Duty Calls Chapter 29: Finding the Enemy - Part I
Agnes and I left on separate planes, just in case we were being watched; I to Bridgeport and she to Moonlights Falls where we were supposed to be going. We made sure our flights left at different times so we weren’t at the airport at the same time. I had a lot of difficulty trying to fake a broken heart when, in reality, mine was singing crazy love songs. So I read from Logic Vol III: 3.14159265 that dad had thoughtfully packed for me.
I did see an Egyptian tourist but just as I was about to strike up a conversation with him to see if he had been the tourist at the Claude Monet Artist Gardens, I saw another Egyptian tourist and then three more. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the face of the tourist back at the gardens as he’d been too far away. With the Egyptian tourists all dressing alike, I couldn’t be certain which one, if any of those at the airport, I had followed to City Hall, so I continued to read my book but covertly watched the tourists. Only four of the Egyptian tourists came to the gate when the flight was called, the fifth was nowhere to be seen.
Because of our different destinations, unfortunately, Agnes and I also ended up on different flights to Champs Les Sims. We were to meet at the little café in the main market place mum told us about. I waited for ages and finally, Agnes arrived looking flustered and beautiful at the same time. “The plane was late. I hope you...,” she began and I smothered her apology with a welcoming kiss.
“You’re safely here and that’s all that matters.” I said as she kissed me back with a longing that made the wait irrelevant.
Before we got too carried away in public again, I asked her. “Where do you want to go first, the Museum, the Nectary or browse around the market place?”
“None of the above, Mr Crumplebottom,” she whispered in my ear, “I want to go to bed!”
“I hope you’re not suggesting that because you’re tired?” I asked uncertainly.
“Really Brandon,” she scolded, “you’re not that naive!”
“Well, I would have suggested that too but I didn’t want to appear too focused on one thing?” I said wryly. She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me out of the café.
“It’s our honeymoon, Brandon, so you’d better stay focused. Besides,” she said with a wink, “don’t you know how hard it is to find privacy on community lots? You just have to keep checking and hope to strike it lucky.” We went back to the base camp but the private rooms were all taken and the dorm had only single beds vacant. I don’t know who was the more disappointed, Agnes or I.
We returned to the market place and browsed for a while. We bought some things at the general store and the bookstore. We checked out the base camp again and struck out. This time we went out to the Nectary to let off some pent up frustration by squishing grapes. We each made a batch of nectar.
We read while we waited for the batches to process but they weren’t very good, so we ended up buying some nectar from the merchant. Early afternoon, we returned to the base camp. It was almost abandoned. Third time lucky!
I took meticulous care to follow Agnes’s instructions and stay focused.
Agnes seemed particularly pleased with my efforts. Finally something Dr Simgund said now made perfect sense to me. Dr Simgund had said, “What we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the, preferably sudden, satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree.” If that’s true I was the happiest Sim on the planet.
We would have eventually been driven from our room by hunger and thirst except we had purchased enough dried food and nectar to withstand a long siege. Yuk! That dried food is awful but the nectar’s okay.
Agnes wasn’t even prepared to let me out of her sight to go to the bathroom. Good thing I’ve had the Steel Bladder lifetime reward since I was a child. All afternoon and evening, we relaxed, we talked, we cuddled and we got to know each other very... very... very…well.
Finally, just after midnight, we received the phone call we’d been waiting for. Dad rang to say Chris had found Dave Ramsey and spoken to him about the photographs. Chris gave dad, Cornelia and Gunther a full briefing of all the particulars.
I put the phone on speaker so Agnes could hear everything. Dave Ramsey swore he had been blackmailed into setting up the photographs. Ramsey had been quite upset that Agnes had seen them. Ramsey had co-operated fully with Chris and had given him as much detail as he could remember.
Apparently, Dave Ramsey had an unsavoury past which he hoped would stay buried. But someone found out and threatened to tell his goody-two-shoes boss if he didn’t do as he was instructed. Ramsey had just started to get ahead in the Journalism career and had been recently promoted to a Freelance Writer’s position.
Ramsey said he had been initially instructed to seduce Agnes but he wouldn’t. Instead he agreed to pose for the photographs because he had been given an iron-clad guarantee that Agnes would never see the photos. He had been told the target for the photos had been someone else. Someone simply referred to as “that brainless little weasel”.
Erik Darling had indeed let Ramsey into Agnes’s house albeit unwittingly and Ramsey swore he was in and out of the house in less than two minutes. Ramsey admitted he wasn’t certain who was behind it all, but the go-between and photographer had been a Middle Eastern or Indian teen who wore clothing usually worn by the Chinese tourists. But Ramsey felt sure the teen was a local as he knew things about Sunset Valley that a tourist wouldn’t. Ramsey described the go-between as a loathsome little toad who was rotten to the core.
