Tending the Stones for the Lock – Stories and Quotes from the Mind* and Keyboard of A.A.Forringer

Tending the Stones for the Lock, XXVI

Posted on September 24, 2017November 9, 2017 by aaforringer

26th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20) (Part 21) (Part 22) (Part 23) (Part 24) (Part 25) (Part 26) (Part 27)

Holly walked through passenger area with the clipboard she had found in the cockpit. She usually just eyeballed things and tried to remember what was necessary, maybe when they gave this plane back she would keep the clipboard.

“Holly where do you want these cokes, they don’t all fit in the fridge?” Brodie asked from the small galley.

Holly waved absently. “Wherever just make sure they don’t roll around.”

“Excuse me Holly.” Austin trying to get around her in the corridor.

Holly put her hands on her hips blocking his way. “No I won’t excuse you. I don’t want you on this plane, I don’t like you and I think you should stay here and wait for your mother.” She said motioning towards the door of the plane.

Austin rolled his eyes and then looked at the short woman. “Mrs. Emily and the High Pilgrim said I could come along so you don’t have anything to say about it.”

Holly gave him a look of disgust and then moved out of his way. Austin brushed by her and then got into the galley with Brodie. “Can I get one of those cokes.”

Brodie turned from loading the bottles into a shelving unit with a coke in his hand. “They are not cold yet.”

Austin shrugged. “Don’t care.”

Holly walked away from the two men with a huff and entered the passenger area. “We will be leaving in about ten minutes folks.” She announced to the monks, Mrs. Emily and the High Pilgrim.

“Thank you for moving so quickly dear.” Mrs. Emily said placing a hand on Holly’s who was resting it on a seat back.

“No problem Mrs. E, sorry we could not get clearance to flyover China it will add a couple of hours to our trip, not to mention having to stop to refuel.” Holly said apologetically. “I am sorry about your daughter getting mixed up with all this, what a terrible thing to happen.”

Mrs. Emily replied. “We shall see, we shall see.”

Holly looked around the area and then back at her clipboard. “Well I had better get back up front.” Checking her clipboard one more time. “Everybody take your seats for take off.” She did not wait to see if everyone took a seat but went up to the cockpit and closed the door behind her. Mary was going thru her own checklist as Holly took the copilots seat and strapped in. Mary finished her checklist and then handed the course map to Holly. Holly looked it over and saw that Mary had cut it very close to the border of the two nations. “We are going to be very close to the border in a couple of places.”

“Yeah but with some luck we can cut off a couple of hours off the trip.” Mary said absently.

Holly looked at the map. “I bet you are going to make a call to General Wu once we are airborne and sweet talk him into letting you cut a path across this portion of the border.”

Mary smiled and took the map back.

“You shameless hussy.” Holly said laughing.

“I am also thinking that you might need an aspirin from the doctor about the time I make that call so the doctor will have to come up to the cockpit.”

“And I am supposing about that time you will have the good General on the cockpit speakers at the time while you are turning on your feminine wiles to get what you want.”

“I might even agree to have dinner with the sweet general, you know he has been trying to get some alone time with him since we ran into him last year.”

“Well he is a good looking man, although a little old.”

Mary shrugged. Thirty-eight is not that old.”

“Well he does sound dreamy over the radio and that is what will count tonight.” Holly said laughing a bit.

“You betcha girlfriend, now lets get this bird in the air.” Mary said getting back to the task at hand.

Meredith logged into the desktop computer. Luckily no one was looking over her shoulder. No but they watching her every move with a duplicate monitor and any attempts to access anything they did not want ended with her own screen going blank for several hours. She clicked on the Mail icon and then logged into her account. She and her watcher made a sharp intake of air at the time when they saw the unread message from her mother.

Meredith’s first instinct was to delete it without reading it but she knew this would get her computer privilege curtailed and it was the one thing she had going that allowed her to send messages to her children and husband so they were not worrying.

“Can I open it.” She said before she moved the cursor over the unread message. There was a few whisper back and forth between her watchers and then one of them spoke. She was not sure which one as they out of site and they said so little she had not pinned down voices of the two of them yet. “Wait” was the command.

Meredith sighed and crossed her arms then leaned back in the chair after a few minutes she put her feet up on a nearby ottoman and closed her eyes. A few minutes later the unmistakable sound of the elevator opening and the heavy footfalls of the man she had nicknamed Nutter. She had even used it on a few occasions and she saw the control he had to exercise restraint not to strike her. So now she used the title sparingly and usually when he was about to leave the room.

“Your mother had replied to your messages finally.”

Meredith sighed and nodded. This was her typical ‘mom’ sigh when one of her kids said something terribly obvious. A sarcastic reply was tamped down, no sense making this guy angrier than normal. “Okay open it.” The man said once he was behind the secondary monitor.

Meredith moved the mouse and clicked on the message and it filled the screen it was formatted carefully as if it was a real hardcopy letter.

Meredith

I am sorry for getting you into this mess. I will be there soon and you will released and allowed to go home unharmed. I will explain in person as soon as possible. Just know that I love you and am very proud of you.

Love your mom.

To the person holding my daughter,

I will meet you at Soyosan, you are to have my daughter there with her passport and we will have a parley.

Mrs. Emily Bartloski

There was a roar of rage and Meredith watched the table holding the secondary screen fly across the room and then the noise of two men being struck violently with a closed fist and then people falling down. The well dressed man came around the corner, she noticed he had begun to perspire, probably from the exertion of tossing the table and striking his men but also likely from anger as he face was red. “How did she know?” The man spun her chair around and put his hands on her arm rests. Meredith shrank back into the swivel chair and crossed her arms over the chest protectively but she looked up at him trying to be brave.

