Stingers and Strangers

**Stingers and Strangers** is an InCryptid short story. It is the fourth in the Jonathan and Frances Shorts.

## Synopsis

Johnny and Fran are on assignment again, this time heading for Colorado to investigate reports of an unusually large Apraxis hive. Apraxis wasps are large, deadly, and worst of all, capable of consuming the memories of the people they kill, which makes them the sort of thing that no one really wants living nearby.

Upon arriving in Colorado, our intrepid pair naturally discover that things aren't as simple as they appear—and they didn't appear to be that simple to begin with. Johnny and Fran will have to contend with dragon princesses, suspicious locals, and threats that neither of them have ever dreamed could exist if they want to make it out of this one alive.

Survival has never been so difficult, or so important, because if they don't make it home, how can they warn the others?

## Plot

Jonathan and Frances travel to Boggsville, Colorado to investigate irregular migration patterns of the Apraxis wasps that reside there. They check in to a boarding house owned by a dragon princess, who takes issue at the idea of an unmarried couple traveling together. She still gives them a room under the belief that they are indeed married, and Jonathan sends the mice in search of the wasps.

They press their landlady, Eleanor, for information about unusual insect activity. She tries to warn them away but ultimately takes a bribe to allow them to come and go after dark. On their way out the door, they encounter Heloise Tapper, the music teacher of Eleanor's daughter Betty. Jonathan is transfixed; Fran is unaffected.

They go hunting and find the wasp nest at the train station. It appears multiple hives have taken refuge together, a strange occurrence. The wasps attack, and they run. The wasps refuse to follow beyond the station.

They question Eleanor, revealing that they know she is a cryptid. She recounts recent events in town, and the three realize a discrepancy in Heloise's position as town music teacher. They go to visit Heloise, who convinces Jonathan that she is his wife and Fran is the interloper. A shootout leads to both Jonathan and Heloise injured but alive, and Fran breaks through Jonathan's daze by declaring her love for him.

The wasp swarm reaches them, and Jonathan and Frances retreat to safer ground, Fran yelling at Jonathan for being so dense. He proposes to her, and she "quite probably" accepts. They create a fire barrier between them and the wasps, escape the house, and are arrested by the town sheriff.

Eleanor posts their bail and urges them to leave town. Heloise's home has been abandoned, and the three of them are the only ones who remember she was ever in town at all.

## Characters

* Jonathan Healy
* Frances Brown
* Eleanor Smith
* Betty Smith
* Heloise Tapper

## Field Guide

##### Featured

* Apraxis Wasp
* Cuckoo
* Dragon Princess
* Aeslin Mice

##### Mentioned

* Coatl
* Bogeyman
* Chupacabra
* "Black dogs in the hills"

## Locations

* Boggsville, Colorado
* Southern Pacific Railway

**Mentioned**

* Tempe, Arizona

## Continuity

* Heloise becomes a long-running antagonist of the Jonathan and Frances timeline, influencing The First Fall and appearing in Oh Pretty Bird.
* After three years living with Jonathan, Frances is "wistful" at the idea of a ring on her finger.

## Quotes

* "What is it about this town and fake wives? She's not your fake wife, I am! You don't have a wife, you idiot!" -Fran, to Jonathan