When they went back home, Chau and Edana both dived for the telephone in the living room and frantically dialed the number given in the heading of the stiff parchment paper letter. They could not afford to be sued, and even if this was an outsize threat they had to neutralize it immediately.
“I still don’t [...]
A gruff voice picked up on the other end. “Hello? Who’s this?”
“We’re calling on behalf of Greenwood and Sons for Mr. Steeple,” Chau said, trying to sound like a professional of some sort. “Is he available?”
“I’m Mr. Steeple.”
“Mr. Steeple, we’ve just received your letter, and we are //so sorry–//we never meant to, er,”
“Remove you from [...]
“We are messing this up,” Chau whispered.
“Mr. Steeple,” Edana tried again, “This was an honest misunderstanding. We never even intended to write you.”
“Lying? No, sir, we cannot let you speak to Greenwood!”
Edana sighed, holding the phone next to her as Martin Steeple’s very agitated voice scratched through the speakers.
“You talk to him,” Edana whispered, handing [...]
Chau could hear Steeple shouting at them over the tinny line. She took the receiver and a deep breath. They didn’t have time for this. She put the phone to her ear.
“//Mr. Steeple!// We are calling to //clear up// misunderstandings, not create them!” Edana skittered back, blinking at the transformed Chau. //She should have been [...]
The other end of the line went quiet.
“Madam,” he said once, and then went silent.
“If you choose to pursue litigation –” Chau resumed.
“I expect to receive no more mailings.” Martin Steele said, shortly, “good day.”
And though he hung up immediately Chau knew — just knew — that it would not be the last time [...]
“What did he say?” Edana asked.
Chau hung the phone back on its base. “He says he expects to receive no more mailings. And that was all.”
Edana began to pace them, fretting. “This is terrible. You realize what a lawyer would find? Or if he hired a detective? They could uncover how long we’ve [...]
“WHY?” Edana sputtered.
“Something he said,” Chau wondered aloud. “Maybe his tone. I just had this feeling. Let him track us, find out more about us. Who’d believe him if he tried to say that we lived for thousands of years or that we incorporated at a certain time? He will look stupid if he opens [...]
By rights, it should have changed back to green while they were reading it. If it wasn’t checked, the color would fade more gradually. She let Edana stir the mashed potatoes, and idly turned the pages. There were a lot of entries she hadn’t thought of in years. She came to the page of Blackthorn’s [...]
