Snow Day

Teague found himself in front of his employer’s door. The door was closed, which was a little unusual. Mr. Penrose prided himself on his approachability and his door was almost always “famously” open. The door in question opened onto a suite of rooms with the first and largest being the office where Penrose held court if you will, and otherwise conducted daily business for the Enterprise that he had spent years building.

The door was in one of the finer hotels on the West Side of the city. It was different than all of the other doors in the hotel. It was ornate; and made from some wood that Teague could not identify. That in and of itself was not unusual. After all, Teague was no carpenter or other form of woodworker. He was a troubleshooter for his employer’s enterprise; a former soldier and problem solver, but surely no cabinet maker or other craftsman who dealt with any form of lumber on a regular basis.

The door was unusual not only because it was unlike any other in the posh hotel; but also because the actual origin of the door itself was unknown. Penrose himself had told Teague that he had chosen this suite of rooms because of that door, many years prior, and that no one in the hotel could tell him anything about it, other than it had been there since the hotel had first opened nearly one hundred years ago.

Teague found it a little amusing that Mr. Penrose was so prideful of his approachability when the slight man was found almost universally to be unsettling. The head of the enterprise was rumored to have done all manner of unseemly things when building the enterprise that controlled the West Side of the city. In fact, Mr. Penrose was one of the few things that made Teague nervous. Despite all that; Penrose was also known for his fairness and generosity. 

It had already been an unusual day: he had tasted some truly incredible food, had been tasked with helping a business owner with a problem that he would never have thought possible, and then been witness to some truly unprecedented weather. And it wasn’t even time for dinner.

He rapped on the door; a little harder than necessary perhaps, but in his defense he had never encountered this door in a closed position before and didn’t know how hard to knock to be heard on the other side of the sturdy closed portal.

Mr. Penrose called out “come on in Jowan, it’s unlocked”.

Teague’s employer had a habit of calling people by their given name. Teague himself was almost universally addressed by his surname: even his own dear Mamm routinely called him Teague, and not his given name as his employer was wont to do.

He wondered how his boss had known who it was at the door; but Teague was not going to bother asking. He was generally a quiet man and spoke much less than everyone he knew.

“Well Jowan, Penrose spoke, did you have a chance to look into Rowena’s problem”?

“That I did Mr. Penrose, Teague offered to his boss, and I have to say that I was a bit surprised by it”

Teague saw his employer seated at his expansive desk so he went there and took a seat across from him at the ornate teak and ivory desk that was older than even the hotel. He had often wondered about the beautiful desk; his main musing was how it had gotten into the office since it was clearly too large to fit through the door. He had worked for Mr. Penrose for more than a year before he asked that question of the older man. Teague had learned from his boss that the wall to the main room that was his office was actually broken open so that the massive antique desk could be delivered via cranes and pulleys and other engineering marvels.

Teague was about to speak when Penrose preempted him: ”it’s been an unusual day, wouldn’t you say Jowan”?

Teague’s answer, “I would have to agree with you Mr. Penrose”

Penrose continued “one of the most unusual things for me this day happened while my shoes were being shined”. Teague’s employer stood and walked from behind the desk and offered one of his loafers for inspection. Teague looked down at the smaller man’s shoe and could see that it was polished to such a high degree that it was like looking in a small, dark mirror.

Teague spoke up, “that looks like Tobias’ work if I say so myself”.

Tobias was a young boot black who worked the neighborhood. The boy should likely have been in school, but his father, like many others, had gone to War and not returned. So Tobias worked as a boot black to help his mother and younger siblings have a roof over their head and food to eat.

“You’re quite right Jowan, Penrose agreed, that lad is a magician with polish and a rag”.

The older man continued “in any case, having my shoes turned into mirrors isn’t so unusual, as it was young Tobias doing the job.” Teague couldn’t help but agree, since the young bootblack had turned a pair of his dress shoes into shiny mirrors just last fall for a harvest dance.

Penrose continued “I was on the settee by the window and young Tobias was working his magic on my loafers”. Teague listened and nodded his head slightly. His employer said “I was perusing the paper when the lad said to me : Mr. Penrose sir, it’s snowing”. Teague had already encountered the same unprecedented weather, so didn’t have anything to add.

