My Clockwork Muse by D.R. Erickson Read Free Book Online Page B

could not stop
it. "I was in some kind of somnambulistic trance, so I recall the
fearful deed only in brief flashes of memory. I remember calling to
him. Here, kitty-kitty... I can see him rubbing up against
my leg, arching his back."
    "Cats are wonderful pets," Gessler muttered
happily.
    "The next thing I knew, I had my penknife in
one hand and his bloody, damnable eye in the other." Gessler stared
at me and I stared back. "I am not proud of it, sir!" I snapped. "I
shudder, I blush, I burn to recount it." I stared at him fiercely
for a moment and then sighed. "Needless to say, the cat won't come
near me now—except to lunge at me from ambush, as you have
witnessed."
    "An eye for an eye, it would seem. What you
have there is a cat bent on revenge."
    "And also excepting last night," I added,
suddenly remembering the strangeness of it.
    "Last night?"
    "I fell asleep with the thing curled up in my
lap, purring like a kitten."
    "Well, there you go, then, Mr. Poe!" Gessler
exclaimed brightly. "Perhaps all is forgiven. Time heals all
wounds, as they say."
    I rubbed my cheek skeptically.
"Perhaps..."
    Gessler set his half-empty cup down on a
table and walked over to my desk. He laid his palm on my neatly
stacked manuscript. He gave it a pat and smiled before looking up
at me. "These somnambulistic trances of yours, as you call them...
It puts me in mind of a tract I believe you had once written on the
nature of Mesmerism. What the human mind is capable of is endlessly
fascinating, don't you think?"
    "Oh, but Inspector, with all due respect,
they are hardly the same thing. The one is simple sleep-walking,
the other induced by one trained in the art of — New Roman" \s 12"
    "Simple sleep-walking, yes. I understand that
during times of trial people sometimes succumb to such episodes.
What starts as simple sleep-walking...Well, who knows where it can
end? Such as in the case of you and your cat."
    "My wife had just died."
    "A time of trial, to be sure."
    I began to regret telling him about Pluto's
eye.
    "He was kicked by a horse," I said suddenly,
thinking perhaps a jest might be the best way to conceal my growing
discomfort.
    Gessler blinked. "I beg your pardon..."
    "Pluto. My cat. He was kicked by a horse. I
think I would rather go with that story instead."
    Gessler threw his head back and bellowed a
laugh. "Ah, my dear Mr. Poe. Do not read too much into my
ramblings. So you gouged out your cat's eye. Who isn't filled with
remorse for the commission of some little misdeed or other?"
    "Yes," I laughed. "And only semi-consciously
too."
    "Of course. You were not in complete control
of your faculties, that much is obvious. But this!" Gessler patted
my manuscript again. "You are in top form here, without question.
No doubt, this new story of yours will be enthusiastically
received."
    "I must finish it first," I said, a little
crossly. I didn't believe in curses, but all this fuss over an
unfinished story was starting to make me nervous.
    "Still, even the best stories are not immune
to criticism. It must be hard to accept negative reviews. Your new
story here, for instance. Of such unsurpassed excellence—\s 12at
least as it begins. Were it to be maligned by some hack reviewer
somewhere...Why, that must be galling to you almost beyond
endurance."
    I laughed. This had become too much. "Sir, I
have not even finished the tale and you praise it and condemn it by
turns! I must ask that we speak no further of my unfinished
work."
    "Your agitation makes my point exactly, Mr.
Poe. It cannot be easy to have one's work the subject of such
constant public scrutiny. You must at times wonder how much better
it would be to labor in some anonymous enterprise. As it is, harsh
words are inevitable. These, for example..." He fished in his coat
pocket and produced a folded wad of paper upon which he had
scribbled a few words. He spent a moment smoothing the sheet. Then
he held it close to his eyes and began to read aloud. I let him go
on for a while until I