The Typewriter

Chapter 27 or Day 27 of NaNoWriMo 2012 (1,672 words)

Chapter 27: Mary Ann Walton-Gray and Miles Dragonslayer Give their Opinions

Inside the house, Sally showed everyone to the setting room. In the middle of the coffee table was a tray of sandwiches, assorted plates, cups, napkins, silverware, and a large coffee pot full of coffee. Setting around the table were General Douglas, Miles Dragonsalyer, George Jenkins, and Jake Nolan. Mary Ann sit down on the couch followed by her brother and Captain Whitehead.

"Where'd you park your car, Mary?" Ask Jake helping himself to a sandwich.

"Under a tree," she filled two cups with coffee and then handed to pot to Captain Whitehead. "Do you think it'll be safe?"

"It should be," he smiled. "With the exception of the Constable's vehicle the dragons haven't bothered cars in this section of town in decades."

"I think we better get down to the subject at hand," said Miles as Sally placed a sandwich and cup of coffee on the side stand next to his chair. "Who wants to go first?"

"Perhaps," said General Douglas, "we ought to find out who's recently turned up missing in Dragonview or the surrounding area."

"Parole Office Jay Parker," said George taking Parole Officer Parker's dairy out of his picket and placing in on the small table sitting beside his chair.

"Retired Brigadier General Max Baldwin," said Captain Whitehead.

"And possibly K. C. Wainwright," said Captain Walton.

"Definitely, K. C. Wainwright," said Miles Dragonslayer.

"How can you be sure," ask Mary Ann.

"Right before you drove you car into the driveway, Jo Jo, Miss Lydia, maid called me." He took a sip of coffee as he watched the expressions on their faces. "She and Jose are worried about Miss Lydia. Jo Jo told me that every time Miss Lydia uses "The Typewriter", Jo Jo words, my aunt looks haggard and tired. She said, that tonight when my aunt came out of the "Typewriter's Office", both Jo Jo and Jose noticed that she had aged five years in the two hours she was in the office. When the ask her about it, Aunt Lydia said "Using magic requires a sacrifice."

"Did she explain anything about "The Typewriter?" Ask Captain Walton.

"No," he shook his head. "Jo Jo said that Jose has something to tell me and handed the phone to him."

"What did Jose tell you," Jake ask.

"He said that K. C. Wainwright entered the Applewhite private garden tonight and tried to kill Miss Lydia with some type of military handgun. He said he didn't see what caliber because he jumped on Wainwright from behind and knocked him out. Before he could pick up the gun, Miss Lydia had retrieved it. She had him tie K. C. up and leave him in the gazebo. Then order Jose to returned to the guest house. An hour later, when Jose went into the main house to east supper with Jo Jo, he noticed that K. C. wasn't in the gazebo."

"Could Wainwright have loosened the ropes and escaped?" Ask Whitehead.

"No," Miles frowned, "Jose is an ex-sailor; he knows how to tied a perfect knot."

"Are you suggesting," George said, as he poured himself another cup of coffee. "That this "Typewriter" Jo Jo referred to has some type of magical powers?"

"George," Miles smiled, "I'm not suggesting anything. I do know that Aunt Lydia grandmother Selma Applewhite was the sorceress who proved that technology and magic can coexist." He leaned back in his chair to allow what he said to peculate in their minds. "I haven't did a lot of research on my great grandmother, but I suspect she was also the sorceress who proved that technology and magic can work together."

"She was," said Captain Whitehead. "My first wife Cleo, did research on Selma Applewhite when she was earning her Master's Degree in Sorcery. She said, that Sorceress Selma, as she is known at most colleges, was able to imbue technol objects with magical powers, but no one was sure how she did it. Whatever method she used, apparently died with her."

A peal of thunder echoed through the house shaking the windows and knocking object off the bookshelf. Sally got up from her chair and began picking them up. As she bent down to pick up the last object, a bright flash of light illuminated the room and she noticed a yellow sheet of parchment under the bookcase. She reach her finger under the shelves and pulled the parchment out. Then she picked up the object, which a clear crystal bell. Instead of placing the unbroken crystal bell back on top of the bookcase, she took it and the parchment to Miles.

"Thank you, Honey," he said as he sit the bell on the stand beside him.

