SHORT FAT STUBBY FINGER STORIES PRESENTS: EPISODE 75 

The COUNTDOWN BEGINS 6-5-4-3-2-1 

Click Icon for EPISODE 1 (start) to read from the beginning

      To go to NEXT Episode: Episode 76

     Use SEARCH (above right) for other episodes.  eg: Episode 36      

      WEBSITE: Coming soon           ABOUT: Coming soon

Episode 75

COUNTDOWN … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3… 2 … 1 …

********

The early morning wake-up calls from the hotel reception rang loud and clear in three different rooms, but disorientation initially reigned supreme as Mary and Joseph wandered around, still half asleep, and in unfamiliar surroundings.  It was primarily the unrecognisable clothing and bathroom toiletries that brought Joseph out of the grey fog that surrounded his mind, along with the fact that everything in the room seemed to be located the opposite way around than it had been for the past few mornings.  Mary, on the other hand, was awoken by Joseph’s requested wake up call, but it was only as she made her way to the bathroom and opened the door to turn on the hot water tap did things begin to feel not quite right to her … and everything from the previous night came flooding back into her mind when she returned to the bedroom and found herself extracting Joseph’s underpants and socks from the bedside dresser. Mary quickly redressed and made her way back to her own room.

********

Martin was still snoring loudly when Mary entered her own room, though he had made the move from the lounge chair to the bed, and the room’s land-line phone was off the hook and resting on the floor. It had obviously disturbed Martin’s sleep for long enough to have him pick up the receiver, but not long enough for him to take any action to the message’s content. Mary decided waking Martin would not be a good idea at the moment. Far better to just grab some clothes and a towel and go back to Joseph’s room to get changed, she thought. But as Mary walked to the clothes cupboard she suddenly wondered just where Joseph was; He had been on the bed when she had left the room, but before she had a chance to answer her own question, there was a knock on the door and Mary automatically opened the door to a pleasant surprise.
“Well, think of the devil. Good morning, Joseph,” she smiled sweetly as she pulled the door wide open,  “Sleep well?”
“Eventually.”  Joseph replied. “Yourself?”
“Eventually.  I tried to stay awake for you in case you decided to come, but it had been a long day. I think I lasted ten minutes.”
“I know the feeling. I left my run too late to escape the eruption of Mount Martin and decided not to wake you up. I ended up taking the chance and withdrew his room key from his pocket before I attempted suicide.”
“A pity about your timing, it could have been fun.  Should we wake him?”
“No. Let him sleep.  Let’s get some coffee before we go to Laurie’s for breakfast and if he is still sleeping when we are ready to go, we will see if we can borrow William’s car and Martin can join us when he’s ready. I think after last night’s binge he might need as much sleep as he can get to be of any use to us.”
“We could use my car if you wish.”
“That is very kind of you, Mary. Yes, that would be perfect. I really don’t like driving.”
“I’ll have to get a change of clothes and have a shower first.”
“That is fine. I will meet you in the restaurant. I’ll get you one to go. I just remembered we need to be there by seven.
“My watch is in your room. What time is it now?”
“A little after six.”
“I won’t be long. Joseph opened the door and made his way down to the restaurant while Mary retrieved what she needed and returned to Joseph’s room.

********

Fifteen minutes later, dressed and feeling a lot fresher after the shower, Mary, happy as their journey to the farm began, had a sip of her hot drink, feeling its smooth, velvety, richness quickly place her taste buds in joyous ecstasy. But it was not just the hot chocolate that William had provided at short notice that was making her happy, nor was the chance to be alone with Joseph for a while.  They had left a hastily written note on the bedside table for Martin and taken the Mini … and what was making Mary happy was the anticipated-to-be-plausible story she had concocted in the shower that would explain Gizmo should the computerised Artificial Intelligence. g.p.s. system reactivate herself, because Mary was completely aware of the problems she would have trying to explain Gizmo to Joseph. Especially as to why it had been installed and whom it was that had requested and paid for its installation … and something had made her think that was more than possible seeing as how she had not connected with her for several days. And she had become so involved in the events taking place around her … she had forgotten about keeping in touch with Johann. P. Biggs.
“Do you think that Robert will have everything that we need, Joseph?
“I hope so, Mary. I truly hope so.”

