Hello, Everyone!
Previously in Mary Windfiddle’s Grand Adventure: Mary and her friends finally left Frinkeltong and headed towards Pamagos. Their mission? Find (and destroy???) the person who stole Mary’s manuscript and published it as a (best-selling) book. When the trio finally reached Pamagos, they were met with adoration and love from the many fans the book had won them. Mary didn’t like it – she thought she didn’t deserve it all, because it wasn’t her book. They also met with Bruno’s sister Paulina who had gathered an adventuring party of her own and was celebrating their first couple of successful missions.
That same afternoon, they headed out to find the 'Steel Printing House'. It was a big square building, its fascade covered with large beige tiles. Bruno pushed the heavy door and they entered.
“Hello and welcome!” a voice called out.
They looked around. From the main desk, much lower than one would expect, they saw a halfling woman peek her head.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “Sherry, at your service. How may I help you?”
“Hello,” Mary said. “We’re here for, um, the ‘Mary Windfiddle’ book. I have to make a… a complaint. For plagiarism.”
The woman raised her eyebrows. She looked Mary up and down and a realization dawned on her face.
“Oh, I see,” she said. “Let me call for Mr. Steel.”
She stood up (which didn’t add very much to her height) and ran in an adjacent room. A few minutes later, a human man in his thirties appeared at the doorframe and walked towards them. He was tall and well built, and covered with ink blots. After wiping his hands on a piece of cloth, he extended his right for a handshake.
“It is nice to meet you,” he said. “Miss Windfiddle, I presume?”
Mary nodded.
“Rickard Steel, at your service,” he said.
Mary hesitated. Now that she was face to face with the publisher, her mouth suddenly felt very dry. She looked at her friends for moral support and swallowed hard.
“You see, I’m here because, um, my manuscript was stolen.” She rummaged through her bag and took out her journal. “I… I have proof and, and, and witnesses. I’m sure that if you, um… investigate, you’ll see that mine was written first and whatever you got is a transcript of some kind.”
Rickard Steel took the journal and flipped through. Finally, he sighed.
“Yes, I figured that something wasn’t quite right with that Flamingo guy,” he said.
“Guy?” Bruno said. “So, it was a man? What did he look like?”
“He was about 5′6″, probably human. Didn’t have the chance to look at his face. He was wearing a white mask and a hooded cloak.”
“Is it usual for your authors to come to you in costumes?” Aurum said.
“It’s not unheard of. Some people like their anonymity.”
“But he must have left some paper trail,” Bruno insisted. “Where do you send the money from the book sales?”
“That’s a rather classified…”
“It’s Mary’s book,” Aurum interrupted.
Rickard Steel sighed again.
“What do you want from us, Miss Windfiddle?”
“She’d like her money…” Bruno started.
“No.” The man raised his hand. “I was asking Miss Windfiddle. She is the author, she should decide.”
Mary looked at Bruno. She didn’t want to disappoint him but there was something that she cared about more than the money from the booksales. She looked at the floor and said it, quietly but clearly.
“This is not what my book was supposed to be. I’d like the distribution discontinued. Please.”
Silence fell in the room. From the adjacent, a machine of some kind was thumping rhytmically. Rickard Steel rubbed his chin with an expression of deep concern.
"There are ten thousand copies of the book being prepared for distribution as we speak," he said. "I really hope that you'd reconsider. But even if you don't, I have to ask you to find Flamingo and sort things out with him."
"But it's her book," Aurum repeated.
"And I have my contract. It says that if I transfer the money to Flamingo's account, I get to print the book."
"His account?" Bruno said. "An account in Bank Ferenc?"
"Yes, of course."
“Then that’s fortunate. If you tell us the details of the account, we can go and find the person who's behind it. We have connections with Papios Ferenc himself.” The dwarf pointed to the Belfast patch on his shoulder.
“All right,” Mr. Steel said after a bit of thinking. “I’ll have Sherry give you anything that you want. But you’ll have until Monday to find Flamingo and bring him to me to change the contract. Otherwise the books will go out the way they were intended to.”
He nodded a ‘goodbye’ and went back to the room he’d come out of. When he opened the door, the thumping noise became louder and then got muffled again.
They mystery thickens! Who is Flamingo? Why did they hide their face? Do we know them? Or is it a new character altogether?
Find out in the next chapters!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)