The Vampire as Metaphor...Book III of the (Semi) Complete Works of William Soames Walthrop...
PG-13
Summary: A lost work of one William Soames Walthrop (...aka Spike) as it was delivered at one of Cicely (see my Cicelyverse notes at the included link) Addams' house parties, shortly before Will's demise. See the reference to it in "Drusilla".
Archived (soon) at the Buffy Rebecca verse, In Book III of the (Semi) Complete Works of William Walthrop...(direct link will be.. buffyrebecca/ )
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Contributions to the recovery of the lost works of England's third worst poet are always welcomed...
Part IV...
The lobby of the Germania Hotel, New York City...Late afternoon...
Nice place...It'll do…Miss Springs nodded to Potter, looking round. Yes?...He looked at her, a slight frown...
Impetuous little blonde thing...And Mother had warned him about those impetuous American girls...
"Thanks for helpin' me out...Peter." she suddenly stopped peering about and beamed at him. "I'd've been so at odds with Uncle disappeared and all. And I have to head out to Los Angeles tomorrow..."
Ummn...Certainly...he nodded...
Well...Perhaps impetuousness wasn't all that bad a thing at that. If it brought one smiles like that...he thought, smiling back at her.
"Hope I haven't been too...Forward...I get that way sometimes." she grinned, a little sheepishly now...
"I suppose I must seem like everything your Ma warned you about in American girls..." she continued.
Not at all...he waved a hand. Lugging her bags and his over to the lobby desk...
Yes?...The desk attendant, a young, respectable-looking lady eyed them. A large ledger set in front of her...
"Potter, Peter Potter...Of Brusset, England. A friend of mine here in New York placed a reservation some time ago for today..."
Yes...The clerk consulted her ledger...Then coolly eyed Miss Springs...
"For one...Mr...Peter Patter." "Potter..." Peter corrected, sighing slightly...
Right, the clerk nodded...Like I said...Peter Patter...
"For one..." she eyed Miss Springs again. Who gave a demure smile...
"Yes...Well...My friend Miss Springs here...Is, like me, heading out to California tomorrow. And also requires a room...For herself..."
Alone...he returned the clerk's now icy stare...
"Nope..." she stared at him. "Nothing available..."
Oh...Elizabeth sighed. "You sure about that? Be happy to share with somebody..."
Potter gave an involuntary start...Ummn...
The clerk's icy stare deepened. She gave a quick glance to a husky fellow cruising the lobby. Who paused to eye the couple...
"There must be some girl looking to split a room...Or a bed." Miss Springs smilingly explained.
Right...Peter gave a relieved nod. Some other respectable young lady seeking to share expenses...
"Nope..." the clerk shook her head. But gave what was clearly a 'calling-off' sign to what was obviously the lobby detective...Who resumed his cruising. "Sorry, Miss...Perhaps you oughta try the Biltmore uptown."
Hmmn...Miss Springs eyed Potter, now rather torn between relief and regret...
Whoever'd tossed that crate at him clearly'd thought he was her Watcher...The expert on the Hellmouth...And if he could be persuaded to stick near her…They'd continue to gun for him rather than her...Or at least, waste part of their effort on him. Whereas...Alone, the sole focus of whoever's efforts...
"Uptown? So far?..." she sighed. "I really was hoping to be near the station. I've got some business before I leave tomorrow. And I have to look into what happened to my uncle..." she noted to Potter. With an innocently pleading stare...Another beaming smile...
Ummn...
"Perhaps...Would it be possible...For Miss Springs here to take my room? And perhaps I could bed with someone else...Or down here, in the lobby? Just for the night?"
Hmmn...Elizabeth considered. A respectable young Englishman...What would almost certainly tie him to a young lady?...Quickly...
"Could you make inquiries?" Peter continued. The clerk considering...Always nice to squeeze in an extra customer or two...And so long as the gent was safely with someone or under watch here in the lobby...
"I'll ask..." she gave her first stilted smile. "Just have a seat, folks..." she waved them to a sofa by the front...
"Thanks again. It's really fine of you...Peter...er Mr. Potter." Elizabeth nodded to Potter as they sat.
"Not at all...Glad to..."
So...He eyed her... "Do you have family in California, Miss Springs? Are you rejoining...?"
Nah...She shook her head... "My folks are gone...Just a married sister in Kansas. A couple of cousins...Aunts...And uncles..." she hastily added. "I'm taking a job out there."
Ah...Potter nodded. "In what field, if I may ask...?"
"The entertainment industry..."
Oh...?
"I sing..." she explained, a bit hastily and not without a little annoyance at the "Oh…?". "A place out there was looking for singers. So, I figured unk and me'd give it a try out in the West. Maybe he'll try selling things to the miners and such while I do my bit..."
Really...He glanced at her. Then at the box from her 'uncle' she'd kept close since he'd given it to her...
Yeah...she stared at him. Kind of an uppity Brit look on his face, to her mind. And a kinda snooty tone in that voice, in her opinion.
"So what's your game out there?" she eyed him. "You lookin' for gold or what...?"
Hmmn?...Oh no...He shook his head...
"Unless you count the gold one finds in teeth..." He smiled. She blinked...
