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bringing the miracle of sight touched him.
Chapter Nine
At the airport Alex offered Stephen a hand to help him from the iron carriage. “No thank
you,” Stephen said and climbed out, clumsily but without a problem.
They passed through a structure with automatic doors like at the hospital and outside to an
area where Alex said a private jet awaited .
Stephen sensed the openness of the area around them. “This is the tarmac you mentioned,
yes? The curious whirring and deep-throated rumble are the other planes?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
On the journey from the hospital, Alex warned him he’d hear what might sound like the
roar of a huge beast. He said not to worry. Stephen was fine with that. A reprieve from troubling thoughts, however small, was welcome. The last few days, he’d filled long hours worrying over
his future.
They walked slow while he searched a clear path with his cane.
“This next part will be a joy to explain,” Ian said to Alex, Stephen assumed, in a tone he’d
often heard Basil use when mocking the men he thought buffoons.
“You do realize I can still hear?”
“Sorry.”
“Trust me, it is no joy to hear the accounts you’ve given me. France no longer has a
monarch and we are now allies. We have a queen instead of a king.” A questionable turn of
events. “A woman on the throne...but you say she has limited power. ‘Tis best.”
He had to admit much of what they told him was good. “I like two of your wonders. The
roads you call paved that you claim are commonplace for smooth travel. Most pleasant. And, the carriage we rode in which moves at a speed I cannot begin to fathom. I always favored a speedy
mount.”
“The carriage is called a car,” Ian said.
Stephen didn’t think the difference important. He stopped, knelt on one knee and ran his
hand over the tarmac. “The ground is so even, I suspected we walked on paving,” he said and
stood. “Why is it warm?”
“Paving is made of different material. This is asphalt, which warms on sunny days,” Alex
said as they continued to the private jet .
“Basil, care to broach the subject that will be a ‘joy to explain’? You pricked my
curiosity.” Stephen’s cane struck a solid object in front of him. He tapped up and down and side to side. “Steps. High ones by the feel of the rise.”
“Yes, but there aren’t many. By the way, it’s best to call me Ian. At the top of the stairs, a
woman will assist you to your seat.”
“Is this assistance for me alone or does she assist you also?” Stephen started up.
Alex climbed the stairs behind him. “She’s called a flight attendant and is there to serve all
of us in a variety of ways. She brings drinks, or food, or to help with other requests.”
“To serve us in a variety of ways with requests-” He twisted and over his shoulder
wiggled his brows. “She sounds delightful.”
“I imagine she is but not in the way you hope.”
“Pity.”
“Good day, gentlemen.” With a light palm to his forearm, the flight attendant led Stephen
to a seat. He bumped a wall with his elbow and then felt along the surface wondering about the
material. Smooth and cool to the touch, it wasn’t like the walls in the hospital.
“Please let me know if you require anything before we take-off.”
“Madam—or is it mademoiselle, I’m told you can bring food and drink. I’d love some of
both,” Stephen said and smiled up in the direction of her voice.
“It’s Karen. What would you like? I have an excellent ploughman’s lunch tray, or I can
make you an omelet, or a juicy cheeseburger. Would you like coffee, tea, beer, soda? I also have an excellent selection of liquors, if you prefer.”
Stephen turned to Alex who’d taken the seat beside him. “I don’t know what tea or soda
is. They gave me coffee in the hospital. Bitter stuff at first, but it got better by the third day, or I got used to it, not sure which.” He tipped his head toward where he
Stella Noir, Roxy Sinclaire