Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 14 — & Recipe from Robbie Cheadle

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, June 17, 2023

CGI by Teagan

Welcome back to Atonement, TN.  Last week I hosted a Roaring Twenties blog party, featuring S. R. Mallery.  With all those links to so many other people, it was a big undertaking for me.  As a result, I had little time for this serial, or for arranging to feature someone.

Roberta Eaton Cheadle was an absolute jewel in mingling with guests and keeping the party going. (Thanks again, Robbie!) Happily, Robbie added a link to another of her recipes in a comment.  I couldn’t resist featuring it here.  You’ll find the recipe for Salmon & Hake Fishcakes at her post.Salmon & Hake Fishcakes courtesy Robbie Cheadle

Salmon & Hake Fishcakes courtesy Robbie Cheadle

That also gave me the idea to take “3 things” for this episode from the comments readers made at the 1920s party.  The random reader things I used from the comments are:  solstice, fishcakes, and faux pas .

Last time, Pepper Riley saw some truly frightening and unexplainable things in the Rowdy Rooster Saloon. She has already been through quite a few weird things that left her rattled.  What effect will the events that took place in that barroom have on Pepper? Read on to find out.   If you missed the previous installment (episode 13-2), then click here. 

Atonement in Zugzwang
Episode 14

Altered CGI by Teagan
Altered CGI by Teagan

Yellow haze obscured the morning sun.  Blinking, I sat up in bed.  Sleep had been illusive, and the little I got was cluttered with frightening dreams of monsters that were disguised as humans.

A dream of a solstice stood out from the rest, because of the amount of detail it held.  In some secret place, a group of women danced.  Their movements were at once graceful and grotesque.  Blue light shimmered and flowed as they moved their arms, causing them to look like wings.  It also made a train on their gowns, which reminded me of tailfeathers.

Blinking away the remnants of the dreams, I felt at my neck for the leather cord that I had used to tie the gold chess piece around my neck.  Then I remembered that before I went to bed, I had placed that unicorn chess piece in the white knight’s position on the board.

Abruptly, memory of the night before flooded my waking mind.  Although it came to me with the order of events scattered.

“Your majesty…” the strange man with bright green eyes had murmured, and my blood ran cold at the recollection.

A barroom filled with ordinary people… and monsters.  A vampire in a red nightclub dress, a werewolf skirt-chaser, and a manticore bouncer to name only a few.

Yet simultaneously, they looked human — somewhat odd-looking humans, but homo sapiens just the same.  When I looked at those people, I could see two different versions at the same time.

“Were they shapeshifters?” I whispered to the tiny gray kitten who had just climbed up onto the bed.  “But no… they were not shifting, so they couldn’t be.  I was seeing two things at once.  Either way, it’s crazy.  And you…” I added when little Spike started to purr.  “Sometimes I see you that way too.  Not as human, but sometimes I see that golden horn on your head.  Yeah, it’s crazy.  I’m crazy.”

CGI by Teagan
CGI by Teagan

My chest tightened as a cloak of anxiety settled around my shoulders.

Maudie had not seen those things.  She seemed to feel uncomfortable, but if she saw what I had seen, Maudie Rocket would have certainly said something.

“C’mon Spike.  Let’s get you some breakfast,” I told the kitten and tried to smile as I scooped her up in one hand.

Once in the kitchen, I fed Spike before making coffee.  It became clear that while I had made certain that there was plenty of wet and dry food for the kitten, I had neglected groceries for myself.  Remembering some delicious fishcakes from Adelle’s Tearoom, I opened the freezer and took out the leftovers.  It was a strange breakfast, but they were still tasty.

Another thing I had neglected was washing the few dishes in the former gas station/garage.  I rummaged in a drawer a fork.  While I didn’t find the utensil, I did discover a stack of medical receipts.  Uncle Salty was proving to be much less diligent about filing than he was about other tasks.

The papers bore the letterhead of a nursing home in a neighboring village called Rectify, Tennessee.  Most of them were dated about fifteen years before.

“That would have been about the time Uncle Salty retired,” I murmured.

