Have Spells; Will Travel Part 2

The parlor was the showplace of Paladin Books. There was a plush-covered round table which dominated most of the center of the room. On the table, displays of tiny-framed photographs - five to be precise - of the proprietor and her late husband were shown in various stages of the building of the bookshop and various finds that were associated with bibliographic finds. A plate to hold calling cards was placed tastefully in front of a small silver frame which had a photo of Stephanie standing in front of the store. If visitors came to call and found no one at the shop, they would leave their calling cards with Christianna to let the proprietress know that they had been there.

Floral carpets were currently all the rage. As such, three distinct carpets had been laid on the floor to give it a rather home like feel. It was the accepted style to combine many patterns together - even striped wallpaper with wild floral fabrics and carpets, thus the long bronze and maroon stripes that adorned the wall were still there. Stephanie insisted that they gave her a headache, but Christianna, being the one who kept most of the store together and was in charge of the front insisted that they keep up with the styles or no one would visit. A long standing argument was that Stephanie was more than sure that people would come due to her extensive knowledge on books; Christianna insisted that no one would care if she remained five years out of current fashions. Along the sides of the rooms were several overstuffed chairs, a rather large settee and a small couch; the arms of the over-stuffed chair sporting handmade lace doilies. Christianna had bought them herself at considerable expense, but every woman who entered the store's parlor cooed over them and their intricacy and so Stephanie thought that it was monies well spent.

The walls were covered with mostly paintings and prints and portraits of famous authors. Only the picture over the mantle was personal and commissioned by a great artist. It was a large portrait of Lady Stephanie in her personal library with a book on her lap, cautiously opened and the spine held out so that all could read that she was holding a copy of the famous Death before Dying by Augustus St. Franc. On the mantle of the fireplace itself, several wax flowers under glass domes stood at attention. The flowers had been chosen carefully and were frequently dusted by Christianna as well. Stephanie allowed her gaze to fall over the flowers - an anemone for brevity, an edelweiss for courage, and a zinnia for thoughts of absent friends - before she gazed at the Lord and Lady Penrose.

Both were seated on the small couch and both looked extremely uncomfortable. Lord Penrose was a stocky man with a distinct mustache that whispered out and was perfectly waxed to stand out and his mustachio made him look ridiculous in Stephanie's eyes; not that she would ever tell him. His waist coat seemed to have been made a size too small, perhaps to make him appear more man than boulder, but Stephanie wondered about his sense of dress when she noticed the bright green cummerbund that he wore. On his head, the fashionable top hat, which seemed the only sensible thing her wore, had been mangled to having the original white band changed to one of a deep shade of blue. Stephanie thought that he should have been tongue-lashed by his wife for leaving the house dressed as such, but guessed she must not have had any sense of fashion if she let him out anyway.

As if to reinforce her thinking, the Lady Penrose was wearing a rather largely frilled crinoline that had so much lace, she looked to be drowning in it. She kept picking at the lace in a nervous habit, laying it first one way and then another. Her dress was a shade of lilac, and yet her gloves were a startling yellow, which made for a stark contrast of her jet black hair and the enormous emerald necklace that hung around her neck. Lady Penrose had large doe eyes that nervously darted too and fro as if she was waiting for something to jump out of the fireplace and attack her.

Stephanie took a moment to take a breath and put a smile on her face as she noticed that neither of them had seen her. She then said in a loud voice, "Lord and Lady Penrose! What an honor to have you visit me today. What brings you to this side of the Hub?"

Lord Penrose instantly stood up and pulled his hat off of his head and bowed politely to Stephanie. She noticed at that moment that his hair was thinning rather morbidly and that there was nothing the poor man would be able to do about it. She smiled to the Lady Penrose who shifted nervously and made a half-hearted smile before shifting another section of lace on her dress.

Lord Penrose waited till Stephanie sat down before he did again. At that moment, Christianna brought yet another pot of tea into the room, smiling broadly and widely, bustling her way into the Penrose's view.

"Would you two like another cup of tea? Vestal Gray as it were, delicious and aromatic, and if not, then have another cucumber sandwich, I made them fresh just as you were arriving." She proceeded to pour a tiny bit into each of the guest's cups and top them off. It was at that moment that Stephanie noticed that neither of them had even touched what had been put before them. It must have been a dire straight indeed that had made them come over to see her, as Stephanie guessed that the Lord Penrose never missed tea time by the look of his frame. Stephanie allowed Christianna to pour her a cup and she picked it up smiling. As she sipped it, the Lord Penrose picked his own tea cup up and made a tentative sip as if to placate his host more than anything else. Lady Penrose continued to play distractedly with the lace on her dress, ignoring the cup in front of her. Stephanie decided to overlook the slight and then waited for the two people to explain themselves.

There was a moment of terse silence before Lord Penrose spoke. "Lady Paladin, if I may be blunt," he said.

