The Concarnadine Chronicles #093 -- "Thanksgiving"
Title: "Thanksgiving"
'Fandom' :: The Concarnadine Chronicles
Claim: General; Characters
Prompt: #095 :: “Thanksgiving"
Word Count: c.1375
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The epilogue
Author's Notes: Just 2 parts to go to wrap-up this bayebee!!
“Thanksgiving”
Gabriel Ruthven walked carefully down the stairs from the south side of London Bridge to the riverside walkway. Then he turned to walk through the tunnel under the roadway that would lead him into the maze of alleyways that made up Southwark Market, and eventually led to the Wanamaker Globe Theatre.
He couldn’t see why he couldn’t have crossed the bridge on that side but …
Hands suddenly latched on to his shoulders and he was tugged off the footpath and through the wall of the tunnel, into a narrow passage, which led down some steps and into a warm, shadowy bar-room. Only then did the forward impetus cease and he could see that he had been propelled by Rejker, the Cape-Towner who worked, apparently, for a man called Barnaby who was “something” in one or other of the secret services.
“You found us, then ?” DI Barratt said, offering him a pint of London Ale, Ruthven’s beer-of-choice.
“Well, yes but --- how will Gwen Rundle know to -- ?”
“Don’t worry - she’s here,” Barratt replied, and moved aside, so that Ruthven could see the civilian clerk farther round the room. “Concarnadine’s Elizabeth met her at the theatre and brought her.”
“So, why, exactly … ?”
“Why are we here ? Well,” Barratt said, keeping his voice low, “there haven’t been any weird murders for several days, and Concarnadine seems absolutely certain that wherever he went and whatever he did, it had the effect he expected. So, we’re celebrating.”
Ruthven didn’t pretend to understand, but a drink-up was a drink-up and the job gave precious few opportunities. He took the pint of London, and moved further in to the room.
“… and that’s what you do with the polar bear.”
He’d been making his way to Gwen’s side, in case she felt ill-at-ease in the company (he knew he certainly did), when the phrase had impacted on his ear, and he wished he’d heard the full context, because it sounded almost a total non sequitur. It had been Shareya, who seemed to be Rejker’s partner, who’d been telling the story, and, to his surprise, he saw that Gwen had been among her immediate audience.
“What was that about ?”
“Oh, hi, Gabe - I was a really funny story … that I’ll explain to you another time.” Her voice shook a touch, and when Ruthven looked round, he saw that Medallion, the DCS from Scotland Yard, had come in, with Concarnadine, the magician, by his side.
Seeing that people, generally, were raising their glasses, Ruthven followed suit. Concarnadine made a polite half-bow, and swung his arm to point out Elizabeth Stellamer.
“That’s the real hero … or heroine. She still came with me though she knew what the risks were.”
There was the start of polite applause, which Elizabeth waved down.
“Nothing to do with me,” she said, jauntily. “There was this man who tempted me …” Then she added: “Mind you, if I’d known then what I know now.”
“She’d still have done the same,” Gwen Rundle said, softly, into Ruthven's ear.
“Sorry ?” Ruthven said.
Gwen repeated her words, then added “She’s head-over-heels for him, not that she would ever admit it.”
Ruthven looked over, but Gwen tugged him round: “Don’t look! Men! You’ve no nose for these things. No wonder it’s we women that have to do all the work in relationships.”
“I beg your pardon,” Ruthven rejoined: “And what do you mean by that ?”
Robin Flavour smiled as she overheard the pair of them. It was, she felt, well due time for Ruthven to recognise that people other than him knew how he felt about Gwen, and that Gwen herself was amongst the fore-most of them. She was thankful that she didn’t have to work in the same office as them - from what Barratt told her, Ruthven was an excellent DS, and perfectly capable of doing everything the job required of him - but as soon as his mind segued onto thoughts of the civilian clerk, he was a ball of mush. Well, it looked like things had finally come to a head, and Ruthven was going to have to make his decisions.
