My Home From Home - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

"Yes, come in." Henry glanced up from his diary as he heard one of the first class carriage staff knocked on the door to his cabin, his eyes fixated on the door as one of the young carriage attendants gently creaked it open with a polite smile
"Mr Dunmurry, We'll be arriving in Calgary shortly. I can have your cases put onto the platform and from there one of the railway porters will help you with them." Said the handsome young waiter with a polite nod. "Is there anything else I can get for you Mr Dunmurry?"
"No that'll be all for now, but thank you very much." Henry smiled at the young man, fishing through his waistcoat pocket for a tip for the young waiter.
As Henry gathered his things together and slipped his tweed coat back on, he felt this strange restlessness deep within the pits of his stomach; a feeling as though something was about to happen though he knew not what. He sat back down onto the plush seat in his first class cabin, resting his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his hands over his tired eyes; he'd been on the train two days and one night. Two days and one night of this cripplingly restless torture and uncertainty deep within his gut that he couldn't seem to overcome. All his life Henry had thrown caution to the wind, but never had he ventured so truly far out of his comfort zone as he found himself in that moment; a large bleak ocean separating him from his old life of privilege.
Henry was drawn out of deep thought as he felt the train's breaks come to a gradual screeching halt, the whistle sounding as the train pulled up to the platform. Henry glanced out the train window onto the platform just across the glass pane. At first glance it looked just like any other railway station platform, though it seemed a lot newer than some of the others he'd encountered. He'd noticed that about a lot of the stops they'd made in the west but perhaps that was to do with some of the prairies being more recently settled than other more established Canadian cities. Nonetheless he couldn't help but take this as a sign; a new looking railway station like the new beginning that he was embarking on. A clean start.
With a huff, Henry stood up from his seat; closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to collect himself as best he could. Here he was half a world away from everything he knew; halfway across the country away from the only person he knew. Yet just as he always had, Henry tried his very best to simply carry on as though everything was fine; though beneath his cool and unfeeling English exterior, which he was always raised to display to the world, Henry was very much the opposite of calm.
Henry straightened out his cufflinks and waistcoat as he walked towards the carriage exit, grabbing onto the metal bar on the outside of the train as he scanned the relatively empty platform before stepping down the metal steps and unto the platform.
"Blimey." Henry cursed as his breath hitched in the back of his throat; feeling the cold sting of the crisp late autumn gale hit him like a tonne of bricks. The blustery prairie wind leaving his hair swept into his face as he felt a chill go right through the fibres of his tweed coats and trousers, penetrating straight through to his bones. For a second there he felt as though this was all a terrible idea. Surely jail couldn't've been nearly as bad as whatever frozen hell he'd landed himself in; and if autumn was that chilly, he shuddered at the mere thought of what the dead of winter would be like.
He ran his hand through his messy black hair as he glanced around the platform for someone who looked like they'd be from a small mining town; Henry didn't know whom it was who was meant to retrieve him from the railway station, though the Alberta Ministry of Health had assured him somebody would be there.
Henry couldn't help but find it all to be terribly amusing; his Papa always found his younger son rather peculiar of a character with his purposeful will to associate with and understand working class people. Though when it truly came down to it Henry might've had more interactions with working class people than most of his family, but it would soon come to light that he didn't truly know them.  Most of the other members of the Aldringham family never truly associated with working class people who weren't paid downstairs staff; and even then the interactions were minute at best. The Duke and Duchess had a valet and ladies maid, and other than the butlers and head housekeeper, most of the other staff existed in a state of being visibly invisible for lack of a batter term.
Henry's spine tensed instinctually as he felt the indelible sensation of eyes on him; shifting his gaze to the side towards the direction he could feel the sensation coming form. He turned his head casually to the side only to catch the stranger staring at him; a very handsome stranger, Henry might add. He had these deep yet alluring brown eyes that felt like they were looking through Henry rather than at him, his hair a dark blond and neatly parted down the side. His face was handsome and manly, with a strong jawline and chiseled features; and his muscular body appearing clearly athletic though shrouded in his scarlet uniform with gilded buttons, some sort of insignia and badges that Henry didn't know much about, and a brown leather chest strap, brass buckled belt, and a dark brown brimmed hat tucked under his arm.
