Cowritten with LittleAppleAngel
Anyone who was anyone was enthralled by the Captain Curlylocks series. That is everyone under the age of five or so and their parents. John being in his mid-thirties and currently childless (save for a childish consulting detective) was or at least had been blissfully unaware of the books of Captain Curlylocks until a computer issue at work shut down the entire network and surgery. As it was his computer that had crashed and caused the fault, Sarah had forced him to spend the half an hour it took to get everything back online entertaining a bunch of sick children and their parents.
It had also led to his discovery of Captain Curlylocks.
From the moment John catches sight of the illustration of pirate's scowling little face and mass of black curls on the cover he was entranced by the book.
Captain Curlylocks according to the blurb on the back of book used to be a prince with untameable curly hair who lived in a majestic kingdom ruled by his cruel older brother King Cake-a-lot.
King Cake-a-lot was so called because of his highnesses fondness for sweets and cakes. Curlylock personally called his brother many other things but none of them are particularly suitable for print.
However Prince Curlylocks disliked being a prince and having to do princely things such as dance with princesses and attend balls and so ran away to sea in order to have adventures.
"I don't want to be a prince, they're boring. I'm going to be a pirate and go on an adventure" said little Curlylock. And so he did.
He escaped the kingdom that very day and stole a ship called "The Skull" and sailed off into the sunset in search of treasure.
(Stealing ships is not a very good thing for a prince to do, however the one in question was quite old and going to be made into firewood when Curlylock showed up and took it. Besides Curlylock had renounced his princely ways by this point.)
As amusing as the book was, everything was unfortunately quickly up and running again and so John never made it to the next picture book in the series that day.
He had intended to look it up upon arriving home. However Sherlock ends up dragging him on a case involving a missing granny and million pound necklace.
As a result John doesn't remember the books until two weeks later.
He is wandering around trying to decide what to buy Harry for her birthday when he spots a display of new Captain Curlylock books in the window. Forgetting his sister's gift John ends up spending the afternoon sitting in the children's section of Waterston's reading all the Curlylock books he can find.
The more he reads the more he cannot deny the likeness Captain Curlylock shares with Sherlock. It's not just the drawings but the character, Captain Curlylock is blunt and quirky with a deeply hidden soft spot and a head full of trouble. He continues reading all the while trying to determine whether or not he should be concerned that it appears his friend and flatmate has been turned into a beloved fictional character.
John is deeply engrossed reading about Curlylock helping a ghost girl named Shy find her way back home when a little girl taps him on the shoulder. "Mister if you like Curlylock I think you should read this one next." She says handing him a book before disappearing back to her mother.
John takes it and smiles thanking her. He turns the book over and glances at the title which reads "Captain Curlylock gains a friend".
It is clear from the first page that this was different from the older books. For the older books in the series focused on Curlylock's self-reliant nature and his use of brains to save the day. The words "I don't need anyone." Was Curlylock's catchphrase up until that point.
This book though focused on his blossoming if unlikely friendship, with a survivor he picked up from a shipwreck. A ship doctor who was brave, clever (though the book stressed not too clever) and was extraordinary ordinary even if he couldn't remember his name.
Curlylock did his best to help the survivor. For two days solid he stayed by the sick man's side nursing him back to health. On the third day he awoke feeling much better.
"Hey um how are you?"
"Fine, I think. Where am I? Who are you?" The stranger panicked.
"You are on my ship, I'm Captain Curlylock, may I ask who you are?" Curlylock asked politely (as like his mother told him who once she had heard of his desired job "Well it doesn't mean that you can't be a polite pirate!)
"I'm Doctor… Doctor- I'm sorry but I- I don't know?"
"That's alright. We can work it out together."
John turned the page over eagerly only to discover that was the end of the book. Feeling blue at the sudden end John turned the page to discover which book was the sequal. However at the end of the book there was an old competition entry asking the children what they think the brave doctor's name should be, the winner earning their chosen name being published in the book and a new bike.