Chapter 15 — Opening the Stables
A Tale of Two Times: Volume 5 ~ The Wild WayA Tale of Two Times: Volume 5 ~ The Wild Way
Chapter 15 — Opening the Stables
~ 1 ~ "Miss Cunningham, there’s an older lady at the door who’s asking to see you. She’s very spry for such an old lady, and she has a cute Scottish accent. She gave me her card."
Alice examined the card. "Show Miss Wilberforce in, Mildred. I won’t need you for the rest of the day."
"Thank you, Miss Cunningham. Shall I prepare anything?“
“Just set out the tea things and set the kettle on for me. My dear aunt will expect me to wait on her.”
Mildred was accustomed to being furloughed when Alice was attending to "family" business. Never had she liked a job better than this one, working for Miss Cunningham.
Years earlier, two of her friends had worked as maids for Miss Giselle Miller, who had lived in the house before Miss Cunningham had moved in. Each of the maids had been let go within a month. When she was being interviewed for the job by Miss Miller, Mildred had asked why her friends had been dismissed.
“I will tell you only that you will be required to keep to yourself absolutely everything that you see and hear while you’re working for me.”
Mildred had been highly rewarded for scrupulously fulfilling Giselle Miller’s request. After Mildred’s first year, Miss Miller had steadily raised her wages while keeping her hours reasonable, and Mildred had become able to pay for a private school education for her children. Taking care that her husband remained unaware of her earnings having become greater than his, she had, after more than a decade, built up a substantial savings account. If anyone were to ask her about her day off, Mildred would say only that Miss Cunningham’s aunt was visiting, and they wished to discuss family matters confidentially. Although Mildred was truly fascinated by Alice Cunningham’s affairs, she kept them all to herself, even her mistress’s ability to remain as youthful and radiant as she had been on the first day of Mildred’s service to her.
It was only recently that Mildred had become aware of having enjoyed excellent heath herself, ever since she had begun working for Miss Cunningham—as her husband had begun remarking, with sincere pleasure, on Mildred’s enduring youthfulness.
After Mildred had been employed by Miss Giselle Miller for three years, Giselle had asked her one day, “Mildred, will you be able to come away for three weeks of special training in a place outside our country? I will help you to obtain a passport.”
Upon returning from her training, Mildred had told her husband, “It was all about proper hospitality toward foreign guests. I think I’ve told you that Giselle Miller is a manager in an international business called Arch Company. Because of her job, she occasionally has foreign guests at her place.”
While her parents had cared for the baby, Mildred’s husband had taken the opportunity to spend those three weeks hunting elk in Wyoming with some of his buddies, with whom he had been talking for years about such a hunting trip. The postcard sent to him by Mildred from Havana had never reached him.
In Havana, Mildred had met Alice Cunningham, heiress of the Arch fortune that Giselle managed, and she had unconsciously acquired, during her three weeks in Alice’s rambling hacienda there, an intense and discrete personal loyalty to her. It was a loyalty common to all of those whose lives revolved around their service to Alice Cunningham. With them all, Miss Cunningham maintained a slightly formal relationship, and Giselle always called her, “My Mistress.”
Mildred had discovered that Alice seemed to know nearly everything about her own personal life—even her child’s name and where her husband was hunting in Wyoming—and she had soon learned that when Alice Cunningham moved to Santa Barbara, Mildred was to be her maid.
Over her years of serving as maid to Miss Cunningham, Mildred had learned that all of the homes in Miss Cunningham’s neighborhood in Santa Barbara had been purchased discretely by Giselle. The neighborhood was now occupied by people who worked for Giselle, some of whom Mildred had met in Havana.
Miss Wilberforce, who had been left standing in the entry hall by Mildred, boldly walked into Alice’s living room and began familiarly handling one of the many Bonsai trees that Alice Cunningham tended herself. Alice’ small potting shed and the greenhouse for her Bonsai trees had been among the first things to arrive as she had been preparing to take up residence after Giselle had moved across the street.
Mildred told her, “Miss Cunningham says you are to make yourself comfortable, Miss Wilberforce; she will be out shortly,” and went off to visit her two children in their Montessori school, where she was always welcome.
When Alice entered the room, she found Miss Wilberforce gently touching her fingers to a woven wallhanging. Without turning, Miss Wilberforce said in German, “You have completed this work at last. I remember when it was on your loom in your villa’s studio.” She turned then, and the two women stood facing one another, each slowly running her eyes over the other. Miss Wilberforce voiced her assessment: “Ottilie did well on your Alice Persona.
Rhoda, in the Miss Wilberforce Persona, had taken a chance by revealing to Alice that she knew her to be Thersa. She was hoping that Thersa would understand by it that Ottilie had told Miss Wilberforce about the Alice Persona.
Miss Wilberforce continued, “Thersa, I hope that your reason for sending your maid away is to allow you to let your hair down. I would like to look with my old eyes upon your own face.”
