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TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 18 May 19 - 09:03 AM I hugely enjoyed (and contributed to the nonsense) of the old Tavern threads but somehow I missed this spinoff. Great to see the names of some much-missed Mudcatters, gone before or just dropped out. RtS |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Donuel Date: 17 May 19 - 05:38 PM The waters high and runnin fast. Sand bars are moving and buildin just as fast. Its 17 feet over flood stage and the Albert Hansell's whistle sounds crazed . |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Charley Noble Date: 15 May 19 - 03:30 PM Damn! I've lost track of where I harvested this fragment: Like a steamboat on the river, Running through the moonlight on the water, The image is all shattered into a thousand shards; So I sit here with three aces, and I raise the bid again, And there's a shadow of a smile as I draw another card. Is this familiar to anyone? Cheerily, Charlie Ipcar |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Charley Noble Date: 18 Dec 15 - 10:27 AM But where's the song that pulls this wonderful thread(s) together? Charlie Ipcar |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,JenEllen Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:46 PM Under the broad branches of an ancient maple tree in the garden of the NYC, there stirs a slight form wrapped in a frayed blanket. Her nap in the morning sun peppered with dreams, and her blanket peppered with droppings from the crow that sat on her shoulder. She dreamily pulls the blanket up a little tighter around her shoulders, sips a cooling au lait, and begins to sing to herself "California here I come...." ~Mojo WONDERFUL FOLKS! Thanks to all for the creation.~Elle |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:52 AM Aw, shucks, C....okay. Mwhahaha it is, then. Back to Cosmology 101... |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Caitrin Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:48 AM Now, Amos. Let him have his "echo of mocking, evil laughter, fading in the distance." Every villain gets his or her opportunity for a good "mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,THE RED HERON Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:38 AM After you.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Maximilian XV, what a boob.....(sorry, where was I....) cordially yours, THE RED HERON |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:28 AM Dear Red: Destiny, as you say, is not mocked. But in your case, it mocks itself. See you on the next thread, jerk!! This one is completed. Delacroix |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,THE RED HERON Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:12 AM MOCKERS! I bathe in the refreshing pool of anticipating what will be done with you when our paths cross again. I note in passing that for such self-righteous beings, your treatment of wading birds is somewhat suspect. But I digress -- YOU ARE DOOMED!!!!!HAHAHAHAHA!! DESTINY IS NOT MOCKED! Cordially yours, THE RED HERON |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:02 AM "HE sure talks funny for a stick-legged bird, don't he? Say, Jim, I reckon we could have a fine dinner tonight iffen you hand me that heaving line...see, this here monkey fist at one end's gotta lead weight in it. I think if I heave it jes' right -- get that Barlow knife ready -- gotta git his ankles, see, steady now....GOT 'IM!!!! DANG!! We gonna eat high on the hawg tonight Jim! jes' cut his throat there real quick ... thassit. BIle'em up and pluck them feathers, now Jim, an we'll have us a feast!...." |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,THE RED HERON Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:48 AM FOOLS!!!!YOU THINK THIS IS THE END? Maximilian XV!!! And that dolt de Mornay? Deluded, all deluded charlatans!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAA!!!!! (Enjoy this brief absurd interlude, insignificant bewhiskered bottomdwellers!!!!!). We meet again!!!!!!!!!! cordially yours, THE RED HERON |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:11 AM I cannot leave this incredible idyll without saying thank you to you amazing, powerful, inspired Mudcatters. LEJ, Peter T., Spaw, Caitrin, Jen, Barky, Mbo, DTAM, katLady, MMario...all of you...this has been a really wonderful journey. Forgive me my anachronistic clippages and my typos, and my blundering into your finespun visions; and thank you for the warmth, wit, craft, brilliant creativity and power of your many many words. Thanks, pals -- it's been Real. Charles Stonewall Delacroix Gambler |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Caitrin Date: 18 Apr 00 - 09:47 AM Wow! That was great! I didn't think anything could top the juke joint thread...but that was awesome! Now I'm signing on as navigator for the USS Mudcat Enterprise. Klingons and Romulans beware!! We have banjos! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 09:02 AM In the pale sunlight of a fine Spring morning, the Gambler and the Mojo Woman walked down the ramp onto the huge wooden landing quai that buffeted the timeless waters of the Mississippi for the City of New Orleans. She was dressed in finery, a parasol under her arm, a fine poplin suit looking like finely-stirred vanilla brandy clothing her lithe form. They waved to their companions of so many miles and centuries, tipped the Deckhand, made their farewells to the brave Mate -- now Master -- of the Albert Hansell and strolled along the busy waterfront and into the French Quarter. They took an outside table, order beignets and au lait, and waited. The Gambler paused in his conversation to let the memories of the long river trip re-sort themselves one more time -- the ordinary and the incredible interweaving in time, dimensions of the past and future coiling and springing -- it had been a hell of a trip, for certain. He smiled affectionately at his companion.
