Repair and retitle repost, part 1A of 5

[Old_Title]Pride And Prejudice:

[Old_Subtitle]THE TIME SLIP


[Title]JANE AND ELIZABETH'S PARANORMAL JOURNEY


by


[Author]Rae Elaine Hatfield
Ellayn@VHW-Corp.com
or hatfield@nwi.net


[Date began]12 March 2011

[Rating]
G


[Nut Graf/Blurb]
Jane and Elizabeth meander through Longbourn's grounds as they discuss the Meryton Assembly ball the next morning ([As like P&P2.]_ until they experience a time slip. ([A term used for a paranormal phenomenon where people experience "time is out of joint;" to borrow from Hamlet. (From [Wiki]: "Many time slip witnesses report that, at the start of their experience of the phenomena, their immediate surroundings take on an oddly flat, under-lit and lifeless appearance, and normal sounds seem muffled. This is sometimes accompanied by feelings of depression and un-ease.") The definition strongly suggest "time slip" may be the wrong label for this unexplained event.]_ When the trip is done, they find themselves into an inconvenient situation within our modern time.

Here and now, in their future, Elizabeth is more shocked at a most peculiar and personal finding. It is possible that she can meet her descendant when the surprise abate of being hurtled two centuries into their future.

***

Be aware that any direct quote of Miss Austen's characters, and some of her description or narration, may be knicked straightaway from the source TEXT file, PridPrej.ZIP , or its components. During November, 2010, it was fetched from;

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html

(or one of its links). Pride and Prejudice is reputed to be in the Public Domain. Much of the Western classic literature has been made available, at minimum cost, through the Public Domain. Using such blocks will help ensure canon with the [book] Pride and Prejudice (P&P) ([(P&P? the question mark {? :== [0..3] Set as of April 2011} is a common computer wild card for one and only one character) If Pemberley.com did not set:
P&P0 as the 1940 Warner Brothers adaption,
P&P1 as the BBC 5 episode mini-series about 1980,
P&P2 as the 1995 BBC/A&E 6 episode mini-series, and
P&P3 as the Focus Features adaption of 2005;
then that is where I learned the associated codes. -r.e.h.)]_.

As a result, some "Emendations to the Text" ("Emend:") and "Explanatory Notes" needed to be added as footnotes within the source text file. The emendations are not always marked as distinct from the other notes, and sometimes these two distinctions pertain to the same point. (When I try to hold a place in a book, and then look up an endnote, my language reveal the moral superiority of the footnote!) The modified file, distinct from the download version, has these emendations, and have been brought along with the packets as used within this story.

A copy of that file is modified, using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, to incorporate certain features that enhance readability. First, the endnotes were converted into footnotes, since footnotes are so much more convenient and usable. Next, chapter titles were added. Then some fixes and typography enhancements were added as I deem fitting. Other references may be listed and expanded at the end.

Since this story file is intended to be posted to a Jane Austen Fan Fiction web site, certain amendments must be made to bypass HTML's alteration of token use. One is the current footnote tokens, taken from 1980 AppleWriter 1 " (<Footnote text.>)_" must be modified to something like:

" ([<Small>Footnote text.</small>]_ "

Otherwise, the footnote text in the old syntax would disappear at the readers' end as the posting engine try to make it out such indicated directive. Be aware that a footnote on a web page will not appear at the bottom of a screen, but more like an endnote. Therefore, this inline syntax has been adopted, so that the note can stay closer to its object.

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PREFACE

IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife, however little is known of the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood. This truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?" Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. "But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here ([P&P2 Suggest they are coming home from church. However, P&P3 may be closer to canon by showing Mr. and Mrs. Bennet having this discussion in his library. The keyword, "here," may be why P&P3 put this scene in the Bennet house instead, which is one of the few areas that interpretation or depiction may be more faithful to the [book] than P&P1 or P&P2! -r.e.h.]_, and she told me all about it."

Mr. Bennet made no answer. He wait for her to fix her point.

"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" Cried ([A sorrowful wail, as we know it, could not have been what Jane Austen meant. "Asserted," "stated," or "asked," &c. would probably be the verb in a modern dialog tag. -r.e.h.]_ his wife impatiently.

"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it."

This was invitation enough. "Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four (["Generally an enclosed four-wheeled carriage seating up to three people, and driven by a rider mounted on one of the two or four horses (see "postilion"). The more or less standard vehicle for families which are `respectable,' but not extremely wealthy."]_ to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas ([Before Michaelmas (i.e. Sept. 29, one of the four `quarter days' according to which houses etc. were rented).]_, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."

"What is his name?"

"Bingley."

"Is he married or single?"

"Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"

"How so? How can it affect them?"

"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."

"Is that his design in settling here?"

"Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."

"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for, as you are as handsome (["Handsome" must have had a sex change since the Regency Era to before my time. -r.e.h.]_ as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party."

"My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."

"In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of."

She does not take a slight. "But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood."

"It is more than I engage for, I assure you."

"But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not."

"You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying which ever he chuses ([During Jane Austen's time, this was the way "choose" and its tenses, were spelled. -r.e.h.]_ of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy."

"I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference."

"They have none of them much to recommend them," replied he; "they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters."

"Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse ([Jane Austen could not have meant the word to be inflicted with the malice of intent, as the word has today. -r.e.h.]_ your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves."

"You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least."

"Ah! You do not know what I suffer."

"But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood."

"It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them."

"Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all."

Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts ([An "obsolete use in OED; abilities, talents, &c."]_, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous ([Mary Wollstonecraft seem to suggest women of the time have a socialized hypochondria, but Mrs. Bennet, is one of the few in the P&P story so afflicted.]_. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

--***--

And so it was, for two ladies to come to our notice and acquaintance. So it was written, so it was done. That is the way it was, late summer-to-early fall, 1811.

We will not forget the past as we look closer to the present day. Dateline: 18 March 2011, ([FYI: The actual date of this part's composition. -r.e.h.]_ within the western world, west, beyond the colonies, of which the Bennets may have been aware. Now, we continue with some more of our cast of characters...

--***--

"My identity is - Major Hiram `Highway' West, 445th Military Airlift Wing, United States Air Force Reserve, - at your service. `Let me tell you a tale, a good one I own-' No. That will not do." I inadvertently started singing `Strawberry Roan,' a favorite Western Ballad of my Dad and myself. We almost harmonize when we break away from "she who must be obeyed" ([Horace Rumpole used this referring to his wife, but the phrase fit better about a mother, who is not of the Donna Stone (The Donna Reed Show) or Kate Bradley (Petticoat Junction) school of mothering. -r.e.h.]_ for a pizza and a pitcher of Miller's finest draft.

"We had just taken off from Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii on our last homeward bound leg from taking supplies, satellite tracking system updates, and the installation crew to Woomera, Australia. The old C-141-A ([This type was flown much longer than its designed service life, they were updated to "B" and a few to "C" models, and most has been retired to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan A.F.B., because the type has been replaced in service by the more modern, C-17 many years ago. -r.e.h.]_ number 67-0007 had behaved fairly well for us. It should. It is among the newest acquired of that fleet and had been overhauled recently, and our base maintenance people have repaired it from that ordeal quite well, in spite of referring to the type as `swept-wing subsonic bug-suckers.' ([An actual belittlement; I vouchsafe I used it myself. -r.e.h.]_

"Reserve Air Crews relieve the Air Force Regular pilots by a substantial amount. Most of those crews suffer `burn out,' which is what happen when flying more than 400 hours a quarter. True, that may not Sound like much over a forty-hour week, for three months, but those 400 hours are between take-off roll thrust and turning off the landing runway. ([Never been a pilot or an aircrew member, so "I am guessing!" (Hear "Captain Tom Dodge," Down Periscope) -r.e.h.]_ Now add mission briefings, safety and weather briefings, about two hours for the `dash-one' pre-flight, and finally mission and maintenance debriefings, and a short mission or a local sortie (flight) can make for a long day with only a few flight hours for the logbook.

"I happen to be Pilot In Command of a crew who are otherwise `in between situations.' These mission requirements lay no economic hardships upon us, that is, taking us away from lucrative paying jobs. Some quarters, we get within a whisker of `burn out' ourselves.

"Let me introduce you to my crew. Lieutenant `Tex' Martin, over there in the right seat, is our Country and Western boy. He is in about the third verse of a C&W song. Like us, he has lost his civilian job, and therefore, he lost his amply-stacked blonde girlfriend, and to add insult to injury, she took up with whom he thought was his best friend. I must ground him if he can not keep making payments on his new Chevrolet pickup truck and then lose his black Labrador retriever.

"Behind the copilot, our flight engineer is Master Sergeant Scott `Scotty' Montgomery from Montgomery, Alabama. It is only coincidence that his video-literary hero is `Montgomery Scott' of Star Trek renown. Like his hero, he has a fetish for bagpipe music, and to confess my truth, I can be fond of orchestrated bagpipes. His hobby is pitching telephone poles; the caber toss: He does not win or place when he enter Highland games, up against the big lads, but he `show' often enough to keep up his encouragement.

"Sitting on the bottom bunk, aft cabin wall, is the loadmaster of our crew. Technical Sergeant Harrison `Bugsy' Marlowe hail from Georgia, even though his nickname suggest South Side Chicago. His sisters are `Georgia peaches;' as much Southern Belles, in the antebellum sense, as may still exist. His pastime better be his hobby, because he has given `wall-to-wall counselling' to those who he deemed were not good enough company for his sisters; sometimes to the young ladies' chagrin.

"Finally, behind me at the Navigator's station, is Captain William `where-are-we?' Darcy, hailing from Butte, Montana. He told me his first experience navigating was getting back to the ranch house in a sudden white out. He had went out riding fences, just as his father, grandfather, and great-grand father had done; on horseback; when a blizzard liberated him from his complacency. I believe him. He has a bad attitude toward his own mistakes, and is not charitable to those of others.

"Yes, boys and girls. That is our happy band of brothers.

"When we first formed for our first mission together, we were all of the opinion that an equitable number of female crew members would make us a merry party. After our experience in C-141-A number 9402 when it started a `Dutch Roll,' we were convinced of that folly. In a few heartbeats, we were upside down, supersonic, "flaking skin" (top panels between the wings were ripped off), and with the only thing blue in the upper window views, was water. We were glad to have all the beef on the yokes. We were too busy going by checklists as we recovered the aircraft, to do something infantile in our skivvies. We saw pine needles out the windows when we finally got the bird righted, and then we had disagreeable and uncomfortable feelings in our colons. ([So what if this event occurred during the late-1970s. When fracturing time, scramble it. -r.e.h.]_

"Happiness was being on the ground then at Comox, Canada. In my right mind, I will never complain about $400-plus as a government cost for an aircraft toilet seat again.

"If the aircraft mechanics knew, they would appreciate the standard. I think most of them did anyway, when they learned of the incident.

"Oh, yes. On with the story..."

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"The avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote." -Ambassador Kosh Naranek