by J. D. Crayne
"Do you have any drums, by any chance?" Steve asked.
"Just one, I'm afraid. It's a great piece of antique craftsmanship, but the leather has gone all limp. Doe skin, I guess."
"Yeah. Well, it all looks great, Hetty. All I can say is, stick with Mr. Cross, and you're bound to come up on top – especially if the stuff is on commission."
* * *
The Solitaire City Council met for lunch in the back parlor of the Florentine Palace again. They were only able to get the room because a Japanese tour group had cancelled at the last moment.
"The first thing we've got to do is protect our investment," Janey Reitz said, with her panatela at an aggressive angle in the corner of her mouth.
"Meaning?" Paul asked
"Meaning we need to make it a crime to catch Tlaklot, of course! If someone just gaffs the thing and has their picture taken with it on the dock, where will we be? Right back where we started, that's what!"
"I think she's got a point," Carlson agreed. "Aren't there signs around Loch Ness, saying it's illegal to bother Nessie?"
Paul nodded. "It's good for the tourist trade. People have their pictures taken standing next to the signs."
"Tourists can have their pictures taken standing next to our signs!" Carlson said, reaching up one hand to smooth back his blond hair. "Where do you want to put them?"
"Next to the drugstore," Steve said idly. "That's where they'll go to buy their film. But I don't think we need to worry. As near as I could gather from what Orloff said, there are probably dozens of those things in the lake."
"Making little ones?" Janey asked.
Steve shrugged. "Damned if I know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
After a little more debate, the City Council passed an ordinance making it illegal to "harass, molest, or otherwise interfere with" the lake monster, and voted to buy signs and poles to post around town.
"With great big letters!" George said, bouncing in his chair. "And not too tall, so someone can stand next to it and they'll both still be in the picture."
"While we're sort of on the subject," Janey said, switching her panatela to the other side of her mouth, "I think we ought to vote the Mayor a special commendation."
Carlson raised his eyebrows. "Steve? Why?"
"For improving the local economy and pulling Solitaire out of the blahs!" she said aggressively.
"Hey, we all worked on it!" George protested.
"Yeah," Paul added. "It was a group effort, you know!"
"That's right," Carlson said comfortably. "I love Steve like a brother, but if you go back through the minutes, I think you'll find that we came to a joint decision on the matter."
Sancy opened her mouth, but Steve shook his head at her and grinned.
As the City Council walked out of the back parlor, Eugenie Briolette, gilt hair shimmering and Chanel No. 5 wafting around her like fog, sidled up to George Regent.
"I haven't seen you in so long," she cooed.
"Ah, well, I've been busy with my bait," he said nervously.
"I'm sure you have," she said, batting her long black eyelashes at him. "You know, now that Hubert Pigott is gone, I don't have a single soul to advise me about business matters."
"That's... that's too bad," he said trying to escape sideways.
"I've been thinking of redecorating the restaurant, maybe with more of an outdoor theme," she said, moving over to outflank him. "There were two ladies lunching in here last month and I heard one of them say that you have a fabulous collection of sports trophies."
"Fish!" he said. "Just... just fish!"
She reached up to adjust his tie. "You might not think it to look at me, dressed up the way that I am, but I just adore fishing. My whole family used to go fishing when I was small. My father caught the champion small mouth bass at Lake Wapachuga in 1955."
"Really?" George stared at her with glassy blue eyes. He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
She nodded seriously, closing in like a paranha for the kill.
* * *
Sancy and Steve strolled down to the lake together, where they paused to watch the tourists scanning the water with their binoculars, and to listen to the street vendors hawking Tlaklot t-shirts, hats, and tote bags. From somewhere across the lake, the gentle song of the last freshwater whales of Mendocino County floated on the breeze.
"How did the job opportunity in Santa Rosa work out?" Steve asked.
"I went down to talk to them yesterday, and they said I could have it if I wanted it. I haven't given them an answer yet, though."
She rested her arms on the top of the guard rail and looked out across the peaceful surface of the lake. "I don't know anyone down there, and I really would hate to leave Solitaire."
"Yeah, it's a nice little town," Steve said. "So?"
Sancy stretched. "Oh, I don't know. Mama says she's tired of keeping records for the real estate office and she wants to look for something else. I guess we might start some kind of business together." She turned to look at him. "What about you?"
"I'm giving up the bookstore," he said, flicking a pebble into the water and watching the ripples spread.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Mom and Hank Cross are going to take it over. He wants to marry her."
"I suppose that will be nice," Sancy said, a bit dubiously. "Does he know about her channeling, and all that?"