Alice threw her arms around Miss Wilberforce, exclaiming in Old Goth, “Itty, it is good to see you!” Rhoda’s gambit had worked.
“What did you say?” asked Miss Wilberforce in English. Holding Alice at arm’s length she said, "Dear, you know that I can hardly speak the Clan’s language, although it is a Guild matter which is my excuse for coming here. But truly, my greater desire has been to see you again. Ottilie had told me to seek you out only regarding important matters, and this may be one of those. I desire also to take this opportunity to offer you a revival of our Alps Aero business. I am working with the Soviets on a concession, and New Sarxx has produced two new Bush Hoppers for me, on speculation.”
“Just like in the old days, Itty?” Alice smiled. “I’ll be happy to be your partner again in Alps Aero. I’ll let Giselle know. Now, as the water is boiling, I’ll make us some tea and then I’ll freshen up my face—just for you. Then you can tell me about the Guild matter.”
“So, Ricardo, we talked for a big part of the day, and we went out to dinner with Giselle. I learned a good many new things about Thersa and Ottilie, with neither Giselle nor Thersa having even a clue that Miss Wilberforce is actually test pilot Rhoda Knox. And, seeing Thersa’s face, I’ve found it to be the same one that I know in Ottilie’s Living Memory.
“So, Ricardo honey, I have lots of things to tell you, and the most important thing is that the owner of the Wagon Workshop is Herbert Schooner. Thersa thinks Herbert Schooner Jr., in whose name the request was made to Miss Wilberforce, must be the same Herbert Schooner that we know from the recent Histories. She said if he’s able to open the Wagon Workshop, I should deliver it to whatever location he wants. She also told me that the Telling Leaf for the Wagon had been removed by Ottilie, who had left it with the Wagon’s documentation.”
“I see that Thersa understands some ancient and recondite things; there haven’t been any new Wagon Workshops for thousands of years.”
“That’s right. She also told me that Herbert needs to bring two people—a man and a woman—to assist him in opening the Wagon Workshop. She said I’d find the opening of the Workshop a new and exciting experience.”
“This is big news, Rhoda—especially combined with Leo’s discovery about Dr. Schooner. Where are we going in such a hurry?”
“We’re going to inspect this treasure before it winds up in Mortimer Kane’s basement, and to return the Telling Leaf to the Wagon Workshop for Herbert—whoever he really is—to find. He may not know that the Telling Leaf is missing, and he may not even know where its place is in the wagon, but I foresee that it will be useful to us for him to discover the Leaf after he has possession of the Wagon Workshop.”
“So, sweetheart, Clan and Circle affairs are coming closer to a convergence.” Ricardo, caressing Rhoda’s hand as it lightly held the steering wheel, silently shared Rhoda’s view of the road as they sped along.
~ 2 ~ The new-model Bush Hopper appeared suddenly. It settled gently on the old landing area adjacent to Kirchemund, where, a quarter of a century earlier, Judith—in the Persona of Miss Wilberforce—had watched in anguish the arrival of an Air Taxi bearing her lover, Emil. Emil, who had been near to death, had been attended by his medical savior, “Stalin’s Surgeon”, Dr. Praskovya Shtcherbatov.
Recently, Rhoda and Ricardo had repaid Praskovya for that life-saving medical service, by saving her position in the Soviet Politburo by means of a secret deal: The Clan and the Soviets shared control, through Praskovya, over the capability of its stolen Soviet-made atomic bombs which Cherokee was in the process of selling on the high-end arms market.
Only a few of the Swiss canton’s older people recognized the new aircraft, remembering it from those dramatic days of the Second World War.
Rudy, Kirchemund’s caretaker, had been expecting the new Air Taxi. It was already sailing swiftly away into the blue alpine sky as he watched Ricardo, carrying only a small travel bag, stride up the meandering footpath among the flower beds, to the mansion. Rudy descended the veranda’s staircase to greet him.
“Dr. Chavez, I am pleased to welcome you to Kirchemund. I am Rudy Preston, a Touchstone Scribe in the English Guild. Miss Wilberforce told me to expect your arrival by Air Taxi at this time. She expects to arrive with her party later this afternoon.”
Ricardo shook Rudy’s hand. “Please call me Ricardo. I understand, Rudy, that you and your family have lived at Kirchemund for a number of years. Have your children become ‘Switzerlanders'?"
“No, Ricardo; in fact, the locals jokingly say the region around Kirchemund will soon become the first English-speaking canton.”
Ricardo smiled. “This is a beautiful place. I can see that you’ve been taking good care of it, Rudy.”
“Thank you, Ricardo. We do our best. Miss Wilberforce has informed me of your eagerness to inspect the Wagon Workshop.”
“Yes; I would like to see it at once.”
Miss Wilberforce had told Rudy confidentially that the matter of the Wagon was of only minor concern, but that it served as sufficient excuse for Ricardo Chavez, the new American Head, to meet informally with the English and European Guild leadership. He had come to Kirchemund first, before the other meetings, to avoid possible delay. Today, he would have need of haste.
