Archivist note: This post is from an older recovered archive.
==Initial Post==
((Posted by Phaedra Wickentower on May 18, 2010))
Phaedra frowned at a cookie and broke it in half and watched as it crumbled between her fingers into a mess on the table. She wasn’t sure there were enough chocolate chips in it, but she supposed it would have to do. She needed to act quickly before they released the troll, the oprotunity was too good to pass up. She bundled several of the crumbly cookies into piece of cloth and tied them up.
At shortly past noon she heard the tentative steps of a child lurking near the window, she put on her brightest smile and threw the door open, “Bill! My dear boy! Do come in, I’ve just finished those cookies I promised.”
Bill followed her in happily, pulling his hat from his head and perching himself on a spindly chair, setting a heavy sack down next to him and practically vibrating with excitement as Phaedra put a large cookie down in front of him and a glass of cool water.
“I’m afraid we haven’t milk, no delivery today for some odd reason.” She managed an apologetic smile.
“Oh, is nuffink, miss, nuffink at all.” He began to eat the cookie, making a royal mess of it.
“Did you do as I asked, Bill?”
“Wha? Oh, ya miss, ya.” He rubbed his chocolate-covered fingers on his pants and reached for his sack, tugging it open and hefting out a jagged stone “Dunno whatcha need big rocks for though, miss.”
“Never you mind, did anyone see you?” She took the stone from him with a smile and examined it, then set it back in the sack and tied it shut again.
“Can I have another cookie?” He was reaching for the plate, Phaedra grabbed his wrist before he could snatch up another cookie and held it, “Not yet, did anyone see you?”
“Ya, some ‘litia men, but I tolds them I was building me a fort and they believed me…can I haves another cookie now?”
“Not yet.” She released his wrist and pulled her spinning disk from her pocket, “Remember this, Bill?”
“I’d really like ‘nother cookie…” He didn’t so much as look away from the plate.
Phaedra sighed and tucked the disk away, “one of these cookies, dear?” She picked one up off the plate, his eyes were glued to it.
“Yeah…’sreal good miss….” He watched her lift the cookie past her face, his eyes glancing into hers, where she caught and held them.
“Bill…are you paying attention to me now?” She leaned close to him, setting the cookie next to his hand.
He nodded dumbly and made no motion toward the treat.
“Touch your finger to your nose, please.” He did so without hesitation, “Good boy, smart lad. I’m glad you like your treat Bill, I’m going to give you the whole batch of them, would you like that?”
“Yessim, I’d like that lots.” His voice sounded hollow, she frowned but decided there was nothing she could do about that at the moment.
“I need you to do something for me first though, can you do that for me Bill, my little friend?” he nodded, “What a fine lad you are. Here is what I want, do you know the clock tower next to the forge, just off the port?”
“Ya, I knows it…”
“Marvelous, marvelous my dear boy. I want you to take this bag of stones you’ve gathered for me, and, now this is very important, I want you to push each and every stone into one of the gears, make sure you stop it up good, and mind your fingers, dear. I don’t want you to hurt yourself, do you think you could do that?”
Bill blinked slowly as if something were suddenly occuring to him, “Yer wanting me to stop the Mayor’s clock?”
Phaedra spoke carefully, weaving her voice into his mind, “Oh no, dear boy, it’s not the Mayor’s clock, it’s just a clock. Like any other…it’s just a joke, just a clock. Just stop it up, it’s hardly anything. Just stop it up, and as soon as you’re done, you can sit right down and eat a whole pile of cookies and think of what a clever boy you’ve been, building a fort in the clock. A clock fort, a safe clock fort, the best ever built. King of the urchins, that’ll be you Bill, because of your cleverness. They’ll probably give you a medal, and you’ll get to have your cookies. Wouldn’t you like that, Bill? A fort in the clock?”
Bill’s face lit-up as if he had just had the idea himself, Phaedra smiled benevolently and held out a wrapped bundle of cookies.
“I’ve just had an idea, Missus, if’n ya don’t mind. I think i’ll keep these stones. Ya don’t do ya?” He took the cookies from her and hopped to his feet.
“No, no, my dear boy. I’ll have Pip fetch more for me, go play your games.” She patted him on top of the head and he dashed out the door, hefting both bags with him.
She waited until he was out of sight, then burned the cookies that were left in the fire. Too dangerous to leave those laying about. It took all she could to wait patiently, to give the boy time at his task. Hours crawled by as if they were years hampered in old age.
At last, at long last, she allowed herself to lock the bakery door and walk slowly, unhurriedly across the city. She paused in shops to talk with shop-keepers, exchanging uneasy hellos, but ensuring that people saw her out and about, making her way slowly toward Loki Absinthe. Finally, standing on the Jefferson Way bridge over Grand Canal she turned to look up at the clock tower, pulling out her pocket watch.
It ticked-over to six o’clock, letting out a little trill of sound. She glanced up at the tower and waited, a smile spreading over her face, triumph singing in her mind as she turned and continued on her way to Loki Absinthe.
