Hello everyone and welcome to story number four! The Greatest Man follows The Woman, The Diamond, and The Pariah. Etheldrea Holmes face model is Emily Rudd and Abigail Grey's is Anna Sophia-Robb.
Sorry this is a relatively short chapter, I tried extending it, but you can only go so far. The next chapters will definitely be longer, I promise. I hope you enjoy!
"No, no, I've got something very special planned for her. But, if you do this, I might just leave her alone. Come on; how far are you willing to go? What would you do? Anything? Everything?"
She was curled up on the couch, staring blankly at the empty black chair in front of her. She sighed and turned to face the ceiling, her eyes glancing towards the spray painted smiley face on the wall behind her. She sighed again and turned towards the black chair once more. On the coffee table was a letter she had been putting off for days.
She didn't want to read, she was too scared. Days ago everything in her life was flipped upside down, and this letter would only add to it. What could one more catastrophic event add? She would be happier if she didn't read it, but she wasn't happy to begin with.
She made a decision, and with aching limbs, pushed herself up and reached for the envelope. She ripped through the flap and pulled out the folded paper. Her hands shaking, she unfolded and began to read.
To my dearest daughter, you have absolutely no idea how much I love you and the length I would go to keep you safe. You are sure to have questions, and I'm sorry I can't be there to answer them. Certain events have compelled me to leave you but I know you will be better off.
She stopped reading, a hand flying to her mouth and tears streaming down her face. She crumpled the letter in her one hand and stuffed it under the sofa cushion. She couldn't read it now, not yet.
Five Months Earlier
"Come on, pay up."
"Fine, ninety. There you go."
The three tenants of two-two-one B Baker Street were sat around the coffee table, the board game Monopoly in front of them. The tan, blonde haired man, named John Watson, was just passing around Go and about to pay the cheapest rent on the only street belonging to his flat mate next to him.
The man with very dark nearly black curly hair, pale skin, and silvery eyes, collected the money quickly. His name was Sherlock Holmes, and he was currently low on cash, and wouldn't be able to afford the next rent should he land on a space. While John wasn't looking, he leaned towards the teenaged girl on his right.
She was obviously his daughter for her short hair was the same color, and her skin and eyes were also the same as his own. Her name was Etheldrea Holmes, and she owned about half the board along with John.
So only she could hear, he whispered, "I will give you fifty for information on John's criminal records."
"I'm sorry?" she whispered back, John oblivious.
"You heard me. Fine, I'll go seventy-five, but that's it."
Etheldrea turned her head away and stifled a laugh. Then, she turned back and told Sherlock "what she knew".
"He runs a sex-trafficking ring in Brixton. Also he's been linked to an arson case where two people died. That's worth eighty."
He grumbled and paid her, "Fine."
Etheldrea made her turn, paid John her rent, and then it was Sherlock's turn. Without a doubt, he would have to declare bankruptcy after this. He rolled the dice, made his moves, and landed on Etheldrea's hotel. He didn't have enough, the last of his money only totaling to twenty.
John smirked, "Sherlock, you know what you have to do now."
Sherlock smirked also, "I think you'll find nothing happens now. Not if you want the police to know about your . . . business."
He scoffed, "What are you talking about?"
"Brixton, the ring. A little fire."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
"Don't lie. I know about the sex trafficking you're doing. And the arson! Two people dead. Etheldrea told me."
She shook her head, and lied "He's lost it, and my money."
"I gave you eighty quid for that information!"
"What?" John asked, "Let me see."
"He's mad john!" Etheldrea said.
"I've been keeping track of your money, let me see."
Etheldrea sighed while Sherlock held up his only slip of money left. John knew they had been doing this but until now he had failed to prove it. He leaned his head back and gave an exasperated sigh.
"I win by default, again."
"What?" Sherlock and Etheldrea asked in unison.
"This is the third game where you two have cheated."
"But-"
"Nope! No, we're going to play something else, and I'm going to watch very carefully. Neither of you are going to cheat." He started packing up the game.
Etheldrea turned to Sherlock, "You do know I lied, right?"
"In reality, yes. I thought in game you'd be kinder."
"Oh please. I'll only do things to help myself."
"You just had to be competitive."
"Dad, look who's talking."
John left to put the game away and came back with a new one entitled Cluedo. He started setting it up while Etheldrea looked over the instructions.
"Where the hell are you finding all these games?" Sherlock asked.
"Mrs. Hudson has a surprising lot of them."
"Why does she have all these?"
Etheldrea said, "Before I was old enough to go on cases with you, we'd play a lot of them. We played them right."
"Oh shut up. You've been cheating too!"
"Only at Monopoly and Candy Land."
"We can't go wrong with this one, it's a murder mystery." John said, "You'll both enjoy this one and won't feel the need to cheat."
Sherlock took the instructions from Etheldrea, read them and then looked over the game materials. He had a slight frown on his face. John passed everyone their game pieces, blue for Sherlock, green for himself, and purple for Etheldrea. Then he chose the three cards and put them in the middle of the board. He made the first move.
"I suggest it was . . . Mrs. White in the Ballroom with the . . . Candlestick."
Etheldrea flicked through her cards and passed one to John, keeping Sherlock from seeing it. Then it was her turn. She rolled and moved her piece.
"Um, Miss Scarlett in the Study with . . . the Pipe."
Sherlock passed her two cards and she checked them off. Then it was Sherlock's turn.
"I want to make an accusation."