“I don’t know, the messages I sent you personally approved before I sent them.”

“You used a code word or something. Something you used to show you were under duress.” The man said his lips ending in a angry sneer. “She planned it before hand with you. Some sort of contingency plan.”

“I don’t know how she knows, she is my mother, she just always seemed to know when one of us kids and even her grandchildren were in trouble.”

The man squinted at her trying to figure out what she was saying.

“Why don’t you just release me now, because if I was my mother I would be calling the F.B.I. right now and seeing if they can trace this and find out who has kidnapped me.”

That somehow struck the man as funny as he backed away from Meredith and actually laughed. “You really don’t know that much about your mother.”

Now Meredith looked confused.

“Your mother will never call any government agency to help her, she knows we control so much of what they perceive that it would do no good.” The man said smiling that reptilian smile of his. “Call the jet we are going to Korea earlier than expected.”

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stones for the Lock, XXIII

Posted on July 16, 2017October 9, 2017 by aaforringer

22nd part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

“I am a healer let me do my job.”

“You are a quack and you are not coming onto my plane.”

“First off, it is not your plane, second off I am a Harvard educated physician who did my residency at John Hopkins.”

Ms. Mulan put her hands on her hips and then held up her hands counting off with her fingers as she made her points. “A, I am the pilot of this plane so I am in charge of the plane, therefore it is my plane. B, you gave up your practice to travel the world and you lost your license because the AMA lost track of you as I did when you went on walkabout from the hospital in Nepal.”

“Oh so this is personal M and M.”

Mary Mulan winced at the use of her initials.

“Mary as much as I would love to stand on this wonderful runway and argue with you about what I may or may not have done the High Pilgrim sent for me and I am pretty sure he is paying the bills on this charter technically it is his plane.”

Mary rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way.

“I am fine.”

“If that is true than the doctor will say so until then you stay in bed.”

Brodie sighed and laid back on the bed staring at the ceiling.

“Knock, knock.” A smiling blonde haired man with a mustache and goatee poked his head into the small room.

“Austin?” Holly said taking a step away from the bed and hugging the man as he came into the room, right after she hugged him she gave him a very hard open hand slapped the man.

Brodie observed this and was very confused and from the look of this Austin he was too.

“The hug is from me, the slap is from the best friend of the woman you dumped at the altar.”

Austin held up his hand as if to ask a question then just shook his head.

“Brodie this is Austin, Austin is a doctor and he knows about the magical implications” she said this last bit with a waving of her hands. “Nice seeing you Austin, check out Brodie and then get off the plane.” With that she turn and left the room her blonde pony tail bouncing as she went.”

Austin did not say anything he just opened his black doctors bag at the foot the bed and he pulled out a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff. Five minutes later after a thought medical exam Austin placed his tools back in the bag. “Medically you are fine.”

“Well that is good to know.”

“But.” Austin pulled out a leather drawstring pouch from his pocket and pulled out a large gold ring with a crystal set in the middle of it. “This will tell me what happened to you when you met the dragon.”

Brodie looked at the item suspiciously. “I know what happened to me, the dragon talked to me.”

“Really what did he say?”

Brodie was about to answer but then a thought struck him, maybe he should not say anything to this stranger. “Before you do anything else can you tell me where Mrs. Emily is?”

Austin paused. “Mrs. Emily is with Derek and the High Pilgrim at his yurt.”

“Can I talk to her before you do, whatever it is you are going to do with that thing.” He said pointing to the gold and crystal object.

Austin looked at it and shrugged then placed it back in it’s small bag.

Brodie sat up in the bed and then put his feet on the floor. “Doctor before you leave can you check out Mrs.Emily,” he paused when the man looked at him quizzically. “I just want someone to check her out, I mean she is getting up there in age and all and we have been keeping some strange hours and all.”

Austin nodded.

“Now where are my shoes?” Brodie said looking around the small space.

Brodie walked with him to the ramp, the man looked around and Brodie did too, he did not see anyone else and he heard the man sigh.

“Long history with Ms. Mulan and Holly.”

“A couple of years ago I was dating Mary it got serious but my research took an unexpected turn and I had to leave Nepal suddenly and she did not like it.”

“Ouch.” Brodie said then after a few seconds he thought to ask next logical question. “Was it worth it?”

“I spent eighteen months with the trolls, I traveled from Nepal to Kilimanjaro, I learned so much about crystal properties from them it was amazing.”

“There are trolls?”

Austin continued to stare out into the darkness. “Oh yeah at last count five thousand trolls, but it is a steady population due to their limited resources and no desire to come into conflict with the other races due to scarcity of resources.”

“Other races, you mean humans?”

“Among others.” Austin looked at him confused then quizically. “You didn’t know their were trolls or other races besides humans, how did you get mixed up with the High Pilgrim and all this he said motioning around at the plane and out towards the darkness.”

“It is kind of simple really, I take care of Mrs.Emily and she brought me along to help take care of her and I find out there are trolls, dragons and magic.”

Austin whistled then threw away a comment. “You are new.”

“Someone else just said that to me.” Brodie said in a whisper.

“He has got some nerve.”

Holly did not say anything she just nodded and checked off the items on the clipboard that was so conviently left by the last crew.

