"Murder (?) On the Amtrak Express"
"Okay, you're going to have to explain this one to me again." One could almost hear the subdued laughter ripping through the body of Gabriel as he followed Synn though the annals of his Las Vegas homestead.
As he and Synn reached the framed entrance to the house's spacious living room, furnished with several comfortable looking chairs and a sofa, the better for the comforts of the frequent guests that happened upon the household, Synn craned his head back and closed his eyes. A soft but audible sigh escaped from up his throat and through parted lips before he turned around to gift Gabriel, a young man he had grown close to over the past several years, much like a second son, with a mocking glare.
"Gabriel." Synn started to say with restrained patience. "How many times are you going to bring this topic of conversation up?"
"Until I understand the logic behind it."
Gabriel chuckled as he observed Synn stepping up to several bags of luggage where he started to count silently to ensure that everything that he and Despayre had planned to take along with them was accounted for. The only problem was, that a curious and inquisitive magician wasn't one for taking a hint and had a propensity toward causing distractions when they were least desired.
"So explain it to me just one last time." Gabriel said, causing Synn to lose focus on what he had been trying to make certain that was included with his and Despayre's luggage and he muttered a half hearted "Damn it" between clenched teeth.
Of course, anyone that knew these two men and the relationship between them would recognize and understand no true anger. They were about as close to being true family as two who did not share common blood could be, and Gabriel himself stated time and again that where it concerned being like a father, Synn was 'as good as'.
Synn calmly turned around and laid eyes on the man opposite him who folded his arms across his chest and wore a mischievous smile on an otherwise deceptively handsome face. Synn, resigned to one last (hopefully!) questioning from Gabriel, perched his backside on the arm rest of the recliner that has come to be known as 'his' seat, and none others. (Okay, except maybe Angel when Despayre had a mind for his own brand of mischievous behavior.) Synn said nothing but his lone arched brow was invitation enough for Gabriel who started in again.
Taking up the gauntlet, Gabriel started to pace and counted his points of logic on one hand as he spoke, "A flight from Las Vegas to Yuma is two hours, three tops, at the most. But rather than take the easy way out, you instead are going on a six hourdrive to Elkin, Nevada to hop onto an Amtrak train for a twelve hour ride to Phoenix, Arizona where you'll rent a car for another three hour drive to Yuma."
Synn just stared at his smiling protege' and yes, friend, as it could easily be told that he was fully enjoying this.
"Your point being?" Synn questioned.
Gabriel nodded in easy understanding when he asked, "How did he manage to talk you into it?"
"He, who?"
"Batman!" Gabriel blurted out. "Who the bloody Hell do you think I mean? Despy! That's who! This little idea just screams Despy. It has that kid written all over it."
"Yes, well..." Synn sighed as he slid from the arm rest of the recliner to the cushioned seat and leaned back. "Do you remember when you came over for dinner a week ago and we watched that movie on cable, after?"
Gabriel silently nodded in the affirmative.
Synn continued, "And there was that travel commercial on the television that showed a train and Joshua oh so casually mentioned he had never been on a train before?"
Gabriel mouthed a light, barely audible, "Ohhh!" and Synn nodded.
"Yeah." Synn said. "Apparently before he went to bed he snuck online to look up trains and lo and behold, he brought up the subject at breakfast the next morning."
"You could have said no." Gabriel said with an expression that spoke of a struggle to keep from laughing openly at the man's expense. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling, and snorted back a laugh. Synn tell Despayre no? Yeah. The ocean had a better chance at turning into peanut butter.
"Granted I have a very poor chance of ever telling that boy 'no' to anything." Synn said as he picked up a small notepad and started to look over the gathered luggage to ensure everything was there. He paused to cast a brief glance up at the man who had become as a son to him and a big brother to Despayre, and said, "But then again, you're not exactly known to stand firm with him either."
"Right." Gabriel spoke with more than his fair share of sarcasm in his voice. "When have I ever done anything remotely to spoil the boy?"