Chris told everyone he believed that Ramsey spoke the truth throughout the interview and that Ramsey genuinely felt remorse for his part in the deception. Chris had discovered that Ramsey was unflirty; a trait which would have made seducing a madly in love Agnes nearly impossible.
Dad said to us both, “just hang in there because Cornelia has an idea who the go-between is. She and Gunther are going to lean on him ‘pretty heavily’ to get to the truth.” I could almost hear the smile in dad’s voice at that idea.
“On a more personal note,” Dad said, “Chris said that your grandfather Arthur had joined
Médecins Sans Frontières and was working alongside Jamie in Strangetown. Apparently great-great-grandmother Annette had taken up with a dark wizard who had given her a Fountain of Youth Elixir and a Bottled Blessing of the Fae. Great-great-grandmother Annette was now a young adult fairy.” I gasped at what that could mean. A long living vindictive fairy was not good news for our little family unit.
Dad continued, “It seems this was more than Arthur could tolerate and he left Simfield. Chris said my father used his lifetime rewards points to get the Age Freeze potion. It appears that Arthur doesn’t mind being an elder. He rather enjoys the respect accorded to him as an elder statesman among the medical fraternity. My father plans to stay with
Médecins Sans Frontières well into the foreseeable future and I wrote to wish him well with that decision.”
“On a sadder note,” dad continued, “my grandfather Andrew had decided enough was enough and has given his deathflower to my father and gone off to join the dynasty founder, Anthony, in exploring the pyramids of Egypt. If they survived that, they plan to end their days fishing in Lucky Palms where, it seems, Anthony had already found some new friends.
Dad paused and I heard him yawn before he continued, “the twins are growing fast and I hope you two can come home soon.” I think dad finds the girls a bit of a handful at his age.
“Thanks for the book dad,” I responded, “I am just beginning level 9 in Logic and as soon as I return home, I will get to work on discovering that potion. It must be really late there, so goodnight and give mum and the girls a kiss from both of us.” Dad yawned again, bid us goodnight and ended the call.
While I was surprised and revolted about the news about great-great-grandmother Annette, I was insulted at being called a ‘brainless little weasel”. Chris and I often called each other disparaging terms like ‘lame brain’, ‘silly galah’ or ‘drongo’ but none of it was ever malicious. I particularly resented being called this because it seemed to imply, that the architect of this wicked act had other plans for me.
I had been right in one thing. This person didn’t necessarily hate Agnes; the wedding had been the target. This nasty piece of work was trying to manipulate me. I had acquired another enemy. I didn’t know who and I didn’t know why. I felt dreadful. “Oh Agnes,” I said uncertainly, “I don’t know what I have done to this person to make him or her do this to us”.
Agnes hugged me, “maybe you didn’t actually do something to offend this person. Maybe they are just wicked. Perhaps they saw the vulnerability that I find endearing about you, as a weakness to be exploited. Maybe they just have evil plans and manipulating you is part of their scheme. Whatever happens, we love each other, we believe in each other and nothing can tear us apart now.”
“I couldn’t bear it if they use me to hurt you.” I lamented.
“Well I feel the same about you. And I’ve already been used! I’m still angry about that. So let’s make a pact now.” Agnes said holding me.
“We will not leap to conclusions about anything someone else says that either of us has said or done. We know photographs can be staged and faked. I’m sure other evidence can be contrived in this digital age. We will have a safe word so that if we need to text or email or phone each other, we must use this safe word. Any message without the safe word is to be regarded as an SOS.”
“That’s an excellent idea. What safe word do you have in mind?” I asked. She whispered in my ear. “How on earth can I use that word inconspicuously in a message?”
“You’re an amazingly versatile man. You’ll think of something,” she grinned mischievously. “Also, if we need to explain anything to the other, we’ll do so openly and honestly. I trust you and I hope you trust me to do the right thing.”
“Don’t try and be altruistic,” she continued, “I won’t be better off without you and I know you won’t be happier away from me. I’ve had that advice from the highest authority, your mother. I’m the best thing that has happened to you and it’s the same for me. Let Cornelia, Gunther and your parents deal with this villain and we’ll concentrate on cementing this relationship in foundations which will last a lifetime.” Agnes then proceeded to demonstrate exactly how much I needed her.
That night, for the first time since I was a teen, I had a continuous series of nightmares. Horrible images of falling endless through the air; dark images of Agnes in trouble with me running in slow motion trying to save her; and darker images of great-great-grandmother Annette playing fairy pranks on my new little sisters.
Then Agnes rolled over in her sleep and cuddled into my back. I couldn’t believe how fantastic and reassuring that felt. With Agnes by my side, (and covering my back too, it would seem) and our two families working together, we can resolve this crisis. Soon I fervently hoped, because I wanted Agnes and I to have a future I could never have dreamed possible only a short time ago.
