(Books by Authors Who Never Existed: A Steampunk Hybrid story)
By the author of BARD: Owner of the Gemstone
***
“You see,” The Inventor says to Mr. Clockwind, who is stilled dressed in black, and continues to have a constant dazed expression. Which The Inventor is pleased with. It means, the clockmaker still hasn’t awoken from the injection. “I often dream of my twin. It wasn’t until a few months ago, when Lady Raven Elsewhere invited me to tea, that I learned these particular dreams are not a subconscious construct of imagination, but a real place. The Other Place. It means there is a way for me to get all of my twin back.”
The Inventor leads Mr. Clockwind out of the steam delivery truck and up the stairs to Lady Elsewhere’s mansion. “Lady Elsewhere wants someone else back, a Mr. Intrepid. Now, I’m going to keep my word and let you go, but Chief Shabuni—well, he’s going to the Other Place. However, in order for him to return, he needs a clock that exists between our existence and The Other Place’s.”
“I have the gravity stones.” He smirks as he recalls sending his automaton to steal the crystals Mr. Claws discovered in the Arcticterra. “Lady Elsewhere and her associates, have skeleton keys, each pair with its own stones; but we don’t yet have a clock. A clock that hovers, so as to be between two places simultaneously. I suspect my newly acquired books contain the solution to that problem.”
***
Mr. Clockwind continues to keep his face loose and stare absently ahead. It isn’t time to use the coiled spring wire, yet. However, now he needs to get it to Chief Shabuni, if he can. Proper time is essential for making plans. Sometimes, to thwart those plans, it’s necessary to slow, or speed time up.
***
Once again, I’d like to thank Brandon Gray for portraying The Inventor. And his wife, Robin Gray, for suiting him up and taking his pictures.
Robin Gray can be reached at @grayandwhitelaw Custom Decor and Designs
Her new website is: https://gray-and-whitelaw-101684.square.site
Background by Yvonne Haug
Honourable Mention
Tina Guo is the first person to engulf me in the siren sound of the cello.
To best summarise her, this is my reply to a request she had, for what people thought of her new website:
Your accomplishments are amazing and overwhelming. I’ve been following you for awhile. You play well alone and with others. You are also a very clear and passionate instructor. A celloist…, collaborator, composer, and to borrow from Kevin Hart: always evolving. A businesswoman who earns what she gets, and a realist.
Teaching Cello:
The Last of the Mohicans:
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