kajean

Thank you so much for this beautiful, beautiful story.

There is still the new artifact from the basin.

I am in tears. Happy tears or sad tears, I can't tell. Maybe both? Again, simply lovely.

Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Just a note, Sir Robert, about this delightful tale. I love classical music, though I have been known to enjoy other musical genre. I recognized Satis House, although it is MISS Havisham, not Mrs. She was a misandrist because she was abandoned (stood-up) at her wedding. As a result she became a recluse in her father's house, Satis House, where she tortured poor Pip and tutored Estella also to be a misandrist. But it appears that Maude in your tale is not of that persuasion, although she is hilariously observant. Well done, so far. Another lovable saga in the Hugillverse. Thank you for sharing your talent. This story is positively Dickensian, especially the characters and your delicious descriptions of them.

Many decades ago when I was still a very young teenager, our family drove over some mountain passes like the one Mac was negotiating. Those roads have long since been widened and paved, but I remember the tensensess in the car while we were inching along. Many many many moons later I rode my motorcycle over some other unpaved and narrow passes. Couldn't see up the vertical cliff on my right. And on my left the trees were so far down they looked like lawn! Incredible. And the scenery; absolutely breath-taking. These days I worry whether the elevator in my senior-living facility will be steady.😄 But those were interesting experiences that allow me to picture Mac's and Devin's adventures. As for the Arkansas River, I've seen the rapids thrashing through the canyons up in the Salida area. Exciting to see, but no way would I want to be on a raft out on that. I've hiked up Mt. Rudolph and found an abandoned mine on its slopes. And our ranch up in the hills was riddled with canyons and side-canyons. I'm thrilled, Bill, that you've placed these stories about Mac and Dev in my neighborhood. They allow me to be young again -- at least in my head. Thanks.

What beautiful, gentle prose! It sings.

There is more than just the missing artifact (U.S. spelling). The original idea was to regain the Nimrud Panther, AND to get revenge on all the old associates AND ALL THEIR FAMILIES no matter how distant or innocent.

I loved the reference to "My Grandfather's Axe". The way I heard it was: "I have my grandfather's axe. The head has been replaced three times, and the handle has been replaced five times. But it's still my grandfather's cherished axe." I think that is the best description of the canal boat art. It keeps being renewed, but it is still the "original" canal boat art. I Love this chapter.

And laundromats take ONLY quarters - at least around here.

You have an awful lot of herrings in this story, Sir Robert. I just can't tell which ones are red.

It's the wrong part of the country, but I keep expecting CID Barnaby from Causton, Midsomer County, to show up for this latest in the Midsomer Murders.

The Shadow knows.

Ah! The Aunt Daphnes! They are legion! I know several people that fit her persona. The less they know about something, the stronger their opinions on it. As someone said (but definitely neither Abraham Lincoln nor Mark Twain), "Better to keep your mouth shut and be considered an idiot than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt." [Very freely - and cynically - paraphrased]

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years. In fact, I think it's about time I read it -- and her other three children's novels -- again.