On the Streets of Paris
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sherlock Holmes or any of the affiliated characters or ideas--their creator is the remarkable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
KS: Halloa to all you readers! Welcome to chapter three of On the Streets of Paris¸ the sequel to Brother. Again, I must say that I don't know nearly enough about trains/boats, and their schedules. And I don't really feel like focusing too much on it. I'm pretty stressed right now…XD
So things will be made up, a little bit will be researched (I DID obtain two small maps to-day, one not so detailed of London, and a bit more detailed of Paris.). If you notice anything you KNOW is wrong, feel free to tell me. I'll try to fix it.
And I apologise in advance for the quick-fire style of the chapters...I'm rather scattered lately.
Enjoy.
In the time it took for us to reach the station, Sherlock Holmes and I conversed on any subject that struck him, from violins to the deductions that could be made from observing the way a man packed his luggage. When we arrived and the train rolled to a stop we disembarked quickly, Holmes's eagerness to begin the case quite contagious.
"We must hurry, Watson!" he said as he sped up to nearly a run, pulling out his watch and glancing at it. "We must not be late for the boat!"
I forced myself to keep pace with him. We were, indeed, cutting it rather close. The boat would leave soon, and we still had to purchase our tickets. Holmes whistled shrilly, hailing a cab, and barely before I was in he called out our destination, promising a half-sovereign if we hurried, and the cab sped off.
I saw his enthused, shining face again, and smiled.
"You're quite ready to begin, aren't you?" I said with a chuckle.
His keen face turned upon me, hardening into that cold mask I had become so familiar with as grey eyes searched me over.
"I am ready to be in action again, Watson." he said. He turned and looked out at the street as we raced along, his face sobering just a bit further. "But I cannot be too eager, or I might miss something important."
He stared out the window a little longer, then turned to face me with a smile in his eyes.
"But, even if we find quite the case we are looking for, we always can have a slight holiday in Paris."
I was a little surprised at my companion's remarks. He seldom took any sort of holiday, or wanted to venture anywhere for anything else but the sake of work, but I remembered that he had told me once that his grandmother was French, and so I thought that perhaps he had relatives still living there, or maybe he had been there as a child on holiday and had fond memories of the place.
When I began to ask him, I noticed he was again staring out the window, lost in thought, so I kept my question to myself.
My constitution was not especially suited to sea travel.
We had arrived in good time to purchase tickets and board the ship that would take us across the Channel to France, and now I was settled comfortably in a chair, reading to pass the time and take my mind off the slightly rocking ship.
It was a pirate novel, a new one I had bought, and with the swaying of the ship and the sea air, I quite felt as if I were really there. I was getting to the part where the kidnapped man was creeping about on the deck in the full moonlight, preparing to attempt his escape from the supposedly haunted ship on one of the lifeboats, when a bony hand grasped my shoulder firmly.
I sat up with a start, gasping, and I turned quickly to see the pale face of…Sherlock Holmes.
My face must have betrayed my surprise and embarrassment. Holmes's face was highly inquisitive, but as his keen eyes caught my book and my features, he must have deduced what had happened, and a smile spread across his thin face.
"Watson, I knew you were the romantic type, but I had no idea you read this sort of drivel…" he said jestingly, leaning over to see the novel I was half trying to hide.
"It is merely something to pass the time," said I, undoubtedly a bit flushed in the face. "At least I'm not reading that cheap love story you saw that passenger with earlier."
Holmes laughed.
"Indeed." he said. He rubbed his long, thin hands together absentmindedly, looking to his left, then back to me. "I just came to see if you wanted to play a little game with me, to pass the time as you said."
"Game?" I asked dubiously. "What sort of game?"
Holmes's face was as placid as usual, but his eyes shone mischievously.
"Oh, a simple one. Do you see that man over there? The grey-headed gentleman?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied. "What of him?"
"What can you deduce from him?"
I frowned slightly. I should have known this is what he meant.
"Holmes, I can't—"
"Why not?" Holmes said, his face falling slightly.
"I haven't the abilities that you have, Holmes."
"Oh, but it's simple. You can see everything that I do. You just do not reason from what you see. You're too timid in drawing your inferences."
I sighed.
"Very well, then." I said. "He is…obviously middle-aged. He is a…" I looked up at Holmes's face, and he nodded for me to continue. "doctor, perhaps. And he is travelling to see family?"
"And how do you deduce that?"
"Well, he seems of the medical type. And possibly in a good practice, too, for he seems well-off. And as for the family, I would think it likely by his light but dampened demeanour--he's not going for just pure holiday itself."
Sherlock Holmes shook his head.
"I am sorry, Watson, but you were completely wrong. This man is a lawyer, has just been quite sick, has been married twice, has spent some time in a tropical region, and is travelling for his health, not to see family."
Once again, I was baffled by his deductions.
I sighed as he begun to explain how he had reached his conclusions, feeling just a little seasick, and watched as he pointed out features of interest on the other nearby passengers. I hoped this trip would not take much longer, or I would need to go to the railing.
KS: I'm sorry that it's so quick-fire and scattered, but everyone wants me doing things other than I'd like to be doing, and I'm on the run all the time. I've very little time to draw or write recently...or else we'd be much further into this story. It'll get better, trust me.
...I think I need fellow Sherlockians to discuss my fics with. XD (I used to write One Piece fics, and I had MSN people to talk to about them. But now I'm alone. 83)
Please, review! And thanks for reading!