Penrose continued with “I didn’t even look up from my paper, I simply told the boy; don’t be silly lad, it’s only mid June. The earliest I have seen snow in the city in all my years has been late September”. His employer looked at Teague and asked; “do you know what the boy said then”?

Teague’s response was “no sir Mr. Penrose, I do not”.

“Well, the boy simply repeated himself”, Teague’s employer said. “Mr. Penrose sir, it’s snowing, is what young Tobias had to say for himself”.

Penrose spoke after a few moments. “imagine my surprise when I put my paper down, only to see it actually snowing: it’s only just mid June, and yet it’s like an early yuletide outside my own window”.

Teague nodded vigorously and said to his employer, “I saw it my own self Mr. Penrose; outside the Cornish after speaking with Rowena”. 

The Cornish was the eatery owned by Rowena and was the unusual problem that he had been tasked with by Penrose. Rowena had pointed out that she paid for protection and yet had been victim to a crime in her business. He would have never thought of it before; but it did make a strange sort of sense that since she paid for protection, that they had an obligation to help her with her issue.

“I think the early snowfall is related to the issue at the Cornish, Mr. Penrose”, Teague told the older man. Penrose nodded his head slowly in agreement. Teague could see that his employer did not seem surprised by his statement. So Teague continued; “the weather brought to mind something that my old grandfather used to talk about”. Penrose asked him “and what was that Jowan”?

Teague continued “well Mr. Penrose sir, my grandfather used to say that the fairy folk could sometimes alter the weather”. He watched his employer closely and Teague again saw no surprise on the older man’s face.

“So you know that Rowena didn’t have any theft at her place; it was more of a kidnapping of sorts”.

Penrose again nodded his head slowly. So Teague told his employer, “Rowena seems to think that the Italians abducted her Pixie: and with it, her Special Ingredient”.

Penrose responded; “she told me as much when she brought that delicious food this morning”. Teague asked; “why didn’t you say something about it sir”?

His employer told Teague, “I wanted you to see for yourself what was going on, without any preconceived notions or outright disbelief”.

“Well Mr. Penrose sir”, Teague said to his employer, “I want to go check out the Italians at the eatery where Rowena thinks her Pixie is being held; and I thought maybe I would bring Fitz and Gerald along in case things get a little rough”.

Penrose nodded and said “might be a wise course of action”. Then he added, “you may want to be wary of Vittorio. It’s my understanding that he frequents that same establishment and is fond of the razor”.

Teague told his boss, “I can handle him if needs be; but still want Fitz and Gerald along. Do you know where they are this afternoon Mr. Penrose sir”?

Penrose told him; “they are down to the docks making collections. You can gather them up and tell them I said to back you up in this thing”. He continued with “and don’t do anything permanent to anyone unless you have to. I don’t want to get into it with the Italians at this time”.

“yes sir Mr. Penrose”, Teague told his employer. “I’ll gather the boys and see what there is to see”.

Teague stood in preparation to leaving and Penrose spoke; “speaking of Branok, you know he’s been talking an awful lot about your cousin Nellie”. Teague’s brow furrowed briefly and he said, “yes sir, I know he has started spending some time down at Flowry’s and seems to be buying a lot more flowers than one would expect for a single man”. Flowry’s was his mamm’s floral boutique where his cousin Nellie worked. She was a lovely girl whose father had gone to war and not returned. Since she had no one else; Teague’s mother had taken the girl in.

Penrose offered his thoughts; “Branok’s a rough sort but honestly I think he would treat the girl well. And I don’t think he relishes the thought of what you would do if he were less than a gentleman”.

Teague nodded slowly and thought about Branok Fitzsimmons. Everyone except Penrose referred to the man as Fitz. Teague was certain that Fitz was the largest man he had ever actually met. He stood 2 meters tall and weighed probably 21 stone. He had hair black as pitch and a calm serious face. The first time he had met the man was the first time he had met Mr. Penrose. Teague thrashed Fitz and another of Penrose’s bruisers that day, and was offered a job by Mr. Penrose just after. Teague honestly thought that Fitz would be more worried about what their employer would do to him if he were less than a gentleman, even though Fitz weighed twice what Penrose did, and was surely 30 centimeters taller.

Teague said to his employer, “be that as it may Mr. Penrose sir, I will keep an eye out for Nellie and we will see what we will see”.