"Charles, what are you doing?"
What Charles was actually doing was imagining himself
climbing up the chimney. To facilitate this he had moved
rather close to the chimney and was trying to stare up it.
What he said, however, was "Nothing, Mother." He moved
away from the chimney and picked up the book he had been
reading. He was so bored.
They had been in this big, ugly, city of Chicago for three
months now and he was unalterably bored. There was a big
word for you! Charles loved big words... although he didn't
always use them right. But he was sure that he was using this
one correctly... nothing could alter the fact that he was bored.
He was here, with only his parents. He didn't have any
siblings, although he wished he had. (Every time he
mentioned this wish, his mother told him how foolish he was,
and told tales of her many siblings, and how they had fought
and all. But all that did was make him even more jealous of
children with siblings. And it wasn't like she didn't spend
almost half of every day writing to one sibling or another, or
sending gifts to their children.)
24 • BOBTAILS GO TO FRANCE
Anyway, here he was in Chicago, with only his parents,
which most of the time meant only his mother, since his
father was always away on business. And his mother, well, she
had taken him on the regular round of buildings that one
'must see' in Chicago...
The big public library, which was very helpful and Nurse
took him there almost every day now,
Two art institutes,
The board of trade (his father had taken him there),
The clock towers,
The telephone company building, where he had gotten a
tour,
The Fulton Street meat market (he had wanted to spend
more time there!),
...and so many more...
...and they had been interesting enough. But when they
had finished that she just went out, every evening it seemed,
to the opera or the theatre or something. And of course she
said they were too late for him, so he had to stay home with
Bridgette. And she was ever so boring. All she ever wanted to
talk about was her family back in France, cheese, and how
much better France was than England... or Chicago. The
trees were better, the grass was better... even the snails were
better, according to Bridgette.
Just then Bridgette herself walked in; which was rather
unusual. Bridgette did not like coming into any area except
the room she shared with Charles.
"Bridgette?" his mother asked, looking up from her letter.
"Oh, Madam," Bridgette said. In French, of course. Bridgette
was strictly forbidden from speaking anything but
French around Charles. It was annoying and, at times, embarrassing,
but he must admit it meant he could speak French
better than any of his peers. "I have received a letter, from France,
you understand. My aunt has died."
AUGUST 1, 1889 • 25
"Oh, Bridgette, that is so sad," Mother said, and Charles had
to work hard to keep from snorting. Mother was oh so proud
of her French, but her accent was simply atrocious.
"Yes, but Madame, I am expected to go. To the funeral, and the
reading of the wi!... as you would say. She has left me, she has left me
a small cottage, which my brother says that he will rent out for me.
But I am expected to go. He has wired me the funds for travel."
"Oh!" Mother said, in quite another tone. "But... but I do
not wish to get another governess for Charles in this vulgar country.
Even if I wanted to get one that only spoke English, I would not want
one with the horrible accent they speak here."
Charles wasn't known for being slow to think, and bright
vistas suddenly opened up in front of him. "Oh, Mother, I
should go with her."
His mother opened her mouth to reply, but he was
faster. "You are forever telling me that I should go to
France. How educational it would be. And here we have a
perfect opportunity. My tutor can send along books for me
to read and it will be so good for my French. You could get
a stateroom for the two of us, so you wouldn't have to get
me another governess, and, oh, Mother, I am so bored
here."
His mother closed her mouth. She had very firm ideas but
still did actually care for him, and she had gone on and on
about how educational it would be.
"And that way Bridgette could travel in a decent stateroom
instead of stuffing in in some lower class..."
"I will speak to your father," Mother said, and Charles
bounded out of his seat, leaping over to his mother and
kissing her. "Oh, Mother, thank you! Oh, Bridgette, we shall
travel together!"
Bridgette stood with her mouth open and Charles could
almost see the calculations going on in her head. She would
have to travel with him but she would save oh so much
26 • BOBTAILS GO TO FRANCE
money... and there was little chance of anyone else stealing
her job if she was with him.
"But, that would be marve!ous," she said, finally. "Oh, my
family will be so pleased to meet you. And it is so good that you
already speak the French!"
Francois dodged the stone and ducked around the wall. These
cursed English! The English boys, the other orphans, could
always get some work, running errands. But he, because he
had the accent, they didn't like him and even the adults,
unless he managed to find some that spoke French, they
didn't wish to make the efforts to understand him.
He made his way back to the Hotel a L'etranger, where
many French people stayed when they were here in Dover.
Just think. Just across the channel everyone spoke French!
Oh, if only he were there!
—
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.
Share this post