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Mbo Date: 18 Apr 00 - 08:42 AM "Oh what a lucky boy am I!" thought Slick Philly Matt as he drifted off to sleep in his chaise lounge on the deck. "I've got my girl, who could ask for anything moooooooorrre...." --Slick Philly Matt |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: katlaughing Date: 18 Apr 00 - 03:03 AM BRAVO!!!! damn near speechless at that wrap-up, LeeJ! Looks as though we now know what the next *vehicle* will be. You guys are brill! So we shall boldly go where no Mudcatters have gone before?? |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Lonesome EJ Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:27 AM In the Cabin of the Mudcat Time Fleet's Neil Young Flagship, Leej reappeared just in time to knock the ash off his cigar into the ornate carnival-glass ashtray that was inscribed Vicksburg: Pearl of the Mississippi. A sealed envelope lay on his desk. He broke the wax seal and read the missive.
" Commander Robert E Leej Congratulations sir, we have at long last accomplished our mission of eliminating the Red Herons. Now the universe is at last safe for the Good and the True, for the Blues and the Folk, for the Banjo and the Zither. The Music will no longer be buffeted or repressed, but shall spread throughout all of the known worlds, from Seegernia to The Moons of Howlin' Wolf. Our Children shall shake off the chains of meaningless and mechanical noise, and shall know the wisdom of the Human Heart. Let the tiple ring out the gladsome news! Sincerely, Maximillian XV PS. We are in receipt of a certain Mr DeMornay, who has promised to treat us all to several excerpts from the Midsummer Night's Dream on the Fleet's return." Leej was determined to visit Catspaugh in the Recovery Ward, and explain everything to him over cigars and brandy, but just for a moment he savored the victory. Leej spoke quietly into the stillness of the ship, made more profound by the mighty and endless chasm of stars that surrounded it."Lorena" he said. The music rose softly, enveloping him. Through moist eyes he looked at the old, faded photograph that hung upon the wall: The one of an ancient steamboat that had long since ceased to be. The story of the past, Lorena, Alas! I care not to repeat; The hopes that could not last, Lorena, They lived, but only lived to cheat. I would not cause e'en one regret _ To rankle in your bosom now--- "For if we try we may forget," Were words of thine long years ago. LEJ |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: katlaughing Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:17 AM Miss Sara Belle Fontaine, late of the Albert Haskell, generally of Baton Rouge, but slowly starting to remember another name, something mirthful and feline, rocked back and forth in the chair beside Mr. Spaw's bed at the EnWhyCeeEffTeeTeeEss, and hummed a lullabye, siping at a mug of mint tea, poor imitation though it was for a mint julep. |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Mbo Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:51 PM "Too late, ladies!" said a heavily accented voice. From behind an Mark 2 antimatter containment barrel stood, in all his glory, a smallish man with dark sunglasses, cuban heels, and a flower print shirt, and the biggest blinkin' phaser rifle in existence. "And just WHO are you?" asked Lor & Laz skeptically, but at the same time wary of the big gun pointed at them. "I am Lauro Alba, Executor Officiale, of the League of Filipino Classical Guitar Instructors! And by the sacred names of Villa-Lobos, Torroba, and Albeniz, I blasteth thee!" With out blinking and eye, Mr. Alba blasted the twins--the photonic energy discharge ripped through them, exposing a sparking mess of wires and circuits. "Ha!" He thought. "That's then end of THEM, now to find the REAL twins!"