While the American Head family had long been regarded as the worldwide Head of the Clan, only recently had Ralph and Naomi Wilberforce been elected Head family of the English Guild, becoming the first English Head family in many centuries. Naomi was the aunt of Rhoda Knox, who was betrothed to Ricardo Chavez and Co-Head with him of the American Clan. Miss Knox had not accompanied Dr. Ricardo Chavez.
Because Rudy’s eldest son was apprenticed to Mr. James Quinn, who had been First Scribe to Ottilie Krüger, Rudy felt that his son was well-placed to become First Scribe to the new English Head family. Rudy was eager, therefore, to show off his own efficiency to the Head of the Clan.
He said, “The Wagon is located in the Guild storeroom which we call the Stables; I have the custody papers,” Rudy pointed to an old, closed-up building in a birchwood copse beyond the mansion’s lawn. “In the twelve years that I’ve been here, I’ve seldom paid any notice to the structure’s existence.”
“So, you’ve never been inside it?”
“No, I haven’t, and I’m unaware of its having been opened at any time during my tenure as overseer of Kirchemund. Recently, some local boys tried to gain access to it, and they failed, bolting out of the birchwood copse yelling in terror that they had been attacked by wolves! To investigate, we engaged Heinrich, a Maker from the Abbey Estate, who soon reported that the Stables projected a vision of wolves as a defensive mechanism. He told us that he had found the Stables to be a secure Guild storeroom, which henceforth would be under the care of the European Makers’ Thing. Then it was discovered that Miss Wilberforce had in her possession a ledger listing the items stored in the Stables, and, although the Stables had been fabricated by Makers of the English Guild, it had not been registered with the European Makers' Thing.” Rudy hesitated for a moment before saying, “Confidentially, Ricardo, I sometimes think that Miss Wilberforce is a little absent-minded.”
“Now that I’ve met her, I know what you mean, Rudy, although I think that, despite her age, she keeps a sharp eye on her business and charitable projects.”
Rudy nodded in agreement. He had great confidence in this young man who had been elected recently to be Head, and who seemed to Rudy to be as wise as he was himself.
Ricardo peered into the birchwood copse. “Yes, I’m detecting a minor mis-directing Bewilderment set around the Stables’ tectonic offset. However, if the papers are genuine, we can easily proceed through that Bewilderment to open the Stables, without meeting any wolves.”
“I can get the papers in a minute.” Rudy’s excitement about this thing was growing greater than he had expected. He had never before directly experienced such Makers' matters. A real Bewilderment! And we can pass through it!
“Yes. Please get the papers, Rudy. As our dear Miss Wilberforce may have told you, I need to inspect this ‘Wagon Workshop of Gesalec’, to verify its authenticity.”
Rudy left Ricardo there and hurried off to retrieve the papers from his office, thinking that he had not seen the name “Gesalec” in the papers. The name might be in the section written in Old Goth, in which he was not well-skilled.
"Do you read Old Goth?” Ricardo looked questioningly at Rudy as he received the leather file tube from him. The tube looked like a container for a small telescope.
"Not very well. My son Egbert, who is studying with Mr. Quinn, has taught me some.” Rudy relished this opportunity to mention his son's name and his son’s relationship with Mr. Quinn.
Ricardo removed the Telling Leaf, smiling. “Egbert must be a capable student, to be Mr. Quinn's apprentice. Your son is fortunate.” After perusing the Telling Leaf for a while, he looked up at Rudy. “Look; here’s something you can tell your son about. Along the major diagonal in this block of Old Goth characters, and following back and forth along the declining minor diagonals that I'm tracing with my finger, you can read, ‘Gesalec, the apprentice of Ingundis the Maker, apprentice of Liuvigoto, the apprentice of… and so on back to Ingundis the Fair, the apprentice of Thiuderieks.’ This is a standard certification for a Maker of those ancient days. All lines of apprenticeship trace back to Thiuderieks, and the mentors named here are relatively famous Makers who appear in the Chronicles, through whom a Maker can trace his or her pedigree. So we can translate each name as ‘a Maker of the School of so-and-so’. And look, here on the margin you can see several Keen Makers’ seals. This one is Ottilie Krüger’s. The Telling Leaf confirms that Herbert Schooner is the current owner of the Wagon Workshop, which is being kept here in storage under the auspices of the Countess Thersa. The man who is now claiming ownership claims to be Herbert Schooner, Jr., the nephew of the Herbert Schooner who arranged for the Wagon Workshop to be stored here.”
Rudy’s forehead wrinkled in concern. “Ricardo, I must tell you that Heinrich, the Maker whom I have mentioned, has told me of reading about a Herbert Schooner in the recently released journal of Ottilie Krüger’s War Thing in the Histories. Herbert Schooner is identified there with the Circle of the Foe, so I must ask if you really want to release this Clan relic to such a man, or even to his nephew.”
