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    The Case of the Misplaced Hero
    The Case of the Misplaced Hero
    The Case of the Misplaced Hero
    Ebook149 pages1 hour

    The Case of the Misplaced Hero

    By Camille LaGuire

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    About this ebook

    The Case of the Misplaced Hero was originally written as a twice-a-week serial for the Daring Novelist blog. Here is the whole story collected into one novella-length volume -- 42 episodes, plus the teaser episode that leads into the next story.

    When Alex was a child his eccentric aunt gave him a ring and told him that one day he should go jump in a lake. He never knew what to make of that, and never tried doing it, until one day at college, he tries to rescue his drunken professor from falling in a river. They both plunge in... and come up in a very different river, in a land that reminds Alex very much of the stories his aunt used to tell: a world like old adventure books and silent movie serials. It's a dream come true, except that his drunken old professor gets himself lost and arrested. Alex must find and rescue him, and return him home, before the old fool gets shot as a spy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCamille LaGuire
    Release dateOct 31, 2012
    ISBN9781301736164
    The Case of the Misplaced Hero

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      Book preview

      The Case of the Misplaced Hero - Camille LaGuire

      The Case of the Misplaced Hero

      Season 1 of The Perils of Plink series

      A Collected Serial from The Daring Novelist Blog

      by Camille LaGuire

      * * *

      Second Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2012 Camille LaGuire

      = * * * =

      Table of Contents

      Forward

      Chapter 1 - Aunt Flavia Jumps In the Lake

      Chapter 2 - Flavia’s Gift

      Chapter 3 - The Invisible Man

      Chapter 4 - The Outrage of Old Thorny

      Chapter 5 - The Wrong River

      Chapter 6 - No, Seriously, Not The Right River

      Chapter 7 - Welcome to Awarshawa

      Chapter 8 - Alex Gives Chase

      Chapter 9 - The District Facilitator

      Chapter 10 - Dr. Artemus M. Thornton, Professor of… Something or Other

      Chapter 11 - Alex Takes the Direct Route

      Chapter 12 - Scouting Headquarters

      Chapter 13 - Inciting the One Percent

      Chapter 14 - Rozinshura is Disappointed

      Chapter 15 - But Not a Professional Spy

      Chapter 16 - The Flash Mob

      Chapter 17 - Alex Finds a Sock

      Chapter 18 - The Hospitality Committee

      Chapter 19 - The Importance of Sandwiches

      Chapter 20 - Not There To Save

      Chapter 21 - The Coup in the Kitchen

      Chapter 22 - Alex Plots a Counter Coup

      Chapter 23 - Lady Featherdale Gives Evidence

      Chapter 24 - Action In The Alcove

      Chapter 25 - The Chase

      Chapter 26 - Pookiterin In The Corner

      Chapter 27 - Which Side Are You On, Kinchin?

      Chapter 28 - The Girl With The Sword

      Chapter 29 - Thorny Revealed

      Chapter 30 - Lina’s Story

      Chapter 31 - There Once Was a Man From Michigan

      Chapter 32 - The Locked Larder Committee

      Chapter 33 - Face to Face

      Chapter 34 - The Cussar Sword

      Chapter 35 - The High Commissar Arrives

      Chapter 36 - Finding Thorny

      Chapter 37 - Run For The River

      Chapter 38 - Sword to Sword

      Chapter 39 - Rozinshura vs. The Plot

      Chapter 40 - The Skin of His Teeth

      Chapter 41 - Is It Murder?

      Chapter 42 - The Mentor

      Epilogue and Teaser - And What About Lina?

      = * * * =

      back to Table of Contents

      Forward

      This story was first published as a twice-weekly serial on The Daring Novelist blog. Part of the challenge I set myself was to write super-short episodes, quick to read like a comic strip. As a result I often had to squeeze scenes or cut myself short. For the most part, this book is as the story originally appeared, but I have expanded and edited a few things, simply because I could.

      = * * * =

      back to Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 - Aunt Flavia Jumps In the Lake

      * * *

      ALEX BEGAN LIFE only twenty-three years ago, in Michigan. He was the son of wealthy parents, who were always a bit mysterious and distracted. They died before he was old enough for them to explain anything to him.

      They left him in the hands of lawyers, who took care of his estate, which was large, and mostly pretty boring. He would have much rather have been left in the custody of his Great Aunt Flavia, but apparently his parents, or their lawyers, had been concerned that she would be a bad influence.

      And they were right. She was a bad influence – and she managed to influence him very well, in spite of the lawyers. She was all the family he had, so they could hardly keep her away. He got to spend summers and holidays with her.

      And she was anything but boring.