********


As they drove through the quietness and serenity of the countryside, unencumbered by any technical distractions such as driving, Joseph soon found himself lost in thought as his mind again wandered through the uncharted territory that he now found himself in.  Only a few days ago he was a ‘nobody’ – a ‘nobody’ in a boring job, with a boring life and no one exciting to share it with. Now, he was up to his neck in witchcraft and creatures from the unknown.  Murders and attempted murders, mysterious cults, and to top it all off, he now found himself gaining some form of telekinetic power where he was getting visions to guide him through dangerous situations.   He was beginning to despise his new talents to the point of almost being in fear of them.  ‘Where would it all end?’ He wondered inwardly. ‘Is this all for real, or am I simply hallucinating? When I think of Rosetta, I sometimes feel that is the case.’

********

“Well, here we are.” Mary’s bright, cheery, voice brought Joseph out of his dreams and back to the moment.  He shook his head in disbelief; the arrival at Laurie’s house had taken him by surprise. He knew it was not a long journey to the house, but it still surprised him because he could not reflect on anything connected with the journey other than leaving the hotel, and he found that a bit of a worry. But Mary was not seemingly showing contempt towards him for a lack of communication on the trip, and for that he was pleased. However he was surprised that Mary hadn’t attempted to talk to him at some stage, it didn’t seem normal … Mary did like to talk, and she would have every right to be annoyed if he had ignored her, but if he had … he had no idea that he had done so. He decided to not say anything about it for the moment and play things by ear as the car pulled into the open driveway that ran beside Laurie’s house. It was quiet this time of the morning. There was the odd bird chattering away somewhere above in the trees that were scattered along the various properties that resided in the street where Laurie lived, but they were far and few between. A nip still resided in the morning air, not enough to cause major discomfort, but certainly warranted the need for a jacket to protect the wearer until the sun rose a little higher in the sk,y. The morning, the location, the house and garden in the light from the rising sun could have easily made the front cover of Home Beautiful or Town and Country, and for a second or so Joseph thought the entire scene to be beautiful, tranquil, safe … however, within a further second, Joseph felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, a cold sweat form on his forehead, and a wave of apprehension flooding over him.
“Something is wrong,” he stated immediately he got out of the car.
“Why do you say that?  It looks pretty normal to me.” Mary remarked with a grin, “I mean it is a quiet little country village. It looks just perfect in the morning sun,”
“I don’t know.  It’s just that …,” Joseph changed his words midstream and Mary got a shock when she saw the depth of his concern reflecting in his eyes as he looked deep into hers, “The dogs!  Where are the dogs that Laurie said would let him know if they got visitors?”
“I don’t know.  They could be inside sleeping and can’t hear us – like Martin.”  She laughed aloud at her own joke, but Joseph failed to be amused.
“They are supposed to be guard dogs, not household guests.  Even if they were inside, they would still be barking.”
They had reached the front door and Joseph was about to knock when Mary gently tapped him on the arm.
“There they are, Joseph.  I told you they were asleep.”
Joseph looked to where Mary was pointing and he could see the dogs lying under a tree about fifty yards away. He walked over in their direction. The dogs were lying side by side and appeared to be dead to the world. Joseph reached down and gingerly touched one on the rump.  The body was warm to the touch, but there was no reaction, not even a rippling of the skin, which would have been expected.  Next, he spat on one of his fingers and placed it in one of the dog’s nostril. It took four seconds to be certain, but finally he was rewarded with the certainly that the dog was still breathing as he felt the minutest of breath gently roll across the wet digit. Satisfied that they still had life, Joseph stared at the dogs for several seconds, then took a risk and attempted to roll one of the dogs over.   Aside from the difficulty due to the weight of the dog, he encountered no other problem in doing so. As soon as he had completed the task, he immediately jumped up and ran towards the house.
“What’s the matter?”  Mary’s voice cried out, confused as to the reason behind Joseph’s sudden reaction as she chased after him.
“The dogs have been drugged.” he replied, almost in a whisper, as he tried the door, which he found to be unlocked.   He ran inside, only to trip over the fallen body of Malena.   Joseph silently cursed as he made a pledge to himself to take more care in entering rooms.  This was the second time in forty-eight hours that he had fallen over the prone body of a woman occupying the space immediately in front of his size elevens.
Mary, who had moved quickly behind him, couldn’t stop from running into both of them and also tripped, rolling several times on the floor before coming to a stop and finding herself making eyeball contact with an unblinking Laurie. Mary screamed as loud as her voice allowed her.

