Weekend Serial — Atonement: Bad Bishop, Prologue 2, Featuring Resa McConaghy

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, December 9, 2023

Welcome back to Atonement, TN.  It’s good to see you.

This time, the random reader things, which drive this episode were from the “soundtrack” suggestions.  Resa McConaghy suggested Hotel California.  It seems like if a song fits my mood, the ability to write arrives soon after the tune gets embedded in my head.  That song fit not only the surreal mood I’ve been in lately, but the fact that (as you’ll soon see) Pepper Riley hasn’t completely “checked out” from the strange between place she briefly visited at the end of Book-1.

Previously

Episode 21 left Pepper shot in the chest with an arrow.  Click here if you need to review how that transpired. I’m picking up with the last scene of Part-1 (Atonement in Zugzwang).  Then we will move forward.

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CGI by Teagan

From the end of Book-1

Consciousness flickered, off to on, black to white.  Searing pain bombarded me each time I came briefly back.

Purring… the kitten?  Sitting on my chest?

I tried to lift my arms to move Spike.  Even her slight weight on my chest caused immeasurable pain.  Forcing my eyes open, I could see her gold horn.  It was longer than I had ever glimpsed it in the past and it shimmered with light from within.

Reality became kaleidoscopic, shifting through bits of scenes in random order.  Colors, shapes, and lights flashed and whirred.  Then the swirling colors settled to one — gold.

Everything around me was suffused in a golden glow.  The pain in my chest quickly eased to a bearable level.

A soothing vibration was on my chest.  My eyelids fluttered, and I saw the kitten with a golden horn.  Spike sat there staring at me, her warm breath on my face and her purr filling my ears.  My eyes fixed on the tip of that spiraled horn.  It dripped red.

My blood… I thought.  

“The wound,” Maudie began in an amazed whisper. “Is it closing?  Wait!  There’s something in it.  I think it’s a chip of gold from that unicorn chess piece she’s been wearing like a necklace.  Doesn’t it need to be cleaned out before—”

“The wound’s already closed around it,” the deputy muttered.

I felt rather than saw Bheema nod to Maudie.  He gently removed Spike from my chest.  The ceremonial robes he wore were somewhat disheveled.  He tucked the kitten inside his robes.

Image collage by Teagan

“Spike, stay and be still.  You performed your part well and virtuously, but now you need to rest,” he murmured to her, and his voice held much more than the trace of an accent that it usually had.

Then I realized that my head rested against his lap.  Despite the pain and the sight of my own blood, I felt inexplicably safe.

My fingers felt for the gold unicorn chess piece around which I had tied a leather cord to make a sort of talisman of it. I pulled it out of my shirt and saw there was a tiny nick on the side of the mythical unicorn.

“From the arrow!” Fletcher exclaimed.  “It must have deflected the arrow.  Even the healing of a unicorn might not have saved her if that arrow had gone through her heart.”

“Welcome back, Pepper,” Bheema remarked casually.  “Thanks to Spike, you’ll be able to get up in a moment or two.  But rest for just a bit.”

Maudie released her embrace on Fletcher.  However, he kept one muscular arm protectively around her waist.  I looked past them as well as I could manage, trying to see the others.

“The boy…” I started, but fell back weakly.

“Adelle and Mary Sue have taken Chip Bai to safety,” Bheema explained.  “By now, they’d be on their way to…”

Bheema paused and looked to the sky where the auroras made a tall green spiral at the opposite end of Lake Uktena.  Everyone followed his gaze.

“To where the sirens have Donny Metatron,” he finished.

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Atonement, Bad Bishop

Prologue 2, Pepper

Pixabay

Fatigue engulfed me.  I touched the barely healed wound that grazed my heart.  I was only vaguely aware of Bheema Parvati telling me that my tiny, and secretly a unicorn hybrid, kitten had healed me.  I thought he said he was going to help Donny Metatron.

Bheema had carried me inside the shelter of the boathouse.  I remembered that much.  Even so, the thought of being helpless and alone frightened me, and I moaned an unintelligible noise.  Then he told Maudie to stay with me.

That put me at ease.  Maudie Rocket and I had known each other all our lives.  We were actually not simply friends, but cousins.  Her mother was my father’s sister.  Maudie’s parents had a racially mixed marriage.

I tried to reach for her hand, but failed.  As if she knew, Maudie took my hand while she murmured a worried goodbye to the deputy, Fletcher Hodge.

I was too weak to speak or lift my head.  It was as if every sound and sight made its way to me through a dense fog.

“Fletcher,” Maudie added, detaining him.  “Are you sure Bheema knows what he’s talking about?  Pepper looks like she’s getting worse, not like she’ll be bouncing around any minute.”

The deputy hesitated.  I had the impression that he had looked around for Bheema and found he had already gone.  His voice tightened.

