Penny #21
Title: “A Mixed Bag”
Author/Artist: Scriptator
Fandom: Concarnadine (original)
Rating: Probably PG
Prompt:: #073 “Odd Socks”
Warnings: Involves things
Disclaimer: Everyone in here is an Original Character. Please ask before borrowing.
Penny Mortenson checked in with Solme Mens as soon as his cramped little office opened, and made the transactions the fax message he had for her told her to. And received a cheque for three hundred pounds which he said was profit from one dealing where he couldn’t feed it back in to a new investment. Something about incompatible currencies.
From there Penny caught the train to Croydon, to meet Hallie and make sure that she and Nanesha had things to do (useful things: not make-work), and offices to do it in (which turned out to be a new block just beside the railway station, air-conditioned and double-glazed, with a planted atrium and an on-site gym and juice bar).
“We’ll be fine, Penny - Adrian has sent us down several boxes of stuff, and we’re sorting it for him. And Bella Kugelmann has the Frencham under control.”
So, she mused, she wasn’t really needed there. From Croydon she caught a train to Clapham Junction and then another to Chelsea Harbour, and walked to Concarnadine’s house.
Borin let her in, and she found Elizabeth, in the workshop.
“C had to go out,” she said. “He’s gone to see Jinx, to see about some sort of amulet or talisman that will let him look inside the metal egg-thing. He should be back later, if you want to wait. Or you could come and help Borin and I at the Durbar, and Concarnadine can join us there.”
It wasn’t the greatest of choices, but Penny went with them, so that she’d have company. Except that, when she got there, she found Robin Flavour, the Detective Sergeant, wanting a word.
Except that it wasn’t trouble … not as such.
“Augham Mclvennie - “
“Him,” Penny replied.
“Now,” Robin said, holding a hand up, to forestall any precipitate response: “this may not be what you think. He has ‘come to notice’ - “ (she added air-quotes to the phrase) “ - on something the Thane - sorry, DI Barratt - and I were working on. Something to do with machinations inside the city, and the stock market. So, can I just get your version - first-hand - and then we’ll get on with our investigations.”
Penny told her what she knew of Mclvinnie and DS Flavour made notes, nodding at intervals.
“Between that and the Cityscape business, it looks as though your boss is some kind of lightning-rod for this sort of stunt.”
“And I seem to be the dupe-of-choice,” Penny replied, wryly.
“Just in the wrong places at the wrong time,” Robin responded. “Look, I’ll take this away and see what the Thane - and the City Squad - make of it, and we’ll get back to you.”
“Just in case it’s relevant,” Penny added: “There’s a journalist around who may know something about the Cityscape business. My boss doesn’t want me talking about it, so I don’t know how much she - a Dee Rosenorth - knows, but … “
“Thanks,” Robin Flavour replied: “Thanks - I’ll keep my eye out for her, just in case what she knows is something I don’t, and should do.”
Elizabeth was seeing to the rabbits - for some reason, the creatures reacted better to her than to Borin, (“ ’s not as though I smell of stoat !” the dwarf protested) so it was with Borin, in the basement, with several packing cases, that Penny found herself.
“Can you just grab one of them, and bring it ?”
The case wasn’t too heavy and Penny carried it up to the wings, where Borin left her, to make sure that no-one cleared it away again. There were half a dozen others there and, idly, Penny rearranged them into what felt to her like the most pleasing order.
“Yer’ve done it again, ‘aven’t you ?”
Penny looked at Borin, guiltily.
“Put them in th’right order, without needin’ t’be told it,” Borin explained. Penny couldn’t explain how she had done it - but Borin didn’t seem to mind. “Any time y’want t’give up earning pots of money in th’City and come on the road for bread and scrape, and sort the gear out, you’ll be welcome.”
“Which for you, is a speech,” Elizabeth said. She cast a look at Penny: “And as to you, I don’t know what we’ll do, when there’s no way of knowing how you do the hoodoo that you do.”
“What now ?” Concarnadine’s voice interrupted, as he and Geraint made their way up the stairs from the basement.
“Just Penny doing stuff again,” Elizabeth said.
“Stuff ?”
“Organising - by instinct.”
“Any more trouble with Miss Rosethorn ?”