Rudy suspected that the Ban of Swords had been lifted, which would explain the sudden rise to power of new Heads, both of whom were Keen Makers. Ambrose Chapman, a fellow Touchstone Scribe with whom Rudy maintained a correspondence, had been rather secretive about the Head Thing which had elected Ricardo Chavez and Rhoda Knox, so Rudy guessed that the Ban of Swords had been lifted and that Ambrose had been made a member of the War Thing.
Ricardo answered, “Well, Rudy, we can’t lay the sins of an uncle on his nephew.”
After he had finished running his fingers over the block of script, Ricardo said, “This is interesting, Rudy. Come. Let’s put this Telling Leaf to the test.” He moved out of the shade in which they had been standing, held the document up to the sun, and studied its back.
Rudy stepped up behind Ricardo and peered over his shoulder. He gasped! Through a window occupying a third of the parchment’s back, he was looking out on a scene of busy human activity. It was like watching a three-dimensional movie scene in which the set was a marketplace full of booth-like tents displaying mounds of merchandise, and the marketplace was teeming with costumed actors portraying men and women busily buying and selling in another place and time.
“The Vision verifies that this is a true Telling Leaf, Rudy. Now, before the Wagon Workshop is returned to its owner, the Telling Leaf has to be restored to its place in the Workshop. Have you confirmed that Dr. Schooner is to arrive tomorrow?”
“Yes; I talked with him on the telephone yesterday, Ricardo. He expects to arrive tomorrow with three companions—two men and one woman. He requested separate accommodations for them, so I’ve had our staff prepare for them the wing designated by Miss Wilberforce years ago, to be used for lodging those who come here under the auspices of the Countess.” A new excitement welled up in Rudy as he realized that things were developing now which had their beginnings in the War Thing of Fräulein Ottilie, who was a European Clan legend.
Ricardo nodded in approval. "That was the diligent thing to do. Rudy, after we retrieve the Wagon, I will return the Telling Leaf to its place in the Wagon. We’ll have no more need of the Leaf for establishing identity and transferring custody to Herbert Schooner. However, Schooner will need to provide final proof of his ownership of the Wagon Workshop, by opening it himself. Has he requested that you provide transportation for the Wagon—probably to California?”
They had crossed the lawn, and as they were entering the birchwood copse Rudy replied, “Yes, he did, and I have made shipping arrangements according to Miss Wilberforce’s instructions.”
~ 3 ~ Rudy had once made an unsuccessful attempt to find a way to open the Stables’ small postern door. Heinrich had told him that the postern would open only to someone who had legitimate business there, to store or retrieve items, and that the main doors opened only from within, because that was the way of Guild storerooms. Rudy had thought that the Makers must keep the key hidden, but he had given up searching for one after being unable even to find a keyhole in the postern door.
The path to the Stables meandered so much through the copse, that the two men were a little startled to see the building loom up suddenly before them. Rudy watched Ricardo open the postern door by merely pushing it gently, and followed him inside.
The dark and shadowy interior of the Stables appeared to be filled by a heavy, sunlight-absorbing fog, so the men went at once to the two large stable doors and pushed them open. They stood for a moment, then, admiring a grand vista in which the mansion—nestled in its rolling velvet lawns—was contained within the circle of the surrounding mountains. That view of Kirchemund, through the birchwood copse in which the Stables lay, was magical.
They turned around, and the interior of the Stables appeared to them all the more daunting: an immense space within which a shadowy fog was churning. Rudy was glad now that he had been unable to open the postern door on his own; he moved a little closer to Ricardo.
Light from outside illuminated one object in the Stables. The fog seemed to be held back a few paces from it—a tall red pole about two paces inside the postern door. It was pierced everywhere by fine, thin arrows, not one of which was like any other in its size, shape, or color. The pierced post looked to Rudy like an unusual pincushion, because its bright-red cushion-like surface was similar to that of the heart-shaped pincushions used by his mother. All except for one of the arrows pointed into the interior darkness. That one arrow pointed toward the open doorway of the postern door.
“Rudy! Don’t touch the Markers or the Marking Post!”
Rudy hastily withdrew his reaching hand.
“The only part of it that we should touch is the Marker that points our way to the Wagon.”
Rudy watched Ricardo hold the Telling Leaf before the Marking Post so that the light from outside cast the Leaf's shadow on it. Ricardo slowly moved the Leaf, and its shadow moved over the arrows until suddenly one of them—which pointed to their left and slightly downward—took on a deep orange glow. Ricardo touched his fingers to the glowing arrow. Then he secured the Telling Leaf in its case and said, “Follow closely behind me, Rudy.”
A narrow passage opened up in the fog before them, in which they were able to walk in the direction indicated by the glowing arrow. The passage was like a narrow, deep ravine, not much wider than Ricardo’s body. Its close walls of dark, churning fog rose high up above them and disappeared out of sight. Following Ricardo, Rudy looked back and saw the fog walls coming together, closing up the ravine behind them. His slight hesitation to look back caused him to almost lose sight of Ricardo ahead of him, and in his haste to catch up he slammed into Ricardo, being unable to judge distances in that place.