********

It took Joseph several seconds to scramble up from the entanglement with Malena, attempting to do his best not to do any damage to her as he did so, then rushed over to Mary’s aid, helping her to her feet before he held her close as she slowly calmed down.
“Is he dead?” Mary asked.
“I don’t know.  Are you alright now?”
“Yes, I think so.” Joseph moved away from Mary and turned his attention to Laurie.  He checked his pulse and found that it seemed to be running normally.   He then performed the same check on Malena who also seemed to be in good health, other than being unconscious.  Despite the coolness of the morning outside Malena was only wearing a slightly paint-stained tee shirt and red tracksuit pants which indicated that she had certainly not been outside the house, and whatever had happened to her had obviously caught her by surprise,
Joseph half dragged, half lifted her to the nearest lounge chair.   Once he had her resting on the chair he started examining her arms.   Her body, like the dogs, was warm.  Joseph guessed that she had been working around the kitchen when she collapsed. The left arm revealed nothing, but the right one revealed what he had been searching for.   “They’ve been drugged too.  Look at this.”
Mary examined the area that Joseph had been looking at, and saw a small red welt on Malena’s arm just above the elbow.
“That’s exactly what Rosetta had on her arm.  Quickly, check their pockets for rubies.  You check Malena and I will check Laurie.
Mary was a little bit bewildered where to start searching as there was nowhere to put anything in the tight fitting top that Malena wore that wouldn’t be seen and although she gently patted them, it was obvious that there was nothing the size of a ruby bulging in the pockets of Malena’s tracksuit pants.   Joseph, on the other hand, had no such problem; he found a ruby in Laurie’s coat pocket as soon as he started his search.  He got up quickly and walked to the door.    Once outside he looked for somewhere safe to dispose of it, finally settling for burying it by hand underneath a rather large gnome in the front garden.   As soon as he was back inside he enquired how Mary was getting on.
“She doesn’t seem to have one.”
Try inside her hand,” Joseph suggested.
Mary was a bit surprised by Joseph’s suggestion, but to her further astonishment she found that Malena’s hand was actually clenched.  Mary tried gently to unlock the hand only to discover that it had been bound by clear sticky tape.  Scrolling a fingernail along the tape she eventually located the end of the tape and began peeling it back until there was enough to pull and eventually removed all of the tape. As soon as Mary removed the binding, and opened the hand, a ruby fell to the floor.  Joseph quickly grabbed it and disposed of it exactly as he done with the first, and it was then that he noticed how dark it was getting. He looked up towards the sky, surprised to find a huge storm approaching, There was no sound of thunder, but the streaks of lightning that exploded out of and through the dark patch of black and grey clouds convinced Joseph that it would not be safe to be outside when it arrived.  As he was about to re-enter the house Martin pulled up in the driveway behind the Mini.  Joseph indicated that they both should get inside as quickly as possible. They had no sooner entered the house, between them managing to close the door against the might of the massive gust of wind that was now entering the house, when the sound of a double blast rocked the entire house.  Only a couple of feet from where they were standing a window that opened to face the garden shattered into thousands of tiny fragments as pieces of rock and plaster flew into the room.  The largest piece of plaster, the green and yellow gnome’s head, fell at Joseph’s feet, rolling over several times until its dull, black-painted eyes stared listlessly up at him.
“Sorry about that old fellow.  I thought that gnomes were exempt.” Joseph admitted as he attempted a little humour in order to provide some relief to the situation.
“My God that was close.” Mary cried.  “Another few inches and that could have been us.”
“Yes.  That’s the second time we have had a close call.  At least that counts for most of the rubies.  But who is setting them, and why Laurie? – The computer … ”    Answering his own question, Joseph swung around in the direction of where the computer had been located the previous night, and for the first time since they had arrived, noticed the damage that had been done to the equipment .  
