Sentence
The Fourhundredandfiftyeighth
Peter Boo WS –
still feeling somewhat of a carpetbagger in this isolated and inbred
town – was shocked when he saw the hunched and hollowed shell of
the once-ebullient and avuncular Ranulph Ochan'toshan, a friend of
every viewer of his television shows, of Queens and Cardinals, who,
with a piece of charcoal and a few words, and being a natural
raconteur, could create a vision to enthral young and old alike; how
had he deflated, and become this shrunken cadaver? now Uncle Ralphy
looked grey and confused and Boo wondered if he suffered from
Alzheimer's: “Mr Ochan'toshan, Ranulph, I can see that you have
suffered from a severe shock, as would any innocent man whose home
had been invaded by an armed gang, intent on despoilment and
ravishment; I have a warrant for your release on your personal
cognizant – I have spoken with the Chief Superintendent and he is
happy for you to leave with me, he is extremely sorry for the
unlawful and intrusive behaviour of the quite unnecessary Armed
Response Unit who seized and restrained you, and I can see that he is
afraid of the effect of that action on his own career: he is a fan of
yours and has invited you to a children's party in his own home
tomorrow afternoon – I have accepted on your behalf (it doesn't
matter if you are too unwell to attend, the invitation and your
acceptance will go a long way to rehabilitate you in the eyes of your
public, who have been signing an on-line petition for your release
and for restitution for the damage and harm to your person, your
property and your reputation0 and he has promised to send a team of
interior decorators to to repair any damage caused by the muddy boots
and over-zealous actions of the Unit which, he has asked me to stress
to you, was not under his direct control, and to advise you that it
is being investigated by Internal Affairs and that punishment will be
swift and extreme and any senior officers found to have instigated
the action will be dealt with strongly and with extreme prejudice –
I might add that, should you attend the party, if you are feeling up
to it, a TV crew will be there to beam the occasion live to seven
channels simultaneously; and His Grace the Duke of Albany who will be
performing as a Clown, would be delighted if you could see your way
to spend the night and the morrow as his personal guest at Albany
Palace; and a look of recognition seemed to illuminate Ochan'toshan's
face and for the first time he smiled and said: “dear old Dick, my
old friend, he can be a little bit doctrinaire if you don't see
things his way, but his heart's in the right place, did he really?”
and when the solicitor nodded, the old man took his hand and kissed
involuntary shudder and made a mental note
to apologise to the Chief Superintendent and explain that his own
children would be unable to attend the party due to a sudden bout of
malaria which they had picked up on a school visit to Duddingston
Loch where, due to the unaccustomed and unseasonable heatwave,
mosquitoes were proliferating and attacking young children – and he
didn't care whether the Chief Superintendent believed him or not, or
whether it created any awkwardness for himself, there was no way he
was going to allow Uncle Ralphy anywhere near his own flesh and
blood; which was when Ochan'toshan looked up, tears staining his
time-worn face and beard and asked: “how is Lolly, will I get her
back?”
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