บท 77: Chapter 77 - Train headlight
That was one of the few times Leonardo woke up before Benjin. His body had got used to the routine of getting up early and getting ready for work in the park, but that morning he decided to stay a little longer.
The sight of Benjin sleeping so soundly wrapped around his bare waist was too tempting. The warmth he felt when he was in his arms was also comforting to the point that it was a shame he had to leave in a few minutes.
But until then, he would enjoy the view.
With the tip of his forefinger, the boy gently fingered each line of Benjin's expression. He felt the softness of his skin and smiled as he realised how handsome he was. Leonardo even covered Benjin's cheek with the back of his hand, feeling the warmth of their bodies increase. Nothing erotic, just a human warmth.
He wanted to stay there.
If he could, he would stay in his arms forever, because that was where he felt good.
Unfortunately, Leonardo had to get up. He had to work and leave his diary free for the appointment he had arranged with Giovani. He felt anxious about going to see the train, because the feeling that everything would be alright encouraged him to face his biggest nightmare. But it would also be all right if he didn't make it.
The point was that there was a mystery of memories calling to him all the time.
He wanted to know who that fourth person was.
— Leo?
Waking up from his daydreams, Leonardo cracked a smile at the sleeping man who was hugging him tightly.
— Good morning, Ben.
Placing a kiss on his forehead, the boy laughed when the puppet rubbed his face against his chest and seemed to go back to sleep. Even though he was cute while sleeping so soundly, Leonardo needed to get up.
— If you want to stay in bed, fine. But I need to get up.
— Noo~ Stay a little longer.
— I wish I could, but I have to go to work.
Benjin let out a few grumbles and opened his eyes, finally looking at his lover. The first kiss of the day followed, and it was enough to make them both smile and hug each other even tighter. Clearly that increased their desire to lie around all day just enjoying each other's presence, however the routine awaited them.
Benjin even managed to reel his young master in a little more, but they both had to leave dreamland when Vincent knocked on the door. Forced to continue with their routine, Leonardo even found it amusing to try to cheer Benjin up so that they could see each other in the evening.
— Can't we have lunch together?
— I'll still be at the office, so it won't be possible.
— Leo~
The sly grumbling was definitely a charm. Leonardo was used to this side of his lover, just as much as he liked him showing so openly how much he wanted to be by his side. Feeling wanted went beyond sex. Leonardo knew that if it were up to the puppet, they would be side by side every second. And neither of them would get sick of it, because they really liked each other.
Smoothing Benjin's hair and giving him a tender smile, Leonardo confided:
— I want to see you shine on stage, so you need to be perfect for that. Although you're already perfect for me.
Taking Benjin's hand and placing a kiss on his fingers, he saw the trapeze artist's cheeks flush at the declaration. If he did anything else, it would certainly be difficult to get out of there, so he opted to hold back on his flirtations. Although it was difficult when Leonardo saw him so embarrassed and blushing.
— My Leo… — Sighing defeatedly, Benjin wrapped his arms around Leonardo's waist and smiled shortly afterwards — Fine, but only if you promise me I can still do whatever I want in your free time.
— I'm all yours, you perverted puppet.
Benjin laughed and so let his young master out of bed. The puppet remained lying down while Leonardo bathed, and even when he got out only a towel wrapped around his waist and started to change in front of him. Benjin even helped him button up his dark shirt, making funny quips like leaving a hickey on Leonardo's pecs just to tease him.
Thanks to the little wind-up, the two took their time getting downstairs for breakfast. But as soon as Leonardo entered Vicente's field of vision, Benjin had lost all of his young master's attention to the immense to-do list the brunette had to fulfil that day.
Still, Benjin accompanied Leonardo and Vicente to the mansion door and said goodbye with another kiss. On the way to the park, more precisely to the food court, Vicente did not let the opportunity pass, soon questioning.
— You look like an ordinary couple.
Leonardo didn't look at the clown, but the smile was enough of a response.
— We are an ordinary couple.
— A human and a puppet?
