Wheels of Whispers - Chapter 3

The silence of Somershill mansion was cut by a shriek, followed by another. Not frightened nor taken aback, but happy screaming – the honest reaction of Florence and Edith after “accidentally” overhearing the conversation between Elias and Louis. What the previous one had been talking about wasn’t intriguing as the usual sophisticated remarks he had made that were no more than simple conversation fillers. However, Louis informed him not-so-quietly about a mysterious man so evil that Satan himself spat him back and gifted him a robotized horse with its four legs cut to half, and the exposed innermost parts of the stomach served as a cage, and Lord Ellsworth was imprisoned there and possibly taken to Hell.

“Do you think this man would come back for the rest of us?”

“No, silly! He would demand ransom from the Lady!”

“Oh, right! But why not vice versa?”

“She may have been more trouble? I heard that for the Lord his dignity was far more important and so he choose not to scream, meanwhile the Lady…”

“You cerdos perezosos, what are you doing? ¡Ir al trabajo!” snapped the harsh voice of Mrs. Martinez, who happened to also overhear their conversation. After muttering a row of apologies, Edith and Florence carried on with washing up. [lazy pigs; get to work]

***

“I do not comprehend a word of what you are trying to communicate with me. Lord Elsworth had been kidnapped earlier this morning by a devil accompanied by a wicked horse with a… deformed anatomy?”

“¡Sí!” screamed the housekeeper, whilst she made three times the sign of a cross.

“Khmm, perhaps I shall be the one to attract your attention to the nuisance caused by the cessation of your mental well-being.”

“Estúpido, I am not crazy!” [stupid]

“The decorum strictly prohibits me from returning the kind gesture, therefore, I am obligated to practice leniency, albeit I would be obliged, should a miracle implement my vengeance.”

“Eh, orgulloso y ciego como todo mayordomo.” [proud and blind like every butler]

Mr. Palmer didn’t reply, but, if looks could kill, Mrs. Martinez wouldn’t have had much time to plan a proper, catholic funeral.

***

The last ‘victims’ of the treacherous gossip were Mr. Phelps and Ida. Their reactions weren’t exactly what Elias and Louis desired; the former was yelled at for being idle while the latter was sent to collect some garlic. However, the boys still felt a bit proud of themselves for causing tension amongst the influenceable members of the staff and were eager to participate at the common meeting Mr. Palmer decided to call together after getting bored of the constant Spanish prayers muttered at 12 PM. The servants gathered in the living room, except for Ida, the cook, who really wasn’t interested, saying that “this whole circus is nothing compared to ’48,” and Mr. Phelps, the coach, who had to take the Lady to the neighborhood as “her social status demanded her to be transported everywhere”.

“As the majority of you have an inkling about the topic we would be discussing today, I intend to start the meeting with the chief subject directly without any further formalities, whereas I would request ideas on how to proceed in this case.”

“Let’s find the kidnapper! Let’s call the police! Let’s make garlic necklaces! Let’s play the detective! Let’s sleep!” The absurd ideas chaotically bombarded the poor butler, who didn’t know where to look – more precisely, where to hear. Finally, he managed to silence them with a not-so-elegant, loud “HUSH!”.

“Whereas I do believe every single one of you would be capable of investigating, I would suggest we let the two of the most negligible members find out the truth. Elias, Louis, would you two…”

“I’m useful, thank you very much! Without me, you’d eat normal meals!”

“…then I reckon you would not prefer to participate in this errand.”

“I think you’ll be fine without my amazing skills as a chef for a day or two.”

Balázs-Blénessi-Pataki Kincső   X. R