“We’re not chasing anyone till we get medical care!” So,
it’s a long drive back to London. George stretched across the backseat with
Jenny monitoring his tourniquet as Lionel drives. John riding shotgun in his
own car with Mikael driving… hitting every bump and pothole. John grimacing at
each jolt as his broken ribs grind. Mikael comforting him, “U kri like a baby.
I geet U dare in one maybe two pieces.”
Saturday, 15 December: Early
morning hours when they pull up to the hospital. [Credit Rating –
failure; viewed as lower class] Longer hours waiting to be seen. Finally! “I
stitched the artery and stopped the bleeding. No permanent damage as long as
you stay off it. Rest and let it heal. As for you, Mr. Roberts, I’ve splinted
your broken arm. Not much I can do for your broken ribs. Keep your wrappings
tight and try not to bump into anything. It’s going to hurt like hell to
breath, but better than the alternative. Take 2 aspirin every hour or laudanum
if you can afford it.”
John takes a swig of laudanum
before slowly climbing his museum steps. [Persuade – extreme]
“Boss, I’ve come across information of some art pieces to add to the Wallace
collection. Seems there is another Maiolica plate in Italy up for sale. With
your financing, I’d like to take a crew to Italy to secure it.”
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Meanwhile, Lionel is in
contact with the ‘Thomas Cook’ travel agency. “Ship passage around Spain and
thru the Straits of Gibraltar to Italy would take 4 days costing 2 pounds per
passenger. But I’d recommend the ‘Simplon Orient Express’ thru Paris and around
the Alps to Milan. 2 days and 1 pound per passenger. Give me a day to buy the
tickets.”
Monday, 17 December: They
gather early at the Waterloo Station for the 0830 train departure to the Dover coast
for the ferry across the channel to Calais where they will jump on the Orient
Express. Lionel offers, “I told my boss about you needing me on this trip to
protect the artwork we hope to bring back. He baulked till I told him your boss
was paying my way.” George and Mikael explain how they got out of work, “We’re
dockworkers and go where the pay is. Besides, you’re paying us more than we’d
earn at the dock. And with my bum leg, I ain’t doing any lifting soon.” Jenny’s
excuse was easier, “Who needs excuses to go adventure.”
It’s tea time when the train
pulls into Paris. The rest of the evening to enjoy “The City of Lights.” John
wanting to tour the Louvre museum, Jen wanting to stroll the brothels, Lionel
wanting to visit the local Gendarmerie to acknowledge English/French police
cooperation. Which left George limping down the Champs-Élysées avenue
gawking at the sites with Mikael at his side.
Tuesday, 18 December: Another
morning train departure heading south thru the plains till the long slow climb
around the mountains topped with snow. The opportunity to talk with other
passengers about the growing ‘fascism’ in Italy led by “Ell Duce. Beware of his
‘blackshirts’ that maintain order. Benito Mussolini may be Catholic, but he leads with an iron
fist.”
It’s evening when the train
pulls into Milan. Awkward efforts to find a cab ride to their hotel. A lot of
pointing at pictures while talking slower and louder in hopes that breaks the
language barrier. At least the hotel offers a translator for hire, “Paulo at
your service. I speak 3 languages: Italian, English, and French. 50 pence a
day. Now, where you want to go? Ah, food. You coma to the right place. Mama’s
spaghetti…magnifico.” Realization they need a cover story since they supposedly
came here for museum artwork. With Jen distracting Paulo at the bar, the others
sit at the table and plan, “You shipped art here but it never arrived at the
museum. The last known receipt was at Colombo Shipping.”
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Wednesday, 19 December: Per
Paulo’s advice, they plan their departure at 10am when the city awakes. 2 cabs
into the industrial district filled with factories and warehouses, arriving at
‘Giuseppe Colombo Shipping Company’. To Paulo and the cabbies,
“Wait for us.” The office inside the warehouse where 2 men sit at a desk. The
older man, the owner Giuseppe, irked at the interruption, “Whadda ya want?”
John replies, “We’re looking for Malcolm; his wife sent us.” The younger man
Thomas Villiers, intermittently coughing into his hanky, “How is Hillary?”
George answers, “There’s been an issue at the farm; she needs him.” Thomas
relaxing at their knowledge, “You missed him. Malcolm is already on his
journey; his pilgrimage to Tibet.”
