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| Cleaning up | |
| By patterjack | ||||
| 26 May 2007 | ||||
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I have decided to remain meticulously mundane and decidedly domestic with my personal contributions to this segment of GW , so this piece goes in as no more than a filler of gaps , and a filler in of time for myself . I have in previous pieces suggested several other avenues of plot development in other parts of the segment , though I would jealously guard my own concept of the Peter character. Where I would very willingly accept help would be in an area where I have little knowledge and no expertise . I refer to the content of the two heavily scented letters that Peter received. If anyone would like to compose them I would be pleased to accept them into my part of the tale , with the usual caveats against impossible sensationalism ,please. Domestic Doings. -- Running late this morning ? Helen's voice floated down the stairs to where Peter had just dumped the folded plastic . -- Yep . Sorry , but a friend of ours caught up with me outside the Craft Shop and delayed me a bit . Helen's head popped up over the bannisters on the staircase. -- And who might that have been ? A friend of ours ? I can't think of any special friends we have in common . -- I was joking , said Peter . -- In fact it was Big Jim . He sneaked up behind me and tried to king hit me . I managed to protect myself with this stuff and then Jane .... He burst into a series of guffaws and sat down on a one of the pieces of furniture -- Jane did what ? And Peter , between gasps of laughter told the story of the crowning as he put it , and assured a slightly worried looking Helen that the matter of Big Jim was now in the hands of the police and that they would not be likely to encounter him again . -- A bit more serious matter has come up though , Helen . Well , serious for me, but not really anything to do with you, and I'd like to get your advice on it . -- Say on , then , said Helen . And Peter told her of the second of the two heavily scented letters he had received . -- What is actually in them ? Peter looked a bit embarrassed. -- Good heavens , Peter , it can't be all that bad . Have you got them with you ? -- No , confessed Peter . I thought I'd leave them with Jane to look at first . She's been in the village longer than both of us , and I thought she might have a clue as to what 's going on. Helen bit her bottom lip and assumed a thoughtful expression . -- Look , she said , I'm not sure I'd be much good as an agony aunt . But if you like , ask Jane to come up here with you either tonight or tomorrow night -- for dinner -- and we'll all put our heads together and see if we can't solve any problems coming up from this . -- Thanks a lot , said Peter . -- I'll do that . And I appreciate it . But this isn't getting anything constructive done in here and I've already lost a lot of time . He made his way towards the library taking the plastic sheeting with him . Before entering the room he laid a long swathe of the material over the closely stacked furniture and cut it off with his pocket knife , tucking the ends under the lighter pieces to keep them from flapping . Helen had already dusted the furnishings and Peter was pleased to see that she had vacuumed the floor of the big room and also left there an old wooden stepladder that he remembered having seen in the shed . It was over by the far wall with the vacuum cleaner under it . Unfolding the last of the plastic he carefully laid it out on the floor , and was pleased to see that covered nearly all of the surface. He congratulated himself on the accuracy of his mental measurements thinking that maybe he would not have to make another trip to the hardware store for more after all . He manoeuvered the ladder over to the furthest wall and carefully mounted it , fearing that it might have acquired some dry rot , but it was firm enough . Close to the top he reached out and gathered a few of the volumes from the end of the shelf and slowly dismounted from the ladder , to carry the books towards the middle of the room and place them in a heap. For a moment he considered getting more books , then decided instead to remove the dust from those he had taken down . There was a soft brush attachment on the cleaner , so he began the careful task of vacuuming the surfaces of the books. As he cleaned each one , he methodically placed it in the same order on the floor as it had had on the shelf , in case Helen would want them replaced in the same manner . After a while the rows of books on the plastic grew long and Peter began to consider the thought of leaving them for a while as he took the long hose of the cleaner up to the emptied shelves and used it to remove the dust from there . Despite the vacuuming , there were still marks on the shelves where the old books had sat , and they would obviously need gently washing off . He called up to Helen . -- If you aren't too busy at something could you come down and check this out ? -- There in a tick , said Helen . -- Just take a few minutes and make a cuppa . I'll join you for that and then we can look over what's to be done next . So Peter went into the kitchen and made tea, and shortly Helen joined him . -- I had a quick look at what you've finished , she said . -- You're getting along famously . -- Well , before I go any further , it might be a good idea if you were to look over the ones on the floor and see if you want to keep them all . Some of the bindings aren't all that healthy , and a lot of the pages are a bit foxed . -- Okay , Helen agreed , we'll do that with the ones you've taken down . But , dear Lord I hate having to make decisions about things like that . Peter grinned. -- Well, we could just bung them all back up again . Helen sighed . -- Oh no , if it has to be done , it had best be got on with . Finish your tea and we'll go do it .
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I might perhaps only send F.C. by now and then to annoy Peter ;-) Although I supose they should have dug up the Celtic warlord by now.
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