Words on a Feather

By L. Rigdon

With his reputation on the line, Victorian scientist, Dr. Thaddeus Cornfellow, hastily purchases a magical feather from the black market to prove his scientific theories to the Rupt Royal Society. Unbeknownst to Cornfellow, the feather contains a secret about an ancient cover-up. If the truth were exposed, the already hostile political parties would push for war. Cornfellow's mentor and dear friend, Dr. Ruth Murray, (also known as Scarlet Stitch of the Weave Wearers), offers Cornfellow the chance to both save his reputation and save the world from war. All he has to do is find the origin place of the feather.

Unfortunately, Cornfellow is not the only one looking for this hidden location. Black marketeers, a secret society, and an ignoble nobleman all stand in Cornfellow's way. The players in this race will have to out-think one another as they decipher clues that lead to another dimension. Cornfellow and his colleagues will have to push themselves to new levels if they hope to gain the ultimate prize and unlock the secrets of the feather.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L. Rigdon
• Release date: Mar 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370352326

L. Rigdon

Working out of my home office in Beaverton, OR, I have been an academic and professional writer since 2007. I earned my bachelor's degree from California State University, Stanislaus and graduated magna cum laude in 2008. At CSUS, I majored in English and minored in journalism. In 2013 I finished my master’s degree in literature and graduated with distinction. My graduate areas of focus included medieval literature, Renaissance Literature, gender theory, discourse theory, spatiality, psychoanalytical criticism, and semiotics.Currently, I split my time between contract work and my own works of fiction.Besides writing, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, baking, reading, playing games, crafting, streaming shows, and singing.

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Words on a Feather

Copyright 2017 L. Rigdon

Published by L. Rigdon at Smashwords

Cover Art by Patrick Kelley

Cover Lettering and Format by James Courtney

Edited by Jonathan Paul Bard Glasscock

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Current works written by L. Rigdon

Rupt World Stories Volume 1: Monsters Are Real

Rupt World Stories Volume 2: Monsters Can Help

Rupt World Stories Volume 3: Real Monsters Hide

Words on a Feather

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Dedication

To my dad, Bill – You always had the best stories to tell me.

I miss hearing them.

I miss you.

Table of Contents

Current works written by L. Rigdon

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Personal Message to My Rupt World Fans

Chapter 1

Friday, October 14, 1864

At last! At long, long last! I found it. Me – Thaddeus Leroy Cornfellow. Those fools at the Royal Society may have laughed at me before, but now I have irrefutable proof! I possess the Feather of Knowledge, (this name is only temporary, of course. When I publish my findings, I’ll have decided upon a far more magnificent title).

I have searched for this feather for over thirty years now. In my younger days, I sailed with Mr. Darwin on his long voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, but the feather alluded me at every turn. I traveled with various scholars and treasure hunters throughout Egypt, but all I uncovered was more sand and a further dislike of the French. Granted, I have met some of the most brilliant minds in the world throughout my travels, and I have seen marvels indeed, but none so great as the feather itself.

When I started my search all those years ago, my eyes were still closed to the mysteries of the Rupt world. For that matter, I didn’t even understand the true glory of the feather. I only knew what other Slums knew of its mythic place in literature. While I dislike the vulgar slang term of Slum, which of course refers to those unable to see the world for what she truly is, I have yet to find a term better suited.

I remember life when I too was a blind Slum.

Back then I believed magic to be the tricks of charlatans. Now, thanks to magic-infused tools, an excavation that would have taken me months now only takes weeks or days. I actually used to believe that only humans could be intelligent. Over the past three decades, I have built strong alliances with some of the non-human Rupts on the Wilderness Plane, including two dragons who have provided me a wealth of knowledge concerning their memories of the feather’s history; unlike the dragons on the Earth Plane, the dragons of the Wilderness live for thousands of years, but since they cannot shape shift into human form, they must stay in the Wilderness for their own protection – pity, really. They are such a wonder to see when they take flight.

Oh! And traveling! To think of how I spent my Slum years traveling at a snail’s pace! I remember as a youngster traveling for days and weeks on end by carriage or by ship. Aside from my time with Darwin, I cannot remember the last time I used such slow means of transportation. Why would I choose to do so? In fact, had I not promised my services to Darwin, I don’t think I would have stayed the entire two years of his expedition. But I digress.

