Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Giant Rat of Sumatra Part VIII

The Steinenfrank Circus Company's caravan of caged coaches arrived on the street near the end of the dock and large groups of circus workers then loaded the animals off the ship Matilda Briggs and into their appropriate cages.

Some workers had to be treated later for minor hernias after they had to push and drag the Sumatran elephant Lady Godliva and her baby elephant Goliath up to their respective caged coaches.

Still other workers had to be treated for MAJOR hernias when they had to load the cage (even bigger than the cage of Lady Godiva and Goliath) covered in black cloth (with a mysterious unknown unseen gigantic animal inside) up the dock and on to a very long and wide flat trailer.

"Well, I guess my job ends here," Holmes said to the circus owner Magus Steinenfrank who had arrived with the caravan, "the animals are now safely on shore and in their cages."

"Indeed that was your job, Mr. Holmes," the cigar-smoking Magus Steinenfrank shook the consulting detective's hand, "I've arranged for my insurance company Lloyd's of London to send you payment if you don't mind, Mr. Holmes."

"Not at all," Holmes smiled at Magus Steinenfrank.

Magus Steinenfrank was a comical looking man. Messed up black hair, beady black eyes behind large black spectacles, a huge moustache and a huge cigar sticking out of his mouth.

"A real groucho," Vittoria Donna Gina replied in answer to a question Fred Clegg had asked about what manner of man her boss Hemlock the Magician was.

"Marx," Holmes mused aloud.

"I beg your pardon?" Magus Steinenfrank said to Holmes.

"I couldn't help but notice the little booklet with pages ripped out of it that you're holding appears to be The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx," Holmes pointed.

"Oh this, I've used it for toilet paper on this trip," Magus laughed, "one just can't seem to get good toilet paper in this part of the country. I find Marx's writing comfortable to remove what I produce literally in comparison to what Marx's writing was full of metaphorically."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Holmes ever the man of reason noted in a calm methodical fashion.

At that moment the ship's porter could be seen walking down the street with his clothes, jacket, shirt and pants all dishevelled.

"Well, it looks like Mrs. Robinson seduced our young porter after all," Scotty the ship's engineer laughed.

"What's the name of your young porter?" Holmes asked.

Scotty started talking to another passenger who had asked him a question so First Mate Leonard Spock answered, "That's young Roddenberry. He keeps quite a detailed log of what happens on our voyages. He hopes someday he says to be able to recount our adventures. And he hopes that someday one of his nephews or maybe even his own children or grandchildren will write a play based on these voyages."

"I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade," Captain Heelander sang as he looked down at the water.

"And hopefully," Spock said as young Roddenberry approached the dock, "he'll change some of the names and preferably even the locales of our voyages."

"Well hopefully he won't change my name or the nature of my thoroughly masculine personality," Captain Heelander said as he did an impersonation of a British teapot with both his arms.

"Kirk is actually the Scottish word for church," Scotty could be heard explaining to a passenger, "so the church that you told me you were baptised in- Saint James' Church- in many parts of Scotland, it would be referred to as St. James' Kirk."

Young Roddenberry the porter looked at both the teapot impersonating Captain Heelander and then over at Scotty and walked down the wharf back to the ship.

To be continued.

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