How does eerie fit in with the return to work then? Is the town hall actually haunted, and the ghosts had got used to having the place to themselves and so objected to your presence there by pushing plants around and knocking pens off desks?
Eerie It turned out that Josie had prepared the goat two ways: one curried, one boiled, though from the way Jimmy said it when he banged the dishes down I thought she'd done both to the same thing. Either way, the curry was yellow and powdery and whatever the little brown berries in there were, they weren't raisins. The boiled goat smelled exactly like boiled goat, so I ate the curried goat, and noticed that Ben did the same. Jimmy didn't seem bothered what he ate, but if this is what he'd been putting up with for the last month, I wasn't surprised. The potato bread was a real surprise though: soft, white and fluffy and tasted like actual bread. Ben and I looked at each other, reached a silent consensus, and sent Jimmy to get more from Josie. The cigars were... well, Ben said that he'd smoke them. That's probably the best that could be said for them. There was no beer, but someone around there clearly had a still of some kind, as there was hooch. It wasn't the most pleasant-tasting, but it had a kick that could wake a three-day-dead mule, and it definitely killed the tooth-worms and probably the stomach-worms as well. Josie sat down at the far end of the table and rested her arms on it. They spread out under her weight, covering the entire table-top at that end. "Jimmy says you guys know a thing or two about rescuing people," she said. Her voice was contralto, slightly husky. I figured if she was smoking those cigars as well then that would explain it. "I could use a little bit of help. There's a goat-sucker on the loose, and it's attacking my goats." "And your chickens?" Ben always has to be a smart-arse when he sees an opening. Josie nodded slowly. "He said you were sharp, too," she said. "Chickens as well, but they're just torn apart. Don't lay no more eggs, but there's meat left on them. The goats... well, they're sucked dry. It’s eerie. Bloodless husks, lying out on the ground and even the vultures and buzzards don't circle overhead to tell you about it. I found one, it had been dead for maybe a month already and the skin had just done shrunk to the bones and dried out; it was like one of them Egyptian mummies you hear tell of." "How many is it taking?" I asked.
"About one a week," said Josie. "I'm not the only one with goats around here, but it seems when we count up that it's about one a week. It's still too many." "We can take a look into it for you," said Ben. "We're here for a few days after all. Might be a small charge if we need to do something more though." "Find it first, and then we'll see what needs doing," said Josie, nodding. "This here's not a rich town, and maybe we'd do better catching it and exhibiting it." "Practical," I said smiling to hide the fact that my eyebrows had shot up to my hairline. "I like that." Josie lifted her head and looked out, over at the mountains studded with trees, and the cut in the land that was Humbug Gulch. "Comes with the territory," she said slowly. "You live like the land, in a lot of ways." "Speaking of land," said Ben, ignoring the philosophical moment, "you said you weren't the only one with goats. Is there anywhere round here we shouldn't go walking on. Trespassin', like?" I looked at Jimmy, whose admiring smile was far too obvious for my tastes and kicked his ankle hard underneath the table. He winced and bent down to rub it. "The mine's private property," said Josie, "but I can't see you thinking that the goat-sucker would live in there. The mountain's sort of jointly owned by a number of folks round here, but they all want to see the creature caught, so I reckon you'll be ok." Josie looked at us carefully. "You seem like gentlemen," she said at last. "I'm sure you'll know what to do if you find something that might be misinterpreted by the kind of person who's not a gentleman." "What?" said Jimmy, lifting his head back above the table. Josie got up and wandered back to her kitchen.
Greg - it just felt strange to be back after four months. Eerie was the closest to the feeling that I could use for a prompt that hadn't been used before, or at least that didn't require a new label.
Ooh, that last comment from Josie is certainly intriguing! I like her, by the way.
3 comments:
How does eerie fit in with the return to work then? Is the town hall actually haunted, and the ghosts had got used to having the place to themselves and so objected to your presence there by pushing plants around and knocking pens off desks?
Eerie
It turned out that Josie had prepared the goat two ways: one curried, one boiled, though from the way Jimmy said it when he banged the dishes down I thought she'd done both to the same thing. Either way, the curry was yellow and powdery and whatever the little brown berries in there were, they weren't raisins. The boiled goat smelled exactly like boiled goat, so I ate the curried goat, and noticed that Ben did the same. Jimmy didn't seem bothered what he ate, but if this is what he'd been putting up with for the last month, I wasn't surprised. The potato bread was a real surprise though: soft, white and fluffy and tasted like actual bread. Ben and I looked at each other, reached a silent consensus, and sent Jimmy to get more from Josie.
The cigars were... well, Ben said that he'd smoke them. That's probably the best that could be said for them.
There was no beer, but someone around there clearly had a still of some kind, as there was hooch. It wasn't the most pleasant-tasting, but it had a kick that could wake a three-day-dead mule, and it definitely killed the tooth-worms and probably the stomach-worms as well.
Josie sat down at the far end of the table and rested her arms on it. They spread out under her weight, covering the entire table-top at that end.
"Jimmy says you guys know a thing or two about rescuing people," she said. Her voice was contralto, slightly husky. I figured if she was smoking those cigars as well then that would explain it. "I could use a little bit of help. There's a goat-sucker on the loose, and it's attacking my goats."
"And your chickens?" Ben always has to be a smart-arse when he sees an opening.
Josie nodded slowly. "He said you were sharp, too," she said. "Chickens as well, but they're just torn apart. Don't lay no more eggs, but there's meat left on them. The goats... well, they're sucked dry. It’s eerie. Bloodless husks, lying out on the ground and even the vultures and buzzards don't circle overhead to tell you about it. I found one, it had been dead for maybe a month already and the skin had just done shrunk to the bones and dried out; it was like one of them Egyptian mummies you hear tell of."
"How many is it taking?" I asked.
"About one a week," said Josie. "I'm not the only one with goats around here, but it seems when we count up that it's about one a week. It's still too many."
"We can take a look into it for you," said Ben. "We're here for a few days after all. Might be a small charge if we need to do something more though."
"Find it first, and then we'll see what needs doing," said Josie, nodding. "This here's not a rich town, and maybe we'd do better catching it and exhibiting it."
"Practical," I said smiling to hide the fact that my eyebrows had shot up to my hairline. "I like that."
Josie lifted her head and looked out, over at the mountains studded with trees, and the cut in the land that was Humbug Gulch. "Comes with the territory," she said slowly. "You live like the land, in a lot of ways."
"Speaking of land," said Ben, ignoring the philosophical moment, "you said you weren't the only one with goats. Is there anywhere round here we shouldn't go walking on. Trespassin', like?"
I looked at Jimmy, whose admiring smile was far too obvious for my tastes and kicked his ankle hard underneath the table. He winced and bent down to rub it.
"The mine's private property," said Josie, "but I can't see you thinking that the goat-sucker would live in there. The mountain's sort of jointly owned by a number of folks round here, but they all want to see the creature caught, so I reckon you'll be ok." Josie looked at us carefully. "You seem like gentlemen," she said at last. "I'm sure you'll know what to do if you find something that might be misinterpreted by the kind of person who's not a gentleman."
"What?" said Jimmy, lifting his head back above the table. Josie got up and wandered back to her kitchen.
Greg - it just felt strange to be back after four months. Eerie was the closest to the feeling that I could use for a prompt that hadn't been used before, or at least that didn't require a new label.
Ooh, that last comment from Josie is certainly intriguing! I like her, by the way.
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