Chapter 10: Hello, London

I'm not sure when I had fallen asleep, but the sky was still dark when we landed in London. I woke up when my father had picked me up out of my seat and carried me off of the plane. I pretended to still be asleep and watched the busy London airport from over his shoulder. He carried me through the airport to the baggage claim, setting me down when we reached the desk behind which we would receive Dolly.

When Dolly was safely back in my arms we walked over to the baggage carousel and I picked up my pink backpack and he picked up the other luggage. We then walked out of the airport and got into a cab.

"221B Baker Street." He told the cabby. I watched in amazement as we passed through the dark streets of London. It was strange as we drove on the wrong side of the road, taking street after busy street. Finally the cab stopped outside of a café with a red awning. We got out and walked up to the black door to the left of the café. The knocker was hanging crooked below the gold writing of 221B. My father grabbed our bags and walked into the flat, me trailing behind. I followed him up the stairs and into a dark and dusty cluttered living room. He sat down our bags just inside the door and took off his jacket and scarf, hanging them up on the coat rack next to the door. I let him take mine as well, not paying any attention to what he was saying as I examined the flat

I turned to the right of the door, taking in the green wall and the oddly patterned wall paper which it turned into. In the corner there was a skull painting with a strange 3D look to it. It kind of gave me the creeps as I felt like it was watching me as I walked through the room. Further down the wall there was a painted yellow smiley face with bullet holes in it, marking the eyes and the mouth. I looked to my father with a question in my eyes. He shrugged. "I was bored." He said nonchalantly and then sat down in an arm chair. My eyes widened as I inspected the wall some more. My mother would have been livid with me if I had tried something such as this. Over the summer I had painted my walls and she was furious. At least I'd never purposefully made holes. I felt a pang of sadness as I thought about my mother, but pushed it away to continue my observation.

Below the smiley face there was a well-worn couch with mismatched throw pillows and a coffee table covered in scrapes and papers. Next to that there sat an ancient wooden trunk covered with books and papers. To the left of that there sat a music stand. I walked over to the music stand and ran my hand across the papers, noticing how complex the piece was. Behind the music stand there was a book shelf with a window next to it. I looked out the window to the just waking street below and then my attention was captured by some kind of animal skull hanging upon the green wall in between the windows. It had large horns and was wearing headphones. I shrugged and examined the table covered with glass pieces, books and more papers. The other wall also had odd wallpaper, one which was red and did not match the others. This wall was mainly covered with two large bookcases surrounding a fireplace upon which a skull sat.

In front of the fireplace were the two arm chairs, one of which my father was occupying as he watched my saunter around the room. I walked over to one of the bookcases and observed a case which held 15 different bullets and their casings, each of which were listed with their names below. To the left of the bookcase was the adjoining kitchen. I let my eyes rest on the overcrowded table that looked more like my science lab at school than a kitchen table, and the sink which was over flowing with dishes.

I sat down in the chair across from my father and sat there thinking. This flat was nothing at all like my old home back in New York. For some reason this actually excited me rather than upset me. I rather enjoyed the oddness of it. Even the skull painting had begun to grow on me during my observations. I looked at my father who had been watching me the whole time and motioned to the skull on the fireplace. "That's a real one, isn't it." It wasn't really a question. We had been able to look at fake ones at my last school, but the one upon the fireplace didn't have the fake seam running down the center.

"Yes. It's real." My father told me. "Don't be surprised to find all kinds of odd things around here." I nodded. I could already tell that he didn't usually have children in this place, unless you counted him himself. I stood up once again and walked into the kitchen, my father followed close behind me. I looked at the odd chemistry set which appeared to have been left in mid experiment. I reached out to touch a beaker full of a green substance and quickly my hand was stopped by the long bony hand of my father. "Don't touch that." He told me quickly and then began to fiddle with some of the equipment on the table.

I walked over to the fridge and opened it. There were old Chinese food boxes, a container of spoiled milk and a jar of what looked like fingers. I quickly shut the door and started to open the cupboards. "Looking for anything in particular?" My father asked me.

"No. Not really." I said. "Well… actually I am kinda hungry." I watched as a look of exasperation crossed his face.

"Children eat a lot." He muttered to himself looking at the clock. It was just now 7 in the morning. "Mrs. Hudson should be up soon. I'm sure that she will have something you can eat." I started to tell him that we needed food here as well, but before I could, I heard a tiny and pitiful "mew".

"Dolly!" I gasped and ran over to her crate, pulling her out. "Oh, I'm sorry Dolly for leaving you in there for so long." I looked around quickly. "Uh… did you bring the litter box?" I asked.

My dad stuck his head out of the kitchen. "No. That was part of your stuff." He told me.

I shook my head. "No. Mum always brought that stuff." I sighed and hugged Dolly tightly. I didn't want to think about mum. She had left me. And even though I was doing okay thus far, I did not want to think about her at all right now.

Sherlock looked around and sighed. He pulled out his phone and typed a text message then went back into the kitchen and started messing with his experiment again. I held Dolly in my arms and watched as he took a pipette full of the green liquid and poured it into a small test tube containing a white mixture. The solution bubbled up and turned blue. I was quite amazed to see that and wondered what it was that he was experimenting on when there was a knock at the door.