Synn continued to check his notes while idly saying, "Oh how soon we forget the Haunted Mansion incident at Disney Land."
Gabriel could all but clear his throat, knowing that he was alone perhaps second to Synn when it came to indulging Despayre in whatever the young man's heart desired at any given time, and like any 'child', that desire was prone to change as swiftly as his random moods.
Rather than attempt to dispute Synn and lose in the effort, Gabriel pointed idly toward the luggage and said, "So I can help you get that out to the car and drive you to the train station. Where's Despy?"
"If I heard right..." Synn looked up from the notepad. "... he's giving Angel dancing lessons."
"Ah." Gabriel nodded as if it were a natural thing to hear, and it was once one came to get to know Despayre as closely as Gabriel had over the years. "... Of course."
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The door to Despayre's bedroom slipped open and Synn and Gabriel found themselves staring at Despayre doing the Britney Spears 'Oops I Did It Again' dance, and apparently attempting to teach the teddy bear on the floor how to do it as well. Yet that wasn't what brought the immediate smiles to their faces so much as the fact that apparently he was attempting to teach the dance to Theresa as well.
As they did a spin, the lesson came to a screeching halt. Theresa immediately shuffled out of the room and past the two men, but not before she stopped and shook a finger at Synn.
"One word out of you about this and I put salt peter in your next meal." And she made a hasty exit. Gabriel and Synn then turned and saw Despayre watching the direction she left with a perplexed expression, and then down to Angel.
Despayre then looked at the two men and pointed at the teddy bear before he said, "He's giving me nothing!"</color>
"Nothing? Why, I beg to differ! I've given him and his partner, Bernard, much since this big match was first announced! I know, I know, Bernard prefers to be called Big B and hates his given name, but I'm cute so I can get away with it."
"My point is that when Bernard and Despy were first signed to defend their titles against R.O.A.R., I set those two boys aside and tod them exactly what they needed to do if they wanted to walk out with the titles, just as they walked in with them. Despayre listened intently, as he always does. he knows good advice when he hears it, but Bernard? Well with him, it's like it goes in one ear and out the other. Perhaps Synn was right when he said he hoped he kept that handsome face and bubble butt because his brains... okay maybe he wasn't right."
"Despy is a crafty little guy. I've trained him well! After all, teddy bears are often outsized against the various beasties of the shadows when defending their charges, and that hasn't stopped us! Why, I don't know of a single teddy bear who has ever lost a battle against the monsters in the closet or under the bed! We have a perfect record, so our advice should always be heeded!"
"It's a good thing that the Hardins don't have a teddy bear on their side to give them expert advice! Otherwise that would complicate matters greatly!"</color>
Have you ever been on a train for commercial traveling? You know, like Amtrak? I'm hoping you have so I don't have to go into any tedious account of vast description, the better to fill your imaginations with a mental image so that you can enjoy this all the better.
"Well that was rude."
But if you have not, well the simplest way to describe the immediate inside of the train passenger car is it closely resembles the interior of an airplane that you would use for travel.
"Oh it looks nothing like an airplane!" Despayre said hotly. "For one thing, there are no wings!"
Synn stopped as he maneuvered his way down the central path between the rows of spacious seating on the First Class passenger seating of the Amtrak train, to cast a curious look toward his son who had an uncharacteristic frown on his face while looking up at ... nothing really.
"Joshua?"
"Yo!" Despayre spun around with a now more expected smile on his youthful face.
"To whom are you speaking to?" Synn asked.
"Huh?" Despayre blinked, then shook his had and rolled his eyes in a sense of annoyance. "Oh just that know-it-all narrator!" He added a thumb 'up' for emphasis.
Synn glanced up to where his son had indicated, but of course saw nothing so he exhaled gently and instead asked, "Joshua, forgive me for asking this but did you take your medication this morning?"
"Yup!" Despayre nodded with an eager and somewhat gleeful grin. "Silly! You gave them to me. Why?"
