Carl was really, really looking forward to dinner. Alone in
their room Geoffrey would go on and on about what he had
eaten at Mrs Livingston's... now Mrs Thacker. And he and
Roger had gone into the kitchen a couple of times and
smelled some marvellous smells coming from...
"Little Preacher's Kid!" he heard and, translating it in
his head, turned around to see Mr Thacker. He ran over
to him.
"You know where to send a telegram?" Mr Thacker asked.
"Yes, sir," Carl said. "Post office."
"Right. Now Mrs Thacker has written this out. It's in
French so tell them to be careful to get it right. Who knows
what it will mean if they get a letter wrong. Something insulting,
no doubt."
22 • BOBTAILS GO TO FRANCE
He handed Carl a piece of paper and a coin. "You want me
to send this as a telegram?" he asked, looking at them.
"It says so right on the paper, doesn't it? Now scoot!"
Carl raced off down the driveway and down the lane. He
loved running and...
"Where are you going?" Geoffrey asked, as he walked
down the lane holding Little Ruth with one hand and a book
in the other.
"Post office!" Carl yelled.
He stopped at the door of the Post Office and walked in.
Just his luck, his mother was there.
"Carl, what are you doing?" she asked him.
"Errand for Mr Thacker," he said.
"Oh, well, that is nice," she said. He hoped desperately
she wouldn't ask...
"Will you be home for dinner?"
"No, gotta get back and finish helping," he said.
"Oh, well, I suppose they will feed you if you are helping
them, but don't be a bother."
"Won't," he said and then, it being his turn, he handed the
letter and the coin to the Post Office chap.
"What is this?" he asked, "A telegram?" He looked down
at Carl. "I don't normally write them out myself but, since
you are so young..."
"I will do it," his mother said, and Carl quailed. Geoffrey
did not want his mother to hear what was going on until
Father had had a good chance to talk to her.
"This is in French," she said, as she bent over the table to
write out the telegram.
"Yes, ma'am. One of Mrs Thacker's aunts died."
"Oh, how sad."
"She was old," Carl said.
"Well, Carl, that doesn't make it not sad."
"Suppose not," Carl said, watching as his mother labori-
AUGUST 1, 1889 • 23
ously copied everything out. His mother would do it careful,
anyway, like Mr Thacker wanted.
"There, I believe that is correct," she said, and handed it
back to the Post Office chap.
"Not a short telegram," he said, "Here's your change and
your receipt"
The 'receipt' was a copy that his mother had made
pressing on the first sheet and Carl clutched it and the small
coin he had gotten back and left. He started running as soon
as he hit the street for fear his mother would call him back
and ask him some questions.
—
Thank you for coming round Arthur’s Substack. I hope and pray it will be a blessing to you.
Arthur publishes with Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations.
Quite a few chapters of the Bobtails and No Ordinary School are here on this substack as audio.
I also write as Von, and I encourage you to check out that substack. There is a lot of theology and politics there, as well as quotes, poems, other articles, and links to other Science Fiction. But ‘Von’ also is publishing some serial books and stories. Much more adult and serious books than here, for the most part. Some of them.
Von is publishing the stories:
Contract Marriage
Contract marriage is an adult dystopia examining the issues of marriage. Like 1984 and Brave New World, Contract Marriage treats the relations between the sexes as a fundamental aspect of how a society is formed and, thus, how a society can go wrong.
Unlike those dystopias, Contract Marriage isn’t all horrible all of the time. The characters for the most part have a good time and get along in their society. But the issues of sexuality, of marriage or not, monogamy or not, faithfulness or not, and gender roles… keep coming up and causing tension and conflict and joy and pain.
My desire is that my readers would be thinking along with my characters about these issues and perhaps even arrive at the same place (minus the flying cars).
Article 17
Article 17 is a military science fiction story with aliens and romance. It is set in a future reminiscent of Napoleon era Britain. The war was going very poorly until the military installed a dictator. This story follows one of the dictator’s great men: Cladin Tomirosh, Leader, and thrice decorated hero.
Island People
Island People is a young adult fantasy book centring on a young prince. The book starts with his kidnapping and follows his adventures as he not only escapes from his kidnapper but gains critical allies and friends.
The entire book is scheduled on Substack, and there are several sequels. This is a book I wrote years ago, so it is in a bit of a rough form. Critiques and comments are more than welcome, they are requested.
…and his story ‘The Oracle’ is in haitus, but there are some chapters there. Feel free to check them out.
God Bless you as you read, and may you do all to the glory of God.
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