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“Candy apple, my dear?”
“Please.”
“Two.”
The Apple Vendor dipped two fresh red apples into a deep vat of warming caramel, and then lifted them free. He popped open a super cool compartment with a cold blower constantly on and set the two apples on their stems into two slots.
“Just a minute.”
“No problem.”
Watson turned to Mrs. Hudson, who gave him a dreamy eyed look. “It’s been so long since we’ve had so many quiet moments together. And now to top it off with something sweet.”
“That stomach of yours.”
“And quite a nicely rounded one at times. And soon to stop complaining,” he said his eyes waltzing back to the caramel covered apples.
He felt his mouth watering in anticipation of the tasty caramel and crispy apple. She was right. It had been a long time since they’d had this much fun. Or he a caramel apple.”
She laughed. “I’d hardly call Regent’s Park Zoo a quiet spot.”
He chuckled. “Close enough.”
She nodded.
“Here you are, sir.”
Watson handed over a pound note. The man took it, then handed them each a candy apple with tiny cloth hankies holding them.
“There are tiny elephants on the cloth.”
“Why the apples are so expensive, Madam. To cover the cost of the hankies.”
“I think it’s more than a fair trade.” She eyed Watson. “You forgot to tip the man.”
Watson blushed and handed the man another pound.
The man smiled and tapped his hat to Mrs. Hudson. “A man would be proud to be on your arm.”
She patted Watson’s arm, before he could get jealous and replied, “And he certainly is. I certainly am,” she finished, giving Watson a glowing smile.
Watson eyed the two apples on stems in his free hand. “I’d let you take them and give me one, but I have this thing about apples ever since I went to church and they did that Adam and Eve thing on me.”
She laughed so sweetly and deeply, that even the Apple Vendor chuckled.
She took an apple, and then Watson’s arm and they continued their stroll through the park.
“Shall we go to the zoo?”
“I’d rather not.”
“Why?”
“I imagine how all those animals must feel forever lost from their homes and families. Stuck in a box.”
“You hardly ever leave your kitchen.”
“That’s different. I’m preparing food for my hungry Teddy Bear and his friend. Besides which, I utterly enjoy cooking. I should probably be a famous chef were I to put my mind to it.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’m not sad because of what the world is missing and I shall have...” He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Forever.”
“Forever,” she whispered back, touched by his manner and words.
Then Watson’s manners fled before his intellectual need to discourse. “Martha, they’re just animals.”
She stopped, looked into his eyes. “As are we when we don’t feel for the lives of others...even the tiniest of creatures.”
“Now, you’re starting to sound like Holmes!”
She laughed.
They kept walking.
“I want you to see my favorite animal.”
She sighed. “Is it caged?”
“Not exactly.”
She gave him a stern look.
“Oh, very well.”
But he knew that she was miffed at him. He shrugged inwardly and began towards the animal he had spoken of. A tiger. It had been born here and was super tame. Even a small child could cuddle up to it safely, not that any sane parent would risk their child to find out if they would be safe.
“What animal shall we see then?” She asked.
Watson had to summon all his courage to say, “Tiger!”
A man, who stood in thick shadows behind Watson and Mrs. Hudson, smiled. It was so dark in the shadows he stood within, that his white teeth were the brightest part of him to be seen.