"Just curious." Synn answered and continued on his trek and Despayre hurried to catch up, cuddling Angel in his arms as they hurried along. "I want to find our sleeping car."
"We get a sleeping car?"
"It's First Class." Synn answered. "We sure as he..ck, had better!"
Counting the reserved car numbers carefully by the frames and matching them to their tickets, it took the pair little time at all in finding the two berths side by side where they would be spending the night. Despayre watched as his dad dropped his carry on bag under the rather cramped bed and Synn 'tested' the cushion's comfort with his hand before he sighed and shook his head.
"I can already tell this night won't be a comfortable one." Synn then stood upright and came ever so near to smacking his scalp into the ceiling of the compartment. He turned and found Despayre standing in the door frame, looking the space over and then up at his father. "Is something wrong, Joshua?"
"We're not sharing a room?" Despayre asked timidly. This was an all new experience for him and the thought of being unable to share it with his dad sort of spooked him. or perhaps he wanted to be able to share the experience more closely.
Synn said, "Well Joshua, it's not like a hotel. There's limited space here, and your sleeping compartment is right next to..."
Despayre's shoulders sagged and he looked absolutely pitiful to the extent Synn felt helpless and found himself saying, "But if you feel you'd not be comfortable in your own, then perhaps we can arrange something. A camp out on the floor for Angel and yourself in here or something."
Almost immediately Despayre's face softened and his eyes brightened at the solution. It would still be cramped, incredibly so more now than ever, but if it brought a smile to his son's face, it was most worth it. It was then that the train's whistle blew and the massive Amtrak started to move, almost sending both men off of their footing.
"Whoa! What's happening?" Despayre cried as he caught himself against the frame of the door.
"Calm down Joshua." Synn answered. "The train is just starting to move."
"It moves!?"
"Well how else did you propose we arrive in Arizona?" Synn asked. "Molecular teleportation?"
"No." Despayre paused for a moment, then he smiled widely. "Can we!?"
"I'm afraid not." Synn said as he ushered his boy back into the train's hall, careful to secure their footing as it started to pick up speed along its journey. "How about we go get to our seats and watch the scenery?"
"`Kay!" Despayre nodded and he started to hurry along when he stopped as an elderly woman with short, curly white stepped up to the compartment directly across from their own, the epitome of a cute and loving grandmother type.
"Hi!" Despayre greeted her with a friendly wave. "It's my first train ride!"
'Well I hope you enjoy yourself!" She said kindly with a twinkle in her eye.
"We will!" Despayre chirped as he tuned and hurried along with Synn following closely.
The elderly woman tried to open the door to her compartment and the door would not unlock to her key card. She appeared to grow worried when one of the Amtrak train conductors came along and she waved him down for assistance.
"Yes ma'am?" The middle aged man said as he approached. "Can I help you?"
"Please, if you could?" She said as she offered him her key card. "I can't seem to get into my compartment."
"Certainly." The conductor said and he started to step up to the door when he glanced down at the key in his hand and said, "Ah. Well ma'am, I believe this here is the problem." he showed her the key card more closely, "This key is for compartment A3. That is just a little further along the hall. This compartment here is A8."
"Oh?" She glanced down at the key and adjusted her glasses. "Well for Heaven's sake!" She playfully chided herself. "I need to get these things checked! I thought that 8 was a 3!"
"It's quite alright ma'am." The conductor chuckled. "Here, I'll show you to your area."
"Oh, thank you." She smiled and followed him closely down the train hall.</color>
"'Dark Tiger' Sebastian Hardin is a big boy, but my Despy is ready! Mister Sebastian, you're not the first big man that has stepped into the ring against Despayre, and you probably won't be the last. You're bigger, yes. Stronger, why certainly! But in the end, are you better? I think the answer comes in the form of who is the champion here, doesn't it? Who here has the near spotless record? You have to remember that Despayre is one of the smaller grapplers in the wrestling brotherhood, but has that stopped him? No sirree! Has it slowed him down or put him at such a glaring disadvantage that he had no chance at winning? Look at his championship accomplishments and won-loss record to find an answer to THAT one!"