“He shows up and just act like nothing happened.”

“I told you I slapped him.”

“Yes and thank you for that, but I have always envisioned something a lot more drastic then just a slap.” Mary Mulan said with an evil tone.

“Scorpions down the front of his pants?” Holly said smiling.

“Too short term.” Mary said.

“Fill his doctor bag with fire ants so when he takes it home his yurt becomes infested.”

“Nice but you are thinking too small.”

Holly thought for a few minutes then shrugged.

“I am going to call his mother and tell her where he is.” Mary said.

Holly giggled. “You are truly evil.”

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you would like to read my last weekly story, A Disinclined Purveyor of Sequential Art here it is. (Written in 2013, the same year my wife left me, so I was a different person back then, and I hope I have learned a lot about writing since then.)

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

My Response: The prophecy stated that in 60 years if the Stones were not properly aligned then the world would fall under the sway of the demon king for 1000 years. 1956 21 year old Emily the chosen one starts the quest. She arranges half the Stones around the planet, but then falls in love and life happens. Now it is 59 years later, Emily’s husband of 58 years passed away and one of the monks has found Emily and reminds her that she is the chosen one and needs to complete her task. Anyone interested?

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stones for The Lock XX

Posted on June 25, 2017July 14, 2017 by aaforringer

19th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

“They have not moved,” Ms. Mulan stated as she looked at her watch. “in five minutes.”

“I am glad Mrs. Emily has both of her canes.” Brodie said looking at his boss who had been standing on the runway for the entire time.

“This is getting boring.” Holly said laying down on the ramp.

Brodie nodded silently.

“Hey the guy in the passenger seat just stepped out of the jeep.” Ms. Mulan said. With that Holly popped back up and the others redoubled their attention towards the drama on the runway.

“That guy does not look like a Derek to me.” Brodie said.

“Oh the Derek thing is a dodge.” Holly said. “When he became Head of the Enfold he wanted to throw people off about his nationality so he picked a western name.”

“So what is his real name?” Brodie said.

“What do I look like the Public Information Officer for the Enfold?” Holly said rolling her eyes.

Brodie was about to respond but thought better of it. He turned his attention back to Mrs. Emily and The High Pilgrim and he saw his boss turn towards the plane after a short exchange with the man who had stepped out of the jeep. Mrs. Emily waved he can in the air in a circle over her head while looking towards the plane.

“Okay folks we have been giving the okay to deplane. Brodie help Holly chock the plane, I will look into fuel, Dante and Hans can you look into some supplies, something that does not refrigeration, canned good and dehydrated food first, those CIA bums left the plane inadequately stocked if you ask me.” Ms. Mulan stated. “So much for our tax dollars at work.”

Holly shot back while getting to her feet. “Since when have you ever paid taxes?”

“It is the principle of the thing.” Ms. Mulan shouted back over her shoulder as she walked away from the plane towards the hangars in the distance.

“Come on help me with these.” Holly said pointing towards the wheel chocks that were strapped neatly near the top of the ramp.

Brodie went to where she was pointing and started to gather up the large hard rubber prisms. He gathered up three of the roped pairs and she motioned for him to grab two more. He grunted as he hefted the other two up and slung them across his other shoulder.

“Come on.” Holly said without picking up any. Brodie grunted and followed her down the ramp towards the tires.

Mrs. Emily motioned for Derek to get in the back seat of the jeep with the High Pilgrim, Derek stared at Mrs. Emily long and hard and she stared back and after a full minute of silence Derek gave up and stepped on the seat getting into the back of the jeep. Mrs. Emily heard him humph as he moved. Emily ignored him and maneuvered into the vehicle with a little difficulty and just before she was settled he tapped the driver on the shoulder and he took off suddenly throwing her a bit around in the seat. They drove down the runway and then turned off of it suddenly but luckily Mrs. Emily was grasping the seat belt with both hands.

After ten minutes of driving they came upon a small village of yurts that Mrs. Emily knew was where Derek’s family lived. She knew it was his home as his wife was standing at the steps to the yurt with her hands on her hips and a scowl upon her face.

The jeep parked next to the steps and Emily smiled up at Arigh and the other woman helped her out of the vehicle. After a few minutes of pleasantries she helped the older lady inside and started to make tea for the visitors. After a the first pot of tea was on the table and they had settled into the living room.

“Okay Derek what do you want?”

Derek steepled his hands in front of him and smiled.

“I want stones adjusted.”

“That is what she is here for and you know it.” The High Pilgrim stated.

Derek shook his head and then dunked a vanilla wafer in his tea and then took a bite. “You and I both know that when she.” And he pointed towards Emily. “That when she adjusts the stones to keep the lock in place she can do so much more with them.”

Emily spoke up. “Yes I can adjust the rocks in certain ways to not only keep the lock in place, but to benefit the country side around it to, but if I do that the stone will have to be maintained much more often.”

Derek nodded. “That is why I want to have someone not only travel with you in my country but to travel with you to the rest of locations and learn as much as he can from you.”

The High Pilgrim turned to Emily who looked at her old friend and shrugged then she spoke up. “Why should we trust one of your people with very powerful knowledge.”

Derek finished the vanilla wafer before speaking, eating the small remaining sweet in two separate bites. “Because without your agreement to this deal the three locations that exist in my sphere of influence you will never be able to approach, let alone conduct maintenance on.”

“You figured out the location of the third spot?” The High Pilgrim said surprised.

