Preface

Professor Montgomery smiled over at his daughter as she ignored the last few bites of her dinner. Lidia gestured wildly as she went over what her imaginary friend and her had done that day. His daughter had always had an impressive imagination, he just wished he could get her to put it on hold until she actually finished eating, then again he wouldn't trade these moments with her for anything.

He reached over, deftly catching a spoon when Lidia accidentally knocked it off with her elbow. She had always been rather clumsy, though not as bad as her mother. Helen could trip and fall while barefoot and on a flat surface.

A sad smile touched his lips as he thought about his late wife, he wished she could have been there to see their little girl grow up. Then again there were things he was glad she would never know about.

He placed the spoon back on the table and instead reached over to run his hands down Lidia's bright red mane. Yes, there were some things he was glad his sweet Helen never had to deal with.

Just as Lidia was about to tell her daddy about the wonderful adventure with the will-o-the-wisps her and Minnie had, the sound of cracking wood came from the front door.

Logan Montgomery had a lot of enemies, and even more that wanted to use him and his knowledge, and each and every one of them were a danger to his little girl.

Jumping up from his chair, he made little time of pulling Lidia from hers and setting her on the floor. He looked to the kitchen doorway and to a cabinet on the other side of the room.

"Lidia, remember what I told you to do in case someone enters the house when they are not suppose to?" Logan kneeled down, his hand caressing her hair as he looked into her eyes. They had been over this many times, even going so far as performing drills.

"Yes…Daddy?" Lidia didn't like the look her father was giving her, it scared her, as had the loud crash in the other room.

"Keep quiet and just do it, now." Leaning forward, Logan placed a kiss on her forehead before pulling back. He would be damned if they got their hands on his daughter.

"But Daddy?" Lidia balled her hands into fists. She knew she should listen to her daddy, he had told her many times that there were bad…very bad men that wanted to hurt them. Only Lidia was scared for her daddy, she didn't know what she would do if he left like her mummy did.

"Lidia, don't fight me on this. Go, and just remember what you are supposed to do." Logan pushed his daughter towards the cabinet, pleading for her to hurry. She wouldn't be safe if whomever had broken in knew where she had went.

Realizing that she wasn't going to win, Lidia nodded and ducked inside of a cabinet; opening up a back panel to crawl inside and quickly shut it. She grabbed a hold of a small teddy bear her Daddy had put in there to help protect her and waited.

It wasn't long before she could hear another man in the kitchen with her Daddy, he had a low voice and it frightened her. She wanted to rush out of her little cubby when she heard the strange man yell at her father, but Daddy had told her that no matter what she was supposed to stay there until no one was around, or he told her to come out.

She held her hands over her ears as her father and the man yelled and things around her house crashed. She huddled herself into a little ball and cried as quietly as she could. Eventually everything went silent.

She pulled one of her sleeves down to cover her hand and used it to wipe away the snot and tears on her face. Her daddy would be upset, he had always told her that she would ruin all her pretty dresses if she continued to do that, but she hoped he would forgive her just this once. She had been so scared after all.

Crawling over to the panel, she slowly opened it back up and peeked outside. With her head just sticking out amongst several pots and pans, she could just make out the state of the kitchen.

The table had been tipped over along with the chairs, and food had been splattered all over the floor. She couldn't see her daddy, or the strange man. She wanted to cry again, but Daddy had been very clear about what she needed to do. So after a few more minutes; just to make sure that Daddy wasn't hiding anywhere like her, she ducked back into her cubby and grabbed her teddy.

The back of the doll had been cut open with a zipper stitched into it, her secret treasure Daddy had called it. Opening it up she took out a handful of money and a piece of paper with the address; 221B Baker Street scrawled on it in her daddy's handwriting.

With tears still falling down her face and the money and paper in her hand, Lidia ventured outside and headed straight for the man her Daddy had told her would always help her when she needed it; Mr Sherlock Holmes.

Author's Note: I know, no Sherlock or Molly in this one, but I wanted to start this out like the movie with the girl's father kidnapped. Don't worry though, we have both of your lovebirds in the next chapter.

Also, I sort of see Lidia like little Merida. I don't know, it is just how I kept picturing her all through developing this.

Next Chapter: Doorbells, Double Shifts, friendships, Lidia arrives, a highly inappropriate suggestion.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.