TimeTravel Adventures of The 1800 Club [Book 12]

by Robert P McAuley

  “But-but, my stockings . . . ?”

  “Believe me, John, no one will notice.”

  “But, you did.”

  “She rolled her eyes and whispered, “It was not me, but Sherlock Holmes who noticed and I truly doubt that another Londoner will notice them.”

  “Well, I guess you are correct. Besides it is a tad on the dark side in there.

  “Then it is settled!” she said with a big smile, “Come, I’m in the mood for onion soup.”

  The last of the Londoners who made the Pig’s Ear Pub their lunchtime stop just left as they entered.

  “Our normal or the bar?” asked the doctor.

  “Our normal,” answered Shirley as she headed towards their regular spot: a low, round, dark brown wooden table situated against the wall. It had a bench seat along the wall and a chair on the outside. The table had hardly a flat spot left after years of patrons carving their initials on it and she wiped away some of the crumbs that escaped being brushed away by hiding in the indentations of the carved names. She dropped her leather and canvas bag on the bench seat against the wall and slid in as the doctor ordered at the bar.

  “Yes, well, we are in luck today,” he proclaimed as he came over to their table. “The crowd that just left didn’t finish all of the onion soup.” Watson removed his long coat, draped it over his chair and sat facing Shirley and the window behind her.

  The barman came over and placed a pint of ale and a pint of cider on their table and left.

  “Cheers,” said Watson as he lifted his pint of ale.

  “Cheers to you too, John.” They both took a sip and she laughed as the foam from his ale clung to his gray mustache.

  “Must be time to trim it,” he said as he wiped it away with a handkerchief.

  The barman returned with two bowls of steaming hot French onion soup.

  “Now,” Watson said as he folded his arms, “what is it that you are so excited about?”

  “My dear doctor,” she said with a faux frown on her pretty face, “Must I remind you of the many times you said to me, ‘One must never make a decision when one’s stomach is empty?’

  “Well,” he answered with a shrug, “perhaps we should have our soup before it cools off.”

  Seeing the steam rise from the soup she relented, saying, “Then again this could be the time to break your rule of eating before making a decision.” She picked up her bag and took out a letter, reached inside and took out two tickets and placed them on the table.”

  “What have we here?” asked Watson as he turned the tickets to face him. “Two round trip tickets to America aboard the Hamburg American Ocean liner the SS Augusta Victoria.” He turned them back to face her and said with a warm smile, “Jolly good for you, Shirley, and whomever it is that you are bringing along.”

  “John they are for first-class cabins.”

  “Well then, even better for you. When is this trip?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Rather fast is it not? I mean just the other day you mentioned that you wished to go to the Natural History Museum of London this week. What made you change your mind so quickly?”

  “John,” Shirley said with a serious look on her face, “the other person is you.”

  He was taken aback as he searched for words, “Me? Well, no not me. I mean I have so much to do and sea voyages never have agreed with my stomach. No, no it can’t be me. Bring one of your lady friends they’ll enjoy the trip much more than I.” He looked down as he stirred his soup, which increased the amount of steam released. “Are you-are you getting married?”

  She grinned, “No, not yet. Tell me, why is it that you can’t go? I know that Scotland Yard has nothing for you at the moment. Are you just going to stay around and wait until someone gets murdered?”

  Watson tried to take a sip of the soup and quickly put the spoon down and took a swig of his ale. “Shirley, I have no reason to travel anywhere on another man’s billfold. Should I decide to travel it is I who would purchase the ticket and make the plans as to when and where I would go.”

  “But John, you are needed there.”

  “Me? I am needed there? Where?”

  “New York.”

  “Filthy place I’ve heard it said. Why I bet their hospitals are filled at all times.”

  She grinned and said, “John, you know that they have some fine hospitals and staff in the states so please do not use that as an excuse.”

