Scrabbletales is a new game invented by Mogmother and Optimist on the Run on 19/11/2017. It works like this...
Play a game of Scrabble (proper rules or not...) Record all the words used. Use all the words in a short story.
Mogmother then wondered what to do with her stories once she’d got them... Puzzle caches, of course!
Having created the Boy Named Q series in Shropshire, Mogmother then went on to write another series.
The cache is not at the above co-ordinates. There is parking near the cache location, which is at:
N 52 (GEN7V17, GEN9V19; (JUD10V3 x JUD12V11) + JUD16V7) W002 (2KIN24V1; 2CHRON9V13 + 2CHRON29V21)
( Scores for: Bond's first name +1, word for a mythical creature, word meaning since; manservant's forename, word meaning gum, word for grooming tool + word for blue colour, name of M's female secretary, 1, word meaning dimensions, word for unhappy sound -1, word meaning flinch or shudder, name of Mac's girlfriend -3.)
[where ‘word’ is mentioned, this refers to words from the original Scrabble game, not extra ones added to make up the story. However, some of the names were too useful to leave out...! Ignore the possibility of Double Word Scores and Triple Letter Scores etcetera: just add up the letters.]
(words: vase, prism, groan, vibes, heeds, how, envied, comb, linnet, vasty, relic, size, exit, jar, quail, tenet, glue, jog, wrap, rowan, gulf, ago, hydra, diets, cyan, dank, yobs, infer, melt, mu, our (t))
Chapter 23
‘GOOD thing you got some practice at driving.’ James commented. ‘Calais could be interesting, though…’
‘Eurostar freight shuttle? But it depends how far it’s backed up… and Mac’s not getting any better.’ Hammurabi grimaced. ‘I think we might need help, just with getting across the channel… Air ambulance sort of thing. D’you want to ring ‘em?’
‘Okay.’ James reached for the striped phone… ‘There’s a text- How did he know about her?- She’s gone to a friend’s, there’s a man waiting outside her apartment and a car just down the road, has Mac upset anyone recently.’
‘Goldilocks is a hydra? Ring her back and tell her we’ll get someone out there ASAP. Better check on the Deneuves too…’
James dialled, exchanged passwords, had a brief conversation, then spoke to Frederique. He rang off and looked at Hammurabi.
‘When you were packing, did you find eight playing cards anywhere? Queens? They wouldn’t be with the rest…’
‘That was what the burglar took, then. And the other code-book…’ Hammurabi leaned hard on the horn as a motorcyclist cut in ahead of them. ‘Deathlover! If he does that again, he’ll get laminated. Paperwork or no paperwork…’
‘You did well to miss him. Did you guess you’d have to drive back?’
‘Thought I might have to drive us out of their compound.’ Hammurabi was coming up behind a yogurt-tanker. ‘In whatever was there, taking the gates with me… That bike’s keeping station with us. Swiss plates, and he’s wearing Zenith blue… How d’you suggest I lose him?’
‘Leave it to me.’ James grinned. ‘It’s dual-carriageway here: drop back a bit so there’s no one behind us, laminating him shouldn’t be necessary… That’s it. Stay in the outside lane and hold your speed-‘
He opened the window and emptied the bag of toffees and papers. ‘Got’ im! –And at least one’s stuck to his visor- he’s pulling over- Okay, floor it-‘
Hammurabi overtook the tanker. ‘Thanks, mate. Where are we headed? –Okay. You’ll have to direct me… Queens? Only the queens? So that’s- Frederique, and Louise-Jeanne, and Freya, and Mrs. O.- oh ‘eck: there’s Darya Mackenzie, too … You got any significant others? Is that bloke’s daughter still around?-‘
‘Madeleine? She’s nursing in Syria. But there’s Moneypenny, and… What about your mother?’
‘I’m not,’ Hammurabi said grimly, changing lanes towards their exit, ‘particularly worried about the relic… I mean, the relict. Or the phone call I got before you came back, from Freya, saying she’d had a request from work to transfer three K out of our savings account into one I’d just set up in Switzerland, was this genuine…’
‘What did she do?’
‘Told ‘em they’d have to fund it themselves, we needed that for vet’s bills and if it was over here it’d be work…’ He grinned. ‘But it’s all stress… Sure you spoke to the right lot in London?’
‘”Always with the negative vibes-“‘ James grinned.‘ Yes, I made sure of that this time.’
‘Waves. Negative waves… Good idea to tell her it was cyan ink Mac had on his hands. We need to find out how badly he’s hurt; how was he when you found him?’