Apologizing for leaving him behind, Ricardo took Rudy’s hand and led him like a child in a dark wood.
A large object appeared dimly ahead of them, and as they approached, Rudy saw that it was shaped like a Gypsy wagon. They hiked out of the ravine into a fog-walled chamber containing the Wagon Workshop. Rudy thought it looked very much like the old Gypsy wagon in a picture that he had seen, except that it was not painted in bright colors, and it was boarded up like a vacation cabin left unoccupied for the winter. Its wheels and its undercarriage were of an incongruously modern design.
Ricardo smiled with grim satisfaction. “Yes, we’ll return it to Herbert Schooner, if he is able to open it.”
“Are you going to enter the Workshop, Ricardo?”
“Yes; I have to go into the Antechamber in order to replace the Telling Leaf.”
“Ricardo, I had understood that one Maker cannot enter the Workshop of another Maker unless the owner ushers him in.”
“Well, Rudy, in fact the rule is more nuanced than that.” Ricardo walked around the Wagon, closely examining it visually and lightly touching his fingers to various places on its sides and its odd undercarriage. “Having the Workshop owner’s approval for your entrance is sufficient, although in most cases a person is accompanied by the owner. In principle, every Maker is an apprentice to Thiuderieks, and any living Maker who is in a Workshop owner’s line of descent from Maker to apprentice, going all the way back to Thiuderieks, can approve a person’s entrance to the owner’s Workshop.” Ricardo squatted down to look under the Wagon. “And, although Gesalec is the owner of this Workshop, the Head of the Clan of Thiuderieks is considered to have the authority of Thiuderieks in matters of grave concern to the Clan, and I now hold the office of Head."
Rudy, having a legally-oriented mind, was thrilled to learn about this Makers’ procedure, as Scribes considered Makers to be incredibly tightlipped about such things. He felt that he understood now why it was that the Makers maintained the mythology of Thiuderieks: Thiuderieks was a useful legal fiction, and most likely Gesalec was, too.
"There’s another line of reasoning, too, which establishes possession of the Telling Leaf, not of the Wagon itself, as the designator of ownership. It’s true that Ottilie Krüger's seal on the Telling Leaf confirms Herbert Schooner’s ownership. It’s also true that Rhoda Knox, my betrothed, is Clan inheritor of the spoils of Ottilie Krüger's War Thing, among which is the Telling Leaf. And because Rhoda and I are joint Heads of the War Thing, I have the right under the Touchstone to make use of such spoils in accord with the War Thing."
Rudy was doubly thrilled by this second, more contingent justification of Ricardo's opening of the Workshop. And he noted that Ricardo’s words confirmed that the Ban of Swords had been lifted. Then he became aware of a problem: "To what tribunal will you make these arguments, Ricardo?" At once Rudy saw that he had asked a foolish question, because Ricardo clearly intended to open the Workshop and replace the Telling Leaf without asking anyone's approval. He understood that Ricardo’s arguments were for post facto justification, to the membership of the War Thing.
"Rudy, I’m making these arguments only to give me confidence that that I’m acting within the purpose of the War Thing. Of course, the opening of a Workshop requires the cooperation of the Powers that guard it, so if I’m challenged by them, I’ll present one or both of the arguments to them.”
Rudy’s head swam. Although most Touchstone Scribes regarded Thiuderieks and the Powers and gods as no more than useful fictions used by Makers to guard manufacturing secrets, this uncanny fog through which they had passed almost made plausible to him the idea of presenting a legal argument to gods.
Ricardo was standing before the Wagon, intoning a long chant in Old Goth. Is he talking to the air? Or is he talking to the Airs of the Powers?
After he had completed the Chant, Ricardo said to Rudy, “I’ll be wise to wait for Miss Wilberforce to be present for my opening of the Wagon. The Powers accept my arguments, but their understanding of the Touchstone is that Miss Wilberforce, as the living representative of Ottilie Krüger, should have the final say in this case. Let’s push the Wagon over to the entrance of the Stables, Rudy. I’m sure it will roll easily.” The fog parted around the Wagon as it rolled.
To Rudy, it seemed to take less time for them to move the wagon than it had taken for them to find it.
They closed the Stables’ doors. “Now,” Ricardo said, “I’m going to have to wait a few hours for Miss Wilberforce. Rudy, please inform the Alps Aero Taxi Service that I need them to delay my shuttle until after dinner. While I’m waiting, I’ll read in Kirchemund’s library, since I’ve heard interesting reports about it.”
~ 4 ~ Itty Wilberforce’s party arrived in a fleet of automobiles.