Laurie’s once immaculate and intricate set-up, lay broken and scattered throughout the living room.  The computer had been torn in half, as if a chainsaw had been run through it.  The monitor had a vase embedded in the middle of the still smoking chassis.  Broken glass lay on the floor glistening in the morning rays.  Microphones, speakers, and the printer as well as the other peripherals, were squashed and mutilated and left dangling by their cords over the side of the desk.
“Well that explains the visit.  And ironically, it may have told us who is responsible for the attacks and the killings.  But without the computer we can’t get the information from Robert.”
“That was the closest I have ever been to a storm.” A clearly shell shocked Martin observed as he began to look around the room and his eyes suddenly took in the strangely placed bodies of Laurie and Melana. “What the devil happened to them? And what are you talking about, Joseph
“They seem to have been drugged.” Joseph relied nonchalantly. “And what I am talking about is Rangor; Laurie and Melana had rubies implanted on them. We were fortunate enough to find them in time and I placed them under my former friend there, barely thirty seconds before you arrived, much to his misfortune.
“You have had a busy morning, haven’t you?”
“We have only been here for around ten minutes. It all happened rather fast.
“Thanks for not waking me.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
“I was being facetious.”
“Oh, sorry … I thought that you were being grateful.  The way that you were snoring I didn’t think that you would wake until noon.  Anyway we left you your car in case you did wake early.  Which you obviously did to get here so fast.”
“That was funny.  I got a phone call on my mobile and when I answered it, there was no one there.  I tried to go back to sleep, but it rang again, yet there was still no one there – private number was all that it said.  Four times it did that until I knew that I wasn’t going to get back to sleep, so I had a shower.   Mind you, I got a bit of a shock with the things that I found in the shower until I remembered where I had fallen asleep. I went downstairs to find you two and William told me that you had come here.  So here I am.”
“And lucky to be alive, I should think.”
“What do you mean?
“I think that we were all meant to be here when it exploded.  If it hadn’t been for what Mary had interpreted from the diary, what we experienced back at the hotel, and the drugged dogs on the lawn, then I wouldn’t have thought to look for the rubies.”
“So who do you think is responsible?”
“My guess is that it was something to do with Professor Robinson of the Philadelphia Private Museum.”
“How do you figure that?”
“The reason that I got Robert to check on him was partially based on intuition – and taking into consideration the way Raji got his information on the Punjaniti, or, more to the point, the information that he didn’t get.   From what Raji told us, he spent a lot of time conversing with the professor without getting any useful information, yet the Punjani managed to locate Raji rather easily.  How?  My bet is that this Professor Robinson is somehow connected with the Punjani. If not a member himself, then they may have him under observation: whichever, I feel certain that they are aware of him and his interest in Rangor.  Why he would be killing everybody connected with the statue I don’t know, but I would assume it is to cover his tracks so nobody is aware that he exists, because, as far as I am concerned, he already has the statue.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Martin agreed, “but without the feedback from Robert we may never know.”
“Should we call an ambulance for these two?”  Mary asked.
“Yes, I suppose that we had better,” Joseph replied with a start.   “My god … I had completely forgotten about them.”  He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his mobile and was about to call nine nine nine when Laurie began to moan, a sound so unexpected that it startled them all. Joseph switched off the half dialed mobile and joined the others in the rush to Laurie’s side.   Martin and Joseph each put an arm under him and helped him to his feet.   Once they had him up they helped him walk, albeit on unsteady feet, to a chair where he sat down with great relief.
“Whew!  Have I got a headache!” he groaned.
“I’ll see if he has any headache pills in the house.” Mary volunteered.
“Not pills.” Laurie’s voice rasped.  “Please, in the kitchen there is an unmarked brown bottle.  Could you pour a bit into a glass?  About half a cup will do, a measurement cup , that is … not half a glass, thank you. My god, what happened to the room?” 
