She Hated Riddles, But Was Good at Them!

The envelope had arrived with the mail on December 20. Her address was printed on the envelope in a bold hand, but there was no return address. She decided to inspect it thoroughly before opening it, and reached for her magnifying glass. As she turned it over and over, she noted that the sealing wax looked as if it had been both heated and frozen to the surface of the flap at the same time. Surely it had been exposed to raw Aether. And there was something about the stamps...

She moved the glass over the stamps in a short inspection, then used the smaller lens for a much higher magnification. She noted the perfection of the etching, and the portrait of a majestic queen seemed oddly familiar. She decided to open the envelope. As she opened the card, the scent of leather and cinnamon seemed to fill the room. She pulled out an exquisite hand-made Christmas card that bore an etched print depicting a huge Christmas tree suspended beneath an airship. When she opened the card, it said simply...'We'll be at the Party, IF you can find us' and was signed by none other than Spartacus Kane.

"Oh that man!" she exclaimed as she tried to puzzle out where the party would be. She took up the magnifying glass once again, this time using the small lens to pore over the etching of the tree and the airship. Growing up, she had always hated riddles. But with the nature of her family, she had to get used to them. She sat for the better part of an hour going over every detail she could find in the envelope and the card, but had no clue that would point to the solution. In exasperation, she tossed the card on the desk and just stared out the window at the mailbox.

A moment later, it hit her...it had come in the mail. Not by slip tube, not by courier, but by mail. "Of course!" she cried and jumped over to the bookshelf. She ran her fingers along the third shelf for a moment, then pulled out her postal rates book. She grabbed up her calculator and began sorting through the pages. Her fingers flew over the big number buttons as she added and subtracted. She pored over the card again, looking at the finest details and calculated whether the envelope had the proper postage to support her idea.

On Christmas Eve, she stood on the deck of the Pandora with her brother, Spartacus Kane. He had told her he had no doubts about her ability, and she couldn't help but be proud of herself as well. So she'd made it to the party on time there in Arkham, Massachusetts. It was a special Christmas indeed, as the two of them orchestrated the movements of a hundred other airships to decorate the Great Tree at Miskatonic University for Christmas, 1927.