Part 6
Edwin stared at the row of gamboling, leafy rabbits. They were carved with such skill he could almost see their ears twitching as they waited for his reaction. His mouth opened and close several times, but he found himself unable to form any coherent thoughts, let alone words. Finally a low, half-strangled sound issued forth from his throat. As he realized he was making the sound, Edwin clamped his mouth shut, hoping to stifle the noise before anyone could overhear. “How could this have happened?” he asked himself. His men had been on patrol all night. “How did someone sneak past them?” Unable to continue looking at the joyful bunnies, Edwin turned towards his office door. His hand shook slightly as he unlocked his office and stepped inside, closing the door against the sight of the mutilated shrubbery. Secure in his space, Edwin looked around. Everything was as he left it. The sight steadied him and he decided to continue with his normal morning routine. At night Edwin closed the blinds, first the blinds facing east, then the blonds facing west. To open them, he did the reverse. Edwin crossed the room to the western blinds and opened them. He was relieved that the view from the western window looked out on a perfectly symmetrical trio of spiral trimmed evergreen conifers shaped like upside down cones. “Juniperus,” he reminded himself, disliking the general ambiguity of the term evergreen conifer. The trio was located eight feet back from the wall of the small building housing his office and the points of their cones were, as always trimmed level with the bottom of his windowsill. The sight steadied him. Edwin moved to the eastern facing window and, after opening it, found the trio of cone shaped junipers exactly as it should be as well. Edwin slanted his eyes towards the door as though he could condemn the now vandalized bushes in the front by the comparison. With the windows opened, Edwin turned to his desk. He checked his pencils. All five were in the order he left them. He then moved to the small kitchenette area in the back. He filled his electric kettle with purified water from the container he kept in the cabinet and set the kettle to boil. While it worked he unwrapped one plain black teabag from its paper sheath and took his white ceramic mug from the hook. The teabag went into the mug and he made certain the little string with its paper tag was wrapped around the mug’s handle so that when he added the water it would remain in place. Satisfied with his preparation, Edwin moved to his desk and took a seat, turning to his calendar to review the needs of the day. As he began to review, his thoughts turned back to the situation he found himself in. Above and beyond the vandalism, the location was an issue. His office was deeper into the grounds than the site of the former maze. To reach it, the perpetrator of these heinous acts had to penetrate deep into the estate’s grounds. Not only did it show a certain boldness of action, it exposed a serious gap in security. “Such a gap could cause the residents to be at risk,” he told himself, giving into the need to think the situation through. “Location,” Edwin said in surprise as a thought hit him. The first vandalism occurred on the south lawn. It was the furthest from the main buildings and despite Edwin’s preference for the space, was not well used by the residents. He thought it might be too far from the residence to be convenient for those only wanting a short stroll. “And it can’t be seen from the office,” he reminded himself. Edwin glanced at his windows, one facing east, one facing west and the door facing to the north. He knew his men began their patrols exactly one hour after his arrival in his office. “Giving the perpetrator additional time to escape.” Edwin nodded to himself. “And last night the patrols were concentrated on the south lawn,” he mused. “Therefore leaving the area around my office vulnerable.” In his mind’s eye he could see it. The evil do-er dressed in black his face shielded by black paint and a ski mask, slipping onto the grounds to attach the row of shrubs, shielded by the wall while he worked. “If he avoids the patrols, we will need one closer to the main house to ensure the residents’ safety,” Edwin began. His kettle boiled and Edwin rose to fix his cup. While the tea steeped, Edwin walked over to study the large wall map of the grounds. This was war and he would have to arrange his troops carefully if he wanted to take back any of the ground the intruder was trying to claim. He thought of the sacrifice his shrubs had made. “At least it was for the sake of information,” he decided. Now he knew more about the invader than he had before. Now he could better prepare.
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Valerie GaumontJust the record of the random flotsam and jetsam of an insomniac writer's mind Archives
March 2021
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