by Arnie
Once inside the room, their attitudes changed. The three of them had to struggle with temptation as they saw the goods laid out in front of them. However, each of them knew that the more they took, the more likely it was that the items would be missed. Chief managed to pass by a display of knives with only a brief struggle but Casino paused by a jewellery display. The necklace that had caught his eye had adorned the neck of many a famous beauty, and he knew that his sister Maria would feel like a million dollars in it. However, he reminded himself exactly why they were there and moved on, leaving the necklace undisturbed. Goniff paused by a display celebrating the life of Edward VII, his fingers itching as he gazed at the tiny silver box that had caught his eye.
The guard passing by on his sentry duty didn't notice anything amiss, but then, he wasn't supposed to. He never noticed the shadows that followed him along the corridor and waited until he was out of sight before disappearing through the window again. Goniff shut the window as best he could, and the three miscreants disappeared into the dark leaving the museum in peace.
Three days later.
Actor smiled as the usual birthday cake was placed before him. No attempting to wriggle out of the festivities for him! He blew out his candles and listened to the others singing "Happy Birthday" with no thought of war, or their missions, on his mind. Let tomorrow bring what it might. Today, he was alive and could enjoy himself.
Naturally, the cons had got him a present, and from the wink Goniff tipped him, Actor guessed they'd come by it using nefarious means (as opposed to simply going out and buying it), however, he considered that to be a compliment. Obviously, it was something they knew he'd like or they would not have gone to so much trouble to 'acquire' it.
The parcel was long and thin, with a hook at one end. Actor slipped the wrapping paper off and smiled as an umbrella he recognised was revealed to him. "Boys, it's prefect!" he exclaimed, knowing that all Garrison would see would be an ordinary, good quality umbrella. "How did you know I wanted one?"
The three cons grinned at him. "We uh...figured an umbrella would come in handy," Casino said, with a sly glance at the Warden. "It rains a lot here."
"It's a nice umbrella," Garrison commented, slightly confused. Knowing his men the way he did, he was aware of the 'scene' being played on two levels. An innocent scene for him, and a scene where all four cons knew exactly what was going on but weren't prepared to let him in on it. And, while he knew that it was possible that they'd pinched the umbrella, he couldn't see why they'd feel the need to hide it from him. Unless.... His alarm bells started ringing.
"Lieutenant?" The Sergeant-Major's familiar mangling of his rank interrupted his thoughts. "There's a Mr. Braithwaite here to see you, sir."
Garrison hit the intercom button and answered, "I'll be right down." Turning, he looked at Goniff. The thief looked too innocent. A quick glance around at the others confirmed everything. He knew it. They'd gone back and pinched Neville Chamberlain's umbrella.
Ten minutes later, the rather indignant curator of the museum left, an umbrella in his hand and Garrison's abject apologies echoing in his mind. Garrison's casual question about there being nothing else missing had not pleased Mr. Braithwaite in the slightest. He had rather stiffly replied that if anything else had been missing, he would have asked for it at once.
Casino shrugged, "Sorry, babe."
"You did your best," Actor smiled. The thought had been there, and the intent. "If it had not been for Mr. Braithwaite's vigilence, it would have worked."
"Yeah." Goniff slumped down on his chair. "I can't believe I spent so long openin' that window without cuttin' the glass for nothin'. I might as well 'ave cut the glass and be done with it!"
"We did our best." Chief sighed and shook his head. "We could have taken what we wanted while we were there."
"Wait a minute. You mean you broke into that museum and all you took was the umbrella?" Actor was astonished. He would never have guessed they had such self control.
"We guessed it was better that way. Less likely that they'd miss anything then." Chief remembered the knives he'd seen but brushed them off philosophically. There were other knives to be had.
"'Ey, wait a minute." Goniff sat up with a grin. "Maybe we do 'ave somethin' for yer birthday after all!" He started hunting through his pockets, then stopped as Garrison came back.
Naturally, the Warden was rather annoyed that they'd taken advantage of one of their training missions and broken back into the museum. However, Actor was (for once) totally innocent and it was his birthday, so Garrison was prepared to let bygones be bygones for once and continue with the party as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't until two hours later that Goniff managed to give Actor the small silver box he had been unable to leave behind. "I know it ain't much, but I thought it'd do instead. I uh...don't know what it's for though."
Actor opened the tiny box. "It's a cigar cutter," he told them. "Where did you get this?"
"Yeah, and when?" Casino demanded.
Goniff shrugged and rubbed his head sheepishly. "It was on a table. No one was gonna miss that, it's too small. Well, if I 'adn't taken it, we'd 'ave nothin' to give 'im now that the umbrella's on its way back to the museum."
"Yeah, but it ain't as good as the umbrella," Chief pointed out. All their hard work had gone for nothing.
"I wouldn't say that, Chief." At Chief's surprised look, Actor explained. "This belonged to Edward VII."
"Yeah?" Goniff was pleased and moved over to gaze at the little box.
"Yes." Actor opened the cutter and showed it to the three of them. Inside was an engraving of a lily. Simple, plain, yet exquisitely lovely.
"You can tell that from the flower?" Casino asked.
"Yes. It was a gift from a lover of his, Lillie Langtry. She was the most beautiful actress in the world." Actor's voice held a tone of admiration they had rarely heard from him. "I saw her once, many years ago. Even in her old age, she had charm and beauty...a most amazing lady." For a second he remained lost in his memories, then he returned to present day and smiled at his friends who had given him a more valuable gift than they could imagine. He closed the box, and slipped it into his pocket quietly. "Thank you, boys."
The End.
