Sunday 22 December 2013

VICTORIANA AND THE TELECTROSCOPE Chapter 8


Chapter 8
When Victoriana descended for breakfast the following morning, she was intercepted by Rusty before she could enter the dining room.
‘I have sent a letter to the stationmaster at East Broadway station with an enclosure which I have asked him to pass to Messrs Irving and – er – Fingers,’ he hissed in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘The enclosure contains a graphic description of the diamonds in the Intensifier, and a suggestion that these gems may be obtainable if they were to meet with a lady named V outside A Certain Cellar on Lower East Side at 8 p.m. tonight. They’re bound to want to find out more,’ he said confidently, chinking the At tokens in his pocket, ‘and then we can get into the cellar and find out what’s going on.’
A little thrill ran down Victoriana’s spine as she sat down at the table: she shivered with excitement, and a little brass plate fell from her handkerchief pocket to the floor with a clatter.
‘Eh? Eh? Wassat?’ muttered Dawe Hinge senior, startled into dropping the newspaper he was reading into his cornflakes. ‘Oh, botheration!’
He scooped the metal plate up from the floor and perused it carefully.
‘McCavity and Brown, Master Engineers,’ he read. ‘Well, well, well, well,well. And where did you get this, young lady?’
‘I found it in the road just outside the Museum yesterday,’ said Victoriana, who had forgotten all about it. ‘Are they famous?’
‘Well, well, well, well, well,’ said Dawe Hinge again, his eyes moistening at some distant memory. ‘D’you know, I went to college with young Phil McCavity back in – er – a long, long time ago, before I met your Mama, Rory. Back then he was studying dentistry, of course, before he became interested in engineering and met that rich fellow Brown who provided the money for him to build his tunnelling machines.’
Victoriana and Rusty exchanged open-mouthed looks.
‘Of course, there were three of them originally,’mused Dawe Hinge, ‘that ghastly fellow Hamish McHerring who did all the selling for the project, Brown was the money man – a genius with the cash, he was …’
‘I thought McCavity and Brown went bust?’ Rusty interrupted.
‘Well, they did declare bankruptcy at one time, I believe, but that was mainly because of the funds Hamish McHerring had spent on campaigning for Scottish independence. Imagine, the United Kingdom without Scotland – unthinkable!’ Dawe Hinge pounded the table with his cereal spoon, causing Mrs Dawe Hinge to blanch as a shower of soggy cornflakes landed in the raspberry jam.
‘But McCavity was the inventor, of course – “Why make money filling cavities when you can make more money digging them,” he used to say,’ Dawe Hinge continued. ‘At least, that’s what I think he said. He had a very strong Glaswegian accent, you know. By George, I think I still have the McCavity Miner!’
He jumped to his feet and rushed over to the glass display cabinet, removing what looked like a large set of false teeth fitted into a brass box and placing it on the table.
Victoriana and Rusty gazed at the object in wonder.
‘What does this do, Papa?’ asked Rusty, reaching out and pressing down a tiny lever.
‘Wait!’ Cried Dawe Hinge, ‘you need to attach a chain first,’ and dashed to the cabinet again to retrieve a length of stout brass chain.
But he was too late.
With a loud snort and a couple of coughs, the set of teeth started gnashing together, rolling slowly but inexorably on tiny wheels towards the edge of the table. Dawe Hinge reached forward with the chain, but only succeeded in tipping the engine onto its face, where the teeth started to take huge bites out of the surface of the table. As soon as it sensed solid opposition to its munching, the engine noise rose to a high pitched whine as the motor revved up, and before their startled gaze the McCavity Miner chomped its way rapidly through the heavy mahogany to land face down on the carpet, barely pausing in its chewing motion. Within seconds the infernal device had dug a passage through the carpet and into the floor below before crashing noisily down into the cellar beneath the house.
An awed silence was broken by Mrs Dawe Hinge.
‘I thought you said you had removed the fuel, my love,’ she said icily.
*          *          *
‘No peekin’ now, li’l lady an’ gen’l’m’n,’ growled Fingers, ‘dis is sumthun’ ya don’ rightly wanna know ’bout.’
Victoriana and Rusty obediently faced away from the door through which she had so recently escaped.
‘Nice woik, Fingers,’ grunted Irving as the door swung open, revealing little but shadows as the streetlight in the alley threw an ugly yellowish gleam through the doorway.
‘Quick, in youse goes,’ urged Irving, pushing the youngsters forward as Fingers pulled the door closed behind them.
Irving unhooked the lantern attached to his belt and opened the shutter so the light ran round the walls: they were in the room once filled with wooden cases, of which only a few were now left. The wheelbarrow and shovels were still leaning against the wall beside the dank doorway.
‘Which way now?’ asked Irving hoarsely.
Just as Victoriana opened her mouth to speak there came a series of thuds from above, followed by voices and footsteps getting rapidly closer.
She pointed to the hole in the wall from whence the stench of digging issued. ‘Through there!’ she said decisively.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