“My dear Miss Wilberforce!” Ricardo had quickly left the library and had taken her aside. “I’ve identified the Wagon Workshop, and Herbert Schooner plans to take possession of it tomorrow. Rudy and I have moved it to a location just inside the entrance to the Stables, but I have not yet opened it, because the Workshop’s Powers have requested that you be present to authorize my opening of it. They claim that returning the Telling Leaf to its Workshop is an affair of Ottilie Krüger’s which involves you, personally, because you were well-known to Ottilie. The Powers want you to confirm that what I propose to do is truly in accord with your understanding of Fraulein Krüger’s intentions. So, Miss Wilberforce, if your travel today has not been too exhausting, will you please take a few minutes to come with me and allow these Powers to ascertain that you approve my replacing of the Telling Leaf?”
Miss Wilberforce, sounding weary and exasperated, replied, “Oh, Mr. Chavez, I am sorry that you have been delayed on my account. I do understand that you have many affairs to which you must promptly attend, but gods will be gods, as we say.”
As they walked together along the porch to its stairs leading down to the lawn, Ricardo said, “Thank you for your understanding, Miss Wilberforce. Please allow me to hold your arm, to make your walk to the Stables a little less fatiguing to you; the path is rough.”
Rudy watched them while he was talking with Ralph Wilberforce, and he noticed that Miss Wilberforce staggered as she was taking Ricardo’s arm, causing Ricardo to sway. Rudy’s fear regarding her health was assuaged by her quick recovery as she and Ricardo slowly descended the stairs.
Ralph, too, had been watching Miss Wilberforce and Ricardo Chavez. Because he and Rudy both had been trying to overhear the conversation between them, neither of the two men had heard much of what the other had said.
Ralph laughed. “I wonder if my dear sister is flirting a little with Ricardo Chavez. All of us are growing older, but I do not think that she is so very infirm, despite being old enough to be his mother!”
Whenever Ralph accompanied Miss Wilberforce in society, he felt her to be his true older sister. Then he would remember Ottilie, who had been—if such things existed—a true German goddess. He recalled that he had begun to fall in love with Naomi Knox when she had told him that Ottilie had been in love with her brother Martin. In his eyes, Naomi had then taken on some of the luster of a goddess. His goddess had accepted his hand in marriage one evening in Lisbon.
“What was she saying about the gods, Ralph?
“Oh, Itty is pretending to have knowledge of Keen Makers' affairs, Rudy. I suppose Mr. Chavez is tolerating it. As Head, he has to get along with everyone, even Guild hangers-on like my sister, because she is very wealthy.”
“Mr. Chavez”? Chavez told me to call him Ricardo! Rudy’s heart swelled a little. “Ralph, I assisted Mr. Chavez this morning when he asked me to help him retrieve the Wagon from the Stables’ storeroom. He spoke in Old Goth to the Powers of the Workshop, and then he told me they require Miss Wilberforce to be present before the Wagon Workshop can be opened, because Miss Wilberforce would know Ottilie Krüger’s mind in the matter.”
“You did? He said that? …”
Ralph's evident surprise caused Rudy to fear that he had spoken out of line. His heart beat faster.
But then Ralph said, “You know, Rudy, that makes sense, because Fraulein Krüger was a distant cousin of my sister, and both of them were named Ottilie. In the late 1930s, before the War began, they frequently spent time together in Europe. They looked so much alike that they were mistaken for sisters, although they were, in fact, just good friends. I think it’s likely that Itty stored this Wagon Workshop as a favor to Ottilie Krüger, as a part of Ottilie’s War Thing. And the gods who keep the Workshop would know about this favor. Being indentured to the Workshop’s owner, those gods have to go with the Workshop wherever it goes.”
Rudy asked bluntly, “Ralph, do gods truly exist?” He was feeling suddenly ill-at-ease with this day’s affairs.
Ralph smiled at him. “It is an unsettling business isn’t it? I suppose that they do, but Keen Makers don’t go out of their way to make a convincing case for their existence, do they?”
Miss Wilberforce’s brief stagger, witnessed by Rudy and Ralph, had disguised Rhoda’s loving elbow-jab at Ricardo in response to his teasing about her frail state of health.
“Well, then,” Ricardo had said as he walked with her slowly down the porch stairs, “let’s visit the Stables while there’s light. Watch your step on the uneven lawn now, Miss Wilberforce.” They seemed to stagger again, but Ricardo now had a firm grip on Miss Wilberforce’s arm. The two of them glanced at each other, and Ricardo saw right through the Miss Wilberforce Persona into the eyes of the woman he loved.
Most of the dozen English men and women in the Wilberforce party were Ralph’s friends and neighbors. Miss Wilberforce, although she was a fixture in their neighborhood, was reclusive, having no close friends outside her immediate family in Knucklemouth. But she was rich, and she did make occasional impromptu excursions for which she paid everyone’s expenses in order to travel among companions chosen by Ralph. Enjoying their drinks now on the spacious porch of Kirchemund, the group watched Miss Wilberforce leaning on Ricardo’s arm as the two walked slowly toward the birchwood copse.