I recalled some family members saying that Salty had “gotten strange” after his last voyage as a merchant marine.  Then he retired to the small out-of-the-way town of Atonement.

Sometimes people use the term nursing home or sanitarium when they really mean an insane asylum.  They meant that he lost his mind, didn’t they, I pondered anxiously.  Uncle Salty stayed in that ‘nursing home’ for a while before buying this old gas station and remodeling it as a house.

“Some forms of insanity run in families…  If Salty was crazy, then maybe I’ve inherited it,” I voiced my fear.

Spike looked up at me with bits of food on her face and whiskers.  She made half a mew and went back to eating.

Returning to the receipts I found the doctor’s name, Mary Sue Leggett.  Nervously, I twisted the amethyst stud in my ear.  Twisting my earring was a habit that I developed as a child.

Maybe I’ll feel better, or at least get some insight if I talk to this doctor about Uncle Salty.  Maybe she can tell me if I have anything to worry about, I decided.

“It’s early.  If I get there before she starts her workday, maybe she’ll see me without an appointment,” I muttered.

When I came to Atonement on that “emergency” call from Maudie, who had just broken up with her boyfriend, I only brought a couple changes of clothes.  I picked up a few things at the local thrift shop, but I still didn’t have enough clothes to last a week.

“Maybe I do need to just go ahead and move here,” I murmured.

The only clean article of clothing left was a long-sleeved white dress.  I threw it on, along with the strand of amethyst beads that went with my earrings.  Within five minutes of making the decision to the Magnolia Skies Nursing Home, I was walking out the heavy glass doors of the onetime gas station.

Bheema image collage by Teagan

My next-door neighbor, Bheema Parvati was outside.  He was cleaning his brightly painted Humane Pest Removal van.  His shoulder-length black hair was pulled into a man-bun.  I noticed the “Om” tattoo on his forehead.  It was usually covered by his hair.

When he saw me looking, I smiled and waved.  Bheema waved back.  I realized it would have been neighborly of me to at least say “Good morning.”  However, I didn’t want to talk about where I was going.  Fortunately, he was making a phone call.  I got into my car without speaking.  Silently I hoped I wasn’t making a local manners faux pas.

Once I had seen a sign for the nursing home on the highway.  I knew where it should be.  The location was one of those confusing boundary situations.  Most of the property was actually in Atonement.  However, the city line between Atonement and Rectify went across it, placing the drive and the entrance to the building in the village of Rectify.

Shortly after I headed out on the usual route to the highway, I heard a crack-boom in the distance.  Thinking the sound must have been thunder, I glanced up at the clear blue sky.  I gave a mental shrug, but I checked to make sure my umbrella was in the car.

As I neared the highway, I was dismayed to find a large tree that had fallen across the road.  In my anxious state, that made me even more nervous.  Lowering the car window, I put my head out for a better view of the situation.  The way was completely blocked.

Rustling leaves drew my attention to the trees overhead.  A ragged gasp poured from my lungs when I beheld something in the upper branches.  H. P. Lovecraft might have envisioned the creature I saw.  It was distorted, with tentacle-like limbs coming out of odd parts of its body.

Then it was suddenly gone.  I looked all around the branches.  The only thing I saw was the spotty play of light on the leaves.

“I’m not crazy.  It’s just a trick of the light,” I assured myself aloud.  “Just light and shadow.  It was nothing.  It sure as hell wasn’t any Cthulhu!  And it wasn’t anything else either.  Oh crap, I really have lost my mind.”

I told my shaky hands to be still, and I gripped the steering wheel.  Taking a breath, I put the car into reverse.  Then I spotted a small street sign the tree had torn down, and a narrow road.  The sign read, Rectify Road.

Old rural towns always have a dozen ways to get to a given place.  It’s just a matter of knowing them.  I decided that I would be able to follow my nose and find the Magnolia Skies Nursing Home.

♣ ♣ ♣

Will Pepper learn anything from Dr. Leggett?  Heck, will she even get there?  It seems that the nursing home is only partially within the safe zone of the town.  Maybe Pepper shouldn’t get there…  Then there’s that conveniently fallen tree.  What’s up with that?  And what was that “trick of the light” up above the fallen tree? The only thing I can promise you with certainty is that Cthulhu is not in Atonement, TN.  But what was it?  