--Mbo |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Barky Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:42 PM Miss Montesquiue relaxed in a deck chair, next to the one she loved, sipping a whiskey, hard up, on the rocks. She seemed envigorated after the ride and vowed to work out more in the Hansell's fully equipped weight room.
Barkesque Montesquiue was the daughter of the late Count of Monte Squiue-o, a town which was named after the second cousin (thrice removed) of Krist, the man whom the town Monte Cristo was named after (They just messed up the spelling on the maps). (No, not Christ, Krist. HUGE difference) Her father was Bonivelo Montesquiue, grandson of the original count, Sir Ivanna Skrew. The spelling was changed, and the "r" was lost do to miss pronunciations and people thinking it was a, shall we say... distasteful sounding name. Count Montesquiue (as it eventually became) became rich through betting when he was older, and taking other kids' lunch money in the lunch line when he was much, much younger. He put all of his ill gotten gains into the bank at a whopping 18% annual intrest rate, and made a fortune. Anyone would say he was one of the five richest men in the world. When he passed away, he gave all his money to his daughter, who then became the richest WOman in the world. This woman, of course, was Barkesque "Barky" Montesquiue.
"Whell Ah declaiah! This weathah' is jus' perfect!" Stated Miss Montesquiue. "Ah don't know ma'am," grimaced the deckhand,"See those high cumulous clouds? I think we're in fo' some bad weatha', an' soon!" ~Barky |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 07:17 PM Jeremy, worn from the wild ride on a stolen stallion, flushed with his success at regaining the deck of the Albert Hansell (which for some reason he could not explain had been a goal of almost obsessive importance to him since the night he was shot) strode up to the manacled and wary-looking riverrat on the quarterdeck. He seized him by the collar, and boldly made him stand; and he stared deep into his eyes with outrage and fury and hurt curiousity battling for dominance in his angry stare. "You short-backed spineless no-good spawn of a snappin' turtle, if I had half a brain Ah'd throw you right into that wheel! What the hail you thik yore doin' shootin me like that! Ya tried to kill me, you goldern polecat! " Leej, taken aback by the bright unabated fury of the younger man, nevertheless maintained his composure. "Wouldn't do to go murdering a manacled man, Piedmont. What I did, I had to do; and if you'd known what I know, youda done the same, willy or nilly. I bore you no anger, but there was more at stake than you an' me. An' there is still, Mister Fontaine Neufchat Piedmont. There is still. P'raps you would be willing to listen before you lash outin your righteous anger." The youth, his angry arm still tensed with adrenalin, started at the sound of his full name and drew his prisoner closer with an sudden twist of his muscled wrist. "Mister, you better talk, an' talk fast; I still have half a mind to make mudcat food outta yew, but I'll give you wore one chance; no-one kin say Ah'm not fair. " "With any luck, you will make Mudcat fare out of me soon enough, young man. ANd here is what you don't know about your gracious cousin and your ancestors on the Neufchat side of the family. " He lowered his head in a conspiratorial whisper and spoe softly to the young man for several minutes. The youth's arm relaxed and he let go of Leej's collar and stared, his mouth agape, asking bewildered questions and listening intently. FInally, he nodded, as though he finally understood and accepted what he was being told there in the shadows of the quarterdeck, and he seemed to sigh, and straighten. He held out his hand, and Leej fumbled under his sweat-stained shirt and with a grimace of regret and profound relief, dropped into his hand the burden he had carried too long. Jeremey stared, trembling with awe, as he watched the late afternoon sun bring raw fiery highlights across the shiny, bejewelled face of the Last Medallion. He turned, leaving Leej in his manacles and ran down the quarterdeck and up the companionway, looking for a riverboat gambler, and a Louisiana belle on whom pivoted more historythan his poor head could imagine. |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Lonesome EJ Date: 17 Apr 00 - 03:37 PM Leej came to with a sudden start. He was standing watching the churn of the great paddlewheel, his wrists in chains, a smoking cigar clenched in his teeth. He would have to talk to Dr Benoit about these fits of blacking out, as they seemed to be getting worse. He glanced at the pocket watch...some fifteen minutes had elapsed without his being conscious of them. He fumbled between the buttons of his shirt. The