Read Online Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine - Free Book Online

for heaven’s sake, Welly, I’m your assistant. The least you could do is give me something to assist you with!”
    This would take some getting used to. “Ah, yes, of course, Agent Braun. If you would please hold the lantern?”
    The lamp’s side opened with a tiny creak, and from its flame the match sizzled to light. Wellington cupped the match and dropped it into a small reservoir at the top of the doorframe. A trail of fire ran along the top of the room’s stone molding, casting its glow on brightly polished brass reflectors curving above it. Now the once black void was a warm gold room of brick, boxes, and half-empty shelves.
    Braun smiled at the lighting device, giving a slight chuckle. “Oh this is very clever.”
    â€œYes, it is, but once a week, we will need to polish the brass, just to make sure we have adequate illumination. And then there is all the oil that sits in the gutter. Sometimes, being clever has its costs.”
    â€œI suppose.” Braun brushed her hands together and looked at the various boxes, ledgers, and piles of paper stacked before them. “So, what are we looking at here, Books?”
    â€œYou described the Archives as the place where things are ‘catalogued, stored, and forgotten.’ While I will still insist the Ministry could not function without our services, this is the part of the Archives that is most deserving of your eloquent description.”
    â€œWhat?” Since their time together, this was the first time Braun seemed genuinely surprised. “These are ‘forgotten’ cases?”
    He sniffed, wishing he could deny her abrupt judgement. “For the lack of a better word, yes. These are cases the Ministry either lacks the resources to follow any longer, or considers at a dead end.”
    Braun whispered, her eyes hopping from ledger to ledger, box to box. “How many of these forgotten cases are there?”
    â€œI’ve never summoned up the courage to count them all, but I assure you, it’s in the hundreds. We are talking of a ministry of Her Majesty’s government that spans over half a century.” Wellington sighed. “And I have added five from this month alone. I want to believe not all of these cases are ‘forgotten.’ Merely postponed.” He gave a chortle as he hung his lantern on a hook. “I am trying to come up with a name for this collection. I keep returning to ‘Cases of the Unknown.’ ” He approached a stack of papers that reached from the floor, past his waist. “Or perhaps ‘Files of the Unexplained.’ ”
    â€œFiles of the Unexplained, from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.” Braun pursed her lips, and then shook her head. “Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, Books.”
    â€œNo, it doesn’t. Perhaps Dead End Cases, but that is about as promising as ‘Forgotten.’ ”
    Braun reached into the crate in front of Wellington and started pulling out files. “So, our job here is to do what with these exactly?”
    He swiftly relieved her inexperienced hands of the open ledger and returned it to the crate. “We begin with the year first.”
    For a moment, Braun didn’t move. Then her furrowed brow relaxed as it dawned on her. “Oh, come off it, Welly . . .”
    â€œWe organise them. First it is by block of years, then the specific year, then date, and finally by investigating officer’s last name.”
    â€œYou mean, we have all these outstanding cases,” Braun pulled the ledger she had been reading once more out of its crate, “and all we’re going to do is organise them?”
    â€œAnd this organisation will go a touch faster if you avoid thumbing through the evidence boxes,” Wellington quipped, once more relieving Braun of the book.
    â€œYou mean to tell me you, a libra—” Wellington raised an eyebrow at her. “—an Archivist , are not