karohemd | The Adventures of Rupert Bulmer, Esq. - Chapter 2

Previously

The next chapter in

robinbloke's campaign in which

vyvyan now plays the former NPC Nicolas.

After leaving in a hurry until the area of the Black Mountain lay over a day's travel behind us, we slowed down to a more casual pace and concentrated on some big game hunting. Fueled by the relief of having left the horrors behind, Lady Luck was with me and I managed to bag two elephants, magnificent tusks included. Back in Mombasa, we arranged for Prof. Carter's remains to be cremated as an urn would be easier to transport than a coffin (having acquired consent from his estate by wire beforehand).
There was also a telegram waiting for me. It was from William, wishing us luck on our trip and inviting us for celebrations if successful. Happily I wired back that we had indeed been successful and were looking forward to enjoying his hospitality once more.

The boat trip back to Southampton was uneventful so we spent the time recovering and relaxing. It was the 11th of May when we arrived on the Isle of Wight.
Coming up to his estate, we noticed a few changes, including an impressive array of hedge animals. William welcomed us with open arms and looked really well. Over a cup of tea and a snifter of brandy he told us that on the night of the final confrontation under the Black Mountain he had dreamt about a tremendous thunderstorm above a mountain but had slept like a baby since then.
Dinner was served by William's rather sullen looking new butler Nathaniel as the previous one, stout chap he had been, had apparently had to leave because of family matters and not quite being able to cope with the events during our last visit.
After dinner, we told William about what had happened in Africa and he was well impressed, also with the elephant tusk I had brought as a gift. Then we discussed our future plans which involved Nicolas telling his story:
In his hometown of Plattsburgh a new "church" had been set up, led by a mysterious stranger called Nicoli Ruiz. This cult (as Nicolas preferred to call it) quickly gained followers despite its odd teachings of ancient angels walking the Earth who had been the true masters and such nonsense. Much to his dismay, Nicolas' wife was quite taken with it and attended many sermons and even sometimes dragged Nicolas along. The worst of all was the one at Christmas where a live sacrifice was made. However, Nicolas wasn't perfectly sure what, he thought it could have been a person... He'd also seen writing resembling that in the books and documents we had found, which was the reason why he'd been in Paris where we met him.

William was faster than us and had deducted from my wire that we would need transport to America so had very kindly booked us all first class passage on the fine RMS Mauretania from Southampton to New York the following week. This was obviously even more reason for celebrations so we found sleep only in the early hours of the morning but this time for altogether better reasons.

The next few days were spent preparing for the trip: a new wardrobe was in order and I needed to check up on my friends at the club and my London apartments, the others were looking after their own concerns and we all attended a memorial service for Professor Carter.

Then the big day came along and we joined the crowds gathered at Southampton Harbour. The luxury steamer was an amazing sight: 790ft long, 88ft beam, 32,000 tonnes, 4 chimney stacks and decked out in the latest fashion with all modern conveniences.

As we patiently waited in the line to board, an extravagantly dressed gentleman accompanied by a band of six brutes (all looking Eastern European to me) charged past to the front of the queue and was waved urgently on board. How very rude! The rest of the passengers behaved in a much more civilised manner.
The ship was truly magnificent. After locating my cabin, and then watching the ship set off under full steam from the upper deck, I had a wander and perused the various bars, dining rooms, casinos and other facilities.
Randomly, I ran into Gerald Moat, a well-known gambler who I had played on a few occasions and who was also joining us at our dining table. Further on our table (other than the divine food) there were also Ian Haddock, actually one of the main engineers of the RMS Mauretania, and his wife who were on their honeymoon. Mr. Haddock and Silas quickly found a liking to each other as they were talking about engines and other pieces of technology so we left them to it and looked for a game or two and later had a bit of a knees up at one of the dance halls which provided a good end to the first day on this marvellous vessel.

Before I forget, we also found out the name of the extravagantly dressed Eastern European gentleman: Count Kurosov, always surrounded by his goons, sitting either in his own cordoned off area or dining at the Captain's Table. I shall make it my mission to find out who he is.