Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: kmwilcox@iastate.edu (Kevin M Wilcox) Subject: [Mr B] Mister Boddy Returns Message-ID: Keywords: mister boddy eustace crimpin noeuse Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1993 02:00:48 GMT Eustace Crimpin slumped on his stool, resting his forehead on the bar. It had been a rough month for him. He had lost all his payment for the last sale he had made. He tried to get in business with one of the merchants in town, but with no money of his own to invest, he had to start working around the docks just to earn the money to stay in his hotel room until his opportunity returned to Generica. And this morning would be his last there if his absence was noticed by the foreman. This was the fourth Alphan Piday since Mister Boddy and his associates had left, and Eustace was beginning to worry that they might not return. Eustace had been unable to secure mithril for them, but he hoped to get an advance, because they paid with perfect emeralds, something impossible to find anywhere within several months' travel. They had promised to return on Piday, but when three passed without them, he had lost most of his hope, along with all the sailors and lowlifes he had goaded into waiting with him. Quietly, he slid to the floor and passed out. The door opened quietly and three young men entered. The first wore a clean white tunic, pants, boots, and belt and a beat-up, gray fedora. The other two were bareheaded and dressed all in black, one a full head taller, the other that much shorter. "Dana, sit Mr. Crimpin up at a table," the first man told the tall one. Dana picked up the merchant and dropped him in a chair as they all sat around the table. The man in white ordered something to return Eustace's sobriety. When the merchant regained his composure, he explained his situation. "And that is why I have nothing, Mister Boddy." "That is not a problem. We only came to say we have all the mithril we need, and we wish to sever our ties with this area," Boddy told him. "What??!!" Eustace screamed. Several people turned to look at the table. He became embarrassed and lowered his head to the table, his eyes still on Boddy. "If you leave me hanging now, I'll be stuck without a job! Or worse yet, working the docks!" he continued under his breath. "You gotta do something! Take me with you wherever else you're going! Something!" "We will pay you for your trouble and make certain you have what you need here in Generica." He handed the merchant an emerald of good size and perfect quality. "Don't lose this one. Every one which is seen in town lowers the value of every other. Now we should pay for some of your necessities." The four men stood up and left. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* After leaving Eustace at his hotel, where his bill was paid for the next six months, the three visitors were walking through town. "Are we leaving now?" Dana inquired. "Not just yet. Heidi will be disappointed if I go home with nothing for her. She's already upset I've been running all over a hundred different dimensions working on this project. More rubies aren't going to be enough anymore. She's finally decided the natural gems really aren't all that much better than the ones I can make her," Boddy explained. He paused for a minute and sniffed the air. "Smell that, Evan?" he asked. "Yes. I think she'd have to love it," the shorter man answered. They all turned up the Arcade of Fountains and found the source of the scent, the Perfumerie Grand Veneur. The shop was open, but no one seemed to be inside. Dana waited outside while the other two ventured in. "Hello? Is someone here? We'd like to make a purchase here," Boddy called. "Evan, can you find the perfume we smelled before? I'm going to see if someone's here." He started walking deeper into the shop when a man in bright robes came out from the back room, nearly tripping over something the others could not see. Boddy laughed to himself, but no one noticed. "Ah. Hello. We'd like to purchase..." Evan handed him a small vial. "Some of this." The man stared at him for a moment, then nodded silently. He pulled out a handkerchief and twirled it in a rehearsed manner. Boddy grinned and took another of his perfect little gems from Dana, who had come in after the shop owner appeared. "Will this be sufficient?" The man nodded and took the gem back to the other room. "He seemed overly pleased." "There are about a dozen vials of that fragrance here on this shelf. It's not nearly the rarest or most valuable here," Evan told him. "You probably paid him ten times its value." He looked concerned. Boddy nodded. "You're right. However, we should stay uninvolved. We do not know or understand this world," he said. "Also, if Heidi asks, this is such an extremely rare and valuable scent the shopkeeper cried when we bought it. I guess that's all. Let's go." They left the store and started toward the docks. "I'll be glad to go home," he mused to himself. "All this travel has grown tiresome." -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Eustace became restless in his hotel room and opted instead to go down to the docks and quit his job. After a hot bath and some careful grooming, he put on his best robes and started marching through town. As he neared the office of the dock foreman, he spotted Dana on a ship leaving port. Looking closer, he could see Mister Boddy with him. He kept watching as they disappeared below deck, and the ship disappeared into the sunset. When it was out of sight, Eustace straightened his robes and marched toward the office. When he arrived, he saw that the foreman was over by an unloading ship. As he started toward him, there was a loud whipping and cracking noise and several workers began yelling something he couldn't understand. Eustace looked up to see a giant wooden crate dropping right toward him. He leaped out of its path as it crashed into the dock and splintered, sending fruit flying over him into the water. He stood up, disoriented, and fell backward, right off the side. "Eustace!" a man's voice yelled from above. It was his foreman. "Where have you been all day? I've put up with this enough! You're fired!" Eustace grabbed a bobbing piece of fruit, took a bite, and sank out of sight until the foreman left. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | K. M. Wilcox | | Mister Boddy | *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"So, Professor Jenkins!... My old nemesis!...*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | We meet again, but this time the advantage is mine! Ha! Ha! Ha!" | *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*