Shadow of the Son

  Book 2

  Ivan Obolensky

  Smith-Obolensky Media

  Copyright © 2021 Ivan Obolensky

  Book design by Smith-Obolensky Media. Cover design by Turtleshell Press, all images used with permission.

  Smith-Obolensky Media and the Smith-Obolensky Media logo are service marks of Smith-Obolensky Media. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including via information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, Smith-Obolensky Media. The sole exception is in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Published by Smith-Obolensky Media, DBA of Dynamic Doingness, Inc., Miami, FL 33133

  Publication date: June 21, 2021

  www.smithobolenskymedia.com

  www.ivanobolensky.com

  ISBN: 978-1-947780-28-6

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2021909927

  Praise for Shadow of the Son

  “Containing surreal experiences with the occult, Shadow of the Son by Ivan Obolensky is an extraordinary paranormal novel that incites the imagination and chills the blood. Brilliantly written, the poetic lexis and rhythmic flow of the story create a timeless work of art. It captures the essence of an era long past, enchanting and transporting the reader to a world of gentility and urbanity. Brimming with mystery and intrigue, supernatural elements eerily whisper throughout the plot, creating an underlying gothic sense of horror and suspense.”

  -5 stars, Susan Sewell for Readers’ Favorite

  “Shadow of the Son is the sequel to Ivan Obolensky’s incredible first novel, Eye of the Moon and, if possible, this return to Rhinebeck is even better than our original trip. Percy and Johnny are back, along with all our old friends and a few new ones in another wonderful, mysterious, and captivating weekend that just might hold even more secrets than the first ... .

  “Mr. Obolensky has given us yet another wonderfully written novel. The words flow together so perfectly and show that this author has an incredible talent for writing and, his background in such a world of glamour and privilege allows him to write about it perfectly. ... This author does no wrong in terms of the way he writes about the friendships, issues, and love that is dealt with between this multitude of very diverse characters. …

  “Quill says: The first book in this series, Eye of the Moon, was an amazing novel that was extremely difficult to put down once you start reading. It says a lot about the author, the storyline, and the characters when the sequel is even more compelling and even harder to put down, as is the case with Shadow of the Son. I truly cannot wait to see what comes next.”

  -Feathered Quill Book Review

  To Mary Jo, for her encouragement and believing.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Praise for Shadow of the Son

  Dedication

  Character Map

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

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  48

  49

  50

  51

  52

  53

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  56

  57

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  59

  60

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  62

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  83

  84

  85

  86

  87

  88

  89

  90

  91

  92

  93

  94

  95

  Last Note

  Feathered Quill's Interview for Shadow of the Son

  Acknowledgements

  Character Map

  Dodge Family:

  Maw is the matriarch.

  Robert the Bruce is her dog.

  Her children are John Dodge, Sr., and Bonnie Leland.

  Alice was John Sr.’s half-sister. Her first husband was Lord Bromley.

  John Sr. married Anne and Johnny is their son.

  Von Hofmanstal Family:

  Hugo (the baron) married Elsa (the baroness). Their children are Bruni and a younger son, who lives in Europe. Bruni is engaged to Percy.

  Percy’s Family:

  Percy grew up in the Dodge household as Johnny’s best friend.

  His mother, Mary, married Thomas and lives in Florence.

  Lord Bromley is Percy’s father.

  Rhinebeck household staff:

  Stanley (the butler) is married to Dagmar (the cook), and their helpers are Simon and Jane. Raymond is Mr. Dodge's personal chauffeur.

  Other Guests at Rhinebeck:

  Malcolm Ault was a longtime friend of Alice and the agent of Lord Bromley.

  Dr. Angus Maxwell-Hughes (Cobb) is Lord Bromley's personal physician.

  Prologue

  For those who have read Eye of the Moon, I have provided below a brief synopsis of that volume so that the reader can better appreciate the many threads that carry over and into Shadow of the Son.

  Please note that although this novel was written some years later, Shadow of the Son picks up not long after Eye of the Moon ends.

  Synopsis of Eye of the Moon

  Lady Alice, a legendary socialite, died reading a copy of The Egyptian Book of the Dead at her Rhinebeck estate in upstate New York. Johnny Dodge, her nephew, and his friend, Percy, who was brought up with Johnny in the Dodges’ Fifth Avenue apartment, had been told for years that she had simply died. Nonetheless, questions continued to surface, and the press never quite let the story go.