The Bolyai Clock was stopped.
==Comments (page 1)==
*Comment by Skyler ‘Artful Dodger’ Gant on May 18, 2010 at 6:48pm
Crispin
Shakes from anger
You won’t get away with stopping that clock you…you…*Fights for the right word* Evil witch. I’ll find a way to restart it.
Rushes away to find the Mayor
*Comment by Bookworm Hienrichs on May 18, 2010 at 7:22pm
Bookworm, on her walk home from Nell’s cafe, glances up at the clock in Bolyai Plaza. She does a double-take, and looks at her watch to confirm the sight. The clock…was wrong…
She feels a cold shiver run down her spine, and hurries home.
*Comment by Zaida Marie Thibideaux Gearbox on May 18, 2010 at 8:47pm
Zaida and Kitty were skipping through the streets of Babbage when all of a sudden Kitty stopped, arched his back, and hissed. “What’s wrong Kitty?” Zaida asked the big cat. The cat seemed to look at the clock tower. Looking up, Zaida noticed the clock was stopped. “I think we better go home now, Kitty….”
*Comment by Tepic Harlequin on May 19, 2010 at 3:23am
From a hidden corner of the street, Tepic sees Miss Hienrichs suddenly stop and stare upwards, the hurry on…. he gets up to take a look… the big clock has stopped…. oh well, what is measuring time to an urchin? He settles back down and plays a quiet tune to himself…
*Comment by Ryne Beck on May 19, 2010 at 7:07am
((beautifully written!))
*Comment by Mr Underby on May 19, 2010 at 7:45am
sighs happily
*Comment by Emperor Crumb on May 19, 2010 at 9:06am
An abomination, I say!
*Comment by Cyan Icewolf (Cyan Rayna) on May 19, 2010 at 9:17am
Not that there aren’t hundreds of other clocks, but I suppose since it’s Mr. Tenk’s specifically he wouldn’t be too happy. (this whole story arc is becoming rather interesting, just can’t wait to see what happens with it :3)
*Comment by Mr. W—— on May 19, 2010 at 10:05am
Hurrying from an adjacent alleyway, having just left Sommerset with part of his intended message, the “old man” in rags cursed to himself for not timing the meeting better. Moses, that blasted man, had people everywhere. Rubbing his grimy hands together, Mr. W—— was preparing to shed his disguise when something odd caught his gaze. In the distance he spied young Bill carrying a sack of sorts…weighted…the gait of his walk was off…almost mechanical. Byron couldn’t shake the sense that something was amiss…Bill…he looked…well…
“I’ll be damned if he doesn’t look a bit like a…like a…,” Mr. W—— focused his clockwork eye, “a marionette!”
His curiosity getting the better of him, Mr. W—— re-donned his disguise and slowly followed the young man. He followed and observed the slow deliberate walk to the clock tower, the ascent to the clockworks, and stood in muted wrath as the boy fed his bag of stones into the gears…grinding them to a halt. Until that moment the sound of Mr. W——‘s breast had been indiscernible from the mighty clock…now sabotaged, its echo could not be hidden from the boy. To be sure it had caught his attention, if only briefly, before Bill gathered his sack and began his descent to the cobblestone streets below.
Mr. W——, allowing the distance to grow between them, paused for a moment before continuing his pursuit.
“It starts…”
*Comment by Scarlet Jaggernov on May 19, 2010 at 10:53am
frowns in confusion, checking her pocket watch, and hurries off to try and discern the source of the trouble
==Comments (page 2)==
*Comment by Maggie Lynwood on May 19, 2010 at 11:23am
Shivers I hope they let Mr. Tenk out soon so I can leave…
*Comment by Bianca Namori on May 19, 2010 at 11:41am
-Peeking up from her book she looks at the looming ticker. After a moment of studying the clocks face she shakes her head and returns to her book flipping a page moments before walking off and muttering- Somethings rotton, and it isn’t Mr. Foehammers cooking this time…-she heads back towards her home with a grim look on her face-
*Comment by LoPixie Artful on May 19, 2010 at 10:18pm
o, when will you teach me to bake mother? i bet you must have all sorts of marvellous cooking tips…
*Comment by Tepic Harlequin on May 20, 2010 at 2:46am
Didn’t realise Mr Tenk’s banged up, do you think some people who know clockwork could fix his clock fer him? I know i ain’t got much time fer telling time (hehhehe) but it is kinda important to him…
*Comment by Emperor Crumb on May 20, 2010 at 9:04am
I used to work on the clocks as a child, as a matter of fact. I was taught by another Tenk, who looked much like the Tenk who winds the clocks now. Must be a relative…
*Comment by Wiggy Undertone on May 21, 2010 at 6:03pm
Pauses during his evening stroll and looks up at the clock’s face for a few seconds. Muttering, turns and walks quickly toward the Militia Jail.
*Comment by Mara Razor on May 21, 2010 at 10:02pm
Reads letter from Scamps telling her about the breaking of The Clock and throws back her head and laughs Brilliant!
