International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: Playing with Fire [message #552 is a reply to message #551] Mon, 23 July 2012 21:36 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
artisticrainey is currently offline  artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
Field Commander
Switzerland
The monorail glided with grace, snaking through the Irish countryside like a long swan's neck, glinting silver and green under the pale October sun. The old railway line had been fully replaced since 2050. As the carriage streaked by, Dominic could see the indents where the old track had lain. The heavy steel bars that curled around the monorail cars were planted heavily into the ground, like a one hundred mile long millipede connecting the cities of Dublin and Belfast together.

"Twain twain twain," Joshua chanted as the scenery rushed by with increasing speed. "Twaaaaaain!"

Ducky and Horsey were following one another as if chained together; Dominic smiled as his son pushed them around the table. A woman with bright red nails and severe eyebrows coughed loudly and shot a glance across the car at them, and Dominic just about resisted the temptation to make a rude gesture. He smiled at her instead, and she snapped her newspaper before going back to reading it.

She exited the train at Newry, just across the Northern Irish border. Dominic waved at her as she got up, and she shot him another stern glare. Joshua waved too; the woman thrust her paper into her handbag and strode towards the automatically opened doors. Dominic shook his head, and Joshua giggled.

"Ducky!"

It was just over an hour and a half since their departure from Dublin that the monorail glided in to Belfast's Europa Monorail Station. It was built on the site of the old train station behind the Europa hotel, which as far as Dominic knew still held the title of 'Most Bombed Hotel in Europe'. I'm not at all surprised, he thought. He sat Joshua up on the table as he reached into the overhead lockers for his bag and the child's stroller. They exited onto the platform without too much trouble and thankfully no injuries (when Joshua had been a newborn, Dominic was well-known for his accidently lethal usage of prams and buggies). Dominic cajoled Joshua into wearing the heavy bomber jacket his grandmother had bought the child, and strapped him into the stroller.

"This is where Daddy grew up," he said.

Joshua, oblivious, started chewing on Horsey's ear.

Dominic delved into the afternoon hubbub of Northern Ireland's capital city. In the few years that Dominic had been living across the pond in the USA, taller and taller buildings had shot up. The wide swath of cars that was Great Victoria Street was lined on both sides by towering office blocks, their bottoms lined with brightly coloured stores of all types. Most of them hadn't been there when Dominic had left.

He spent a little while in the city where he had done the most growing up in, the place where he had once held down three jobs and a full-time regime in school just to keep he and his mother afloat and his own dreams of medical school alive. Maybe I'll head up to the hospital later, just for old time's sake, he thought. He wheeled Joshua over the streets with their patchwork of old and new flagstones, swerving between rushing businessmen and busy mothers. He was tempted to stay in the city centre and soak in every last detail like a sponge, but knew that he had something more important to do. I'll enjoy it more after I've made the visit, anyway, he thought.

He pulled Joshua to the side of Donegal Pass and glanced up at Belfast City Hall. A huge, white stone, dome-topped Victorian structure, it stood proudly in its grounds, carrying with it millions of memories in the minds of many people. It had withstood decades of rioting and war, eventually becoming a symbol of a divided community finally beginning to work together. Dominic smiled. I'll take Jak up there later. He'll love the dome; his yells will be five times louder 'cuz of the acoustics!

He manoeuvred the stroller back around and made his way to a flower stand that he had passed a few minutes before. Handing over some of the money his grandparents had given him, he bought a bouquet of roses, and tucked them in the basket underneath Joshua's seat. He thanked the vendor, took his change, and made his way to the bus stop he used nearly every day when he was at university. When the bus arrived, he pulled Joshua's stroller onboard, paid, unbuckled Joshua, took out the flowers and folded the stroller up. Stowing it in the racks above, Dominic sat Joshua on his knee and set the flowers down beside him. He cuddled his son tightly, and whispered in his ear.

"Daddy will never leave you."

xxxx

The black hire-car that had arrived in Belfast a half-hour before the monorail had slid into the station had circled the station until Dominic and Joshua had emerged onto the street. Bingo, thought Matthew Hawkins. He tailed the two as best he could in the heavy traffic, fortuitous for once. The main problem was the gear-shift car, and the fact that it was right-hand drive. Eventually Dominic wheeled Joshua to a bus stop. Matthew consulted the car's sat-nav, and made his own way to the cemetery where he knew Roisin Kelly, Dominic's mother, was buried. I'll bet that's exactly where Dominic is headed, Matthew thought. And it's where we'll settle this.

Dom plainclothes heartbeat Luke plainclothes

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