"What?" John asked, "We only just started. You can't have an answer yet."
"This Mr. Body person did it himself."
"What? No, that not how it works."
"It's the only possible answer."
"No, Sherlock, you're wrong."
"No, I'm not. I'll check it."
"No! It's not in the rules! We're looking for a murderer!"
"The rules are wrong!"
"It's impossible!"
"It might be improbable, but nothing's impossible."
Sherlock grabbed the envelope packet and took out the cards. He was smiling to himself, but it slowly turned into a frown. His lips thinned and he put the cards back, and then turned and sulked. John laughed and started his turn.
"See, what did I tell you?"
Sherlock mumbled, "It was Professor Plum in the Kitchen with the Rope."
"DAD!" Etheldrea shouted at the same time John shouted, "Oh for god's sake!"
He threw the cards down, stood up and walked into the kitchen. He came back a moment later.
"Alright. New game. I know this next one can't go wrong."
Sherlock groaned, "I've had enough of these insufferable games. Can't we go ask Lestrade if there's been a murder instead?"
"No, just hang on."
John disappeared to the hall closet and came back a moment later with a deck of cards.
"Have you ever heard of Fifty-Two pick up?" he asked.
"No."
John smirked and then bent the cards as though he was going to shuffle them, but he let them go and they scattered everywhere around the floor. He sat back on the chair by the door and crossed his arms, still smirking.
Sherlock looked down at the floor, and then back at John with a monstrous look on his face. He made no attempt to pick the cards up, only staring at John. Slowly, the smirk began to fade and John got down and started picking the cards up. Etheldrea leaned to her side and laughed into a pillow, and she couldn't stop.
"Not in my flat. Try harder next time." Sherlock said.
"Continue to cheat and there won't be a next time."
"I didn't cheat at Cluedo."
"You ruined the game, you told the answers!"
"They were wrong!"
"SHERLOCK!"
Etheldrea sat up, still laughing, and started to pack up. They were getting absolutely nowhere with these games, but it was one of the funniest mornings she'd had in a while. After all the drama that had happened in the past six months, she was perfectly happy for this sort of normality.
Sherlock and John were still arguing at the moment there was knocking downstairs. She stood up and went to the window to see who it was, but the landlady, Mrs. Hudson, had already let them in. She heard running up the stairs, and a girl with golden blonde hair and blue eyes entered the room and spotted Etheldrea. Her best friend, Abigail Grey, ran at her, grabbed her hands and pulled her up, dragging her towards the door. She hid her face in her hands like she was about to cry.
"Abby! What's happened? What's wrong?
"I've got some news." She said solemnly.
"What?"
Her fun morning was shattered by two words.
"We're moving."
"What?" Etheldrea asked horrified.
"We're moving."
"Where?"
"Nineteen Star- cross Street."
"Star-cross? But that's so- wait." Etheldrea saw her friend start smiling, "Star- cross is literally a two minute walk from here."
Abigail started bouncing on her toes, I know!"
Etheldrea raised her hands in a claw gesture, "You had me thinking you were going away!"
"That was the whole point. I knew it would take a lot to fool you so I thought hiding my face would work best."
"Well, it did. Star- cross? We can walk home or car pool and you don't have to leave early anymore."
"I know! But what about my brother?"
"Forget about him, he can find a different way home."
Abigail had a twin brother names Adam, and it was no secret that he didn't like Etheldrea. No one in her school or age group did; she showed off too much as a kid and had been labeled as a freak. However Adam had a different reasoning than the others. When they had just started out as friends over a year ago, Etheldrea had been invited to a birthday party. However, she forgot and Abigail had been upset the whole night. Adam never forgave her.
"We're moving next week, you could come over and help me unpack. You so much better at organization than I am."
"Would your parents let me?"
"Don't worry about them. It's not like we're going after druggies in my room."
Abigail and Adam's parents also didn't like Etheldrea or Sherlock, but they had learned a long time ago they couldn't stop the girls from being friends. So, they tolerated it and pretended their daughter was hanging out with someone else, and not getting involved in trouble like uncovering drug deals and chasing after pickpockets.
"Good point."
Abigail stopped bouncing and quickly wrapped her arms around Etheldrea. Etheldrea returned the hug, surprisingly, and then broke it up after a moment.
"Can you stay?" she asked.
"Yeah. I don't have to be back until eleven."
"We're trying to play some board games, but I think you, John, and I would be better. What do you think John?"
"Yes! Without a doubt, yes!" he agreed, ending his argument with Sherlock.
Sherlock watched them, his eyes narrow and mouth dropped in a shocked manner. He laid out on the couch, purposely stretching the entire length so that no one else could sit on it.
"You big baby." Etheldrea said, "We'll just play on the floor.
Abigail laughed and went to go sit down by the black lounge chair, Etheldrea with her. John grabbed the game and went to set it up by them and he too took a seat on the floor. He set Cluedo up slowly and just as he started passing out cards, Sherlock got up and went to sit with them.
For the rest of the game, he was silent about his accusations, and they all had a great time. When the game ended though, Sherlock was surprised at the three cards.
"Regardless," he said, "I still think he killed himself."
I now have a tumblr blog that I will be using to tell updates, upload pictures, answer questions, and even interact as Etheldrea. acolorfulmindfanfiction is my name, and you can also find a link on my profile. Go! Ask questions! If you want to me, put For Author in the message. If it's for Etheldrea, put For Etheldrea.