Medallion was still there. Behind him he heard a burst of glad speech and laughter. He turned to see the Deckhand smiling at several passengers and crewmen, that is, until the wounded man caught his eye. Leej's surge of relief was tempered by fear as the tall, powerful youth strode toward him. |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 03:15 PM Charles Delacroix, river boat gambler, leaned over the prom deck rail on the Hansell, watched the boarding of the rag tag children, and then shifted his attention to the lithe form of the mysterious and beautiful Mojo Woman, who also watched the boarding of the young people, the casting off of the breast lines, and the delicate manuvering as the great river boat was again taken up by the might currents of the river and began her way through Kentuck waters toward the inevitable fate which awaited her. He thought of his twins, wondered where they were in space and time, and remembered the love he had felt coursing through him for a brief period during the overwhelming revelations the brujita had poured into him. Something had changed, of that there was no doubt. Where once his greatest ambition had been to survive enough card sessions to retire to a small plantation in Orleans county, he knew now that he had not been truly seeing the future; that he was no longer prepared to cut a hard living from the desperate faces and hard whiskey of saloons, salon cars and river boat saloons. He found himself, instead, transported to a time in the future when all that lay well behind him, and his attention gradually submerged to the vision. He saw himself traveling West, following the traces of the gold hunters...perhaps writing for a newspaper...He saw himself, later, advanced in years, living in a quiet urbane elegance, his hair and moustache quite white, perhaps a cane, but still full of bristle, wit, and irony. He saw himself, from there, looking down the long line of his heirs and their futures, his beautiful grandchildren growing, themselves, to young adulthood -- one marrying the oldest grandson of an old hill farmer he had met in Missouri -- what was that man's name? Credence Hainlin? No...something more Dutch or German...Heinlein? That sounded right...and having their own children, naval officers and engineers for the new muscles of a rising young nation... He saw another beautiful redhaired girl growing of age and traveling to far Texas, marrying into a clan named Whipp, and a third settling in ranch country in the north, around Hibbing. In his mind's eye the river of his future generations, from his own place as a sextagenarian, unfolded through the decades, full of joys, pains, losses and triumphs. He saw himself sit down before a desk, put his cane aside, and draw out a steel-pointed pen to put the final notes on a manuscript...the title page clear in his daydream as though it was in his hand..."Life on the Mississippi". |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:48 PM AND they're the Red Heron! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Peter T. Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:48 PM [And where is Charles Delacroix, eh?] |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: MMario Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:47 PM AHA! Peter T, Leej and Caitrin are ALL THE SAME PERSON!!!! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:44 PM In-fockin-credible!! Are you two guys writing from the same mothership or something? You sound like a bonded pair of telepathic birth twins, or Huey, Dewey, and Louie! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Peter T. Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:30 PM "Thank you Commander for your graceful offer," said de Mornay, still gazing out. "I am I think bound to decline, to whatever purpose or to what place that that declination imprisons me. I would not be who I am if it were not for my memory, nor would I foreswear the magic moments of being that have forever enshrined in my heart the love of a woman who I have learned, too late, while I have made myself motley to the view, was all my desire. I would not for the world give up that past, foolish though it was. It can never be again the way it was: even I know that time does not betray itself that much, however much ridiculous humanity has learned to play with it. That she lives, that she loved me once as I am, what more can a man ask of his own life? Whatever others may do, and though I have been mostly a mask, mostly a facade, there is that within which passeth show, these but the trappings and the suits of -- well, you know the rest." And further, apart from all, I believe that the Red Heron knows that I have survived, thanks to your great kindness, and that he will seek me out in one of his many guises, and