Thanks for the response to the last chapter. It means a lot, especially since this week has been a difficult one. My cat had to be put to sleep on Tuesday so it's been a miserable time. I used to complain when he disturbed me as I was writing - how did he always know when I was concentrating really hard in order to work out a tricky part of a story? - but I'm really going to miss those interruptions.
Chapter Three
Jeff didn't get a chance to catch up with Virgil until later that evening. His son had been tied up in rehearsals at the Abbey and, although they were apparently going well, he had sent a message to say he was running late and would meet him at the party Penny was hosting that night, her last as a single woman.
Jeff was torn between pride and amusement when he spotted Virgil. Scott hadn't been wrong when he'd said that his brother had his hands full with the girls in the string quartet. All four had accompanied him to the party and they all seemed to be competing for his attention. It took the young man several minutes to disentangle himself and make his way across to his father.
"It's a hard life, being a musician," Jeff observed.
"Sure is," Virgil agreed, accepting a drink from a passing waiter and sinking down in a chair next to his father with apparent relief. "I'm exhausted."
Jeff decided he didn't want to know. "Did you get everything set up?"
Virgil knew that his father was referring to the tiny IR-issue cameras he'd hidden in strategic places around the Abbey in order to allow his grandmother to witness both the wedding and his performance at the piano.
"All done," he said. "Alan checked, everything's working."
"Good." Jeff glanced around, then, when it appeared no one was paying them any attention, leaned in closer to Virgil and whispered,
"Any luck with Penny?"
Virgil looked a little uncomfortable as he informed his father that no, he hadn't been able to make the woman change her mind about severing her ties with International Rescue. Fortunately for him, Jeff seemed to take his discomfort as a response to his failure to persuade Penny to stay on as an agent, rather than suspecting there might be any other reason. Virgil certainly didn't want to get into any discussion as to what those other reasons might be - not with his father, at least. Truth be told, his attempts to talk to Penny on the matter had been awkward to say the least, and he'd accepted her polite but emphatic refusal without too much protest. Penny had insisted that Simon deserved a wife who had no secrets from him - at least, no new ones - and she intended to throw herself into her role as Lady Warrington-Farr with complete commitment.
Virgil couldn't argue with that, and he had been relieved when Simon himself had come over to greet him and the conversation had moved on to other matters. He couldn't help liking the man, though a greater contrast to the elder brother he idolised couldn't be imagined. Still, Penny must know what she was doing, he thought. He had too much respect for the woman to believe that she would marry a man she didn't care about. Scott, whatever her feelings were for him - and the observant artist hadn't failed to notice the faint blush on Penny's cheeks when he mentioned his brother's name - was clearly out of the picture. Maybe it was all for the best, Virgil thought. He liked Penny and, if nothing else, International Rescue would be losing their best agent, but then he couldn't help wondering if things would ever have worked out. He couldn't see Scott in the role of lord of the manor, and the prospect of Penny taking up permanent residence on Tracy Island was laughable. The woman hated the sun, abhorred the very idea of tan lines, and there was no way she'd be able to endure the company of Gordon and Alan on a permanent basis - she usually began to wear an expression of weariness after just a few days in their presence.
"She's adamant," he told his father, and Jeff nodded resignedly and called for another scotch.
Jeff enjoyed himself that evening. It was a long time since he'd had the chance to unwind like this. Usually when he ventured off the island it was for business, and although he regularly attended functions and parties, he was always on duty, the much-respected head of a multi-national company, revered as much for his heroic past as his phenomenal wealth. But tonight, he was by no means the most important person in the room - or even the richest. Various members of the aristocracy - including royalty - cabinet ministers, wealthy businesspeople, even the usually reclusive head of MI5, mingled in the ballroom of the Ritz, Penny greeting every one of them as old friends.
Virgil sighed as the girls he'd arrived with decided he'd spent long enough in the sole company of his father and headed in his direction. Jeff was somewhat confused as to why his son wasn't a little more enthusiastic - heaven knew he spent long enough complaining about the lack of female company on Tracy Island - but ten minutes in the company of the girls was more than enough to explain why. The three sisters were the most annoying, Fay, Flora and Frances doing their best to outdo each other in their bid to win his son's affections, though Jeff could have told them that such a blatant display of desperation was never going to be the way to do it. He preferred the company of their cousin Isabel, a little older but a lot more restrained in her behaviour. It was clear that she had as much interest in his son as the others, although she seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to get anywhere, at least not while the other three were around.
Desultory conversations about the delights of life on a tropical island, the Tracys' friendship with Lady Penelope, the perfection of the soon-to-be happy couple and, of course, the pieces they were due to play at the ceremony, followed. Virgil did his best to hide his growing nervousness, but Jeff wasn't fooled, noting the increasing tension in his posture and the way his fingers had started to tap aimlessly on the arm of his chair. He'd never been able to understand his son's habit of panicking before a performance. He'd always been a 'get-a-grip-and-get-on-with-it' type of man, whether he was about to launch in a rocket to the moon or preparing to sign a billion-dollar contract. Nerves were a luxury he'd never allowed himself, and Virgil's terror amused and irritated him in equal measure.
