The Baker Street Family Chronicles

By The Mouse Avenger

Prologue

December 31, 1902, 12:00 PM

The Christmas holidays had come & gone once more, & swirling white snow whirled around the great city of London, England.

On Baker Street, in the flat of Upper 221B, the occupants, the great detective Sherlock Holmes, & his assistant, Dr. John H. Watson, were sitting in front of a warm, glowing fire, chatting over a great case they had recently solved.

In the basement below, no one was awake in the smaller quarters of Lower 221B ½. All the rodential occupants were asleep in their beds.

Now, hold a moment, you readers ask, "rodential"? You question that there were mice & rats who lived down below in that cozy house? Well, the answer is, as the Master would say, quite elementary: Lower 221B Baker Street was the home of the Sherlock Holmes of the Mouse World, the one & only Basil Of Baker Street, The Great Mouse Detective.

Basil Of Baker Street was one of the greatest heroes of that time. Every image of him, every icon, pictured him in the clothes he was always seen wearing, an all-brown ensemble of an invertness cape, a deerstalker cap, a coat, & a mouse-sized meerschaum pipe. He claimed to be the smartest mouse in London – whenever Mouseland Yard detectives were baffled on a case, they always came to him for help. Villains such as Mouses Fiennes shuddered every time they heard his name...or the three words "Baker Street Family".

That's right, dear readers – The Great Mouse Detective wouldn't be complete without his beloved Baker Street Family – his darling daughter Fuschia, his wonderful son Basil II, his beautiful wife Victoria, his trusted associate Dr. Dawson, his faithful maid Mrs. Judson, & his dear godfamilies.

But how did the Baker Street Family form? Well, it all started four years ago, when the Flavershams, a Scottish toymaker named Hiram & his 10-year-old daughter Olivia, were in the middle of a financial crisis, &, well...that story is longer than I can allow. Ask the great Madame Ratburn to tell you the story—she's the one who started it all.

Now, back to today—it was snowing like crazy, & the Baker Street Family was sleeping in their cozy house.

In the second story of Basil's house, in a beautiful bedroom, silence was all that could be heard. The silky curtains flowed freely in the cold wind that blew inside the house through the almost-microscopic crack in the window. Scented candles cast a warm glow as they burned on a small wooden nightstand next to a large, beautiful, lavish fuschia canopy bed with pink mattresses, large fuschia curtains (with golden draw-tassels), fuschia blankets, pink pillows, & white bedsheets.

The curtains were closed, forming a protective barrier around Basil Of Baker Street & little Olivia Flaversham, as they cuddled up to each other under the covers.

As he slept peacefully by his little goddaughter, Basil thought to himself in bliss, Good Lord, it's been such a busy five years! All that crime-fighting, & exploring, & adventuring...

Just then, a nagging thought rang through Basil's sleep-drugged mind: Basil, old boy, it's that time again…

With a good-natured chuckle to himself, Basil got up, & stretched his arms, as he let out a deep yawn. Scratching his lower back, he smacked his lips, before lifting back the covers, & stepping onto the floor.

Basil gasped as he saw little Olivia stir...before falling back to sleep. Basil smiled sweetly at his sleeping goddaughter, before leaning over to kiss her gently on the cheek.

"Sleep tight, my little angel," Basil whispered sweetly to Olivia, before carefully treading out of his bedroom, creeping lightly down the second-floor corridor, & stepping into his study.


Basil flicked a switch, & a ceiling-lamp turned on, bringing light to the once-dark study room.

The study room smelled of chemicals, old food, ashes, & smoke. Basil took a whiff, & let out a deep sigh of pleasure. Ah, nothing like the smell of chemicals to keep me awake at night!

Smiling, Basil walked over to his writing-desk, which had a laptop on it. Basil sat down in the wooden easy chair, & booted up the computer. A bright screen came on, with a desktop picture of the Baker Street Family in a group hug.

Basil couldn't help but think of wonderful memories as he gazed at that beautiful, colorful picture. And tonight, he was going to record those memories down in a diary so everyone could enjoy them.

Basil opened a word document that was quite lengthy. The title of the file said, "The Baker Street Family Chronicles".

And as soon as Basil got to the last page, he began to type…