Carpenters and movers swarmed all over the place, adding their own mayhem to the general chaos of the mansion.
To those moving Carl's things out, and the Moast things in, they assumed that everything going on in the rest of the house was other moving teams at work. The scheduling worked out perfectly such that any outside observer would view all the trucks outside as mere movers, and certainly not delivers of sophisticated training equipment. If asked, the few actual movers at work in the Moast wing would think nothing of corroborating the story.
Melinda watched as a pair gently lowered the massive tiger head ("Shere Khan", as the Bible Study had dubbed him) from over the fireplace.
Below, a contractor lie on his back, shining a pen light up into the chimney. "Looks doable, miss. 'Course the big thing is gonna be fishin' a gas line through the sub-floor."
"And how much is... Hold on." Though her attention was already divided between removal of the beast and the new fireplace, she had enough left to snap at a mover walking past behind her. "You there. Where do you think you're going?"
"Taking a load a' dishes to the truck."
"Uh, uh. Those are mine. Put them back."
"Yes ma'am." He sounded almost disappointed.
She heard a cry and sudden silence. She spun around to see Shere Khan lying on the contractor's stomach. He was winded from the impact and wide-eyed at the sudden fanged face staring back at him.
The movers rushed to pull the head off and then placed it on top Melinda's box of dishes, (which had been returned, only with the "This End Up" label pointing down.)
She frowned. Though moving day was nothing like being targeted for extermination by international cartel kingpins. She was surprised to learn that the stress was actually worse.
"What... is this place?" wheezed the carpenter.
If you only knew... thought Melinda. This mansion held all kinds of secrets, left behind by untold generations of Bible Study adventurers.
As she was thinking these things, another of the movers tapped Melinda on the shoulder. "Ma'am, where do you want the bookcase?"
"Which?" she asked.
The man led her to a mahogany case with his partner standing next to it. Carl had said he didn't want any of the furniture, so...
"How 'bout over there?" She pointed.
The man nodded. On "three", he and his partner lifted and started walking.
Behind the bookcase was no wall, but a cobweb-filled niche. In the niche was a hook. On the hook was an ancient suit Samurai armor.
In the armor was the ancient Samurai.
Color drained from Melinda's face. "Uuuuuuuh...!" she stammered through her revulsion.
The mover looked up at her, a question on is face.
"Put it back! Put it back!" she said quickly, and waving.
They did so, never suspecting that the urgency in her voice came from a surprise face-to-face encounter with a decaying skeleton.
One mover rolled his eyes and gave the other a, "Women, sheesh!" look.
The other smiled and nodded knowingly.
The preceding has been a chapter from Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study
(Copyright 2016, Edmund Lloyd Fletcher.)
For more on this story, please visit its main page.
Also, don't forget to subscribe to the email list so you never miss a thing!
(Copyright 2016, Edmund Lloyd Fletcher.)
For more on this story, please visit its main page.
Also, don't forget to subscribe to the email list so you never miss a thing!
