The light of the morning sun flooded through a tiny glass window and into the Concert Hall. Moira remained sound asleep in Holmes's lap with his coat covering her body to keep warm; Holmes was sleeping just as soundly, until the sunlight shined onto his face. He begrudgingly opened his eyes and yawned.
'Not exactly the best night's sleep I've ever had.' He thought before he looked down and saw Moira still sleeping with her head resting on his chest; he was about to nudge her awake when he stopped himself. 'She is… rather cute when she's asleep. I almost don't want to wake her up.'
Holmes's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his wrist watch letting out a series of annoying high-pitched beeps. He pushed a button to make them stop, but Moira stirred at the sounds; she was waking up. He gently shook her shoulder.
"Wake up, Moira." He said in a whisper. "It's time to get up."
Moira yawned, opened her eyes, and looked up to see Holmes's big dark eyes looking down at her. She jumped out of his hold in surprise.
"Oh! Good morning, Mr. Holmes." She said as she quickly stood up.
"You could say it's a good morning, my dear…" Holmes began as he took his coat and put it back on. "…for I've cracked the clue."
"Really? That's great! What does it mean?"
"It means… I think we should leave first before we got spotted by security or the custodians. We can go out through the back and discuss this outside."
Holmes took Moira's hand, walked over to the door, and they carefully made their way through the empty Concert Hall and over to the back exit. When they finally made it out, they went around back to the front and sat down on a nearby bench. Holmes took the pamphlet out of his coat and laid it down on his lap, explaining his deductions.
"This is what I found out." He began, taking out a small pale twig. "I found this little stick taped to the brochure while it was still folded into a plane. Notice the peeling white bark? This stick came from the branch of a common birch tree, which are very amble in Highland Park, one of the most popular parks in the city. And see the list of upcoming events on the brochure? One of them is circled: the Festival of Medieval Times, which is held in Highland Park every spring… and the Festival starts today. So if I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am, Moriarty has most likely hidden our next clue somewhere in the park."
Moira then noticed something in one corner of the far right-hand page, it looked like a circle with little markings inside; she squinted her eyes, but it was too small to read. She took a magnifying glass out of the pocket of her dress and took a closer look. She gasped as she saw the roman numerals for 3, 6, 9, and 12; two arrows were pointing at 12.
"A clock!" Moira cried out.
"Come again?" Holmes asked.
"This! This is like a clock! Over here, look!" She exclaimed before she opened the watch around her neck. "See? Two arrows are pointing at the 12, which could mean one of two things; noon and midnight! Maybe Professor Moriarty wants us at the Medieval Times Festival in Highland Park at noon today!"
Holmes's eyes widened at the little girl; he hadn't even noticed that.
"Moira… that is BRILLIANT!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe I missed that! Well done. Wait… Moriarty wants us there by noon? What time is it now?"
Moira looked at her watch and said, "It's almost 10:00."
"Oh no! It usually takes a good hour and a half to get to the park from here, minus any awful traffic. We're running out of time! Come on!" Holmes said as he stood up and ran down the sidewalk with Moira following close behind.
"Wait, Mr. Holmes! Slow down! Mr. Holmes, does everyone in London know who you are?" Moira asked as she stopped to catch her breath.
"A little irrelevant to the mission, but yes; almost everyone. Why?"
"Wouldn't it be weird for a strange little girl no one here has ever seen before to be walking around a medieval themed faire with the finest consulting detective in London?"
Holmes paused, realizing that she did make a valid point; it would look odd for people to see him walking around with some young stranger. He didn't want anyone to be suspicious of him or his new companion and he certainly didn't want his reputation tarnished; he looked back at Moira.
"Yes you're right, but fear not." He said. "For I'm not just a master of deduction; I'm also a master of disguise. And you, my dear Moira, are going to help me."
Moira's eyes widened. "Really? I'm really going to help you?"
"Of course you are. That is, if we still have a deal…?" Holmes held out his hand to the little girl, and she shook it vigorously as she grinned.
"Of course we do! Ooh, I've always wanted to go in disguise!"
Holmes chuckled. "I really do admire your enthusiasm, my dear. And luckily, I have the perfect costumes in mind for the both of us."
"Oh? What do you have in mind?"
Holmes smiled. "Moira? How do you feel about… princesses?"
0-0-0-0-0-0
At the park, everything was decorated with banners and flags and everyone there was dressed in clothes from Medieval Times.
"Make way, everyone! Make a path! Step aside for Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Fronkenshteen!"
Everyone suddenly moved to the sides as two figures entered the Festival; one was tall and wearing a black gown and headdress with a veil while the other was small and wearing a royal purple dress and a golden tiara. It was Holmes and Moira disguised as a princess and her lady in waiting, both of them wearing fancy looking masks to hide their identities. Moira was struggling not to trip over the skirt of her dress while Holmes was having no trouble.
