Back In Athens An Intrusion by Zoe Xanthippos       The shop had been fairly busy during the morning and I was pleased to know that there was a tidy sum in my cashbox. My new items were selling well. I rose and stretched before going to the door. Judging from the position of the sun, it was about time for my friends to join me for lunch, but I thought I'd wait for them to arrive before putting out the closed sign. More business would not be a bad thing. As I stood squinting out into the midday sun, I saw that scribe of Elgon's and shook my head at his ever present untidiness. That man was a disgrace to Elgon's staff and I wondered again how he had ever gotten a job. As he came closer, I went back into my shop and shut the door behind me, wanting to avoid having to exchange greetings with him. I was just turning the closed sign around to face the street when the scribe gave the door a hard shove, nearly knocking me down. "I am sorry, Kyrios," I said politely. "The shop is closed now. Perhaps you will come back later?" I invited, hoping he would not. "I am sorry too, Kyria Xanthippos, but I am not here to buy anything. I am here on official business, and I have a number of questions to ask you," the man said pompously, pushing his way into my shop. "Whose official business? You're just a scribe. You have no authority to be asking anyone anything, unless it's how to spell something." "Watch how you speak to me, Kyria. I know you're a friend of the murderess, and I'm here to find out just how much you know about the case. Perhaps you even helped her kill that poor woman! I'm going to search your shop for evidence." I opened my mouth to argue with him, and then shut it again. Reasoning with this oaf would be useless. Apparently he had elevated himself in Elgon's absence. "Do you have a warrant?" I asked calmly. "A warrant? I don't need a warrant. I am the Law!" "If you want to search my shop, the law requires that you have a warrant. If you want to question me, the law requires that you wait until I have my attorney with me." "Look here, Kyria. I am the Law now that Clio's murdered Elgon and disappeared, and I WILL search your shop." He headed toward my back room but before he got very far, one of the large clay pots in which I stored old scrolls suddenly fell into his path and he tripped, hitting his head on a shelf and landing face down on the floor with a thud. I heard a very satisfied Yowl and looked up to see Clare and Daphne perched on the upper shelf above the remaining scroll pots. "Nice job, ladies. Now how do we get him out of here?" My problem was solved with the arrival of Leander. When I explained what had happened, he obligingly dragged the scribe out into the street and put him into his cart, covering him with some empty sacks. "He won't wake up for a while, Zoe. I banged his head on the side of the cart, just to make sure," he grinned at me when he came back in. But I'll be taking him to the other side of town now. I know where there's a nice shady olive grove where he can sleep it off. He's been drinking, you know. I've heard he usually is. I'm sure I can find an empty wine jug along the way and I'll just lay it on top of him, so he'll feel at home when he wakes up," he laughed. "Be careful, my young man. I'd hate to have to give up the day's profits to bail you out of jail," my laughter joining his as he went out the door. ************************************************************************************** Credits This story is an effort between several writers of our Athens Novel at PanHistoria. The main characters and writers of this story are Clio Aristocratos, (written by- herself) and Elgon Agis (written by- myself) The story started out to create a background past for Clio, and just developed into a life of it