Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

eyes fell on the box giving the address and telephone number for the offices of World Marvels & Wonders . Who, indeed, was to say Captain Trigger couldn’t offer assistance?
    Gulls as big as cats wheeled around the light house at the end of the stone jetty that pointed out to sea, hoping for scraps of battered fish from the tourists who flocked to Whitby. Queuing out of the door of the Post Office was a line of holidaymakers wishing to send telegraph messages or buy stamps for picture postcards. He shuffled along, glancing repeatedly and anxiously at the page where he had folded open World Marvels & Wonders, as though the telephone number might shift or change or disappear altogether. As he neared the kiosks he realized he hadn’t used the public telephones ever before, and was not really sure what the protocol was. He glanced around and met the gaze of a benignly smiling, tall man with a tidy, reddish beard and dark suit, waiting in line behind him.
    “You need a chitty,” said the man in a pleasant Irish brogue, pointing to a prim woman sitting at a desk beside the kiosks. “You take a number from that lady, and when you have made your call she calculates the cost and takes your money.”
    The man saved his place in line, and when Gideon had procured his chitty his new friend held out a shovel of a hand. “My name’s Stoker. Abraham Stoker. Most friends call me Bram. I am in Whitby holidaying.” He adopted a conspiratorial tone. “I am supposed to be writing, but the weather and location are simply too beautiful for work.”
    Gideon blinked. “You’re a writer?”
    “I try.” Stoker smiled. “Success eludes me thus far, though I’ll have my first novel published later this year, so perhaps we shall see.”
    Gideon brandished the magazine at him. “Do you know World Marvels & Wonders ?”
    Stoker peered at the penny blood. “Ah. I am familiar with it, of course. And the adventures of stouthearted Captain Trigger. Although I have worked for some of the story-papers, I have never been published in World Marvels & Wonders .”
    “Oh,” said Gideon. “I must get in touch with Captain Lucian Trigger quite urgently. When you said you were a writer, I thought perhaps you might be acquainted with him. There is . . . there is something of an emergency in Sandsend.”
    There was a thin, sharp cough that echoed around the marble floors. “I believe it’s your turn,” said Stoker gently, and Gideon turned to see the woman glaring at him and the door to the middle kiosk hanging open.
    “Good luck with Captain Trigger,” said Stoker. “I hope your emergency is quickly and sufficiently resolved.”
    “What number do you require?”
    Into the flowerlike transmitter mounted on the top of the central column he enunciated loudly and slowly the string of numbers printed in the magazine. The voice said, “Very good, please hold.”
    After a few seconds another voice said, “You are through to the London Newspaper and Magazine Publishing Company. To whom would you like me to direct your call?”
    Gideon’s dry mouth worked wordlessly for a second, then he blurted, “Captain Lucian Trigger! It is a most urgent matter!”
    “I am afraid I cannot furnish you with a private number for Captain Lucian Trigger,” said the woman. Gideon’s eyes narrowed; was there a hint of mockery in the voice? She continued, “There is a coupon in the latest edition, which, if you mail it to us with two shillings, enrolls you for membership in Captain Lucian Trigger’s Global Adventurers. You will receive two newsletters each calendar year, a membership card, and a pin brooch.”
    “I do not wish to join the Global Adventurers,” said Gideon through gritted teeth. “This is an emergency!”
    There was open laughter in the voice now. “I am afraid Captain Lucian Trigger is adventuring and cannot be contacted. Good day to you, sir.”
    Bram Stoker closed his eyes and held the earpiece so close it hurt to encourage the illusion that