that somehow he will be put an end to -- not by me, but by that other you and I have spent so much to protect. So...." he shrugged. "I must perforce try what I can do, here and in this now." The two comrades in arms shook hands, and Commander Leej said: "Well, then, I commend you into the hands of the League of the Mudcat. They are endlessly hospitable." He turned, and began to dissolve. "Oh, de Mornay, one last thing. Remember that Caesar in Baltimore? That was the best thing I have ever seen." De Mornay replied: "It was the most responsive audience, sir. We need each other, actor and audien--" but Commander Leej, and the great League ship, the Streamboat of Time, had already gone down, down, down into the river of destiny once more. |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Caitrin Date: 17 Apr 00 - 01:54 PM "He's dead, Lor." Laz said, stepping away from the body of the actor. Lor continued to hold the gun on the Red Heron. Now was not the time for games. There was no need for all that ridiculous "Tell me about your evil nefarious plan" bullshit. She fired. The Red Heron never could have won. He was a madman, believing himself in control of fate. But in truth, he was the fool. The Heron had believed that his little "switch" number had actually worked. But the question still remained...Who was the Red Heron? "Better take him above, Lor." Laz said. "We've got to find out who this joker is and get everybody back to the time they belong in." |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Lonesome EJ Date: 17 Apr 00 - 01:48 PM "Deja-vu" repeated DeMornay."I am in fact, Commander, experiencing some measure of that eerie phenomenon at this moment." Leej smiled, saying " And no wonder. We have stood here before while you weighed my proposition." De Mornay turned with a quizzical look. "And what was my decision?" Leej glanced at the pocket watch which hung inconguously from the pocket of his metallic trousers. "Sorry, Cassius. To tell you that would violate the BRC...Basic rules of Continuity." Leej smiled." The great trauma of your life was the death of the great man Lincoln. Would it sooth you to know that he availed himself of our services? That he was transported into the life of a Senator in the Roman Republic, some 100 years before Christ?" DeMornay stared at Leej in confusion. "Time wastes, Cassius," said Leej,"and my consciousness is due back on the Hansell momentarily, as certain important events are about to transpire. Again, I must ask that you choose your destiny." |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Lonesome EJ Date: 17 Apr 00 - 01:07 PM Commander Leej placed his hand gently on the shoulder of the actor. "There is a way, my friend, to evade the reaper's clutches. We have developed the technology to transport one in your situation to any destination in the past that preceded his demise. And he will arrive at that location with all current sensibilities intact, save one: he will retain no memory of his previous existence. You amy, if you desire, return to your childhood. Or to your first love. Or to the moment of your greatest triumph on the stage. Know this: If you choose to re-enter a previous phase of your own life, your ultimate terminus shall again be the Albert Hansell voyage. You may have glimpses along the journey of your life that seem somehow familiar- the unenlightened refer to these as deja-vu." The actor stood, walking forward to gaze into the eternal vastness of space."I assure you there is no danger, sir. I have made the journey numerous times myself. In the attempt to destroy the Red Heron's vile plan aboard the Hansell, I have been transported nearly a dozen times. Unfortunately, I can not be transported with any knowledge of the actual intent of the League of Mudcat, and my motives are related to some cryptic information passed from other sources. I have been thwarted every time, often by my own unconscious actions." Leej lit a long dark cigar."Care for one? These are Cuban, late 1700's, before the heavy soil depletion." DeMornay shook his head.Leej lit the cigar, continuing " or we can transport you to another time and place altogether. Say, London circa 1600. Would you like to meet Shakespeare, Burbage, Marlowe? Say the word my friend." |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 01:06 PM "Dang, Jim, she done give in to them vapors again!", Jeremey commented, taking over Miss Montesquieu's oar. "Wal, it's the humidity I reckon. Plus that was kinda odd, that catfish jumpin' like that. Never seen 'em come up like thet before! See whtcha kin do to revive her, wontcha?" He shifted uncomfortably in his thwart-planked seat, concentrating on pushing the crude lifeboat from the misnamed riverboat harder. It was plain they would never catch the Albert Hansell this way. The late