“She hasn’t been back yet,” Elizabeth said. “But that doesn’t mean that she won’t be here tonight, if she’s bought a ticket.”
“I’d rather not have to talk to her,” Penny said.
“Then we’ll see what we can do to divert her,” Concarnadine said, trying to sound assuring, but leaving Penny still worried.
“Are we talkin’ or are we settin’ up ?” Borin asked, grumpily, breaking the mood.
Penny stayed back-stage throughout the performance but she would almost rather have been anywhere else, and she jumped every time anyone came near her, lest they wanted to question her.
She also kept having disturbing imaginings about the metal ovoid - it had been because of her that it had been taken out of the warded circle: if anything were to go wrong, then, it would be in effect her responsibility. Which was a truly frightening thought.
The finale of the show was something called the Great Alhambra. By the name, Penny had imagined that it would feature a Spanish castle, or something similar.
At first Borin wheeled out, and deposited centre-stage, a wooden model of a bungalow, with green woodwork and a red-slate roof. To this, whilst Concarnadine addressed the audience, Elizabeth added models (in scale) of a householder, his wife, two children and a dog.
Penny halfway expected that the next phase would be for Concarnadine (or Elizabeth) to bring the character models to life, and have them interact with the model bungalow. Instead, she watched as the two took the bungalow by the roof, and, pulling upwards, turned it into the model of a detached house. Then, from what to Penny’s eyes looked like a hidden bag, Elizabeth produced more of the character models. Concarnadine (helped now by Borin) continued to tug at parts of the model, extending here, revetting there, until the final structure took on the appearance of a fairytale castle, whilst Elizabeth continued to populate the model with figures, and more and more extravagant costume.
They posed, one at either side of the stage, then Borin drew a curtain across the stage front, which passed revealing to the audience that the entire structure had vanished without trace. From Penny’s viewpoint, the curtain had drawn a shadow across the model, which had folded up on itself, leaving a tripodal structure which, she realised, was effectively invisible from the stalls because of cunningly-sited mirrors.
And, in some way, that sight gave her cause to think about her own problem. There was, she instinctively felt, an answer … a solution … to her problem. And it probably needed sleep in order to resolve it all.
Author/Artist: Scriptator
Fandom: Concarnadine (original)
Rating: Probably PG
Prompt:: #073 “Odd Socks”
Warnings: Involves things
Disclaimer: Everyone in here is an Original Character. Please ask before borrowing.
Penny Mortenson checked in with Solme Mens as soon as his cramped little office opened, and made the transactions the fax message he had for her told her to. And received a cheque for three hundred pounds which he said was profit from one dealing where he couldn’t feed it back in to a new investment. Something about incompatible currencies.
From there Penny caught the train to Croydon, to meet Hallie and make sure that she and Nanesha had things to do (useful things: not make-work), and offices to do it in (which turned out to be a new block just beside the railway station, air-conditioned and double-glazed, with a planted atrium and an on-site gym and juice bar).
“We’ll be fine, Penny - Adrian has sent us down several boxes of stuff, and we’re sorting it for him. And Bella Kugelmann has the Frencham under control.”
So, she mused, she wasn’t really needed there. From Croydon she caught a train to Clapham Junction and then another to Chelsea Harbour, and walked to Concarnadine’s house.
Borin let her in, and she found Elizabeth, in the workshop.
“C had to go out,” she said. “He’s gone to see Jinx, to see about some sort of amulet or talisman that will let him look inside the metal egg-thing. He should be back later, if you want to wait. Or you could come and help Borin and I at the Durbar, and Concarnadine can join us there.”
It wasn’t the greatest of choices, but Penny went with them, so that she’d have company. Except that, when she got there, she found Robin Flavour, the Detective Sergeant, wanting a word.
Except that it wasn’t trouble … not as such.
“Augham Mclvennie - “
“Him,” Penny replied.
“Now,” Robin said, holding a hand up, to forestall any precipitate response: “this may not be what you think. He has ‘come to notice’ - “ (she added air-quotes to the phrase) “ - on something the Thane - sorry, DI Barratt - and I were working on. Something to do with machinations inside the city, and the stock market. So, can I just get your version - first-hand - and then we’ll get on with our investigations.”
Penny told her what she knew of Mclvinnie and DS Flavour made notes, nodding at intervals.
