Clockworks Chronicles of Zahn

4) A Gathering of Immortals

John Wingate stepped off the train at Grandeur Central uneasily. This was the first time he had set foot in Grandeur City in over 90 years. He had spent the last 50 years in the Southern Continent on his own plantation trying to live a simple life. However, he felt a sudden compulsion to return to the city where he first came to experience this wonderous world.

Behind him stepped off a seven-foot-tall dark-skinned woman who was being towed out of the rail car by a huge spotted hyena on a leash.

He thought, “that leash was unnecessary. She could control that beast with her will like she did all other animals.” However, the railway wouldn’t allow them to bring such a dangerous and exotic beast on board their train without a leash and muzzle.

He reached down and removed the muzzle and patted the beast on her flank affectionately. Then he looked up at the woman, his daughter, and said, “Make sure she stays out of trouble.”

“Yes dad. But what about me?” she said with a mischievous smile.

“That should go without saying Elishira.” His tone no nonsense. He then took a moment to adjust her mechanical prosthetic arm. He asked, “How’s the new arm feeling?”

“It’s already feeling tight. It seems my real arm is growing back faster than before.”

“Well I made this one so we can adjust it day by day. It should be okay.” He felt a tinge of guilt because she lost the arm because he didn’t trust her to manage the wounded great lion that she was caring for. So, when he tried to help, he only spooked the beast causing it to rip her arm off.

He finished making the necessary adjustments then straightened up. He couldn’t get over the fact that she was over a foot taller than him. It came from her mother’s side. Both her uncles were almost eight feet tall whereas her mother was only six foot like him.

The porter delivered their bags and as they were grabbing their bags a melodic voice said, “Oh Johnny! Over here Johnny!”

He straightened up and said, “Oh joy.” Sarcastically.

A voluptuous red head hobbled over wearing a skirt that was too tight around her ankles preventing her from taking normal strides. Her dress, hat, and matching parasol were bright yellow with white lace especially around her rather generous bosom. All in all, too much, too bright, too overstuffed and too annoying.

“Well hello Johnny, long time no see.”

“Hi Fanny. You’re looking the same as ever.” Meanwhile he was making a shooing sign behind his back to his daughter.

She apparently got the hint and strode off still in tow of her hyena.

“So, where have you been all these years, Johnny?” she asked as she held her hand out to be kissed.

“Why, I was avoiding you.” As he reached up and daintily shook her hand rather than kiss it.

“Oh, you say the funniest things Johnny.” She waved her hand downwards in a dismissal way. “So, what brings you back to Grandeur City, Johnny?”

“Well certainly not to see you again. I just felt that it was time to come back and see the old place.”

Apparently, Fanny noticed Elishira walking away and she got a sudden look of distaste on her face and said, “Well will you look at that filthy creature. Those savages think that they can bring their beastly pets anywhere. But what can one expect since this empire is ruled by one of those savages?” And she shook her body in disgust.

Then she looked back at John and said, “It’s a shame that High Lord James wasn’t more successful in his attempt.”

John shook his head and thought, ‘I actually thought I liked this bigot at one time. Why oh, why was I so stupid.’ What he said out loud was, “It’s a shame that he didn’t have you there to give him advice.”

“Yes, quite. I was on holidays in the islands then.”

“Well my dear Fanny, I must go catch up to my daughter, the savage.” He turned on his heels and started striding off shaking his head.

“Oh Johnny, you say the funniest things! I’m staying at the Grandeur Regency. You must call on me so we can catch up!” she called after him.

“Fat chance of that.” He said under his breath.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar face. He stopped and turned to face him, “Fenton Hargrave! You still stinking up this world?”

A man in a white linen suit with white pith helmet stepped out of the shadows with his ivory handled cane in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. He wiped his forehead and took on a rather annoyed air and said, “I could say the same thing about you. It’s a shame that you’re immortal or I would take great pleasure in killing you.”

“You know, I could say the same thing about you.”

Then they both laughed and grasped hands for a hearty handshake.

“So old boy, what have you been doing for the last fifty years…” Fenton stopped when he heard the low growl behind him.

“Easy girl, this is my old friend Fenton Hargrave.” He said to the hyena.

Fenton turned to look straight into the eyes of the large beast. He almost turned as white as his suit.

“Fenton meet Daisy. And this is my daughter, Elishira.” He motioned to the tall woman still holding the hyena’s leash.

“Well bless my soul. You have a daughter?!”

“Yes indeed. She’s my pride and joy.”

