Sequel to 'Always by your side'
Anniversary
The sun is shining; the path under his shoes lets out crunching noises with every step he takes. The man who is walking up the hill holds a small basket in his hand. He is alone on his way. His friend, a very big black fury dog, is waiting patiently at the gate to the graveyard.
Watched by these loyal eyes Sherlock doesn't feel lonely, or better said, he is used to a different kind of loneliness. One he has slowly learnt to live with. No living creature can replace what he has lost exactly one year ago. No one is able to take the loss away from him but Sherlock Homes has found someone to share his life with. Or better he was found. A companion who stays with him, protects him, comforts him, but also pushes him to live, to stop dying slowly and alone, by wasting away in a living room which he had once shared with the man who's grave Sherlock is visiting now.
The warm summer air feels good on Sherlock's skin. He arrives at his destination, the right gravestone if one can say 'right' to something so wrong. Sherlock lowers himself next to the thing. He opens the basket and pulls two mugs and a thermos flask out of it. Sherlock fills both of their favorite mugs with the hot tea. He places John's mug on the stone while Sherlock leans against it with his own mug.
A gentle breeze comes up and blows the steam from the tea away.
"Hello John, it's been a long time since my last visit." A heavy sigh escapes Sherlock as he looks down at his half emptied tea. He did it. Sherlock has said John's name out loud for the first time. It hurt but wasn't as bad as he thought. It felt familiar and strange at the same time.
"I solved a case today. An old woman was murdered. Murdered because of money. Her son-in-law did it. So he and his wife could get the money out of her. He has a gambling debt and needs it to pay his loan shark. The daughter of the victim didn't know about the debt or the murder. I feel sorry for her. She lost her mother and her husband at the same time. She cried John. She cried and was upset and I felt so helpless. I stopped her from attacking her husband before the police took him away. I'm not sure I could help her. I tried to comfort her. I told her that it wouldn't help her or her mother. That there would only be even more sadness." Sherlock takes a short break to refill his cup.
"At least I solved that one. The first case Lestrade called me to, ended in a disaster. He looked so guilty when he came today, like the last time. I wasn't successful with that one; he had to bring me home after it. Jack and Mrs. Hudson stayed with me and she was so worried. She cleaned the whole flat just to have a reason to stay with me. She called it spring cleaning." A smile crosses his face.
"The woman, who was murdered today, was lonely. I saw it. Her husband died a few months back and like I have Jack she has her daughter. But what is left for her, for the daughter I mean? She is alone and all I could offer was a shoulder to cry on and Jack's soft fur to touch." The smile from a moment ago comes back when he thinks of Jack and the warmth he gives.
"How do you heal the broken heart of a person? I would have said 'not my area' before you left. Now it's part of my work. You always tried to teach me about emotions and feelings. But school is over now; I have to understand them be myself now and find a way to help people." Sherlock looks over the graveyard, watching a bird in the distance.
"Lestrade told me I did well today. Not sure I did the right thing with stopping her but he told me that there isn't always a general solution you can apply to all situations. Not like my deductions, the dead are very precise in their last message to the world." A cloud pushes itself in front of the sun and darkens the place before the light comes back again.
"I should go. Mrs. Hudson invited me for dinner, and she said she wanted to try a new recipe. She said cooking is like doing experiments. Nice of her to make out of cooking an experiment so as to raise my interest for the topic. "
"I hope it is okay for you when I come after a case. It feels better that way and that would make you a part of it. But I'm not continuing your blog; people are not interested in the kind of stories I would write. The blog was yours and without your fingers hitting the keys there will never be another story about Sherlock Holmes and his loyal blogger." Sherlock gets up still wearing a smile on his face, no tears today. He collects the mugs and the thermos flask.
"See you the next time." With a last touch to the stone he walks back down the hill. At the gate he is greeted by Jack with a friendly shaking tail.
"Let's go, Mrs. Hudson is waiting with her very secretive cooking experiment and maybe Lestrade will get us a new case in the morning." Both, man and dog walk side by side down the road.