When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow by Dan Rhodes

Author:Dan Rhodes [Dan Rhodes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910709092
Publisher: Gallic Books
Published: 2015-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

23

Smee sat in the lounge bar of the George and Dragon with an empty plate and an empty pint glass in front of him. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror behind the optics and was reasonably pleased with what he saw. He had begun to worry that the Professor was right and that he had reached a point of life where his age had become indeterminate to disinterested observers, but he had combed his hair a certain way, and worn a certain shirt, and he was fairly sure his looks matched his years that night. He was thirty-nine.

He had come out alone on the pretext of fanning the flames of the debate that the Professor was sure was raging, in his favour, across the town. He had not spoken to anybody though, except the barman as he ordered pie and chips and a local ale. He checked one last time and she still wasn’t there, so he put his coat and gloves back on and inched his way through the slippery streets to the next pub on his list.

A few minutes later he was sitting on a stool at the copper bar of the White Lion, taking the top off his second pint of the evening. Like the George and Dragon before it, the White Lion had a typically Sunday feel: there weren’t very many people in, and the atmosphere was pleasantly subdued. A fire burned in the grate and he watched it, resisting the temptation to add a log or prod it with the poker. He opened a local free newspaper that had been left lying around, made his way through items about charity drives and parish council meetings, scanned the classifieds, and read reports of meetings of local history groups and previews of talks from naturalists. One piece announced a conjuring show for children that was due to take place at a community centre: ‘featuring the magical Amazo the Amazing’, it said.

Smee heard the Professor’s voice in his mind: Pfff. It is a disgrace, Smee. ‘Magical’ indeed. All this sort of nonsense does is tell children that magic is real, and from there it is easy to plant within their young minds the idea that miracles are possible. I shall dictate a letter to the nearest branch of the Humanists and tell them about this and they shall do as I say and stand outside the venue as the children leave, handing out leaflets telling them how these tricks are done. Each and every child must learn that magic is not real. They must be taught, with no room for doubt, that it is not the truth, that they are being lied to and that there is a scientific explanation for everything they saw. He thought for a moment about tearing the page out and showing it to the Professor, and a few days earlier he would have done just that, but tonight he decided against it. He admitted to himself that he wanted the children to enjoy the show.

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