Free The Feaster From The Stars (Blackwood and Harrington) by Alan K Baker Page A

Sophia will find much to ponder on if you do attend.’
    ‘But how can I attend?’ asked Sophia, ‘if the venue is a Masonic Lodge?’
    ‘The Society of Spiritualistic Freemasons is not like other Lodges,’ Blackwood explained. ‘They have devoted themselves to the study of Spiritualism, and since women make far better mediums than men, they have secured a special dispensation from the Grand Lodge to allow female participation in all of their activities. I think that you will find the audience to be divided more or less equally between men and women.’
    ‘A most enlightened attitude, I must say,’ said Sophia.
    ‘As must I,’ agreed Shanahan. ‘But now I must reluctantly take my leave of you, for as I said, I have pressing matters to attend to elsewhere.’
    ‘Well,’ said Blackwood, ‘whatever they are, I wish you the best of luck with them.’
    ‘Thank you, sir!’ Shanahan replied as he rose into the air on his dragonfly wings. ‘And good luck to you, and to your Ladyship. Farewell!’
    And with that, he was gone in a puff of lilac smoke.

CHAPTER TWO:
T he Fluffers
    Seamus Brennan and Barrymore Tench climbed down from the platform at Aldgate Station and looked into the pitch-black tunnel.
    ‘This ain’t fair,’ muttered Brennan. ‘This just ain’t fair .’
    Tench said nothing; he merely gathered his broom and canvas sack from the edge of the platform, threw the empty sack over his shoulder and picked up his Tilley lamp.
    ‘I mean,’ Brennan continued, ‘this is women’s work. Fraser’s a prize bastard, and no mistake!’
    ‘Yes, but he’s the boss, and he’s the one who caught it over the business at Farringdon Street. Are you surprised he took it out on us? We’re the ones who saw the girl. It’s ’cause of us that there was a track search and the test had to be postponed.’
    ‘And what about Bartie Smallwood? He saw her too!’
    ‘Well, matey, I suppose that just proves they need drivers more than they need blokes like us. Now, shut yer mouth, pick up your lamp and broom, and let’s get started.’
    ‘Fluffers,’ said Brennan. ‘Bloody fluffers. It’s… it’s demeanin’, that’s what it is.’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Tench replied philosophically as they headed into the tunnel. ‘It’s still important work, you know…’
    ‘What, picking up bits o’ rubbish from the lines? Dust and dirt… and hair ? God almighty, what a job!’
    Tench shrugged. ‘Well, if you let all that stuff build up, it gets dangerous. The lines have to be kept clear all the time. It can cause accidents if they’re not kept clean.’
    ‘Women’s work,’ said Brennan.
    His friend sighed. ‘Look, Seamus, I’m just tryin’ to make the best of it, all right? I don’t like it any more than you do, but we’ve got no choice: we either do it, or we’re out on our arses. You want that?’
    Brennan sighed. ‘No… but why did it have to be Aldgate, of all places?’
    ‘I’d rather be here than in one of the deep-levels.’ Tench glanced at his friend, who was looking back longingly at the mouth of the tunnel, which was gradually growing smaller as they trudged on. ‘What the bleedin’ hell’s the matter with you, Seamus?’
    ‘This is where they found one o’ them plague pits.’
    ‘That was years ago, when they first built this place.’
    ‘A thousand bodies, they found. A thousand skeletons, all flung on top of one another. No proper Christian burial… just flung into the ground and covered up.’
    Tench was getting fed up with Brennan. He was his mate, but sometimes he really got on his nerves. The truth was, Tench didn’t like being underground either, not anymore – not since the previous night, when they’d seen the girl and been sent fleeing by her terrible screams back out into the station. Fraser had looked at them like they were mad and had ordered a track search. ‘If there’s a child in the tunnel,’ he’d said, ‘we’ll have to stop the test.’ When they’d