morning sun was already taking its toll on their energies. But at the same time he felt a bond to his new friends, and especially grateful to Huck and Jim who had sacrificed their raft -- their home -- to help destroy the Heron's boat. He laughed, remembering the sight of all thos epoorly disguised time-mongers in their citified dress leaping into the shallows of the Cold Creek delta, wading to land. As they rounded a narrow bend, he saw a lovely pasture which came sloping gently down to the river on the western bank, and in it, a herd of beautiful horses -- two-year olds, fillies, a few spring colts staggering, and several full-grown handsome chestnut stallions trotting around the outside of the herd, watching over their families. He gazed at them thoughtfully. "Hey boys," he said. "I got me an idee how we kin catch that steamboat after all!" Late that afternoon, the Mate stood watch as the Hansell crossed into the borderlands of Kentucky and approached a narrow series of switchback-like bends. His eyes peeled sharply for bars and snags, he thought briefly of the Captain's strange and apparently fatal dance on the smolkestack and wished he was back on the bridge, watching the river with him. Ahead, the narrowing river passed a wide mud bank with a crude wooden landing platform built into it, and his eyes widened as he detected, emerging from the trees on the western bank, a series of galloping horses with strange characters -- one, then three, then five -- driving them at a desperate breakneck run toward the landing platform. His jaw dropped...that was his lost Deckhand on the chestnut stallion, the mount's sides white with sweat and the deckhand lashing him for every ounce of speed he had in him--and there was that young gambler passenger and that pretty Miss Montesquieu riding hell-for-leather behind him!! And who were those raggle taggle young folks coming up behind on the yearlings? Dave TAM rang down for Slow Astern, and steered the giant riverboat into the landing stage, hollering for hands to man the breastlines and make her fast. The strange cavalcade of youth came panting and heaving to a stop at the top of the bank, and one by one the bizarre collection of characters freed their mounts, sending them homeward with affectionate slaps to the withers, and scrambled down the muddy bank to the landing stage, and finally back on board the Albert Hansell. The Mate just shook his head. "Wal, Jeremy, I'm right glad you survived. Right glad! Now, git up here on the bridge - we still have time to make -- and start explaining yoreself!". |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Barky Date: 17 Apr 00 - 12:01 PM YOu guys are too funny! Aeronort.... LOL! Anyway... back to the story at hand..... Miss Montesquiue picked up the oars, and heaved to with a vengance. THIS is what she'd been working all those hours in the Albert Hansel's weight room for. Yes, THIS and NOTHING else...... A catfish jumped out of the water next to the boat, and landed with a plop back in the water. Miss Montesquiue screamed lightly and once again passed out. ~Barky |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Mbo Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:27 AM Miss Montenquieu? I'll tell ye what's become of her! She's with Slick, Jeremy, Huck, and Jim, and they're TRYING to catch up with Tom, Becky, and Mark Twain's airship so they can go and chase down Halley's Comet! "I can see the papers now...'Aeronort Tom Sawyer saves friends from old man's death wish!'" "Tom, that's aeroNAUT..." --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:21 AM But where can we go gang?........Shall we be transported into a time when.........well, what's your fancy? Well done Peter (and all) Spaw |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: katlaughing Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:16 AM Ah, gawds and gawddess, the front of m'shirt is soppin' wet wid tears, ya aud sod! heavy sigh We cannae go there agane? But, wots' ta become o'Miss Montesquieu and Miss Fontaine!? Ah, me.sobbing quietly into a lace hanky...drifting off stage left.... |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Mbo Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:15 AM Well here's some blues for ya (happy blues): I'm as happy as a King, Feelin' good n' everything I'm just like a bird in Spring, Got to let it out. It's my sweetie, can't you guess? Wild about her, I'll confess! Does she love me? Oh my, yes! That's just why I shout: Everybody loves my baby, But my baby don't love nobody but me! Nobody but me Everybody wants my baby, But my baby don't want nobody but me That's plain to see! She is my sweet patootie and I am her lovin' man, I know how to do my duty, She loves me like no other can That's why: Everybody loves my baby, But my baby don't love nobody but me Nobody but me! Everybody loves my baby, But my baby don't love nobody but me, Nobody but me! Everybody wants my baby, But my baby don't want nobody but me That's plain to see She's got a form like Venus, honest, I ain't talkin' Greek! No one can come between us, She's my Sheba, I'm her Sheik That's why: Everybody loves my baby, But my baby don't love nobody but me, Nobody but me! --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Peter T. Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:00 AM "For this relief much thanks, Commander," replied Cassius de Mornay, "Even I had despaired of extricating myself from that closing curtain." He waved at the panorama of space. "It was a jocund day that first you and I exchanged burning phrases from the god of my idolatry in that rustic tavern -- or is it taverns? "Taverns, and theatres, and the theatre of war, de Mornay," mused Commander Leej, "in the dark backward and abysm of time." He cradled his glass. "We have not much time, even in this space between time, de Mornay. I need to know what you have learned." De Mornay spoke, as usual, somewhat overlong, but as concisely as he possibly could under constraint of time, approximately as he had during the unrolling of the Salic Law speech from Henry V on the occasion in Sacramento when he happened to notice that a backdrop was ablaze. He told Commander Leej almost all, leaving out only one detail -- the fact that the Great Red Heron, in his arrogance, had allowed the seemingly doomed de Mornay to discover his identity. He knew, as Commander Leej did not, that the fate of a much loved woman rested on the concealment, till the proper moment, of that information. "Well, de Mornay, you have certainly gummed up some of their works. I had no idea that Stonewall Delacroix and the Mojo Woman were so critical to this enterprise. And the Trader -- what fools we were. So it comes down to Miss Fontaine and Miss Montesquieu, as we always assumed it would. Of course you missed the clue in the Stephen Foster song, but even the Heron's Inheronation was unable to connect that thread." They drank deeply again. De Mornay smiled briefly, and said: "But enough, Commander, enough. We must, must we not, return to the deck of the Albert Hansell aboard this vessel, named I am sure, after some heroic figure of a future time?" A dark look came over the shining face of the Commander of the League of the Mudcat Fleet. "Well, de Mornay, it is somewhat awkward for me to say this, but I am afraid that is impossible. It is more than awkward. I am afraid that, in that period, how can I soften this blow, you are in fact, dead. That was the price we, you, had to pay to break the momentary, but almost fatal hold of the Heron on that thread of history. You cannot go there again. It, and everyone there, is closed to you now." To his credit, de Mornay said nothing. And to his, Commander Leej also sat quietly. After a few moments, de Mornay turned his head towards the vast tapestry of stars which suddenly began to shimmer in his sight, though they were in deep space. He sat for a few seconds more, and inexplicably his thoughts went back to that terrible night in Ford's Theatre, when, long after the hideous excitement had passed, the theatre, tainted and scuffed, was finally emptied of everyone for the nightime. He and Catspaugh had walked out onto the empty stage, looked out at the empty house, and stood silently for a time. Then Catspaugh had said, solemnly, I can't be in one of these again. I have done with the theatre even before I really got started. I think I am going west, going back to Ohio, back to the river." And he had gone. And de Mornay was left alone in that theatre. In the theatre. But it had been wonderful after. The great nation, coming to life again, flush from living drama, true heroics, and thirsting for the life of the theatre. The places he had seen; the sounds, the grand life, the tumbles in tiny dressing rooms, the glittering tours of distant lands. And the mornings in the new towns, the excitement of bringing excitement....Gone the pomp and circumstance of all those lost imagined empires; gone all those bright mornings and (and here a new thought came to him) -- gone the bright eyes of -- And without making a further movement, without any theatricality, tears began to run down the old actor's face, and he made no move to wipe them away. |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,Barky @ mom's work Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:53 AM ;) ~Barky |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: MMario Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:16 AM you're adrift in the gulf stream? which means you'll probably float north, then across the Northern Atlantic and wash ashore on the coast