The guests began recounting favorite moments of their previous excursions with Miss Wilberforce, and Rudy and Ralph joined in the lighthearted discussion—Rudy feeling himself becoming one of those few who were ‘in the know’, and Ralph assuming that it was Judith Ottokar who had come in the Persona of Miss Wilberforce. Ralph wondered if the gods were expecting Ottilie Krüger to be in the Persona.
Rhoda had come to Kirchemund in the Miss Wilberforce Persona in order to observe Herbert Schooner and his companions—Mortimer Kane, Het Kerrigan and Esther Rosen—in action without their knowing of her presence there. She and Ricardo, as a part of their War Thing strategy, wanted Herbert Schooner to think that the Wagon Workshop was his secret possession. Ricardo was worried, therefore, about the real chance that Schooner, in his eagerness, might arrive a day early and discover, by Ricardo’s presence at Kirchemund, that the Wagon Workshop was not his secret from the Clan’s War Thing. Ricardo’s planned early departure, which had been meant to avoid his being seen by Schooner, had been delayed by the Wagon Workshop’s gods.
~ 5 ~ Rhoda closed the Stable’s postern door behind her. Now that she and Ricardo were hidden from the others, she cast off her Miss Wilberforce Persona and flung her arms around Ricardo. After a silent and very warm embrace, the betrothed couple reluctantly stepped apart and turned to the Wagon.
Ricardo gave the Telling Leaf to Rhoda saying, "It seems clear to me that Ottilie's seal confirms that Herbert Schooner is the legitimate owner of the Wagon Workshop."
Rhoda studied the Telling Leaf. "That's what Thersa told Miss Wilberforce, too. She said Herbert Schooner needs only to open the Wagon in order to obtain possession of it. By opening the Wagon Workshop, he would confirm also that he’s a Maker. I’ll find out about that tomorrow. Speaking of Schooner, I’m wondering what the relationship is between Herbert Schooner and Gesalec, the Apprentice of Ingundis. Maybe Schooner’s mentor claimed a pedigree that stems from Gesalec."
"Rhoda, you know it’s not impossible for Herbert Schooner to be in fact the same individual as Gesalec. In Fr. Sigurd’s study of references to the name 'Thersa', there are several associated references to Gesalec as a freelance ’smith’ or Maker. Gesalec may even be the one who replicated the Goth Swords that you, as Rhoda Ingundis, Slayer of the Wicked, gave to Thersa’s camp guard in the Horn Room.”
“That’s possible, honey. Let me clear the Airs, now, with these officious gods.” Rhoda touched the Wagon and then spoke rapidly in Old Goth. Suddenly, the light around the wagon grew brighter, and the wall of fog became the walls of the Stable’s interior, in which they saw many postern-sized doors. Rhoda laughed. “Now I know we were partly right about the existence of a relationship between Thersa and Gesalec. I’ve learned just now that, long ago, Thersa herself obtained access to this Workshop by wearing the Anima robe that I had gifted to her through the horn blowers. In those days, Gesalec and his followers brought this Wagon Workshop with them whenever they came looking for work as itinerant Makers in her camp. She entered it during one of their visits, while Gesalec himself was elsewhere in the camp, negotiating to replicate Devices for some of her people. Sensing that my Slayer of the Wicked robe gave her the authority to enter Workshops, she had tested it by entering this Workshop without Gesalec’s knowledge. The robe Device brought an influence of Ottilie and me to the Guardian-gods of the Workshop, from their future, because I had recast Ottilie’s Archetype for the robe. These gods asked me how the future influence had come to them.”
“The gods of the Wagon?”
“Yes, honey. More importantly, I know now that this really is the Wagon Workshop of Ingundis the Maker, whom I can claim as my remote mentor in a direct line, because my Inner Sanctum’s sewing room was hers.”
“So why was I rebuffed when I tried to open the Workshop earlier today? Was it because these gods wanted to know first about the source of that future influence?”
“Honey, it’s because you didn’t ask as meekly as your level of authority demands. You should have asked them for access to the Antechamber only, because that’s all your task required. The gods were already hesitant to allow you to enter the Inner Sanctum because, although you have the authority of Thiuderieks to enter, your entry would violate Ingundis’s Workshop rule that no male Maker was to enter her Inner Sanctum unless she personally accompanied him. They were in a quandary that they thought Miss Wilberforce might be able to resolve, and that’s why you had to wait for me. Honey, I see that you do need to learn a few more things about diplomacy with the gods; not all accidents with them are lucky like this one. But, anyway, the gods have agreed that I now own the Workshop, and as its mistress I grant you, dear, free access to my new Inner Sanctum.”
Ricardo smiled and took her hands. “Sweetheart, I did err by using the inclusive rather than the exclusive form of ‘Workshop’ with them. …I wonder why I did that?”
“Were you showing off to Rudy? Such behavior is a common fault in men, my love.”
