Grantville Gazette 38

'Cyrano de Bergerac, in the flesh!' Betsy grinned and bounced on her toes. In her excitement, she appeared to have instantly forgotten Albert. 'And he looks nothing like Steve Martin!'

Denis knew better than to ask who Steve Martin was. Not asking the 'who' question too often was one of the first things he had learned after meeting Betsy Springer. 'What did he want? Mirari wouldn't tell me.'

'He wants me to write down everything I know about some obscure sitcom from the fifties. He thinks it's an up-time classic that would be perfect to adapt it into a play. ' Her eyes got a faraway look in them. 'I think he may even give me writing credit!'

'If you're going to work on this play with him, then that should keep you out of trouble. And out of Albert's notice as well,' Denis said. 'Will you be hanging around the office for a while?'

She glanced around the room warily. Denis couldn't be sure if she was looking for emergency exits or to see if Albert was lurking in the shadows.

'Why not? Albert knows where I live. I don't want him hanging around there, getting too friendly with my mother.' Betsy looked a little sad. 'Ever since Dad died, she's been hinting that I should find a good man, settle down and start giving her grandkids. She doesn't need any encouragement from him.'

****

Betsy slipped from Denis's mind as he worked on the woodcut. At least until Mirari ran into the workroom.

'Denis, have you seen Betsy?' Mirari looked shaken.

Denis's wave took in the room. 'She was working on her notes for Mondemoiseau de Bergerac's play and hiding from Albert, until about a half hour ago. But she decided to get some air.'

'Oh dear,' Mirari said. 'We need to find her, and soon! Mondemoiseau de Bergerac has challenged Albert to a duel!'

'What? Why?'

'Albert must have seen Betsy with us at dinner last night after all and assumed that I was trying to set her up on a date. So he insulted Mondemoiseau de Bergerac's nose.'

Denis blanched. 'Good Lord! I thought she was exaggerating but I guess Albert is as much an idiot as Betsy said he was!'

Mirari nodded at that. 'And Mondemoiseau de Bergerac's cousin has yet to appear. If he were here, he could probably put a stop to all of this foolishness. But now . . .' She trailed off and shook her head. 'If we don't get Betsy to intervene, I'm afraid that Mondemoiseau de Bergerac will kill Albert!'

'Not that she would think killing Albert would be that bad an idea,' said Denis. 'You know how many times she has threatened to do it herself.'

'I've threatened to kill men all my life, but I've never done it,' said Mirari.

Denis arched an eyebrow at his cousin. There were family stories about her that said otherwise. Although he was sure that if she had killed someone it was not without justification.

'Besides the paperwork that we would have to fill out, it would be a pain, yes?' He smiled. 'You did happen to mention to Mondemoiseau de Bergerac that dueling is illegal in the USE?'

Mirari rolled her eyes. 'I did. But he doesn't care. And I've seen Cyrano fight. He's already good enough to cut Albert to shreds without breaking a sweat.'

'In that case . . .' He put down his drawing tools. '. . . I think Betsy couldn't have gone more than a block or two.'

'I'm glad you see it my way,' she said.

'We would be doing Mondemoiseau de Bergerac a kindness. If Betsy gets a hold of him after he's killed Albert . . .' Denis broke off his speculation. 'I think she wants to reserve that privilege for herself.'

****

Betsy's mind was so filled with the play that she almost walked into danger.

'Look out!'

She snapped out of her reverie to see a large horse rear above her. She scrambled out of the way even as the horse's rider pulled tightly on the reins to keep the animal from bolting.

'What kind of nutcase-' She broke off muttering as she heard a small engine splutter across the street. She looked up at rider as he struggled to control his animal. Obviously the horse-and therefore the rider-was from out of town, since the local mounts were used to engine noise

Betsy eyed the rider with predatory interest. A stranger like him would be a good subject for her series of features profiling newcomers to Grantville.

Once he had his horse back under control, he dropped to the ground and faced Betsy.

'Pray forgive me!' he said. 'I am most shamed that I almost caused such a lovely young woman as yourself harm. I am Charles de Largo.'

Betsy swallowed the inclination to hold her hand to her heart and giggle. She would not behave like some kind of swooning damsel. 'I'm Betsy Springer with the Grantville Times. You can make it up to me by agreeing to an interview. '

She felt a little like Lois Lane just meeting Superman for the first time and having the gumption to ask for an interview after being rescued. Largo's accent was slightly familiar. But she had never been as good as Denis with accents. He could identify where someone came from by their voice right down to a side of town. That was sheer spooky as far as she was concerned.

Charles de Largo started at the name of the paper and then stared at her for a moment. Betsy gave him her impression of her mother's 'you're going to do this' stare before he could decline. Then she launched into her first question. 'What brings you to town?'

'Actually, Mecklenburg was where I had intended to go,' he said with his own nervous laugh.

'Oh? Are you a soldier?'

'I have more than a bit of experience in the army, yes. I thought I might be able to find employment there,' he said. 'Unfortunately, I got confused on directions about thirty miles outside of town and here I am.' He spread his hands to indicate Grantville.

'You should have turned left at Albuquerque,' she said with a smile at her small joke. She wasn't sure if she believed him or not, enlisting in the army was the excuse a lot of men used for coming to town.

A look of confusion ran over de Largo's face. 'Your pardon, Mademoiselle; is this Albuquerque you speak of a town or a local landmark, perhaps?'

Betsy felt her checks run crimson as she sighed. Sometimes she missed having fellow movie geeks to talk to. Her humor was completely lost on everyone in this century. But she had to admit that de Largo was quite good looking, perhaps even someone she might like to get to know better. Despite this, her reporter's instincts were pinging like broken radar. Something seemed off with him.

'Betsy!'

At the sound of her name the young reporter turned to see Denis rushing toward her.

Denis slid to a stop and doubled over to catch his breath. 'Betsy,' he said between gasps for air. 'We need to talk!'

Betsy smiled at de Largo. 'I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.' She turned to Denis and pulled him aside. 'Can it wait? I'm about to interview this fellow for the paper.'

Denis looked over her shoulder at de Largo. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Then he shook his head in dismissal before turning his attention back to Betsy. 'Only if you want to miss your chance to see Albert being killed.'

'What?' Betsy stiffened.

'Mirari said that Albert must have seen your business meeting last night. This morning he insulted Mondemoiseau de Bergerac over your honor and your playwright benefactor challenged him to a duel.'

Out of the corner of her eye, Betsy noticed de Largo perk up at the name de Bergerac. But she couldn't spare more than a second to wonder why. She had more pressing matters to attend to.

'Well, at least he didn't say anything about Mondemoiseau de Bergerac's nose. That would take things from bad to impossible!'

Denis coughed and looked away.

'He didn't,' Betsy slapped her hand to her forehead. 'Great! Now what am I going to do? De Bergerac is