Out of the corner of his eye, Leonardo stared at Vicente with a certain delight and amusement. He didn't answer him with words, but the clown knew his answer immediately. Yes, they were a normal couple. With that look, Vicente also realised that that person's plan was already about to reach its final act.
— All right, have we had any more accidents?
— No, sir. I did as you asked and made sure the dancers rehearsed in the gym, away from the park. That way Diablo can't touch them for the time being.
— That's perfect. I want to finish today as soon as possible.
Surprised, Vicente needed a little effort to hide his curiosity. Not that it would have worked.
— Do you have an appointment, young master?
— I do — he answered promptly, this time looking coldly at the administrator — and you're going to owe me that one.
Vincent didn't quite understand what he could mean by that, but he didn't ask. The coldness of that look took him by surprise, an unprecedented sight that made him wonder if the plan was working too well.
As soon as they arrived at the food court, the foremen were putting the finishing touches on the preparations. Lights were positioned, the stage was set, navy blue curtains with embroidered glitter dots were put up bringing the stage to life. Even Viola was there rehearsing her dance moves, completely ignoring the mess of the foremen as if she was in her own world.
— She's been rehearsing a lot lately. Yesterday you picked her up very late.
— I think it's your desire to impress the young master.
— Everyone is very hardworking. Let's do our bit too.
Meetings with the directors of sound, lighting, costumes, stage set-up, artists and many other areas took up a good number of hours of Leonardo's day. Even before lunch, he had already checked much of the preparation for the inauguration, and the programme could already arrive in its final versions needing just one more approval.
Although he had planned to go back to the office at the mansion to sign some documents, Leonardo had to leave that for later. Work came up one after the other making the time pass quickly and soon it was time to go meet the detective.
— All right, carry on as planned. I need to leave now, so I'll leave Vicente to supervise things around here.
— As you wish, young master.
Without lingering over his goodbyes, Leonardo left the food court without going through the front entrance. He chose to go round to the back and head straight for the wooded area. He tried to follow a path that he imagined was the right one, at some point he would arrive at that empty lot where he would find the train.
Halfway there, he saw the silhouette of the man with broad shoulders and crossed arms. A silhouette he immediately recognised as that of the detective.
— You've arrived, boy.
— Looks like I didn't take a wrong turn.
— Are you really okay with that?
The detective's concern was comforting. Leonardo nodded and took a deep breath.
— Let's go.
Letting Giovani lead the way, Leonardo shoved his hands into his trouser pockets as soon as he felt his fingers freeze. Little by little he grew nervous and anxious knowing he was close to the place where the worst memory of his life resided.
Between trees and bushes, almost being swallowed by nature itself was the overturned train. A shiver ran through Leonardo's body, and unconsciously his legs stopped moving. Closing his eyes and massaging his temples trying to stay calm, Leonardo took a deep breath.
— If you're uncomfortable, we can go back.
Raising his head and nodding, as if he could clear the incessant thoughts from his mind, Leonardo stepped forward in determination. All he needed to do was focus on the reason he had come, the rest could be ignored or even forgotten.
— Let's get going. First let's see if the train's headlight is working.
Approaching the front of the train, Leonardo focused on unravelling the mystery of the fourth person. So he stared at the train's headlight, which seemed to have its glass broken.
— It shouldn't work — Giovani muttered, moving away to the side — The entrance to the control panel is further back, but it will be a bit difficult to get in.
Leonardo walked over to Giovani to spy where the so-called entrance was. The sliding door seemed to have a small gap, but from the rust he could see all over the train, he doubted it would be that easy to open. Just to get in would be difficult.
— Because it's overturned and has fittings it's kind of hard to reach the door. My men said it could be dangerous... Hey, kid!
The boy did not listen to Giovani's concerns. Even though his hands and legs were shaking, Leonardo climbed up the fittings, carefully leaning on them to reach the driver's cab door. His foot even slipped on one of the fittings, but Leonardo was quick to catch himself before he hurt himself.
— Holy shit, kid… — grumbled Giovani with a sigh.
— Hehe, sorry. I'm just a little nervous.
— I told you it was dangerous — Once again he was ignored. Giovani let out another sigh before stepping in the same places as Leonardo, so he could follow him — Wait a minute, there are some irons there that could hurt you.