“It was not easy, my father knew there were three spots, but he was never sure where the third location was, but after a lot of effort I have discovered it on the small island in the Kerelun.” Emily and the High Pilgrim nodded in acknowledgement that he was correct. “Do you want to know what I want the adjusted formations to accomplish?”

Emily answered quickly. “I am guessing better crops, better health for men and beasts.”

Derek laughed for a full minute, then shook his head. “You think we are going after something so mundane, no, no, no you silly outsiders. I want something much more modern than that.”

Emily shook her head. “I am not adjusting the stones so the Mongols can return to the days of the Kahn.”

Again Derek laughed. “No my dear lady again you think I would want something so archaic.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want Mongolia to become a hub of international communication.”

The High Pilgrim looked at Emily confused. Emily nodded then explained Derek’s request. “He basically wants me to increase his Wi-Fi signal on a nation wide level.”

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)(Part 21) (Part 22)

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stones for the Lock XVII

Posted on May 14, 2017June 12, 2017 by aaforringer

17th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18) (Part 19)

Meredith looked around at the hotel lobby and was pretty sure they had been here before. Mr. Webb was talking in an animated manner to the clerk behind the desk and she could see he was getting agitated then he turned and came back to her.

“That man was no help and he states we were here before.” Webb stated. “I swear I should file a complaint to the manager that his desk clerk is drunk on duty.” Webb said leading them out to their waiting car. Webb and Meredith got in the back seat and Webb gave the address of the next hotel on their list of places to search for her mother. So far there had been no sign of her mother or Brodie it was if they never even checked into a hotel in this town. Meredith was beginning to tire of the search and Mr. Webb while helpful with the search was a mercurial guide of the city. When they rode in the car he had arranged all he did was sit an stare straight ahead, no small talk or even an attempt to give a guide of the city which he initially claimed to live in. Meredith sighed and checked he phone, her husband kept her updated on her mother’s checking and credit cards but so far there was no change since purchasing the tickets to St. Petersburg. The fifteen minute car drive passed quietly and when they pulled into the parking lot of the next hotel Meredith was shocked, they had visited this hotel before, in fact this had been the first one they had been to two days ago. She distinctly remembered the fountain out front and the broken stone hoof on the horse closest to the door. Meredith shook off the thought, maybe Webb was being through and had decided to talk to someone else or to see if their initial inquires had reminded anyone of anything.

Mrs. Emily looked blankly at the CIA Man. Brodie looked back and forth between Mrs. Emily and Mr. Verne. Mr. Verne had a shocked look on his face. Brodie was pretty sure that he might have the same look on his face. Brodie knew the Basil Webb was a member of the opposition, heck he had seen some sort of magical battle between Webb and Mrs. Emily just a few days ago and now Webb had Meredith in St. Petersburg.

“Aren’t you concerned about your daughter’s safety?”

Brodie looked back at his boss who answered swiftly. “Do you think I would walk away from my family and not leave them protected?”

“Well I am not sure?” Mr. Verne of the CIA said.

Mrs. Emily turned towards the High Pilgrim. “I surely hope the CIA has not been bothering you too much over the years, my countrymen can be so,” she searched for a word. “bothersome some times.”

The High Pilgrim nodded. “No more than MI6. The KGB was the most vexing with that Rasputin’s followers but they often got sucked into the Oppositions ranks very easily, one year they would come visit us as representatives of the KGB the next year their names would be popping up as foot soldiers for the Opposition.” The High Pilgrim shrugged.

“Mrs. Bartloski I am sorry if the CIA is bothersome, but we are doing our best to keep American’s safe and right now I consider you daughter to be in grave danger as she is in the company of a known hostile.”

Mrs. Emily looked at the man with very angry eyes. “I have been casting enchantments over my family since the day they were born, the High Pilgrim has set up safeguards over them monthly and has protections for them that you would not even begin to understand or even begin to imagine.” Mrs. Emily seemed to grow in size and the CIA man seemed to shrink in his seat. “Now then since you want to seem to help us so much I would like you to do us a favor and maybe when I return to the states I will allow someone who has an inkling of understanding in their brain to come and what is the term you folks use.”

Brodie who loved cross word puzzles offered a word. “Debrief.”

“Thank you Brodie.” Mrs. Emily turned and smiled.

“I will allow one of your fellow agents to debrief me in my own home at the time and date of my choosing.”

“What is the favor you want from the company?” Mr. Verne said.

“Brodie can you get Ms. Mulan or Holly in here?”

“Sure.” Brodie said leaving the room and finding Holly in the large waiting area, she followed him back to the room.

“Something I can do for you Mrs. Emily?”

Mrs. Emily motioned for the blonde girl to come closer and whispered in her ear, Holly simply nodded in answer to whatever had been said to her then Holly got a nod from the older woman and left the room. Then Mrs. Emily turned back towards Mr. Verne. “I have been informed that our pilot Ms. Mulan is rated to fly your plane.”

Mr. Verne looked at her suspiciously. “Okay.”

“Well you see our plane is old and slow and yours is better than ours so we would like it.”

“You mean you would like us to fly you somewhere?” Mr. Verne smiled broadly. “I am sure that can be arranged, my superiors would love to be brought up to speed on your current mission.”

“No you misunderstood Mr. Verne, we are going to take the plane, and you can take ours when you arrange to fuel it up.”

“That is highly unusual Mrs. Bartloski, that is U.S. Government property I just can’t let a unknown civilian fly off with it.”

