AZOTUSLAND chapter twenty four
There had been four more messages since the Thursday before. Two had been to Jim, and two to Maugham. They thought about simply blocking the mysterious emails, but Jim felt it had become a serious threat. After they reviewed them once more Jim looked at Maugh and said "I want you to meet me tonight down in the Gallery at 8:15. Come alone and don't mention it to anyone, okay?"
"Sound mysterious...you doing bad paintings again?"
"Just come as I ask," Jim said seriously.
"Okay Jim," Maugham said serious himself. "What about Movie Night?"
"Oh, Jacob's leading that tonight," he said. "I've got the night off...but you don't."
*******
That afternoon there were fun things happening. A quick look at the Azotuscafe.com website revealed that at 1 p.m., when the Batcave closed, Jeremy had invited all kids and parents to play "Mouse-Trap Crochet" on the grounds. At 2 p.m., Andy was giving free computer lessons in the IC. At 4 p.m., Hans was giving a lecture on Cubism in the gallery and a local chapbook author was doing a signing in the Library. Shawshank Redemption was being shown in the Theater at 8 and all the while, another 300 or so people could come and leave the Azotus Cafe.
Just before 1 p.m., Sex approached the tanned and handsome figure sitting inside the cafe.
"Simon Templar I presume?" she said. He looked up. "hmnn. No Halo."
"Oh you can play that in the IC if you like," she said grinning.
"What are you so happy about if I might ask?"
"Well it's not often I meet a perfect gentleman such as yourself."
"Well, I try," he smiled. "Let me ask you. How are thr kids...hmnnn. Bright Lucille and precocious little Antione?"
"They love it here," she said. "And I get a break..a needed one."
"May I sit down?" she asked.
"Oh, of course," he said rising and getting her chair. "Forgive my lack of proper breeding."
"Oh I think you quite well bred Mr. Templar," she said winking. "I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed our chats last week and Monday and appreciated that you, well...you are not like most other men."
"Well, I don't know what to say Sex," he said smiling warmly. " I've enjoyed our conversations too and I hope we have many more."
"Well I have to go and pick up the kids. That little GQ hunk downstairs is hosting some bizarre game on the grounds and the kids are quite excited."
"Well you have a wonderful time Sex," he said rising and getting her chair.
"I never realized how tall you were" she said.
Now another man would have made some crack about the fact that Sex was only 5'1", but not this man.
"I hope you have a wonderful afternoon. I am actually going to watch a bit of the games from the deck, if I can get a seat," he said. And as she walked off he said "Give my best to Dan. I look forward to meeting him."
*******
As mentioned before the grounds of the Azotus cafe had once been a mansion built in the late 1800s and not far from the old seminary on the hill which use to be the town proper. The grounds had actually been an interconnected series of three mansions with walkways slicing and curving up the mountainside and connecting all three in rather playful ways.
But in the 1920s the owners had come into financial difficulties and were forced to break the entire property into three distinct parcels. The only thing that reminded folks of the past were the many paths that seemed to go nowhere.
They would end abruptly in a fence, or simply drop off like a badly planned San Francisco freeway project. In most cases, Jim had conmstructed some artful barricade and made creative use of plants to make it seem complete. Many of the paths ended with a rustic table and a few plastci chairs so peole could sit and admire the valley.
But Jeremy had taken those all off to the side and stacked them while he, Lucille, and carver all plotted the elaborate course.
Carver was eleven, a home-schooler and extremely bright and imginative. He and Lucille had hit it off immediately, neither of them caring about the boy/girl thing because the other was just so interesting.
Jeremy had seen the friendship blossom in just a few days and so he invited them to help him build his "Mouse-Trap."
He had shown them the game and they had played it on two occasions. After the second one, which Lucille had won handily, he asked them, "What if we made Azotus into a giant Mouse-Trap?"
"I don't understand," Carver said.
"Well think of the grounds here," he said.
They looked puzzled.
"Wait here a minute," Jeremy said, and he rang upstairs to the Big Room.
"Is Jonathan there?" he asked. "Yeah" Renata answered. "He's just finishing his Sean Connery is Gay routine. "
"Well can you send him down for a fifteen minute stint here in the cave?"
"Sure."
Ten minutes later Jonathan show up with two helium baloons, sat down on the floor with the kids and said "Ask me anything?" as Jeremy, Lucille and Carver began to walk the grounds.
As they hiked up on a long sloping path he asked them "so thinking of the game what do you see?"
They were quiet. They went through a corkscrewish area that led to a small stair case around the West side. There was a long cement drainage ditch that curved around and under the staircase. Down on the next landing the left path went up just a bit but really no where. It was blocked by a large planter box at the end to keep people from falling of the edge of the estate. The downsloping pathway went went due East and for a long way until it hit the huge top of the rampart. From there it was a 80 foot drop to the pathway below where the front doors to the Batcave and Thaeter were on the path, and that path sloped violently down with a severe bank at the end.
Jeremy sat down at the stone table with the children and asked again, "What do you see here in a Mouse-Trap way?"
Both of their faces lighted up at the same time which made Jeremy start laughing and they started to laugh too!
"Why of course!" Carver said and then he went and looked over the rampart wall, then up above at the deck and the various paths that shot off from the major landing.
He started to giggle.
"But Jeremy..." Lucille asked, "will they let us do it? And what will we use for a ball?"
