Patchwork Universe

Dr Jewel · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 5:46 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel glanced around the rough circle of cottages. Then, with a smile of recognition, she led the way towards a small, wooden garden gate. She stepped over it carefully, as though it were possible for her to catch herself on it, and waited for Dr Odom to open and close it in a more mundane fashion.

Then she walked up the gravel path, lined on each side by narrow, weeded flowerbeds, and stopped before a front door with a half-moon of stained glass.

"I'm afraid you'll have to ring the bell." She said.

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

"Right," Dr. Odom said, doing as instructed. "Do you think I'll have to open the door as well? I mean, does your hypothesis about ownership extend to such things as doors? Not that I mean to throw open the door and barge in."

Dr Jewel · Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 5:49 pm Post subject:

"You have a point." Dr Jewel looked faintly embarrassed. "I suggest you give her a minute, then open the door."

She glanced at the keyhole rather helplessly.

"I hope that she leaves it unlocked."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom hooked his thumbs into his belt in lieu of thrusting his hands into his pockets and stood bouncing slightly on his toes and rocking gently on the heels of the heavy boots. He whistled tunelessly and admired the garden and studied the clouds drifting unnaturally overhead like gigantic jumbles of marble waiting to crash down on him.

Dr Jewel · Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:58 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel glanced around briefly, but returned her attention to the door. After a little while she could see a shape moving around on the other side of the stained glass. She assumed it was Enid come to answer the door.

She waited. The shadow in the glass moved back and forth, but the door remained closed.

"I think," Dr Jewel said carefully, "You're going to have to try the door handle. She doesn't seem able to open it."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

"Very well. Although perhaps I ought to just give the door a gentle nudge so that it begins to swing open and then step back behind you rather than fling it open and stand there, a stranger, in front of her." Dr. Odom reached for the door hesitantly, looking to Dr. Jewel for affirmation.

Dr Jewel · Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 8:11 am Post subject:

Dr Jewel nodded and moved so that he could reach the handle.

The gentle nudge proved all that was needed. The door swung open without a creak to reveal the house's owner standing inside the dark, narrow hallway.

Enid Holloway was a tall woman and, unusually for someone in their sixties, stood without a stoop. She had very long grey hair with white flecks in it, plaited and then wound into a bun. She wore a dark blue tracksuit and a pair of white and pink trainers.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." She said brightly. "I had some trouble with the door."

"Hello Enid." Dr Jewel replied. "Hope you don't mind us just turning up on the doorstep. We have some questions about the village history. Namely a Sir Waters who used to own a house here ?"

"Certainly." Enid Holloway beamed. "Come in and have some tea."

She looked from Dr Jewel to Dr Odom and blinked.

"I don't believe we've been introduced." She said, with a quick glance at the diving suit.

"This is Dr Odom." Dr Jewel said. "He's been helping me with me work. The suit is to deal with a set of special conditions that the dig has unearthed."

"Delighted to meet you." Enid said to him. "Are you an archeologist as well ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom executed a polite, semi-formal bow more suited to his usual outfit than to his current dress. Dr. Jewel had already introduced him, but he recalled that she had not recognized his name either.

"No, ma'am. I am Dr. William Teiresias Odom, Curator General of the Museum, formerly of Print. I will leave the field work in the able hands of the likes of Dr. Jewel here."

Dr. Odom smirked inwardly at himself. Just a day ago he would have been more amused by the curious clothing of this woman, even more unusual than Dr. Jewel's was, at least for a woman, than he was now at his easy acceptance of her appearance.

Dr Jewel · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:31 am Post subject:

"Please follow me."

Enid Holloway led the way down the narrow hall to a small sitting room at the back of the house which looked out over the little walled garden. The room was painted in white whilst the skirting boards and doors were all varnished to a dark finish. A circle of comfortable chairs and a two seater sofa focused on a medium sized television (switched off) with a video recorder sitting under it. On the walls were hung a number of photographs, some modern and some in yellowing monochrome. There were also a number of tall and short bookcases, all full, and a glass cabinet containing a rather delicate-looking tea set.

"Have a seat." Enid gestured to the circle. "Sir Waters was an interesting character, to say the least. An excellent sportsman and a scholar; although with questionable taste in his studies. But I'm forgetting my manners. Can I get you some tea and cake ? Or perhaps a beer or a sherry ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

"Thank you, no, ma'am," Dr. Odom answered for himself, hoping to avoid another incident like that at the from door or the curious transaction involving Dr. Jewel's coffee.

While he waited for the women to sit he loosened the fastenings on the helmet and studied the collection in the room with carefully suppressed longing. The photographs and the electromagnetic media were fascinating enough for any curator, but the books had a special attraction for Dr. Odom. He felt that he could probably understand many things about their hostess if he could examine the wear, the marginalia, and the quality of her books.

"How," he asked, "could any field of study be considered distasteful? Or are you suggesting another field would have suited him better?"