Giuseppe even more pissed,
“We got work to do and you wanna yap about pilgrimages. Don’t remind me about
Quarrie running off with Anzalone and Schippone.” The old man storms out of the
office. (If anyone listened, they could have heard the cabs departing,
dismissed by an irate Colombo.) Meanwhile, between his coughing and hacking
fits, Thomas continues, “Malcolm figured it out; we need the ‘White Acolyte’ to
appear. This month or next. Edwards had it wrong. Yeah, I was there with them
in Claire Melford back in ’25. You Christians? How well do you know your bible?
Da Vinci bastardized the painting; wrong colors. Should have been more yellow.
My version is more accurate; from their backs per the ‘Unnamable One’s’
perspective. The Trinity best describes Hastur’s 3-armed sign. Father, Son,
Holy Ghost? More like the ‘Unnamable One’, the King-In-Yellow,
and the Stranger in the pallid mask. Come to my studio and let me show you.”
As they follow, Lionel [Medicine – 01
extreme] whispers to the others, “Careful. That coughing is consumption. What
you might know as tuberculosis. Contagious; spread by his cough and phlegm.” As
Thomas struggles with a lock, “I don’t know why I bother; I have a guardian
angel to protect me.” And that’s when George notices the leather thong necklace
that hints at a black whistle to call such beast. Inside his studio, all notice
various paintings on the walls. The mentioned ‘Last Supper’ heavy in ochre
ranging from yellow to deep orange or brown. But Jen notices one painting with note
paper clipped to its side.
Thomas, excitedly explaining his blasphemous version
of the bible, doesn’t notice Jen pocket the note paper [Slight-of-Hand:
pass].
Thomas rambles on,
explaining the portrait of the 2 men, “Professor Roberto Anzalone funds the
excursion. Carlo Schippone is his grad student. Fought in the Great War and is excellent
with a rifle. They left in August for Tibet. Malcolm left later after
researching and confirming the location of the Mustang. His last telegram put
him in Bombay in September. They’re on the trail of the true god, thru Nepal
and into the plains of Tibet.” And that’s when Mikael finally understands the
blasphemous implications of Villiers’ religion. [Brawl – fumble]
The Ukrainian angrily punching the wall beside Thomas, “You not slander MY God.
How you others stand there and listen to his sins of false gods?!” Mikael
storms out only to find the cabs gone. A bird circling overhead. (Maybe better
to not know ‘that bird’ is Thomas’ guardian angel… a Baykee that
Jen/John/George remember well).
Thomas now pausing,
“What his problem? Me starting to thing you not believe in the brotherhood.”
John reassures him, “Like we said, we’re here on Hillary’s bequest. If you must
know, Malcolm’s daughter Sarah is missing.” Likewise, Jen tries to calm Thomas,
“I love your paintings. Such vibrant colors. I think they belong in a museum.
Would you sell any?”
Back at their hotel, Jen
reveals the painting notes. “His plans for 3 oil paintings. He mentions Hastur
and Springer Mound. John, George, and I know that as the location of their 1925
attempt to call Hastur. We’ve seen the signs of the King-In-Yellow. Thomas
speaks of him ‘stepping down to earth at Drakmar.' We can research it at the
library but I’m guessing that is in Nepal. He then mentions Buddhist temples
and a Mustang culture in Tibet. Finally, he mentions a Nepal valley called the
‘Kali Gandaki Gorge’.
It takes awhile to find
other cabs to return them to the hotel. Paulo apologizing, “The old man told us
to leave. You no need us. Paid nicely.” John reassures Paulo all is OK, “We
just need the cabs to take us to the Università Degli Studi Art
Department.” At the university, John shows his credentials as he asks for
Professor Anzalone’s department. With Paulo interpreting the French, “Allo. I
am Monsieur Bacci, Professor Anzalone’s assistant. He is out of country,
looking for Tibetan art. Hopes to retrieve it before the civil war in China
spills across the border. He telegrammed his arrival in Nautanwa September 28th.
That’s a city at the foot of the Himalaya Mts. Another member of their
expedition, Monsieur Quarrie, is confident he found Mustang; an ancient
civilization.”
[Charm –
hard] Lionel distracts Bacci as the others search Anzalone’s office for maps
and papers. Indeed, George finds a map listing Drakmar as a 26,500 ft landmark
while Jen finds a cultist book about a fabled tribe: the Tcho-Tcho; cannibals
who file their teeth into sharp points.