“Between that and the Cityscape business, it looks as though your boss is some kind of lightning-rod for this sort of stunt.”
“And I seem to be the dupe-of-choice,” Penny replied, wryly.
“Just in the wrong places at the wrong time,” Robin responded. “Look, I’ll take this away and see what the Thane - and the City Squad - make of it, and we’ll get back to you.”
“Just in case it’s relevant,” Penny added: “There’s a journalist around who may know something about the Cityscape business. My boss doesn’t want me talking about it, so I don’t know how much she - a Dee Rosenorth - knows, but … “
“Thanks,” Robin Flavour replied: “Thanks - I’ll keep my eye out for her, just in case what she knows is something I don’t, and should do.”
Elizabeth was seeing to the rabbits - for some reason, the creatures reacted better to her than to Borin, (“ ’s not as though I smell of stoat !” the dwarf protested) so it was with Borin, in the basement, with several packing cases, that Penny found herself.
“Can you just grab one of them, and bring it ?”
The case wasn’t too heavy and Penny carried it up to the wings, where Borin left her, to make sure that no-one cleared it away again. There were half a dozen others there and, idly, Penny rearranged them into what felt to her like the most pleasing order.
“Yer’ve done it again, ‘aven’t you ?”
Penny looked at Borin, guiltily.
“Put them in th’right order, without needin’ t’be told it,” Borin explained. Penny couldn’t explain how she had done it - but Borin didn’t seem to mind. “Any time y’want t’give up earning pots of money in th’City and come on the road for bread and scrape, and sort the gear out, you’ll be welcome.”
“Which for you, is a speech,” Elizabeth said. She cast a look at Penny: “And as to you, I don’t know what we’ll do, when there’s no way of knowing how you do the hoodoo that you do.”
“What now ?” Concarnadine’s voice interrupted, as he and Geraint made their way up the stairs from the basement.
“Just Penny doing stuff again,” Elizabeth said.
“Stuff ?”
“Organising - by instinct.”
“Any more trouble with Miss Rosethorn ?”
“She hasn’t been back yet,” Elizabeth said. “But that doesn’t mean that she won’t be here tonight, if she’s bought a ticket.”
“I’d rather not have to talk to her,” Penny said.
“Then we’ll see what we can do to divert her,” Concarnadine said, trying to sound assuring, but leaving Penny still worried.
“Are we talkin’ or are we settin’ up ?” Borin asked, grumpily, breaking the mood.
Penny stayed back-stage throughout the performance but she would almost rather have been anywhere else, and she jumped every time anyone came near her, lest they wanted to question her.
She also kept having disturbing imaginings about the metal ovoid - it had been because of her that it had been taken out of the warded circle: if anything were to go wrong, then, it would be in effect her responsibility. Which was a truly frightening thought.
The finale of the show was something called the Great Alhambra. By the name, Penny had imagined that it would feature a Spanish castle, or something similar.
At first Borin wheeled out, and deposited centre-stage, a wooden model of a bungalow, with green woodwork and a red-slate roof. To this, whilst Concarnadine addressed the audience, Elizabeth added models (in scale) of a householder, his wife, two children and a dog.
Penny halfway expected that the next phase would be for Concarnadine (or Elizabeth) to bring the character models to life, and have them interact with the model bungalow. Instead, she watched as the two took the bungalow by the roof, and, pulling upwards, turned it into the model of a detached house. Then, from what to Penny’s eyes looked like a hidden bag, Elizabeth produced more of the character models. Concarnadine (helped now by Borin) continued to tug at parts of the model, extending here, revetting there, until the final structure took on the appearance of a fairytale castle, whilst Elizabeth continued to populate the model with figures, and more and more extravagant costume.
They posed, one at either side of the stage, then Borin drew a curtain across the stage front, which passed revealing to the audience that the entire structure had vanished without trace. From Penny’s viewpoint, the curtain had drawn a shadow across the model, which had folded up on itself, leaving a tripodal structure which, she realised, was effectively invisible from the stalls because of cunningly-sited mirrors.
And, in some way, that sight gave her cause to think about her own problem. There was, she instinctively felt, an answer … a solution … to her problem. And it probably needed sleep in order to resolve it all.