Birds of a Feather II

Trelawny

Josiah rolled his pocket watch in his palm, comforted at its presence. He'd nearly lost it in that skirmish with those damnable bounty hunters back in Rhodes. And he had lost his favorite cane to them, before Charles and Arthur showed up to save the day.

Josiah flicked open the pocket watch as if he were checking the time. Rather, his focus was on the photograph inside, opposite the moving second hand. The whole of it was a gift from his wife. A rare occurrence as he was the one who usually brought home the gifts after his extended trips, not the other way around. But last year on his birthday his family had pleasantly surprised him.

The boys had burst into laughter when he'd opened the gift box and then took turns giddily explaining he needed a watch so he wouldn't lose track of time anymore. They thought it quite humorous to get one over on their old man, scampering off to fetch cake as he examined it.

While the boys had been distracted, Lydia had clicked open the watch to reveal the photograph inside. She'd stared up at him, her eyes dark pools of warm brown as she captured his gaze in the same manner that had captivated him the first time they'd met.

"More importantly, Josiah," his wife had whispered softly, "please don't lose track of us."

"I can't find Mary-Beth anywhere, Mr. Trelawny."

Josiah snapped the watch closed and stuffed it into his vest pocket, his memory dissolving as he straightened from his lean against the surrounding wall to the park.

Hoping Charlotte hadn't seen the contents inside the watch, he commented mildly, "Not an entirely unexpected outcome, as it were."

Charlotte's worried frown cleared. "What do you mean?"

"For as long as I've known Dutch and the people he surrounds himself, they never miss an opportunity for impulsive decisions and deal-making."

It was that portion of this dastardly life which made it so irresistible. He'd been guilty of taking part in more than one impetuous scheme made on the fly.

"That certainly doesn't do anything to ease my concern for Mary-Beth."

"She'll turn up," he said confidently and offered her his elbow. "In the meantime, might I suggest we carry on and wait for her at my quarters?"

Charlotte seemed reluctant to agree to that, casting another troubled gaze back into the park. But the trolley had paused across the road and it was loading passengers. He didn't want to miss it so he led Charlotte by the elbow towards the car and she ultimately went along with him. They boarded, sharing a seat near the back.

As the trolley chimed its bell and started to move, Charlotte asked him, "Do you have family here in the city, Mr. Trelawny?"

Ah, so she had managed to get a peek of the photograph before he'd closed the watch after all. As if it were no matter at all to him, he admitted with ease, "Indeed I do."

Lydia, Cornelius and Tarquin were long gone from Saint Denis by now, thankfully. However, Josiah wasn't pleased that lately so many of the gang were discovering the existence of his other life. He preferred to keep the two entirely separate.

Yet Charlotte knowing was infinitely less nerve-wracking than when Arthur had inexplicably found him, absurdly calling from the other side of his front door one random evening when he'd been playing the family man.

When Josiah had returned to camp, he'd fully expected to be confronted by Dutch, but Arthur had kept the discovery to himself. It was part of the reason Josiah had volunteered to help his friend Charlotte. He owed Arthur his discretion, even if the cat was mostly out of the bag at this point.