What Lot's Wife Saw by Ioanna Bourazopoulou

Author:Ioanna Bourazopoulou
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845025489
Publisher: Black & White Publishing
Published: 2013-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

22

The sound of the latch turning, slight though it was, was enough to make Phileas Book jump since his hearing was particularly acute at that moment. He turned towards the door, clutching his heart. An employee was coming into the room, announcing himself, “Pierre Galois, steward of this floor. I am bringing you your dinner, Mr Book.”

The statement might have been addressed to the trolley he was dragging rather than to Book since he hadn’t bothered even to lift his head to look at him. He rolled the trolley over the plush carpet and brought it to the small round table next to the window a few metres from where Book was sitting. He unfolded the tablecloth he’d draped over his arm and laid it on the table. From the covered plates on the trolley a mixture of aromas was wafting, suggesting a large variety of dishes – meat, pasta, fruit, sweets – which had been made to tempt someone who’d not been asked what he wanted to eat.

Book tried to calm the residual flutters his alarm had caused him. He concentrated on the rectangular table with the glass top and the metal legs on which he’d been working for hours. This table, which had been set up for Book in the middle of the brightly lit lounge, was solid and spacious but it caused him to appreciate that his narrow office in the attic of the camping goods shop offered him a better working environment. The papers he’d spread on this enormous glass surface continuously seemed to be inconveniently placed; no matter how often he shuffled their relevant positions, he just couldn’t get organised on it. The glass top distracted him as well since each time he looked down either the pattern of the carpet or the sight of his muddy shoes invaded his field of vision. On the top itself, a cornucopia of pens, pencils, magnifying glasses, rulers and rubbers addled him. Knuckling under their pressure he’d tried nearly every one of them and after a considerable waste of time he rejected them and ended up feeling nostalgic for his own humble pencil drawer. The six letters he’d been given were very lengthy and he resolved to get the best ergonomic use out of the vast space available. He sorted out the pages into groups and formed six long rows, which he arranged along the whole length of the table. At the end of each row he stuck labels: “Regina Bera”, “Judge Bateau”, “Father Montenegro”, “Captain Drake”, “Dr Fabrizio”, “Secretary Siccouane”.

The table was also encumbered with a whole pile of other items, like maps, dictionaries and a calculator that the Consortium had provided in case it might prove useful. A calculator, for heaven’s sake! These people seemed totally ignorant about Epistlewords, unless it was only a pretence. Be careful, Phileas, be careful. He gathered up all the superfluous supplies, stalked over to the armchair and ceremoniously dumped them there to clear table space.

Due to his acquired talent of

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