Henry felt a panic arise within him though he didn't dare show it outwardly, watching as the handsome scarlet clad stranger walk up towards him. He stopped dead in his tracks staring at the man whose deep amber brown eyes appeared blankly transfixed onto Henry. It the man wasn't so devastatingly handsome, Henry would likely find it unnerving how blatantly he'd been stared at him; almost as though he knew Henry from somewhere though granted the context he eliminated that idea clear out of his mind; where could the man possibly know him from when he was new to the area.
"Erm.. Hello?" Said Henry, his eyes darting confusedly to the side as the devastatingly gorgeous blond man in uniform stood dumbfounded before him. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Uhhh...." Drawled the handsome blond man as he felt his mind go completely blank.
"Oh, erm. Français?" Henry furrowed his brows in confusion; he'd been under the impression that Alberta was predominantly English speaking, but if his research was correct, there were still pockets of Francophone communities in the province.
"No! No No, Anglais. I mean, um. English." Stammered the uniformed man awkwardly.
"Oh! I see, are you the railway porter?" Henry's eyes brightened, batting his eyelashes as he scanned the man up and down.
"A porter...?" The handsome red-clad man cocked an eyebrow at him, partially in amusement with a slight tinge of disbelief and just the faintest hint of offence.
"Thank God!" Henry smiled, breathing out a sigh of relief as he handed two cases off to the handsome blond. "These are jolly heavy and an utter nightmare to handle. I was beginning to think I'd no sooner die of exhaustion trying to manage them.  Anyway thank you...? Sorry you didn't mention your name?"
"T-thomas..." Thomas frowned at Henry confusedly; he didn't know why he'd introduced himself by his Christian name and not as Constable Wilson as he was meant to, but he clearly wasn't thinking. To be frank he wasn't entirely sure what was going on in that moment though he wasn't exactly questioning it. He was talking to the handsome dark haired boy, despite the fact that deep inside he knew well that  he was meant to be in search for the new town doctor.
"How d'you do, Thomas." Henry smiled up at Thomas politely, this look in his warm blue eyes melting an otherwise slightly offended Thomas' cold brown glare. "I must say you're rather smartly dressed for a railway station porter. The porters back home often looked rather unfortunate now that I think back on it, but I'm not sure it really matters how they're dressed so long as they do their jobs efficiently." Henry rambled on nervously, walking off towards the station exit as Thomas mindlessly followed him with a numb look of utter perplexity in his warm brown eyes. He hadn't a clue why he was talking so much, perhaps it was nerves from being around such a handsome stranger though he'd never had an issue being calm, cool, and collected with handsome strangers bene. Then again, there was something different about this stranger. "We really must be off now, I'm meant to meet someone who's taking me to Fir Creek though I haven't a clue where I'd find them. I don't suppose you've heard of it, Fir Creek? From what I've been told it seems rather a small hamlet of sorts so I shan't be terribly surprised if you hadn't done..."
"Wait What?!" Thomas stopped dead in his tracks, watching as Henry halted and turned on his heels with a quizzical look in those deep blue eyes. "Are you... Dr Dunmurry?"
"No." Henry said honestly, sheerly out of habit as Thomas furrowed his brows at him confusedly. "I-I mean erm, yes. Yes. I. I am Dr Dunmurry." Henry corrected himself as the taller blond man narrowed his piercing glare sceptically at him.
"You sure about that, bud?" Thomas probed further, his rather confused and a bit sceptical amber brown eyes scanning Henry's sapphire blues for a hint of ingenuity.
"Yes, why on earth would I lie about something like that?"  Countered Henry shakily, he'd nearly just blown his cover and frankly he hadn't the slightest inkling as to how to manoeuvre himself out of this predicament.
"Well haven you got your identification documents on you? A passport perhaps?" Thomas asked authoritatively, earning him a scowl from the often entitled young Henry.
