Chapter 12

"Esther? Diane Kempe. Thank you for your assistance with that little problem on Earth. The Personalia were pleased with your advice. It worked out very well."

"Thank you, Mrs Kempe. I was glad to help. It was good to know that my past experience had some value in a positive sense. I hope my old unit can now work more effectively in future."

"That, I am sure of, thanks to your advice and The Personalia's actions. It has proved to me that your presence within our organisation can be productive. Where we find difficulties with a case, may I employ your talents on breaking the log-jam?"

"Certainly ma'am, if my advice can be of some worth to your colleagues."

Diane sighed. "unfortunately, we don't have any cases needing a breakthrough at present. All we have is a woman who claimed to have seen a large beast near the rail line. She was looking out of a carriage window at the time. No one else saw it, and we don't know of any such beast in existence, so we suspect she was imagining things. She did come over as an over-sensitive young lady, is the best way to put it. It may be that a distortion in the glass produced a vision of that nature."

She confided in Esther, "We still manage to get the occasional UFO sighting, but with The Personalia watching the planet, that is most definitely an hallucination or an active imagination, when it occurs."

Esther was surprised. "You even get UFO nuts here, where it is manifestly impossible without The Personalia spotting it? Amazing!

Anyway, sighting of monsters doesn't come within my ambit, Diane. I'll pass on that. Goodnight, boss."

"Goodnight Esther. My regards to your Jenny."

Esther closed her phone and resumed preparation of the meal for her and Jenny. Jenny's food tolerances had considerably improved over the last couple of years, and she could now cope with most human meals. Esther just had to be careful of certain spices and flavourings, and chutney was a definite NO-NO. That delicacy had made Jenny nauseous and caused her to end up vomiting it up. That was the only time she tried it.

Her daughter would not even look at any kind of chutney since. She had passed on that information to the other Malan children, to warn them about their likely response.

There was a knock at the front door, it opened, and a voice called, "Anybody home?" Jenny shouted back, "Come in, Amech. We are just making our dinner." Amech came through to the kitchen, and Jenny informed her, "It is pasta cheese. How is Tuchgar doing with you?"

Amech grimaced. "Not so good. He misses his Mum and sisters. He understands why she could not take him as well, but still feels left out."

Esther suggested, "Why don't we ask Charlie if she fancies a train trip to see one of the villages? Perhaps tomorrow or the next day? Camperdown might be a good target. We could take Tuchgar and you along with us, Amech."

She clapped her hands. "Yippee! Tuchgar can surprise his Mum, and get to see his sisters again!"

At this point Charlie arrived, and wondered what the excitement was. Jenny explained it to her, and Charlie gave her a cuddle before going to Esther for a comforting kiss and hug. Esther said to Charlotte, "Charlie, can you take a day off from your job, for a family outing? Are they flexible about staff holidays?"

"Rehome Deliveries? Yes, the others in the office tell me that the Boss likes to keep the staff happy, so as long as you don't abuse the privilege, you can take the odd day off. It counts towards your total vacation time, of course."

"Even if you had to take time off unpaid, Charlie, it would be no bother. I can afford to cover any loss for you, out of my finances." She stopped herself, and said, "What am I talking about? We are married now, so it is OUR finances, not mine! You don't really have to work, Charlie, but I know you enjoy meeting people at work."

Charlie gave her another loving cuddle. "You are such a kind and loving person, Esther. I don't deserve you."

Jenny glanced at Amech, who gave a slight nod of unspoken agreement. They both then went, "Yeeuch! Soppy adults again."

Esther frowned at the girls and declared, "Just wait until you grow up, girls. You will be just as "soppy" about a boy or girl yourself. I hope that Mother Narech explained that to you."

Amech admitted, "Yeah, she said Malan adults did much the same thing as human adults. It is hard to believe though."

"Well, Mother Narech never tells you untruths, girls, so take it as true."

Charlie asked Esther, "If we take Jenny, Amech and Tuchgar, why not take the other two and go the whole hog – a Malan party outing!"

Esther was amenable to the idea. "I'll phone around and see."

She tried Jeannette, but Tom answered the phone.

"Hi, Esther. Jeannette has her hands full just now, but I'll tell her you are waiting for her. Jeannette, Esther for you, when you are ready!"

He continued to chat with Esther. "We have a marine biologist visiting from Earth. A giant egg sac was found on the beach, and she was here to confirm it, because we thought it was something else. She says there is a giant reptile or some such animal, to have laid such a huge egg in the ocean."

Esther's heart sank. "Giant reptile? Are you sure?"

"No, I am not sure, Esther. This is just what the professor has assumed, based on the dimensions of the egg sac. Why?"

