The Lady Astronomer Read Online Free PDF Page B

with me in my new rooms.
    Yes! I have done it, dearest L! My new
Society for Adventurers of All Persuasions has been given the Royal Seal and so
on my return I shall be making the streets of our capital my home for the
foreseeable.
    It is wondrously beautiful here, such
flowers and trees and animals and birds that you have never seen in dreary
Blighty. We bathe in streams that can only be reached by taking a long hike,
and you must beware for snakes and other stinging creatures. Wondrous indeed.
    Anyway, must dash really. Old Biffy seems
have gotten into a bit of bother, and it is looking rather like he is destined
for the cooking pot rather than eating of it.
    Your friend, as always, and with best
regards to Freddie and Al.
    Mr. B.
     
    *
     
    “Well, that’s good news,”
declared Freddie as they sat outside under the stars later that night. “Apart
from Old Biffy possibly being eaten of course.”
    “Quite,” agreed Lucretia. “I
would have thought the Captain would know by now which islands to stay away
from. He has, after all, travelled quite extensively.”
    Freddie rolled on to his back, and put his
hands behind his head, staring up at the night sky laid out in all its
splendour and glory.
    “But if you think about it, there are
as many uncharted islands as there are stars and planets in the skies.”
    “I suppose you are right.” She
looked at him. “And we have much work to do it would seem. For the king.
Freddie?”
    “Lucretia?”
    “Do you suppose we are doing the right
thing? Going to Slough? Working on the telescope? I suppose Al will still be
able to help a lot. He did manage to somehow turn Leibniz’s brass blanket into
a glove.”
    The primate looked up from his work. He was
knitting again, having taken his new craft to heart.
    “I sincerely hope that hat’s not for
me,” she called over. “Not my colour, sludge.”
    Freddie laughed and Orion opened a sleepy
eye, half hidden by a gargantuan scarf, ear muffs, and wing warmers. He was so
hot that he was quickly lulled back into a scorching slumber.
    “Lucretia, why are you so worried?”
    She sighed. “I’m not worried. I will
just miss the ice and fire above my head.”
    “But dearest girl, it will always be there.”
    “Not from this vantage point.”
    “Hmm. Where did the parrot go?”
    “Actually, I have no idea. I assumed he,
or she, just flew off, London-bound.”
    “You’re probably right,” remarked
Freddie, and he resumed his contemplation of the cosmos.
     
    *
     
    Al sat on his bed, head in his hands. He
had no earthly idea about how to pack up all of his belongings. Freddie and
Lucretia had charts and telescopes and astronomical devices and the like, but
they were already all boxed away in chests. They were due to leave soon, and he
hadn’t even made a start.
    That was it, he would write a list! He
fetched paper, ink and quill and sat down to write. He felt himself growing
sleepy, and held one eye open between finger and thumb so he could complete his
task.
     
    *
     
    Lucretia came upon him the following
morning, ink spilt across the sheets, staining them black.
    “Al! Al! Wake up! We are due to leave
soon! Come on!” She shook him awake.
    He sat up and rubbed his eyes, before looking
down at himself and jumping off the bed in startled fright.
    “Lucretia! I have turned black
overnight! Help! What manner of disease is this?”
    “Al.” She couldn’t continue she
was laughing so hard.
    “Well, I don’t find this terribly
amusing. Thank you very much for your sympathy. Your brother has a potential
malaise that has never yet been heard of. I mean have you heard of it? No? Me
neither. And if we haven’t heard of it, what are the chances that anybody else
has? Hey? Oh, my word, I am so ill!” He sat back on the bed and lay down
dramatically, falling on top of the ink pot.
    “Oww! I have a stabbing pain in my
back! I am so unwell. Lucretia, get up off the floor, stop laughing like a
child and get me a doctor! I will