I travel practically everywhere by knocker these days. Knocker travel certainly made my explorations in Egypt more bearable. I brought a portable door knocker along for the trip, and every time I wanted to go back home, I simply attached the knocker to an obliging wall, said the incantation, and instantly a door appeared. I escaped many uncomfortable days of scorching desert heat through use of my knocker. Furthermore, if it had not been for knocker travel, I would never have gone to so many places in search of the feather, and I would never have acquired as much research about the feather’s origins.

But now I have it! I have the feather itself!

However, I must admit, at least to myself, that I did not acquire the feather through traditional means of exploration and excavation. A sad truth, but one I must accept.

About six weeks ago I received a letter. I had just presented my findings at the Royal Society, the Rupt Royal Society, that is, and, needless to say, I did not receive the level of support and respect I felt that my research deserved. To put it bluntly, my colleagues laughed at my presentation. They claimed my anthropological pursuits were out of fashion, especially since most of the Society were working on projects concerning engineering, electromagnetism, electricity, advanced machinery, and other technological pursuits. I acknowledge that such projects could change the way the world operates, and I have read most of my colleagues’ papers on these matters, but that is not to say that my field of study is any less important than theirs!

To continue, when I received the letter, I did not take it seriously. The writer, whose name I did not recognize, claimed he could acquire the feather by some other means, to which he did not elaborate. Honestly, I thought the letter was written by one of my colleagues as a way to deceive and embarrass me further, so I left the letter unanswered.

After two weeks from initially receiving the letter, I had forgotten it completely, so I was truly surprised by the arrival of a Mr. Bogwallow at my front door. I had my man bring Mr. Bogwallow into my study where the two of us could discuss the matter privately.

I knew from the moment I saw that slender Irishman that he was the sort of chap a man such as myself would never openly admit to being acquainted. He dressed well enough, I would say, though his clothes were simple. He wore a dull-grey tweed jacket with matching pants and an oddly large slate-grey bowler. His thick, black mutton chops were nicely trimmed, but his raven black hair made his skin all the paler. Despite his look of being a well-kept man, he had a nervous, almost paranoid disposition. The man even wore luck charms of both Slum and Rupt origins. On his lapel was a sprig of lavender entwined with ribbon and a four-leaf clover. Pinned to the left side of his bowler were copper gears welded together in the shape of a lemniscate, the mathematical symbol of infinity. By wearing this symbol, according to the acolytes of the Rupt Sight Forge religion, the wearer would possess a better perspective in life, if you believe such things. As Bogwallow sat in my study, he kept looking around the room, watching the doors and windows. His cold, grey eyes looked at every item in my study, as if he were assessing the value of each bauble. He looked at me in much the same way as we spoke.

Mr. Bogwallow and I exchanged pleasantries at first, then he offered me a letter of introduction from a fellow researcher, Dr. James Camden. I had worked with Camden in Egypt, and he and I had kept in touch via occasional correspondence. We had vastly different pursuits, yet somehow our research often crossed paths. The letter of introduction was indeed in Camden’s slanted handwriting, and in the letter he explained that he may never have located several rare antiquities without the special talents of Mr. Bogwallow. Camden mentioned one item specifically, and I remembered the stories Camden had once told me about a black-marketeer who could acquire any item in the Slum or Rupt worlds.

If I remembered Camden’s description correctly, he claimed his contact, this Bogwallow, I presumed, was known in some circles as a Profiler. At that time, I had never met a Profiler, and had only heard the title in passing, but Camden, being born Rupt, was kind enough to fill me in on the particulars. Profilers possess the fascinating ability to look at a Rupt individual and instantly know his or her abilities. Since many Rupts have extraordinary superhuman powers, one can imagine the value of a Profiler’s talents, to the right buyer, of course. According to Camden, Profilers did not often work on their own, as they have received much animosity from Rupts who disliked being exposed. As it was so uncommon for Profilers to work alone, Camden told me that he had sent inquiries concerning the history of his supposed Profiler black-marketeer. As I recall, all his inquiries came back with the same reply: Mr. Bogwallow was a fake. Nevertheless, Camden told me he offered Bogwallow a fair chance to prove himself, and he did so again and again.

And now that man, the fake Profiler, was sitting across from me in my very own study. By the way he peered through my soul, I could see how others might believe that he possessed the eye of a Profiler. The man certainly read me like a book. He knew of my scholarly pursuits and my recent public blunders. Bogwallow claimed to have read my papers, and he made several citations to prove himself to me. I must say I was taken in by his excitement and charisma, which, I imagine, was his intention. At the moment in which he was certain that he had my full attention, he reached into his satchel and removed a wrapped parcel. He undid the string, pulled back the wrappings, and revealed several daguerreotypes. He handed the lot over and asked if the images did indeed portray the item I sought.

