Play@YSDC

Queensway, Bayswater- London, England
6:35 PM - Sunday, September 8, 1940

After a busy day and an early supper, Eugene Thomson had returned to St. James's Church to learn that most of the people he had met last night had gone to the house of Major James Steadman of the RAF and his wife Madeline, who had become objects of some suspicion. Group Captain John Barrow had given him directions and a description of Major Steadman, and Lord Rufus Colville, who had met his wife that morning at home, had described her and given directions to the house. Neither of them had gone for fear of being recognized, but neither of the two targets had seen Eugene before, so he had taken the Central Line down to Queensway, the nearest Tube stop to the house. Just as he was coming up the stairs to the surface, he saw his quarry come down the stairs towards him on the other side of the handrail in the middle of the stairway. Major Steadman, a tall, handsome blonde man who walked with an obvious limp, was wearing his RAF uniform. His wife's arm was interlocked with his. She was a pretty woman with black hair in her early twenties, wearing a checkered red and white dress.

Brook Davies trailed along behind the couple at a discreet distance, watching them walk through the station entrance before following herself.

As Eugene ascended the stairs, he mused upon his recent experiences. The disparate group, sheltering from the bombs; the mysterious newcomers with their strange clothes and weird conversations; that poor dead girl, body squeezed and torn by some kind of monster or maniac, depending on who you believed.

It was a world away from his ordinary existence: barely making ends meet trying to sell vacuum cleaners to reluctant housewives as he trundled along like all the other commuters, standing mute as they all went along the same direction on the escalator of life.

“Time to get off that escalator mate.” He muttered to himself.

Eugene quickly turned to consult a nearby tube map as the Steadmans, so accurately described by Group Captain Barrow suddenly walked into the station. As they began to walk through the thin crowd of Sunday travellers, he turned as nonchalantly as possible, to follow them

It was then that he noticed that strangely dressed teenager, Brook, also following close by. Hopefully she’d seen and recognised him.

More importantly, had the Steadmans noticed him, or their other pursuer? Had they slowed down a little? Thankfully a lifetime of door-to-door selling had given him something of an aptitude for reading body language – perhaps he could tell?

Psychology (55%),[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   I'm making a Psychology roll here, just to see if I've got the hang of the dice rolling tags (the skill has already been ticked I think). I guess I'd normally be prompted to make a roll?

"I'm following them," whispered Brook to Eugene as she passed him on the stairs. "You can come along if you can stay out of sight."

OOC,You will be prompted if I want you to make a roll, but you're free to roll without prompting if you think it might be warranted, like you just did. The [b]Steadmans[/b] aren't leaving the Tube station, they're just entering it as you're about to leave, and [b]Brook[/b] is following them. If you want to go with [b]Brook[/b] and continue to follow them, please roll Hide. Even if you fail, they might not see you. Even if they see you, they won't recognize you or necessarily think you're suspicious...yet.

OOC,Trust me to misread the first post! I've tweaked my previous one.

Eugene nodded to Brook as he caught up with her, whispering from the corner of his mouth, "Count me in miss." He tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, using other people in the station as cover.

Hide 30%,[dice]0[/dice]

Confident that the Steadmans haven't spotted them, Eugene breathed a little easier. "Let's see where they're going shall we?"

Brook and Eugene blended in perfectly with the evening crowd. Anyone who saw them would just assume they were a father and daughter, but the Steadmans didn't even seem to notice them.

"Right," said Brook, with a nod and a grin.

The Steadmans approached a woman who was collecting fares from the passengers, and Major Steadman paid for both him and his wife. They walked past her and down towards the platforms. Eugene would have to pay another fare to reenter the station proper. Fortunately, he had more than sufficient cash on hand for that.

"Um," said Brook, "I haven't any money. Can you pay my fare?"

Eugene rolled his eyes and chuckled as they approached the ticket booth. "Certainly miss."
He duly paid for two tickets before offering his arm to Brook. "This beats selling vacuum cleaners - let's go!"

"Madeline's crazy mother, Catherine Exeter, was in the Anderson shelter behind the Steadman house last night," Brook whispered to Eugene. They made their way down to the eastbound platform, where the Steadmans waited for the next train.

Eugene pondered Brook's words.
"Crazy you say? Do you think her mum had anything to do with that poor girl being killed? If I remember correctly, wasn't Major Steadman, er, 'known' to her?" He blushed, not used to talking about such things, especially to young girls.
"I wonder if his mother-in-law found out about them and decided to do something about it?"
He began to doubt himself even as he spoke - surely nothing human could have caused those terrible injuries? Although, if the woman truly was mad...
Suddenly another thought struck him.
"Hmm, if the Steadmans lead us to Catherine, and if she's capable of such violence, then we'd better be on our guard Brook... That is if she isn't following us already..."
He slipped his hand into the inside breast pocket of his jacket to make sure his pocket knife was still there before cautiously looking around for any suspicious characters.

spot Hidden 65% just in case,[dice]0[/dice]

To him, everything seemed normal, which considering he didn't know what the woman looked like, was hardly a surprise. He scolded himself for being so paranoid.

Brook shrugged. "I don't know what she knew," she says, "but she's extremely dangerous. Maybe she had something to do with it. Guess it depends on what time she escaped, whether or not she could have. Yup, it's always a matter of time." Just then, the train pulled into the station. "We'll have to go in the same car as them. It's the only way to be sure where they get off. Still, they've never seen us before, so we shouldn't attract attention. Well, you shouldn't, but I'm good at not being seen."

The train's doors slid open, and a conductress in the nearest car said "Mind the gap." A few people alighted from the train, and the Steadmans boarded a car near the front of the train. Other passengers waiting on the platform were also boarding.

Following the Steadmans' [/]lead, Eugene stepped up smartly to the carriage door and paused to allow Brook to go in first.
"After you miss."
He walked into the carriage close behind, looking for a pair of seats where he and Brook could see their quarry without making it too obvious.
"These seats look comfy enough. Would you like the window seat Brook?"

"Sure, cheers," said Brook, sitting down by the window.

The doors slid shut, and the train rattled down the tracks. It made several stops along the way, with people getting on and off, but the Steadmans remained seated. There were more people getting off than on as the train passed under central London. Finally, the train came to a halt and the doors opened one more time. "Liverpool Street Station," announced the conductress. "End of the line. Mind the gap, please." The Steadmans arose and disembarked.

Eugene nudged Brook.
"Looks like this is our stop miss. We need to get going before we lose sight of them!"
He stood up and headed out of the carriage, trying to keep the Steadmans in sight and hoping that Brook was following.

OOC,Everyone is moving to the thread linked below:

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