BAND OF BROTHERS
by
Dreamweaver and Talefeathers
Chapter 8
The Chapters
“Tell me again why we booked this flight?” Blair Sandburg demanded as they inched their way along in the check-in line. “Why didn’t we go back in the morning? And why are all these people wanting to go to Cascade, anyway?”
“They aren’t all wanting to go to Cascade,” Jim said reasonably. “They’re going to Denver...and Seattle...and Portland...and San Francisco, as well as Cascade.”
Blair eyed him malevolently. “Can the logic, Ellison,” he grumbled. “I’m not in the mood to listen to it. I’m in the mood to vent all my frustrations! And I have a lot of frustrations at the moment!”
“God help us all!” his partner whispered. Aloud, he said “I wonder where Daryl is? He knows what time we needed to check in – and the Hardys said they’d get him here on time!”
Sandburg just growled, and shoved his duffle bag forward with one of his crutches.
“It was nice of Con to give us a ride to the airport.” Jim made a valiant attempt to distract his grouchy Guide. “Even though he was called away on a case – see, Chief, we’re not the only ones who end up working on weekends!”
Blair nodded, accepting the change of subject and trying to curb his bad temper. “You’re right; we aren’t, and yes, it was nice of him. He’s a good guy, Jim; I liked him.”
“Jim! Blair!”
The two men turned and saw Daryl Banks hurrying towards them, accompanied by Joe and Frank Hardy – Frank bringing up the rear, as he was swinging along on crutches just as Blair was.
“I see we got here in plenty of time,” Joe observed, eyeing the line snaking up to the counters. “And here we thought we might be late!” They settled companionably into line with their friends from Cascade.
“Suddenly everyone wants to get out of Bayport,” Blair muttered resentfully.
“Be reasonable, Chief,” Ellison said. “Most of these people came in for the basketball games, just as Daryl did, or for the police conference, like we did. Now that the games are done in Bayport, and the conference is over, they’re all leaving again.” He rested a hand on the younger man’s neck and rubbed gently.
Blair sighed. “You’re being logical again,” he pointed out. “I don’t want reasonable explanations, I want immediate solutions!” But despite his words, he relaxed into his partner’s soothing touch, and even managed a small smile. “Sorry I’m being such a grouch.”
“People are lookin’ at us funny,” Daryl whispered, as they inched forward.
“It’s the crutches,” Frank said. “Nobody wants to be next to us, because they’re afraid being a gimp is contagious! They’re afraid they’ll catch it too! And they don’t want to be near Blair, especially,” he teased, “since he’s got that bandage on his forehead as well as all the bruises, and the crutches!”
“That is so lame—” Joe broke off his comment with a groan. “Somebody tell me I didn’t just say that!”
“Sorry, bro, but that one’s all yours.” Frank swung forward another step. “I’m going to get a walking cast next week,” he added with relief. “No more crutches!”
“Well, I’ll be off crutches next week too,” Blair bragged.
“Maybe,” Jim put in mildly. “You’ve got a pretty nasty sprain, remember.”
“Man, do not rain on my parade!”
At last it was their turn to step to the counter and check in. Jim, motioning to Blair to stay put with Frank and Joe for the moment, took his partner’s ID and both their tickets, and moved up, while Daryl went to another ticket agent.
“Here’s mine...and this is for my partner.” He tilted his head toward Blair. “He’s the one on crutches. The dark-haired one on crutches,” he added, realizing that the description ‘on crutches’ would also fit Frank. Ooops, that didn’t help much! “Uh—” He tried again. “The short one with long dark hair.” He also produced their permits to carry weapons aboard the plane, and showed their police-issue guns.
The agent laughed and started processing their tickets, but after a moment she looked puzzled and started tapping more computer keys. A feeling of uneasiness began to spread over the detective. “Is there something wrong?”
“Not a thing!” she said cheerfully, and went on tapping keys. “It’s just that you’re booked in First Class now!”
“First Class? That’s not right! There must be some mistake!” Ellison nearly panicked. Their tickets were purchased by the department, and definitely were not issued for First Class! He could just imagine Simon Banks’ reaction to the news that his detectives had incurred that sort of expense.