"Leave that to me," Jeremy said. "As for you too, we need to get back. But let's start mapping out how to do it."
"Sound mysterious...you doing bad paintings again?"
"Just come as I ask," Jim said seriously.
"Okay Jim," Maugham said serious himself. "What about Movie Night?"
"Oh, Jacob's leading that tonight," he said. "I've got the night off...but you don't."
*******
That afternoon there were fun things happening. A quick look at the Azotuscafe.com website revealed that at 1 p.m., when the Batcave closed, Jeremy had invited all kids and parents to play "Mouse-Trap Crochet" on the grounds. At 2 p.m., Andy was giving free computer lessons in the IC. At 4 p.m., Hans was giving a lecture on Cubism in the gallery and a local chapbook author was doing a signing in the Library. Shawshank Redemption was being shown in the Theater at 8 and all the while, another 300 or so people could come and leave the Azotus Cafe.
Just before 1 p.m., Sex approached the tanned and handsome figure sitting inside the cafe.
"Simon Templar I presume?" she said. He looked up. "hmnn. No Halo."
"Oh you can play that in the IC if you like," she said grinning.
"What are you so happy about if I might ask?"
"Well it's not often I meet a perfect gentleman such as yourself."
"Well, I try," he smiled. "Let me ask you. How are thr kids...hmnnn. Bright Lucille and precocious little Antione?"
"They love it here," she said. "And I get a break..a needed one."
"May I sit down?" she asked.
"Oh, of course," he said rising and getting her chair. "Forgive my lack of proper breeding."
"Oh I think you quite well bred Mr. Templar," she said winking. "I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed our chats last week and Monday and appreciated that you, well...you are not like most other men."
"Well, I don't know what to say Sex," he said smiling warmly. " I've enjoyed our conversations too and I hope we have many more."
"Well I have to go and pick up the kids. That little GQ hunk downstairs is hosting some bizarre game on the grounds and the kids are quite excited."
"Well you have a wonderful time Sex," he said rising and getting her chair.
"I never realized how tall you were" she said.
Now another man would have made some crack about the fact that Sex was only 5'1", but not this man.
"I hope you have a wonderful afternoon. I am actually going to watch a bit of the games from the deck, if I can get a seat," he said. And as she walked off he said "Give my best to Dan. I look forward to meeting him."
*******
As mentioned before the grounds of the Azotus cafe had once been a mansion built in the late 1800s and not far from the old seminary on the hill which use to be the town proper. The grounds had actually been an interconnected series of three mansions with walkways slicing and curving up the mountainside and connecting all three in rather playful ways.
But in the 1920s the owners had come into financial difficulties and were forced to break the entire property into three distinct parcels. The only thing that reminded folks of the past were the many paths that seemed to go nowhere.
They would end abruptly in a fence, or simply drop off like a badly planned San Francisco freeway project. In most cases, Jim had conmstructed some artful barricade and made creative use of plants to make it seem complete. Many of the paths ended with a rustic table and a few plastci chairs so peole could sit and admire the valley.
But Jeremy had taken those all off to the side and stacked them while he, Lucille, and carver all plotted the elaborate course.
Carver was eleven, a home-schooler and extremely bright and imginative. He and Lucille had hit it off immediately, neither of them caring about the boy/girl thing because the other was just so interesting.
Jeremy had seen the friendship blossom in just a few days and so he invited them to help him build his "Mouse-Trap."
He had shown them the game and they had played it on two occasions. After the second one, which Lucille had won handily, he asked them, "What if we made Azotus into a giant Mouse-Trap?"
"I don't understand," Carver said.
"Well think of the grounds here," he said.
They looked puzzled.
"Wait here a minute," Jeremy said, and he rang upstairs to the Big Room.
"Is Jonathan there?" he asked. "Yeah" Renata answered. "He's just finishing his Sean Connery is Gay routine. "
"Well can you send him down for a fifteen minute stint here in the cave?"
"Sure."
Ten minutes later Jonathan show up with two helium baloons, sat down on the floor with the kids and said "Ask me anything?" as Jeremy, Lucille and Carver began to walk the grounds.
As they hiked up on a long sloping path he asked them "so thinking of the game what do you see?"
They were quiet. They went through a corkscrewish area that led to a small stair case around the West side. There was a long cement drainage ditch that curved around and under the staircase. Down on the next landing the left path went up just a bit but really no where. It was blocked by a large planter box at the end to keep people from falling of the edge of the estate. The downsloping pathway went went due East and for a long way until it hit the huge top of the rampart. From there it was a 80 foot drop to the pathway below where the front doors to the Batcave and Thaeter were on the path, and that path sloped violently down with a severe bank at the end.
Jeremy sat down at the stone table with the children and asked again, "What do you see here in a Mouse-Trap way?"
Both of their faces lighted up at the same time which made Jeremy start laughing and they started to laugh too!
"Why of course!" Carver said and then he went and looked over the rampart wall, then up above at the deck and the various paths that shot off from the major landing.
He started to giggle.
"But Jeremy..." Lucille asked, "will they let us do it? And what will we use for a ball?"
"Leave that to me," Jeremy said. "As for you too, we need to get back. But let's start mapping out how to do it."
posted by Obi-Mac BakDon | 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
i was homeschooled as a kid, but i never got to do anything that cool.
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