Thursday, 20 December: Once
again John coordinates with his boss to continue funding the trip now destined
for India and beyond. A shipment of the art Jenny purchased seals the deal. The
Thomas Cook travel agency arranges train tickets to Marseilles where they board
the liner Viceroy of India for an 11-day sailing to Bombay.
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December 21-22: Two
days sailing the Mediterranean Sea before they arrive at Port Said, Egypt on
the northern end of the Suez Canal. The travel made more pleasant with the
company of dinner guests. Mikael talking religion with the Reverend Gore, a Baptist
missionary serving in India. John sharing conversation with Mrs. Henrietta
Tullis, the wife of the British Cultural Attaché in Bombay. Jenny seems
attracted to a distraught young woman, Patricia Berry. Maybe another victim of
a wife-beater? [Charm- failure] Jenny’s implications of Mr. Berry
only upsets Patricia even more, “Please, leave me alone!” Meanwhile, [Charm
– extreme] Lionel has gained the attention of Francesca Nicholson. Showing his
wedding ring and pictures of has children as he invites the beautiful woman to
dance, “Enough about me, tell me about yourself. Visiting your aunt in Bombay?
Comforting Patricia whose fiancé passed away?”
George happens to overhear Patricia’s plight. He seeks
her out, using the commonality of fiancés to gain her trust, explaining how his
fiancé was kidnapped by cultists.
Patricia trying to console, “My fiancé was a member of a cult who traveled to
Claire Melford years ago. All I know is he died at some asylum soon afterwards.
He was tormented by dreams.” George now trying to console, “I’ve suffered
dreams. Dreams of a man in a mask. A pallid mask.” Patricia gasping, “That was
my fiancé’s dream topic!”
December 23-24: It
takes 2 days to sail thru the Suez Canal and on into the Red Sea.
December 25-31: Christmas
on the Red Sea, near the birth place of Jesus. You’d think there would be
decorations and trimmings. But down in the lower decks, Lionel and Mikael spot
other decorations scratched into the walls: the King-In-Yellow
sign! Their first sighting. Lionel shrugs off the disturbing visage. Lunchtime
finds Mikael missing [Sanity check-failed; Indefinite Insanity].
They check his cabin: guarded by crew members. “He your friend?! He attacked
one of our mates. Vicious! Locked in the brig.”
John heads to the brig
feeling responsible for a member of his crew; Lionel tags along, “Maybe my
police badge will offer consideration.” At the brig, Mikael is at his cell
bars, “Not drunk anymore.” But his guards ignore him, “You’ll have to talk to
the captain. He beat up one of the boiler gooks. Pretty bad; face is almost
mush. Says your man was acting crazy. Ranting about some sign of a king.” On
their way to the captain, Lionel swings by the supposed site of the attack.
Scuff marks on the walls. Obvious effort to erase the signs Lionel saw too.
Continuing to the captain,
they swing by the dining room to tell the others. Jen heads to the infirmary to
speak to the victim, Jamal. “You poor man. Mikael is a calm man; what did you
say or do to piss him off? No, no. I didn’t mean to blame you. Least I can do
is pay your hospital bill. If you’ll just drop all charges.” Meanwhile, George
buys a bottle of rum and heads below deck to the crew quarters trying to learn
more about the etched sign. “Spreading throughout India. Captain does not like.
Warns punishment for anyone caught. Scratching bulkheads means rust. Rust not
good for ship.”
John and Lionel speak to the
captain, “He got drunk. We’ll take responsibility. Take his alcohol away. He’ll
be good. We promise.” The rest of the voyage is peaceful. Well, disturbing upon
further reflection. In these lower latitudes, the Taurus constellation is
higher in the sky. The night sky flooded with all the stars. Aldebaran most
prominent. That tickle of bad dreams ever present. Other passengers acting
weird, starring up into the sky mumbling incoherently.
Monday, 31 December: Tugboats
arrive to guide the Viceroy of India into the Bombay harbor.
Lionel escorts Francesca off the boat as they exchange addresses. Followed by
George escorting Patricia; her dour persona gone. John escorts Mrs. Tullis off
the ramp and holds the door as she climbs into her limo. “Tell me young man, do
you have plans in India? Let me offer rooms for you and your crew. You can stay
at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel as my guests."
As Jenny descends the ramp,
she peers below spotting a gurney being wheeled out of the loading door. The
bandaged face rising as the man recognizes her, “You pay hospital bill,
right?!”
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