Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 17:53:29 EST
Subject: Fluff: The Joshua Chronicles, part 4a
Dear friends:
One last piece of fluff before Fraser and co. depart on vacation!
Joshua
______________________________________
Azhriaz looked up and grinned at Joshua. "Not that joke, that's for
sure." She came around from behind the counter and grasped her
unexpected visitor's hand. "Slumming?" she kidded.
"Buying" Joshua replied. "How are you, Azh?"
"Fine. All geared up for the next party. How are you, and how's
Gideon and all the assorted Fletchervillains?"
"All well," Joshua replied, laughing. "Gideon said to say hello."
"So, what are you in the market for?"
"What have you got that's haunted?"
She looked blank, and Joshua took pity on her and explained. The
red-head vampiress was incredulous, and even more so when Joshua
related his adventures with the mysterious bearded man, Evighet and
Steph the were-cat.
"So that's what happened to your lip. I was going to ask, it looks
pretty sore. Bet you've never had a buying trip like this before," Azh
said.
"Not really," Joshua admitted. "You don't happen to have anything in
that line, do you?"
"Not that I'm aware of," replied the auburn undead. "but, say, I'm
going to an auction sale this afternoon, as it happens. Why don't you
come along and see if there's anything that seems to fit the bill?"
"Thank you, I would like to."
If Azh was expecting Joshua to panic over her driving skills or riding
in the Corvair, she was disappointed. This was the man who had ridden
with the Wild Hunt, who lived with a vampire and a werewolf, and who
had faced down cheating antique dealers with equal equanamity. He gave
every evidence of enjoying the ride.
"This car isn't safe," he shouted over the sound of the engine. "I
love it!" When they pulled up at the auditorium where the auction was
beingheld, he patted the dashboard. "I don't suppose you'd let me
drive on the way back?"
Azh shook her head. "Noone drives the Corvair but me," she stated
firmly. "And Arioch, once, but that was an emergency."
"I drive a Volvo," Josh said, a little wistfully.
Unsure what to say to this middle-aged crisis, Azh just shook her
head again. "Come on," she said. "Let's look around at the stuff,
andsee if anything catches your eye."
They entered the auditorium, and acquired sales catalogues. Other
people were performing the pre-sale ritual of wandering around, lists
in hand,examining the goods on display and occasionally marking their
catalogues. The large furniture was all grouped on the west side, and
Joshua happily examined tables, chairs, bedframes and chests of
drawers.
"I don't really expect one of these things to levitate," he laughed to
Azh. "Or a chest of drawers to say 'boo'. I didn't feel anything at
all with that corner cupboard in New York, after all. The trouble is
that I can't take a CotN with me everywhere I go."
"Why not?" Azh grinned at him.
He shooed her away by flapping his catalogue at her. Then, grinning,
he went to the other side to check the smaller objects. The condo
would need knick knacks as well as furniture, and that vase or tureen
could be just as haunted as a wardrobe or a headboard. Joshua barely
suppresseda chuckle at the notion of a haunted soup tureen. The soup
du jour is cream of poltergeist...
A small clay pot drew his wandering attention back to the display of
small goods. It looked like early Native work, not really Joshua's
line. He knew a bit about aboriginal pieces, but his interests tended
to be more in European furniture than early Americana. Still, this
wasa nice, largish pot with an unusual design. If that was a
thud.nderbird, it was a very subtle one. without thinking, he reached
out and gently picked up the vessel to examine it more closely. A
tingle in his handsmade him nearly drop the thing. A passing auction
assistant gave him asevere look, and Joshua replaced the clay pot on
its stand, blushing.
He had definitely felt _something_, but what?
"What's wrong?" Azh came up behind him, making him jump slightly. He
would never get used to how quietly the vampires could move. Even
Gideon startled him at times.
"I felt something with that clay pot," he said, making a note on his
catalogue beside the lot number of the piece. "A tingle. There's
something strange about it. Have you found anything?"
"There's a hall tree I really like," Azh said. "Come see."
Joshua agreed, since if he showed too much interest in the clay pot it
would beat the price up and perhaps attract unwanted attention. There
was no sign of his bearded assailant, but also no point in taking
chances. He followed Azh back to the furniture and looked critically
at the hall tree she pointed out.
It was one of those large pieces designed for a real hall rather than
the tiny foyer in most modern homes. It had a small bench so that you
could sit down to pull off your boots, a drawer under the seat, large
arms that came up and branched out into the coat hooks, and a mirror
set in the carved back. Joshua barely glanced at the mirror, simply
ascertaining that it was the original bevelled glass, and then
examinded the rest of piece. The proportions were all correct, the
wood was wornin the right places, and it showed the correct amount of
wear and tear at the coat hooks and other places of contact.
"It's genuine," he assured Azh. "I don't get any tingle from it, but
my psionic powers are pretty dim."
"I just like it," Azh said. "I can sell it for a good price if the
bidding doesn't go too high, or I can keep it."