Dr Jewel · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:57 am Post subject:

"I was referring more to his motivations." Enid perched on one of the chairs. "He seemed to prefer a subject if it was considered distasteful by the general population."

"Distasteful to when ?" Dr Jewel asked. "Nineteenth century ?"

"Early nineteenth." Enid agreed. "He inherited the estate from his father in 1813 when he was twenty-four. He held it for eleven years, but it burned down in 1824 with him inside. Early November I believe, but I would have to check for the exact dates."

Dr Jewel nodded.

"I suppose you could mean his father." Enid suddenly corrected herself. "His father was Sir Thomas Waters and he was Sir Fitzwilliam Waters. However, his father led a quiet life and was mostly abroad looking after his holdings."

"I am fairly certain that we mean the son." Dr Jewel said with a smile.

"Good." Enid smiled. "Where was I ? Oh yes. Sir Fitzwilliam Waters was a clever man. He studied at Oxford and continued his education back at home, ordering books and papers and inviting old colleagues to his house to talk. He started with the Classics, as anyone might expect. He was interested in Socrates and his trial and death. From there he moved onto the ancient Greek pantheon and then he compared it to the Roman pantheon.

"After that he started to investigate other religions. He looked into Viking worship, although I believe his sources were not well placed for that. Then he started to concentrate on modern day religions and he began by asking the slaves his father had brought back about their beliefs. After that he travelled the country, staying with friends who had land abroad, asking questions about the local religions."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Dr Jewel frowned.

"There is a great deal more to it than that." Enid waved a hand at Jewel's impatience. "I'll get there in my own time.

"To start with, there were rumours that Sir Waters looked to replicate these foreign practises. Which was never going to go down well in Church of England country. Servants talked and he was visited by the local clergy. Except, they didn't find anything. He gave them a full tour of his house and they were forced to admit that there was nothing in it to justify the rumours."

"Did the tour include the basement ?" Dr Jewel asked.

"What basement ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

The conversation had grown more intriguing than Dr. Odom had expected. His own questions, such as to what calendar the dates they mentioned referred, would have been a distraction, so he left the questions to Dr. Jewel for the present.

Dr Jewel · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 12:30 pm Post subject:

"Our dig site appears to be the basement of a house built in the sixteenth or seventeenth century." Dr Jewel said quietly. "The Roman artifacts seem to be part of a private collection rather than original finds."

"Really ?" Enid considered this. "That might explain... quite a lot. I would have to relocate the maps I had of the house that Sir Waters lived in, but I do believe it was to the south of the village."

"You are welcome to take a look around the site any time you want." Dr Jewel suggested with a smile.

"Thank you." Enid returned the smile. "I would be very interested. And, it would all fit. Fitwilliam Waters did have an interest in the Roman Empire and I find it plausible that he would own artifacts from that time. Of course, if he had a basement, then perhaps he carried out the ceremonies he was accused of."

"We believe that the basement is quite extensive, although we've only uncovered the first room." Dr Jewel said. "There is also evidence to suggest that it was guarded."

"That would also be in character." Enid agreed. "Fitzwilliam was fond of his privacy. The house itself was rumoured to have a secret room or two although, of course, we were never able to check."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 63 Location: The Museum

"Can you tell us more about these 'ceremonies' and 'foreign practises' of which this Waters was suspected?"

Dr. Odom's eyes flicked briefly toward Dr. Jewel to see how she received the question. He could hardly come right out and ask Miss Holloway if she knew what had killed her. If he understood Dr. Jewel correctly, Miss Holloway had not yet realized she was deceased, hence the current conversation.

"Were they supposed to have been purely ceremonial or were they intended to . . . achieve anything?"

Dr. Odom nervously fingered the pocket that held his tobacco and studied a few book spines for comfort.

Dr Jewel · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:52 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel glanced in Dr Odom's direction and nodded.

"I am not entirely sure what they were supposed to achieve." Enid seemed thoughtful. "Or, well, I have a theory. I think that much of it came from his interests in mythology and theology. After all, these days we acknowledge that there might be of a link between them. Such theories would not have been acceptable back in the nineteenth century.

"I believe he was trying to uncover similarities between different religions both ancient and modern. Looking for common stories, events, themes. You get the idea. Certainly the local clergyman recorded a number of conversations between himself and Sir Waters about the origins of Christianity, authorship of the Bible and so on. That was before Sir Waters was rumoured to have other religious interests of course.

"However, I also believe he was interested in upsetting the neighbourhood. Remember that I said he was interested in Socrates ? Well, that philosopher was sentenced to death for what essentially boiled down to questioning the status quo. I think that Sir Waters took some pleasure in deliberately spreading stories. He was probably delighted with the rumours that he dabbled in the occult. I imagine that the tour he gave the suspicious clergymen was a highlight of his life. Dropping terrible hints and clues, when there was no substance to it at all."

Enid paused suddenly.

"Unless this basement contains evidence to the contrary." She hastily added.