Knaves, Thieves and Teachers

Fanfiction
Title:	Knaves, Thieves and Teachers
Author(s):	Irene
Date(s):	1999
Length:	32 pages
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:
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Knaves, Thieves and Teachers is a Bodie/Doyle story by Irene.

It is in Roses and Lavender #3 and is online.

Series

• Knaves, Thieves and Teachers
• Knaves Errant
• Where the Knavery Ends

Summary

"Doyle knows where he's going - to pull off a jewel heist on the island of Kiloran. Bodie has his own reasons for sailing to Kiloran. But cat burglars like Doyle can't afford to trust men they've just met, even if they are tall, dark, and beautiful. An alternate universe story inspired by the film 'I Know Where I'm Going'."

Reactions and Reviews

Irene is another writer whose stories I've enjoyed in previous R&Is. Have many of you read her sweet and poignant "Keeper" in Roses & Lavender 2? Her story this time is another AU; neither particularly sweet nor gentle, "Knaves, Thieves, and Teachers" nevertheless has its own poignancy and is a damn good read from start to finish. The AU world is established right at the beginning as we learn that Doyle is a housebreaker whose partner is none other than Marge Harper. One of the things I love about this AU is the way in which familiar elements from the CI5 world are threaded through the story in delightfully unexpected ways. Right through to the very end, there are little unexpected turns that kept making me grin with surprised delight. Like all good AUs. Irene is a treat in putting together two characters who fit each other like gloves yet don't, in this world, know each other at the start. Oh, and the setting itself is lovely to explore along with the characters as each makes his separate but converging way to Kiloran, off the coast of Scotland. I had a good time all the way through this story about a jewel thief who meets a mysterious, dark-haired stranger and discovers his life unexpectedly rearranging itself into new patterns.

"Knaves, Thieves And Teachers" by Irene is equally good. Irene's writing reminds me of Rhiannon's - it has something of the same charm, and the same telling use of domestic detail (By 'domestic', I mean the kind of thing that fixes a scene or an action firmly in the texture of lived life.)

This is not, however, a domestic story. As Pen says above, it's an AU; and we gradually learn that this universe is rather darker, in many ways, than the one we know from the episodes (I almost said 'from ours'). There's an incident early on with a couple of coppers which made me sit back and think. Hang on, not in the Isles, surely? But it turns out to have been a clever foreshadowing of what we discover later. There's an awful lot to enjoy: Doyle's relationship with Marge Harper (seen only through his recollections but vividly present and very convincing); the 'coup de foudre' effect - so often attempted and so rarely achieved - of Doyle's meeting with the tall, dark stranger who looms out of the mist; the instant rapport between them (again, a lovely idea but one few writers manage to show rather than t f f us about); the excellent original character, Mrs. Potts, with her deerhounds and her cut-to-the-chease manner of speech. (I really liked her; she lived and breathed. And I can't resist quoting this bit, from their first meeting with hen 'The door opened. Glaring at them across the threshold was a woman with white hair and dark brows, with a deerhound at either hand, and another behind her. None of the dogs barked. Instead they regarded Bodie and Doyle with keen interest To Doyle it seemed they had such hopes of being allowed to bite, the prospect of barking held no appeal." Isn't that good? And it's such an inessential, really, just an extra - there was no need to dress that scenelet with writing of that calibre. Mrs. Potts hasn't even spoken yet and all the important stuff about plot and character is yet to come. But it's typical of Irene to scatter little throwaway gems like this throughout her stuff.) It goes without saying that there's a good plot, with an intriguing end to it But the best bit for me, is getting to see Bodie sailing (on a boat called, with tongue firmly in cheek, the Betty). This was just lovely - so convincing and sexy and breathtakingly romantic. No wonder Doyle falls for him. Then there's "The White Cloth" by Nell Howell. I looked at the spoilers for this before I read it and can't decide now whether I wish I had or not so I'm not going to give away the plot here. Ill just say that it's a first-rate B/D story... with another sort of story tucked away within it. I loved it I thought it very well written indeed, with a command of expression and an emotional truth that's rarely found in stories which concentrate (as this does) on the inner workings of the heart. The Doyle we find here does suffer a great deal, but he's neither petulant nor melodramatic; he's s grown-up man trying to deal with almost overwhelming feelings. And, though we see less of him, Bodie too is neither stupid nor childish; his explanation of what one impulsive act led to made me feel poignantly for the situation in which he finds himself.

But the triumph of this story, for me, was the portrayal of Cowley. A good portion of it is told through his point of view and for once, he's not the cardboard barker-out of orders we've become inured to. It was really refreshing to see Bodie and Doyle through his eyes, and to have a thoughtful exploration of his attitude towards them. His acknowledgment of their adulthood, while simultaneously filing how young they are compared to his own weary age, was both convincing and touching. I don't much like Cowley, on the whole; but I liked this one. He's a good man, and a compassionate one, and I believed absolutely in what the author did here. Great stuff.

Based loosely on the movie I Know Where I'm Going, this is an AU story in which CI5 doesn't exist. Instead, there's CI-17: "the police who watch the police". Doyle is a former cat-burglar who, seeking vengeance for a murder, goes to the island of Kiloran to burgle a house. On the trip, he meets a mysterious fellow called Bodie, and both their lives end up changing drastically.

This world is a darker one than even the canonical CI5 world, modelled somewhat on the police state depicted in In the Public Interest. Although an AU, Irene laces the story with familiar characters and nuances from various episodes, such as Bodie's famous reference to Samuel Beckett in Old Dog with New Tricks. In her hands, these AU characters in an AU world are as close to the Bodie and Doyle on the screen as makes no difference.

And, as always in Irene's work, there's humour to leaven the more sombre moments and a lovely first-time story mingled with the action, along with her smooth, skilled writing that is a pleasure to read for itself.