  She reached into the envelope again and took out a smaller envelope and passed it to him as she said in a low tone of voice, “Bill Scott said that should you decline to come over, I should pass you this. It is still sealed and I have no knowledge of its contents.”

  The front of the envelope had his name on it and Watson opened it and took out a folded sheet of paper. He read it, stopped and read it again as he whispered, “But-but, this cannot be. I mean is it possible? Why, we are just now trying to tackle this problem. How could they be so far ahead of us?” He looked out the window and just stared at the empty sky with his mouth slightly open.

  “John,” Shirley whispered as she tugged on his sleeve, “what is it? What did he write?”

  Watson snapped out of it and said, “My Lord, Shirley, what time does our ship leave?”

  A big smile came across her face, “John! You are going? This is wonderful!” She looked at the open letter and asked, “Is it too personal for me to know its contents?”

  “No, not at all,” he said as he turned the letter towards her. “Tell me is Bill a doctor too?”

  “No,” she said as she looked at the note.

  My dear Doctor Watson. If you are reading this note I hope that it intrigues you enough to make the trip across the ocean where you will find more on this and many other subjects. Regards, Bill Scott.

  Heart bypass operation

  Your chest, arms and legs are shaved and your skin washed with antiseptic solution. It is important not to eat or drink for some time before the operation. You are given a pre-medication injection to make you feel drowsy and to dry up internal secretions.

  Heart bypass surgery is performed under general anesthetic. The saphenous vein (from your leg) the internal mammary artery (from your chest wall) or the radial artery (from your wrist) can be used as grafts. Commonly, between two and four coronary arteries are grafted, depending on the location and severity of the blockages.

  The surgeon accesses your heart using one of two possible incisions: either cutting down the length of your breastbone (median sternotomy) or cutting beneath the left nipple (thoracotomy). A heart-lung machine maintains your blood circulation while your heart is deliberately stopped. The vein or artery is then grafted onto the narrowed segment of coronary artery, which allows the blood flow to bypass the blockage.

  Sometimes, the operation is performed while the heart is still beating (this is called 'beating heart' or 'off-pump' surgery).

  She said as she folded the letter and passed it back to him, “We sail on the Augusta Victoria which leaves the Port of London at 10:30 a.m. and as you must pass my house to get there I shall await your arrival about 8 a.m.”

  He tried his soup again and said as he stirred it, “Yes. 8 sharp.” He looked across the table and asked in a low voice, “Does this chap of yours write for a medical journal or something? I mean what he has written here is years away from actual practice. I simply must meet and speak with him.”

  Feigning ignorance she shrugged her shoulders and answered, “No he does not write for a medical journal, however, he knows many professional people.”

  “I shall have to pack this evening and cancel a few appointments as well as letting the Yard know that I’ll be gone for a bit.” He smiled and his eyes gleamed as he went on, “I say, my dear Shirley, this could be a very rewarding trip. Very rewarding, indeed!”

  “I propose,” said Shirley, “that we finish lunch and go straight home.”

  At two minutes of eight the next morning a light four-wheeled horse-drawn Brougham c
arriage pulled up in front of 221B Baker Street and Doctor John Watson exited the vehicle, entered the building and went up the stairs to the second floor where he saw the door open.

  “Shirley?” he called before entering the apartment.

  “Come in John,” came the answer from the bedroom, “Next to the pot of tea under the cozy on the table are two teacups, please pour one for me as well.”

  Watson looked quickly at his watch, removed the plaid cozy from the hot pot of tea and poured two cups. She entered the main room and plopped a leather valise on the floor next to a second valise. “Well,” she said as she took the offered cup of tea, “here’s to our journey.”

  “To a smooth voyage,” Watson replied as he lifted his cup. They drank their tea and Watson took her bag downstairs and thirty minutes later they were at London Docks.

