Security Issues.
I’ve been thinking again about Samuel’s presence in the house. When he came it was with the stated intent of securing my father’s books. Not against any definite threat. There was a break-in, which Samuel couldn’t have known about, but no books were stolen. The books are after all powerless, and it’s only against some future return of magic, such as Arthur Enright could bring about, that Samuel’s precautions are necessary. How long does he intend to stay? What will he do when the value of the books is restored – destroy them? Why not destroy them now? Can I be sure that he doesn’t have a duplicate key for the study? Can I test that?
Talking it through with Norman – not in detail, I didn’t share my concerns, except to wonder how long Samuel might be around for – he reminded me that Samuel almost left around Christmas time, before he was attacked. We thought he had gone. But maybe it was only that he was missing, and he never meant to leave at all – like cheap hair dye that keeps coming up through the roots, or an itch that keeps moving around. What is he like? He’s like homework: an oppressive necessity. But I don’t have to do homework anymore.
Norman found me in the morning, as I’d stayed up waiting for Samuel to come home. It’s odd to hear him talk about Samuel. It’s odd to see them together in the house. Norman likes him – they swap stories about demons and small business finance, each fascinating to the unlearned other. I tend to think of them as the same generation, although of course Samuel looks younger and is forty years older. We made a fry up together (it’s all about timing the potatoes and the eggs) and Norman said he’d trust Samuel, because he’s guided by strong Christian morals. I went through a short list of atrocities justified by Christian morals, starting with the crusades and getting up to date with pro-life extremists. Apparently that was unfair. I believe Norman when he says Samuel has a strong conscience and a commitment to good acts. I just don’t know Samuel’s definition of good.
He came home around one-thirty this afternoon. He’d followed Reeves and four of the six men who beat him up. They went back to Enright’s house. He has a key there. I didn’t understand what took so long, but Samuel was watching. He waited for the next shift of guards – the other two who attacked him and two new ones. They escorted Reeves for the evening, back into town. Two guards stayed with him overnight.
I asked Samuel what he intended to do, but he doesn’t know yet. He’s just watching to find his opportunity. No one’s attacked him though, since he took his beating, and he’s been easy enough to find. The most likely source of danger to him is provoking Reeves by following him, and who’s to say that’s not what happened the first time? He’s quick to caution me on my own safety, but the biggest threat to me is this obsession that falls somewhere between revenge and curiosity.
Again, no word from Challoner. When he surfaces, wherever that might be, I think I’ll ask Enright to ask him for the Ilford Dyson file he says he has. He’ll probably contact Enright before he thinks of talking to me again, and he’ll probably do whatever he can to get in with that crowd. What I don’t know, is what I can do to return the favour.
Talking it through with Norman – not in detail, I didn’t share my concerns, except to wonder how long Samuel might be around for – he reminded me that Samuel almost left around Christmas time, before he was attacked. We thought he had gone. But maybe it was only that he was missing, and he never meant to leave at all – like cheap hair dye that keeps coming up through the roots, or an itch that keeps moving around. What is he like? He’s like homework: an oppressive necessity. But I don’t have to do homework anymore.
Norman found me in the morning, as I’d stayed up waiting for Samuel to come home. It’s odd to hear him talk about Samuel. It’s odd to see them together in the house. Norman likes him – they swap stories about demons and small business finance, each fascinating to the unlearned other. I tend to think of them as the same generation, although of course Samuel looks younger and is forty years older. We made a fry up together (it’s all about timing the potatoes and the eggs) and Norman said he’d trust Samuel, because he’s guided by strong Christian morals. I went through a short list of atrocities justified by Christian morals, starting with the crusades and getting up to date with pro-life extremists. Apparently that was unfair. I believe Norman when he says Samuel has a strong conscience and a commitment to good acts. I just don’t know Samuel’s definition of good.
He came home around one-thirty this afternoon. He’d followed Reeves and four of the six men who beat him up. They went back to Enright’s house. He has a key there. I didn’t understand what took so long, but Samuel was watching. He waited for the next shift of guards – the other two who attacked him and two new ones. They escorted Reeves for the evening, back into town. Two guards stayed with him overnight.
I asked Samuel what he intended to do, but he doesn’t know yet. He’s just watching to find his opportunity. No one’s attacked him though, since he took his beating, and he’s been easy enough to find. The most likely source of danger to him is provoking Reeves by following him, and who’s to say that’s not what happened the first time? He’s quick to caution me on my own safety, but the biggest threat to me is this obsession that falls somewhere between revenge and curiosity.
Again, no word from Challoner. When he surfaces, wherever that might be, I think I’ll ask Enright to ask him for the Ilford Dyson file he says he has. He’ll probably contact Enright before he thinks of talking to me again, and he’ll probably do whatever he can to get in with that crowd. What I don’t know, is what I can do to return the favour.
posted by The son of Edward Fold at 2:32 am
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