criminal thinks he can make the big payday.”

  “How hard is it to produce a counterfeit bank note?”

  “Depends on the bank,” said Thomas. “Congress need to produce it’s own bank notes. We can then use all of the techniques to produce a bill that is very hard to counterfeit.”

  Another of the wives spoke up. “Just what is the purpose behind producing counterfeit in the first place?”

  “A counterfeiter usually does not spend the money himself. He sells the counterfeit to someone for like ten cents on the dollar. That person then spends it however he wants. The better counterfeiter can charge a premium. An Enemy can produce counterfeit and then distribute it. This can wreck the economy.”

  “It seems like the Secret Service has a lot on it’s plate.”

  “Aside from the US Marshals service, we are really the only investigative arm of the Federal Government,” said the Director. “The Marshals execute the warrants for the federal courts. We build the case to convict.”

  There was pride in the voice of their boss. They also looked on their record with pride. In his chair, William puffed up with pride. Rowena laid a calming touch to his arm. A reassurance of her love had calmed her Fiancé. She was getting to know the contacts and what they could do for William. Unbeknownst to him, Rowena was become a virtuoso in playing William.

  When they were in their private room, William was showing his virtuosity in playing a woman. There were things she read about in the books of her libraries that she had never seen. Brian was taking it upon himself to educate her about these. The first one was cunnilingus. She loved it. She had to ask Brian to help her with fellatio. She had never done it before. Her dead husband had a lack of imagination in bed.