  The SS Augusta Victoria was a beauty of an Ocean liner and was the first to have two screws to give her record breaking speeds. She was painted a rich blue from her waterline to the top of her free board while all of the cabin sections were white and her funnels a light blue. It was said that she was the first of the ‘floating hotel’ liners. She dwarfed everything around her and even seemed to have her own clouds as thick white smoke came from her foremost smokestack while the other two gave off no more than a wisp of smoke. Watson and Holmes knew that soon all three stacks would be giving off the same amount of thick smoke when the ship went to full steam.

  An angled covered stairway went from the dock to the top of the free board and smiling, uniformed young men guided the passengers to it. At the stairway’s entrance was a large table with five employees taking tickets and handing out keys to the cabins.

  “Cabin 104,” said Watson as he took Shirley’s arm and started up the stairs, “And you?”

  “103. We are next to each other.”

  “Well, it seems as though your young man has thought of everything.”

  Shirley simply nodded and thought with a smile, I wonder how soon it will be before the doctor discovers that it is Bill’s right-hand-man, Matt who has thought of everything.

  Watson took her arm as they went up the covered gangway. At the top of the free board they took another short set of stairs to the second and top deck. They both carried one valise with them and were pleasantly surprised to find their second valise already in front of their cabin doors.

  “Here’s 104,” said Shirley, “and there is 103. Shall we meet in thirty minutes?”

  “Thirty minutes sounds right to me. Please allow me to bring your valise inside for you.”

  “No need,” she answered as she opened the cabin door and easily picked the valise up by its grip handle and shoved it into the cabin.

  He motioned to the rail and said, “I’ll be at the rail when you come out.”

  “Good. Then we shall watch London disappear behind us as we leave the dock.”

  Using the key he got from the uniformed young man who checked his ticket, Doctor Watson opened the door and picked up his second valise. He entered then stood in shock as he saw his spacious room. It was filled with sunlight that poured in from two double windows that opened out by turning a hand crank. Both windows had white linen curtains that hung from the ceiling to the floor and a white linen valance, which ran across the top of the windows. The room was called a ‘Sun Verandah’ because as there was so much sunlight available there was an attached twelve-inch deep flower box built on the inside of the window with Daisies growing in it. The walls were painted an off white with wood molding and trim that was hand rubbed gold leaf. The room had a tray ceiling that was Robin’s egg blue on the inside and the same off-white color of the walls on the outside separated with hand-rubbed gold wood trim. The design of the ceiling gave a person the feeling of looking straight up to the sky through an opening in the ceiling. Against the wall that faced the cabin door was an overstuffed red velvet couch with large curved arms. Two-inch velvet covered buttons secured the feather-filled inner stuffing in place. In front of the couch was a thirty-inch oval, glass topped cherry wood tea table with pressed English Roses beneath the glass. On the left side of the room was a door that had a white wicker chair on either side of it while straight across from the couch, centered between the two windows, was another thirty-inch, glass topped cherry wood table with pressed Daisies. Covering the floor of the entire room was a light tan carpet with three-inch wide Robin’s Egg blue geometric designs. There were six wall-mounted electric lights with wide linen shades and a pull chain with porcelain English Rose weight at the end.

