Cupid’s Arrow

By David Peter Rosenfeld

A mystery and adventure story set far in the future on Earth, where the only people there have evolved from birds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546221876

David Peter Rosenfeld

David Peter Rosenfeld lives and works in Southern California.

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© 2017 David Peter Rosenfeld. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/26/2023

ISBN: 978-1-5462-2188-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-2187-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017919300

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

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Lady Thundercrest

Chapter 2 The Expedition

Chapter 3 The Admonition

Chapter 4 The Eagle’s Nest

Chapter 5 An Interruption

Chapter 6 Decisions

Chapter 7 A Hostage and a Reunion

Chapter 8 Meetings

Chapter 9 The Clan Rockies

Chapter 10 In the Library

Chapter 11 The Rearguard Action

Chapter 12 Over the Sea

Chapter 13 Cupid’s Arrow

The Interior Archaeological Expedition vanished without a trace in the Desolate Zone. When its leader returns alone under suspicious circumstances from the hostile side of the world, she is seized, interrogated and put on trial. What happened to the Interior Archaeological Expedition, and what will become of its leader, Lady Thundercrest? A mystery tale awaits the reader of Cupid’s Arrow.

To my mother,

Annette J. Rosenfeld

CHAPTER 1

Lady Thundercrest

Up in the Nesthouse, every perch was taken. Spectators, press agents, the Jury, counsel, and the Judge with his staff fully occupied the chamber. The Bailiff was dispatched to post numerous signs within the Great Sequoia’s foliage to inform latecomers that no room remained.

Yet there was still one perch open – in the witness box. For, notwithstanding the advice of her attorney, the defendant, Lady Thundercrest of the clan Rockies, presumed sole survivor of the Interior Archaeological Expedition, had chosen to take the stand.

It was in her own defense. And a guilty verdict could mean death.

Being an Aristocrat, Lady Thundercrest was strange to personal participation in criminal litigation. Neither as a subject nor an object of it had she had any experience. It was true that in her long life of 97 Rings, she oversaw various legal matters. There were here estate, family affairs, and social intrigues. No one in such a position as hers could avoid at least some complications of finances, squabbles with relations, or the prying of antagonistic interests.

But Lady Thundercrest always hired lawyers to take care of anything that could occlude her mode of living or threaten her freedom. Aristocrats typically had the means and connections to avoid appearances before the criminal courts. And, though in her past this had never been an issue, this first should have been no exception for her to avoid, like anyone else of her station, as Mr. Jay, her counsel, repeatedly implored.

Implacably, nevertheless, she chose to appear. In fact, she adamantly demanded it in her pleadings. And her doing so led to this rare instance of an Aristocrat being tried almost like a Commoner.

People came from far and wide, out of distant districts, to see this spectacular happening. They flew, rested, and flew again, making it a special trip. Talk abounded among all who knew, and the newspapers, as much as they could keep up with the unfolding story, sold more copies than usual with their bold, banner headlines. It had nearly the immanence of a national event throughout the broad expanse of the populous and informed Republic.

Most Aristocrats believed that their tremendous names would survive just about any scandal. Public scrutiny, always eager for a downfall of those on high, would feed rapaciously on things for a while. But, over time, and with the gradual satiation of the initial hunger for drama, memories of reversals of fortune for Aristocrats would fade. The Aristocrat names and the preceding veneration for them always endured. Indeed, for some in the public eye, infamy associated with a mishap only added to the private awe in which the typical Aristocrat was held.

However, Lady Thundercrest of the clan Rockies did not concern herself with this truism. She was above any such consideration as that. And, she was not a typical Aristocrat. Her life generally, and her recent adventures as leader of the Interior Archaeological Expedition, revealed this. Although independent of means, she spent her life and fortune actively involved in things for which Aristocrats generally had no interest. She was wealthy but took on challenges requiring enterprise and stamina, efforts which it would have been possible to pay others to undertake. This was known and respected by people at large. She did not need to make a name for herself to start with; but, had she been a Commoner in the beginning, she would have become famous as someone self-made. What remained Aristocratic about her were her choices. For she did not choose the usual things that people who either inherit substantial Seed, or suddenly come into unexpected riches, do.