“I may have been so foolish,” Ricardo admitted sheepishly, “even though Rudy has hardly any grasp of Old Goth.”
“Dear Ricardo, if you had simply requested access to the Antechamber, the Guardian-gods would have been pleased to grant it, and Rudy would have been awed by the sight of a Maker in action. However, if you hadn’t overplayed your hand, honey, you couldn’t have lured me here so easily, to be alone with you. …I really do want to visit the Inner Sanctum of Ingundis the Maker; she’s very highly regarded by all female Makers. Thank you for being so sweet as to find it for me.”
“I do try to do my best for you.”
“I know, Ricardo, and because I trust you so much, even though you may be a little rough around the edges in the art of godly diplomacy, I want to share with you something of mine, now, that’s a very intimate thing.” Rhoda ran her fingers caressingly through his hair.
Having heard a subtle shift in her tone of voice, Ricardo stepped back, eyeing her with mock fear. “Rhoda, what do you have in mind?”
Laughing, she said, “I want to share with you the art of dealing with godly intuitions. While you’ve been sharing the great density of Heart Weight deeded to me by Aretta as Ottilie’s spoils of war with the Foe, you haven’t been aware of your ability to use this Heart Weight to perceive and even virtually share in intuitive communications among the gods.”
"I take it that you mean something different from the Makers’ Chant and the gods' chorus exchange."
"Oh, yes. That's very formal. What you can learn to do is like talking face-to-face."
“Rhoda! How is that possible?”
“Honey, the gods often send personal intuitions to subjects who are in their essential presence, as if those subjects are lower-ranked fellow gods. It’s like Kurt talking to his horse, knowing it doesn’t really know either English or Spanish.”
“I understand so far, sweetheart.”
“In the way that we sometimes personify something that’s interesting to us, gods can imagine the Personas of gods in the Self Signs of subjects who aren’t gods..”
“Okay, I think you’re saying that, like Kurt imagining his horse is human, gods ‘imagine’ seeing another god in a subject’s Self Sign.”
“Right.”
“I’m sure, Rhoda, that Fr. Sigurd’s imagination would be seriously challenged by the idea of gods having something like our imagination. Maybe I should share this with him.”
Smiling, Rhoda said, “It’s never too late to learn. Fr. Sigurd would be interested, even though he might be incredulous.”
“How are you going to share this art with me?”
“I’m going to give you a practical lesson, honey, but there’s a little more you need to know first: In fact, gods broadcast particular intuitions—like Kurt maybe telling his horse what he expects to do next while he’s working, or what he wants to get Martha for her birthday, and saying it loudly enough for anyone nearby to hear him.”
“I get it! Then anyone near enough to hear what Kurt is saying to his horse, can start a real conversation with Kurt.”
“That’s right, dear.”
“Okay, sweet mentor, I’m going to summarize what I think you’re saying: I can use our great density of Heart Weight to somehow pick up on the intuitions some god is expressing, and then I can pass into direct conversation with him.”
“Yes!” Rhoda beamed at him. “Now, the last thing you need to know is that when you have a chance to directly converse with a god, you should mind-speak Old Goth conversationally—not in the structure of a Chant. I’ve learned that in its conversational mode, Old Goth is the language of intuitions.”
“I can do that. So, how do I begin?”
“You only have to step from a Partial Vision into a real godly situation that’s anchored to me, so you can get back to our present after your first exercise of this power.”
“Only?”
“Yes. You need only one lesson to open the door to intuitive conversation with gods. I imagine it’s like making love for the first time.”
A brief silence followed that statement. Rhoda continued, "I’ve prepared the lesson carefully, Ricardo. In the Partial Vision, you’ll be aligned to the personal vision of a friendly god who’s one of the many gods whose essence enters our feelings for the kinetics of dance. It’s a Partial Vision of the dancing at Mickie’s when General Smith and the others were there, including Alice.”
“I remember what you’ve said about the dancing. I’ve talked about it with Yohanna, and even General Smith has mentioned it.”
“That’s good. In the Vision you’ll see the dancing in the time before I telephoned Yohanna and my Living Memory became entwined with hers. Don’t worry, honey. This little exercise is much better prepared than that telephone call fiasco was. You know how much I’ve matured since then; nothing will go amiss this time.”
“Should I cross my fingers?”
Rhoda grinned and kissed his forehead. “In a moment, I’m going to give you a Strand of my Living Memory—of Bauda, as Captain Marge Hemming dancing virtually at Mickie’s while she’s sitting in dress uniform with General Robert Smith. When you recognize Marge, you’ll sense the intuitions broadcast by the god, and you can communicate to the god in Old Goth in his intuitive key of feeling. The Old Goth words will come to you as easily as English words you’d address to the sun, expressing your appreciation of a sunset’s beauty as if the sun had personally made it. Don’t worry; this will all make perfect sense when you’re experiencing the partial Vision. Ready?”
“I am.”
