The Friends Meet
This is a story of two dogs--one who, in the upper class, was hardly known; the other in the lower class and who was often praised and honored for his abilities.
This is London. A famous, jostling place in Angle Land, or England, as it is often called. [Note--I read that somewhere, "Angle Land." Shut up.] The first part of this story takes place in a small, shabby, dark spot in London, in a small rare items store that hardly anyone went into anymore.
The storekeeper looked up with surprise when the door opened. He could'nt [sic] see who had just come in, but soon they threw a big, khaki-colored bag on the counter and sat on a red, leather stool. The storekeeper got a good look at him. He was brown, black and white with black ears down to his neck. He had a short muzzle and a pith helmet, and blue eyes and a kind, gentle manner. [Note--recall that my stories are mostly furry, hence my characters are animals. Fredestaire Carter--the character in question here--is a little mongrel dog.]
The storekeeper peered into the bag and was surprised at what he saw. He looked at this small dog and said, "Where did you get these, chap?"
"From Rome and Babylon," the dog replied. "I'm an archaeologist." [Note--it quickly becomes clear that when I wrote this I had NO CLUE about how archaeology works.]
"Hey, are'nt [sic] you that Carter person?"
"Fredestaire Carter." [Note--thought I'd mentioned it somewhere before in my other early writing, but I guess not. A bit of info on "Fredestaire Carter" and the soon-to-be-announced "Edmond Carnarvon." These two are, of course, loosely inspired by the discoverers of King Tut's tomb, Howard Carter and George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon. I came up with the characters after seeing two dogs in pith helmets in a King Kuts dog food commercial, and pulled the names "Edmond" and "Fredestaire" (which I thought was ONE first name, not the first and last name Fred Astaire!) out of thin air because they sounded nice and British. These two characters first appeared in the story that got me started seriously writing, King Kuts. It was slightly later that they morphed into "Fredestaire Carter" and "Edmond Carnarvon" (I also wasn't aware back then of how formal titles worked, and thought "Carnarvon" was really a last name). Later on these names became a source of embarrassment for me...but there you go. Who these guys are, and why they have those names.]
"Yeah, that's it! People be knowin' you a lot, you know." [Note--I also had no understanding of British accents.]
"Most of them do." He climbed down, taking the bag but not before duping out it's [sic] contents.
"Are'nt you going to keep them?" the bewildered storekeeper asked.
"That's alright [sic], I have no room," Fredestaire called back. "I plan to go to Egypt next." [Note--so...what is this...the black market?? I guess I honestly thought that archaeologists went on digs, took everything away, and gave or sold it to antiques stores. Yipes.]
"Good luck! I hope you can find a companion for the trip!"
The storekeeper made a sign for his window. It said:
[Illustration: A store window filled with ancient artifacts--what look to be, from left to right, a carved head, a feathered mask, an ushabti, an ankh, a vase, a stone ax, an Easter Island-style head, and an Eye of Horus. A woman dog in a dress is walking just halfway out of view (into the margin), tugging on the arm of a little boy dog who's pointing excitedly at the window. A big banner taped in the window reads: "BABYLONIAN & ROMAN TABLETS from FREDESTAIRE CARTER'S collection! Watch for his Egyptian finds next!" A caption below the drawing reads: "Fredestaire immediately becomes famous!"]
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a big, black carriage stopped and a trumpet fanfare blew. A voice called, "Long live Lord Carnarvon and Lady Carnarvon! Long live the Lord and the Lady!"
A cheer went up from among the crowd and people waved British flags. The carriage door opened and someone pushed a red carpet out. [Note--yes, I honestly thought that was how nobility was treated. Ugh.] First nothing happened; then someone stepped out of the carriage. It was Lady Carnarvon. She wore a white headdress and a fancy, pink dress with white lace. [Note--Lady Carnarvon's headdress was based on a headdress I saw on a Medieval or some such lady once. I. e., WAY WAY out of date.]
Then out stepped Lord Carnarvon. His first name was Edmond. He wore a pith helmet because he, too, had just been on an expedition, not too far away from where Fredestaire had been in Rome. Both he and the Lady were black and brown Airedales.
At that minute, Fredestaire, who was in a hurry, rushed by and ran into Edmond, whose helmet fell off.
"So sorry," Fredestaire said, picking up his helmet and giving it back. Then he dropped his bag. A leftover tablet fell out.
[Illustration: Lord and Lady Carnarvon standing outside their carriage, looking at Fredestaire, who stands looking back at them over his shoulder. Lady Carnarvon wears a full dress and headdress; the two male dogs are unclothed but for pith helmets. Edmond/Lord Carnarvon is holding a little tablet and looks surprised while Lady Carnarvon looks suspicious or something. A backpack/bag hangs over Fredestaire's shoulder and at his side. The caption reads: "'Where did you get this?'"]
Edmond picked it up. "By Jove," he said, "where did you get this?"
But Fredestaire was already leaving. He rushed off and was lost in the crowd of hustling people.
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