Steve laughed softly. "The last time I saw them together he was listening to her rendition of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson. It's my guess that he'll have her being Pocahontas in two weeks, tops."
Sancy giggled. "I'm sure they'll be very happy together!"
He leaned back against the guard rail and squinted up at the sky. "I'm thinking of buying Doctor Orloff's place and turning it back into a B&B. The court let Orloff off with a warning, but he wants to move to the Midwest with Tina and go to work for Monsanto. Mrs. Kimberley is willing to stay on as cook."
Steve scuffed a shoe in the loose dust at the base of the guard rail. "I'd want some help though. Maybe a book keeper and someone to act as hostess. I could use a kid around to cut the grass, too. That sort of thing." He paused. "The house has a nice basement. Maybe I could put a bar and lounge down there."
Sancy slipped her arm through his. "What are we going to call it? Tlaklot Towers?"
"Lakeview Lodge," Steve said, bending to kiss her. "At least that's something I can pronounce!"
THE END
SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, HORROR IN PAGETURNER EDITIONS
AWARD WINNING & NOMINEE STORIES AND AUTHORS
People of the Darkness–Ross Rocklynne (Nebulas nominee author)
Star Bright & Other SF Stories – Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
When They Come From Space–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
What Thin Partitions–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
Eight Keys to Eden–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
Rat in the Skull & Other Off-Trail Science Fiction–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
The Involuntary Immortals–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
Inside Man & Other Science Fictions–H. L. Gold (Hugo winner, Nebula nominee)
The Saga of Lost Earths–Emil Petaja (Nebula nominee)
Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt (Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame award)
A Martian Odyssey–Stanley G. Weinbaum (SFWA Hall of Fame)
Dawn of Flame–Stanley G. Weinbaum (SFWA Hall of Fame)
Scout–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction)
Smoke Signals–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction winning author)
The City at World's End–Edmond Hamilton
The Star Kings–Edmond Hamilton (Sense of Wonder Award winning author)
A Yank at Valhalla–Edmond Hamilton (Sense of Wonder Award winning author)
STEFAN VUCAK'S EPPIE NOMINEE SPACE OPERA "THE SHADOW GODS SAGA"
In the Shadow of Death
Against the
Gods of Shadow
A Whisper from Shadow, Sequel (2002 EPPIE Award finalist)
With Shadow and Thunder
Through the Valley of Shadow, Sequel
RAYMOND F. JONES' CLASSIC SF TALES
The Toymaker & Other SF Stories–Raymond F. Jones (Hugo nominee author)
The Alien–Raymond F. Jones
This Island Earth–Raymond F. Jones
Renaissance–Raymond F. Jones
Rat Race &Other SF Novelettes and Short Novels–Raymond F. Jones (w/Hugo nominee story)
The Secret People – Raymond F. Jones
The King of Eolim – Raymond F. Jones
The Cybernetic Brains – Raymond F. Jones
MORGAINE THE SORCERESS
Morgaine and Michael
Morgaine and Melody
Morgaine and Raven
Morgain and Gretchen
Morgain and the Demon
THE AGENT OF TERRA
#1 The Flying Saucer Gambit
#2 The Emerald Elephant Gambit
#3 The Golden Goddess Gambit
#4 The Time Trap Gambit
NEMESIS: THE NEW MAGAZINE OF PULP THRILLS
#1. Featuring Gun Moll, the 1920s Undercover Nemesis of Crime in "Tentacles of Evil," an all-new, complete book-length novel; plus a Nick Bancroft mystery by Bob Liter, "The Greensox Murders" by Jean Marie Stine, and a classic mystery short reprinted from the heyday of the pulps.
#2 Featuring Rachel Rocket, the 1930s Winged Nemesis of Foreign Terror in "Hell Wings Over Manhattan," an all-new, complete book-length novel, plus spine-tingling science fiction stories, including EPPIE nominee Stefan Vucak's "Hunger," author J. D. Crayne's disturbing "Point of View," Hugo Award winner Larry Niven's "No Exit," written with Jean Marie Stine, and a classic novelette of space ship mystery by the king of space opera, Edmond Hamilton. Illustrated. (Illustrations not available in Palm).
#3 Featuring Victory Rose, the 1940s Nemesis of Axis Tyranny, in Hitler's Final Trumpet," an all-new, complete book-length novel, plus classic jungle pulp tales, including a complete Ki-Gor novel.
# 4 Featuring Femme Noir, the 1950s Nemesis of Hell's Restless Spirits, in an all new, book length novel, plus all new and classic pulp shudder tales, including "The Summons from Beyond" the legendary round-robin novelette of cosmic horror by H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, and Frank Belknap Long.
