Questionable Results by R A Wallace

Author:R A Wallace
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-06-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Otis watched Wesley frown at the morning newspaper. “What is it?”

“Is it my imagination, or has this thing gotten smaller?” Wes held aloft the section in his hand.

Otis waved his own section. “It’s part of the directives for conservation.”

“They believe giving us less news will save on resources?” Wes lowered his paper and reached for his coffee cup. It was empty. He glanced over at Otis.

Otis smiled wryly. “Refill?”

“I’ll get it.” Wes pushed himself up. “Appears I’ll have plenty of time to serve us both with a newspaper that grows increasingly small.”

“There is still news a plenty,” Otis said as Wesley took his empty cup. He opened his section to a new page and frowned at the headlines. “There’s a mention here of the parade.”

“Which parade?” Wes filled Otis’s cup.

“The women’s Liberty Loan committee. They’re having a parade to honor the soldiers.”

“Very commendable.” Wes set Otis’s cup next to him.

“I don’t think your sister should attend.”

Wes made a noise of agreement as he returned to the sideboard.

“You’ll talk to her about it then?” Otis watched as Wes shot him a look across the room. “She shouldn’t go,” he repeated. “It won’t be safe.”

Wes left his coffee cup at his seat but returned to the sideboard to fill a plate. “What else is in the miniature paper?”

“There’s more news of the influenza.” Otis frowned as he reached for his coffee. “And we’ve lost another ship. Torpedoed. It’s assumed all hands were lost.”

The lid of the chafing dish clattered down. “So much for breakfast.”

“Sorry, old man.”

“It didn’t look particularly appealing anyway. I think Cook reused the leftover corned beef from the other morning.” Wes returned to his seat without a plate. “The poor souls.”

Otis stood. “I’ll see if there’s anything else to take the place of the corned beef.”

Wes reached for the newspaper section with the article of the ship that was lost. “I’m not sure it matters.”

Otis made his way to the kitchen anyway. The other side of the baize door held more activity than the dining room. The staff were all busy moving about with their morning duties. He stopped when he saw Martha preparing a tray for the children’s breakfast.

“Any extra toast this morning?” Otis watched Martha glance at Cook. “Just two slices for the captain.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Martha said before moving off to speak quietly with Cook at the stove.

He watched the two women whisper. Martha returned with a plate a few moments later. “This is already done. I’ll make a little more for the children.”

Otis gave his thanks loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear before passing back through the baize door. He learned at a young age that it was much wiser to keep on the good side of the kitchen staff. Perhaps it would simply be easier to tell Cook not to use corned beef in the future? Then again, the woman had no control over the news in the papers. Both were enough to make a man lose his appetite.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.