He'd been dreading the hours leading up to the wedding, knowing that in all probability he'd be spending them coaxing his son out of his room and into the taxi which was booked to take them to the Abbey. Now, however, a thought struck him, and it was a simple matter to chase after the next girl who left their table and seek her help. Isabel had been delighted to be singled out by the father of the man she'd taken such a shine to and promised that she would call for Virgil early the next morning, get him to the Abbey and do whatever it took to distract him from any thought of the performance until the time arrived. A job well done, Jeff thought, though he couldn't help wondering if Virgil would thank him for it - the poor boy was worn-out by the end of the evening, so ferocious were the girls in their efforts to impress him. Still, it got Jeff off the hook, and for that he was more than thankful.
Sure enough all Jeff had to do was get Virgil up and dressed the next morning, although that in itself was by no means an easy task. All four girls then turned up - Isabel looking none too happy about her cousins' presence - and dragged him away. Virgil looked even more terrified at this than he had at the prospect of performing, but he was too overwhelmed to put up any kind of protest. Jeff waved him goodbye, then enjoyed a few more leisurely cups of coffee, put in a call to the island - Thunderbird Two was on standby following news of a bush fire in Australia which had the potential to get out of control - then another to Scott, who reported that the damage to One had been more extensive than he'd realised, and so he'd be going nowhere until Brains arrived with some spare parts. Jeff suggested the man fly over in one of the family's regular planes, but Scott insisted he'd be happier if Brains remained on the island just in case he was needed to help out on the prospective rescue. Jeff agreed and signed off.
There was just time for one last cup of coffee before he had to put on his top hat and set off for Westminster Abbey, shivering in the cold January air. The rain might have stopped, but it looked as though snow was on the cards and Jeff hoped it would hold off long enough for him to get away. He'd experienced too many cold Kansas winters over the years and these days he preferred the tropical heat of Tracy Island. It wasn't the best time for a wedding, he thought, but then it had all been arranged relatively hastily, since Simon's frail, elderly mother's greatest wish had been to see her son married. Unfortunately, the woman had passed away a month earlier, and although Penny had admitted she would have preferred a spring wedding, preparations were too far advanced for her to be able to change the date. A pity, Jeff thought. He'd have liked more time to try to persuade her to change her mind about giving up her IR activities. Still, give it time, he thought. The combined estates of the Creighton-Wards and the Warrington-Farrs might take a fair amount of attention, but Penny was bound to get bored of a life of domesticity sooner or later. Unless there was a child, of course, but then he couldn't really see Penny on her hands and knees crawling around after an infant. Not the way Lucy had done with their boys...
Thoughts of his own wedding and the woman he'd lost occupied him until he reached the Abbey.
It was no surprise to anyone that the ceremony was one of the most lavish to have been seen in a place which had witnessed numerous momentous occasions over the centuries. No expense had been spared and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself was to preside over the formalities. His mother would have loved this, Jeff thought, and he wondered once again why she hadn't accepted the invitation. She'd be enjoying Virgil's performance right now, he knew, thanks to the various cameras. His son was playing beautifully, with no sign of nerves, accompanied by the string quartet who, thankfully, were completely focused on their own performance with only the occasional longing glance at Virgil and, in Isabel's case, a few stony glares at the others. Jeff couldn't resist announcing to those around him that the pianist was his son, relishing the praise that was heaped upon his boy.
Parker slipped into the seat next to Jeff a few minutes before the ceremony was due to begin, informing him that he'd just chauffeured Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward for the very last time and that he'd miss the old days. It wouldn't be the same when he was driving Lord and Lady Warrington-Farr around. He didn't say any more, but Jeff knew what he was implying. Parker would still do whatever was required by International Rescue - he, at least, had insisted on staying on as part of the organisation - but things would never be the way they had been, and both of them were sorry about it.
Virgil finished his final piece, left the piano and came to sit the other side of his proud father, accepting the congratulations of those around him as he did so. Then the organist took over and Penny glided up the aisle, as much a vision of beauty as everyone had anticipated. Virgil itched to paint her and he hoped his grandmother was getting a good view.
As always on these occasions, there was a degree of tension when the Archbishop asked if anyone had any objections to the marriage. Penny wished he'd get on with it - the silence seemed interminable, especially since it brought vividly to mind the dream she'd had the night before, in which, as they'd got to this part of the ceremony, the doors had been flung open to reveal Scott Tracy, resplendent in full International Rescue uniform. He had declared his undying love for her before striding down the aisle, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her away into Thunderbird One. She'd awoken with a start - and then started to laugh. The idea was ludicrous. If nothing else, that kind of rough treatment would ruin her dress... As she had done just a few hours earlier, she pushed all thoughts of Scott out of her mind as the Archbishop finally got going again, instead focusing on Simon. He was a good man and she was going to do everything she could to make him happy. Her old life was over now. Everything was going to work out just fine.
Everything was fine. Vows were exchanged, rings slipped onto fingers and the pair finally pronounced man and wife. Simon kissed Penny to the accompaniment of polite applause from the assembled dignitaries, then Virgil stood up to join the girls in entertaining the congregation whilst the newly-weds completed the legalities.
But he never made it to the piano. A sudden violent hissing, followed by the eruption of smoke from various points all over the Abbey barely registered before Virgil - along with everyone else - collapsed unconscious.