OTHER FINE CONTEMPORARY & CLASSIC SF/F/H
A Million Years to Conquer–Henry Kuttner
Arcadia – Tabitha Bradley
Backdoor to Heaven – Vicki McElfresh
Buck Rogers #1: Armageddon 2419 A.D.–Philip Francis Nowlan
Chaka: Zulu King–Book I. The Curse of Baleka–H. R. Haggard
Chaka: Zulu King–Book II. Umpslopogass' Revenge–H. R. Haggard
Claimed!–Francis Stevens
Darby O'Gill: The Classic Irish Fantasy–Hermine Templeton
Dracula's Daughters–Ed. Jean Marie Stine
Dwellers in the Mirage–A. Merritt
From Beyond & 16 Other Macabre Masterpieces–H. P. Lovecraft
Future Eves: Classic Science Fiction about Women by Women–(ed) Jean Marie Stine
Ghost Hunters and Psychic Detectives: 8 Classic Tales of Sleuthing and the Supernatural–(ed.) J. M. Stine
Horrors!: Rarely Reprinted Classic Terror Tales–(ed.) J. M. Stine. J.L. Hill
House on the Borderland–William Hope Hodgson
Invisible Encounter and Other SF Stories – J. D. Crayne
Ki-Gor, Lord of the Jungle–John Peter Drummond
Lost Stars: Forgotten SF from the "Best of Anthologies"–(ed.) J. M. Stine
Metropolis–Thea von Harbou
Mistress of the Djinn–Geoff St. Reynard
Monster Lake – J. D. Crayne
Nightmare!–Francis Stevens
Possessed!–Francis Stevens
Ralph 124c41+ Hugo Gernsback
The Cosmic Wheel–J. D. Crayne
The Forbidden Garden–John Taine
The City at World's End–Edmond Hamilton
The Ghost Pirates–W. H. Hodgson
The Girl in the Golden Atom – Ray Cummings
The House on the Borderland–William Hope Hodgson
The Insidious Fu Manchu–Sax Rohmer
The Interplanetary Huntress–Arthur K. Barnes
The Interplanetary Huntress Returns–Arthur K. Barnes
The Interplanetary Huntress Last Case–Arthur K. Barnes
The Lightning Witch, or The Metal Monster–A. Merritt
The Man who Lived Forever – Anna Hunger & R. DeWitt Miller
The Thief of Bagdad–Achmed Abdullah
The Transposed Man – Dwight V. Swain
Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt
BARGAIN SF/F EBOOKS IN OMNIBUS EDITIONS
(Complete & Unabridged)
The First Lord Dunsany Omnibus: 5 Complete Books – Lord Dunsany
The First William Morris Omnibus: 4 Complete Classic Fantasy Books
The Barsoom Omnibus: A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars–Burroughs
The Second Barsoom Omnibus: Thuvia, Maid of Mars; The Chessmen of Mars–Burroughs
The Third Barsoom Omnibus: The Mastermind of Mars; A Fighting Man of Mars–Burroughs
The First Tarzan Omnibus: Tarzan of the Apes; The Return of Tarzan; Jungle Tales of Tarzan–Burroughs
The Second Tarzan Omnibus: The Beasts of Tarzan; The Son of Tarzan; Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar–Burroughs
The Third Tarzan Omnibus: Tarzan the Untamed; Tarzan the Terrible; Tarzan and the Golden Lion–Burroughs
The Pellucidar Omnibus: At the Earth's Core; Pellucidar–Burroughs
The Caspak Omnibus: The Land that Time Forgot; The People that Time Forgot; Out of Time's Abyss–Burroughs
The First H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Invisible Man: War of the Worlds; The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Second H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Time Machine; The First Men in the Moon; When the Sleeper Wakes
The Third H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Food of the Gods; Shape of Things to Come; In the Days of the Comet
The First Jules Verne Omnibus: Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea; The Mysterious Island; From the Earth to the Moon
The Homer Eon Flint: All 4 of the Clasic "Dr. Kenney" Novels: The Lord of Death; The Queen of Life; The Devolutionist; The Emancipatrix
The Second Jules Verne Omnibus: Around the World in 80 Days; A Journey to the Center of the Earth; Off on a Comet
Three Great Horror Novels: Dracula; Frankenstein; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Darkness and Dawn Omnibus: The Classic Science Fiction Trilogy–George Allan England
The Garrett P. Serviss Omnibus: The Second Deluge; The Moon Metal; A Columbus of Space
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