“No mistake. See?” The ticket agent turned her computer screen towards him and pointed.
When Ellison returned to his companions, Joe was saying, “Blair, you’d get first boarding if you’d just let Jim or Daryl push you in a wheelchair, instead of using the crutches! And you wouldn’t get so tired...”
“I’m not going to be wheeled through the airport like some invalid dowager!” Blair refused. “But maybe they’d let me board first anyway,” he concluded hopefully. He looked up at Jim as he approached, and the older man could see unconcealed weariness in his partner’s eyes. “Which gate do we leave from? And was there something wrong with the tickets?”
“Forty-three, Concourse B,” Ellison replied, ignoring the second question. He picked up his and Blair’s carryon bags and started towards the gates.
“Man, that’s clear at the other end of the airport!” Joe exclaimed. “Blair, about that wheelchair...”
“But I don’t want...ah, hell, whatever!” Blair sighed deeply and capitulated. “If we see one standing around empty, I’ll ride in it. But I’m gonna feel like an idiot! Jim!” he called after his roommate, “what was the deal with the tickets, anyway? How come you had that long discussion with the agent?” He groaned at a sudden thought. “We didn’t get bumped, did we? The flight’s not delayed, or anything? Man, we’ve already checked outta the motel, and I do NOT want to spend the night in the airport—”
Ellison turned, a grin spreading across his handsome face. “You’re going to get early boarding,” he informed his fretful partner.
“Was that all? Sheesh....”
Sooner than anticipated, they reached the security checkpoints, and the Hardys could go no further. They exchanged hand- and back-slaps with Daryl, and shook hands more formally with the two detectives, wishing them a good flight home.
“And you guys need to come to Cascade!” Daryl invited. “I want to show you around!”
“We’ve been to Seattle, but not Cascade; I’d like to come,” Frank nodded. “Wouldn’t you, Joe?”
“Yeah, I would! We’ll call you, Daryl – or you call us. You’ve got our e-mails, too, right? We’ll set it up, okay?”
“You got it! Bye, Joe! Bye, Frank!” Daryl put his bag on the conveyor belt and stepped through the metal detector, waving back at his new friends.
The Hardys turned to go, but Jim put out a detaining hand. “Thank your mother for us,” he said with a quiet smile, and the boys both nodded.
“She said it’s you who deserve the thanks,” Frank told him, and extended his hand to clasp Ellison’s once more. ‘Both of you – thanks for everything.”
“Detective Ellison – it might not have been completely fun, but it was definitely awesome!” Joe pronounced, grinning. “I’ll never forget it!”
“You take it easy, Joe. We’ll see you when you come to Cascade. Maybe we can get Jags tickets!”
Blair, looking a little bewildered, exchanged final goodbyes with the boys, and the two detectives moved through the security checks.
“Jim,” he said when they were at last gliding along on the Slide-walk, Daryl some distance ahead, “What was that about thanking Mrs. Hardy? For what?”
Ellison smiled. “Chief, remember when I said you’d get early boarding?”
“Yeah...?”
“Well, you aren’t the only one. We all are – you and me and Daryl.”
“What? Why? How come?”
Jim, still smiling, took their boarding passes from his pocket and flipped one open to display it to Blair. “Because,” he explained, “we’re flying First Class...compliments of ‘L. Hardy’!”
“Wha...but...we’re...you don’t mean it! First Class?” Between sputters of disbelief, Sandburg’s mouth was hanging open in shock.
“Apparently she had our tickets upgraded.”
Blair leaned on his crutches and held out his hand for his boarding pass. He examined it carefully before passing it back to Jim. “Well, I’ll be damned!” he said at last. “That’s really nice of her!”
“I agree, partner. Come on, let’s get to the gate so you can sit down; you’re looking about as peppy as a wet rag.”
“I simply live for compliments like that,” Sandburg said sarcastically, but straightened up with a little more energy, nonetheless. “Jim...” he said, after a few minutes more of Slide-walking. “You never did tell me about how things went, when you and Joe were trying to find us. Did you have any trouble with zoning, or spikes, or using your senses? How’d you manage without him getting suspicious?”
Ellison turned around and faced his Guide, grinning. “Well, you see...Joe seems to have some natural talent....”
The End
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.