“Maudie, Bheema wouldn’t lie.  Truth is, I’m not sure he even can.  I’d trust Bheema with my life.  What I’m trying to say is that I believe him,” he started.  “But I can see what you mean.  The wound healed around that gold chip from the unicorn chess piece she was wearing.  If that’s close to her heart…  I mean, if it gets inside her heart.  I’ll let Bheema know the minute I see him,” he said, and I thought they kissed.

Barber Pole artifact in space CGI Teagan Imagine
CGI by Teagan via Imagine

“Look, I’ll keep my phone on,” Fletcher continued.  “Reception here at Lake Uktena is spotty, and I’m probably going to be down in the tunnels around the mill… but call me if she gets worse.  At least, try to call.”

Blirrily, I opened my eyes.  A window was in my line of vision.  The auroras flickered, then went out completely.  But then they blasted out in luminous green, glowing with sharper color than anything I had ever seen.  I squinted against the brilliance.

During the instant when the lights went out, I glimpsed a giant column, but it wasn’t made of the auroras as they had previously swirled.  It was solid.  Red, blue, and purple nebulous forms spiraled up the column, reminding me of the stripes on a rotating barber pole.  Then I realized that the great column did, in fact, rotate between two silver constructs that capped each end.

How long has it been there, hidden behind the aruras? I wondered.

A sudden stab of pain from the just-healed wound in my chest stunned me.  I felt a trickle of moisture on my chest and knew that it was blood.  All the air left my lungs in a whoosh.  I lost consciousness.

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Wirt (Salty) Riley, CGI by Teagan via Imagine

The boards of the dock were uncomfortable beneath my back.  Opening my eyes, I saw that I was again on that strange pier.  Uncle Salty was beside me.  That time he looked like the old man I remembered, rather than the strong young man who shared my rose-gold hair color — the spirit who came to me when I had briefly died.

Uncle Salty looked at me in concern.

“Something strange is happening,” he said, eyes squinting into the fog.  “Something unnatural.  If dark powers did indeed break the rules of their game…  If this will rectify, then maybe it’ll be allowed,” he muttered, seeming to forget my presence.

Abruptly, Salty looked me in the eyes.  He gave my shoulder a regretful pat.  Then his eyes darted into the fog again, as if he could see something within the mists.

“Pepper, I have to go.  And you can’t be here.  They need you, whether you believe it or not.  They need you alive, not for that fool game of chess, and not for your DNA.  Heed the call of the nix,” he instructed.

“I don’t understand, Uncle Salty.  What’s a nix?  Besides, I feel safe here.  Please let me stay with you,” I pleaded.

“No, Pepper,” he told me fondly.  “Go back.  No matter how hard it is, or how afraid you are, I need you to wake up.  Wake up,” he stated without explanation, and disappeared.

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Had you guessed that Pepper and Maudie were related?  Ha! I didn’t know myself until a couple of days ago when I was writing this episode.  But that would explain some things about Maudie.  It might also complicate some potentials…  And yes, Salty — What the devil is a nix? And what was that column thing behind the auroras?

It never entered my mind (at least not until I got started with the idea back in the summer) what a difficult task of storytelling it was going to be to bring Enoch into this story.  He’ll get here next time…  I love to hear from you, so friendly comments are encouraged.  Hugs!

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Atonement in Zugzwang, Book 1

If you haven’t followed the serial, the searchable Kindle (e-book) is a perfect way to start.  Likewise, if you want a refresher since this new serial is absolutely tied to Book-1, I’ve given you an easy way to catch up.

Universal Purchase Links
Kindle: relinks.me/B0CHNX2X6T

Paperback  relinks.me/B0CHL7DL6Q

The Rest of 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

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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.

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60 thoughts on “Weekend Serial — Atonement: Bad Bishop, Prologue 2, Featuring Resa McConaghy”

  1. of course a unicat to the rescue… and no one guessed about Maudie? I thought you’d been dropping hints for months!! More seriously (why?) you are laying the paving stones very nicely; I just hope they’re not hiding bodies…

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  5. Excellent episode, Teagan.
    No, I never guessed Pepper and Maudie were cousins, and I have no idea what a nix is….outside of a Big Fat Zero.
    You know you live in the “Hotel California” of your mind?
    You live it up with your writing, and you can never leave.
    Hotel CaliTeagan, see you next post!

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  6. Very fun, Teagan. The story is taking a mystical/spiritual turn and I like it. That was so funny that you suddenly realized Maude and Pepper were cousins. I love that when it happens. And I’m glad Salty is sending her back into life. She clearly has things to accomplish. I’m looking forward to what comes next.