She was not only refined in upbringing, manners, and bearing; she was intelligent and educated. She observed, read, listened, and conversed. Though her childhood was not open to public record, her emergence as an adult of the clan Rockies saw her distinguish herself in many ways.

Early on, she showed both an interest and an aptitude for the natural sciences, but not just the physical and biological ones. In addition to mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, she mastered philosophy, economics, and history. While not widely published as an author, she was known for her perspicacity and wisdom to the professors of the academies. Entrepreneurs of finance heard of her speculations and prognostications. The better of the politicians appreciated her understated radicalism. She traveled to meet the best of the thinkers of her age, and she invested in upstart enterprises based on novel ideas. Without ever assuming a public role of leadership in the government, her support for the legal system and the Republic’s democracy was appreciated by all who shared those views.

That was her public life. Her private life was private. No one could quite say much about her romantic side. At times haughty, but mostly self-deprecating when in the company of someone greater than she, she was both a proud and a humble Aristocrat. If not always approachable by people at large, she had a relentless tenacity to seek out and meet all in whom she found her own interest.

Strangely, however, from the point of view of those who followed the activities of Aristocrats, she rarely used personal connections to gain unfair advantages; those being only in the context of situations where she was being treated unjustly.

Still nevertheless was it puzzling that, in this case of being on trial for her life, she did not use her name and Aristocrat status to disappear behind the usual screens of privilege. Had she handled things discreetly and differently from the start, that would have been possible. But she did not hide from the public authority when it came her time to be detained, and her arrest was processed in much the ordinary way. She spent time in jail, a prisoner of the wardens. She was caught, stopped, held, interrogated, and allowed to be represented by Mr. Jay. She could later have gone free on bail, and she could have refused to answer questions. None of that was in her character. While she did not overtly seek the drama of a Common trial, she at least welcomed the opportunity to set the public record straight.

As stated in her pleas to the Court, she wished, by her appearance as the prime witness, to protect others who might be implicated with her. There were parties who might be thought to be involved in her alleged crimes. She stated as much without naming any of them. It was her intent to shield them, she said. Try as they did, the interrogators were unable to lift from her beak any mention or description of anyone else. Whether Mr. Jay had been trusted by her to hear any such details was not known.

Some commentators sneered at this, asserting it to be perverted Aristocratic vanity posturing and disguising itself as noblesse oblige. Nevertheless, by her personal appearance, she exhibited resolution to do this, her stated duty. She pleaded that she would do it by both overseeing the Prosecutor’s recitation of her given account and by rebutting his eventual interpretation of it. In short, she wished to participate on equal footing with her attorney, Mr. Jay, in the defense of herself as well as of any other potential defendants.

With her life at stake – and even with Mr. Jay insisting that it would be a bad strategy to occupy the witness box – she maintained that her presence in the Court for the Prosecutor’s telling of her testimony would increase her chance for an acquittal. She privately told Mr. Jay that her appearance could in fact operate as a two-edged sword. Agreeing that it was bound to be the cutting edge in releasing a flurry of attention given to the scandal against her, it would also thrust her virtues of dignity and integrity into the minds of the Jury. For her being cross-examined was not to be an act, a charade, a pretense. They would respect it and expect something special from her. For a clear verdict of not guilty would not only exonerate her, clear her name, and protect the others, but it would also elevate the proceedings to a higher level. The Jury would respond to her presence and rise to the occasion of being very careful to sift the facts and determine the truth. How much more telling would be their choice of a not-guilty verdict after she had appeared before them like a Commoner!

The fact that the witness box was still vacant while the Nesthouse staff and crowd waited was due to Lady Thundercrest’s physical difficulty in ascending to the Courtroom. While still Sound of Song at 97 Rings, and sharp in beak and talons, her redoubtable powers lately had been reduced.

She had lost her left wing in combat with the Black & Whites before arriving in the Republic. She was psychologically shocked by her police arrest upon returning. She had spent a stressful time incarcerated in the jail, giving testimony. That was in addition to the weakening of her constitution through the hunger and other hardships she had survived in the turmoil of the late Expedition.

And, above all, she was also keeping an Egg.