VICTORIANA AND THE TELECTROSCOPE Chapter 6


VICTORIANA AND THE TELECTROSCOPE

Chapter 6

When Victoriana descended the stairs next morning for breakfast, she was anticipating – indeed she had prepared herself for – the renewed reproaches from her parents concerning her deviant behaviour the afternoon before: but she was not at all ready for what happened next.
“Victoriana,” said her Papa in his stern voice, “ your Mama and I have been discussing matters and we have come to the conclusion that you are becoming a little wild and rebellious of late. I suppose it is the air in this country that causes this sort of behaviour, indeed I believe it is endemic here for every man to bow to no ---“
“And woman!” interposed Mama.
“--- authority but what he chooses to acknowledge himself, “ Papa continued as if there had been no interruption, “in other words to display an independence that has in the past led to the fracturing of relations between this young land and the Mother Country. But a man ---“
“And woman!” Mama put in somewhat peevishly.
“---must learn to toe the line and obey certain rules, otherwise there will be anarchy.”
Victoriana knew all about monarchy, it was one of Nanny Prewitt’s favourite subjects, discoursed on at length, but she wasn’t sure about anarchy. Perhaps it meant several kings or queens reigning at the same time? She made a mental note to look it up, then realised she had missed what her Papa had been saying.
“…..and the long and the short of it is, your Mama and I have decided that you shall go and stay with your cousin Rory for a period as you will benefit from the strict regime that his parents have instilled in the household.”
Mama swelled visibly with pride; the Dawe Hinges were cousins of the Ffoliot-Verges and claimed to amongst the earliest settlers to arrive in the New World. The matter of their departing from England a day or so before the bailiffs came battering at their door had had a veil of myths and rumours woven over it so the truth had disappeared in the mists of time.
“You got on so well with Rory when they visited us in London, didn’t you, dear!” beamed Mama.
Victoriana hid a shudder: Rory – or Rusty as he was known because of his red hair – had not been interested in playing with her, or indeed do anything other than visit museums or bury his head in some abstruse book.
“But Mama….” She started.
“Enough, Victoriana. It is decided,” said her Papa.
As Victoriana slunk dejectedly back to the nursery to pack under the supervision of Nanny Prewitt, who would be taking what she regarded as a much deserved holiday, she realised that her plan to track the mysterious Molotok and his villainous partner had received a severe blow.
                                   
