upper–eighties,” said Mickie. “But you look maybe fifty.”
“You’re older than that, aren’t you?” I asked.
“You three have discovered one of the advantages of being a chameleon?” replied Sir Walter. “I’m surprised Pfeffer taught you of this.”
“He didn’t,” said Will. “Sam thought of it.”
I’d suggested that maybe Will looked younger than his eighteen years because he’d spent so much time invisible when he was little.
“You will not age during the minutes or hours when you ree–pill , as you call it,” said Sir Walter.
Mickie’s face had gone pale. “So Helmann is a chameleon as well?”
Sir Walter nodded. “Very well deduced, Mademoiselle .”
“Helmann, the same Helmann, now controls Geneses,” Mickie said, looking anxious. “Of course. Of course. He alone was able to distinguish between Helmann’s disease and leprosy in an age where genes couldn’t be examined. He understood the difference because he was a carrier himself.”
“Precisely,” said Sir Walter.
“So, if you don’t mind my asking,” said Mickie, “how old exactly are you and Dr. Helmann?”
“We were born to sisters–in–law in the same year, being the tenth after the onset of the Papal Schism,” he replied.
“No way.” Will laughed at the old man.
I didn’t get the joke.
“As in, the Papal Schism?” asked Mickie, looking doubtful.
Will turned to me. “The Papal Schism occurred when two separate Popes were elected following the removal of the Papal court from Avignon, France back to Rome. Only that’s impossible.” He squinted, looking at Sir Walter. “That would make you …” He broke off, trying to calculate.
“I am a quarter–century past my six–hundredth birthday,” Sir Walter announced, wreathing all of us in the smoke of his gauloises cigarette.
Excerpted from My Father’s Brilliant Journey, by Helga Gottlieb
Early Years
In speaking of my father’s development as the Savior of Mankind, it is impossible to underestimate the importance of his early years; that is, the years prior to age sixteen, when he began to live regularly as a chameleon.
My father was the only child of a nobleman’s second son born at the close of the 14th century, CE.* Underprivileged, as such families of younger sons often were, my father also lost his parents during the conflicts with Northern Frenchmen and was raised through the so–called charity of his aunt, the Lady de Rochefort, wealthy and of noble birth. Her own daughter, Helisaba (or Elisabeth) de Rochefort, eventually became wife to my father.
But for years prior to my father’s accession to a noble inheritance, he had to endure the petty injuries and daily insults accompanying the lives of those born in unfortunate circumstances. His cousin Waldhart (later known as Walter de Rochefort) in particular delighted in inventing new torments for the young Girard.
Chief of these was the unfortunate appending to my father’s name of “L’Inferne.” The nickname, alternately translatable as “fire,” “fiery one,” “Hell,” or even, “Hell–ish one,” ultimately became adopted by my father as part of the name by which we know him today. So, while the miscreant Waldhart intended the name as a form of abuse, ultimately my father transcended his cousin’s intentions and adopted the name by which we have all been saved, Girard Helmann.
*In fairness to my father’s system of beliefs, I could use A.D., but as I myself am not a believer in such antiquated constructs, I choose to use the designation “Christian Era” instead of Anno Domini, or “Year of our Lord.” It is my hope to bring about a system of B.H.E. or Before Helmannic Era and P.H.E. or Post Helmannic Era in the future.
Chapter Ten
L’HISTOIRE
“The destruction of the Mayan Empire,” said Will, the following morning. “And Timbuktu, the Battle of Agincourt, the Turkish capture of Constantinople, the Spanish Armada …” Will continued chanting his
“You’re older than that, aren’t you?” I asked.
“You three have discovered one of the advantages of being a chameleon?” replied Sir Walter. “I’m surprised Pfeffer taught you of this.”
“He didn’t,” said Will. “Sam thought of it.”
I’d suggested that maybe Will looked younger than his eighteen years because he’d spent so much time invisible when he was little.
“You will not age during the minutes or hours when you ree–pill , as you call it,” said Sir Walter.
Mickie’s face had gone pale. “So Helmann is a chameleon as well?”
Sir Walter nodded. “Very well deduced, Mademoiselle .”
“Helmann, the same Helmann, now controls Geneses,” Mickie said, looking anxious. “Of course. Of course. He alone was able to distinguish between Helmann’s disease and leprosy in an age where genes couldn’t be examined. He understood the difference because he was a carrier himself.”
“Precisely,” said Sir Walter.
“So, if you don’t mind my asking,” said Mickie, “how old exactly are you and Dr. Helmann?”
“We were born to sisters–in–law in the same year, being the tenth after the onset of the Papal Schism,” he replied.
“No way.” Will laughed at the old man.
I didn’t get the joke.
“As in, the Papal Schism?” asked Mickie, looking doubtful.
Will turned to me. “The Papal Schism occurred when two separate Popes were elected following the removal of the Papal court from Avignon, France back to Rome. Only that’s impossible.” He squinted, looking at Sir Walter. “That would make you …” He broke off, trying to calculate.
“I am a quarter–century past my six–hundredth birthday,” Sir Walter announced, wreathing all of us in the smoke of his gauloises cigarette.
Excerpted from My Father’s Brilliant Journey, by Helga Gottlieb
Early Years
In speaking of my father’s development as the Savior of Mankind, it is impossible to underestimate the importance of his early years; that is, the years prior to age sixteen, when he began to live regularly as a chameleon.
My father was the only child of a nobleman’s second son born at the close of the 14th century, CE.* Underprivileged, as such families of younger sons often were, my father also lost his parents during the conflicts with Northern Frenchmen and was raised through the so–called charity of his aunt, the Lady de Rochefort, wealthy and of noble birth. Her own daughter, Helisaba (or Elisabeth) de Rochefort, eventually became wife to my father.
But for years prior to my father’s accession to a noble inheritance, he had to endure the petty injuries and daily insults accompanying the lives of those born in unfortunate circumstances. His cousin Waldhart (later known as Walter de Rochefort) in particular delighted in inventing new torments for the young Girard.
Chief of these was the unfortunate appending to my father’s name of “L’Inferne.” The nickname, alternately translatable as “fire,” “fiery one,” “Hell,” or even, “Hell–ish one,” ultimately became adopted by my father as part of the name by which we know him today. So, while the miscreant Waldhart intended the name as a form of abuse, ultimately my father transcended his cousin’s intentions and adopted the name by which we have all been saved, Girard Helmann.
*In fairness to my father’s system of beliefs, I could use A.D., but as I myself am not a believer in such antiquated constructs, I choose to use the designation “Christian Era” instead of Anno Domini, or “Year of our Lord.” It is my hope to bring about a system of B.H.E. or Before Helmannic Era and P.H.E. or Post Helmannic Era in the future.
Chapter Ten
L’HISTOIRE
“The destruction of the Mayan Empire,” said Will, the following morning. “And Timbuktu, the Battle of Agincourt, the Turkish capture of Constantinople, the Spanish Armada …” Will continued chanting his
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