What follows is a pleasant dinner prepared by the middle-aged cook, Alice. The fare is simple but very tasty and filling. It consists of a garden salad, freshly baked bread, a beef stew, roasted lamb with potatoes, carrots and onions. Coffee is severed with desert, individual apple torts, and later drinks are offered again in the sitting room. The staff is very busy throughout the process of feeding the party. It appears that there are only the four staff members; Jefferies, the butler, Ms. Adele Westcott, the maid, Dirks, the grounds man, and Alice the cook. That seems to be too few for a property as large as the Mercury estate.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Chapter 5 - The Evening
After receiving instruction on the Daedalus and examining and packing the gear in its hold, the party is escorted back inside the manor once more by Vance Mercury. He announces, “We will be serving dinner in the dining room shortly. Those who are inclined may spend the night here at the manor. Accommodations have been made for you. The Daedalus will be moved to the launch pad and you will embark in the morning at first light.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mr. Tempest will eat his meal quietly while reading the evening edition. Should anybody attempt to engage him in conversation during the meal, he will simply say "It is not polite to talk with your mouth full" and then go back to his newspaper.
ReplyDeleteAfter the meal, he will place a few more phone calls (checking on his personal affairs), write a half dozen notes that he seals into envelopes and offers them to Mercury "Mercury, see that these are given to the courier that is bringing my supplies from my estate." He turns and looks painfully at the wide flight of stairs, "I will be retiring now. Have someone show me to my room, and have a nightcap and nibble set up in an hour." He then starts limping toward the stairs, then continues without looking back "and have my stuff brought to my room when it arrives, no matter what the hour. Good Night."
Jefferies steps in. He takes the envelopes from Mecury and offers to guide Mr. Tempest to his room. "I will ensure that these are delivered and that your things are brought to you as soon as they arrive. Ms. Westcott will see to your other request."
ReplyDeleteThe butler takes the stairs slowly without appearing to do so, allowing Tempest to easily keep pace. Once at the top of the stairs her leads the way to a small suite with a sitting room, bedroom and small private restroom including a bathtub. The rooms are clean but appear to suffer from being outdated.
"Is there anything else I can do for you sir?"
"Peace and Quiet," he replies. "If any of those hooligans start getting loud while i am sleeping, take them out to the barn and whip some manners into them." He then looks around the room, quite content with the decor. "This room will do nicely, thank you. Good night."
DeleteAbout an hour later, Jefferies knocks on the door and announces, "Mr. Tempest, your things have arrived. Where you like me to bring them? Also, Alice is fixing you a sandwich and some tea. Would you like that now as well?"
Delete"Bring them in Jefferies" he says, loud enough to be heard through the door. "And i will take that sandwich and tea whenever it is ready." he slips his book and pencil back into his jackets vest pocket. "Also, there is no Scotch in this room. Fix that."
DeleteAfter Jefferies places the baggage in the room, Tempest hands him two envelopes. One is marked with his name, the other is blank. "This is for you Jefferies. Not required to show any gratitude, you are not even one of my servants, but there is some none the less. the other envelope is for the rest of the house staff. Do not open those until we are gone" he then returns to the comfortable chair by the window and resumes watching sitting quietly in the dark. "That will be all" he says in a final tone.
OOC: both envelopes contain $100.
Logic: good servants are hard to find. Mr. Tempest is setting favor with Jefferies in case some people do not return from this trip!
Jefferies takes the envelopes with a nod. "Thank you sir. I will return shortly with your refreshments."
DeleteThe butler leaves and returns within 5 minutes with a large tray containing a napkin, silverware, a plated sandwich under a dome, a pot of tea and a cup, a basket with sugar and honey, a small bowl of lemon wedges, a decanter with Scotch, a glass and a small bucket of ice. He sets the try down on a chest at the end of the bed and quitely takes his leave.
Bear tucks in to the meal with gusto, heartily praising the cook for the fine food and shamelessly flirting with the maid.
ReplyDeleteHe happily settles down in the sitting room afterwards with a drink and a cigar.
"Now this is the life, brother," he murmurs around the stogie. "I could get used to this."
He's open to engage in any conversation that may transpire.
Jock digs in "Mighty fine eats. Thank ee." He says.
ReplyDelete"Now a bath afore bed, an I'll be all set fore that rescue trip tomorrow. Allways good ta get shut eye when ya can an it might be a spell fore we can get clean agin if'n things don't go well."
"That's a fine job on the dinner, Alice," Justin declares. "Although from the look of this house, one would think you should be cooking for dozens..."
ReplyDeleteThe cook responds, "This is the largest number of dinner guest we have had in some time. Even when Dr. Mercury and his crew were here they did not often sit down for a proper meal. Mostly they took sandwiches in the hanger or in one of the laboratories. This has been especially true since Ms. Wright left.”
DeleteLeading her (or any staff member) on, Justin asks, "Ms. Wright?"
ReplyDeleteAdele Westcott answers Justin's question. "Alice is talking about Ms. Janet Wright. She was a scientist working with Dr. Mercury on his craft design. The Doctor and Ms. Wright appear to have had a disagreement over the design changes between the Daedalus and the Icarus. She left the manor a few months ago after a heated argument with Dr. Mercury. She has not been back since."
Delete“No one ever said it within earshot but I believe that Ms. Wright’s leaving really upset Dr. Mercury and the rest of the crew. I think that they all expected her to come back but she never did. The reporter, Ms. Karr, did not fill Ms. Wright’s seat on the Icarus until a few days before it departed. Dr. Mercury said that the publicity would prove invaluable to the project.”
Dr. Lambshead eats, drinks, and observes. Will speak when spoken to, and be polite. He is very excited to be going to Skull Island.
ReplyDeleteIs there any way to do some research on Skull Island here at the manor, all I know is what I read in the papers after the Kong incident?
ReplyDeleteHow do you wish to proceed to do research? Lambshead suspects that there are many reference materials upon the residence but so far he has only seen select portions of the manor.
DeleteHe might ask the staff but Vance Mercury might be a better source. He could also wander off and investigate on his own.
He will ask Mr Mercury first.
DeleteVance Mercury answers Lambshead's inquiry, "I am afraid that I do not have anything specific regarding Skull Island on hand as it was not a current area of focus for my uncle. I am sure you heard all about it in the papers with that whole Kong incident back in '33. After that, everyone was falling over each other to mount an expedition. In '34, several expeditions tried and failed to get to the island while others failed tragically once they arrived."
Delete"What I can tell you is that the Carl Denham mounted a successful return expedition in '35. It was named Project Legacy. The expedition that will be assisting you is this year's returning Project Legacy expedition. They have been on the island and their assistance should prove invaluable."
About two hours after dinner, Vance Mercury rises and addresses the party, "Gentlemen, I bid you a good night. We will be serving an early breakfast and you will be off with the dawn. I suggest you get your rest as tomorrow brings adventure."
ReplyDelete