As for her relationship with Barratt, she had few illusions: they were good together, and there weren’t doing anything wrong, but she didn’t see much prospect for them going further. He was a nice enough man, but he was also addicted to the ‘lonely foreigner’ front he put up, and he didn’t really have time for the emotional baggage a deeper relationship would bring with it.
She took her drink over to the far corner and joined Elizabeth Stellamer.
“How are things ?”
“Fine,” Elizabeth replied: “Give me another week or so, and I should be back to normal. Except you won’t need to, because I won’t be here.”
“What do you mean ? You aren’t -- ?”
“Oh, no - we’re just going away for a week or so. Concarnadine had it planned anyway - he has a friends in Venice who can put us up, and we’re going to call in on Paris, Munich and Vienna before we take the train down. All in all, we’ll be away for about two weeks. Then we’ll come back and start over.”
“Thank goodness - for a moment there, I thought you meant you wouldn’t be back.”
It was Elizabeth’s turn to smile wryly. “No, you don’t get rid of us that easily. Though, with the >cough< business over, you won’t need to see us as often.”
“Need to ?” Flavour replied: “How long do you think I can go without your brand of zaniness ? Besides, we still have the V&A to do, and Dulwich Picture Gallery.”
“Girly excursions ?” Barratt commented dryly, leaning over Flavour’s shoulder.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Robin told him.
“Probably not,” he replied: “Then again, I might be persuaded to learn … ”
But the potential ‘moment’ didn’t materialise, when all attention was drawn by Medallion striking a pen against a bottle.
“We’re here,” the DCS said, “to celebrate a victory which, if we’re honest, few of us understand. But the spate of mystery deaths seems to have finished, and several people are being very forthcoming to the polite enquiries of certain of our colleagues - ” he waved a genial hand to encompass Rejker and Shareya, who had drifted together “ - so I don’t think it untoward to give some thanks to the people who have been chiefest in this matter.”
He was about to go on, when Concarnadine suddenly appeared at his shoulder.
“You’re too modest, sir,” the magician said, effortlessly taking the centre-stage. “The real heroes and heroines here are people like yourself, who took us on trust when we told you stories that were a little unbelievable. If you hadn’t, then Mr. Barratt would have arrested me months ago, and it’s possible that my lovely friend Elizabeth would be merely a memory for most of you.”
He gave them a couple more minutes of spiel, finished off with a toast, and then stepped down and made his way over to Elizabeth’s side.
“There - that ought to hold them. And by the time we’re back, they’ll have other things to think about.”
He glanced down, and noticed that she was uncharacteristically silent.
“What’s up ?”
“I don’t know - I’m glad it’s all over, but I can’t help worrying that, now it is over, things will change.”
“Of course they will,” Concarnadine replied blithely, then saw her face fall: “In a good way, I mean. Now, we have the whole world to explore, you and I - and a lot of performances to do.”
Suddenly she relaxed against him: “I’m being silly, aren’t I ? Worrying about it, when I should be being happy, with everyone else.”
“You see deeper than most, and your worrying is what sets you apart. Don’t change.”
“All right - I won’t.”
They party was winding down when Barratt found Concarnadine by the bar.
“I hear you’re going to Europe for a week or two.”
Concarnadine nodded. “True.”
Barratt looked at the man, and felt the need to speak while he had the chance.
“Wish you well. Still not sure what it was you did, but … ”
“I owe you several favours,” Concarnadine said: “You put yourself on the edge for me. On the other hand - ”
“On the other hand, there were some side benefits,” Robin Flavour interrupted. “Come on, love,” she said to Barratt: “It’s time you took me home.”
Concarnadine watched as she led him away, and then quietly set his drink down. Enough was, he decided, enough.
“We should go, too,” Elizabeth said (more evidence that putting the drink down had been a good idea - he hadn’t sensed her coming up from behind him).
He nodded. “Anyone left ?”
“Only Shareya and Rejker,” Elizabeth said: “And they’re meeting someone here once we’ve gone.”
“More work ?”
“Someone has to, so that we can sleep at nights.” Elizabeth’s smile was full and frank and warmed his heart. “Shall we ?” she asked, and indicated a dark corner of the bar-room.
