Jim nodded and turning the boat around headed back for shore.
***
It was the day after Cobb and Adele’s return from honeymoon and their first, full day in their home together as man and wife. To celebrate that fact she had promised to cook him something special.
She brought dinner in, covered with a lid. Placing it on the table she proudly whipped off the lid, revealing a pie. ‘It’s ham and leek pie. I made it as a special treat for you, for saving the world. And I put extra leeks in it because I know how much you love them.’
Cobb’s heart sank. Not leeks! I hate leeks, he thought to himself, but he put a brave face on it and said with a smile, ‘You know me so well.’
She served up the pie as he poured them both wine and they began their meal. Glumly chewing his meal while outwardly smiling, he nearly choked on a mouthful of leek when Harlequin suddenly appeared in the room.
‘Hello everybody! I’m back!’ he cried.
Adele leapt out of her chair and gave him a hug. ‘Harlequin, you’re alive! But how?’
‘It’s the Gods you see, they have a trick or two up their sleeves. We agents are manufactured life forms as you know, so they can easily grow another, but for the new body to have the same character and knowledge as the one that died, they have to have some cells from the old body. Which isn’t always easy given the ways in which we die, sometimes.
‘However with me, they had a whole body to play with so they grew a new me, exactly the same as the old me. They call the technique “clowning”.’
‘Clowning?’ asked Adele.
‘Yes, clowning. And so here I am again, large as life and twice as ugly.’
‘Well, there goes my faith in the Universe,’ muttered Cobb.
‘Hush, Cobb!’ Adele admonished him. ‘That’s not fair. May I remind you that he gave his life in Kendal to save me. You owe it to him to be nice. Now shake his hand and say you’re sorry.’
Cobb looked at the pie on his plate and thought to himself, and I didn’t think my day could get any worse. He stood up and held his hand out to Harlequin, the creature he detested and said, ‘Welcome back. I’m glad you’re alive and thank you for saving Adele’s life. I owe you for that if nothing else. Tell you what, why don’t you sit down and have some dinner with us?’
Harlequin shook his hand. ‘Why, thank you Cobb, I believe I will. See ... I knew you’d warm to me eventually.’
Cobb smiled but said nothing.
As they sat at the table and Adele poured Harlequin a glass of wine, Cobb looked at the ham and leek pie and had an evil thought. He got a spare plate and piled it high with Adele’s pie. Putting it in front of Harlequin he said innocently, ‘Here ... have some pie.’
THE END
Author’s note:
In this book I state that Krakatoa was east of Java before they blew it up with the Sunburst Weapon. Before the pedants amongst you kick off and tell me I’m wrong ... I know Krakatoa was actually west of Java. It’s just that I reckoned that more people would be familiar with the title of the 1968 film, Krakatoa, East of Java, than the geographical truth.
Some of you might point out that Glastonbury doesn’t have a railway station. That is true now, but I have a reproduction of an Ordnance Survey map of that area dated 1897 and it clearly shows that there was a line into Glastonbury and a station on the outskirts in Victorian times. I even went and visited the site of the station to get the lay of the land, before writing that portion of the book. I bet the Festival goers wish it was there now. (Besides, as this is set in an alternate Universe, I can state that there is one there now and you can’t prove me wrong.)
The chapter title, The Once and Future King, is taken from the excellent book by T. H. White about the life of King Arthur. You probably know some of it, as the first part is called the “Sword in the Stone” on which the Disney film is based. I recommend it if you like the Arthurian legend.
Other books in The Londum Series:
Split Infinity
Hair of the Dog
The Speed of Dark
The Londum Omnibus Volume One
A Londum Yuletide
Snake Eyes
Quantum of Solstice
The Great Game
Snowfall
Winter Shorts
Foothold
For more information about these books and characters go to www.tonyrattigan.co.uk
If you enjoyed this book then please feel free to leave a review at the online shop where you purchased it and help to spread the word. It would be most appreciated.
About the Author:
Tony Rattigan* is the author of a series of books about an alternate Universe, one of many different Universes that make up a Multiverse.
After 22 years in the Royal Air Force, 5 years in the National Health Service and 10 years at one of the UK’s largest charities, Tony decided he’d done enough for Queen and Country and he was about due some ‘me’ time.
Consequently he took early retirement in 2010 to work on his writing. He lives in Oxfordshire UK with his Albatross and a pet monkey. (No, not really. That’s just a vain attempt to sound interesting.)
*Tony Rattigan is the founder member of the Anti-Reincarnation Society, whose motto is – “Once is Enough!” All members carry a card that reads, ‘If found dead - please do not reincarnate’.
Table of Contents
Snake Eyes
Something Old
Something New
Something “Borrowed”
Something Blue
The Great Game
Burglary by Appointment
The Ungarian Job
Men of Honour
Cornered
Foothold
War Council
The Return
Buck House
Invitation to the Palace
“Hurry Up and Wait!”
Secrets and Lies
Avalon
Bodies in Motion
Through the Looking Glass
The Once and Future King
The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12) Page 56