The Needlehole Mysteries [2]

Oh yes, that would be lovely!
And I suspect that Petty might like a second opinion.

Not sure about drawing.... maybe I will find a guitar chord that seems to match everyone the most and record that.

Edit - I am not one for drawing creatively. I can only copy what is in front of me and then only basic stuff (hence the dodgy eyes on Scooby)

Do you compose own melodies, Lance? Even better, do you sing as well? It would be awesome to have our own Tolkien "minstrel", like this guy



One of my favourite Tolkien poems, and he's made an excellent song of it I think. Ever tried anything like that?

Now, me singing is something you never want to experience in your life.

I have a week off beginning of november and might try and write some music.

How about doing a Forumshire song about everyone here- and it can be a part of this years Awards show? That would give you from now till New Year to put it together. Just a suggestion.  

  yeah song song!

But im not singing!

I do have an idea that might be useful for the awards though. Not gonna shout about it as may not actually get time but if I do, I'll PM you at some point Petty.

Ok, here's part 23 of the fanfic. Hopefully it is a bit better than my last one. It might even make sense. Or not.

I'll PM you at some point Petty. - Lance

 

here's part 23 of the fanfic- Amarie

   

(( Link to part 22 ))

They found Eldo in the back of the cart, curled up in a ball. He gazed up at the two.
- You look howible, he mumbled.

The Herrings both rolled their eyes, but they did feel rather green around the gills.

- Wha’ sh’ say ‘bout the cat?
Eldo might be dizzy and have vomit in his hair, but he was a detective on a mission damn it!
Ouch… he shouldn’t think such loud thoughts.

- It’s missing.

Eldo sighed and sat up. The Herrings tried to look like they had not spent all that time in there and not gotten a single piece of useful information.

- Great… That narrows things down considerably. I am so glad we came.
Did anyone bring the case file?

Nora shrugged and pulled a folded paper from her coat pocket.
- Here are the main points. Not much info there, but I wrote it down all the same.

Nora wrinkled her nose as Eldo slowly sat up and reached for the paper.

- We really need to hose this cart down.
- And Eldo, added Ringo. I am rather curious about that Bubblebath place… what if we go there and I can ask if the staff know anything about the cat while Eldo gets cleaned up?
- So I get to wash the cart while you go hot-tubbing with Eldo?
- Ally might be there. Or CC, or whoever that was. What if you look nothing like Kate again? Or what if you DO look like Kate?

Nora pulled a face.
- Good point. Ally’s esoterical bubble bath and poetry is around the corner there. Want me to drive you there?

Eldo leaped out with an impressive speed, he would have none of that. Nora laughed like a cackling evil old witch as she signalled the pony to motion forward. Tiny pieces of bacon dripped off the cart as pony trotted along.

Well, thought Ringo. That was easy. He might be able to scout out the place and casually ask about work conditions and such.

- Who’s Kate?
- I have no idea.
- I am certain we used to be better at this.
He got no arguments from Ringo.




The men walked slowly towards the store. The sign above the door had bright curvy pink letters and a small bell chimed as Ringo pushed open the door. The room inside was small, with white walls and a long counter taking up most of the space. A pile of neatly folded towels lay at the end of the counter. Opposite the counter sat a man on a bar stool, dressed in a pale blue suit with a straw hat. His chin was drooping down on his chest. At the sound of the bell he jerked back to life, pulled a flute from his jacket pocket and started playing a calm tune.


- Welcome back, mr Underhill. Go right ahead.
The woman behind the counter smiled politly at Eldo.

- Mrs Figg gives out coupons to those who lodge there.
Eldo didn’t need to look at Ringo to know he was interested to hear an explanation.

- Oh does she now? I never got one.
- Loyal long term customers.
- Right.

Beyond the counter and the flute man was an alcove with a door. Eldo moved through it, while Ringo found his way blocked by the counter lady. She cleared her throat and looked down her nose at him. This was quite impressive, considering she was tiny even for a hobbit.

