The Raccoons.
The Haunted House, a possibility. Pt 3.
"Come on in, sit down," said George to the skunk as he came in the
front door, "what would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, fruit juice?"
"Please," replied the skunk, "fresh orange if you have it, and, Im
sorry, can you dilute it half/half. Unfortunately, I find the normal
stuff much too strong, sorry." "Thats alright," said Nichole "We've
got plenty. George?" "Coffee please Hon" said George. "Now, how did
you come to be here? Why did you decide to come here from, er, where
did you say you were from?" "George dear" called Nichole from the
kitchen "we all want to know who this new person is, but please try to
be more diplomatic" "Sorry Hon." called George "Im trying." "Its OK."
said the skunk, "I sorry Ive been so obscure. Ill tell you my story if
you want, but first.. Oh, hello, Nichole? Oh, thank you, thank you,
that looks lovely. Im sorry to bother you for this." "Oh no, no, its
no bother at all" replied Nichole as she put the drinks on the table
and sat down next to George. "Please, go on." "Alright, er, where was
I?" replied the skunk. "Right at the beginning," smiled George,
"please, go on." "Oh, sorry" apologised the skunk "well, it starts
with my name. I am called Terl, Terl V. Leon. I know it sounds
strange, but it is a constructed name, I altered it years ago, and my
life changed for the better ever since. The most obvious example is,
Im here, and you accepted me. That is worth much more to me than mere
money. As for where I come from, I am British, born and bred, from a
small village in an area surounded by national parks and world firsts.
In fact, I once worked out that the five mile radius around my home
has the highest invention rate in history. Its a nice place, rather
like the Evergreen Forest, but with much shorter distances, and much
fewer trees, but the area was once dense woodland, and is still known
on the local maps as The Forest, or The Valley. I lived there all my
life, until three things happened. My parents sold the house and moved
to Ireland, I changed my name, and I won £10 million on the UK
lottery." "£10 million" exclaimed George and Nichole, then they both
looked bashful as they realised their reaction. The skunk, Terl smiled
sadly. "Thats the reaction from people that drove me to come to The
Forest. Ive heard of this place for a few years, but its when I saw
The Forest Web Site, thats when I made up my mind. I called round a
few people, got some real time satcam links, and got access to images
from LandSat, SPOT, and the KH-10 spysats. I picked out that
particular house, due to it mainly being empty, but also because of
the information I discovered on this areas geology, geography, and
meterology. That bike out there, thats the first thing I built using
my Lottery winnings, and Ive been on the road ever since. Its got
everything a house should have, including microwave, telephone and
sattelite TV. Bert and Bently should be at the store by now, theyve
been gone a good couple of minutes." At this, George looked round.
"Berts taken the bike?" "Its OK," said Terl reassuringly, "I said they
could have a go, I disarmed the main power systems, and its got good
seats, seat belts, and roll cage. Its designed to withstand major
accidents, and its easy to drive. Theyll be OK. In fact, if I know
boys at all, theyll be at the store buying comics, then theyll talk,
then look at the bike again, then go to Berts house, then a friends
house, then possibly come back here in about an hours time, getting
worried. They neednt. I also fitted a remote locking, tracking and
comms system to the bike. In fact, the lock just been engaged. Theyve
parked up outside the store most likely, yep, tracking says so. So, I
know always where they are, as long as they stay with the bike."
George looked slightly skeptical, "Are you sure that thing works as it
supposed to do?" Terl smiled brightly "Well, it uses bits taken from
old TVs, videos, microwaves, and computers, and Ive had reliable locks
around half the planet, by sending small units in the post to
Australia and back, so, yes, Im happy." "What about the house then?"
inquired George, "Did you sleep all right last night? Did you find
it?" "Yes, I did find it," replied Terl "thanks to your excellent
directions, and yes, I did sleep OK thank you, well, actually, I
removed one of the seats off the bike and used that as a bed. Another
modified idea I came up with. The bike supplied all the heat and light
I needed last night. I was going to start on a simple power plant
today, save on electric bills." "I hope you are not going to start
putting up those horrible towers, or digging holes" started Nichole
"that would not be neighborly." "Im sorry" apologised Terl quickly, "I
keep forgetting, almost noones heard of me, well, the thing I am know
for, is on that bike. A solar panel, that works on a cloudy day,
doesnt have to be aimed at the sun, can be made to look just like any
material you want, and generates electricity almost perfectly. Oh, and
costs only a couple dollers a square meter to make, and just needs a
wipe down every so often to keep it clean. In other words, its
effectively perfect. That bike generates 5 kilowats on a sunny day,
then stores it in a combination of fuel cell, and flywheel. Once its
fully charged, it just reflects the sun as normal." Terl mused. George
and Nichole looked at each other. "Er, Terl?" said George, "do you
think you could make more of this stuff, like for a mansion." "Which
one do you mean dear" inquired Nichole "I mean, wouldnt Cyril Sneer be
intrested in something that was cheap, and would save him money. After
all, he IS a businessman." replied George. "You dont mind do you?"
"No, not at all" replied Terl, "In fact, I think I would like to meet
this Mr Sneer, Ive got loads of stuff for improving working, Ive
always been unemployed, so I spent my time taking College and
University courses when I had the money. Ive got a lot of
qualifications, but almost no practical experience to back it up."
Terl suddnly stopped, winced, then picked up the glass of orange juice
and drank half of it down in one go. "Im sorry," Terl said
apologetically, "I do tend to get carried away too easily." "Thats OK"
replied Nichole "I think youre quite a nice person. More orange?" "No
thanks, this will last me another hour or two easily. Sorry, pardon my
lack of manners. I should have asked about yourselves before. Is Bert
and Bently your sons, or am I mistaken?" "No, no" replied Nichole,
"Bently is our son, Lisa our daughter. Bert is a friend of the family,
hes boarded with Georges brother Ralph, and Ralphs wife Mellissa for
years. Hes a bit headstrong, but always helpful, and athletic. He gets
on well especially with Bently and Lisa. Ralph is the editor of the
local paper, Melissa handles the photos and reporting, Bert does some
of the columns, and Schaeffer keeps the press running. In fact, we all
help out in one way or another. Would you like to visit the office?
Its not very far." "Yes," replied Terl, "I would like that very much.
Do you think Ralph would be kind enough to do an article about the
bike, and its technology? Theres a lot of useful stuff on it.." Terl
stopped talking as his keyfob started bleeping. "Oh, Bert and Bently
are coming back. Sorry, just got to unlock the bike so they can use
it. Ah, There it goes, and yep, its moving. Theyll be back in a couple
of minutes, care for a ride?" "Well," replied George, "only if you can
handle the extra people" "No problem" said Terl brightly, "If I put a
proper engine in the thing, it would be called a car, even though its
only got two wheels. Theres plenty of room, I can actually fit four
passengers in at a squash. Especially our size. Well, lets see your
son come back, I bet hes excited." Terl waited as Nichole and George
stood, then stood up himself, and followed them to the front door to
await the return of Bert and Bently, and the bike.