Alexander the Caracal meets Miltiades the Canada Lynx

The Captain and his Materfamilias

Long after Herr von Fell made his departure, Captain Smith came up to his mother's room. The moment he entered the room, Alexander jolted awake. His master gave the Northern caracal a smile and approaching, gave the feline a scratch on the head.

After taking a seat in a chair, the captain and his materfamilias sat in silence. Neither looked at one another, Nana Smith's eyes were upon Alexander while Captain Smith's were upon a painting on the wall.

Ultimately, Nana Smith asked her scion: "For what reason was Herr von Fell hear, Kull?"

"A number of reasons, a few of them to insult me, you or the some of the students." Captain Smith answered. "Primarily to argue with me because I took Roxana from him. He even demanded a trade!"

"Good lord, who did he want?"

"He did not want Cnut or Emma, nor did he want Herod or Cleopatra, though he quickly took to insulting me for using owls in falconry. Called me the laughingstock of the Falconry Club for that... Peter and Catherine he did not want either. He had considered Alexander, but when he saw the state that he's in—"

"I heard his comment, Kull." Stated Nana Smith. "I agree with Alan. Had a French or volunteer soldier put a ball in his cerebrum the world would be a better place. That barbarous cutthroat! He only sees wild beasts as things for him to relieve heads of so he can put them on his wall. Who did he ultimately demand in exchange for Roxana?"

"He did not answer when I inquired." Answered Captain Smith. As he sighed, he looked to his mother and said: "Whatever the case may be, he is gone now."

"Thank the Lord for that." Commented Nana Smith, now scratching Alexander's chin. "Kull, have you ever considered expanding beyond Egyptology?"

"Mother, Quebec Castle is a monumental country house, but even then, I can't fill the entire place with archaeological finds." Captain Smith looked to a picture of his late father, before saying: "I am considering at least dedicating a room to father's interest in paleontology."

"Your shared interest." Nana Smith said, looking to the picture of her late husband.

"Yes..." Captain Smith stroked his beard, before saying: "A pity he never got around to painting the Battle of Clontarf on the ceiling of the dinning room... A pity we never got around to doing it."

"A pity your brother never appeared for the funeral." Nana Smith then looked to a family picture on the wall. It showed herself and a young Captain Smith, her late husband, another boy and a girl. "I wonder if he will appear for mine."

"He lives in England, mother." Stated Captain Smith. "By the time a letter would reach him the funeral would have already happened."

"And I will be beside your father." Nana Smith proceeded to stroke Alexander as she said: "You will be taking the students to Egypt in the new year will you not, Kull?"

"I was hoping to, mother, but I know not if I shall." Answered Captain Smith. "The Great War is being fought even there where the pharaohs ruled. I was lucky to be able to get Alexander. The war is being fought in the western desert, but it is being fought in Egypt still. How long until it covers the entire nation?"

"You could go to South Africa."

"I have not set foot there since the end of the Second Boer War, mother."

"Fourteen years have passed since the end of the Second Boer War, Kull. Things have changed. You could take the students on safari, you could take pictures of wildlife, after all, what have you said about photography, my son?"

"That it is the only way to shoot big game." Captain Smith smiled. "Aye, my materfamilias, it is. I am a man ahead of my time, mother. Barbarous cutthroats like Herr von Fell, Theodore Roosevelt and Lord Dunsany seek the destruction of animals simply for the sake of a trophy or simply for the glory of rendering a species extinct. Roosevelt may be pragmatic in his conservational efforts so he does not run out of anything to hunt, but at the end of the day he is still after a trophy. Make no mistake, mother. Big game hunters are as evil-hearted as Paris of Troy, if not more so."

Alexander listened and thus, did he hear the name of Theodore Roosevelt once more. He had heard this appellation before, Alan mentioning that he was the rival of Herr von Fell. He had not heard the name of Lord Dunsany before and he knew not if he would ever hear his appellation again. Big game hunter, barbarous cutthroat, call them either one, whichever they were called, such men Alexander knew were not to be trusted.

"And yet you had a complicated relationship with John Henry Patterson." Commented Nana Smith.

"The only big game hunter that qualifies as a good man. He was a hero, he slew the Tsavo Man-eaters by himself, though I suspect that in years to come there will be people who doubt what he wrote, but I was there with him, as Herr von Fell. I am just unhappy that he excluded the both of us. As much as I dislike Herr von Fell, he and I both deserved to be mentioned. He is a good man, but he is hardly a perfect man."

"Perfection is one of the great illusions of life, Kull."

"I know, mother, I know." Sighing once more, the Veteran of the Second Boer War looked at his materfamilias and said: "I wish you could live to see the wedding. Live to see me married once more."

"As do I, Kull, but I have seen many joys and many sorrows in my seventy-four years. I know you and Igraine will be happy together, as shall Robert and Eleanor be happy together and Herman and Verna." Then it was Nana Smith's turn to sigh. "A triple wedding featuring six people very dear to me and I will not live to see it. To Igraine and Eleanor, whom both lost their own mothers when they were young like Gemma, I have been like one to them and I have viewed Herman and Verna as my own grandchildren... That I will not live to see you all marry is a regret I have, but nonetheless, I will die facing the Angel of Death without fear. I am Gudrun Smith! My father traced his ancestry to many great Cayuga chieftains and my mother traced hers back to Conn of the Hundred Battles and people of such ancestry do not face expiry in fear!"

"Would that all could be as you, mother. I had a comrade in the Second Boer War who said he could trace his ancestry back to Alfred the Great, Sweyn Forkbeard, William the Conqueror and some Celtic monarch, he kept switching from Rhodri the Great to Kenneth MacAlpin... The poor fellow died screaming for his parents... He was a casualty at Paardeberg... We learned that he had lied about his age... He died only sixteen years old, Alan's age... The thought of Alan doing the same to enlist in the Great War terrifies me, mother."

"I know, Kull, but you know your nephew would never do such a thing."

"Do I, mother? Temptation is within all of us, is it not? I know what Alan had told Gemma, but still, he is young and young and old alike do stupid things." Standing up, Captain Smith gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and said: "I will be back later, mother. When I return, we will talk some more."