The Rooster Weathervane

By John E. Rawson

Allison Myers, twelve, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Vacationing in northern Vermont with her twin brother Allen and her recently divorced mother, Priscilla, Allison, prior to a Sunday-morning church service, encountered a chilling occurrence. Walking to the church, she heard a parrot scream, Beware the rooster. The Myers were staying in a guest room at Ned Tanners farm in Bantam Hill where atop the barn was a rooster weathervane.

The Red Death had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous (Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death).


Mankind had, for some time, been destroying the environment. The skies were polluted and the ground soils heavily contaminated. Food supplies and safe drinking water was fast dwindling. The innocence and freedom of all the birds were gone. Their powerful forces convened for a critical meeting of the Avian Advisory Council, which the Grand Master, Rooster, called to order. Mankind has destroyed our lifestyle and taken away our innocence and must be punished, unless we sacrifice a young, innocent girl.

Dr. Marcus Tomson, a renowned Harvard professor of anthropology and psychiatry wished to offer Priscilla Myers a possible alternative to save her daughter. But Allison would at first be resistant as she deplored the fact Dr. Tomson was now dating her mother.

Dr. Tomson cautioned that there remained little time to act, as the Avian Advisory Council had begun to set in motion their vindictive plan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524562564

John E. Rawson

John E. Rawson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. In college, he majored in English literature and psychology. He also studied Latin, foreign languages, and many of the great philosophers and writers of the world. His other published novel is Blind Vigil. He currently lives in Florida.

Book preview

The Rooster

Weathervane

a Gothic Novel by

John E. Rawson

Copyright © 2016 by a Gothic Novel by John E. Rawson.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2016919443

ISBN:      Hardcover         978-1-5245-6258-8

                Softcover           978-1-5245-6257-1

                eBook                978-1-5245-6256-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. However, acknowledgement by the author that certain references to actual locales in Vermont were made entirely from the author’s memory of enjoyable childhood vacation experiences. All such locale references are and were intended to be most positive; reflective of the beautiful state of Vermont.

Author’s cautionary note.

This novel is not intended or recommended for reading by minors.

Strong parental guidance is highly recommended.

Interior Graphics/Art Credit to Randy Wright

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/28/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Table of Contents

PART 1 THE RED DEATH

Chapter 1 The Rationing

Chapter 2 Strange Meeting

Chapter 3 The Parrot’s Paradox

Chapter 4 Visit to Bantam Hill

Chapter 5 Morning Wake-up Call

Chapter 6 A Foreboding

Chapter 7 To the Derby Line

Chapter 8 Tanner’s Farm

PART 2 THE PARROT

Chapter 9 Ms. Brantley & Her Parrot

Chapter 10 The Call Back Home, But First a Call to Bea

Chapter 11 The Avian Advisory Council

Chapter 12 The Trip Back Home

Chapter 13 A Most Uncomfortable Discourse

PART 3 DR. MARCUS TOMSON

Chapter 14 Call to Dr. Marcus Tomson @ Harvard University

Chapter 15 Monday Meeting with Dr. Tomson

Chapter 16 Harvard University, Offices of Dr. Marcus Tomson

Chapter 17 Raven Bird and Little Yellow Bird

Chapter 18 Emergency Meeting of the Avian Advisory Council

Chapter 19 The Assassination of Dr. Tomson by Archaeopteryx

Chapter 20 Discovery and Imminent Rescue

Chapter 21 Emergency Trauma Surgery

PART 4 THE REPROACH OF ARCHAEOPTERYX

Chapter 22 Emergency Meeting of the ‘Council’

