h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Chapter 18

“Melby!” said an old man who was hobbling up the front walk, cane in hand. “I see you have company.”

“This is family, Forty,” Grandpa said. “I’d like you to meet them.”

“I remember you,” Viola said to the old man, rushing over to help him climb the veranda steps. “You used to play poker with my grandfather.”

“Still do,” was the cheery reply. “In fact, it’s time for our weekly game.

“Forty isn’t just my poker buddy,” Grandpa told Viola, “he’s also my cousin. His great-grandpa and mine were brothers.”

“My real name is Knox Mardachi the 4th,” the old visitor said. “I ran a landscape gardening company until I retired, and my son runs it now. I hoped Blake would run it someday, but he has a career that takes him to faraway places.” He sighed.

“Wait,” Viola said, struggling to put these new pieces of the puzzle into place. “Are you Blake’s grandfather?” Forty nodded. “Then it’s true that I married my own cousin,” she said to Grandpa.

“Its true,” Grandpa said. “Blake’s real name is Knox Mardachi the Sixth. I was afraid you’d think something would be wrong with your children if you married a cousin. Obviously, Jasper is fantastic. I just thought I would let sleeping dogs lie.”

“Why is his last name Mardachi, rather than Blemnox?” Viola exclaimed.

“Why don’t we come into the parlor and I will explain it all,” Forty said.

*can't wait til tomorrow!*

Deb

[Amy P]