Play@YSDC

St. Bartholomew's Hospital - London, England
9:30 AM - Wednesday, September 11, 1940

After Story, Phyllis, Eugene, and Anna left St. Bart's, Elizabeth, Brook, and Maggie remained with Archie in his hospital room.

Archie:

"Right-o. Do you three want to have a scout about, see if you can find Mrs Steadman while I get dressed?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Brook. She, Elizabeth, and Maggie vacated the room while Archie put on his clothes. They came back not long after he was done.

"We found her in a room down the hall," said Elizabeth. "I could see the resemblance. She's lying in her bed now, but she's awake."

Archie:

"Right, how is there somewhere we can set up to watch her door? Somewhere that won't get us into hot water with the hospital staff. And is there any other way out?"

"There's nowhere to watch that isn't out in the open," said Elizabeth, "which would be the from hallway outside. All the other hospital rooms nearby are occupied. The air raids have been pretty bad. There is a fire exit at the end of the hall, though."

Archie:

"Right, so this fire exit might be the way she would escape perhaps? I assume any other exit would take her past a nurse's station or the like?"

"Perhaps we should set up camp in the fire exit?"

"Why would she need to escape?" asked Brook. "She's not a prisoner, just a patient. She can leave any time she likes, right out the front door."

Archie:

"Hmm, you are right of course. We really need to know if Mrs Steadman leaves or her mother, Mrs Exeter, arrives. Neither is breaking any law by doing so but we should stop try to stop them. Or convince them of the error of their ways? Not that I hold a lot of hope on that count."

"We need someone watching the entrance to see if the mother comes to visit. Perhaps we could take shifts at the entrance to the hospital?"

"Then is Mrs Exeter does visit, we must bear in mind they could leave via the fire escape."

"I'll watch the entrance," said Maggie, leaving the room.

"Would her mother even know she's here?" asked Brook. "If she does show up, she's seen me and Elizabeth before."

"Maybe you're right," said Elizabeth. "Maybe we should try talking to Madeline, while her mother isn't around. She might not be too far gone yet."

Archie:

"No, I don't think approaching her is a good idea. We lose the element of surprise. And I've spoken with her. She is committed to her insane cause."

"Maggie, you watch the entrance. I'll come out and relieve you every so often. Brook and Elizabeth, be ready to act."

"We can take turns looking out into the hall and see if anyone comes or goes from her room," said Brook. "I'll take the first watch." She stands in the doorway and observes the hallway.

"Her insane cause is a lost one now," said Elizabeth. "She's lost her husband and the Shining Trapezohedron."

Archie:

"Sounds like a good plan, let's do it." To Elizabeth, Archie adds, "I feel that Mrs Steadman and her mother, Mrs Exeter, particularly are still very dangerous. Don't give them any opportunity to hurt you."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know they can still kill," she said. "Catherine Exeter is definitely too far gone. I just feel bad about Madeline, is all."

Archie:

"As do I. Yet she and her husband seemed perfectly willing to sacrifice - literally - a teenaged boy. Not to mention all the other people who have been killed or maimed by their efforts."

"We can hope that somehow she comes to her senses, but in the meantime be absolutely in our guard."

"Aye," said Elizabeth. "They brought it on themselves."

"A doctor just went into her room," Brook reported.

Archie:

Archie nods. "We can't really interfere with the hospital's normal running without drawing attention. As long as she doesn't try to kill the doctor..."

"When she tries to kill people, it's where she isn't expecting any witnesses," said Brook. "I doubt she'll do it in broad daylight in the middle of a busy hospital."

"She just left her room with the doctor," reported Brook after a while. "She's wearing her clothes and carrying her handbag, and they're walking toward the front entrance. I think she's leaving."

Archie:

Archie sighs. "Come on, let's see what she's up to."

Elizabeth and Brook went with Archie out into the hall and followed Madeline and the doctor to the lobby.

"Thank you, Doctor," said Madeline, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.

"If there's anything you need, Mrs. Steadman," replied the doctor, "don't hesitate to call."

OOC, [b]Archie[/b], please roll Hide if you're trying not to let her see you.

