Johnny Graphic and the Ghost of Doom by D.R. Martin

Author:D.R. Martin [Martin, D. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Conger Road Press via Indie Author Project
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Saturday, March 21, 1936

Zenith, Plains Republic

Johnny had spent most of the flight home snoozing away in one of the upper berths in their chartered Como Eagle—piloted by none other than Mel’s boyfriend Danny Kailolu. But Johnny made a point of being wide awake for the approach over Great Lake. He felt positively giddy, seeing the towers of downtown Zenith glittering and gleaming in the setting sun. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his big, beautiful city on a hill.

They all had a terrific reunion at the Graphic house up off Lake Highway. Mrs. Lundgren, the ghost housekeeper, wouldn’t stop hugging Johnny’s mother. She had to be gently pried away. Johnny’s father kept wandering around the house as though he’d never seen it before—delighting in all the nooks and crannies. Morbrec wondered aloud if royalty had lived in it before, the place appearing to him so large and sumptuous. Uncle Louie’s girlfriend Flo Zuckerberg was waiting there, too, happy to have her “big lug” back. And Mel and Danny spent a lot of time making goo-goo eyes at each other.

For Johnny’s part, he was just happy to have things kind of sort of back to normal.

But “normal,” it seemed, was eluding most of the world. The prime minister’s daughter had been kidnapped and hadn’t yet been found. New wars were breaking out. It even looked like a fight might erupt between the Plains Republic and the Old Dominion. There was the ominous, freakish weather that Mel, Dame Honoria, and Morbrec were tracking, the green skies here and there. And the creepiest thing of all was the rift opening between universes, hundreds of miles to the west in the Badlands.

The evening after their arrival home, Mr. and Mrs. Cargill came for dinner. Johnny’s boss brought him a stack of newspapers—not only the Clarion, but papers from other cities. On the front pages of them all were Johnny’s pictures of Mount Úlfur blowing its top.

“You did it again, my boy.” His boss beamed at him, lightly slapping him on the shoulder. “We’re all so proud of you.”

After a dinner of baked salmon with rolls and green beans and mashed potatoes, everyone repaired to the living room, where most of the grown-ups enjoyed snifters of brandy. Johnny, Nina, and Johnny’s mom made do with Mrs. Lundgren’s excellent hot cocoa. The colonel, Morbrec, and Bao stood back by the fireplace, glowing green and clearly enjoying the gathering.

“One thing you guys didn’t address in your stories,” Mr. Cargill observed, “was how Will and Lydia got abducted in the first place.” He peered at Johnny’s mom, then his dad. “Would you mind?”

Will Graphic sat back in his leather easy chair, holding the snifter between his hands. “For some time, Percy had expressed an interest in using the ether to create energy. He based his notion on an article Lydia and I wrote with Mongke Eng. It was published in The Annals of the Hausenhofer Gesellschaft.”

“Hausenhofer Gesellschaft,” Mr. Cargill repeated. “That’s your society of etheristic scholars and scientists.

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