by Stephen Ellner

From the Debrief of Frederic Adams

Pegasus Unit 

It was a dark and cold morning when at last the letter came through my door. I carefully put down the socks I was darning and walked over to the front door mat. At last, the letter I had been for the last few weeks waiting for, the reply to my application for the position of Butler at the Mitcheldean Manor. I at once set about packing every thing I would need and headed to the town to catch a Carriage to the Lamb Inn, Gloucester, as instructed.

I arrived at my destination at about 7.00 that evening and was greeted promptly by Mrs. Jessop who introduced me to all of the new staff also being employed. Stephen Fawcite the gamekeeper, Kitty Bates and Penny Lane the new maids and finally Thomas Atkins the footman who would later on prove to be a very valuable member of my staff. Mrs. Jessop explained to us that Professor Foster was not currently at home and she doubted that we will see him all weekend which was a shame as I was looking forward to meeting my new employer, but I was sure that we had a lot of time to get to know each other (I could not have been more wrong). We were then all driven to the Manor House to begin settling in and getting about our duties, as I have always told myself “A clean house is a well loved house”.

As it turned out, we did not have too much time before the guests arrived but they did not come quite how we expected them. It was now dark when there came knocking at the door. At once I went to let in our guests but whilst walking through the great hall it was apparent that there was much shouting. On opening the door I found them accompanied by soldiers of the kings army holding them at gunpoint whilst searching and disarming them. I at once demanded of the loudest soldier who appeared to have some authority what was their business, but he was not very forth coming with any information apart from the fact that all the guests were now being held under house arrest and that all their guns were now confiscated. Once inside the guests were taken away in turn and interrogated and questioned quite harshly as to what they were doing in the area. When it was obvious that the guest did not have the information that his majesties army required they let the guest get on with settling in whilst they themselves went back into the night to search and patrol the premises.

Whilst the guests were unpacking, myself and the other servants got on with cooking the dinner, well my new acquaintance Mr. Gordon Blue did any way whilst the rest of us prepared the dining table. As we were serving the guests there was further interruption when there came a knocking at the front door. I immediately went to see whom it was, leaving the guests chatting about todays less than welcome visitors. Walking to the door I was wondering whom it could be turning up at the manor most unexpectedly at this late hour. But on opening the door I could see that it was a man of the cloth who introduced himself as Farther John O’Grady but the odd thing was that there was no carriage or motorcar outside. He was never to explain who brought him here. I showed him to the dining room and ordered another place to be set. As it was our first day Mrs. Jessop suggested that maybe the servants would also like to have dinner as well at the dining table. This displeased me greatly but as we were placed at the far end of the great table to the guests it was better than I had expected. 

After dinner all of the guests retired to the lounge for after dinner cigars and sherry whilst we cleared up, after all a tidy dining room is a clean dining room. I was surprised to see that Captain Snell was still around and the young soldier, Corporal Knobs as well. However, they were soon to leave us after informing us that their company had not reported back for quite a while and were feared to be missing so they would start searching for them. The guests took this chance to introduce themselves and tell a little of whom they were. Due to the fact that I was serving drinks I did not hear everything but got to know a little about each of Professor Fosters guests. These included Daniel Branwin an archeologist and expert on Hieroglyphics, Count Jezenko Drakovsky, a Russian nobleman and an old student of Professor Foster. An odd little chap called Max Fate, Professor Farrell an anthropologist and pen friend of Professor Foster, Mrs. Madeline Henshaw, a museum curator and Sponsor of Professor Foster's digs, Mrs. Emile DeWitt, a Swiss Lady and friend of Maddy Heshaw (also a sponsor of Professor Foster's digs) Mr. Arthur Dewitt, a Hungarian refugee (there was something I did not trust about this man) and husband of Emily, a medical doctor and Sponsor of Prof Foster's digs and Mr. Martin Adams, an army man and Archaeology student who appeared to be representing an old friend of Professor Foster. Just as every one had a chance to say their short piece in rushed the young Corporal (Knobbs) who seemed a bit distraught stating that his Captain had been captured and that there was still no sign of his colleagues. He insisted that we should not try looking for them until the light of day and that we may need a bit of rest and should go to bed. After a brief patrol to make sure that all doors and windows were locked I too went to bed.