PseudoPod 363: Footsteps Invisible
Footsteps Invisible
by Robert A. Arthur, Jr.
‘Good morning, Sir Andrew,’ Jorman said pleasantly as the steps came up to his stand. ‘Times?’
‘Thanks.’ It was a typically British voice that answered. ‘Know me, do you?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Jorman grinned. It was usually a source of mystification to his customers that he knew their names. But names were not too hard to learn, if the owners of them lived or worked nearby. ‘A bellboy from your hotel was buying a paper last time you stopped. When you’d gone on, he told me who you were.’
‘That easy, eh?’ Sir Andrew Carraden exclaimed. ‘Don’t know as I like it so much, though, being kept track of. Prefer to lose myself these days. Had enough of notoriety in the past.’
‘Had plenty of it four years ago, I suppose,’ Jorman suggested. ‘I followed the newspaper accounts of your tomb-hunting expedition. Interesting work, archaeology. Always wished I could poke around in the past that way, sometime.’
‘Don’t!’ The word was sharp. ‘Take my advice and stay snug and cozy in the present. The past is an uncomfortable place. Sometimes you peer into it and then spend the rest of your life trying to get away from it.’
About the Author
Robert A. Arthur, Jr.
ROBERT A. ARTHUR, JR. (1909-1969) was born in 1909 at Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Phillipines and passed away in 1969 in Philadelphia, PA. During his very productive life he was offered scholarships to both West Point and Annapolis, but turned them down to become a writer, his first works appearing in almost all of the pulp magazines being published at the time including “Black Mask” and “The Shadow”. He then moved on to radio scripting with David Kogan and wrote over 500 shows, including creating the program THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER, all while continuing to write short fiction. He wrote for THE TWILIGHT ZONE and was script editor for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, later becoming the editor of the Alfred Hitchcock paperback series (both the adult and children’s lines). From 1964-1968 he wrote the first ten of the ALFRED HITCHCOCK & THE THREE INVESTIGATORS books about the adventures of a trio of intrepid mystery solvers – a series still popular worldwide. THE THREE INVESTIGATORS series was one of the seminal youthful reading experiences of your editor, Shawn Garrett, who will eternally thank Mr. Arthur for the creation of Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, Bob Andrews and all the residents of Rocky Beach, California and who is extremely proud to be able to present this story to you through the auspices of Mr. Arthur’s daughter, Elizabeth Arthur, who followed in the footsteps of her father and is an author herself.
About the Narrator
Kevin M. Hayes
For Kevin M. Hayes, involvement in science fiction, fantasy and horror began at a very young age as an insatiable reader. Eventually he grew from passive reader to active participation as a writer. He became involved with Parsec, the SF/F/H organization in Western Pennsylvania and had his first story, “Rumpled Bedfellows” published in a fan produced anthology called “Six from Parsec.” (it’s still available if you ask nicely) Then his story, “The Thithshtach Diner” won the Parsec Short Story Contest in 2001 He went on to sell it to an e-zine called “Speculon.” He’s been published in Parsec INK’s first two Triangulation anthologies in 2003 and 2004 and even had clean limericks in a chap book. He’s had stories in “The Realm Beyond” and “TV Gods” both from Fortress Publishing and also a story in WorD Publishing’s first anthology: “Knee Deep in Little Devils.” He’s working on another anthology for WorD called “Beer, Because Your Friends Aren’t That Interesting” and he has co-moderated the WorD writing and critique group for over ten years. He is deeply involved with Parsec and the Pittsburgh science fiction community on many levels. It isn’t clear how Kevin became involved with PseudoPod, EscapePod, PodCastle and Cast of Wonders, but when he found them, he knew he wanted to narrate stories, as well as write, and has had the good fortune to have done it for over eight years.