“Well, welcome back to the land of the living, Laurie. We thought that we had lost you. We were hoping that you could tell us, or at least part of it,” Joseph replied,  It would seem that you have been drugged and somebody took a dislike to your computer system.  They also left you with a couple of rubies.  And. the Punjaniti also paid you a visit and would have killed you had we not removed the rubies and placed them outside. In retrospect, placing them underneath one of your gnomes may not have been such a good idea.  It seems our creature can’t distinguish between a human and piece of plaster. Then again, maybe it just didn’t like gnomes.”
“A lot of people don’t like gnomes, you know.” Mary laughed as she returned from the kitchen with a glass containing some very thick brown liquid, “They think they’re evil.”
“My god … you’re not going to drink that are you?  It looks like cow droppings on a wet day in a wet field..” Joseph stated, his voice full of disgust at the sight of the revolting offering.
“It’s my special remedy,” Laurie replied with a laugh before swallowing the entire contents in one gulp.  Then, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief that seemed to come from nowhere, he continued, “I have been taking this medicine all of my life.  My mother taught me how to make it and her father taught her.  It is a family recipe that was given to us by the protectors of the village.  It fixes everything. Ah!  That feels better.”  Seconds later, he was up on his feet and acting as if nothing had ever happened. 
“Are you sure that you are alright, Laurie?” Joseph asked.
“I am fit as a fiddle.” Laurie replied with a grin a mile wide on his face.
“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”
“None at all, I am afraid.”  
“Do you remember anything at all?”
Laurie shook his head.  “No.  I got up around six. Malena was already in the kitchen getting things ready for your visit. I thought that I heard the dogs bark, but it was only for a second.  I looked out the door and saw them getting themselves comfortable and lying back down beneath one of the trees.  Must have been a bad dream that they had been having, or some other animal had inadvertently wandered by, so I came back in and that’s the last thing that I can recollect.”
“Seeing as how you have recovered, I wonder if we should still call an ambulance for Malena or wait for a while and see if she recovers by herself?”  Mary enquired.
“I think that we should call an ambulance,” Laurie replied, “to be on the safe side.”
“Does Malena take this medicine occasionally?” Joseph asked.
” Malena doesn’t take this medicine unless she is really sick … and that is not very often,.”
“Laurie,” Joseph asked, “what is in this medicine of yours?”
Laurie listed the various ingredients that he used then Joseph asked him when the last time was that he had taken the medicine.
“This morning: I was feeling rather lethargic when I first got up and I felt that I was coming down with something.  My tonic can cure many ills, so I took some. It must have reduced the effects of the drug if Malena hasn’t come to yet. I am sure that she is a lot healthier than me, so I assume her constitution is a lot stronger than mine. I think she should have woken up by now.”
“Your medicine may do more than you know.  I’ve got an idea.  It’s a bit wild, but it may work. Mary, could you pour out another glass of Laurie’s brew please? … around the same size as you got for Laurie”
Mary went back to the kitchen, her curiosity, like that of the others, was on high mode. She was only gone for a few seconds and when she returned Joseph had Malena in a sitting position, one hand cupping her chin.  He thanked her as he took the glass then proceeded to place the edge of the glass against Malena’s lips.
“You can’t make her drink while she is unconscious, Joseph. She will choke on it,” Mary objected strongly.   The others joined in, voicing their agreement with her. But Joseph dismissed their objections and started to tickle her under the chin before he tipped but a trickle of the liquid through her lips, then continued tickling her under the chin.  To the surprise of the others the motion induced Malena to swallow the tonic.  Encouraged, Joseph repeated the process time after time until she had taken the entire contents of the glass, while the others watched on in fear for her safety. Once he was satisfied that she had no fluid in her mouth or throat Joseph then carefully rested her back on the lounge.  Five seconds elapsed in total silence.  Then, without any warning Malena’s leg began to twitch.  Just as suddenly, her entire body began to spasm violently. Then before anybody could react she stopped, and her eyes sprung open and she looked around the room in total disorientation.  Finally her eyes fell on Laurie and a faint display of recognition appeared on her face.   She tried to move, but her body fell back as fast as she had moved forward.       
