(The Return of) the Baker Street Fanfiction Academy
Chapter one (ten)
Continued from the Juliet Norrington story.
The sun rose from beyond the sea, dawning clear and bright as a melody. Lux Piper watched the sun, wrapped in her grandmother's blue and white quilt. A manila envelope full of yellowing pages sat in her lap, the last page set down only moments before. The sun reflected off the surface of the water and then there were two brilliant sunrises instead of one. Lux lingered, watching the showcase, snug against the early morning chill and her mind turning the contents of the manila folder over and over. It was going to be a busy day—a day that made her stomach knot and flutter if she thought too hard about it. But now, she enjoyed the stillness and serenity of the dawn.
Her lawyer arrived at nine, his mustache waxed and his bald head beaming in the morning sunlight. Lux met him on the front steps, a pen in her hand. She signed along the dotted lines, her hand trembling in excitement and fear, as the lawyer's assistant drove up in a sleek white car of a bygone era.
"It's yours," her lawyer said, pulling a ring of keys out of his pocket, "along with the estate."
Lux took the cold keys in her hand as the assistant jumped out of the car and stood alongside her lawyer. "Why?"
Her lawyer held his palms up in a shrug. "I didn't write the will, I only executed it."
Lux bit her bottom lip and wrapped her arms around herself. Her lawyer and his assistant climbed into his small black car. The assistant winked at her from behind the wheel and she frowned.
Her newly-owned car, beautiful and ancient, refused to accelerate past the respectable speed of fifty miles per hour, however strongly Lux attempted to coax another five miles out of her. Once outside of the city limits she gave up and settled back to enjoy the scenery. The lawyer's directions, though Lux was certain they took her the long way around, did pass through some of the most beautiful Literati countryside. The rolling hills and picturesque farmhouses put her uncertain mind at ease.
Finally she saw the great ivy-covered gates rising in the distance. The Latin motto had vanished behind the crawling vines and the ivy softened the harshness of the metal. Lux stopped the car and got out, the keys heavy in her hand. She fitted the largest key into the lock and spun it, both hands forcing the old and stiff lock to move. It clicked, and she pushed the gates open, snapping vines as they parted. An uneven cobblestone driveway sprawled out before her, lined with oak and pine, their great branches fighting for the sunlight.
The car bounced happily on the uneven cobblestone, its pace quickening like a horse returning home. She rounded a corner and the estate drew into sight, the white pillars and brick chimneys watching her. As she drew closer, she began to see the scars of war in the missing windows, the broken columns, and the graffiti in a disturbing mixture of hot pink, lime green, and neon orange.
Lux parked next to a large sign that read "Don't Feed the mini-Hounds" and walked toward the great estate, her hands in her pockets. She squinted up at the slanting roofs and the discouraging damage of conflict. She reached the wide stairs leading up to the veranda and she laid her hand on the banister. Memories, previously unknown, flashed through her mind. Two scruffy urchins sitting on the roof, a canon full of Valentine's Day cards, a group of slack-jawed and glazed-eyed girls. Lux shivered and stepped up onto the staircase. A woman with rabbit ears running with stacks of books in her hands. A sweet-faced boy in a ratty navel coat followed her with stars in his eyes.
The great old building sighed with relief as she pulled the heavy ring of keys out of her bag. Her heels left perfect patches in the dust on the sprawling porch. She liked that and took a staccato stroll around the porch. Her footsteps snapped and clicked. She liked the sound even better. Lux put the middle key into the lock and turned, the lock groaning in protest as she did. She grabbed the lion-headed door knob and pulled open the heavy oak door. The first thing she saw in the darkness was a pair of familiar green eyes staring back at her.
"Hello," a rusty voice said, "I've been waiting for you."