The Pulse of the Sea
by "This old thing? It’s scarcely decent."
"The air along my exposed front was slightly cool, but the sea’s temperature was mine, and the heartbeats that thudded slowly through my veins became the pulse of the sea."
The night air of Israel lay warm against the skin and the subtlest noise carried across the desert waste, only to fall upon the ears of a lone snake or scorpion. Two such sounds were taken in by the man overlooking the saline depths before him. The puffing of his own pipe as he held it to his lips and the far-off splashing of his companion.
He hadn’t wanted Russell to miss this chance of taking a dip in the Dead Sea and had halted their questioning of the locals long enough to make it possible. And so it came to be, that he sat on a dusty hill, as she floated and bobbed to her heart’s content. Water had been infrequent on this excursus in the Holy Land and, despite the stinging it would cause his blisters and scrapes, the thought of a dip was still appealing.
And so relief quickly followed the initial hesitation, as she called for him to join her. He shed his pungent garments and gratefully made for the shallows. Careful to maintain a proper distance between them (but close enough for conversation), his lean body cut through the waves and reveled in the exercise.
The water was warm, as was the air, and he found it hard to tell where one ended and the other began. After the original bite from the salt, the water was simply relaxing. And yet, he was acutely aware of his companion such a little distance away. With nothing else to distract his keen mind, it remained riveted on her. Hopefully, it was only a matter of time before she realized...
A sigh escaped his expressive lips as he remembered the bullet. It had come so close. He only hoped that their return to the great cesspool of London would be more successful than their last time spent there. Such a cunning foe would not be easy to catch. On the boat, their chess game had inspired an idea in his mind, but the idea of sacrificing the queen...
Jolted back to reality as he returned to shore, he politely turned his back while Russell rinsed off under the freshwater spring and then took his own turn. If not quite clean from the mineral rich water, at least they were refreshed.
He slipped her arm through hers as they strolled back to the camp. "Happy birthday, Russell."
She smiled. "And to you, Holmes. And to you."