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NaiN Rouge T!" C#$%&'( T!#"" NaiN Rouge T!" C#$%&'( T!#"" by Josef Bastian illustrations by Bronwyn Coveney & Patrick McEvoy Nain Rouge: )e Crimson )ree Copyright © 2017 by Josef Bastian. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or trans- mi*ed in any form or by any means, including photocopying, record- ing, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior wri*en permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permi*ed by copyright law. For permission requests please address: Folkteller 407 Webster Royal Oak, MI 48073 USA Published 2017 by Folkteller Illustrations by Bronwyn Coveney & Patrick McEvoy Copyright © 2017 Designed, Printed and bound by )omson-Shore, Inc., Dexter MI 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 ISBN 978-0-9980528-0-9 (Paperback) ISBN 978-0-9980528-1-6 (Limited Edition Hardcover) Library of Congress Control Number 2016952969 Some of the most amazing things happen in the most ordinary places… -From the Folkteller’s Guidebook CoNteNts Part 1 The Red Legend xiii Prologue xv 1: At the Museum 1 2: Bad )ings 7 3: )e Chosen 19 4: Fast Friends 23 5: Marianne de Tonty 29 6: )e Good Doctor 35 7: Answers and Questions 39 8: Legacy 45 9: Across Town 51 10: Lutin 55 11: Time and Hour 65 12: )e Waiting 69 13: Revelation 75 14: Subterfuge 81 15: Darkness Before Dawn 91 Epilogue 103 Part 2 The Red Tide 107 Prologue 109 1: A New Beginning 111 2: Shadows 117 3: )e Company Misery Brings 125 4: Black Out 135 5: Sorting )ings 139 6: )e New Alliance 145 7: Back to Beele 151 8: )e Curious Curator 159 9: )e Not Knowing 169 10: Underground 177 11: )e Ghost River 185 12: Ley Lines 191 13: Water, Water, Everywhere 197 14: Small Hopes 203 15: Beele’s Return 209 16: Cartography 213 17 : )e Rising Tide 225 18: )e 24 229 19: Minus One 235 20: )e Silent Embarking 239 Part 3 The Red Truth 245 Prologue 247 1: Into the Storm 251 2: )e First Leg 255 3: A Dark Palace in the White City 261 4: Lutin’s Trail 265 5: A Bell+ower 271 6: Secrets Revealed 281 7: Gas 287 8: Subtle Changes 295 9: )e Union League 305 10: )e Art Council 313 11: To Tell the Truth 321 12: Sir Gawain 325 13: )e Storm Upon Us 333 14: Moving Shadows 339 15: )e Return to Motown 345 16: )e Basking Dwarf 351 17: Let’s Make a Deal 355 18: Opening Day 365 19: No Entry 369 20: )e Exhibit 375 21: Strange Success 383 22: )e Marche du Nain Rouge 387 Part 1 The Red Legend Honi soit qui mal y pense “Evil be to those who Evil think” Prologue nce upon a time, seems like a logical place to start, doesn’t it? OMost good stories begin this way and I will make no exception. As the Folkteller, it’s my job and duty to appear once in a while and tell some of my stories to you. No one really knows when I will show up or when I will leave. In fact, I don’t really know myself. What I do know is that I’m here now, so it must be time for me to share a story with you… Once upon a time, across the great sea, the kings and queens of Europe looked to knights, lords and ladies to maintain peace and balance in the land. People spoke of chivalry, a term used to describe what is best in all of us. Chivalry became the name for the general spirit or state of mind which inspired men and women to heroic actions and greatness, keeping them in tune with all that was beautiful and sublime in the universe. In the New World, the order of knights and chivalry died. In the New World, explorers and se*lers came. )ey scrapped their old ways in exchange for adventure, discovery and opportunity. xv Decisions were made. Some of these decisions were good, and led to growth and prosperity. Some of their decisions were bad, and became buried in a dark history of war, strife and human con+ict. Now, the land and its people have grown up together. We live in a land of democracy and personal freedom. We live in a land where people have the right to vote, speak freely and protect themselves from danger. We are le, to our own devices to choose between what is right and wrong. In this land of individuals, we are le, to decide between good and evil; to pursue our own happiness. But in these current times – somewhere, somehow – some t - hing has go*en lost, mixed up and out of balance. In this process of exploration and