The Search for the Red Dragon - James A. Owen [16]
Several stiff drinks were poured, and the four men sat in silence as they absorbed what had been said. Laura Glue stirred, and Jamie rose to cover her with a blanket.
“So,” John said finally. “The Compass Rose.”
“Yes,” said Jack. “I’d nearly forgotten.”
John looked at Jamie. “What symbol should we use, since Nemo’s is not likely to do us any good?”
In response, Jamie took a book from one of his shelves and thumbed through to a Greek alphabet. He quickly scanned the letters, then pointed to one. “This one,” he declared, tapping his finger. “It’s the only one I can really be certain of.”
“Omega,” noted John. “‘The ending.’”
“Yes,” Jamie said without turning around. “That’s Bert’s little joke.”
“This will summon Bert?” John said in surprise. “That would be delightful. I’d love to see him again.”
“As would I,” said Jamie. “He was always a bit more well-disposed toward my choices than his daughter was. But then, as a parent, I think he would be. Do any of you have children, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Jack looked a little uncomfortable at the question, but he didn’t want to seem rude—not after the personal information Jamie had shared, and especially after the remark about Nemo. “Not thus far,” he admitted. “But the future is long.”
“I have one,” said Charles. “A son, Michael.”
“Three for me,” said John. “My eldest, John, is nine. Michael is second, and then young Christopher.”
Jamie stared at them with a forced smile, then choked back a sob and turned away. “Michael was the name of my boy who drowned,” he said in a small voice. “So—let’s get this job done, and see to it that no more Michaels become Lost Boys, eh?”
Charles handed the Rose to John, who quickly inscribed the mark Jamie had indicated on the parchment. “Now what?”
“Now,” said Jamie, wiping at his eyes with a handkerchief, “we wait and see.”
“Someone give me a hand inside, will you?” Bert cried…
CHAPTER FOUR
A Dragon Restored
As the evening deepened into night, the four men busied themselves with small talk and took the opportunity to get to know one another a bit more. They were, after all, members of a very exclusive club. And John, Jack, and Charles found it very liberating to have someone else with whom to discuss the Archipelago. With most others, most recently Jack’s brother Warnie, they had to guard their words carefully. But with Jamie, they were able to broach practically any topic.
For his part, Jamie was mostly interested in their academic careers. He had spent enough of his life as a novelist and playwright that academia was fascinating to him.
“You really worked on the Oxford English Dictionary?” Jamie remarked to John. “Extraordinary.”
“I was only there for about a year,” John admitted. “The problem was, having been trained to read the Geographica, I had a better than average knack for going right to the root definitions of words, and they started to get suspicious.”
“Oh, that’s rich,” Charles said, chortling. “You were actually too qualified for the job. If they’d kept you on, they might be finished by now.”
“Craigie’s close enough, I think,” said John. “But messing about in the Scriptorium with all those little notes crammed into cubbyholes…Not for me, I’m afraid.”
“One of the researchers on the OED was briefly considered as a Caretaker back before Bert’s time,” said Jamie. “Murray. His impediment was that while he was a stellar researcher, he lacked imagination. Just didn’t have the spark. Affable enough, but just not cut out for the job.”
“Lucky bastard,” murmured Charles.
“What was that?” John said.
“Who’s for a bite?” said Charles. “I’m getting a bit peckish.”
“As am I,” Jamie agreed. “Charles, why don’t you give me a hand, and we’ll see if we can assemble some sandwiches to keep up our vigor.”
As the two went down the hallway to the kitchen, Laura Glue stretched and yawned. “Hey,” she exclaimed, patting herself. “Where’s my flower?”
“Over here on the desk,” said Jack.
“You changed it,” she said appraisingly.