Time Keepers

MOTE Prompt Response

The tiny woman shoved her way through the front door and marched past Xander straight toward the huge fireplace taking up almost one wall of the pub’s main room.

“Hands off my time,” she said as she pulled the clock from the mantelpiece and carried it away, almost without pause, marching back to the front door. Xander stared after her, still holding the door open.

“Thank you, son,” the silver-haired woman said. She stepped through the door and, still marching, headed across the parking lot toward the woods behind the pub. Xander shook his head, turning at the sound of chuckling coming from behind him.

“I’ve always enjoyed watching Laurel operate,” Quill said. The dragon grinned, showing what Xander thought were a few too many teeth.

“Who’s Laurel and why’d she take that clock? Was that my parent’s clock?”

“No, it’s her clock, she loaned it to your parents. She’s a Time Keeper. It’s a very special clock, but I’ll let her explain it, if and when she decides to loan it to you. But don’t worry, it won’t change how you deal with things here, nor how I or the pub function. Consider it an added bonus,” the dragon gave Xander a wink before returning to his book.

“Just out of curiosity, are you really reading that book, or is it all just part of your portrait?” Xander asked, deciding to dismiss the strange visit.

“Oh, I’m reading it. And, before you ask, no it’s not the same book I was reading when you first discovered the true nature of this pub. I do have a library back here, you know,” Quill said, waving a paw vaguely. “I’m a dragon after all. I just happen to horde books.”

Xander shook his head again. He seemed to do that a lot lately. Oh, well. At least he was stretching out his neck muscles. Having a dragon in the pub, as well as in the pub was unsettling enough, even if he was getting used to it. But trying to wrap his head around the idea that there was a whole other dimension or whatever in the portrait of Quill was a bridge too far right now. The whole idea was giving him a headache.

Quill seemed to take pity on him. “If it helps, think of Laurel as a time keeper and you won’t be far off. As for my library, I assure you, it exists, and at some point I will happily show you around. But for right now, I believe you need to return to the more mundane tasks of hiring help and ordering supplies. You do want to reopen in time for tourist season, do you not?”

“Yeah, yeah. I do. You’re right. I need to contact the previous employees and follow-up on some of my orders. Um, you don’t by any chance have a list of who used to work here, do you? And maybe some way to contact them?” He gazed hopefully up at the dragon in his portrait behind the bar.

“I suggest putting a note up on the community bulletin board in Mazie’s store. That should attract attention. I will leave you to your work and return to check on you at the end of the day.” Quill gave a short nod and faded from view.

“Wait!” Xander’s hand involuntarily moved toward the portrait, but Quill was gone.

“Well, hell. I was hoping for some company and maybe some advice. And more information on this Laurel woman. Like why she took the clock.” He glanced toward the mantel and jumped. The clock was sitting right where it had been before Laurel stormed into the pub. He ran over to the fireplace and peered at the clock, shocked to realize that while this one looked almost exactly like the clock Laurel had taken, there were small subtle differences. His memory of the clock included small, clawed feet on the bottom, similar to a claw-foot bath tub. He remembered them because he’d thought at the time that it was very unusual for a clock to have clawed feet. Xander stared closely at the clock now sitting on the mantel. Nope, this clock had small metal square feet. Nothing clawed about them.

“Okay. Not dealing with that right now. Nothing strange happening here. I’m just gonna make up a notice for the community bulletin board, and start ordering some supplies. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

A faint chuckle drifted through the pub as Xander strode determinedly toward the office at the back of the pub.

******

The second-to-last challenge for the year came from Leigh Kimmel: “Hands off my time,” she said as she pulled the clock from the mantelpiece and carried it away. Go check out everybody else’s responses over at More Odds Than Ends.