  Watson opened the door at the left and stood in awe of the bedroom. The main piece of furniture that greeted the eye was a four-poster, cherry wood bed. The bed coverings were once again a Robin’s Egg blue that complimented the walls, which were a repeat from the previous room. The tray ceiling matched the first room’s but with an addition of birds flying above the bed and a few light clouds. This room was also flooded with daylight from a single double-opening window with white linen curtains that seemed like wispy clouds as they danced with the morning breeze. At the foot of the bed was a backless bench-seat with a blue velvet cushion that had gold piping along its edges. To the left of the bed was the window and next to that was a Robin’s Egg blue easy chair with a hassock tucked away beneath it. Against that same wall stood a four-drawer dressing table with a large mirror above it. Centered in the bedroom was a thirty-inch round cherry wood, glass top table with pressed English Roses under the glass. On either side of the door that he entered stood a tall amour that when opened showed six drawers and a section for hanging clothes. Pulling the entire room together was the wall-to-wall carpeting. It was tan and had light blue, three-inch wide lines running in a diamond pattern. Once again there were six electric lights mounted on the room’s walls. In the right hand corner of the room, near the bed’s headboard, was another door that was almost invisible as it was disguised as a section of the wall. Watson turned the small knob and stepped into a spacious, well-lit bathroom. All four walls were made of white, eight-inch square tiles while the floor was composed of white, twelve-inch square tiles. Watson, being used to small dimly lit washrooms, was happy to see that the white tiles did an outstanding job of reflecting the light from the four electric wall-mounted lamps. The ceiling was a round tray ceiling with the same Robin’s Egg blue center and off-white outside. Once again puffy clouds and light gray doves seemed to be in flight. To his left was a wide pedestal mounted double sink with one of the four lights situated on either side of it. Above the sink was a wide horizontal mirror set in a six-inch wide marble frame that was white with light blue veining. Against the far wall was a deep, claw footed soaking tub with gold plated piping that ran up to a showerhead which gave the passenger the option of bathing or showering. Above the tub and hanging from the ceiling was a gold plated piping that supported the Robin’s Egg blue shower curtain, which was pulled back and secured with a white linen bow. A small matching oval rug was set against the tub to help avoid slipping as the ship rolled with a swell. On the right side of the room was a toilet with a bidet and next to that was a large wooden combination towel and medicine cabinet with a full-length mirror in its door.

  Watson closed the door and went to the Sun Verandah room, sat on the couch and loosened his tie. He shook his head, got up and made sure that the door was locked. He sat back on the couch, removed a flask from his inside jacket pocket and opened it. The doctor took a deep swig of its contents, squeezed his eyes closed tight and put the flask away as he thought, Lord! Is this how the rich live? Why, I’ve been to new hospitals that are not as grand as these three rooms. He grinned as he went on, I do not blame Shirley for marrying this fellow: this life style would be very hard to turn down. He stood, tightened his tie, wiped his brow and went to the cabin door, Watson, he scolded himself as he opened the door, walked out on the deck and stood by the railing, You are not a jealous man, and there is no need to start now. Your reason for accepting this trip is to further benefit mankind. If this American f
ellow has more information on a heart bypass it is your duty to learn all you can on it. He shrugged and continued, Of course as you have accepted the ticket there is no reason that you should not enjoy it. He bit his lower lip as he added, Of course that excludes that-that bidet contraption.

  Back in his cabin he finished putting away his clothes, went back on deck and stood near the rail as he waited for Shirley. He now wished he had given this trip more thought as he saw that at least half of the male passengers wore evening wear, tall hats and all. He was thankful that he had packed his one tux and started looking at the London docks as other passengers walked by rather than making eye contact with them. Cheer up, old chap, he thought to himself, your station in life is not worn on the outside and you answer to no dandy dressed in a tuxedo. Satisfied, he smiled to himself.

  “Well, you certainly seem happy.’

  He turned to see Shirley. He was happy that she was still dressed in her everyday outfit. He offered his arm, “Yes. I am happy. Shall we stroll the deck?”

  The two strolled the deck and when they returned to the railing outside of their cabins the ship’s whistle sounded.

  “Shall we stand here,” asked Shirley, “and watch London grow smaller as we steam away?”

  He nodded and smiled as the crowd of people on the dock waved and cheered as they saw their family and friends off on the sea voyage. The two Londoners watched as the familiar skyline glided by.

  “Will you miss her?” asked Watson.

  “Will I miss who?”

  “London. Will you miss London when you get married?”

  “John,” she said as she removed a spec of lint from his jacket, “why do you think that when I get married I’ll leave London?”

  He shrugged. “Well, I imagine that when a couple gets married they would live where he makes his income.”

  Still smiling she answered, “John, when you meet my intended you will see the many things that make him different from other men.”