Not that she would have lacked the will to hop up to the Nesthouse. She was not the sort of lady to consider such a display of disability demeaning. She was crippled, yes, but not above making do with the best of what she had got. Nevertheless, climbing or hopping while keeping an Egg, while being unbalanced without her left wing, was deemed by Lady Thundercrest to be too risky for the safety of her not-hatched little one. This was known by all, and aroused sympathy with the people. However, no special accommodation was offered by the Court nor requested by Mr. Jay.

Her kin of the clan Rockies, from the high distant mountains, were absent to help her. Aloof as they typically held themselves from public proceedings, they characteristically chose not to involve themselves in Lady Thundercrest’s legal saga. It was meanwhile thought improper for Commoners to intervene personally, even bodily, in this odd circumstance of a disabled Aristocrat keeping an Egg.

Therefore, and accordingly, a small, one-bird nest was rented by well-wishing hopefuls who wished to see Lady Thundercrest maintained in proper distinction. The little nest was contrived to be hoisted by rope by volunteers up the height of the Great Sequoia. This makeshift operation brought unplanned delay, but the Lady with her Egg was in fact lifted to the Courtroom of the Nesthouse just in time for her trial.

It was a pleasant day, clear and calm, and dry at this temperate, northern latitude of the Republic. Good flying weather, people said. But no one present in the Nesthouse that day would have dreamed of relinquishing such a precious perch for even a quick jaunt across the forest sky.

This was far too interesting of an event. Scalpers could have made fortunes auctioning tickets to high bidders – but there were no tickets. It being a public trial, this was a free event. Except for a limited number of newspaper press seats, it was first come, first admitted. Overnight waiting across the grounds of the Great Sequoia had been discouraged but permitted.

The Judge had been first, followed by his Bailiff and the Court Reporter. Following them came the Jury, and then the Prosecutor and Mr. Jay. Soon the Commoners and the press agents found their seats. The packed audience rows were a’chirp with much anticipatory discussion and with the twitters of beaks and feathers common in such an assemblage. Expectation grew as the crowd awaited the defendant.

At last, Lady Thundercrest of the clan Rockies arrived. Her Egg was safely transported with her, protected in the small rented nest. Only she knew the lay date, but obviously her Egg had undergone a nearly complete incubation already. Rumors hinted of an imminent hatch, but no one could tell just by looking. Given her Aristocrat status, public remarks upon the special Court consideration given to the prime witness were suppressed. She was a venerable bird, very distinguished. And this Egg could be the last, as well as the first, of any potential offspring.

Now did the Nesthouse become ceremoniously silent as the Jury foreman, a middle-aged male of the clan Gull, made the symbolic Beak gesture which meant that the proceedings were to begin. The Judge, of the clan Owl, acknowledged the gesture and fluttered his colored fore-feathers in a display which was an assertion of domination. He was in charge now, having been given this power by the Jury foreman. The respected Owl settled back on his dais perch and addressed the Nesthouse Courtroom gathering.

Eggkeeps and Seeders, good afternoon. This Court sits in session of the proceedings in the present matter, The People versus Lady Thundercrest, of the clan Rockies. May you still your beaks and quiet your feathers in honor of this proceeding at law.

Thereafter continued the usual legalistic advertisements of introductions and formalities by which the Common Courts had evolved to their power and prestige in pursuit of the cause of justice. The Jury were recognized. The Judge was named. His Bailiff, Court Reporter and the counsel for both the prosecution and the defense were acknowledged. The general audience, including notable individuals present – all were identified. Only the several press agents went unnamed.

A summary of the proceedings which had gone before this afternoon followed. It had been more than a one-session trial. Both the Prosecutor and the defense counsel had questioned each other, had discoursed with the Jury, and been guided by the Judge, in open court. Most of what had gone before had already been published in several newspapers. Just about everyone was up on what was underlying the case. The undisputed facts admitted by both the prosecution and the defense so far were these:

About one Ring ago, at the start of spring, the Interior Archaeological Expedition was sent far to the east, to the Desolate Zone. It was sent to investigate some newly discovered debris. The Expedition was composed of seven members, among them its leader, Lady Thundercrest of the clan Rockies. She and her six companions were airlifted by dirigible to the Desolate Zone and furnished with three months’ supplies. It was planned for a second airlift to return within that time, to replenish the Expedition