discovery, choices were made, some of them bad. Now we know that every bad choice, every dark thought, has to go somewhere. )ey build up over time and eventually manifest themselves in one fashion or another. Usually, this negativity creates nothing more than a bad mood, hurt feelings or a sad face. Fortunately, these things fade quickly and are soon forgo*en. But sometimes, evil does not go away. Sometimes, the darkness builds up and up and up until it manifests into something quite astonishing, quite frightening and quite real. )is is where our story begins. It is at these critical times, these times of crisis, when we are forced to look deep inside ourselves and ask... “What do I believe in? What do I choose?” xvi 1: At the Museum he museum felt very di-erent today. Elly and Tom both Tnoticed it. )ese best friends had been to the Detroit Institute of Arts on .eld trips many, many times and had never felt such a creepy, eerie feeling. It was not quite a smell or a sound or anything they saw. No, it was more like a whisper, a hint, a shadow, a feeling down deep in the soul that something was not quite right. )is tingling of uneasiness followed Elly and Tom from the main hall into the Diego Rivera Court. As they looked around, Elly and Tom were swallowed up by the enormity of the scene that en- circled them. Images of factories, pyramids, machinery, airplanes, gods and goddesses blurred past their eyes like a fast-moving freight train. It was almost too much to take in at once. Fortunately, chairs and benches had been placed strategically around the room, so that their large group could se*le in and unravel the activity 1 Book 1: The Red Legend that played so rapidly before them. Some said that these Detroit Industry murals were the .nest example of Mexican muralist work in the United States. Tom and Elly wouldn’t know whether to disagree or not. What they were about to learn, however, was that in 1932, Edsel Ford and Ford Motor Company commissioned Diego Rivera to create two magni.cent paintings for the museum in its old Garden Court. As they read the placards near the courtyard entrance, Elly and Tom learned that the north and south walls were devoted to three sets of images: the representation of the races of people that shape North American culture and made up its work force, the automobile industry, and the other industries of Detroit - medical, pharmaceutical, and chemical. At the bo*om of the walls were small panels which depicted the sequence of a day in the life of the workers at the Ford River Rouge plant. )e central panel of the north wall represented important operations in the production and manufacture of the engine and transmission of the 1932 Ford V8. )e major panel of the south wall was devoted to the produc- tion of the automobile’s exterior. Just as they .nished reading the descriptions, their guide began her presentation about the Diego Rivera murals. Her voice echoed in the courtyard like a distant call from a far-o- hill. Elly and Tom barely understood a word of what she was saying. Instead, they swiveled their heads slowly around, like barn owls, trying to .gure out the story that was being told within the giant symbols and pictures that covered every wall. )e docent continued with her presentation about Diego 2 Chapter 1: At the Museum Rivera and the history of the “Detroit Industry” murals, as the two teens broke away from the larger group, slowly swivelling around the large room to take in the giant frescoes. “Now, children, you will notice that the entire mural begins on the East Wall. As you look up, you will see that Rivera uses the image of a baby growing in the bulb of a plant. )is was done to remind us that all human endeavors are rooted in the earth, the water and the land on which we live. )e women on each side are fertility .gures, holding fruits and vegetables that are native to this region…” Elly commented, “Could you imagine how long it took to paint these?” “Slopping all that paint on a wall, I would have been bored out of my mind. Kind of like I am now…” Tom whispered. Elly hushed him, “Stop complaining. A li*le culture wouldn’t kill you Tommy.” “I don’t know, it might,” Tom +ipped back. Just then, Elly’s eyes +ashed back and forth across the mural on the north wall.