"It's a nice piece," Joshua agreed. "Why don't we go and get a drink,
and then find seats? The sale should be starting soon, and I've had a
good look at everything."
Azh agreed, and they made their way to the snack concession, then
found seats just as the auction was commencing.
The small things were sold off first, and Joshua acquired the clay pot
with almost no competition. He sighed in relief that the bearded mage
was not in evidence. His lip still hurt, for one thing; and the next
time, that interloper might not be satisified with a physical attack.
The audience's interest and bidding picked up when the furniture came
up on the block. There was a fair amount of bidding for the hall tree
when it came up, because the auctioneer had hyped up the piece a bit,
tryingto get things moving. Azh did make the successful bid, but she
did notget a bargain by any means.
"Oh, well," she shrugged as she wrote the price in her catalogue.
"Maybe I can still turn a profit on it. Is there anything else you're
interested in?"
Joshua shook his head. "No, I've got what I wanted." The caly pot
hadbeen wrapped and boxed and delivered to his chair.
"Let me make arrangements for my assistant to come and pick up my ahll
tree, then we'll get out of here, then."
While Azh was making the arrangements, Joshua kept a nervous lookout
for the blond mage. There being no sign of the sinister sorcerer, he
relaxed a little bit. Possibly the bearded one had simply wanted the
court cupboard, and Joshua would be free of his presence for the rest
of this buying trip. He hoped that his enemy hadn't discovered for
whom the cupboard had been purchased, for doubtlessly Mrs. Sims-Jones
had no defenses against magic.
Then why did she want these antiques?
Meanwhile, Azhriaz had spoken with the auction people and had made
arrangements for the piece to be delivered to her shop. She walked
into the back area again, to get one more look at her latest purchase.
Looking at it again, she was glad that Joshua had been with her to
confirm it's antiquity. She was still learning the trade. She looked
over the piece once more and wondered at the near perfect condition
that it was in. Not a chip, dent, or scratch anywhere. She looked
into the mirror and again was amazed that it was still very clear.
Some older mirrors developed the chiped backing and that kind of stuff.
She noticed something off center in the mirror. One of those chips she
had been thinking about. "Damn" she thought to herself, while
scratching the spot with her fingernail to see if it was just a surface
blemish.
It was some kind of stain that with enough working had come off. She
ran her hand over the rest of the mirror to make sure there wasn't
anymore of that "stuff" on the mirror... Some kind of static was
emanating between her fingers and the mirror, Azhriaz thought it funny
because she hadn't been dragging her feet across a carpet.. That was,
she thought it was funny until she looked back into the mirror.
What she saw was not her reflection or the building but something like
a scene. It was hazy around the edges like in a mist or something.
Azhriaz watched as the scene moved with an etheral quality, it was
showing some kind of university campus, she couldn't place it until she
recognized one of the landmarks at Berkeley.
The scene shifted, there was a student there, she was about 19 and it
looked like move in day. There was no sound with the images but
Azhriaz was getting very strong impressions from the scenes themselves.
Enough to know that the girl's name was Rita and her father, a local
Doctor, was bringing her to Berkeley.
Once again it shifted, this time to a demonstration, Azhriaz again was
impressed with the thoughts of the year 1967. In the scene a man with
long dark hair came up to Rita and picked her up and swung her
around and then kissed her deeply.... The name Poppy was going around
in Azhriaz's mind...
Then the scenes picked up pace, all were with Rita and Poppy in them
and having to do with Berkeley.
The scene shifted to a party, Rita and Poppy were leaving but both had
been drinking pretty heavily. They climbed into the car anyway and
drove off... Azhriaz cringed as the car spun off on a curve and hit a
telephone poll... killing both instantly...
Azhriaz was looking back at her reflection, she was shocked to see her
pale complexion turn lighter... Without looking back at the hallstand
she turned and met back up with Joshua.
He took one look at her and grabbed her elbow, "Azh, are you ok?"
"I don't know yet. I think I may have another piece for your
collection, that is if I decide to get rid of it.."
He had a confused look on his face, "I don't follow, you mean the
hallstand? What happened?"
She didn't know how she was going to explain what had happened, she
wasn't sure what the scenes ...... just like the last piece of a
puzzle fitting.. She knew what she had seen.
"Josh, let's get outside to the car, I need some fresh air."
Both doors slammed shut and Azhriaz took a long deep breath, "You're
not going to believe this... That hallstand, I was touching the mirror
and it gave off a tingly shock. I looked back into the mirror and
there were these scenes. I know the year was 1967, it kept centering
around two people, Rita and Poppy at Berkeley... They were killed in a
car accident.
Josh was watching her intently, "Do you know who these people were?"
"Yes.... Rita was me, before this life."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This fluff was a collaboration between the two Frasers! (see what
happens when you let us get together?)
if you like it, contact:
The Fluffmaster
fraser@vax.library.utoronto.ca
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 1994 12:55:33 EST
Subject: Fluff: The Joshua Chronicles, pt 4b
Dear Friends:
Yes, the saga of my peculiar buying trip continues! This does take
place before the Hellowe'en party, btw.