Mrs. Bartloski was unzipping her bowling bag and a pulled out a small green marble from somewhere inside of it. The High Pilgrim was beginning to stand up and Brodie watched Mrs. Emily held the marble up in the air and dropped it, but instead of it falling to the floor it floated there. Mr. Verne was fascinated by it and he along with Brodie watched it intently, it was not until the High Pilgrim stood in front blocking the view of the floating marble that he realized that Mrs. Emily was walking towards the door.

“Time to go Brodie.”

Brodie shook his head and followed the two older people out of the room and down the hallway they were almost to the door when he thought to ask a question. “Since I could not leave before could I perhaps get a ride with the CIA back to the US?

Mrs. Emily nodded. “You could Brodie, but it would no be direct, I think you would be detained for a least a month in some safe house somewhere while they ask you all sorts of questions.”

“Well.” Brodie said not liking the sound of that.

“More like two months of questioning.” The High Pilgrim chimed in. “Since this newest director they have gotten a lot more aggressive.”

“Two months not being able to call anyone or no one knowing where you are, I think you would enjoy going with us a lot more.”

Brodie thought about it a few minutes. “Okay, but are you just going to take the CIA’s plane?”

“No, when Mr. Verne wake up, he will believe that he authorized us to take it, his superiors will write it off as dealing with magic.” She paused when she saw Brodie’s confused expression. “Don’t worry they will get it back.”

“What about your daughter, what about Meredith?” Brodie asked as they approached the cargo ramp of the much bigger, much nicer plane then the one they had flown in on.

“Oh Meredith will be fine, any of the Opposition that comes up to her and lies will automatically try and do exactly whatever it is they tell her they are there for.”

Brodie looked confused. “If a member of the Opposition came up to one of my grandchildren and said he wanted help to find his lost puppy that is all they would be able to do, look for puppies even going so far as going to go to every animal shelter in a three state region until they found the exact dog they described to my grandchild.”

“That sounds a little too specific.” Brodie said.

“It might have happened. Once.” Mrs. Emily said. “For some reason the enchantment makes them forget their original goal.” She smiled happily and made her way up the ramp with her can and Bro die’s help.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stones for the Lock XVI

Posted on May 7, 2017September 17, 2017 by aaforringer

16th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

“Hey buddy wake up.”

Brodie carefully opened his eyes and was thankful it was dark where ever they were. “Where are we?” He immediately closed his eyes and rubbed his temples trying to do something to alleviate the pounding headache in his head.

“Kyzyl.” The female voice said.

Brodie heard someone walking away from him and slowly opened his eyes again. He realized the plane had stopped shaking and the awful noise that somehow he had been able to sleep through had stopped. The ramp to the back of the plane was down and he could see some lights off in the distance and a dark figure walking away from him towards it. “Hello.” No answer. “Mrs. Emily?” He paused and listened while trying to see around the dark cargo area. Nothing. Brodie pulled himself out of the webbing and felt pain all through his legs, sometime in the last several hours his legs had gone to sleep and he felt the shooting pins and needles. He rubbed his legs and managed to get to his feet while holding onto the wall of the plane as he slowly made his way thru the plane and to the lowered ramp. Looking around he realized they were on another almost deserted runway. Almost because there was a larger plane parked a couple hundred yards away but with its ramp up. He looked towards the building where the lights were on and slowly started walking towards it. He saw there was a town a mile or two past the airport building and wondered again where he was.

“Can you just fuel the plane?

“No.”

These were the first words Brodie heard as he entered the airport lounge.

“Why not?”

“Because unlike me these guys will not work without getting paid and they sure as heck are not going to just give you a couple hundred gallons of gasoline just because we ask really nice.”

Brodie could hear the sarcasm in the voice and knew he had just walked in on a argument between two people who knew each other really well. The one using sarcasm was Holly the short girl who had been wearing the ragged brown jump suit but was not sporting blue jeans and a pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt, she was kinda cute Brodie realized.

“Don’t get me started on your pay, you get paid when I get paid.”

“And when was the last time we got paid.” Holly said. “Sure we can land at the monastery when ever we want and eat and sleep there for free but that is hardly putting any coins in my pocket.”

The other woman who was facing away from him had to be the pilot and her voice sounded like the woman who had woke him up. “Excuse me.” Brodie said loud enough to interrupt them. They both turned to look at him. Mary Mulan was tall, maybe even taller than Brodie and he was six foot one but in contrast to Holly she had a severe look about her, black pants, black boots, black leather jacket short almost a crew cut hair cut and a gold tooth with several piercings in both her ears and a few on her face.

“And another thing why was he still sleeping on the plane when I shut down the power he should have been off with everybody else.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Holly spat back. “We need gold to get the plane filled up and if you don’t have a couple of coins with you then you had better dig out some Benjamin’s otherwise this charter is D.O.A.”

Brodie walked a few steps closer and spoke. “Excuse me where is Mrs. Emily?”

Mary Mulan pointed down a semi lite hallway and then started to dig into her jacket. Brodie expected her to pull out a gold coin but all she did was pull out a box, flipped up the top and pulled out a dark nasty looking cigar.

“Please don’t smoke that in here.” Holly said her hands on her hips looking up at the tall woman.

“It helps me think, I am trying to think if Anatoly owes me a favor.” As she pulled out a disposal lighter and light the cigar.

“Anatoly, Anatoly yeah he owes you a favor the last time you were in town you took out his daughter and turned her on to smoking cigars and playing poker, she lost a bundle to you and her father had to pay it back.” Holly said.

