Ancient Festival

Ancient Festival

Mark Davis

304

Evron Lempel stared across a cluttered desk at the dame seated in front of him.  She was young and beautiful.  Figures.  Seems like they always are, he thought to himself.  She wore a dark red dress with a long black coat, and carried a large leather messenger bag instead of a purse.

He glanced back down at the folder in front of him.  There were a series oh photos, several pages of research notes, and a general description of the two characters and what the woman was requesting.  It was an unusual request -- but the woman was paying well, and he needed the money.  Evron Lempel was a writer -- of pulp fiction, of a newspaper comic strip based on the adventures of Mr. Anarchy, and for the last year of a comic book publication as well based on the same man.  His New York office was dingy and crammed with paperwork and research notes, mostly yellowed from cigar smoke.  A haze hung over the room, and a physical smell made up of cigars, rum, sweat, and moldering paper.  The stench had a physical presence; it struck you like a blow from Joe Louis when you first entered the room.

What stood out most was the typewriter -- a battered Corona portable that he'd bought years ago, which sat in the center of the desk with an area cleared around it.  Virtually everything he'd written had been typed up on this machine.

In the corner a radio blared.  The Yankees were playing -- Joltin' Joe had just hit a double, in fact.  You could hear the crowd screaming through the static.  How Lempel was able to write amid such racket, his friends couldn't say, but he never missed a game.

He puffed on his cigar, then waved at the smoke.  "Miss February," he said.  He seriously doubted that this was the woman's genuine name.  "These two girls -- they're in love?"

"Yes," the woman replied.  "I would hope that's obvious from the notes."

"You know, I'm not one to judge," Evron said.  "But a story of girls in love... well, that's not gonna be kosher for a lot of people...."

"This is a private commission," said the woman.  "It's meant for the eyes of one person only.  Am I not paying you enough?"

"Oh, no!  The money's good!" exclaimed Evron.  "I'm just saying... this is not something I would normally consider doing.  But seeing as it's a story for your girlfriend, I don't mind."

The woman frowned.  "I did not say that I had a girlfriend...."

"Look, this is obviously a story about you and this other girl," said Evron.  "It's a gift for her, isn't it?  I can see that.  And a time-travelling tale to ancient Rome, to the feast of Lupercalia -- well, that's very imaginative.  I like it.  These research details you provided me are dynamite, and these photos are fantastic -- I really don't know how you staged them.  I'd almost think you actually went back to ancient Rome.  Anyway, Hugo can work from these, I'm certain.

"Mind you, there's no real story here -- just two girls in love having fun in ancient Rome.  No drama, nothing at stake.  They should do something -- maybe rescue somebody?  Uncover an ancient secret?  Battle an ancient god?  What I'm saying is, I tell stories.  You've given me a good setup, but I want to turn this into an actual story, right?  You won't mind if I do that?  Because that's what I do.  I'm gonna have a hard time writing this if there isn't something at stake."

"Yes, that's fine," the woman said.  "More than fine.  That's exactly what she -- that is I -- would want."

"I can tell these girls are heroes too," said Evron.  He took a sip from his rum glass.  "I mean, I write about heroes all the time, so I know that's what this story is about.  The one is a time traveler at the very least, am I right?  That's you.  The other seems to me like the leader.  I don't know what her powers are, or should be, but you've given me a few clues.  You said that I was your first and only choice to do this, right?  Me and Hugo.  That tells me that your girlfriend probably likes our work.  She's a fan.  And you called her Continuitae at one point -- so I'm guessing her powers are also time related, but more involved in keeping the continuity of time in check.  Am I right?"

The woman's eyes widened.  "Yes, something like that," she said.  "You're very observant."

"So what I'm gonna do," said Evron, "is tell your story about these two girls going back to ancient Rome, but I'm going to sexy it up a bit.  I don't mean turn it into smut, mind you -- we got enough of that already what with two girls kissing and a fertility festival going on.  I just mean I'm going to add some character details, give the story some plot.  Give it an actual story, you know.  I just want to make sure that's going to be okay with you.  You're paying a lot of money for this, so I want to make sure that you get something you'll like."

"Mr. Lempel," the woman said, "turning this into a story like those you usually write is exactly what I want."

***

Sarah Mickens stared at the small package.  It was black with red ribbons, and in the shape of a valentine heart.  She glanced back up into the eyes of Freya Willikins, her girlfriend.

The two women were in an old, dusty warehouse -- an extremely old building that had been used for public storage since at least the 1940's.  It was February 14th, and Freya had insisted they come here.  The two girls wore jeans and tee shirts -- Freya had said not to dress up -- and the last thing Sarah had expected was a Valentine's Day gift, especially in a place like this.

"You didn't need to get me anything," said Sarah.

"I know," said Freya.  "But I wanted to -- to remind you that I love you."

"Freya, you gave up your manhood to be with me," said Sarah.  "I didn't even understand it at first -- but nothing you can do will ever demonstrate your love to a greater degree than that."

"Yes, but I want to keep reminding you of my love," Freya replied.  "Besides, it's Valentine's Day.  Just open it already."

Sarah fiddled with the packaging.  "You know I don't like all that romantic stuff," she said.

"You didn't say that when we visited ancient Rome last year for the feast of Lupercalia...." Freya said teasingly.

Sarah giggled.  "I have to admit, that trip was amazing!  Even that is something you can probably never top."  She finished removing the packaging and opened the heart-shaped box.  Inside was a key -- a very old key.  It was attached to a metal tag with a number.

"I assume this goes to one of the storage lockers?" Sarah asked.  She held the key up.  "Number 117.  Gods, this really looks old."

"Perhaps it is," said Freya.

Sarah's eyes narrowed.  "What are you up to?" she asked.  "You've been back in time?  For what reason?"

"Open the locker and see," said Freya.

Sarah tracked down the appropriate locker and opened it.  Inside was a box, about nine by twelve inches, and about twelve inches tall.  It was taped shut and covered in dust.  Sarah frowned.

"You went to a lot of trouble to set this up, whatever it is," she said.  "I hope this is worth it...."

"You once told me of an old rumor," said Freya, "that Evron Lempel and Hugo Ingersson did a special comic commission for a mysterious lady.  Fifty issues of the comic were printed late at night at R&L Printers, the place where they printed the Mr. Anarchy comics.  But nobody ever found out who the comic was for or what happened to them afterwards."

Sarah's eyes went wide.  "Yes!  Mr. Lempel mentioned it in an interview once.  He based his Grandpa Anarchy story The Ancient Festival on it.  But he had no idea what happened to the original.  He and Hugo were paid a lot of money and the sale included the original artwork and story, so all he ever had were story notes and memories, which he used to write the second story.  I've always wished to see that mysterious comic!  At this point, it's practically the only thing of Lempel's that I don't have in my collection -- but it just vanished into history; nobody knows who commissioned it or what happened to it!"  She stared into Freya's face.  "You found a copy of it, didn't you?"

"Oh," said Freya, "I did much more than that.  I commissioned it myself -- a story about you and I, travelling to ancient Rome on Valentine's Day to take part in the Lupercalia festival, just as we did last year.  Written by Evron Lempel and drawn by Hugo Ingersson, less than a year before his death.  Fifty copies, sealed away.  Nobody has ever read them -- and now you own all fifty copies."

Sarah squealed in delight.  She wrapped Freya in a tight embrace and kissed her passionately.  When she finally pulled back she said, "You, my Dear, know how to turn me on better than anyone!  I want to do to you right now what we did in ancient Rome -- but first, we're going to take this box back home, open it up, and read the one Evron Lempel story that no one has ever read...."

FINI