"Please call me Stephanie." She motioned for Christianna to make herself scarce. Christianna made her polite bow and then rushed off to the adjoining room, no doubt to listen in and eavesdrop on the whole conversation, if only to gossip about it later on with her employer.

The Lord Penrose nodded and then said, "Then please feel free to call me Montgomery." He paused and then began again. "As I was saying, if I may be blunt, we had you looking over and authenticating the Alexander Jeffery Collection that we had recently acquired."

Stephanie nodded. "Indeed you have, and I am almost done with it as well. There was not a single out of place novel or forgery that I have been able to detect so far, but there are a few books that I would like to send out with your permission to have finalized as they might be beyond my ken to identify. Mainly the three books that were written by Anthony Butler, A Place for Peace, The Heights, and A Tale of the Cities. I believe that they are missing certain pages, and could have in fact been printed after being banned for their salacious content. Also I would like to send out Jane of Montgomery, so that we might have an official seal of authenticity with it. It might seem to be one of the original forty copies that were printed during the Vonete Sister's lives."

At this the Lady Penrose nodded and looked up at her husband with her doe eyes and Stephanie suddenly realized that there was something else that they had come here for. Montgomery Penrose sighed and then said, "That is all very nice Lady Paladin,"

"Stephanie."

Montgomery waved a hand. "Yes, Stephanie, but Cecile and I feel that there will be no need to authenticate them any longer and would like to sell them as it were."

Stephanie paused for a moment and then set her teacup down on a small table next to her. "Whatever for? There are priceless antiquities. Any collector worth his salt would be more than happy to own them."

At this moment Cecile Penrose spoke in a rather fractured voice. "They were to be a present to our daughter on her wedding day, to help establish the prominence of her new household. However, due to unforeseeable circumstances, there is no need to have the job finished."

"What my wife means to say is that there will be no wedding," Lord Penrose said, cutting into her wife's words. He handed her a handkerchief with which she dried her now tearing eyes. "Our daughter has run off and left us in scandal. If we cannot have her come back within the month, there will be no wedding. She has been kidnapped by a foul ruffian of low stature and birth and refuses to send her back. We anticipate that she will not come back on her own, so we see no other choice but to abandon the current project that we gave you and allow you to sell them to whoever might be interested."

Stephanie allowed the information to sink in for a moment and then reached for the small card dish that was on the table. Lifting the small silver platter she reached under it and pulled out a small business card of her own and held it out gently to the Lord Penrose. He looked bewildered for a moment and then took the card saying, "Lady Paladin, Stephanie, I hardly think it appropriate that you give us another card at this moment," his voice trailed off for as he looked at the card. Embossed clearly in the center of the card was a picture of two revolvers crossed over the center in black. Montgomery Penrose flipped the card over and then stared at it. His wife looked at him and he slowly passed it to her and she read what was on the back aloud.

"Have Spells... Will Travel." Lady Penrose looked at the card in a bewildered manner and then looked at Stephanie. "Lady Paladin, what is this?"

"I would believe it to be the answer to your problem of not having a wedding Lady Penrose." Stephanie's voice was firm and resounding enough even to cause Lord Penrose to be taken aback.

"I don't think that I understand," began Lord Penrose.

"There is no need to. What that card states is all of it. If you would like, or should I say, if you permit me, I can go out and bring your daughter back from wherever she is. This would thus avert your scandal."

"you would bring my daughter back to us?" Lady Penrose looked at Stephanie rather hopefully and then turned on her husband, "Oh Monty, we should let her."

Lord Penrose looked at took the card from his wife and then looked at it again. "This would seem to state that you are a hired gun Lady Paladin." This time, Stephanie didn't correct him.

"That would correct."

Lord Penrose looked at the card again and then said with a soft voice, "Can you really bring her back?"

"I charge a fee for it, but I would be willing to bet that I could bring her back with no harm and that she would be more than all right."

Montgomery Penrose looked up at Stephanie and then said, "How much would it cost us?"

"Five thousand."

Lord Penrose's face seemed to turn an shade of pale white. "Five thousand? What could possibly justify that price?"

Stephanie nodded and then said, "My husband was an amazing shot. He only missed once in his entire life. He taught me how to hold and shoot a weapon, and I would like to say that I am a better shot than most. Also, I never miss." She looked Lord Penrose straight in the eyes and he seemed to balk and then his considerable girth sagged.

Looking back at the card and the ground, he spoke in a soft voice."Lady Stephanie Paladin, you have a deal. I will have my accountant transfer the funds straight into your account."

"No, I would prefer it if you pay in cash. My gun abilities are never mixed with my Book store." Lord Montgomery Penrose looked up again, this time almost in anger, but the color subsided from his face and he nodded his acceptance.

"Then I will have the money to you in two hours time."

"Then at that time I will head out to find your daughter."

Lord Penrose sighed the sigh of a defeated man.