      Aunt Flavia lived in a world of her own, a world full of imagination. When he came to visit, they would play at pirates all summer long; and at spies and castles and swordplay at every week end. He learned to ride horses, and became a passable swordsman.

      His aunt had even made up a secret language she called Awarshi, which they spoke to one another all the time, like a secret code, even in public. This much annoyed the trustees who acted as Alex’s financial guardians.

      * * *

      ONE SUMMER ALEX and Flavia were out boating on Lake Michigan, when a wind came up, and she fell overboard. It happened so fast Alex didn’t even hear the splash. She was simply gone. Alex was frantic. He circled, and called for help.

      The authorities and local fishermen searched for hours and found no sign of her.

      She turned up on the beach that evening, weak and suffering from exposure. She had a gash on her side, and bruises on her wrists.

      The injuries looked suspicious to the police, especially since she was vague on how she got them. That is, she was vague at first. Then she realized that the police thought Alex had attacked her and thrown her overboard. She bristled at the very idea:

      That’s nonsense! she said, energy flooding back into her whole body. I fell in, and was sucked under, that’s all. There must have been an unusual undertow.

      An undertow that grabbed you by the wrists? asked the policeman.

      Don’t interrupt, she said, and she fixed him with a look that made him look away for doubting her. When I came up, the boat was no longer in sight. I could see the beach, so I swam for it. But I’m an old woman, and not strong, so I suppose I mostly drifted. I very nearly didn’t make it, so don’t question me like a criminal.

      No, ma’am, of course not –

      There was a pontoon or a raft a little way from shore, she continued, with another sharp look at the cop to silence him. I tried to climb up onto it, but I lost my grip. That’s when I hurt my side. So then I just held on and rested until I was strong enough to stay afloat and let the waves push me to the beach.

      The policeman looked doubtfully at the bruises on her wrists, but she pulled her hands away and crossed her arms.

      When I tried to climb up on the pontoon, I wrapped a rope around my wrist to get a better grip.

      She could not be shaken from her story, and no one wanted to badger a sick old woman, so they let her go home.

      Alex rode with her as the police drove them home. Her energy faded then, and she closed her eyes, almost dead, he thought. He took her arm and cried.

      I tried to save you but I couldn’t, he whispered in their secret language, so the police wouldn’t know.

      She smiled and squeezed his hand. It wasn’t a job for you.

      It was, he said. I was the only one there. That’s what you’ve always said about a hero, right? He’s the person who’s there.

      Kinchura, she said, which was her word for dearest. "I wasn’t there to save, so it wasn’t your job. Quiet for a little now. I’m too tired. I must rest. I have something to give you. Later."

      * * *

      back to Table of Contents

      Episode 2 - Flavia’s Gift

      * * *

      THAT NIGHT ALEX fell into a fitful sleep, filled with nightmares of wind and water. He tossed and turned and in the worst his dreams, a hand grabbed his arm. He pulled away and sat up, half-awake.

      Aunt Flavia was standing by his bed, gently shaking him by the arm.

      I’m all right, she said. I’m safe. Are you all right?

      Alex rubbed his eyes and tried to wake up. This itself was like a dream, Aunt Flavia standing over him in the moonlight like an apparition.

      I have something to tell you, she said. And something to give you.

      She sat on the edge of his bed and played with the ring on her finger, and didn’t speak again for a moment.

      Alex, I want you to always remember the games we play, she said at last. And the movies we watch and the books we read. Don’t ever let something like what happened today make you think they are silly, or useless. When you grow up and see how muted and barren this world is, you may think there is nothing really great or true or wonderful.

      She paused and looked down at her hand, and then, suddenly, she looked up again, straight at him.

      But you would be wrong! she said passionately. I tell you great things exist!

      I know, said Alex.

      "You won’t always know. This world is so persistently cynical, that it will rub the belief right off of you. They make great things like heroes seem ordinary. They make them invisible. It’s like Zorro when he’s Don Diego. When he is a student in Spain, he’s nobody. He’s just a rich kid who nobody thinks about. Even he doesn’t. But that’s because he’s misplaced. The hero inside is invisible until he finds his place and sees what he must do."

      I tried to save you….

      "Alex, that wasn’t a job for you. You haven’t found your place yet. But you will. Someday. Don’t judge by one event, Alex. When something bad happens, you might do something right, or you might do something wrong. That is true of anyone, even heroes. But when you find your place, it will be something more. I know it. And when you do, it won’t be through fear or doubt. You’ll find your place because you got so sick and tired of this world and its dull reality. It will make you want to go jump in the lake."

      She pulled the ring from her finger, and pressed it into his hand. It was gold and glinted in the dim light. Alex couldn’t see it well, but he’d seen it so many times as they’d played. It was fat and plain, except for some etching and two tiny rubies, like

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