  Early one morning and years later, in 1977, Johnny shows up at Percy’s room at the St. Regis and invites him to attend his parents’ special anniversary celebration at Rhinebeck. Percy accepts despite an estrangement between the two friends that began when their trading partnership imploded several years earlier. Attending the five-day house party are Hugo, the Baron von Hofmanstal; Elsa, the baroness; and Bruni, their daughter. Also invited are Johnny’s grandmother, Mary Leland, known in the family as Maw, with her daughter, Bonnie, the half-sister to Johnny’s father, John Dodge. A fierce competition has existed between the two siblings over who will inherit their mother’s extraordinary fortune. Malcolm Ault, a very tall man and friend of the family, is also expected.

  Arriving before the other guests, Johnny and Percy decide to do some research about Alice and discover a small statue holding an uncut emerald and a letter written by Alice that was returned to sender, unable to forward. The contents mention the statue and a disturbing incident in the jungles of Ecuador that makes them question everything they’ve been told.

  Johnny and Percy turn to Stanley, Alice’s former butler, to find out more. Stanley agrees, but only if they promise to do whatever he asks at some point in the future. They promise, and Stanley tells them that not long after her marriage to Lord Bromley, his lordship locked Alice in a trunk to force her to do whatever he wanted. When he tried to make her sell Rhinebeck, Alice, with Stanley’s help, drugged Lord Bromley and sent him to his club in New York in the same trunk. His lordship barely survived. Once recovered, Stanley informed him that Alice was divorcing him and would bankrupt him should he not agree. Lord Bromley acquiesced but swore he would have his revenge.

  Stanley then mentions that Alice had a recurring nightmare about ancient Egypt. In it, she was cursed and compelled to remain halfway between life and death forever. Her experiences in the trunk convinced her that the curse was not only real but active in the present. After getting rid of his lordship, she decided to do all in her power to lift it. She studied the occult, shamanic practices, and archeology, while collecting ancient artifacts. At the end of his tale, Stanley shows them the secret repository behind a wall in Alice’s apartment that holds the treasures and books she accumulated.

  The next day, Johnny wants to know more about the occult and borrows a volume on demon summoning from the repository. He uses the little statue and a t incture that Alice used to aid in the summoning. He slips some of the tincture to Percy. The experiment is inconclusive, but Percy acquires a new intuition after taking it.

  Percy falls in love with Bruni, but her father, the baron, takes an instant dislike to him, putting his potential relationship with her in doubt from the start.

  Percy and Johnny eventually discover that the anniversary celebration is not the reason the guests have been invited. The estate needs money to survive, and a silent auction for Alice’s treasures is being held in secret to raise the necessary funds.

  Now that Percy is over twenty-five, Stanley delivers a letter to him from Alice in which she reveals that his real father is Lord Bromley. Further, his father’s behavior turned abusive only after he was knocked unconscious in a riding accident. To honor the happiness of the love she shared with Percy’s father and because Percy is the personification of the child they never had, Alice informs him that he is now the owner of Rhinebeck and all its treasures, provided they are not removed from the estate. Percy reveals this information at the anniversary white-tie dinner and informs the guests that the estate’s treasures are not for sale, putting him in conflict with all the buyers and with Mr. Dodge, who has arranged the auction.

  The next day, in a meeting with Mr. Dodge, the current trustee of the estate, Percy learns that the insolvency and the need to raise money through the auction are the result of a series of financial missteps by Mr. Dodge. Percy forgives him, and a solution to the estate’s insolvency is worked out. The baron and Lord Bromley, through his agent, Malcolm Ault, agree to buy the treasures by splitting the cost while allowing the treasures to remain at Rhinebeck with one proviso: Bruni and Percy agree to marry. Percy proposes, and Bruni accepts. The novel ends with the financial crisis resolved and Rhinebeck with a more hopeful future.

  ***

  There are, of course, many details that have been left out of this brief synopsis. A great deal happens in Eye of the Moon, but, at the least, you will be reoriented sufficiently to enjoy what follows.

  I should also add once again that this is a work of fiction. The characters in this novel are not real, although some of the names are of people who lived. Most of them have passed away. None of them said or did the things I have written. I also set the time of the action in the 1970s before cell phones and computers.

  Lastly, at the very end of Eye of the Moon, Percy is driving away from Rhinebeck and for a moment thinks he hears someone calling out for him to come back, but when he turns to look, all he sees is the road behind him fading into the mist. On that note, I suggest we read on to find out more about that.

