Rutabaga

I've been re-reading all the Henry/Rothenia stories starting with "Henry in the Outfield." At present I am partway into "Henry and the Eschaton." It has been surprising how many details and events I had forgotten from my initial reading as much as ten years ago. That is especially true of the later stories. There are broad pieces that I still remember, but either I was not paying enough attention the first time through or time has blurred a lot of stuff for me. So it's a worthwhile re-read. R

So finally the bad guys show their hand, as it were. But it's puzzling. Surely they know the gold is tied up for years. Also, it seems crazy that Die Vereinigung would be involved with such penny-ante activities as the Hendersons' church and the Aryan Defence League. Hopefully Johnny's review of the diaries will reveal more. Perhaps we'll learn that Dame Grace is actually one of the brains behind Die Vereinigung and was responsible for getting Beryl involved with it all. R

And now we have a “Dad” hanger. R

And so today we have an actual “Cliff” hanger. Sheesh. R

"Dead Men's Money" is a 1920 mystery by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher. I ran across it quite by accident, having never heard of this author. It's full of mystery and intrigue, not to mention foreshadowing that makes the reader want to shout out a warning . . . similar to the feeling when the young protagonists in a horror movie go into the dark and deserted house. It is now in the public domain in the U.S. (and probably everywhere else), and free copies in various formats are available here. R

I recall reading "Henry in the Outfield" first, and then going back and filling in the missing pieces before and after that story with the other Peacher tales. It was a worthwhile effort. R

Provocation. It's provocation. R

It occurs to me that we have heard little or nothing about Trevor's recovery (or lack thereof), or how things are going with Arthur. Nor have we heard further about the planted spy routine on Arthur's servers, and whether the mysterious Antonio is connected with that. R

We discover at last the pertinence of the music on the title page. Young Scottie seems to have a precocious knack for sussing out what makes certain adults tick, particularly where those adults stand as obstacles to his well-being. First his mother, then Micah’s dad. He has a great future in something. R

Another fine tale showcasing young men with pluck and cleverness. With a few surprises thrown in. But I laughed at the newcomer being named “Rosie,” as in Rosie Palm. Guess my mind never leaves the gutter. R

No chapter 14 - just an error message. R

This story, which originally ran in Codey's World in 2012-2013, can be found here. It is listed as a "short story" in Picks from the Past but, at 50 chapters, that does not seem like the right classification! It is an amusing, if somewhat uneven, story, but be aware that the depiction of California criminal practice and procedure bears little relation to reality. Chalk it up to poetic license. R

Bad, bad Donny. Hope they got him some fresh underwear. R ADDENDUM: We first encountered Solomon Grundy, by name only, in Chapter 28 of Living with Johnny. The context was that one of Grundy's "helpers," nicknamed Figgy, had been caught in the act of trying to assassinate Arthur to prevent him from talking to the police. It appeared that Figgy was freelancing for the Henderson mob, not doing something for Grundy. A lawyer appeared at Figgy's interrogation the next day and requested permission to attend his interview, but never claimed to be Figgy's lawyer. Figgy apparently "sang like a canary" about his work for the Hendersons, and it is said that this lawyer left with copious notes and a copy of the audio recording to report to an unidentified "man in London" (presumably Grundy although it is not stated). This raises a couple of interesting questions in light of the current story. First, we have seen that Grundy is far from the "forgive and forget" type, and it would be interesting to know what may have become of Figgy once Grundy learned of his freelancing. Second, it seems like the Henderson/Braylow activities would be viewed by Grundy as an incursion on his turf, or at least putting his activities at needless risk. This would give Grundy an incentive to facilitate the Hendersons' downfall and imprisonment (or worse). We don't hear about such a thing, however.

Well, that didn't go so well. R

It's about time someone asked Miss Jenkins about the mystery man shadowing them. R

Sure, Mom knew what we were doing, but that didn’t mean I wanted her looking on and making suggestions. Ya think? R

And now we have a third installment here. Miss Jenkins puts in an important appearance, and Ben Carlton and Manston from the Johnny series are also mentioned. But the greatest fun is some serious butt-kicking in the English High Court. And with the conviction of the security guard, the department store is in serious legal jeopardy. The security guard's actions took place while he was on duty, apparently within the course and scope of his employment. The employer in such a case is generally deemed to be vicariously liable for the harm caused by the employee. The fact that he was acting contrary to the policy set forth in the employee policy manual will probably not help the employer here; an alternative theory of liability is that the department store was negligent in its hiring, training, and/or supervision of the security guard. The important thing is that the security guard was on duty, in uniform, and purported to be carrying out his responsibilities as a security guard. It also seems like there is a strong case against the pastor's wife, made even stronger by her recorded testimony under oath. An accusation of committing an imprisonable crime is slander "actionable per se," meaning no actual damage needs to be proven. Here, of course, there is extensive damage, both the physical injury to David and the repercussions involving the boys -- including, I would suspect, the costs of retaining counsel in the various actions. Bravo. R

It's here. Braxton. What a maroon. R

Meanwhile, the mystery of the guy following the Carltons around grows. It seems unquestionable that he is keeping an eye on them (and rather clumsily, it appears). The question is, on behalf of whom? R

At last! It's about doggone time. R

Don’t try to hog all the glory. R

Something tells me Wim is in for a surprise. R

And Scottie's mother is evil. R

Check out The Boy and the Pig. You won't be boared. R

Angst, thy name is Scottie. R