"What is this, the blasted Immigration Service?!" Henry folded his arms stubbornly over his chest, scoffing in utter disbelief at the nerve on this 'porter'. "And why in God's name should I show my passport to the likes of a porter. This is utterly disgraceful I demand to speak to your supervisor." Henry tried his best to stay calm as he glared the rather tall, handsome blond up and down defiantly.
"I'm not a porter! I'm a p-" Thomas muttered, the anger boiled under his unfazed exterior; stepping forward towards Henry as the dark haired boy stepped backwards with the slightest hint of an intimidated look in his sapphire blue eyes. But just as the handsome man in uniform was about to tell Henry exactly who he was, he was cut off by the stationmaster Mr Terrence.
"Constable Wilson! I take it you found the new doctor?" Mr Terrence asked as he took his hat off and nodded towards Henry who stared wide eyed between the older man and the handsome blond.
"Constable?!" Henry flushed white as a sheet, staring wide eyed between the older stationmaster and the now rather smug looking blond who he now knew wasn't a porter, but rather a police officer.
"Pleased to meet you." Mr Terrence extended his right arm out to shake Henry's hand as the very muddled looking raven haired doctor reciprocated though his mind was miles away.
"How do you do." Henry muttered in a daze, his already alabaster skin flushing even whiter than he thought humanly possible.
"Well I'll leave you to on your way, it's a long ride to Fir Creek. Enjoy the rest of your day." The stationmaster nodded again, to which Thomas nodded in return; pursing his lips as his gaze shifted towards the mortified looking dark haired boy.
"Constable... But you said..." Henry stammered nervously.
"Actually, you were the one who assumed I was a porter." Thomas smirked with a smug, almost victorious look about him.
"I'm so terribly sorry, I-I wasn't thinking. Please do forgive me." Henry lowered his gaze down to the brick beneath his feet. "I apologise." Henry batted his eyelashes as he gazed up into Thomas' warm brown eyes, watching as they thawing ever so slightly, glazing over visibly as they stared at Henry's lightly parted pink lips; Henry had that effect on people, a few bats of his lashes and he could melt even the most frigid of hearts.
"And in all fairness, the uniform was a bit of a dead giveaway." Thomas bit his lower lip to keep from smiling.
"In all fairness, I've never seen a police officer in a red uniform."  Defended Henry, his sapphire blue eyes scanning the handsome man's perfectly fitted uniform that only seemed to accentuate his tapered athletic body form his narrow waist to his board shoulders and muscular arms. "Do you think that perhaps we might... Start over?"
"I don't know..." Teased Thomas as he noted Henry's breathtakingly deep blue eyes seem to wash over with a hint of disappointment. "But I suppose there's no harm done... So... I reckon we could start again." He flashed Henry a half smile, feeling the breath leave him as he watched the corners of the Henry's English rose-like lips perk up gradually into a genuine smile; perhaps the most breathtaking smile Thomas had ever encountered.
"I'm Constable Wilson." Thomas put down one of Henry's cases and extended his now free right hand towards the raven haired young man, flashing him a smile that carried only the slightest bit of unintended flirtation. "But you can call me Thomas."
"I'm Dr Dunmurry." Henry glanced down bashfully at the man's strong masculine hand. "But you may call me Henry, it if so pleases you." He said softly as he wearily placed his hand in the taller man's. As the tender skin of their palms made contact they felt a shock of sorts, prompting both men's wide gazess to shoot up to lock eyes. "How d'you do?" Henry stammered awkwardly, clearing his throat as he abruptly let go of the handsome officer's manly hand.
"Pleasure's all mine..." Thomas cleared his throat awkwardly as he retracted his hand away and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. For the first time since Henry had met him, Thomas' attractive dimples were properly on display making the normally confident flirt of an Englishman feel his heart to throb in his chest.
But it wasn't his manly hands, tapered torso, or heart melting dimples that really seemed to intrigue Henry in that moment. It was his eyes; his deep, warm, innocent brown eyes that seemed to lock in on his as though staring into Henry's soul. Henry had seen that look before, all too often; but for men like Henry, looks like that weren't often enough to solely go off of. Nonetheless, young Henry Aldringham had a hunch...