- Only paying customers are allowed inside, sir.
- But he…
- Mr Underhill has a membership.

Ringo frowned and grudgingly handed her the requested amount.

She nodded towards the towels on the counter.

- No clothes in the pool area. We do not have a towel boy at the moment, so you will have to wrap these yourself.

Ringo sighed, grabbed a towel and headed for the door. He then doubled back.
- Did you mean no clothes at all?
- Only towels, sir.
- And the towel boy would be doing what exactly, it there was one here?
- He would assist you with the towels.
- Oh...
Being a towel boy sounded far less attractive than he had hoped.
- Have you seen a cat around here, by any chance?
- No pets allowed, sir. Have a pleasant stay!

Ringo walked through the door and moved down the white pained hallway that followed. Where had Eldo gone to then? He could have waited. Ringo tried a door and got lucky on the first try (yey!) and found Eldo’s clothes neatly folded on a bench.

He stripped down and wrapped the towel around himself. Signs on the wall lead the way and instructed him to shower before entering the main room. Wet footstep seemed to indicate that Eldo had done the same, so Ringo did as instructed and made his way past the door, then another door and then a curtain and then...

- Whoa!

A large room with marble floor opened up before him. Several round pools of water in different sizes and a few tubs were scattered around.

Eldo was soaking in a steaming pool with green bubbles, looking as happy as Petty after downing a fresh bottle of Buckie. There were several pools with different colours, but they were all still and seemed cool. The ceiling was low as was common for hobbit buildings. But a layer of blue smoke, very much a like the green smoke in CC’s house, gave the illusion of looking at the sky.  

- Get in. There’s hardly anybody around this early in the day, only one pool is heated.

Eldo’s towel was left in a pile next to the pool. A few steps lead down into it. Ringo shrugged. Why not? He wasn’t the shy type and as the saying goes: when in Bree, do like the Breelanders do.

He let out a long sigh as the water wrapped around him. He copied Eldo’s pose and leaned his head back. This was really, really nice.

- I don’t think there is a cat. CC only speaks in metaphors. You are always given a quote by CC before entering. We didn’t, so we must have received it already.

Ringo turned his head slightly to look at Eldo. The vapour was surely getting to his head.
- Eldo. That… makes no sense.

- Mhm… Precisely. But Nora makes exact notes. Didn’t you learn anything while talking to CC?

- Um… Apparently CC likes the ambassadors handwriting. CC finds documents in the trash from the Fjordian Embassy and cuts out words to make recipes. She said Amarië leaves them there for her to find. Perhaps we should warn Amarië about this? It seems a bit… stalkerish?

It took a while before Eldo replied. Ringo didn’t complain, he was feeling rather dozy himself, gazing up at fake clouds moving across a fake sky while green bubbles tickled his skin. And to think this is the result of the seemingly mad state of the house they had been in. He had almost forgotten what they had talked about when Eldo started talking.

- I am sure the Ambassador never throws out anything unless she means to.

- Mhm...

Long pause.

- Eldo, does this mean we have to visit the ambassador next?

- Oh crap… I think it does.

is Eldo and Ringo in the hot tub pool together?  

I wonder if they have a buckie bath there? I must make some inquiries!  
Great stuff Amarie!   (Honestly the fact you Fjordians write so damn well in a second language makes me endlessly crabbit!   How do you do it? )

Mrs Figg wrote:is Eldo and Ringo in the hot tub pool together?  

Yup. All alone and only wearing bubbles.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:I wonder if they have a buckie bath there? I must make some inquiries!   
Great stuff Amarie!   (Honestly the fact you Fjordians write so damn well in a second language makes me endlessly crabbit!   How do you do it? )

I think that for the people my age, it is mainly due to undubbed English movies/tv/games with or without subtitles.

Amarië wrote:

Mrs Figg wrote:is Eldo and Ringo in the hot tub pool together?  

Yup. All alone and only wearing bubbles.

We call that "Tuesday".

 

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Continued here: https://www.forumshire.com/t992-the-needlehole-mysteries-3