The Night of the Victorian Plot – Part 2

Welcome to America

Chapter 9

The Anonymous Tenant

By the time Artie reached the creek for the second time it was several hours since Jim ha gone missing. Thankfully the weather had remained dry and Artie was able to see where horses' hooves had made marks in the now dried mud and by following those hoof prints could tell what direction they had taken.

If Artie had not lost his memory of the last twenty years he would have known that his skills had been honed when he and Jim had followed the signs an escaped killer had left as he travelled across Dartmoor. The ground had been soft and made an ideal surface for following foot marks. But when those weren't evident there were other signs to look for, many of which Jim had taught him, a skill he had picked up during his time on the Royal Artillery when on the Canadian campaign.

Following the signs, Artie rode and sometimes walked, leading his horse, for several hours until he came to a small town called Gerhard Flats in Oklahoma* Territory. Artie's enquiries took him to the land office where he rang a bell on the counter and came face to face with a man in his fifties with grey hair and glasses, who looked like a strong wind could blow him away.

"What can I do for you, Mister?" he asked.

Artie thought it best to answer in an American accent so as not to draw attention to himself.

"I'm looking for a house to buy, somewhere out of town," he said, "With some land attached."

"There aren't any for sale at the moment though one of the owners who is renting their property out might be agreeable to selling."

This was very helpful to Artie as it was rented property he was really interested in.

"So, there are a few rented properties around here, are there?" He asked.

"About half a dozen."

"I have business in the area and what I'm looking for is a house from which I can base my operations; something fancy if you know what I mean."

"I see," said the man, "There's only one house that would fit the , but it's already occupied."

"Tell me the tenant's name. Maybe I can persuade him to hand the property over to me," Artie suggested.

The man opened a drawer and withdrew a ledger. He opened it at a particular page and checked what was written there then he closed the book.

"Sorry Mister," he said. "The tenant wants to remain anonymous. The only thing I can tell you is that he owns a cat. I know because he specifically asked if the owner allowed pets."

This was sounding more and more promising and an idea was forming in Artie's mind.

"Can you give me the name of the previous tenant and directions to the property?" he asked.

"Can't see a problem with that," the man said, taking the ten dollar note that slid across the counter towards him.

Loveless approached the bed and Jim acted instinctively, dreading the humiliation of being held aloft in the Doctor's hand. So he rolled over to the side as quickly as he could; slid down the counterpane and ran under the bed. There was a certain amount of dust and fluff but he could easily put up with that. His undoing, however, came in the shape of a long-haired, ginger and yellow-furred cat. He crouched as silently and still as he could, but it stretched out a giant (from his perspective) paw with claws unleashed and batted at him. Jim backed away, but the cat followed him. Before long it had chased him out from under the bed and into Loveless' waiting hands.

"Well done, Brunhilde," Loveless said to the cat. He stroked her head with one hand while he held Jim in the other. Brunhilde purred.

Jim stayed absolutely still; in the belief that to struggle would only humiliate him further and provide entertainment for his captor. Loveless ignored him until he had finished petting the cat. Then he turned his attention back to his tiny captive.

"I hope you like your new outfit, Mr West," he said, "All sewn by my dear Antoinette."

Jim didn't reply. He was basically boiling mad inside but was trying to hide it from Loveless to whom he was trying to portray an appearance of unconcern.

Things got even worse after Loveless said, "She loved playing with dolls when she was a little girl so she was happy to dress you."

Jim tried not to think about Antoinette seeing him naked but even so he was certain that his face had gone a fiery red. He couldn't remember the last time he blushed and he looked down so that Loveless wouldn't see and have something else to taunt him with.

"You're probably wondering how you ended up like this," Loveless said.

Jim wasn't, but he felt it was safest to go with that. "I guess you're going put me out of my misery," he said.

"I synthesised a powder that when inhaled or swallowed shrinks the subject down to roughly six inches, depending on their original height." He smiled and gave a small laugh. "I put some of that powder in the cigar I gave you."

"That did seem the rational explanation," Jim replied. He had regained control of himself. "But why would you do that?"

"I mean to put my powder into all the water supplies in America to shrink down the whole population. That way I will be the tallest man in the country and no-one will be able to look down on me again. You were my guinea pig and now I know that it works I can go ahead with my plan."

"You're mad!"

Loveless scowled. "I am not mad! I am not! No I won't let you make me angry," he added, calming down but still frowning. "It's always the same. People like you can't possibly understand genius so you stick to your narrow-minded prejudices when you are presented with something outside of your sphere of experience."

"Yeah, that's what it is," Jim said sarcastically. "What happens if you accidentally ingest some of the powder?"

"I have the antidote of course," Loveless said. He carried Jim over to the mantelpiece where he picked up a small phial. "This is it. I've put it well out of your reach. However, I'm not willing to let you run around getting into all sorts of trouble so I've come up with a solution."

To Jim's chagrin Loveless walked over to a table on the other side of the room and he saw a cat carrier sitting there. Loveless opened the top and dropped Jim in and there was nothing he could do about it.

"I shall have to leave you now," Loveless said, closing the top.

Jim sat in the almost darkness with the only air to reach him coming through the air holes in the box. He couldn't reach the fastening and he had no tools to help him. He sat in one corner and thought about Artie and what he was doing.

After booking a room in the local hotel for the night so that he could freshen himself up and get rid of the dirt from his journey, Artie had been busy at the printers in Gerhard Flats having some business cards printed after which he followed directions to a house about five miles out of town where he hoped he would find Jim.

In answer to his knock at the door a tall man with a beard faced him and asked, "What do you want?"

"I Sir, am an agent of the ASPSCA," Artie announced. "And I wish to speak to the owner of this house."

The man frowned at him "Uh?" he said.

"The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," Artie said, in explanation.

The man seemed to understand because he asked Artie in and then left him in the hall after saying he would fetch his employer.

Artie decided to wander closer to the door through which the man had disappeared as he could hear singing. In fact the singing was quite beautiful and he followed the sound until he opened the parlour door and went inside. He recognised the German folk song 'Dort in den Weiden Steht Ein Haus'.

The singers were a small man Artie recognised as Lieblosen, now Loveless, and his singing partner was a beautiful woman who was playing a harpsichord. The large man with the beard was waiting for the song to end before talking to Loveless.

As the song came to a close Artie stepped forward. "Delightful," he said. "That was absolutely delightful. The best I have ever heard it sung."

Loveless turned to him. "You are familiar with the folk song?" he queried.

"Ah yes, I believe the American translation would be 'There is a House in the Pastures'."

Loveless laughed. "That is right. You speak German?"

"A little," Artie replied, "What I have learned as a boy from my parents. They came to America from Germany before I was born."

"May I introduce my cousin, Antoinette," Loveless said.

Artie approached her and brought her hand to his lips. "I'm enchanted," he said.

"I'm pleased to meet you Mr..er…"

"My name is Adolphus# Mayer," Artie said handing his card to Loveless without taking his eyes from Antoinette.

Loveless looked at Artie. He saw a neatly-dressed man with a trim beard and moustache, a pince-nez perched on his nose and a trilby hat in his hand. He read the card and asked, "What can I do for you, Mr Mayer?"

Now came the hard part, getting Loveless to believe what he was going to say next. "Well…..," he began, tearing his gaze from the beauty in front of him.

To be continued

*Michael Dunn was born in Oklahoma so by setting part of this drama there I am bringing him home.

#Well done if you remembered that Adolphus is the name Artie gave his non-existent twin brother in 'TNOT Skulls'