Brodie looked down the aforementioned hallway and did not see anyone. “Are you sure they Mrs. Emily is down there?”

Mary Mulan shook her head and turned towards Brodie. “They are down there, there is a big guy standing out the door, he will let you in just tell him you are with Mrs. Emily.” Mary then turned towards Holly. “Where can I find a phone I can call Anatoly and get us some fuel.” Mary then walked off in the opposite direction and Holly followed her leaving Brodie alone in the waiting area with no where to go except where the pilot had pointed. Brodie navigated thru the rows of chairs and down the semi lite wide dark hallway. He had only walked less than a hundred feet when he saw a man standing in next to door on the left hand side. The man watched Brodie approach with bored expression, the bored expression Brodie understood he was from L.A. where the bored expression was a way of life, what caused him to pause was the large flashy knife the man was twirling in his hand.

“Sorry to bother you but I am looking for my boss, Mrs. Emily.”

The man stared at him then he casually flipped the knife into his other hand and with a bored flourish he pointed towards the door he was standing in front of.

“Thanks?” Brodie said as he walked around the man and pushed on the door, the room was bright and he heard conversation stop as he entered.

“Oh it is Brodie.” The voice of Mrs. Emily said cheerfully. “Come in come in.”

Brodie entered the room and found Mrs. Emily sitting on a couch with the High Pilgrim and across from them was a man about his age dressed in khaki pants and a blue polo shirt with a darker blue windbreaker on, but with an unhappy expression on his face.

“Sorry to interrupt but I woke on the plane and no one was around.”

“I thought it best if you slept you seemed so tired.” Mrs. Emily stated.

“Thank you.” Brodie said almost unconsciously. “Can you tell me where we are?”

“You are in Kyzyl, Russia.” The man on the opposite couch said.

“Oh.” Brodie said confused. “I thought we were going to Mongolia?”

Mrs. Emily shook her head. “Well were were but then we got diverted here by Mr. Verne.”

“Now Mrs. Emily it was very important that I speak to you, The Company had some very important information we thought you should have.” Mr. Verne said.

“When the Central Intelligence Agency has anything important to say about the safety of the world we be the day pigs fly.” Mrs. Emily said testily.

Brodie’s mouth dropped opened at the words Central Intelligence Agency.

“The Company has come a long way in understanding what is going on with your struggle.”

Mrs. Emily looked at the High Pilgrim who simply shrugged. “I guess we could listen although Mr. Verne came to my last year with some very important information and it turned out to be a case of too little too late, they even got the players wrong it was the Egyptian Tribe and they thought it was the Washburn Contingency.”

Mrs. Emily shook her head and Mr. Verne looked embarrassed as though he had failed a very important test. “This time you really need to here this.”

“Well spit it out then, we have a long way to go and we have a nice head start on the Opposition right now and every second we waste here cuts into that lead time.” Mrs. Emily said impatiently.

Mr. Verne took out a folder and began to read. “Yesterday a Mr. Basil Copley Webb flew into St. Petersburg and met with your daughter.” He looked up for a reaction there was none from Mrs. Emily or the High Pilgrim. “He took her to the Plaza hotel and he checked her in for the night he then returned in the morning an he began driving her around the city, and from what we can gather this Mr. Webb was helping her look for you Mrs. Bartloski.”

Emily nodded sadly. “And you flew all this way to tell me this?”

“Yes I thought you would like to know that your daughter Meredith is in danger.” The C.I.A. man said in a shocked voice.

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stones for the Lock XV

Posted on April 30, 2017April 30, 2017 by aaforringer

15th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)

Brodie woke from his nap and felt the vibration that was constant on this plane. He wondered which experience flying was was more common, the First Class seats he had flown in Europe or this one as they winged their way from Russia to Mongolia. He knew the way they had taken off was far from normal. As soon as he ran up the ramp of the plane Holly, the girl in the raggedy jump suit had hit a button and the ramp started closing and the plane started moving.

Holly had not even looked at Brodie but went forward and began to strap Mrs. Emily in and then the High Pilgrim. Brodie stood their dumbly not knowing what to do. It was the shaking of the plane that made Brodie walk towards where Mrs. Emily was and he looked around for a chair to sit in but the only ones were for the High Pilgrim and his boss. Hans and Dante had strapped themselves into a webbing type seats and Brodie looked around for a place he could sit as well. The plane shook more and all of a sudden Brodie heard something striking the outside of the plane then a hole appeared in the ramp that had just retracted. Brodie did no comprehend what was going on until later and he realized the plane had been shot a couple of times.

“Sit down you idiot.” Holly said yelling from the cockpit.

Brodie threw himself into the old greasy cargo net that was shaped enough like a seat to be used as such and tried to figure out how to strap himself in.

It was then that he realized how loud the plane was so in addition to the constant vibration Brodie knew that soon very soon he was going to have a headache. After a few minutes as he felt the plane begin to level out and then Holly came into the cargo area wearing earphones and started to hand out additional ones. When she got to Brodie she shook her head. “Sorry bud the charter said only four passengers so I only scrounged up four headsets.” Brodie knew without a doubt he was going to have a head ache. Holly held up a finger after a few seconds of looking down at him, she did not talk but started to feel around in her multiple pockets and at the third pocket she found what she was looking for. Holly pulled out a pair of old slightly dirty foam ear plugs.

