I've decided to write a Sherlolly story roughly following the framework and setting of Jane Eyre. This should be fun!

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters from Sherlock nor Jane Eyre.

Molly Eyre was a strange creature; everybody thought so. With her pale skin and large brown eyes, as well as a slight frame, she bore a certain resemblance to a ghost or a fairy, and her dark past added to her mystique.

Molly passed by two of her young students as she made her way down the corridor of St. Bart's Institution, a school for orphaned girls. The pair giggled and huddled together. One of them, named Beth, said to her friend Jeanette, "Did you hear? Miss Eyre's leaving Bart's."

Jeanette looked shocked. "Leaving Bart's? What for?"

"I heard she got a post as a governess somewhere."

Beth and Jeanette climbed some stairs up to their dormitory. Bessie said, "I'll be glad when she's gone. She's so odd."

"I know. All she does is read books and teach French. She hasn't got many friends, certainly."

They pulled open the heavy oak door to their dormitory and sat down on their beds. Jeanette said conspiratorially, "Have you seen the books she reads? They're all anatomy books. She wants to be a physician, but no university will take her because she's a woman and she doesn't have enough money to afford it."

Beth replied, "My aunt knows her aunt, and I've heard stories about her as a child. She got in trouble several times for her temper and fighting her cousins."

"But she's so quiet and gentle! I don't believe that."

Beth shrugged. "She attended St. Bart's in the old days when the children were beaten and nearly starved. I guess that took care of her temper."

"And she looks so strange. I keep expecting her to cast a spell on someone one of these days."

"We won't have to worry about that for much longer."

Molly began to pack her few possessions as she would be leaving St. Bart's for Thornfield Hall that evening. St. Bart's had been the only home she had really known, as Mrs. Hooper, her aunt and guardian, had made it abundantly clear to her that Molly was not welcome in their house. Orphaned as a young child, she had been put into the care of her aunt and uncle. Her uncle had treated her as an equal with his other three children, but died soon after, and Mrs. Hooper was then free to humiliate Molly without fear of reproach.

Her cousins had also treated Molly badly, as Georgiana and Eliza had ignored her, and her cousin John tormented her, and blamed their fights on her, even though John always started it and hit her on a regular basis.

Molly had been excited to go away to school at ten, but even that had been a disappointment as Mrs. Hooper had insinuated that she was a deceitful child and a liar, and had endured miserable cold, nearly inedible food, and thin clothing at St. Bart's before an epidemic of typhus had decimated the school and brought the orphan children's living conditions to public attention. Since then, St. Bart's had relocated to a healthier location and much improved. Molly grew up and graduated within its walls. She now worked as a teacher, fluent in French and giving drawing lessons to the oldest girls. But she had meant for that to only be temporary. After she graduated, Molly had wanted to go to a university to become a physician, but none of the schools to which she applied had accepted her, both because she was female and she did not have enough money to attend without a scholarship.

Molly paused in her packing as she lifted one of her drawings. It was of Helen, the best friend she had ever had, and the reason she had wanted to become a physician. Helen had gotten her through her first few months at St. Bart's, and her calm demeanor and patience had helped Molly cool her temper when she tried to protest the conditions at the school.

At the height of the typhus epidemic, Helen too had been dying, but of consumption instead of typhus. Molly had watched over her as Helen grew worse and worse, and Helen's death had sparked her own interest in medicine. What joy she would have if she were to find a cure for consumption or typhus, or any of the other diseases that stole loved ones away! But no one would take her.

Molly had finally decided, after four years as a teacher at Bart's, that she ought to pursue her own fortunes and go her own way. She feared becoming trapped there, a teacher for the rest of her life, never knowing anything outside its walls. So she had put out inquiries in the newspaper, and been hired by a Mrs. Hudson at Thornfield Hall, as a governess to a child named Adele.

Molly gathered together the rest of her portfolio of drawings as well as her small drawing kit and placed them flat in her suitcase, with her frocks to cushion them in transit. Molly placed her few books on top, full of anatomical drawings and medical knowledge. Her suitcase now full, Molly drug it from its place on her bed to the door, and was just about to open the door on her new life when a knock came at her door. A servant girl, scarcely younger than her own twenty years, poked her head in and said, "Miss Eyre, there is a guest here to see you."

Molly smiled and said, "Thank you, Anna, I'll be right down."

Molly grabbed her heavy bag and walked out of the little room, and without a backward glance, walked down the corridor and down the stairs, where she was met by a woman who looked strangely familiar.

"Molly!" The woman closed the few steps between them and embraced Molly, who dropped her suitcase at her feet.

"Bessie? Can it be you?"

"Yes, Miss Molly!" Both women took hands and went into the parlor, where a small boy, Bessie's son, was standing by the fire. He soon ran over to Bessie and clutched at her skirts. "Here's my fine young son. His little sister, Molly, is at home with my husband. We were married five years ago."

"How wonderful! I'm glad you have been well." Bessie was Molly's only friend at Gateshead with the Hoopers, a servant who cared for Molly quite a lot, even if she had a quick temper. Molly had never known a better story teller than Bessie.

Bessie and Molly took a seat on one of the couches in the parlor, and Bessie said, "I heard you were leaving for another situation, and I hurried right down to see you before you went too far away."

"Did Mrs. Hooper send you?"

"No, I daresay not. The Hoopers have changed much since you left."

"How have they been?"

"Eliza and Georgiana have grown, and Georgiana has become a great beauty. But John's not been doing too well. He went off to university, but he was removed for his behavior, and he's studying law right now because one of his uncles is a judge. Mrs. Hooper worries about him constantly, and he spends a great deal of her money."

Molly felt no sympathy for either John or his mother, as John Hooper had tormented her as a child, but she was a bit envious of John for being able to go to university. She said, "That's too bad about John. Georgiana was always such a pretty child." Molly had often wondered if she would have been better received if she had been a beautiful child.

"Yes, she was." Bessie glanced around the room, noticing the piano in the corner, and entreated Molly to play. Molly played a few songs, and Bessie praised her for it. Molly also showed her some of her drawings and paintings, one of which hung in the parlor, and Bessie fawned over them all, saying, "I always knew you would do better than Eliza and Georgiana. They can't paint/draw/play half as good as you!"

Molly felt rather smug that she, attending a charity school for orphans, had applied herself and surpassed her favored cousins. After a few more minutes, Bessie departed, and Molly was left alone in the parlor with her thoughts and her suitcase.