Chapter Forty-Six

Their last day in Rio was bittersweet. The Hooper-Holmes family spent the morning relaxing round the pool, making the most of the sunshine and the water. Freddie was completely independent in the trainer pool now, able to keep his face out of the water and doggy-paddle around or duck dive under the surface and scull about like a baby seal. When he needed to rest, he just rolled onto his back and floated around like a little sea otter.

William greatly appreciated the calming effect the aquatic environment had on his little brother and the fact that some of the tranquillity seemed to have leeched into his terrestrial persona. He could sometimes be quiet and thoughtful on dry land, too. For his own part, William was now so fluent in Portuguese, he could switch from one language to the other without the slightest hesitation. He even thought in Portuguese, now. Molly was deeply impressed.

She had picked up a good smattering of the language, especially through working with the women at the Centre, but she lacked confidence and would lapse into English at the first opportunity. She had decided to work on it though, when she got home to the UK, to take some private lessons and practice with William and Sherlock, too – although she wasn't sure how patient a teacher he might prove to be.

At lunch time, they went back to the suite, showered and changed into their smarter clothes for the christening then made sure everything else was packed away in their luggage – everything except the boys' summer clothes, which Molly had promised to Maria and the Centre. They would go with them to the church and be handed over at the party to be held afterwards, at the home of Ru'e and Maria. The rest of their luggage would go straight to the airport and they, too, would go there after the post-christening festivities. Their flight departed at ten pm.

Now the day to leave had arrived, Molly had very mixed feelings. She was looking forward to returning to their flat, though that would not be their home for much longer. They'd put off moving to larger accommodation after Freddie was born but a third child was definitely one too many for their current home. They had already discussed what they intended to do.

The house a few doors down, which Mycroft had bought and tried to give to them, was currently let to a doctor and his family on a six-month lease which had two months left to run. That lease would not be renewed. The tenants would move out, she and Sherlock would buy the house from his brother, have it refurbished and then move in. Their flat, which actually belonged to Molly, would be let, as in deed her old flat was – the one she had bought on a shared ownership scheme, when she first moved to London. That seemed like a thousand years ago.

'Ready to go?' Sherlock asked, breaking into her reverie.

'Yes. Just checking that we haven't left anything behind,' she replied, with a sad smile.

'Well, if we have, I'm sure they'll send it on to us,' he assured her.

The land line rang and he answered it.

'The car is here,' he announced.

At the same moment, the chimes of the door sounded and he opened it to admit two bell boys, who had come to take their luggage downstairs. Sherlock picked up Freddie and Molly took William's hand. With a wistful backward glance, she followed Sherlock out to the lift; they went down to the foyer and over to reception.

'Sr Holmes, Dr Hooper, we are sorry to see you leave. We have so enjoyed having your company and that of your delightful children,' the Duty Manager gushed.

'Thank you,' replied Sherlock, somewhat dismissively. He was no fan of polite formalities. He took out his cheque book.

'Oh, Sr Holmes, I think we agreed that you would stay free of charge for the last three weeks due to the unfortunate circumstances that occurred earlier in your stay!'

'I believe that was the suggestion, yes,' he replied, 'but I have an alternative idea. I'll pay for our accommodation but you will donate the full amount to the Rocky Foundation. The hotel will become a patron of the Children's Centre and Senhora Carolina Lyons de Sousa will be able to call upon you, from time to time, to play host to the occasional fund raiser.' He signed the cheque, with a flourish and turned a searchlight smile on the hapless Duty Manager, who simply nodded, accepted the cheque and swallowed, hard.

'A small price to pay for our discretion, don't you think?' Sherlock concluded, tipped his hat and walked away toward the front exit. As they settled themselves in the back of Caro's car, which she had sent to collect them then deliver their luggage to the baggage check-in at the airport, Molly gave him a playful slap on the wrist.

'You can still be really snarky when it suits you, can't you! I'd almost forgotten you could do that,' she admonished.

'A leopard doesn't change its spots, it just learns to camouflage them,' he replied, smugly.

ooOoo

When they reached the church, they found it all decked out in colourful bunting and the christening guests arriving dressed in their Sunday best. This was going to be a joyous occasion. Ru'e and Maria stood at the church door, Maria holding Baby Molly, sound asleep, in her arms as they welcomed their guests. When the Hooper-Holmes family approached, they were greeted with huge smiles, warm hugs and a surprise.

'Holmes, and Molly,' began Ru'e, indicating an elderly couple standing nearby. 'These are Maria's Uncle and Aunt. They have been sent by her family to attend Molly's christening.'

The Hooper-Holmes couple greeted Maria's relatives, respectfully, and moved into the cool interior of the church where they were directed to sit on the front row of wooden pews, listening to the organ music as they waited for all the guests, including the Centre staff, Caro and Henrique and many of the children who attended the Centre, to arrive and for the service to begin.