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.  I love to hear from you, so friendly comments are encouraged.  Hugs!

♣ ♣ ♣

The Atonement Series

Atonement kindle covers Cat eyes shelf 2023

Atonement, Tennessee

Full series of e-books with one click:  relinks.me/B087JV25JT

Kindle:  rxe.me/HGSVA8A

Paperback: relinks.me/1481826948

Also in Spanish, translated by Olga Núñez Miret! The title for the Spanish-speaking market is Expiación y Magia

Atonement in Bloom

Kindle:  rxe.me/5RRBLH

Paperback:  relinks.me/1726882128

The Glowing Pigs, Snort Stories of Atonement, Tennessee

Kindle   rxe.me/LTBDNH

Paperback   relinks.me/1725891972

♣ ♣ ♣

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or used with permission, or from free sources.

57 thoughts on “Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 14 — & Recipe from Robbie Cheadle”

  3. Pingback: Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 15, Featuring Olga Núñez Miret – Teagan's Books

    1. Hi, David. I’m glad you enjoyed the conversations here. Thanks for being a part of them.
      I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. I had some kind of stomach something that knocked me down for a couple of days last week. I hope you feel fabulous fast. Take good care of you. Hugs.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. Hello Teagan!
    I was here yesterday, and got called away, before I could leave a comment.
    Well, I’m in Rectify now, and will hopefully spot you at the Magnolia Skies Nursing Home next week.

    Meantime, what is the unicorn chess piece in the white knight’s position up to?
    HUGS!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. The game of chest I have never been able to play.. Just not had any one to teach me I guess.. Now Drafts… or your checkers yes. 😊

    Also glad you mentioned an Amethyst earrings and beads… A gemstone that is going to be activated I hear more so around the Summer Solstice.. 🙂 So keep wearing them.. 😉
    I end up missing so many of your wonderful episodes… But the ones I catch I love Teagan… Sending LOVE from the UK.. ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Hi, Sue. I don’t play either, so I’m handling the ways I mention the game carefully. It also acts as a device to help me keep this spontaneously written story in line.
      Thanks for your feedback on the amethysts. I was always so attuned to gemstones, especially the semiprecious ones… but that doesn’t seem to be part of my new normal (of the past 4 years).
      I appreciate you reading and commenting. Hugs ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Hey, John. What, indeed? It sounds monstrous, and as such, evil… but it’s inside Atonement. Has the barrier deteriorated even more? Or is there more to that than meets the eye? That answer might not be revealed until near the end of the story. 😀
      Take good care of you. Hugs.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. I hope Pepper makes it to the home and gets some answers. I worry about what those answers may be, but that’s part of the fun of reading your serials. Thanks for getting my mind moving this morning. I hope you have a nice weekend.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. Hi Teagan, thank you so much for the shout out. I am delighted you like the recipe and used it here🌝. I’ve never heard of a Cthulhu but it sounds very scary 🌸. A fabulous episode and I’m glad Pepper got a good breakfast.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Robbie. I think you would like the Cthulhu stories. H.P. Lovecraft was an early horror writer. The first time I read his work I didn’t find it scary, but that was really just because of the different way they wrote back then. When I let my mind settle into that time, I got in into the stories. To me, the ones about Cthulhu were the most frightening. I’d send you links, but my Internet is out, and typing 1 finger and 1 letter at a time gives me fits…
      Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

        1. It’s been a long time since I read him, Rebecca. I don’t read horror often, and might not have ever picked one, if not for a boyfriend who was reading them. Ha! I guess that i got one thing out of that relationship after all — an appreciation for HP Lovecraft. 😀
          Thanks for turning this into a fun and unexpected discussion about Cthulhu.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  20. So many questions to try to get answers to, and on top of that, all the practicalities she has little time for. Poor Pepper indeed! I hope she gets to the nursing home, but what will she find there? So intriguing, Teagan! And thanks to Robbie for the recipe!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

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