Chapter 4

Journal of Artemis Strapp

February 23

Now to begin my new found research into the Other-Normal. But, where to start? How to embark on this quest for what I know not? Where to start? Where to start?

In the city? No. Yes! Or…perhaps an outlying area. Something rural.

As I pondered these thoughts, I heard Judith outside the door of my study. I was quite certain she had lain a tray of food on the floor, knowing that I’d hardly pause to eat as I researched. I did not actively practice medicine anymore though. Could I still call myself a doctor? Perhaps; perhaps not.

Then, I smelled the food. The sweet aroma of stew and baked bread wafted under my door, circling my nose until I was tormented by hunger. I realized how famished I was when I heard my stomach growl, so I stood, walked to the door and yanked it open as my stomach began to cramp from not having eaten in many hours (or was it days?). Judith stood in the doorway.

“Well Doctor, it seems the only way I can get you to open the door is to tease you with food.”

 Judith was from England but had lived in Baltimore since she was a young lady. She tried her best to hide her accent, but when she took to excitement, it flourished like a flower in the sun’s rays. I do not know where in England, she never talked about it so I could only assume some kind of childhood trauma brought her “across the Pond” as the British say. Judith cared for me when both my parents were alive, through the death of my Mother, and then suicide of my Father from grief. I grew of age as a man under her watchful eye. She kept me on track through my schooling and medical studies, always pushing and prodding, holding me to account. And for this, I am forever grateful. But I also enjoy having a bit of fun at her expense when I can.

“Beggin’ your pardon sir, but when was the last time you bothered to bath? I’ll wager not in recent memory. And, look at you! All skin and bones! Your clothes positively hanging off you! No, no! This won’t do sir. Not one bit! I can’t be ‘avenin’ my employer looking a fright because he is too obstinate and lazy to wash himself! No, I’ll not be ‘avenin’ it I say!”

“Dear Judith, why ever do I need to bathe? It is only you and I here in this house. We do not take in patients any longer, do not entertain visitors, and never leave the house except to buy foodstuffs! I have everything I need here!” I said to her. To Judith’s credit she kept a stone face.

“Everything ‘cept water! No, no! I ain’t ‘avenin’ it!”

And, with that, Judith did what she had done since I was a young boy. She grabbed my earlobe, twisted, and marched me straight to the lavatory. In her foresight, Judith had already run a bath. She closed the door on me.

“There now, everything’s right with the world. Just as the Good Lord wills it! Don’t forget

to wash behind your ears Doctor!” She said from the opposite side of the door.

The last few months of misery over Anna’s passing had afflicted me, but now I had a mission! I had a reason to venture out into the world at long last. Somewhere, in this very city perhaps, was a mystery, a myth, an urban legend waiting for me to unearth it!

******

Judith, as always, was of course correct. I felt much better after bathing, so I combed through my tangle of hair, dressed in what I remembered doctors should dress in; pants, coat and some such. I sat at the breakfast table and opened the paper. As if by magic, a cup of black coffee appeared on the table in front of me. I sipped and grimaced, as in my thirty-five years of life she never understood how to sweeten my coffee, then began to actually read through it. I flipped pages and drank coffee.

Wait! An article about a lost child.

Unfortunately, this was nothing new, but what was new was the manner in which he was lost. The news story did not state this explicitly, but I felt in my very bones that something was amiss. A sound of screaming like an owl or night creature? This had the scent of Other-Normal all over it! A quiver of excitement coursed through my stomach. I would endeavor to speak with the journalist about this incident and find out what clues there were to be sought!

I could sense my thoughts coalescing, shifting. I needed to see the ordinary and mundane with new eyes. To think new thoughts outside the boundaries of scientific purview.

I jumped up from the table, striding around the room with renewed vigor. Judith looked up as if to say something, but refrained when she witnessed the resoluteness of my stride. She was proud and stubborn, my Judith, but also wise beyond measure. She knew when to push, and when not to. I gathered my satchel and coat, preparing to leave the house.

“Wait sir.” Judith walked over, pulled a long chain with a silver cross on it from around her neck.

I was not a particularly religious man in terms of traditions or symbols though. I believed in God in an opaque, distanced way, but did not attend church.

Judith placed the chain and cross over my head.

“I don’t know what you’re lookin’ for sir, but keep this close to your heart. It’ll keep you safe. I guarantee it.”

When I stepped out into the cold wind of the day, I felt the best I had felt in months. I turned right, walking away from Fells Point, leaving it behind in search of the Baltimore Messenger.