Elishira held out her hand to shake his but Fenton, who was only five foot six took her hand and ever so slightly bowed his head and kissed her hand, “My, you are a majestic looking lady.” He then turned to John and said, “Congratulations dear boy.”

“Fenton, you are the second of us immortals that I have seen today. I ran into Fanny O’Hara on the train platform. She was just in from,” he imitated her haughty speech, “From holidays in the islands.”

They both broke out in a laugh.

Finally, after a few minutes of laughter John said, “So, last I heard you were on expedition on the Western Continent. What brings you back here?”

“I wish I could tell you old boy. I just felt that I had to come back here for some reason. Like my very soul depended upon it. And you?”

“Same, my friend, same. I wanted to leave my daughter behind to look after our plantation on the Southern Continent, but she insisted on coming. Said she’d track me down if I left her behind, so I acquiesced. She’s too much like her mother. All her mom would have to do is batt her big brown eyes and she’d get whatever she wanted from me.” Then he had a momentary sad look on his face.

Elishira noticed that stepped over and put her arm around her dad to comfort him. She then looked over to Fenton and said, “She’s been gone ten years now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. My condolences, truly."

John nodded and said, “Thanks mate. It seems like yesterday. Still I can’t turn around and not expect her to be there.”

“Yes, quite. That’s the curse of immortality.”

“Well we need to go find ourselves a hotel room. Some place other than the Grandeur Regency.”

“Oh, pish posh. I just bought a manor house here in town that used to belong to Calador himself. You and your lovely daughter will stay with me. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Murad eben Musa Mohamed entered the hookah bar on the far end of Little East Village near Victoria I Plaza. He carefully looked around the bar then went over to the proprietor and held up one finger.

The proprietor was a short man wearing a long white robe, red vest and fez. He smiled nervously, bowed and motioned Murad to a curtained booth. The booth didn’t have seats or a table in it but rather several cushions and pillows arranged around a brass hookah.

Murad reached into his maroon sash and took out a small package and handed it to the proprietor then he sat down.

The proprietor unwrapped the package to reveal a one inch by one-inch cube of some kind of yellow caked powder. He looked at the cube puzzled and said, “Sayidi, we have good quality stuff for sale here.”

“No thank you, I only smoke my own stuff. But you can charge me as if I bought your best stuff.” And he retrieved a gold coin from his sash and handed it to the proprietor. Then he said, “Keep the change and see to it that I am not disturbed.” His dark eyes were sharp as the curved dagger that he had buckled to his sash.

The proprietor nodded and prepared the cube for smoking and lit it. Then he bowed and left.

Murad inhaled a long draw on the hookah when he felt a sharp knife placed against his throat. He looked over his shoulder to see a pair of pale green eyes on a face that was half covered by a dark blue Hijab. He slowly let out the smoke from his lungs and said, “Thank Allah it’s you and not Marlena. She would have sawed my head off even knowing that it wouldn’t kill me.”

Bren said, “Who’s to say that I won’t. Besides, I know what to do with your head to make sure you die, effectively. I have never had one come back yet.”

Murad smiled and said, “You won’t because you haven’t yet. I see you are Cassandra today,” looking at her attire as an upper class noble. “If you were going to, my head would be looking up at my body.”

“Point taken.” She then removed the knife from his throat and sat down next to him. She then said, “You don’t have to worry about Marlena. She went back to our world last month. She was visiting me on my new island estate and in a flash, she was gone. After that, I felt the need to come back here.”

Murad noticed that his hookah had fizzled out and said, “Bren, you ruined my smoke. You and your, ‘quiet zone’.”

“I’m not sorry. I don’t even know how you can smoke that smelly stuff.”

“Alas, it still gives me pleasure. One of the few things that continues to give me pleasure these days. I have been in this world far too long and everything is old to me.”

“Maybe you should try mead then. I find it still gives me pleasure.”

“Alas, Allah forbids it.”

“I don’t think the gods of our world care what happens here. This world has its own gods and they are the ones that I would worry about. Those are the ones that can send us back to our own world to die.” She said with a voice as tired as the ages.

Murad just nodded and without thinking tried to take a drag off the hookah then with frustration tossed it aside. He then looked to Bren and asked, “So, why are you here? This is not one of your normal places to visit.”

“A job. An old one that finally resurfaced after hiding for a long time.”

There was suddenly a commotion and shouts in Arabic as the proprietor discovered that one of his customers had lost his head. Literally.

“Ahh, I see that they discovered your handiwork.” Murad said, but he realized that he was talking to himself and Bren had disappeared.

He then shrugged and tried to summon the proprietor who was now hysterical.