“Take it easy, girl.” Laurie cautioned gently, “You’ll come good in a second or two.” 
Malena closed her eyes, closed her eyes, counted to ten inside her mind, then opened them up again.  This time, as she looked around the room she began to recognize the faces that were coming out of the fog that surrounded her. As the haze lifted completely Malena saw the broken rocks and plaster and finally the destroyed computer equipment.   She jumped up with a start.  “What happened?” she cried, and then her mind suddenly snapped back to an earlier incident,  “Those men … they did this!” She stated angrily, her eyes darting wildly around the room.
“What men?”  Joseph asked as he sat on the lounge beside her. Malena turned to face him, her mind still in slight bewilderment, as the pieces continued to whirl around inside her head, then, like a completed jigsaw, everything fell into place.
Now sitting back in the chair, and feeling a bit more relaxed, Malena began to explain what had happened earlier.   “Uncle Laurie had just come into the kitchen to get some of his medicine when the dogs started to bark.  He waited a few seconds then went out to see what they were barking at, but by then they had stopped. He came back inside and I just happened to be watching him when he walked through the doorway, and I saw something red flash through the air which hit him on the back of the neck.  He went to brush it away, however, before he could reach his hand all the way around to it, he collapsed on the floor. 
Something made me turn around and there was a man standing behind him  He was holding something like a piece of bamboo in one hand, and a small dart like thing with a red feather stuck in the end of it, in the other hand.  Or, at least, that’s what it looked like to me.  At the same time I was distracted by a sound outside the door and I saw a short foreign looking man standing there.  There was a sudden sharp feeling in my arm and that’s the last thing that I can remember.  So what happened here?”
For the second time that morning Joseph explained his guess at the morning’s events, lamenting on the fact that they would not be able to check with Robert because of the broken computer.
“Maybe he sent a back up message to the laptop.” Laurie suggested.
“Would he think to do that?”  Joseph queried apprehensively.
“He’s a pretty smart boy is my Robert.  If he had something important to tell you, then he might have decided that you would need accessibility to review the information at a later date and transmitted the information to your computer so that you could use it anytime that it suited you. It wouldn’t be hard to do.  He already had your e-mail address, or, at least, the one that was on the laptop.”
“Yes, well that’s fine Laurie, but it’s probably just a pile of rubble now, like yours is. Mind you, I don’t see it on the table, but I presume it is somewhere nearby. Or perhaps they took it with them to see if they could pry out more about what the professor may have discovered about the Punjaniti. Either way it is of no use to us if he did send the backup. We don’t have the laptop.
“Maybe we do.  When I received your phone call last night I was unfazed about security because of the dogs, but I thought that maybe I should take precautions with your equipment – just in case.  So I hid it in a safe place. Hold on and I’ll go and check.”   A minute later he came out with a smile on his face and the laptop under his arm. He handed it over to Joseph who immediately handed it back to him.
“That’s a relief, but this part of the game is yours to play, Laurie.”
Laurie chuckled at the thought of his own importance in the chain of events that were unfolding.   “It will take me a few moments.”  He smiled, then asked Malena, if she felt up to making everyone some coffee before making his way over to the computer desk, brushing the broken bits and pieces onto the floor, and placing the laptop on the now empty space as he began to press buttons with the enthusiasm and experience of a professional.
As Laurie went about his business with the enthusiasm of a teenager testing the latest game in his possession, Malena looked deep into Joseph’s eyes.  “Would you like to give me a hand please, Joseph?  I still feel a bit dizzy.
“Certainly,” Joseph replied blissfully unaware of the icy cold stare emitting from Mary’s steely blue eyes.

the countdown continues …….