There was only Shareya who saw them go into the shadows, and she was wise enough not to comment when they never emerged again.
'Fandom' :: The Concarnadine Chronicles
Claim: General; Characters
Prompt: #095 :: “Thanksgiving"
Word Count: c.1375
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The epilogue
Author's Notes: Just 2 parts to go to wrap-up this bayebee!!
“Thanksgiving”
Gabriel Ruthven walked carefully down the stairs from the south side of London Bridge to the riverside walkway. Then he turned to walk through the tunnel under the roadway that would lead him into the maze of alleyways that made up Southwark Market, and eventually led to the Wanamaker Globe Theatre.
He couldn’t see why he couldn’t have crossed the bridge on that side but …
Hands suddenly latched on to his shoulders and he was tugged off the footpath and through the wall of the tunnel, into a narrow passage, which led down some steps and into a warm, shadowy bar-room. Only then did the forward impetus cease and he could see that he had been propelled by Rejker, the Cape-Towner who worked, apparently, for a man called Barnaby who was “something” in one or other of the secret services.
“You found us, then ?” DI Barratt said, offering him a pint of London Ale, Ruthven’s beer-of-choice.
“Well, yes but --- how will Gwen Rundle know to -- ?”
“Don’t worry - she’s here,” Barratt replied, and moved aside, so that Ruthven could see the civilian clerk farther round the room. “Concarnadine’s Elizabeth met her at the theatre and brought her.”
“So, why, exactly … ?”
“Why are we here ? Well,” Barratt said, keeping his voice low, “there haven’t been any weird murders for several days, and Concarnadine seems absolutely certain that wherever he went and whatever he did, it had the effect he expected. So, we’re celebrating.”
Ruthven didn’t pretend to understand, but a drink-up was a drink-up and the job gave precious few opportunities. He took the pint of London, and moved further in to the room.
“… and that’s what you do with the polar bear.”
He’d been making his way to Gwen’s side, in case she felt ill-at-ease in the company (he knew he certainly did), when the phrase had impacted on his ear, and he wished he’d heard the full context, because it sounded almost a total non sequitur. It had been Shareya, who seemed to be Rejker’s partner, who’d been telling the story, and, to his surprise, he saw that Gwen had been among her immediate audience.
“What was that about ?”
“Oh, hi, Gabe - I was a really funny story … that I’ll explain to you another time.” Her voice shook a touch, and when Ruthven looked round, he saw that Medallion, the DCS from Scotland Yard, had come in, with Concarnadine, the magician, by his side.
Seeing that people, generally, were raising their glasses, Ruthven followed suit. Concarnadine made a polite half-bow, and swung his arm to point out Elizabeth Stellamer.
“That’s the real hero … or heroine. She still came with me though she knew what the risks were.”
There was the start of polite applause, which Elizabeth waved down.
“Nothing to do with me,” she said, jauntily. “There was this man who tempted me …” Then she added: “Mind you, if I’d known then what I know now.”
“She’d still have done the same,” Gwen Rundle said, softly, into Ruthven's ear.
“Sorry ?” Ruthven said.
Gwen repeated her words, then added “She’s head-over-heels for him, not that she would ever admit it.”
Ruthven looked over, but Gwen tugged him round: “Don’t look! Men! You’ve no nose for these things. No wonder it’s we women that have to do all the work in relationships.”
“I beg your pardon,” Ruthven rejoined: “And what do you mean by that ?”
Robin Flavour smiled as she overheard the pair of them. It was, she felt, well due time for Ruthven to recognise that people other than him knew how he felt about Gwen, and that Gwen herself was amongst the fore-most of them. She was thankful that she didn’t have to work in the same office as them - from what Barratt told her, Ruthven was an excellent DS, and perfectly capable of doing everything the job required of him - but as soon as his mind segued onto thoughts of the civilian clerk, he was a ball of mush. Well, it looked like things had finally come to a head, and Ruthven was going to have to make his decisions.
As for her relationship with Barratt, she had few illusions: they were good together, and there weren’t doing anything wrong, but she didn’t see much prospect for them going further. He was a nice enough man, but he was also addicted to the ‘lonely foreigner’ front he put up, and he didn’t really have time for the emotional baggage a deeper relationship would bring with it.