Archie:

Madeline didn't notice Archie, her back being too him as she headed for the front doors. Maggie was seated in a chair pretending to read a newspaper but peeking over the top of it.

Archie:

Wincing and holding his chest carefully, Archie slowly moves to the front doors then tries to look out through a window, if one is available.

The windows were taped, but this being daytime, the blackout curtains were open, and he had no problem seeing outside. Madeline left through the front doors and headed down the street to the south, in the direction of Newgate Street and St. Paul's.

Archie:

Archie:

There were two unattended wheelchairs sitting in the lobby. It didn't look like anyone would notice if Archie were to borrow one of them.

Archie:

Archie staggers over to a wheelchair and plops down. "Come on ladies, someone take the invalid out for some fresh air. And more to the point, let's see if we can follow our friend."

Brook pushed Archie outside in the wheelchair, followed by Elizabeth and Maggie. They followed Madeline down the street, In the distance ahead rose the magnificent dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, as yet undamaged by the bombs, though the area in front of the cathedral was cordoned off by air raid wardens.

"Oh, I heard about this!" said Elizabeth. "A UXB struck St. Paul's. If it had gone off, it could have destroyed it. It made a hole in the ground when it hit, so it's hard for them to get to it, and they have to be very careful. That's why it took- will take a while before they can get to it."

Madeline wasn't going all the way to the cathedral anyway. She went into the entrance to St. Paul's Underground Station and started down the stairs, which would not accommodate a wheelchair.

Archie:

Archie gives Elizabeth a quizzical look but moves on.

Archie had to leave the wheelchair behind, but he was able to walk down the stairs with support from Brook. The four of them followed Madeline downstairs and paid their fare. She went to the westbound platform.

Archie:

"I suggest we hold back a bit then board with the last passengers, and in another car," Archie wheezes.

The ladies did as Archie suggested. Madeline boarded one of the frontmost cars as part of the morning crowd. Archie, Elizabeth, Brook, and Maggie boarded the car behind hers with the last of the passengers. It wouldn't be easy to keep an eye on Madeline from there to be sure when she got off, but there was no danger of her seeing them, at least.

OOC, [b]Archie[/b], please roll Spot Hidden.

Archie:


"Does anyone know if there is a location our friends will be today, where we might place a telephone call to alert them Mrs Steadman is on the move?"

"They'll probably go back to St. Bart's when they're done," said Elizabeth. "They'd be expecting to find us still there."

"I can head back there to meet up with them once we find out where she's going," said Maggie.

Archie kept a careful eye on Madeline, and he saw her alight from the train once it reached Queensway.

Archie:

"Right, no rest for the wicked. Let's see if we can decide where she's going."

Clutching his chest with one hand and clutching one of the others for support with the other, Archie staggers up and off the train.

The ladies helped Archie off the train and up the stairs, following Madeline to the surface. When they saw her head down a street to the north, Archie recalled that this was the way to her home.

Archie:

"Right, I think we can assume Mrs Steadman is heading home. Maggie, can you make your way to the others and let them know."

"Will do, Reverend," said Maggie, heading back underground.

The house is only a short walk from the station.

Archie:

"Let's give her five minutes to get home then just go for a slow walk near the house. It might give us an idea if anyone else is there."

Elizabeth and Brook readily agreed and waited five minutes before proceeding north after Madeline. When they reached the front of her house, they could see that the blackout curtains in the front windows had been opened, and light was visible from within.

Archie:

Clutching his chest and nodding, Archie looks satisfied. "I think we can say she's gone home. Not much else to be done. We can't barge in, even if we did, she could just call for the police. And she is undoubtedly dangerous."

"I think we look for a cafe in or near the underground station. If she decides to leave, we will hopefully see her. Unless she takes a taxi of course. Not much to be done otherwise. We sit tight and keep a look out."

Elizabeth and Brook went with Archie to a cafe facing the road to the north leading to the Steadman house, where they sat and began to watch.

You are capable of moving around and doing things, but you are at 2 HP. The slightest injury will knock you out, and anything worse could very well kill you.

Everyone is moving to the thread linked below:

Endgame