                                                            *    *   *
Victoriana almost expected a fanfare of trumpets to erupt on her arrival at the Dawe Hinges splendid residence, which sat smugly on the top of a small rise, regarding the houses below it with a superior smile like a fat comfortable cat.  The Dawe Hinges waited in the withdrawing room to greet her in their usual reserved manner, as if getting excited over visitors was something everyone else did.
Victoriana was shown briefly to her room by Rusty who disappeared immediately into what he grandly termed his ‘laboratory’: though the same age as Victoriana, he had the air of a rather elderly professor, and she was struck by the thought that this could be the most boring holiday of her life so far, even more boring that the lessons Nanny Prewitt gave about the Royal Family and the Dominions. She took her time over unpacking as she could, little knowing that she was in for a couple of surprises before long.
Eventually she finished and found her way to Rusty’s laboratory to see what he was up to.
Her first surprise was that it was a real laboratory, equipped not only with an enormous amount of chemical apparatus but also odd pieces of machinery whose purpose she could not guess. Rusty in his domain had lost his dullness and his eyes had lit with a gleam that no amount of childhood games had been able to spark.
“Hi, Victoriana, please excuse the smell!” He chuckled, mixing the bright yellow contents of a test tube with the red liquid that was bubbling away in a retort, and producing a cloud of purple smoke which smelt foul and caused Victorian to choke. “I’ll open a window.”
When she had stopped coughing and found a seat on a bench that was only partly covered with books, she sat and watched Rusty happily mixing this and that together and making copious notes in a large notebook, and the time ticked by quite rapidly until she remembered her quest, and let out a loud sigh, which distracted Rusty.
“Why, whatever’s the matter, Victoriana? Do you want to have a go at this?” He waved a test tube at her, accidentally spraying the worktop near her with a viscuous liquid which started hissing as soon as it touched the wood, burning a deep hole in the surface.
“Ooops,” he said belatedly.
“No, it’s not that, Rusty,” she said. “ I just need to find somebody and I’m not sure how to do it.”
“Who do you want to find?”
“I want to find two men who were pretending to be ‘exterminaters’,” said Victoriana with another sigh, “but where do I start if I’m stuck out here in the country? Not that it isn’t very nice being here with you,” she added hastily.
“Have you tried Orange Pages?” Asked Rusty. “It’s the most versatile address journal in the state,” he added knowingly.
Victoriana’s jaw dropped.
“Do people let someone list their addresses for all to see?” She asked in astonishment.
“Of course!” Said Rusty, “how else would one locate tradesmen and merchants for provisions and services? Here, let me show you.”
He removed a large orange volume with well thumbed pages from the crowded bookcase and placed it on the workbench.
“Now, what is the name of the person you are seeking?”
“I don’t really think they would list their names here,” Victoriana said doubtfully, lifting the book onto her lap and flicking through the pages to the Ms.
She nearly dropped the book in surprise when in the middle of the MOs she found the following in bold print: “MOLOTOK AND SERP : AGENTS FOR ACTION. YOU WANT IT DONE, WE DO IT.”
“Well, well,” exclaimed Rusty, “they appear to be living just around the corner from the Hall of Science, one of the most prestigious museums in New York.”
“Is it…” faltered Victoriana, “ …is it …er…easy to get to?”
Rusty glanced over his shoulder, then lowered his voice to a whisper.
“As a matter of fact, I was planning a visit tomorrow – there are some exhibits on show I just MUST see, and my parents have confined me to the house this week. Well, there was an incident just before you came involving the cook and an exploding pie,” he muttered, seeing the astonishment on her face.
“And this is how we’ll get there,” he said, swiftly removing a small key from his pocket and unlocking a concealed door low down in the workbench. As the door opened, a flood of little metal coins poured out.
“Tokens!” Said Rusty in triumph, completing Victoriana’s evening of surprises. “I’ve manufactured enough so I can travel for free all over the state on the At railroad for weeks!”

                                                            *    *     *
Stepping from the station the pair were confronted with the stately façade of the Science Museum.
“Now, are sure you’re going to be alright?” Asked Rusty, “that contraption I left running in the laboratory will make my parents think we’re occupied for hours, and these snacks I pinched from the kitchen should last us till teatime. So I’ll see you back here at five o’clock?” He was edging away as he spoke, obviously eager to enter the museum.
Victoriana smiled and waved goodbye.
“Well, I never did! What a day of surprises,” she thought. “Now I can get on with some proper sleuthing.”
She crossed the road and marched along the side of the museum, crossing again and turning to the left before pausing and slowing her pace till she reached the corner.
“Now, this is where I must show some caution,” she said to herself. “Their house should be just around the corner, and I don’t want to get caught again!”
She poked her head around the wall and peered down the lane – and blinked, and peered again. There in the middle of the road was an enormous hole, sticking out of which could just be seen the tail fins of a police steamer.








Tuesday 10 December 2013

VICTORIANA AND THE TELECTROSCOPE Chapter 2



VICTORIANA AND THE TELECTROSCOPE

Chapter 2

As Victoriana passed back through the garden gate, a terrified scream rent the air. 
She rushed up the steps and entered the house to hear another squeal of horror which seemed to emanate from the nursery, towards which room her father and mother were hurrying, followed by one or two of the braver domestics armed with brooms and dusters and whatever else they had to hand. Her father was carrying a ancient umbrella with a carved eagles head, with which he thrust open the door whence the screams were crescendoing. What a sight met their eyes - Nanny Prewitt was wobbling dangerously as she stood on a chair clutching her skirts around her.