Looking down, Leonardo found the reason for the detective's concern. Crouching down to get a better look at what those pieces were, it didn't take him long to completely forget the reason for his fear and enter his private world.
— These are pieces of the traction motor. It looks like it's been broken and has edges that could really hurt. This is really dangerous...
Taking the time to look around, Leonardo realised that the small, narrow space was full of rusty, sharp metal pieces. It looked like a trap. One wrong step and death awaited you. Just being poked, even slightly, by a rusty nail would be enough to catch some disease.
Giovani soon caught up with Leonardo and so they could both jump close to the door. With a narrow space to move, the two stood at each end of the small platform assessing the door.
— There's a gap — Leonardo warned, peering through the gap — What a mess it is in there. But I can see the control panel.
— Is there anything blocking the door?
— I can't see anything. Let's try to open it.
Leonardo pushed the door, which didn't budge. Even though he tried so hard that his hands got hot and started to sweat, he couldn't get the gap to widen. Giovani also tried to pull, but could not. Then they both tried at the same time, taking short breaks to catch their breath. It was on the fifth attempt, when they had exerted themselves to the point where their lungs were burning from the effort, that they managed to move the door.
And the movement was so sudden that Leonardo fell into the cabin, being held by Giovani who, once again, was fast in his instincts.
— Wow... Thanks, Giovani.
— I told you to be careful — After helping the boy to stand up, the detective looked around the cabin, sighing loudly — Okay, we entered the driver's cabin.
The side window was broken, where branches of a small tree had invaded the cabin. From the dashboard, some buttons and levers were broken, which was nothing new. Leonardo could only find a mess and pieces scattered everywhere.
— It's going to be hard to tell which button we can press to switch on the headlight.
— I've never studied locomotives, but I know this is an old model — Leonardo mumbled as he crouched down, checking what else was inside the cabin — it looks like a steam locomotive.
— And you say you never studied it?
— Well... I've studied something or other, but nothing deep.
— Mechanical engineering, isn't it? — Giovani commented, smiling at the boy — The course you're doing.
— That's right, why?
— Just by looking at it, can you tell me if the headlight could work?
Instead of answering, Leonardo began to analyse the whole cabin. He avoided touching too much, since everything there was damaged. A few minutes later, the boy turned to the detective.
— I need to study how a train works, but I can risk finding the headlight.
Giovani took his mobile phone out of his pocket and handed it to Leonardo, who stared at it silently.
— Do some research. You should understand more about it.
It was clear that the detective was anxious to get an answer, and would probably only leave if he got one. Leonardo took out his mobile phone and started to do a quick search about locomotives, not taking long to enter his little mechanical world.
As usual, his concentration was so focused on understanding how the train worked that he had forgotten the trauma that place had caused him. The detective's presence was also ignored as the boy paced back and forth carefully analysing every part of the cabin.
At one point he needed Giovani's help, so he took his mobile phone back and read himself some article about while Leonardo fiddled with some wiring. The detective had no idea what he was reading, yet he was impressed by the university student's ease in understanding and moving his hands to make some old button work.
— I think I've done everything I can do, it's time now — the boy muttered, pressing the button.
A creak echoed and immediately the two boys left the cabin to go to the front of the train to face the headlight. With dusk making the atmosphere a little darker, it was frustrating for them to see the failure of their first attempt.
— It didn't light up — the boy murmured sadly.
— But in the picture it appears to be lit. That can only mean that at the time of the incident, the beacon was working and then it broke.
Leonardo squinted his eyes as he stared at the lighthouse. He had already taken care of the actual part of it, proving that it was broken. Because of his fuzzy memory, he couldn't be sure that he had seen any of the headlamp lights on. Besides, everyone possibly involved in the incident was outside the train. No-one could have been in the cab.
Well, from the camera footage Giovani had got, it wouldn't be strange if someone had been hiding inside the cabin the whole time. However, there was no justification for switching on the headlight.
So the answer led him down the most fanciful path, and one that was no longer even a surprise.
— Either it had always been broken, but someone had made it work that night.
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