She took her drink over to the far corner and joined Elizabeth Stellamer.
“How are things ?”
“Fine,” Elizabeth replied: “Give me another week or so, and I should be back to normal. Except you won’t need to, because I won’t be here.”
“What do you mean ? You aren’t -- ?”
“Oh, no - we’re just going away for a week or so. Concarnadine had it planned anyway - he has a friends in Venice who can put us up, and we’re going to call in on Paris, Munich and Vienna before we take the train down. All in all, we’ll be away for about two weeks. Then we’ll come back and start over.”
“Thank goodness - for a moment there, I thought you meant you wouldn’t be back.”
It was Elizabeth’s turn to smile wryly. “No, you don’t get rid of us that easily. Though, with the >cough< business over, you won’t need to see us as often.”
“Need to ?” Flavour replied: “How long do you think I can go without your brand of zaniness ? Besides, we still have the V&A to do, and Dulwich Picture Gallery.”
“Girly excursions ?” Barratt commented dryly, leaning over Flavour’s shoulder.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Robin told him.
“Probably not,” he replied: “Then again, I might be persuaded to learn … ”
But the potential ‘moment’ didn’t materialise, when all attention was drawn by Medallion striking a pen against a bottle.
“We’re here,” the DCS said, “to celebrate a victory which, if we’re honest, few of us understand. But the spate of mystery deaths seems to have finished, and several people are being very forthcoming to the polite enquiries of certain of our colleagues - ” he waved a genial hand to encompass Rejker and Shareya, who had drifted together “ - so I don’t think it untoward to give some thanks to the people who have been chiefest in this matter.”
He was about to go on, when Concarnadine suddenly appeared at his shoulder.
“You’re too modest, sir,” the magician said, effortlessly taking the centre-stage. “The real heroes and heroines here are people like yourself, who took us on trust when we told you stories that were a little unbelievable. If you hadn’t, then Mr. Barratt would have arrested me months ago, and it’s possible that my lovely friend Elizabeth would be merely a memory for most of you.”
He gave them a couple more minutes of spiel, finished off with a toast, and then stepped down and made his way over to Elizabeth’s side.
“There - that ought to hold them. And by the time we’re back, they’ll have other things to think about.”
He glanced down, and noticed that she was uncharacteristically silent.
“What’s up ?”
“I don’t know - I’m glad it’s all over, but I can’t help worrying that, now it is over, things will change.”
“Of course they will,” Concarnadine replied blithely, then saw her face fall: “In a good way, I mean. Now, we have the whole world to explore, you and I - and a lot of performances to do.”
Suddenly she relaxed against him: “I’m being silly, aren’t I ? Worrying about it, when I should be being happy, with everyone else.”
“You see deeper than most, and your worrying is what sets you apart. Don’t change.”
“All right - I won’t.”
They party was winding down when Barratt found Concarnadine by the bar.
“I hear you’re going to Europe for a week or two.”
Concarnadine nodded. “True.”
Barratt looked at the man, and felt the need to speak while he had the chance.
“Wish you well. Still not sure what it was you did, but … ”
“I owe you several favours,” Concarnadine said: “You put yourself on the edge for me. On the other hand - ”
“On the other hand, there were some side benefits,” Robin Flavour interrupted. “Come on, love,” she said to Barratt: “It’s time you took me home.”
Concarnadine watched as she led him away, and then quietly set his drink down. Enough was, he decided, enough.
“We should go, too,” Elizabeth said (more evidence that putting the drink down had been a good idea - he hadn’t sensed her coming up from behind him).
He nodded. “Anyone left ?”
“Only Shareya and Rejker,” Elizabeth said: “And they’re meeting someone here once we’ve gone.”
“More work ?”
“Someone has to, so that we can sleep at nights.” Elizabeth’s smile was full and frank and warmed his heart. “Shall we ?” she asked, and indicated a dark corner of the bar-room.
There was only Shareya who saw them go into the shadows, and she was wise enough not to comment when they never emerged again.