"Just because he's small doesn't mean he doesn't know how to bring a giant such as yourself crashing down. Look at Jack and the giant! Or David and Goliath! While Despy doesn't have a stone and a slingshot, he does have something even better! Me and Bernard on his side! You're a good wrestler, and you know how to use your size to your advantage, I'll give you that! You wouldn't be getting this title shot if you didn't. But the Bosom Buddies aren't ready to be ex-champions."
"Good luck Dark Tiger! The fun is about to begin!"</color>
I won't bore you with details on the train journey, the passing of scenery and so forth...
"Good!"
"Joshua?"
"Sorry!"
And despite what SOME people think, the interior of the Amtrak seating car was not all that different from the interior of an airplane. There were rows of seats of two on each side of the train, only admittedly there was quite a bit more space on a train, and the seats were facing outward toward the windows so that the passengers could enjoy the view of the world as it passed them by. Plus, here in the First Class car, the seats were larger and much more comfortable.
"See? Not so much like an airplane."
I was referring to the setting!
"Pth!"
"Joshua?" Synn sighed as he turned his head to his son whose face was plastered against the glass, watching with heightened enthusiasm at everything that passed by outside. Nothing could pry him away.
"Yesssssss?" Despayre answered, not taking his eyes nor his hands off of the glass.
Synn said, "How about we go find the dining car and grab a bite to eat?"
"Woo hoo!" And Despayre took off like a shot as Synn slowly stood up, and again almost hit his head. Okay, so maybe the prospect of chow can tear him away?
Despayre hurried back toward where he would be bunkering down with his pops to get Angel a fresh change of clothes. Teddy bears were quite the dapper individuals when it comes to fashion, you know! And no, he's not going to be wearing his special 'one-of-a-kind' Delia Darling original! Not yet, anyway! You're just going to have to wait for that one!
With his father a bit further behind down the train hall, Despayre arrived at the door to his compartment, and not his father's. After all, he'd be sleeping there but his and Angel's stuff was in his and Angel's little space. Makes sense, right? at's when Despayre gave pause and turned around to the compartment across where the sweet old lady was, or where he thought she was. Maybe she didn't have anyone to eat with and would like to join him, his dad and Angel? It was worth a shot!
Despayre was always the friendliest little guy where it concerned certain individuals -- much to his father's consternation. Any time someone would knock on their door at home, Despayre would invite them inside, no matter what. Synn would often tell of how many times they had an Avon lady or Jehovah Witness for dinner because of his boy's penchant for being a good host.
But as he knocked on the old woman's door, he received no answer. He waited patiently, then knocked again, but when he got no answer, he looked down at Angel and shrugged in wonder.
"Do you think she's napping?" He asked his plush buddy. "Old people like to nap. or maybe she already went for something to eat? They like to eat early so they can get to nap faster. Oo! If we hurry, maybe we can catch her and she can regale us with stories of the Old West!"
Despayre quickly darted into his own compartment, but before he shut the door behind him, you could hear him say, "Can we still call it the Old West if she wasn't from there?"
"Joshua, are you ready?" Synn rapped on his door as the lad had drawn the shades over the glass of his berth so Angel was given the privacy needed to change his attire. So 99% of teddy bears did their duty starkers, a bear has his pride, you know!
The door soon swung open and Despayre hopped out with Angel wearing a silver bathrobe with black floral print designs along it. Another gift from ms. Delia. Boy she was a sweety!
"Ready!" Despayre chirped and hurriedly shut the door behind him. "Can we eat now? Maybe we can sit down with that nice Irish woman across from us!"
"How do you know she's Irish?"
"Angel says she's an O' Lady. Ha!"
Synn smirked and shook his head at his son's sense of humor (or Angel's) and started to escort him down the hall when something caught Despayre's eye and caused him to pause. A figure was walking back up along the hall of the train, clad in a long, leather jacket with the hood up to covertly cover the face and hide the identity. Despayre's gray eyes flickered as he watched the mysterious figure stop at the door that he had just knocked upon and ... he went inside! He went inside of the nice Missus O' Lady's compartment!
