A Tea and Brandy Gig: A Rucksack Universe Story

By Anthony St. Clair

The trouble is, kindness is trouble.

Disgraced. Jobless. Kicked out of the butler’s guild. Pennyton believed he had done the right thing. The kind thing. Look where that got him. Yet when he answers a surprise knock on his door, Pennyton finds himself where he least expected: on a one-night gig driving a carriage for a rich journalist who paid in full and up front.

Trouble is, now Pennyton sits on his freezing arse. In the dark. On a hard carriage seat behind impatient horses. Waiting for hours at the mouth of a dark alley full of bad news. Waiting. And waiting...

Then a terrible sound tells Pennyton that trouble just found him again.

If you love a down-on-their-luck hero with a good twist, then get ready to curl up with your favorite beverage and “A Tea and Brandy Gig.”

The Rucksack Universe series combines alternate history, speculative fiction, myth, adventure, globetrotting, and intrigue—all with well-poured pints of beer. Library Journal says Anthony St. Clair’s storytelling has “universe building reminiscent of Terry Pratchett,” and readers say they love the Rucksack Universe’s unique combination of “quirk, wit, travel, and magic.”

Praise for Anthony St. Clair and the Rucksack Universe

“Left me completely gobsmacked. Great concept, fun characters, and beautiful writing... High-stakes story, told with wit and compassion.” – Nth Degree

“Brings the reader into the story and holds them there with every sight, smell, sound, and feeling.... St. Clair is now one of my favorite authors and I truly cannot wait to read more.” – Online Book Club

“Fans of travel, fantasy, and beer will circle around this story... with universe building reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, St. Clair's tale will make readers reconsider fate.” – Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal's Self-Published Ebook Awards

What Readers Say

“Cheeky and sophisticated.”

“Pulls you in fast and keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

“A page turner for sure.”

“Fascinating new universe.”

“Modern fantasy writing with very real characters and situations.”

“Anthony seamlessly combines quirk, wit, travel, and magic.”

“Grabs your attention and doesn't let go.”

“Entertaining fantasy full of twists and turns.”

“Beautiful prose.”

“Delightful and artful adventure into an intriguing world.”

“Sharp writing and dialogue.”

“A variety of amazing characters that have been masterfully brought to literary life.”

“Beautiful prose, smart humor and a slanted take on reality.”

“Anticipation of what's to happen next kept me turning the pages.”

“A delightful read, especially for those who love to travel—even if only in their armchairs.”

“Intriguing, magical underbelly!”

“Easy to slip into the myths of the situations and places.”

“An amazing sense of the epic.”

“Goes down smooth and leaves the reader poised for another round.”

“Armchair Travel!”

“Just when you think you have it all figured out there is a twist that keeps you guessing.”

“The story telling is exquisite and makes it hard to put the book down.”

“This is not Douglas or Pratchett, this is St. Clair!”

“An abundance of love, light, and wonder.”

“Left me wanting more!”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anthony St. Clair
• Release date: Dec 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781940119540

Anthony St. Clair

Anthony St. Clair creates compelling fiction and non-fiction for a curious world full of everyday discoveries, endeavors, and surprises. He is the author of the ongoing Rucksack Universe series; covers craft beer, food, business, and more for various publications; and is a copywriter and content manager for select clients. When not at his desk or in his kitchen in Oregon, Anthony is on an adventure with his wife, son, and daughter.

Book preview

A Tea and Brandy Gig

A Tea and Brandy Gig

A Rucksack Universe Story

Anthony St. Clair

Rucksack Press

Contents

1. The Stupid Kindness

2. What He Saw in the Journalist’s Eyes

3. Pennyton’s Test

Thank You for Reading

Become a Wanderer

Also by Anthony St. Clair

Acknowledgments

Special Features

Sneak Peek

About the Author

Kindness is weakness, and only the weak try to persuade otherwise.

—Guru Deep, Travels Through the Third Eye

1

The Stupid Kindness

The sun’s final gleam was still settling over another evening in half-built London, but thick clouds were rolling in. The full moon would be in hiding tonight. The dented kettle had begun to hum, but Pennyton waited for it to sing and kept looking out the second-floor flat’s little kitchen window, all the while ignoring the fear in his blue eyes and the evening-light halo of his short blond hair.

Drawing his threadbare blue robe tighter, he tried not to think about the kindness. The stupid kindness. Ever since childhood he’d tried to be kind, but people always thought his kindness was weakness. Sure, the kindness had seemed right at the time—but now it had gotten him chucked out of the Butlering Guild. It had been bad enough that he was only a substitute butler at this point, but now he’d never again be on the path to a steady career. The guild’s letter still sat on the table near Pennyton’s brown stuffed chair, all but smoldering with the perfect calligraphy of the arse-chewing inside, rendered so politely, as if Pennyton were being whipped with a leather belt wrapped in the world’s finest silk.

Kicked out or not, Pennyton understood how the guild felt. He knew what he’d done, and he knew he didn’t have to have done it. Pennyton shook his head. Bugger that. Of course he had to do it. When someone needed a kindness, you gave it to them. That was a law beyond society or even human nature; it was a law of existence—perhaps the law that kept the whole damn universe from flying apart into ash and disintegration.

Still. The kindness was done and so was he. Maybe Pennyton would find work again. Maybe he wouldn’t. Substitute butlering wasn’t going to work out after all. He’d hoped it would lead to something bigger. A temp gig that flowed into something permanent. A lot of the bigwig butlers got their start that way, butlers at manors all over the land. Down in Calais, there was also… Pennyton couldn’t remember his name. The guy was ancient now, the butler to BS Trotter, the world-roving, truth-revealing journalist. That butler was a