Brodie frowned but he held out his hand and she put the dirty things in his hand. Holly went about her business as Brodie examined the foam plugs and tried to clean them with his hands but they did not seem to get any better so reluctantly he put the foam plugs in his ears, it helped some.

The plane shook and rattled began to bank one way then another, Holly yelled. “Mulan what the heck are you doing up there?”

Brodie could barely hear her and he was sure that this Mulan lady in the cockpit could not hear her.

“Is everything alright?” Brodie yelled to Holly who was standing only a few feet away.

“No we are not supposed to be going all night, we will put down to refuel.”

Brodie looked at her confused then yelled. “Retool, what are you going to retool what is wrong with the plane.”

Holly shook her head then pointed. “No Mrs. Emily has her cane.”

Brodie shook his head and then waved her off. Holly shrugged and went back towards the cockpit. Brodie could feel the headache growing as his spine shook and then when he realized no one was facing him and no one could hear him he cried and then a few minutes later after he cleaned himself up with a handkerchief he always kept in his pocket he stared off into space and after what could have been ten minutes or two hours he fell asleep.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

Tending the Stones for the Lock

Tending the Stone for the Lock XIII

Posted on April 16, 2017June 4, 2017 by aaforringer

13th part of the new weekly story. (1st Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18) (Part 19)

Brodie stared at the two of them. The High Pilgrim and Mrs. Emily were acting as though what had just happened to him was normal. Brodie stood looking at the two of them and neither of them looked upset or for that matter even bothered that much.

“How do you like you pancakes, silver dollar or full sized?” Mrs. Emily asked beginning to walk towards the RV.

Brodie stared at her back and then crumpled down to his knees on the old dirty concrete floor of the airplane hangar. Brodie then began to cry. The High Pilgrim heard him and turned back he was the first one to reach him but Mrs. Emily was the first to say something as soon as she close to him. “We will make arrangements for you to go home.”

Brodie looked at her with tears streaming down his face. “I can’t handle this,” he said motioning to the strange environment. “people want to hurt me all for something I don’t understand.” Brodie took a deep gasping breath and felt Mrs. Emily hand on his shoulder.

“That is okay Brodie, I guess it was unfair of me to drag you along without your consent.” Mrs. Emily said apologetically. “By this time tomorrow you will be on a plane for sunny California.”

“Really?” Brodie said looking at her hopefully.

“Yes really.” Mrs. Emily said smiling. “Now get off the floor your pants are getting dirty and my pancakes are getting cold.”

Brodie helped Mrs. Emily up the stair and they sat and had breakfast while they were sitting down he heard the High Pilgrim on what he guessed was a satellite phone talking to someone in low tones.

Brodie had just finished a second stack of pancakes and he was trying to tell Dante with hand motions that he did not want anymore when the High Pilgrim interrupted and placed hand on Brodie’s shoulder. “Mr. Quint I have a monk coming to pick you up at one o’clock today, he will drive you to Moscow where he will put you on a plane.”

“Thank you.” Brodie said looking up into the old man’s deep brown eyes. “I am sorry I cannot help you any longer.”

The High Pilgrim smiled. “We all do as much as we can with what we have, your path diverges from ours at this point, just continue to do good in the world.”

Brodie simply said. “Okay.”

The High Pilgrim turned to Mrs. Emily who was sipping a mug of tea. “The plane is on time and will be here at noon.”

“You guys are flying.”

Mrs. Emily smiled mischievously. “Of course my silly boy we are at an airport.”

Brodie nodded. “Where are you going?”

The two older people looked at each other and they shook their heads, and Mrs. Emily spoke. “While you will be safe after we leave it would still be safer if you did not know where we are going.”

Brodie nodded. Dante started to clean up the plates and Brodie started to help him clean up the dishes then volunteered to wash the dishes. A half an hour later Mrs. Emily called him outside. Dante was sitting behind the wheel of an old Soviet era military vehicle and the High Pilgrim was already in the passenger seat.

“Could you help me get in the vehicle we have to take a little drive.” Brodie helped her into the back seat of the open topped vehicle, he was about to come around to the other side and Mrs. Emily held up her hand. “You do not need to go.”

Brodie looked around the big hangar. “I do not want to be here alone.”

Mrs. Emily smiled. “Fair enough.”

Dante drove them out of the hangar and down a side road away from the airfield. They had driven for only a few minutes and they came upon Hans who was standing at the top of hill with a pair of binoculars. He simply pointed down the road and climbed in the rear of the vehicle.

They drove down the hill and came to wide spot in the road where a black sedan was parked. Hans jumped down promptly and approached the car slowly looking around cautiously when he got a good look inside the vehicle he nodded and motioned for the others to approach. Hans then walked around to the front of the car and shook his head while looking down at the ground. Helping Mrs. Emily out of the vehicle he escorted her to the driver’s side of the vehicle. Mrs. Emily opened the car door and reached in and retrieved her large wooden book.

“What is going on?” Brodie said confused.

Emily motioned for Brodie to hold out his hands flat which he did, them Mrs. Emily laid the wooden book on his hands. Mrs. Emily then moved some of the latches and slides on the book, Brodie watched carefully and could tell she was locking the book back up. Once the book was closed tightly she took motioned for him to carry it. “Follow me, I want you to see something.”

The old lady walked carefully to the front of the vehicle and Brodie saw what Hans was shaking his head at. The man, Bridger was laying on the ground. Brodie thought he was dead but then saw his chest move in a slow rhythmic breathing. Brodie realized the man was different somehow.