"Joshua?" Synn jostled Despayre's shoulder to alert him. "Is everything alright?"
"I hope so." Despayre whimpered as he was led up the car....</color>
"You know what I have to admit don't understand, Jeremiah? How come you refer to yourself as 'Big Tiger' when Sebastian is so much larger than you are? I guess it's because of your track record and reputation, huh? I have to give you credit where credit is due, you're definitely one of the greats! I saw when you won the SCW Roulette Championship! Boy that was a great match and you made for a great champion! You plowed through the competition and defended against anyone who wanted a crack at the gold. You turned away nobody and now you have a partner and are bringing that attitude to the tag team ranks! Well good for you, I say! There's a reason why you and Sebastian are the Number One Contenders to the tag titles! You're a great fighter and a terrific athlete, Jeremiah. You have a lot going for you. You have a lot of skill, but what you don't have is me in your corner. And what you won't have is the SCW Tag Team Championship!"</color>
"I know Angel, I saw him too!" Despayre said as he peaked from behind the drawn shades of his own compartment following dinner. His dad had entered his own and invited Despayre to join him to relax before bed as it was getting dark out, but Despayre said Angel wanted some 'buddy time' to discuss strategy. The trick was, it wasn't the upcoming tag title defense that he was referring to.
"Yes, there's something sinister afoot!" Despayre mumbled to Angel as the teddy bear now poked his little black nose between the drapes to get a gander at that door across from them. Only moments ago, they had seen that figure emerge from within and hurry along toward the dining car, where they themselves had just come from. It was only with Angel's heightened reflexes and stealth against the bad guys that they managed to duck away from their window in time to avoid detection.
"I suppose murderous fiends have to eat every now and then too, huh?" He asked his bestie. "Do you think we should tell dad about this? We haven't seen Missus O' Lady since we got on! He probably did something dastardly to her!"
Despayre frowned, then looked at his buddy before he said, "Because that's what dastardly types do, duh!" he huffed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, so we handle this alone. Do you think your plan will really work? We might need dad's help. ... No? ... Right! More babes for us being the heroes!"
With careful tippy toe action, Despayre (and Angel! slid carefully from their compartment, making as little noise as possible. Angel was giving him lessons in stealth, you know. Despayre pointed toward a heavy cord draped up along the wall of the car and whispered, "Is that it? ... Right! Well this is an emergency! The fiend did something to that poor old bird! ... No, I mean Missus O' Lady, not an actual bird. That's British speech!"
He smiled proudly, but that expression shifted quickly as he hurried across the train hall and paused beside the door of the fiend's compartment. Grasping the emergency cord with one hand, he used the other to reach over and rap on the door.
No sooner did the door 'click' and slide open, than did Despayre pull hard on the cord! Suddenly the screeching sound of a several ton train coming to an emergency halt tore at the ears as the train lurched to a sudden and grinding halt! The very stop was so sudden and unsettling that it threw Despayre to the floor of the hall and the figure that had emerged was thrown to down as well!
"Ahh! He's got me! Get him Angel! Bite him! Chew him to ribbons!"
Of course the sheer momentum of the figure topping over on him had caused Despayre to be the one on top but that didn't stop him from calling for his plush pal's aid as the battle waged on!
"Despy!"
"Get him Angel! Avenge Missus O' Lady!" Despy had Angel in the face of the one under him as doors all along the car slid open and inquisitive heads poked out to see what the fuss was al about. One of them being Synn. "Get him Angel! Bite his nose off!"
"Despy!"
"Joshua!"
"What!?"
Synn nodded down for his son to stop and look and Despayre looked down at the one he had pinned down and his face brightened.
"Gabriel!" He cried. "What did you do to Missus O' Lady!?"
Gabriel just looked at Synn and snarled, "You let him watch that goddam 'I Love Lucy' episode again, didn't you!?"</color>
