Road Trip 3
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Previously on ER
A grateful (and rich) patient invited some of the ER doctors on
an all-expenses paid trip to Ireland to attend a conference in
Galway. Arriving in Dublin they discovered that they had to drive
themselves to Galway. Several wrong turnings, a bout of travel
sickness and a flat tire later, they arrived in Birr. Kerry and
Luka went looking for accommodation; Carter went for a walk
leaving Dave asleep in the car. Waking up alone, Dave was
disturbed to notice that their car was surrounded by cars, all at
least fifty years old, the people seemed to be all dressed in
very old-fashioned costumes.
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"This is not happening, this is not happening," he
repeated to himself. Hearing the sound of an airplane overhead,
he glanced up and let out a strangled yelp as he realized that it
was a biplane, at least sixty years old.
Then someone put a hand on his shoulder and he screamed.
Dave spun around with his hands raised defensively. To his relief
it was only Carter standing there with an amused expression on
his face. "Don't sneak up on me like that Carter," said
Dave.
"What's up Malucci?" asked Carter with a grin. "You
look as if you've seen a ghost."
"Don't you notice anything weird about this place?"
asked Dave, indicating the car park.
"Not really."
"Carter, look at the cars, the people, even the planes.
They're all so old," said Dave frantically.
Carter was going to spin it out a bit longer but seeing the
worried expression on Dave's face he relented. "Don't worry
Dave, you're not going crazy. We've just got here in the middle
of the 'Vintage Week' festival."
"Huh?"
"They hold it every year in August," explained Carter.
"They have a big parade, a couple of concerts, a lot of fun
things. They decorate all the shop windows and a lot of people
dress up in costume." Carter's tone was a bit patronizing.
He carefully ignored the fact that he too had been a bit unnerved
by all the vintage costumes and décor around the place until he
had seen a poster explaining it all in one of the shop windows.
"Man, that's a relief," said Dave. "I thought we'd
been sucked through a time warp or something."
"You've been reading too many comic books Dave."
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Meanwhile Kerry and Luka had made their way to Dooley's hotel in
the middle of Birr, to see if they could book some rooms.
"Please let them be short of rooms, please let them be short
of rooms," said Kerry to herself as the receptionist checked
her computer.
"I'm afraid all we have are two double rooms," said the
woman apologetically. "And everywhere else is probably
booked out for Vintage Week."
"Oh dear," said Kerry, while stifling a smile, and
shouting inwardly 'yes, yes, yes'.
"I am not sure if that will be suitable," said Luka.
"Well, I'll tell you what we can do," said the
receptionist helpfully. "We can put up a folding bed in the
bigger double room, and split you up three in that room and one
in the other. Would that suit you?"
"That would be most acceptable," said Luka with a
smile, which nearly made the receptionist swoon and fall off her
chair.
"Yes, that will be fine," said Kerry, with a false
smile, while inwardly cursing the helpfulness and efficiency of
the Irish. Oh well she shrugged. The day wasn't over yet, and the
night didn't have to be lonely if she played her cards right. All
she had to do was persuade Dave and Carter to disappear for the
evening, leaving Luka and herself to while away the hours
together.
"Kerry?" said Luka, wondering why she had such a
faraway expression on her face. "I said shall we get our
bags now?"
"What? Oh yes, let's go." Almost as an afterthought she
asked the receptionist, "Would you happen to have a local
guide book? It's just that since we're here for the rest of the
day, it would be a shame not to see the sights."
Inwardly she wondered if such a small place as Birr (situated in
the heart of Ireland, pop 4000) could possibly hold anything of
interest. Still she was sure Carter and Dave could be 'persuaded'
to find a pub to go to for the evening leaving her and Luka to
sit and talk and......
Luka watched the faraway expression reappear on Kerry's face,
with a trace of bemusement on his own. "What was it with
this woman?" he wondered. "She never behaved like
<this> in Chicago."
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Kerry sprawled on her double bed and thumbed her way through the
guidebook. She was pleasantly surprised to find that as well as
the events for the Vintage Week festival which was currently
running, there was also an exhibition in the Birr Heritage and
Scientific center in the grounds of Birr Castle. That and the
telescope should keep both Carter and Dave happy for a few hours
thought Kerry, while Luka and I wander round the 'Millennium
Gardens' and take in the worlds tallest box hedges. Kerry rolled
onto her back and started thinking on how exactly she could
persuade the group to split up.
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Meanwhile in the 'boys' room;
"Well I cannot possibly sleep on that bed," said Luka,
indicating the folding bed disdainfully. "It is so short
that my feet would be sticking out at the end. One of you two
will have to sleep in it. The other will have to share with me."
And hopefully no one will hear about this back in Chicago he
thought to himself.
"You're shorter than me Dave," said Carter. "I'll
have to sleep with Dr Kovac."
"I am <not> shorter than you Carter," said Dave
indignantly. "Am I Dr Kovac?"
"I think if we are going to be sleeping together we may as
well all be on a first name basis," said Luka resignedly. He
regarded the two younger men, trying to decide which of them was
more likely to take up less of the room in the double bed. It was
hard to choose between them. Carter was slightly taller, but Dave
was broader in the shoulder. "Carter you are slightly taller.
You can sleep in the double bed. But no kicking or stealing the
blankets."
"Yes!" said Carter triumphantly, throwing himself onto
the bed and stretching out.
Dave threw his bag onto the folding bed and started rummaging
through it for his toothbrush, muttering unsavory comments under
his breath that cast doubts on both Luka's and Carter's parentage.
Finding his camera, he brightened somewhat. "So Luka and
Carter want to share a bed with each other," he thought to
himself. "Well, I'm sure Randi and the others will be
interested in <that>." Now all he had to do was make
sure that neither Carter nor Luka slept lightly tonight. An evil
grin swept across his face.
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To be continued
Author's notes
Vintage Week is a ten day long festival held in Birr every August
for the last thirty-odd years (shameless plug alert)
Not everyone dresses in costume, but there are a lot of old cars
and planes around.
All places in <this> installment do exist (honest)
Part II