The Haunted Traveler Vol. 1 Issue 1

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48 She did it beautifully. Slowly, very slowly she raised her blue, blue eyes and long tawny lashes, and gasped a little as she caught sight of the king. She blushed the prettiest of pale pinks. “Am I so frightening?” laughed the king. “Your majesty, I am overwhelmed,” she breathed, whereupon Fero let out a great guffaw. The king waved Fero away in annoyance, and asked the girl to tell him about herself. Tremblingly she told him of a quiet life of study, of books and music, and dreaming of being one day permitted the glory of a sight of the king. She had not thought beyond this point; this was the summit of her hopes and desires in life. Whereupon Fero laughed and clapped and cried, “She lies! She lies! The jade, the harlot! She lies - with other men, she lies! I’ve found you out, I’ve found you out!” And he grinned and gaped at the king, only for the grin to fade as he saw the stone of his majesty’s face. For a moment it could have gone either way, but then the girl’s father spoke up. “Sire, my daughter’s honour has been impugned,” he said with quiet dignity. “I beg your majesty that she be examined, that her chastity will be in no doubt, and her fair name at no risk from evil-wishers.” And he glared at Fero. The king could hardly refuse, and called the royal physician, who was in on it. He examined the girl - examined her, according to the servants, in great depth and with much giggling and many gasps of joy. He pronounced her Virgo intacta, and the king was overjoyed. “But Sire, she lies!” protested Fero at exactly the wrong moment, and was thrown in the dungeons. Later the king relented a little and sent poor Fero to live with a dull minor aristocrat and his equally dull wife, far from the Capital. Fero’s new master and mistress were as honest as they were boring, and few of the jester’s skills came into play at his
49 new abode. He juggled or tumbled or made doggerel rhymes for them sometimes, and they clapped or smiled politely, but the light went out of his eyes. There was nothing for him to satirize or expose other than the occasional drunken valet or rapacious younger son, and they were always forgiven anyway. Within a year he died, just as the king was finding out what a lying witch his sweet-faced mistress - now his queen - was. Fero’s recall to Court came a week too late. As for the aristocratic family, they flourished as only the unimaginative and dull can. They never gained enough political prominence to be in danger from any faction, never loved unwisely or too well. They plodded along stoutly through changes of monarch and government, saved from risk by a stolidity of nature verging on stupidity. Any sufficiently unimaginative peasant could have done as well. In fact the most exciting thing about them was the ghost of Fero, turning up every so often in his cap and bells to caper, laugh and make jests. When Andy bought the Hall he gave the ghost its own page on the website, careful to suggest much without promising anything. There was a photo of a model in jester’s motley, all red and yellow and shining as only polyester satin does; he looked as if he were about to tell a joke into a microphone. It drew ghost-hunters from all over the world, and for a while spooky weekends became all the rage. “Yes, it was very popular,” groaned Andy, “For a while. Until it became apparent what caused the ghost to appear. A ghost ‘expert’ would say that he was the greatest living expert on ghosts and had seen a hundred of them, and Fero would appear and laugh at him, and say that he was the first, not the hundred and first. No one wants to be mocked by a ghost. After all, how can they retaliate? And the sincere ghost fans would be horrified at the denouncing of their expert, and wonder if it meant that everything was fake, and not know what to think. But the worst occurrence was at a Halloween event. We
Page 3 and 4: The Haunted Traveler Vol. 1 Issue 1
Page 5: Featured Travelers Daniel Ayioltis
Page 9 and 10: India Hughes 7
Page 11 and 12: their inferiors. Contacting an ex-N
Page 13 and 14: about the pyramids - those heaps of
Page 15 and 16: lack robe. I wore a leg brace. Bron
Page 17 and 18: 15 On Being Haunted Irving A. Green
Page 19 and 20: of the college environment. A WASP
Page 21 and 22: “He was a bit of rouge,” she sa
Page 23 and 24: 21 ity. But evidence of the green e
Page 25 and 26: 23 voice almost a whisper. I nodded
Page 27 and 28: 25
Page 29 and 30: 27 close to here. The quayside will
Page 31 and 32: 29 there wit’ you!” “Now, the
Page 33 and 34: “And lotta bad,” added Jones.
Page 35 and 36: 33 Valhalla Patty Papageorgiou Some
Page 37 and 38: 35 Base. Luck was on my side. My ti
Page 39 and 40: 37 just crumbled into millions of l
Page 41 and 42: 39 AN EMBRACE OF THE AFTERLIFE A On
Page 43 and 44: 41 MAN: Why are you talking to me l
Page 45 and 46: I hope I’m not disappointing you.
Page 47 and 48: 45 The Fool Cathy Bryant I was surp
Page 49: 47 ued Fero spoke in perfect time w
Page 53 and 54: 51 to happen, and one of the women
Page 55 and 56: 53 A Dead Sleep Frank Morelli It’
Page 57 and 58: 55 and disappeared off his cheek. H
Page 59 and 60: 57 hair. When Devlin’s bearings c
Page 61 and 62: 59 The Drak’Krali Ian Nafziger I
Page 63 and 64: 61 the surface world; it remains pe
Page 65 and 66: 63 Both Drak’s know that the poss
Page 67 and 68: 65 hands that have stretched themse
Page 69 and 70: 67 trol, and after an uncomfortable
Page 71 and 72: 69 The Device Daniel Ayioltis Follo
Page 73 and 74: manoid, but it is not human. It jus
Page 75 and 76: 73 That spring was cruel to many fa
Page 77 and 78: 75 night air cooled her feverish sk
Page 79 and 80: 77 Flesh Color Ranylt Richildis She
Page 81 and 82: 79 her contours drabbish, the sheer
Page 83 and 84: 81 was at rest. There were only bir
Page 85 and 86: 83 him, metres away. Here is where
Page 87 and 88: 85 let dress was plum, newly piped
Page 89 and 90: 87 What was I Thinking? Mike Sheedy
Page 91 and 92: 89 “Jeez,” she said, “I’ve
Page 93 and 94: 91 Brad was standing over Grady. He
Page 95 and 96: 93 when... Hey. What are you doing?
Page 97 and 98: 95 Timmy
Page 99 and 100: Irving A. Greenfield - My work has
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99 tion books, paints and plays ten
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