"Mouse! Mouse!" She shrieked, "an army of them!"

Major Adalbert advanced into the room, poking his umbrella furiously at the small brown furry animal under the chair, which turned a pair of bright eyes towards him, twitched its whiskers twice, then speedily disappeared with a scamper of tiny paws under the heavy oak sideboard.

"There, Nanny," said the Major triumphantly, "I have dispersed the attacking horde for you."

"No, no, there were hundreds of them, Major," squeaked Nanny Prewitt, still quaking.

"Really, Nanny, there was only one tiny mouse on its own," Victoriana's Mama said firmly. "I really think you should..."

"Eeeeek!" Squawked the parlourmaid pushing roughly past, and trying to join Nanny Prewitt on her chair. "MICE! 'Undreds an' 'undreds of 'em!"

Sure enough, there was a writhing and roiling of brown bodies appearing from below the other pieces of furniture scattered around the room.

"We are invaded!" Cried the Major, "send for the exterminators!"

There was a general swift evacuation of the room, led by Nanny Prewitt launching herself past the others through the doorway into the hall. Major Adalhttp://www.hancock.dircon.co.uk/victoriana.htmlhttp://www.hancock.dircon.co.uk/victoriana.htmlbert pulled the  door firmly closed and mopped his brow.

“Papa,” said Victoriana, who had managed to capture one of the tiny creatures as she exited, and was now examining it closely, “Papa, this mouse…”

“Dong-a-dong!” Went the front door bell, making everyone jump and Victoriana to forget what she was saying.

Major Adalbert advanced swiftly across the hall and threw the door open to disclose two rather sinister figures standing on the step, one tall and thin and the other short and fat. The tall man wore an overcoat with a scarf wrapped around his neck, all but hiding a rather sly set of features: his bowler hat was slightly dented. The other man was similarly dressed, with an even more battered bowler and an expression of low cunning.

“ Good morneeng, my frents,” the tall man spoke in a heavily accented voice. “I am Molotok of Molotok und Serp, and  it is exterminating we do – “ he turned and waved a knobbly hand at a cart pulled up outside the garden gate, embellished with the sign reading “Molotok & Serp, Universal Exterminaters”. – Victoriana thought it was badly spelled but wasn’t sure; she also thought the paint wasn’t quite dry – “ – und ve haf bin led to understand that there haf bin an outbreak of mices in this area.”

“There jolly well has!” Snorted Major, Adalbert, “this is most opportune – come in at once, we wish to engage your services.”

Victoriana crouched behind a large bush at the back of the flowerbed and peered through the window. Having told her Papa that the mouse she had caught was a field mouse, and not a house mouse, and been ignored in the general rumpus while the exterminators moved their equipment into the house, she had decided that she would keep an eye on the exterminators herself.
“If nothing else,” she thought to herself, “ I shall at least learn to be an exterminater.”

She glanced over her shoulder at Nanny Prewitt, who was dozing in the sun in a garden chair, happily unaware of her charges current concealment in the flowerbed. Papa and Mama had disappeared into town, and the remaining staff had been given the afternoon off.

Having carried out various activities in the nursery, most of which seemed to Victoriana to involve collecting handfuls of tame mice and placing them in a capacious carpetbag, the two exterminators moved stealthily into the library.
Victoriana scrabbled around through the bushes until she reached the library window and was rewarded with the sight of the man called Serp concealing what appeared a small brass hearing  trumpet behind a vase in the middle of the bookcase. The desk looked as though it had been ransacked, with a couple of drawers left open and some papers scattered on the floor. The two men hastily left the room, and Victoriana heard the front door closing behind them with a bang.

“I bet Dora the maid gets blamed for that!” she said to herself. “But I know who really did it, so I’m going to follow them to see where they go!”

Pausing only to collect her hoop and stick from behind the front door – nobody would look twice at a child bowling a hoop along the street, she reasoned – she set off down the road behind the pair as they pushed their cumbersome cart away.