of Ireland.... |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:16 AM I miss the one I love more than I miss New Orleans... --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: GUEST,Barky @ mom's work Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:13 AM Uh oh.... Did we miss New Orleans? Do you even KNOW what it MEANS to miss New Orleans? |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: MMario Date: 17 Apr 00 - 09:50 AM Does this mean I can stop breaking up the deck planking to stoke the boilers? |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Apr 00 - 09:41 AM Actually Amos, it didn't. We're all getting older and the memories are going, but about 3 weeks ago, this damn thing started out as just another Tavern thread with what would hopefully be a splash more creativity than getting "Fugged." My simple thoughts were to maybe throw in a few little subplots and go through the Delta country with a few bluesy things and then have crazy ol' Bert blow-up or somehow sink his namesake by accident and we'd all do the next Tavern in New Orleans........Goes to show what a simpleminded asshole I am! At something over 300 posts and about 3 weeks we not only missed the blues, but we never made New Orleans!!! We not only had subplots to the subplots, but we had subplots to the sublots to the subplots to the subplots to the subplots to the subplots to the subplots to the subplots!!!! Time warps, mysteries, character transmogrifications, dream sequences, paradigms of current 'Cat problems, reincarnations............not to mention the FLAMING KESTREL. To all of those who believe that there is nothing creative in the Tavern threads, may I suggest you read this from beginning to end. As an exercise in group writing with no intercommunication and unbelievable creativity and imagination, this thread(s) stands alone. Others are great, but this one is quite unique. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Amos Date: 17 Apr 00 - 09:00 AM LOL! You guys are positively UNBEATABLE! A Red Heron!!! A Cosmic Time Fleet! Wheeoooo! And to think this started out as a steamboat race! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: katlaughing Date: 17 Apr 00 - 12:17 AM Bravo, LeeJ!! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Lonesome EJ Date: 16 Apr 00 - 11:37 PM For seconds that unfurled like centuries, DeMornay clutched deparately for a handhold on the void that is space. He had held his breath nearly as long as he had during the submersed handcuff escape he had executed in the East River during a brief but notable flirtation with a career in Magic, and the satrs that spread out in infinite abundance were beginning to blur into the surprising mirage of a huge silver cigar-shaped object. With his last focussed vision, he watched a huge light emit from the belly of the object and cast itself directly at him. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them he was sitting in a large gallery whose interior was quite sumptious, and whose windows peered out into the vastness which he had somehow escaped."Whiskey?" a voice said. He turned to stare at the profile of a figure dressed in a uniform of a gold and blue metallic material who was pouring two glasses full from a large snifter. The figure turned so that the soft glow of the cabin lights illuminated his face and the leaping catfish insignia on his collar. "We meet again, Sir. Robert E Leej, Commander, League of the Mudcat Time Fleet." He handed DeMornay his drink." This is the Flagship The Neil Young. Welcome aboard." |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: JenEllen Date: 16 Apr 00 - 10:36 PM Bravo, Peter! |
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Subject: RE: TAVERN STEAMBOAT Albert Hansell - Part 4 From: Caitrin Date: 16 Apr 00 - 03:11 PM Dangit, Peter!!!! You just messed with my ideas in a big big big way. Oh, well...I can handle it. "Ditzbrains!?!" The Red Heron turned to the indignant cry to find a blaster leveled at his head. As he looked a bit further up, he saw a self-satisfied grin on the faces of the two young red-headed women, one of whom was holding the blaster. "I wouldn't suggest moving, Mister. My sister's an excellent shot." Laz said. "But how did you...?" he began to ask. "Oh, puh-leeze." Lor scoffed. "Did you honestly think we couldn't switch places with our doubles? You apparently don't know much about time theory. We just went back a little before this happened. You missed it because you were too busy insulting us." Lor nodded quickly to her sister. "See if you can do anything about Mr. De Mornay." The Red Heron still stood with the blaster aimed squarely at his forehead. "Now, would you like to give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you?" |
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