"What is it, Miles," ask George.

"The writing on the parchment looks like a poem or a spell," he frowned. "I think it refers to the crystal bell." He turned to Jake. "Uncle Jake, do you know anything about this."

"Your Grandfather Luther, gave the bell to your mother on her sixteenth birthday." He laughed remember the joy in his sister's eyes when she opened the box. "I don't think that bookcase has every been moved since Luther Applewhite placed it there forty or fifty years ago."

"Uncle Jake," said Sally, "are you saying no one ever moved the bookcase to clean behind or under it."

"I don't move furniture when I clean a house," grinned Jake, "which really pisses my wife off. But, as I've often told Maggie, I believe that if furniture were meant to be moved when you clean, The Fates would give the furniture the power to move without assistance from a human being."

"And Aunt Maggie doesn't push the subject," Sally smiled.

"Maggie always gives me the choice of moving the furniture or cleaning the toilet," he sighed, "I've became an expert at cleaning toilets."

"What does the poem-spell say, Miles," ask George.

"Do all of you want me to read it," Miles glanced from person to person as each one nodded his or her head. Miles took a deep breath, read the paper silently two or three times, and then picked up the crystal bell.

"On a dark and stormy night,
When lightning flashes
And dragon's fight in full flight.

Read Miss Selma's parchment rhyme,
Then ring the crystal bell three times,
And listen to the thunder's musical chimes.

As the music rumbles past,
This bell a traveling spell will cast,
That carries you far and fast,
To the end of your quest,
Where your curiosity can rest,
About a mystery from the past."

Still holding the parchment, Miles picked up the bell and rung it three times. The last peal echoed with the thunder like music of an orchestra rising and falling with the baton strokes of an invisible conductor. As the last echoes of the bell flowed past the ears of the people Mile's sitting room a great clash of thunder reverberated through the night and then a bright streak of lightning illuminated the night. Everyone in the room closed their eyes and held their breath until the echoes of the thunder died. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in Lydia Applewhite's setting room, while Miss Lydia's alarm system clanged louder then the thunder outside the house.

Jo Jo, cell phone in hand, came running down the hall. She turned off the alarm system, turned on the lights in the setting room, and stood in the doorway staring in disbelief at its new occupants. The phone chimed and she answered it, "Relax, Constable, the storm set the system off. It's nothing to worry about, everyone here is safe." Then she entered the sitting room, counted the number of people, and said, "Would you'll like coffee or hot tea?"

"Jo Jo," said Sally, getting up off the arm of the couch. "Do you have anything stronger then coffee or tea?"

"Perhaps," she went to Jake and helped him off the floor. "That would be better."

"Yes, Miss Sally," Jo Jo went into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Lydia, wearing a lavender robe and fluffy slippers, came into the setting room. "I see," she walked over to Miles, "you found Grandma Selma's bell and rhyme. I've always wondered what happened to those items," she smiled. "Where did you find them?"

"In my mother's house," Miles returned her smile.

"I'm glad Pop, gave them to Nora." She found an empty chair and sit down, "she always adored that bell when she came over here, but I don't think she knew anything about the spell."

"Aunt Lydia," Miles lay the parchment on the coffee table and placed the bell on top of it. "Why did the spell bring us here?" He suspected he already knew the answer, he just wanted to hear his aunt's confirmation.

"Because all of you have a question to ask me," she bit the bottom of her lip. "I think it may have something to do with The Typewriter. I known for a long time that someone would eventually connect the disappearances with Grandma Selma's blessed or perhaps I should say cursed Typewriter."

Jo Jo came into the room carrying a tray of wine glasses filled to the brim with homemade apple wine. "Miss Sally," she said. "I couldn't find anything stronger, so I hope this will do."

"This will be fine, Jo Jo," Sally picked up a glass off the tray and took a sip. Then she watched as the maid served all the guest before offering the last glass to Miss Lydia.

"Thank you, Jo Jo," said Miss Lydia taking the glass for herself. "I don't think we'll need anything else for a while, so you might check to see if the alarms upset Jose." She winked at the maid, "He's been extremely protective lately. Is he in the guest house or your room?" Jo Jo blushed and went back down the hall to her room.

"They do make a lovely couple," said Miss Lydia sipping her wine.