I could hardly believe my eyes. In black, white, and shades of grey was the image of a large, broad feather with words written on it in a delicate hand. The images looked like everything my research has described. In fact, the images seemed too perfect. I questioned Bogwallow and demanded to know if these pictures were legitimate. I made the matter perfectly clear that if he had planned to betray my trust in any way, I would report him to the authorities without question. He assured me that such actions were unnecessary, and that he had gone to great lengths to find the feather. Bogwallow offered to procure the genuine feather for my examination. He then wrote a number on a piece of paper, folded the paper in half, and slid the paper across my desk toward me. As he did so, he informed me that should I decide to own the feather, here was the price for such a luxury. The number written on the folded piece of paper was for twenty-five pounds. He must have known my financial situation, and that I had access to far more money, yet he only asked for this reasonable amount instead. I chuckled politely as I told him that if he were to acquire the feather, and if it were the actual feather, I would gladly pay double.

So double is what I paid this morning.

I made sure to run the feather through thorough examinations first, of course, all of which Bogwallow allowed, most graciously, I might add. Every test I ran showed the feather to be absolutely authentic. As I gave Bogwallow his fifty pounds, I could hardly talk at a normal pace. I must have thanked him a thousand times, and I even offered him credit in my upcoming paper, to which he politely declined, but he left his card, should I need any other services.

– My man just came to the door to let me know that my examination equipment has finally arrived. I have kept most of my equipment at the university where I lecture, but I would rather conduct my research here at the house. None of my colleagues at the university know what I am up to, and I would rather keep the matter as such.

– T.L. Cornfellow

~~~~

Preliminary Research Conducted by Dr. T. L. Cornfellow

Date: October 14, 1864

Item: Feather of Knowledge*

*A temporary title, as there are far too many documented names in reference to the feather. I will choose a grander unifying title as I get closer to publishing.

Item Description: Rectangular feather. Approximately eight inches by ten inches.

Weight: Roughly one pound.

Additional Notes:

Center stem octagonal instead of cylindrical.

Extended stem structure. Refer to attached drawing. At the base of the stem, the stem branches off in three directions, almost like a trident. One part goes straight up the middle of the feather, whereas the other two parts of the stem outline the edges of the feather’s base as well as the left and right sides. The extended stem structure allows for the fine strands of feather to interweave themselves into a paper-like texture.

The woven feather strands produce a strong material that resists ripping and tearing.

Words appear on the feather depicting some sort of story. Language –possibly old French (?).

Upon examination with a magnifying glass and tweezers, the words do not appear to be painted. Paint would glue the strands together. The strands are individually colored, as if the words were naturally a part of the feather’s pigmentation process. Cause – unknown.

Translation:

I am only able to translate a few words here and there; I am far more comfortable speaking French than I am with reading or writing it.

I just sent inquiries to the university’s library. I believe there are several books and manuscripts that may help me with the translation.

I am uncertain if I will be able to have the books brought to my home, due to library policies. Therefore, I have carefully copied the words and will bring my notes to the library instead of bringing the actual feather.

If the library indeed has the books I require, I should know by no later than Monday morning, and I will continue my research at that point.

~~~~

Wednesday, October 26, 1864

Unfortunately, the library’s books have not proved as helpful as I had hoped. The translation process has been slow going, although largely due to my own stubbornness. Several librarians have offered me the names of French language scholars, but I have politely declined any assistance. My approach of a word-for-word translation has proven only minutely successful. Many of the words written on the feather are not to be found within any of the dictionaries. Scholars who have previously read these dictionaries made some useful notes in the glosses, and one note mentioned that words could be missing due to regional dialects.

I must confess that I’m more perplexed that the language written on the feather appears so modern. The bulk of my research has indicated that the feather has existed as far back as the Roman Empire, and perhaps even earlier. I surmise it is possible that there could be more than one feather, but such a unique feather must come from an equally unique creature. Therefore, it is my hypothesis that since no creature has ever been discovered with feathers such as these, the beast must be hidden or exist on another plane, and the rarity of the beast and of the feather, or feathers, must imply that only events of great significance are permitted to be written on these feathers. As I only have the one feather, and