From: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   ok to post to newsgroup; I'll post to Ephemeral and Gossamer. Thanks!   
      
   Time is Fleeting, pt. 2 of 2   
   by ML   
   email: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   Headers and disclaimers in part one...   
      
   =====   
      
   Mulder looked around the entry to see if he could see   
   a phone.  The walls were stone but the overall effect   
   was cozy, with patterned rugs on the floor and comfortable   
   chairs.  A very large fireplace warmed the room from one   
   corner.   
      
   A door opened down the hall and a woman approached them.   
   She was dressed in an elegant satin gown, a triple strand   
   of pearls at her throat.  "I'm Mrs. Knight," she said.   
   "Lewis told me that your car has broken down?"   
      
   "Yes," Mulder said.  "I'm Fox Mulder, and this is Dana   
   Scully."   
      
   Scully noticed that he hadn't produced his badge and   
   wondered if he'd left it in the car.  She was about to   
   say something, but he gave her a look, and she stayed   
   silent.  For the moment.   
      
   "Are you one of the New England Mulders?"  Mrs. Knight   
   asked.   
      
   "Yes," Mulder said, tensing up a little.  "Do you know   
   them?"   
      
   "Not well," she said.  "I think my late husband may   
   have done business with the Mulder family."   
      
   He could feel Scully tensing beside him.   
      
   "And...Miss Scully, is it?"  she asked delicately.   
      
   "Ag -- Miss Scully is my partner.  Business partner,"   
   Mulder said.  He wasn't about to reveal anything he   
   didn't have to, and willed Scully to understand.   
      
   Mrs. Knight didn't bat an eyelash.  "Business partner?   
   How interesting."   
      
   Oh, she's good, Mulder thought.  Mrs. Knight reminded   
   him of his grandmother Mulder.  So well-behaved, but   
   very good at indicating approval or disapproval with   
   the arch of an eyebrow or a simple word.   
      
   "We're investigators," he said, half-explaining.   
   "We investigate...we're like private eyes."   
      
   "So Miss Scully must be your assistant," Mrs. Knight   
   concluded.   
      
   Scully bristled at that, and was ready to set Mrs.   
   Knight straight.  No matter if she looked like someone's   
   grandmother, she was either extremely rude or extremely   
   snobbish.  Probably both.   
      
   "Actually, she's a better investigator than I am,"   
   Mulder said.  "I'm more like her assistant than the   
   other way around."   
      
   "How charming," she exclaimed, but clearly she thought   
   it was anything but.  She changed the subject.   
      
   "You're very fortunate to find anyone here," she said.   
   "Usually I've shut the house up by this time, but the   
   autumn has been so mild we stayed a few weeks longer.   
   We're leaving in the morning, in fact."   
      
   "We're very sorry to have disturbed you," Mulder said   
   again.  "If we might use your phone, we'll call for   
   road service and go back to the car."   
      
   "I'm afraid the nearest garage that might still be   
   open is in Reno," Mrs. Knight said.  "It could take   
   hours for them to get here.  If you can tell me where   
   the car is, I'll send one of the men to check it for   
   you.  Antonio is a very good mechanic."   
      
   "We think it might just be out of gas," Scully added.   
      
   Mrs. Knight turned to her as if seeing her for the   
   first time.  "I'll ask Antonio to take a gas can with   
   him.  If it is just that, he can drive the car down   
   here.  You shouldn't have to walk back up that long drive."   
      
   "If you have gas available, I'd be happy to go up   
   myself," Mulder said.  "No need to send your man."   
      
   "Nonsense!"  Mrs. Knight said.  "You've walked all   
   the way down here and no doubt you're tired.  And if   
   it isn't just gasoline, you'll have to walk back down   
   again.  Just tell Antonio where to find your car and   
   he will see to it."   
      
   Obviously Mrs. Knight was a woman used to having her   
   own way, and Mulder belatedly realized that walking up   
   alone meant leaving Scully at the house.  Much better   
   if they could stay together.   
      
   "In fact, considering the lateness of the hour I think   
   it would be much better if you stayed the night," their   
   would-be hostess said.   
      
   Mulder half-expected a flash of lightening and a peal of   
   thunder to accompany her words.  They were straight out   
   of any number of legends and horror films.   
      
   "No, really, we couldn't impose,"  Scully was saying.   
      
   "I insist," Mrs. Knight said.  "I'll have Maria show you   
   to your rooms.  Have you dined?  We've finished dinner   
   but I can have something sent up to you."   
      
   Maybe it was just the proximity to Halloween, but the   
   whole evening had taken on a surreal quality.  There was   
   something strange going on.   
      
   Nonetheless, when the uniformed maid arrived in the hall,   
   they followed her upstairs after thanking Mrs. Knight   
   again.   
      
   "It's no trouble at all,"  Mrs. Knight said.  "If you   
   need anything, please ring."   
      
   Mulder leaned over and whispered to Scully, "If you need   
   anything, just scream..."   
      
   Scully stifled a laugh that would have bordered on the   
   hysterical if she'd let it.   
      
   x-x-x-x   
      
   Scully stared in awe at the large, claw-footed bathtub   
   in her bathroom.  The bathroom was every woman's dream,   
   outfitted with glass and silver toiletries and huge,   
   fluffy towels.  The bedroom was even more luxurious.   
   A low fire glowed in the fireplace, and the bed was   
   outfitted with a featherbed and sumptuous linens.   
      
   There was a knock at her door.  She opened it, starting   
   to say, "Mul--"   
      
   It was another maid, with a covered tray.  "Madam sent   
   up a light supper, Miss," she said.   
      
   "Thank you," Scully said faintly, and watched as the maid   
   set the tray on a table near the fire.  "Can I get you   
   anything else, Miss?"  The maid asked.   
      
   "No thank you," Scully managed.  The maid nodded and   
   withdrew.   
      
   This time when she heard the knock she opened the door   
   more cautiously.  Mulder stood there, holding a similar   
   tray in his hands.  "Care to join me for dinner?"  he   
   asked.  He had changed into an elegant robe of deep   
   burgundy shot with black.   
      
   "Aren't you just to the manor born?"  said Scully,   
   thinking longingly of her bathtub.   
      
   "When in Rome..." Mulder said.  He set his tray down on   
   the table and drew up two chairs.  "Please sit, Madam,"   
   he said with a flourish.   
      
   As they ate, Scully asked,  "Does this place strike you   
   as strange at all, Mulder?"   
      
   "In what way?"  Mulder asked, after he'd swallowed a   
   large bite of roast chicken.   
      
   "Well, here's this house out in the middle of nowhere,   
   no signs or gates, no particular security.  I don't see   
   any electronic security devices anywhere, in fact.  And   
   look around the room -- no telephone, no TV, no radio."   
      
   "It's almost un-American, isn't it?"  Mulder remarked.   
   "Yeah, I noticed all that, too.  But if it's a getaway,   
   I can understand the lack of TVs and all in the rooms.   
   Or maybe these rooms just aren't used very much.  She   
   said something about guests -- we aren't the only ones   
   here."   
      
   "The furnishings seem a bit old-fashioned, but they all   
   appear to be fairly new," Scully said.   
      
   "Restoration Hardware must love Mrs. Knight," Mulder   
   quipped.  "Welcome to the world of the rich and eccentric."   
      
   "You're not suspicious at all?"  Scully asked.   
      
   "Well, maybe a little," Mulder admitted.  "I'd like to   
   know more about how she knows my family's name.  That   
   seems a bit coincidental."   
      
   "What do you suggest we do?"  Scully asked.  "Sneak out   
   under cover of night?  Go searching for the telephone?"   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)