Joshua
__________
By the time they returned to Azh's shop, the vampyress had recovered
from the shock of seeing herself in a past life. She and Joshua talked
over whether or not she would sell him the halltree. Azh was reluctant
to part with it, and Joshua didn't want to press her. Fidning this an
awkward subject, instead they speculated on the nature of the clay pot
he'd purchased. Azh was unable to pick up any vibrations at all from
it, but Joshua felt definite tingles whenever he touched it.
He set it down because he was afraid of breaking it if he kept holding
it, and walked back over to re-examine the cuff links he'd noticed in
Azh's jewellry display.
"Are those bats?" he asked her.
She came over and took a look. "Yeah," she grinned. "I couldn't
resist, figuring one of the CotN would drop in sooner or later and want
'em. Do you want to have a look at them?"
He grinned at her. "Of course I do. Maybe I'll buy them for Gideon.
He'll kill me if I do."
She laughed and went behind the counter to unlock it. She gasped and
stiffened for the second time that day. "Josh--look!"
He turned, and beheld a man in full Native shaman costume, with a
wolf's head mask, wandering around the shop. The _really_ weird part was
that the shaman was mostly transparent, although he could obviously see
the two beings in the shop, for he pointed his stick right at them.
His mouth moved, and a faint sound of chanting in a Native language
could be heard. Apparently satisfied with his accomplishment, the
spectre vanished. The clay pot vibrated slightly.
"Holy shit," said Azh.
"My thoughts exactly," replied Josh, leaning on the counter for support.
"I hope Mrs. Sims-Jones doesn't decide to set that pot on top of the
court cupboard. At least I know it's geninuely haunted."
The delivery van arrived just then, and Azh snapped out of her shock to
attend to the halltree. Joshua helped to bring it in, and caught sight
of his own reflection in the mirror.
His mouth looked like it had met a fist, but the swelling was going down
gradually. Not being vain, Joshua really didn't bother taking stock of
the rest of his appearance, other than quickly brushing a few stray
strands of sandy hair back into place...
_And the scene in the mirror changed. Rather than reflecting the store
and Joshua, it showed a setting in what looked like a woodworking shop.
A young man in his late teens or early twenties knelt polishing table legs
while an adult man looked on. Both the boy and the man wore
distinctively 18th century working garb--knee breeches, leather aprons,
sweat-stained loose shirts. Both had long hair tied back in a queue, the
young man's riband slightly more frayed.
_The door to the woodworking shop opened, and the men both
looked up at this unwaranted intrusion. The brief glimpse of the
outside world showed that dark had settled, not a time for doing
business. But the man who entered the shop was obviously rich and
important, his clothing plain for the time but of good material, and his
few pieces of jewellry were very good pieces. His dark hair was long,
and also bound back in a neat queue. He was apparently and expected
customer, come to pick up the table that the master and the young man --
a very senior apprentice, or a journeyman -- had been putting the
finishing touches on._
_Joshua now recognized that table as a Chippendale. The older man must
be Thomas Chippendale himself, for the master would surely work on a
custom-ordered piece for a rich and important client. The clothing was
the right period for the time just before Chippendale's fame took off
and he became more of a designer than a furniture maker himself. The
client was joined by a muscular, red-haired man who helped the
journeyman carry the precious table out to a waiting horse-drawn
carriage, where it was lovingly placed with several wrappings to protect
it. When the client came back to pay, he looked towards the mirror for
the first time._
"Good lord, it's Gideon!" Joshua exclaimed.
"What?" Azh demanded.
"I--I think I just saw myself in a past life. I was an apprentice to
Thomas Chippendale, and Gideon came and bought a table from us." He laughed,
but it came out shaky. "No wonder I can tall genuine Chippendales almost on
sight. I helped make them."
Azh grinned, but her grin looked pretty wobbly. "I don't know if I can
stand seeing that car accident again, or anything else the mirror shows
me. I'll sell it to you, and not even ask for a profit."
"Thanks, Azh." Joshua patted his forehead. "Cover that thing up, would
you? That was unreal." He wrote her a cheque for the amount of the
hallstand, and the bat cufflinks. She promised to have the stand and
the clay pot delivered to Mrs. Sims-Jones as soon as possible.
She and Joshua parted on a note of mutual friendliness and weirdness
shared, which made a deeper comraderie than just friendship. Joshua
spent the night in his hotel room, making a call to Lieutenant David
Hodnett, but apparently the lieutenant was not there. He shrugged, not
really sure he'd wnated to see David again after the Yule party, anyway.
Joshua looked through his address book and his eyes lit on a name.
"Maybe I'll call her, instead," he smiled to himself. "It's been a long
time. She likes going to estate sales, so I can justify dropping in to
see her." He reached for the phone again.
_____
This was brought to yu by the Fluffmaster, with permission from Azh to
borrow her character. :-) Now you understand that scene at the Hotel
Kalifornia...
{
Fraser@vax.library.utoronto.ca