  1

  Johnny Dodge and I had returned to New York after settling my affairs and moving myself and my forensic accounting practice out of Los Angeles. It was a Wednesday morning in the spring of 1977, and I was sitting in one of the client chairs in Johnny’s office at Dodge Capital when his phone rang.

  Johnny answered and then passed it across the desk. “It sounds like the baron, looking for you.”

  I took the phone.

  “Percy?”

  I recognized the voice. “Baron.”

  “Call me Hugo.”

  “Hugo …”

  “You need an office.”

  “I do. It’s next on the list.”

  “Well, get it done. On another matter, meet me at 21 at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. We’ll have dinner, just the two of us. We have some things to discuss. Don’t be late.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Very good,” he said and hung up.

  Hugo was the Baron von Hofmanstal and my future father-in-law. He and I were technically on a first-name basis, but I tended to call him by his title. Hugo would correct me, but only sporadically. My addressing him as baron, I thought, stroked his already prodigious ego. He was, after all, small of stature and a little round, but then so was Napoleon. Hugo looked like the former emperor and had a similar presence. He was at once charismatic and intimidating. He also had a cruel and violent nature. Hugo enjoyed dueling, hunting, deal-making, and crushing those who dared to cross him. As a rule, I was careful not to give offense, and with Hugo I was doubly so, but I had yet to formulate a consistent protocol as to when to call him Hugo, or when to address him as baron. It was one of many things that I was trying to work out as I wrestled with the fact that he and I would be seeing a great deal more of each other. Such a relationship was not without its advantages. For a start, there was his daughter and my fiancée, Brunhilde, or Bruni to her friends. I handed back the phone.

  Johnny took it. “You were thinking of her again,” he said, looking at me across his desk. He was in his typical office attire, dark suit, cream-colored shirt, and dark blue tie with small white polka dots. His hair was golden blond and worn somewhat long, as was the fashion.

  “I was indeed. You’re jealous, of course.”

  “I don’t think so. Enjoying that future father-in-law of yours?”

  “Okay, maybe not. Hugo wants to dine with me tomorrow at the 21 Club.”

  “Just the two of you?”

  “Just the two of us.”

  “Excellent. Perhaps he’ll confess his darkest secrets, now that you’re part of the family—or almost.”

  “I doubt it, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

  “Make sure you do. On another subject—one I hesitate to bring up, but one I must, since it’s the next item on our list—the office. How would you feel about renewing our partnership?”

  This was a decision that couldn’t be put off any longer. Johnny was my best friend. He and I had grown up together in the Dodge household, where I was a long-term resident since my mother and stepfather were often abroad. We had formed a trading partnership, but that had imploded thanks to Johnny’s grandmother, better known as “Maw” to the Dodge family, and in the corporate world as “The Crone.” Johnny had worked out a deal with her whereby both of us had been compensated for her deliberate sabotage of our little enterprise. Since then, I had thought a great deal about renewing our partnership and had finally concluded that now was a time for new beginnings.

  “All right. I agree. We give it another go.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure. It was a happy time for both of us, other than the ending. But with the understanding that I continue my forensic accounting practice for now. My fees will hopefully cover the overhead while we gather assets. It’s also a cross-selling opportunity.”

  “Agreed, but subject to change once we’re established.”

  “Fair enough. Your dad will have to be informed, and he might not be pleased at losing you to private practice.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Frankly, I could do with a chance to stretch out a little, and he would no longer have to worry about what I’m doing all the time. It could work for both of us. I’ll broach the matter and get his agreement. He and Mother are heading up to Rhinebeck this afternoon. I could head up there as well, inform them tonight, and be back tomorrow?”

  “Sounds good. As for the office, let’s start with something functional and not too ostentatious.”

  “I would have to disagree. A good location and a sophisticated presentation can be quite effective in overcoming investor reluctance. Too spartan an appearance, and the public will think we’re operating on a shoestring and can’t afford their business.”

  “Too extravagant, and we will be operating on a shoestring.”

  “True. But I have some good news. Our old offices are available. How about I give the leasing agent a call and set it up?”

  “All right.”

  Johnny was reaching for the phone when another call came in. He picked up, listened for a moment, and asked, “Who’s calling?” After a pause, he said, “One moment” and put the caller on hold.

  “I don’t know if you want to take this. The caller says he’s Bruni’s husband.”

  “That’s unexpected.”

 

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