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    1. Haha, I see that you know how that is too. If I *knew* half of what I “know” then I might actually get somewhere in life. LOL.
      Pepper hasn’t actually fully “checked out” of that Hotel California — I thought she had with this one, but as I kept writing, I saw that she hasn’t left it quite yet. She needed to reveal some things that she wouldn’t be able to do if she was totally back with us. Ah the “joys” of pantsering. 🙂 Have a wonderful new week. Hugs.

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    1. I can’t deal with reading stories where a favorite character dies, so I can’t write them either. That said, we’ll still have to wait and see what happens with her wound. The random things and songs will drive that. (Though I can’t really explain how my head works with all that.) In this age where everyone is so desensitized to violence, and it takes mass killings to get our attention on the news, most people forget that there are long term effects to bullets and other injuries. Then again, I do insist on a happy ending, when I’m in charge of the world! 😀 Hugs.

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  10. I did not know Pepper and Maudie were related. A complete surprise. I’m wondering if that gold chip needs to come out of there. It seems to be interfering with Pepper’s healing. I’m glad Spike has healing powers. May come in handy again. Good to see you back swinging, Teagan.

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    1. Erm… yeah that gold chip… o_O Ummm, it might just get absorbed and go away. Or it could create something extra, some kind of power for Pepper. It might just be a constant risk factor for suspense — like a bullet or shrapnel, if she does this or that it could kill her. Or maybe it leads her somewhere, maybe to where the chess piece came from? LOL, John, I honestly have no idea. The hazard of pantsering. I thought of it, and knew that it simply had to be there. Just like Maudie being able to see some of the supernaturals. I just had to do that, but at the time had no idea why she could or for what purpose. Then all these months later it clicked in my head — If Maudie has that quirk and Pepper is special, then “Oh! they’re cousins” so they share DNA…
      Many thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  14. Great to be back in Atonement and no, I didn’t guess the relationship! I know that Pepper must recover but how? And Salty – great to see him but how will he figure in, or does he anymore? And the nix? Give us more!

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    1. I’m glad you’re here, Noelle. 🙂 Since I didn’t know about the relationship when I brought Maudie into the story… and when the “reanimated” body started falling apart and Moccus knew he wouldn’t be able to use it to renew the protection around the town — I thought I was finished with Salty then. Yet he’s come back a couple of times now. So I’m not going to tempt fate and say he’s done now. Although as far as I know, he is. You never know with this town. LOL. I’m hoping to have a lot of fun creating the nix. Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  15. Even though I’m officially on blog break I can’t miss what’s going on in Atonement. I like the appearance of Salty, both young and old. And I did not guess the relationship beyond friendship between Pepper and Maudie. Isn’t a nix a sea sprite? I’m not going to look it up, I’ll wait and see. (K)

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    1. Kerfe, now *that* truly makes my day! Thanks for coming here especially during your break.
      Haha. I’m not giving you a spoiler, because there’s no telling where I’ll go with the nix, but… The nix, like most other water-related beings has a lot of varied mythology. “Their sex, bynames, and various transformations vary geographically.” Sometimes myth overlaps from one critter to the next too. I’m mostly inspired by a Scandinavian version. The German Nix and his Scandinavian counterparts were male, but when you see the term “nixie” that is a female version. They have seductive powers similar to sirens, as well as shapeshifting. One legend involves a violin.
      But, naturally, the nix here will be my own interpretation. Some of the mythology I use is extremely “loosely inspired.”
      PS: Next time you and Dan get a shout-out for the Yes song. Hugs.

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  17. You have me back firmly in the grasp of this story, Teagan. The Nix, Salty, Enoch – I’ve learned to wait for everything to be revealed rather than put my imagination up against yours in a guessing game. I really like Salty today. I hadn’t guessed that Pepper and Maudie were cousins, but that makes sense. Maudie seems more willing to help her than even a good friend would be.

    Reading today, I feel like the last episode was yesterday, Kudos on bringing us back in so quickly and with a perfect landing. I hope you have a great weekend.

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    1. Haha! Dan, if you ever figure out where my imagination is headed, please let me know! Because I rarely know in advance. The relationship (suddenly, since I only just realized it) came not from Maudie and Pepper being so willing to help each other, but from the earlier mentions that Maudie can see some of the supernaturals. That kept whispering to me, that I was going to need to do something with that, and the story sidetracked me from it… until suddenly it was all there.
      I’m flattered that you remember the story so well. Oh, and you and Kerfe get the feature next weekend, for the Yes song. I just finished that episode. Hugs.

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  19. I love the Atonement installments, but the nix? Do we try to guess? make suggestions? or just wait?
    And no, I did not pick up that Pepper and Maudie were cousins. If she had a name like Sage or Spice, then maybe….

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  21. I’m very intrigued, Teagan, and no, I had no idea of the connection. I wonder how a family tree of the families of Atonement would look like! I look forward to more!. Big hugs and love to Daphne and Velma.

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