Chapter 23 The Amazing Full Recovery of Dr. Marcus Tomson

Chapter 24 Night-Time Storm

Chapter 25 Archaeopteryx and His Chosen Best

Chapter 26 Forces Brought to Bear

Chapter 27 Phone Call from Dr. Amashadian

Chapter 28 Counter Attack

Chapter 29 Archaeopteryx Returns Home

Chapter 30 The Dreaded Hearing

Chapter 31 Thawed Out

PART 5 THE PROCEDURE

Chapter 32 The Meeting with Allison

Chapter 33 Harvard Medical Center

Chapter 34 Post-Surgical Consultation

Chapter 35 Special Session – Avian Advisory Council

Chapter 36 The U.S. Armed Forces Command Center

Chapter 37 Frantic Grand Master

Chapter 38 Air Attack

Chapter 39 Private Time

Chapter 40 Three White Doves

Chapter 41 Raven Bird

Chapter 42 Return Visit

Acknowledgements

As always, I wish to acknowledge my three children: Mark, Rob, and Heather for their undying love; as well as my two step-daughters, Michelle and Chris. And my wife, Doria, for her candid attitude.

A special thank you to the following special friends: John Bradshaw, Dave Bray, Bob Grant, Mark Thompson, and Randy Wright.

As for my friend Randy Wright, hats off for yet another fantastic

job crafting the original artworks, cover and autobiography photo

that are contained in my novel. Mr. Wright may be contacted at

[e-mail].

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PART 1

THE RED DEATH

Chapter 1

The Rationing

The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. *

People everywhere were either very sick or starving to death. Masses of people lay dead in the streets - removal of the bodies was slow. At the beginning, the Government was doing little or next to nothing to reverse the pestilence. Food, as we had known it, was immensely in short supply; as was, most all medications that had depended in part on animal tissue for their production. Numerous pharmaceutical companies across the nation had closed down. Death defying medications were no longer to be found – at any price.

Something horrifying had transgressed throughout, first New England...then beyond, in rapid succession, to all the other states. The Government had been forced to place all citizens on strict rationing.

No longer was the American favorite staple of meat and mashed potatoes with gravy available. The nation, as a whole, had all been forced to become vegetarians, eggs and milk were nowhere to be found. It was truly a forced diet of only vegetables, beans, rice, etc. The rationing was extremely limited, and rationed out monthly to each household, per the Census Bureau, according to the number of residents therein. A Special Police Force - almost Gestapo in presence - would do a residence by residence monthly interrogation to insure the exact count of its occupants. One would have to let them in your home or apartment - or whatever your place of abode might be - or, you and all residents therein would summarily be arrested and taken to a newly developed and extremely large State Federal prison; of which, there were very many everywhere now. Once incarcerated, each would be damn lucky to receive a daily portion of bread, water, and rice, only. The Government would then immediately take seizure of their residence, and sell it at auction within the week, to the highest bidder. All residents were assessed and depleted accordingly of $175.00 monthly, per person, for their share of the ration; either from their bank accounts - now under Government control, or from their Social Security check, if retired.

Additionally, all grocery stores - large national chain stores as well as Ma & Pop smaller stores had been seized. The large chain stores had been converted quickly into warehouse storage places for produce and fruit, and numerous canned goods...all that was now available. The small independent stores were closed and boarded-up. An immensely enlarged and armed national guard protected all the stores from looters, and the masses of the homeless. There were tens of thousands of homeless throughout the country begging - or trying to loot - for any food possible. National food suppliers were now totally under Government control. Truckers carrying such produce were escorted by armored military vehicles to the former grocery stores; now warehouses.

Restaurants, throughout the nation, were now closed - out of business, as they had nothing to offer their patrons. Private industry had come to a screeching stop, as no human could venture outdoors for more than ten minutes without being infested with the plague. The economy was rapidly heading into the tank. The entire surviving populace had become totally dependent on the Government, which had indeed become a dictatorship.

It was truly a very cruel and hard time.

Bill and Mary Wilson, retired school teachers, living in the suburbs of Boston, waited eagerly for their monthly ration. It always faithfully arrived at precisely 9:00 AM on the first Monday of each and every month. Today, it was a bit late.

At 9:20 AM, the doorbell rang. It was a uniformed courier with a badge of the new Government, upon