“You see the book has certain protections on it.” Mrs. Brodie said and motioned with her cane. “When Mr. Bridger tried to open it without the proper consent of the High Pilgrim, something I have had for years, there was a backlash of energy, and Mr. Bridger’s charms, in his case the ability to use a set of astral hands backfired on him.”

“He said he gave up three inches so he could do that.” Brodie said shocked. Looking down at Bridger the man looked at least a foot taller then when he had seen him. The man’s pants no longer fit and his black t-shirt looked several sizes too small. “He has grown.”

“Yes for every year he gave up his true nature and used the dark energy to do things.” Mrs. Emily said flatly. “His true nature came back even stronger than ever.”

“Will he be alright?” Brodie asked as he watched Hans and Dante pick up the prone figure and place him gently in the back seat of the sedan.

“Oh yes, he is sort of stunned right now, and in a year or two he will return to his original height before he started using the charm to give him the extra abilities.” Mrs. Emily answered.

They walked back to their vehicle to the High Pilgrim who had not moved from his seat.

“You owe me a dollar.” Mrs. Emily said holding out her hand.

“It was only a mile and four tenths.” The High Pilgrim said.

“We always play by The Price is Right rules, the person who is closet without going over wins.” Mrs. Emily said in a firm voice. “Are you going to pay up or what John.”

The High Pilgrim felt around in his robes. “I must have left my wallet in my other robes.”

“You have a vow of parsimony John, you don’t have any other robes.” Mrs. Emily said, then waved him off dismissively. “Brodie would you help me get back into this silly vehicle.”

One the way back to the airplane hangar Brodie leaned over to her. “How did you know Bridger would open the book?”

Mrs. Emily patted his hands motherly. “Human nature is very curious, and to someone who works for the Opposition their base nature is what the obey the most, so his nature inclination was to look inside even though good sense would tell him it was protected.”

Brodie thought about it. “So you were betting with the High Pilgrim how long before his human nature let him live with the book unopened.”

“Exactly.” Mrs. Emily said.

They arrived back at the hangar and Mrs. Emily had Brodie help her pack and Brodie got out a piece of paper and wrote down her pill schedule and ensured that the High Pilgrim and Dante understood the importance of reminding her to take her pills. This was harder with Dante as his English was limited to ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘okay’ with accompanying hand gestures for the last one. Brodie was not happy about leaving but he thought if he did not leave now he was going to lose him mind and maybe even get hurt. He still ached a little from where Bridger had punched him in the stomach with his ‘extra’ hand.

“Are you packed up?” The High Pilgrim asked as he walked to where Brodie was standing next to the old military truck. Brodie was about to answer when a droning interrupted them and off in the distance a large cargo plane had just landed on the runway. “What time is it?”

Brodie looked at his watch. “It is noon.”

The top monk smiled. “Finally she is on time for once.”

“She?” Brodie said surprised.

The High Pilgrim nodded. “Yes Ms. Mary Mulan she has a terrible problem with tardiness.”

“You have female monks in your order who are also pilots.”

The High Pilgrim chuckled. “Mary a monk, hardly but she is a friend of the order and reliable,” the monk paused “at least reliable to the day if not the hour.”

The large plane taxied towards them and Brodie could see it was a dual prop plane painted mostly white with one gray wing and the other black. Brodie immediate was glad he was not getting onto the irregular plane.

The plane pulled up to the hangar and did a neat little turn facing away from them its engines winding down before the propellers stopped turning the rear ramp was dropping and a figure was running towards them.

“We got company coming in people you need to get on the plane now.”

Brodie looked around shocked and the High Pilgrim shrugged. Meanwhile the figure was still running towards them. Brodie could see it was a short girl in a brown jumpsuit that might have been too big for her if she had not cut the pant legs off as it was the cuffs were very ragged.

“High Pilgrim there is a very nasty looking convoy coming down the road, they are loaded for bear and they will be here in about ten minutes.”

The High Pilgrim simply nodded. “Are you still working as a crew chief for Ms. Mulan Holly?”

“Obviously sir. Now then can you please get on the plane.”

By now Mrs. Emily had joined them. “How many vehicles?”

“Fifteen and they have crew mounted weapons on half the vehicles.” Holly answered.

Mrs. Emily turned to Brodie. “I do not think you will be able to leave us currently.”

Brodie looked around. “Maybe I could hide until the monk comes to take me to Moscow.”

“Not advisable my son if they found you they would most likely take out their aggression on you.” The High Pilgrim answered.

“You have got to come with us now for you own safety.” Mrs. Emily stated firmly.

“But I thought you said if I continue with you the only way out is thru, where are you going next?”

Mrs. Emily was already walking steadily towards the plane and called back over her shoulder. “Mongolia.”

Brodie stood there in silence. When he looked up Holly the girl in the ragged brown jump suit was looking at him. “Well string bean are you coming or not?” She looked down at her watch. “We got eight minutes to get up to speed and get off the ground before the men with machine guns show up.”

“Machine guns?”

“Yeah machine guns dum dum. Vehicle mounted air cooled automatic weapons that shoot a lot of bullets in a short time.” She shook her head and then grabbed his suitcase out of the back of the truck and started running for the plane.

Brodie though about it for few seconds and then started running after her. “Wait for me.”

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18) (Part 19)

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you would like to read my last weekly story, A Disinclined Purveyor of Sequential Art her it is. (Written in 2013, the same year my wife left me, so I was a different person back then, and I hope I have learned a lot about writing since then.)

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.