Seamus Tripp & the Fire Opal Gate

By Jon Garett

After receiving a mysterious but tempting message from an old school chum, famed treasure hunter Seamus Tripp embarks on his most lucrative quest ever: to search out a legendary mine hidden deep in the Outback of Australia.

When Seamus, his hesitant business partner Myron Fish, sensitive nephew Gordon, and high-spirited charge Elie Doolittle arrive down under, they soon discover that there is more to the expedition than meets the eye. Miners report “strange happenings” and ranchers warn of dangerous creatures, and soon the party is confronted by a fierce tribe of Aborigine warriors bent on keeping the mine secret... at all costs!

Prepare for a journey with Seamus Tripp into the Outback and deep beyond the Fire Opal Gate, where the explorers contend against exhausting heat, hostile foes, and dreams so disturbing they risk spilling into the world and destroying the nature of reality itself!

The Adventure of Seamus Tripp & the Fire Opal Gate is a full, novella length story that can be read in any order with the rest of The Adventures of Seamus Tripp.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Garett
• Release date: Jun 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301888122

Jon Garett

Jon Garett and Richard Walsh are the creators and co-authors of The Adventures of Seamus Tripp.Jon and Richard are both Virgos, and they throw the full planning and attention-to-detail typical of the sign into the world of Seamus Tripp. The stories are woven with humor, a memorable stable of characters, recurring narrative arcs, and - of course - lots and lots of adventure.The authors have been friends and creative collaborators for more than 20 years, with much of their previous creative energy going into roleplaying games, board games, and individual projects.The world of Seamus Tripp represents an equal partnership that blends their shared interests in genre fiction, world religions and spirituality, cryptozoology, and - of course - adventure.

Book preview

Seamus Tripp & the Fire Opal Gate

By:

Jon Garett & Richard Walsh

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Jon Garett & Richard Walsh

Cover art by H Elizabeth Killmer

Cover design by Tom Vogel

Chapter One: A Package from Cyril

Fluffy snow had just started falling over Boston harbor when Elaine Doolittle settled into the bay window overlooking Charter Street to watch the holiday traffic. Her grandmum, the housekeeper of Tripp’s Imports & Antiquities, brought out a tea service on a fancy silver platter.

Do you prefer some spiced cookies, too? she asked.

Biscuits? said Elie, trying to sound more like Mister Seamus Tripp, the world-famous adventurer and co-proprietor of the store.

Yes, dear, said her grandmum. "Spiced biscuits."

That would be wonderful! She sipped at her tea and turned back to watch the pedestrians on their shopping trips. Though the shop was a bit old and drafty, and the front room full of an assortment of weird baubles and musty books, and the owners received visitors at all hours of night; Elie felt cozier here than she ever did at her parents’ big house in Washington D.C. For one thing, people actually lived here, while her parents seemed to be away three weeks of each month and Elie spent nine months each year boarding at her preparatory school on the other side of the river.

Just then, Mister Tripp strode into the front of the store from the back, trailed closely by his twelve-year old nephew, Gordon.

The Gristmill party is to be a big event, he was saying. Gordon had a notepad and was poised to write. "We will need twelve-herb sachets, about a hundred of them. You and Elie can put them together in the evenings.

"We'll need Yule candles, lots of them. Traditionally red or green but see what we’re well stocked with and ask Myron how many the invoice will bear.

What else? Ah, a great bean cake, as big as can be made. Use the baker on the next corner, it may soften him to Mrs. Doolittle’s daily haggling over the price of his white loaves... Seamus continued on this way for quite some time. Gordon scribbled each item down. This took several more minutes. Finally, when he had finished: How many do we have?

Seventeen, said Gordon.

Egads! We’ll need to get cracking, and soon, to prepare this in time. Here, hand me that list. Gordon handed the list over, which Seamus read quickly. "Fine work on your penmanship, though in Gaelic goodwill should be hyphenated. A few of these items may be a little difficult to come by in Boston. Myron and I will be unable to help with any household duties for the next several days."

And he strode back out of the room, leaving Gordon standing awkwardly behind the parlor’s large bar, which they used as a counter for greeting visitors.

Elie turned back to look out the window before Gordon could make eye contact with her. The boy was nice enough but he was often excruciatingly nervous, always fidgeting with his round eyeglasses or shuffling around with his hands stuffed in his wool jacket’s pockets.

Her grandmum had come and gone with a small plate of the spiced cookies… biscuits… and was now instructing Gordon on which nook of the front room required dusting. He picked up a feather duster and a cloth and made his way to a tall cabinet of curios, which he moved one-by-one to dust under and around.

Elie picked up a biscuit and turned back to watch the snow fall.

Gordon Tripp began to dust the cabinet of miscellany that stood against the far wall of the front room, across from the grand staircase and the bookshelves.

He dusted this cabinet daily, always under Mrs. Doolittle’s instructions. He assumed she was so intent on this one in particular because it housed the shop’s most inoffensive collection of offerings. He started on the lowest shelf, the one with several Christian items: a wrought-iron Celtic cross; a set of detailed miniature stone statues of La Familia Sagrada, imported directly from a tiny pueblo on the Mexican sierra; and an old hymnal, purportedly inscribed by Charles Wesley himself.

He picked his way through the merchandise, taking care to dust each item and the shelving under it. Myron Fish, the business partner of his Uncle Seamus and co-owner of the shop, always reminded Gordon of how expensive the products were. Though he had never broken one, he knew that such a slip would severely injure his cachet with the two men, and Gordon’s primary motive in all of his work around the shop was to stay in the men’s good graces.

For they were often departing on journeys that took them around the world in search of business opportunities but often resulted in unexpected adventures as well. Gordon desperately wanted to accompany them on these trips, though he was rarely allowed, and so he worked very hard around the shop to prove himself a reliable, dependable companion.

He chanced to glance over at Mrs. Doolittle’s granddaughter, Elie, who was sitting up on the cushioned seat of the bay window, eating cookies and drinking tea and watching the people walk by outside. She hardly did anything around the shop at all, yet Mister Myron and Uncle Seamus always asked her along on their trips whenever they could. Seamus always cited the truism that a young woman would lend legitimacy to a gang of otherwise scruffy-looking adventurers, though Gordon was not sure that had ever proved to be true in any of their trips.

Despite this injustice, Gordon found he could not be angry with her. Surely, if he were in the same situation, he would do the same. He did not like the dusty work, or even