"Diane was telling me earlier that a woman had reported seeing a giant creature from the train, but they were treating it as an hallucination, or a blemish in the glass she was looking through."

"Interesting story, from my point of view. I think I will look into it tomorrow. Ah, here's Jeannette." He handed over the phone to Jeannette.

"Hi, Esther, What's up? Tom seems excited."

"Oh, that's just him and his newspaper stories. I was phoning to ask if Usgar could join us in a rail trip to the village of Camperdown, where Margo is teaching. Tuchgar misses his Mum and sisters, so we thought a visit was in order. It expanded from there, and it is now Tuchgar, Jenny and Amech. Do you think Usgar would like to come along? I have still to speak to Esme about Nargo joining us, with the idea of an entire Malan group rail trip."

"Sounds great, Esther. Who has to go with them? I am up to my eyes in work at present."

"I'll go, along with Charlie, so two adults should be fine for the five kids. No need for the other Mums to come unless they want to. The children are pretty well behaved on the whole."

"Right. When you get the details sorted, give me a phone about times and places. I better get back to the kitchen now. Bye."

Esther next tried to get Esme, but she had switched off her phone. The phone would record the intended call, and she would phone back once she switched on again. Instead, Esther phoned Diane Kempe, and got through.

"Diane? Esther Price. That story you told me about the woman who claimed she saw a monster from the train, remember? Yes. Tom Pfeiffer has a marine biologist visiting, to examine an object found on the beach. It turned out to be an empty egg sac, but a VERY large one. I don't know the size, but something like ten times the usual size; that sort of order of difference."

She listened to the response, then added, "Yes, I do think the woman's story should be investigated further. Basic data, such as location of the train at the time, the direction she was looking, and her estimate of the distance the creature was from the line, and its apparent size. It is still not my bag, but I would advise finding out the details. Bye."

Ten minutes later, Esme phoned. "Sorry, Esther, but the bank disapproves of private calls when on duty, so I switch my phone off. I am on my way home now. What did you want, dear?"

Esther explained the plan for a train trip, and Esme was happy with it. "If Nargo wants to go, and I think she will, I will confirm it with you and get the details for meeting the others. It is good to let the Malan children have outings together. Bye."

Arrangements were concluded successfully, and the group arrived at the station by taxi, in plenty of time for their train. They trooped on board, with the children bounding around within the carriage, seeking a seating area large enough for their entire group. One man obligingly moved to another seat, and the adults thanked him for his kindness.

"Glad to oblige, ladies. I had not see the Malan children in real life before, so if I may talk to them, I would be most grateful."

Esther declared, "Children, the nice gentleman would be happy to talk with you on the journey, so you are allowed to chat to him. Don't wear him out!"

Usgar as usual was first to speak to the man. "Hello, I am Usgar. What is your name, sir?"

"George Descartes, Usgar. I am a farmer when I am at home, but I trained as a paramedic, so I work part-time at the hospital in the Accident and Emergency department, mostly covering for staff on holiday or off ill. Do you children attend school?"

Usgar was keen to explain. "Yes, we go to school with human children. We all speak good English, and some of our classmates can speak some Malan. Jenny here is still learning Malan, because she was brought up as an English speaker only. A few of our teachers have also learned Malan. I am still not sure why. They say it is so that they can stop us if we use bad words, but I don't know any bad words in Malan, so I think they are just trying to be nice to us."

"If that is so, Usgar, that is a good thing, is it not? Back on Earth, humans have a tendency to look down on anyone who is different - a different colour, different religion, from a different country, anything like that. Rehome is a good place to be different, my boy."

"That is interesting, sir. You are different from me, but I don't look down on you – I can't, unless you are sitting down and I am standing up!"

George gave a guffaw, and patted Usgar on the shoulder.

"A nice one, Usgar. I am sure you know perfectly well that it meant being not nice, and not a matter of height. Do you often tell jokes?"

"Oh, no, sir. I just like the silliness of some words in the English language. Real jokes: I am not so sure about them. I think you have to have a human background to appreciate them. Jenny might be good with jokes, and appreciate them."

"How old are you, Usgar?"

"Five. Well, almost six."

"Amazing. You come over as a much more mature boy. Do you do well at school?"

"We are just in our first year at school, sir, but I am enjoying learning, so I think I am doing well."

Esther came over to the pair, and said, "Usgar? I think you are hogging the gentleman. Why don't you let some of the others chat for a little while?"

"Oh, sorry, aunt Esther. Here, Jenny. You talk to Mr Descartes."

Jenny came over to stand next to the seated man. "Hi, my name is Jenny Price. I am an American by birth, Malan by race, and human through my Mum. What does your surname mean, mister?"

"It is French. That is about all I know about it. As far as I am aware, I have no connection to the philosopher, Rene Descartes."