Missed last week because the internet was down. So this was last week's section. I'm going to have part nine up either Thursday or Friday of this week. enjoy. v
Part eight Edwin tried to steady himself with his afternoon cup of tea but it did no good. The day had effectively been ruined. All available personnel had been hard at work. Due to the bulk of the staff being sent home to prepare for night patrols it was, at best, a skeleton crew. Normally he would revel in the hard work of his staff, knowing they would complete any task assigned with efficiency and competency. Today, though they did their best, it was a long slow process. The bells were everywhere. Tiny little things individually tied to branches in a random pattern. There were no lines or even a discernible zig-zag pattern. Edwin pulled his staff from their patrols and other, more regular duties to search the foliage. The task seemed never ending. Every time they thought they had them all down, a wind would blow through and the ringing would begin again. The search would be resumed. It was madness, utter madness. Finally he could take no more. His men were disheveled and frustrated. Even though they could all still hear the ringing, they were having difficulty finding the remaining bells. For the sake of sanity Edwin called a halt to the search, sending everyone on a break before attending to whatever necessary tasks needed to be completed before the end of shift. “Tomorrow the search can resume,” he told himself as he told his men earlier. Edwin resisted looking down at his uniform. He knew it was soiled in spots, the starch no longer keeping the lines crisp. He was fairly certain there were even seat marks on the cloth as he put in as much time in the hot sun as his men had in the quest to remove the bells. It had been all hands on deck today and he had not shirked his duty. His skin itched for a shower and he decided that once his shift was over, he would take the shower and put on a new uniform before joining the evening patrols. Although it was a break in his routine, Edwin knew he could not remain as he was and would be forced to iron another shirt before his usual Sunday laundry. “It can’t be helped,” he told himself. It was yet another charge to lay at the feet of the unknown sculptor. Edwin finished his tea and cleaned up after himself, the routine tidying settling him down somewhat. As long as he ignored his grubby uniform, he would make it through the rest of the day. Edwin concentrated on the paperwork, filling out routine requests for supplies, checking his upcoming schedule of repairs and upgrades. Seeing the order of his world calmed him. By the end of shift, he felt steady in his own skin again. As long as he didn’t look at his uniform. Edwin prepared his office for the close of the day. He sharpened, measured and arranged his pencils, stood and walked to the east blinds. He looked through the window; all was as it should be. He moved to the west window and looked out. Shock momentarily froze him in place. Instead of his three cone shapes evergreens, he now saw three green, leafy flamingos. “A daylight assault,” he gasped out. Something in his chest tightened and he realized he wasn’t breathing. He sucked in a lung full of air and his chest loosened. “Daylight,” he repeated. Edwin’s hands shook as he closed the blinds, moved to the door and exited his office. After locking his door he moved to the sight of the latest defilement. Slowly he circled the flamingos. While they were carved with the same artistry as the elephants and rabbits, the ground was littered with clippings. “He didn’t have time to clean up after himself,” Edwin surmised. “But how did he have time to do this at all? Surely someone would have heard something.” Edwin blinked as a thought hit him. “The bells,” he said softly. Today was the day he measured the hedgerows. Today he found bells in the first of those hedgerows. “And I called all available personnel to the site to search them out. I even pitched in. I played right into their hands.” Stunned, Edwin circled the flamingos. Someone had studied him, knew his routine and could predict his likely reactions. He supposed that as a man of routine, a man of order, his set schedule was noticeable. But who had done the noticing. It had to be someone who knew him. “Which means it is someone I know,” Edwin surmised. “Or have at least seen in passing.” Edwin left the flamingos behind and headed back to his quarters for his promised shower and fresh clothes. As he walked he mentally reviewed those he routinely saw, examining them and dismissing each as unlikely. He reached home, showered, dressed and ate his dinner. “Perhaps it is someone I don’t see every day or who I don’t pay attention to,” he thought as he headed back to brief the night patrol before walking the grounds. Edwin thought of the various suppliers who came onto the grounds to deliver goods, both for him and Dr. Vargas. None of them fit the bill. After apprising his staff of the addition of the flamingos and exhorting them to be diligent, Edwin began to walk the grounds, his mind turning over the images of the people he had seen on the estate, both familiar and strange, determined to find the one who fit, knowing that was the culprit he sought.
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Posting a little early this week. Enjoy. v.