Once proceedings got underway, the pomp and circumstance of the service passed relatively smoothly. Sherlock, to his credit, barely batted an eyelid when asked to make the Godparent's vow.

'You have come here to present this child for baptism... you must make it your constant care to bring her up in the practice of the faith ... See that the divine life is kept safe from the poison of sin, to grow always stronger,' the priest intoned'

And, when asked,

"If your faith makes you ready to accept this responsibility, renew the vows of your own baptism. Reject sin, profess your faith in Christ Jesus. This is the faith of the Church. This is the faith in which this child is about to be baptised,'

he made the appropriate response, 'I do,' and Molly breathed a sigh of relief. His answers to the series of questions that followed were somewhat muted and quite drowned out by the fervent declarations of Ru'e and Maria, as indeed where those of Molly but she answered in the affirmative. As they returned to their seats, he muttered, for her ears only,

'That's us condemned to the darkest recesses of Hell,' which she ignored.

When the service was concluded, everyone filed out of the church, into the bright sunshine, and took the short walk into the favela and the home of the happy parents. The whole neighbourhood appeared to have attended the ceremony and everyone, including the priest, had come back for the party, too. The small combo of guitarists and brass players, who had provided the loud and raucous sound track to Sherlock's welcome reception at the centre, were in attendance again – equally loud and raucous. William gave them a leery look and endeavoured to keep as far away from them as possible, teaming up with Rodrigo to play Jacks for one last time.

As everyone began to mingle and chatter, Ru'e came over to speak to Sherlock.

'I have another piece of news, Holmes,' he said. 'Maria's family wants us to go back to Sao Paulo. They say we could live with Maria's grandmother, in her home, and her uncle – this uncle, here - he has a business that he would like me to help him with. He owns a motor repair workshop and he has an apprenticeship that he wants to offer to me. I could become a qualified mechanic.'

Sherlock looked down at his small friend and broke into a broad smile, taking Ru'e's hand and pumping it, enthusiastically.

'That is excellent news, my friend!' he exclaimed. 'But what will happen to your home here?'

'It will pass to the next in line. That would be Guillermo.' Ru'e pointed to a young man, standing near the doorway to the hut, chatting and laughing, animatedly. 'He's a good man. He'll be a good father to the family.'

'So, when will you go?' Sherlock asked.

'In a few days. There's not much to wrap up, here. I will let the owner of the garage, where I now work, know that I'm leaving so he can find someone to replace me. We have few possessions so there isn't a lot to pack,' he quipped.

'You have a few more, now. Molly has given Maria all of Freddie's summer clothes. By next summer, he'll be too big for them and we don't have such good summers in England as yours here. Yours last nearly all year round. Ours last about a week, usually.'

'But you will come back to Brazil, won't you, Holmes?' Ru'e asked. 'And when you do, you will come and look us up in Sao Paulo?'

Sherlock clasped the other man's shoulder.

'We most certainly will come back and, be assured, we would not return without coming to see you and Maria – not to mention our goddaughter. After all, we just made a promise to God! And,' he added, 'I still owe you a meal. We never did go out to dinner.'

As the sun began to set and the light grew dim, the party looked in no way as though it was coming to a close but it was time for the Hooper-Holmes family to leave for the airport. Their plane would not wait. The leave-taking was a tearful affair. Even Freddie cried – but only because nearly everyone else was crying. Even Sherlock looked a little shiny around the eyes. They finally managed to tear themselves away and, along with Caro and Henrique, they walked back through the favela to find the waiting car.

The journey to the airport was a quiet one. Molly and William gazed out of the windows at the lights of Rio. Sherlock looked straight ahead, lost in his own thoughts. Freddie was fast asleep. On arrival at Departures, they were shown to the same private lounge from which Mycroft had left, and served with coffee and tea as they waited for their flight to be called. When it was, there were more tears as Caro hugged each of the family in turn and Henrique shook Sherlock's hand and kissed Molly and the boys on the cheek.

'Safe journey,' Henrique said. 'And I will be in touch with regard to the legal action.'

The family walked down the retractable boarding bridge and were shown to their seats by the flight attendant. Once again, they had a complete row of seven seats for the return journey. As soon as they were airborne and the seatbelt sign was turned off, they would be able to change the boys into their onesies and settle then down to sleep. It was well past their bedtime so that would not be difficult. But, for now, they occupied the window seats so they could take one last look at Rio – their home for the previous two months and the setting for so many mad adventures and astounding revelations.

As the plane took off and banked away, over the Atlantic Ocean, their final view was of the statue, Cristo Redentor, brightly illuminated against the black backdrop of the Tijuca National Park, looking strangely ethereal as it hovered, protectively, over the city, far below.

ooOoo