‘He was okay. Breaking up concrete with a crowbar for a while. And then I punched him in the eye…’ James sighed. ‘Not even had a groan out of him for the last fifty miles, and he’s shivering: I’ve tried to wrap him up a bit more…’
‘Mackenzies are tough.’ Hammurabi frowned. ‘Limericks when he was being questioned… I wonder if he gave them the curate’s cat who could only say Mu? There might be a bug in here, or a tracker: that’s what I’d do. He’s obviously got access to the PRISM program or something similar… We’d better stop talking.’
They transferred to a British helicopter at Évreux, leaving the truck in the care of the French; how to explain that to the transport company was, James thought gratefully, not his problem. To his amusement Hammurabi saw the Chinook and put his ears back.
‘You were okay with that KA-56 you adapted; what’s the problem?’ James enquired.
The younger man pulled a face. ‘The size… I quail at the idea of getting shot down in something. Something you can’t get out of… I wasn’t too happy about flying to Geneva, either.’
‘You keep an eye on Mac while we’re aboard.’ James suggested, accepting a helmet. ‘Occupy your mind… Can I infer from your conversation earlier that you’ve got a plan? To deal with your- woodworm?’
Hammurabi nodded. ‘Think Sherlock Holmes…’
‘No, it’s no good.’ James shouted. The racket was enough to melt earwax. ‘I can’t think of any Sherlock Holmes stories about woodworm.’
‘Builder was the clue. The Norwood Builder.’ Hammurabi yelled back. He had his finger on Mac’s pulse. ‘ –Holmes suspects the bloke’s hiding in a house he built for himself, so they set light to stuff and shout “fire!”, and bag him as he pops out of the secret room… Good thing I brought that mobile: we’ve had a text… Oh ‘eck, I need to answer this: what’s the reference…?’
He got out his own phone and searched for a few seconds. ‘Bloodthirsty blighter. I hope he heeds it…’ He held out Mac’s phone.
James read the message with disbelief. PS88V12.
‘The answer was ‘ROM3V8.’ Hammurabi grinned. ‘Which is the answer Jeremiah mostly gets. From me, at least… Oh, it’s a psalm. Reading between the lines, it says, shall I decoy him into the other passage and shove him down the oubliette? I said no…There’s a massive gulf between his version of acceptable behaviour and mine; I’m sure I disappoint him… Are we nearly there yet? We must’ve crossed the coast ages ago-‘
‘Spadeadam.’ James shouted. ‘Closer.’
Hammurabi nodded. ‘They’d better have medical facilities…’
‘Sent “The flock of linnets has migrated.”.’ Hammurabi grinned at him as they crossed Hadrian’s Wall. They had been lent a car (and a comb). ’Along with “Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas” in case it is being intercepted, but I hope Alex’s had the sense to activate the jammer at the Grange… They’ll be able to receive it in Lykethorpe.’
‘What does that Latin mean? In context?’
‘Nothing. Psychology… Like when Glendower says “I can call spirits from the vasty deep” and Hotspur says, “And so can I, and so can any man, but will they come when you do call for them?” It’s… like notches on your gun barrel or a jar with eyeballs in it; psychology. Like the vase on the windowsill in that medical room: see, we are human… I hope Mac’s going to be okay. I shouldn’t’ve got him into this, but he’s always envied me so much for having an interesting job…’
‘They said he would be.’ James tried to sound reassuring. ‘They’ll glue him back together…And she said we looked like a right lot of yobs and needed better diets-!’
‘They have to say that, though. Like I always tell people to bring stuff back intact…’ Hammurabi yawned. ‘Just thought: we won’t get across the cattle grid in this, and if we swap it for our Landrover Freya’ll want to come with us… Could you jog?’
‘I hate you sometimes… Haven’t you got a set of cloned plates hidden somewhere for this sort of occasion?’ James demanded.
‘Then anyone could get in with cloned plates. It goes on vehicle recognition too, which is manual, so that’s probably not working at present.’ He yawned again. ‘I wonder what Geneva made of that memory-stick I took in? I wish I’d been a fly on the wall when they found it was a recording of a Pilates class ! I still can’t get the breathing right for the exercises without prompting…’
‘Grab some kip.’ James advised. ‘I’ll wake you when we get to the village.’
They made their way through the fields towards the Grange in the dark. Most of the snow had melted and it was damp underfoot. A clump of trees loomed up.
‘Dank smell… Water?’ James whispered.
‘Yes, just a pond. Good place for birds, with the rowan berries… -Get down! There’s a light over there. A torch.’
He began to whistle an unfamiliar tune. It was answered by another, more familiar.
‘”Gerontius”.’ Hammurabi whispered. ‘That’s Jeremiah: mine’s “St. Oswald” which was Dad’s... For some reason no-one’s ever written a hymn tune called “Quentin”- or “Hammurabi”! Come on. Let’s find out what’s happening.’
FTF PickNMix FTF