Part seven By the time his morning cup of tea had been consumed, the mug washed dried and re-hung on its customary hook, all other detritus disposed of, Edwin had a plan. It was clear to him that the goal of the intruder was to penetrate deeper into the grounds with each invasion. He started on the south lawn, furthest from the main grounds and well shielded from casual view. When the outer patrols were beefed up, he slipped past them to Edwin’s wall. “It is doubtful he would be satisfied with the areas he previously struck and will seek to gain ground,” Edwin told his staff at a hastily called morning meeting. He disliked the necessity as meetings were held Monday mornings at precisely nine o’clock on the dot and this was not only Wednesday, but the clock in the staff room clearly read nine twenty two. Edwin tried not to grind his teeth. This reign of chaos must end. Order must be restored. “To this end,” Edwin continued. “The bulk of our evening patrols will be aimed at protecting the interior. There will still be patrols, in the south lawn and one near where this intruder’s tools were found.” Edwin paused remembering that even though they were watching his tools, the gamboling rabbits still appeared, carved from his neat row along the fence. He pushed the thought away for further contemplation. His men needed clear guidance rather than a questioning leader. He had to show authority. “While daily work on the grounds must be completed, new tasks are to be postponed until the perpetrator is caught as security of the residents is of the utmost importance.” Edwin inclined his head slightly to the roster he posted next to the door. The gesture seemed expansive to him and he instantly recoiled inside, but pushed on so he could return to his normal daily routine. “You will notice that both day and night shifts have been devised. Should there be a concern with your placement on the schedule, please see me and we will discuss possible alterations and alternatives.” With that, Edwin left the staff room and made his careful way around the grounds. “Inclining my head,” he thought to himself. “This is what comes of chaos. First it is external and then it slowly seeps inside like poison into groundwater.” He shuttered at the thought of the consequences should this villainy not end quickly. “Why reason and logic might very well cease to exist.” He shook the horror of the thought away. It was best not to dwell upon these things. Routine was what was needed. Edwin glanced at his watch and for a moment his mind blanked on what it was he normally did at this time on Wednesdays. “Measure,” he thought finally with some relief. This was the day he measured the hedgerows. Momentarily he quailed at the thought, his insides feeling like jelly. The could see the elephants marching in a line in his mind’s eye. “Still a determination must be made as to what shall be done with them,” he reminded himself, stiffening his determination. While he thought removing the row of elephants as well as the farthest row from it would be the best solution, it was only a guess. He would not know definitively that it was the best course of action until he measured. “And it will be reassuring to know the other components of the hedgerow are in perfect order.” His mind made up, Edwin moved to his office to retrieve the tools he would need. He was somewhat relieved when everything appeared to be in its accustomed place. He picked up his clipboard and took a moment to glance at the last measurements on his chart. Deciding a map might be in order, he added graph paper to the clipboard. He then attached a standard tape measure to his waistband, even though he did not anticipate using it. The tool he planned to use was contained in box in the back of the drawer. Edwin excavated the box and opened it, smiling, as always at his favorite tool. The Accutrac Laser measuring tool was his pride and joy. It had accuracy to within one eighth of an inch and neatly and efficiently displayed the measurements on the LED screen, no guess work involved with fading or chipped lines on a plebian measuring tape. Edwin remembered the advertisement for the tool. “Accurate point to point measuring up to one hundred feet,” he recalled, the details etched into his brain. Not only did his give him the accuracy of lasers but he did not have to crawl upon the ground to get the measurements. His uniform could be spared inconvenient stains, smudges and creases through excess bending and possible contact with the actual ground. Gear in hand, Edwin exited the office, closing the door behind him, and made his way to the south lawn. As expected, the elephants were a jolt to his system. Edwin took a deep breath and girded himself as he began his measuring. Knowing he needed accurate measurements of all the hedgerows, including the sculpted one, if accuracy was to be maintained, he began at the sculpted row. He felt that by starting there he could quickly finish and put it out of his mind letting himself sink into the comfort of the other still regulated rows. He tried to ignore the fact that his first measurement was taken at an elephant’s foot. Maintaining his precision, Edwin methodically began to move up the line of parading pachyderms. As he added his second notation to his clipboard he frowned and looked up. “Bells?” he half said to himself. He immediately shook the thought away. There were no bells on or even near the south lawn. Edwin took his next measurement, pausing as he once again heard the sound of bells once again. He marked down his measurement. There it was again. The light tinkling of bells whispered on the air. Edwin forced himself to look up at the elephants. As he worked, he tried to look only at his tools and the barest details of the topiaries, hoping to push through quickly. Now he was forced to study them as he listened for the ringing sound. Not a sound could be heard in the still air around him. He almost dismissed the notion as some sort of delusion brought on by stress when a light breeze wafted through the hedgerows and the ringing began again. It appeared to be coming from the elephants. Edwin peered in a little closer and saw a glint of sun hitting something metallic. The wind picked up and the metallic thing shifted emitting a light ringing sound. He stretched out his hand and found a small bell had been tied on to the hedge. He untied the string holding it and pulled it from its support. The bell was barely the size of his thumb. With the next gust of wind, Edwin’s eyes shifted from the small bell in his hand to the elephants. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could see them everywhere. Hundreds, if not thousands, of bells were threaded through the row of elephants glinting furtively from the leafy green, each one individually tied. “Bells,” he said. Horror of the effort it would require to find and remove all of them before they disturbed the residents etched that one word as it slipped through his lips. For a moment all Edwin could do was simply stare as the bells rang merrily through the south lawn. |
Valerie GaumontJust the record of the random flotsam and jetsam of an insomniac writer's mind Archives
March 2021
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