October 19,
Dearest (My Pooh) Druss!
We crossed over the Channel, and are staying in the Lake District. The weather has been so frightful...rain, rain, rain. I simply had to escape the boredom, so I popped over to London for some shopping. The stores are very nice, but rather old fashioned. Oh, Druss! I must tell you about this singular bohemian gentleman I met. His name is Kasha (isn't that an absolutely troubled name). He is a dream, though; but he is somewhat cynical of people. Perhaps he has a hurt (like yours, darling!). Anyway, I think he is kind-hearted, as he spends hours feeding the snakes that are mating (is that the right word, darling) in these old rocks.
The other day, when we were doing you know what for the umpteenth time, he says to me, "you don't need to talk Stupid." Well, I knew what he meant; so I started talking to him in that Special Way--the one that you like sooo much! Now he seems in much better spirits, and is always asking me to talk to him. It is so easy to be a good conversationalist--isn't it Pooh!
Oh, I don't see Solon anymore. You were right. He is frightfully mean. I shant forgive him--not for days. He called me a filthy tramp. He was frightfully rude. You know I shower soo very often, Pooh. Well, it's water off a girl's back. Even so, I do miss his elegance. He could certainly make a girl tingle. GOD! Will this rain never end? I must see the flowers again. Are you feeding Poodles?!
October 20,
Oh, Pooh...life is soooo cruel. Do you know where Kasha lives? In a garret. Can you believe it? He is simply starving most of the time. He is so gaunt, it is almost titillating. And he is such a great artist, Sweets (but he paints so wickedly!)! He even painted me! Mind you, I shant lie for him again. It took forever to scrub off. I was so tired I napped the evening away. Kasha calls it body painting because he paints with different parts of his body. Sometimes I think he is just being naughty, but these artists are what they call eccentric. Do you like that word, Pooh?! Kasha says he wants to exhibit. Oh, I wish so much for him, Darling! I believe I shall talk to the Queen tonight...Oh! I forgot to tell you: We are off to the opera tonight, and she will be there. Of course, Kasha must be presentable so I gave him one of your cards to get himself fixed up. You don't mind do you, Pooky? There, I knew you didn't. You are sooo good to me. If anything should happen to you, I think I should absolutely die...just like that peasant commoner Tess that you told me about.
October 21,
Kasha seems to know the Queen! They gave each other a funny funny handshake; it was incredibly weird.
Kasha and his friends play this silly game in the park for hours. They have boards painted on the tables with ever so many squares, and they push around kings and queens, and horses and all sorts of queer creatures...all of them trying to find a mate. It is dreadfully silly. Poor Kasha: he practically lives on water. He must always hide it in a brown bag--so that the others don't steal it. I have never seen such poor people; their coats are threadbare. What with all this continual rain, it makes me sad, Darling.
Natasha finally got here, and came to watch them play. When I introduced her to Kasha, he simply said: "Ah! Satan!" When I told Solon about this, he became very still. Then he walked to the window and stood for a long time staring at the black clouds that were gathering (will this rain never end?) overhead. Finally, he paced back to me and stood staring...like he was seeing right through me (honest to God, Bimbi...he is sooo spooky sometimes). "Clever", he finally whispered in a soft voice; then he buried his head in his hands and started to rock back and forth upon his heals. Finally, he stated at me again. His brow was black, and he seemed to be ten feet tall. God, Druss. I was so frightened! I want to be home. Then he was pacing again, relentlessly. His feet were like drumbeats thundering in my ears. It seemed like forever, and he would stop from time to time to stare at me. I shriveled inside from his hard looks. I can hardly type this. Oh Druss, he must be crazy. Oh, I want to be home.
"How can you be here", he said. "It is not spring". He was feverish. I was trembling and my heart was beating so fast; Druss--I could not speak. Then he let out a long sigh, and he put his hand on my shoulder...and for a second I thought I saw kindness in his eyes. "You don't even know, do you?" he said.
Suddenly, he sprang across the room to his writing desk and began scribbling furiously. "We must hurry", he screamed as he shoved the note in my hand. "Take this note. Take it NOW. NO. NO PACKING. No TIME! You must take this to Arkansas and deliver it to this man. I will arrange everything, and I will see you to the airport. You must stop for nothing. NO! I told you, NO PACKING. There is no time to pack!". Then he was on the phone. Minutes later I was in his car speeding towards the terminal.
I am typing this from the charter company office in New York, Darling. Solon said not to talk to anyone. Druss!!! He gave me $100,000 dollars--just to deliver some silly old notes to some guy named Lee in Arkansas! "Don't fail me!" he says to me! Here is the silly note he gave me to deliver:
A flea and a fly in a flue
When I was coming up the stair
Were imprisoned so what could they do
I met a man who wasn't there
Said the fly let us flee
He wasn't there again today
Said the flea let us fly
Oh how I wish he'd stay away
So they flew through a flaw in the flue (Authors forgotten)
LEE!! Flee you fool--the flue is flawed! Meet me at the dirty pine steps. If you miss me there, it will mean I have failed. you must track down the Alabama Reb; he will know what to do. He is coming for me, Lee...with his gentle arrogance and soft smile. I am through running...he must be stopped...(Lee, she doesn't even know what she is. The hand of the Doctor is in this...)
Well, you know me, Honey. I'm lonely and I need to talk lots and lots. As if ANYTHING was so all fired important that it couldn't wait a few bloody minutes (pardon my tongue, Love==I am just soooo mad).
October 20,
We interrupt this program to bring you a special news report from Tail's End, Arkansas:
A pilot and his one passenger are missing and presumed dead after a chartered lear jet exploded shortly after crossing over into Arkansas air space. The lady working Arkansas radar (known to residents of this rustic State as "The Wolf"), told this reporter that the plane simply "winked out". A group of witnesses on the ground said they saw what appeared to be a blue flame followed by a puff of smoke...and the plane was gone. They swore that the word JEHOVAH appeared in some cloud formations immediately after. Other independent witnesses confirmed the report, except for the JEHOVAH message, which seems to have appeared to only about 100,000 of the witnesses. A spokesperson for "Destiny Charters" stated the female passenger had paid the agency in cash, and had given her name only as Persephone...
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