"I'm a dentist, by profession, Miss..."
Really?...Her turn to give a somewhat...Look...
A...Toothpuller? And headin' out to California?
"I thought you was a poet or somethin'. Maybe a schoolmaster? Going out to make a pile in the gold fields first. Long way to go to pull teeth..."
"I was offered a place in San Francisco by an associate of mine. Since I'm new in the profession...And even young dentists are needed out there...It seemed like a good place to make a start." He explained. "And you were right, I do try my hand at poetry and writing. But since I don't expect to make my fortune there and my family needs me to make a good start…I've got a young sister and brother to care for since my mother passed away..."
Oh...
"Yes...Would you care to see...?" he indicated his battered trunk. Sure...she nodded...
He set the trunk down flat and opened it carefully. A case inside, she noted. Which he patted fondly...My instruments...he explained. And reached for a small folded frame deeper inside...
Three pictures...A handsome woman, himself behind her, a bit younger than now, and two young children, pretty boy and lovely dark-haired girl in one. Separate pictures of the boy and girl in the other sections...
"They look very nice, Peter...That your ma...?" she pointed to the handsome woman. He nodded...
Dead of consumption just a year...he sighed. But she did live to see me graduate...
"Wished I'd had a better picture of my ma..." Elizabeth shook her head. "But we only had the one tintype done that time...At least I got that anyway." she looked away a poignant moment...
"I'm sorry you lost your uncle...Miss Springs." Potter nodded sympathetically. "I will try to help you find him tomorrow..."
"I think he's dead Peter. Probably one of the fellas he owed money to caught up with him on your boat..." she sighed.
What...he blinked. "You mean you think...?"
"Yeah...Happens when you play the cards a little too much..." She noted.
"Lucky he met up with you and passed his stuff on for me...I'd've hated to lose it..."
Yes...Ummn...he stared at her. "Shouldn't we...The police..."
"If he's dead...He's floatin' out on the Atlantic. I don't think the police are gonna find him now. And I hafta get to Los Angeles and take that job. My sis and her husband ain't doing all that well with their farm. They need whatever I can send em..."
"I'm..." "Don't be sorry, Peter..." she grinned. "I love my singin'. Even if I'm not what you'd call concert hall material. And I like travel. A lil' adventure's good for the soul, right? You're the same way, right?...Comin' out there yourself and all..."
"I suppose so...Hope to make good, anyway."
"I'm sure you will..." she smiled.
"But..." he returned to a subject that had been scratching at him. And eyed the box... "What about that book of your uncle's? What is that? It's wonderfully worked...Must be quite old..."
And you did want me to read it and your uncle's papers over for you...he noted.
Yeah...she nodded. "Well, maybe later...If we both can stay here."
"And speakin' of that. Let me go and see how that lady with the bug up her..." Ummn...she paused as he gave a noncommittal look. "That lady..." she corrected. "Is doing."
She rose... "Backside..." he smiled at her... "I'd definitely say it was up her backside..." She chuckled and went off.
Hmmn...He eyed the box she'd set down...
She had asked him to look at the book.
"Ten bucks to tell him it's no go on the extra bed. And your policy's no sleepin' in the lobby..." Elizabeth hissed to the clerk. Who'd been about to tell her that all was set for Mr. Potter to spend the night...
Oh...?
"Look, honey. This is a respectable place. And we don't allow…"
"Twenty bucks...He's my feller but a little shy, you know. I'll slip him up the back stairs and no one'll be the wiser..." she gave a hard stare. Then a wry grin... "Come on. We'll be quiet. And he'll leave before anyone catches on to him. Including your dick back there..." she glanced back to the detective on patrol...
"You got the twenty?" hard stare. "Right here..." she pulled out twenty dollars from her purse. A heavy drain, but worth it if it put her enemies off. And the Council was payin' after all...
"A lotta money to throw away for one night with your boy...He worth it?" the clerk eyed her.
"Oh yeah...My Petey's a poet. You know...The romantic type..." she gave a soulful look. "And a dentist to boot. Good with...Instruments..." she grinned.
Hmmn...The clerk looked over to where Potter was carefully examining Miss Springs' unusual book. Poet with a profession, eh...And not bad-looking…
"Covers all the bases..." Elizabeth smiled. "And...Taken, honey. So close your jaw and forget about it. Just tell him there's nothing you can do about the bed when he comes over, but that, as the kind-hearted type that ya are. You could see your way to..."
Right...the clerk nodded.
"Peter?..." she called to him.
Oh, yes...he looked up, rising. And hastily putting the book back in its box...
Hmmn...What the devil would a singer and her miner/shopkeeper 'uncle' want with a book of ancient legends about demons and vampires?...he pondered.
"We've a little problem..." she noted as he came over. "But Miss..."
"Ana..." the clerk nodded.
"Miss Ana...Is willing to help us out. If you think you could deal..."
[Whoa...Jonathan, Cicely, and a number of others in the room stared. William looking a tad red for an instant. But a dutiful author must stand by his work...Fortunately Cicely's father had long since retired to the peace of his study...
Well...This might be a rather interesting lakeside weekend at that, if I can pull it off...Cicely thought.]