"Mr. Holmes? How can girls walk in these huge dresses? And where did you even find them?" She whispered.
"Hush, stay in character." Holmes hissed. "And be sure to smile and wave your hand the way I showed you."
"Sorry; I'm still pretty new at this."
"I can tell."
Moira smirked to herself and did as she was told as they continued to walk through the park.
"Tell me again why you're dressed as a lady in waiting and not a knight. Or even a lord, a prince, or a king." The little girl muttered.
"The only suit of armor I could find was far too big, along with other tunics, belts, and capes. And I've dressed as a woman more than once in my career." Holmes casually replied.
"…I don't wanna know."
Holmes suddenly stopped, but Moira looked in a different direction and she bumped right into him.
"Oof! Careful!" He hissed.
"Sorry, sorry!" The girl said sheepishly.
"It's alright. But remember, we need to keep our eyes and ears open as well as not draw any negative attention."
"Got it."
Moira waved her hand and smiled a toothy, slightly nervous grin as she and Holmes continued walking, but he rolled his eyes in annoyance when he glanced over at her.
"Oh dear; that is the LEAST realistic royal wave and smile I have ever seen." He sighed as they sat down on a bench near a fake castle.
"Well sorry, but I've never dressed up like a princess before, let alone acted like one." Moira retorted.
"You haven't? Well, you should've told me that before I took you on as my assistant."
The little girl's eyes widened and she gasped.
"…Am I really your assistant?!" She asked.
"Shhh!" Holmes put a hand up to silence her. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Shh, listen."
Holmes concentrated his hearing on the sounds he heard with one hand to his ear. As birds sang, children laughed, people talked, and music played, he scanned the birch trees until a particular sound caught his ear.
"That sound. That's not a bird; that's the call of the Peruvian Snapping Turtle." He whispered; Moira was confused.
"What? That doesn't make sense. What would a snapping turtle from Peru be doing all the way up here?" She asked.
"That's the thing; this call doesn't sound genuine." Holmes deducted. "It sounds like… like a recording. But where is it…?"
He looked up and saw a tape recorder perched on the branch of another tree.
"Aha! The Peruvian Snapping Turtle is famous for burying its eggs; he must've buried the clue. Somewhere around here, but where…?" Beneath the device in the tree was a spot of dirt buried out of the earth where the clue used to be. "Oh. It's been dug up by…" He scanned the area for the culprit, until his eyes landed on a few familiar creatures, a few that Holmes hoped he would never have to encounter again.
"Oh… Don't move!" He whispered worriedly as he pulled the veil over his face to avoid being seen, even though the creatures were asleep.
Moira looked in that direction; all she saw were three big dogs snoring near another bench, a Doberman, a Rottweiler, and a German Shepherd.
"What's wrong? It's just a few dogs." She said; she was puzzled by Holmes's sudden reprehension.
"You don't understand. Those three BEASTS are no mere dogs." He explained, eying the dogs warily. "Those, my dear, are the hounds owned by the Baskervilles, one of the richest families in the entire city. And in this very park, all THREE of those very hounds bit me… and I still have the scars to prove it."
"Scars? Come on, it can't be that bad."
Holmes pulled down the sleeve of his dress and revealed the huge bite marks on his left shoulder and bicep from those same dogs; Moira's eyes widened in shock and disgust.
"Whoa! That is nasty."
"That's just what the doctor said; he also said I was very lucky to survive the attack. Those things could've very well torn me to pieces or even KILLED me if I wasn't careful. Or if they really wanted to. I'm still rather curious as to why the Baskervilles haven't gone missing." He then noticed something else sitting next to the bench; his eyes widened again.
"What now?"
"Do you know what that is?" Holmes pointed a finger at the stroller parked beside the hounds.
"…A stroller?" Moira answered, not sure if that was the answer he was after.
"Yes. That explains it."
"Explains what?"
"When I last encountered the Baskervilles, I noticed that Mrs. Baskerville had a rather rounded, taut belly; she must've been pregnant."
"Yeah, so?"
"That was nearly eight months ago. They've had a new baby during that time… and it's sleeping right in that stroller. First Chinatown, now these fleabags and that little monstrosity. This is no coincidence."
"This is gonna tricky, huh?"
"Oh yes, and everything else was just peachy."
"I can deal without your sarcasm, thank you very much."
As she inspected the dogs and stroller, Moira's eyes narrowed; she had an idea. She got up from the bench.
"Wait here for me." She said as she made her way over to the dogs.
"Wait, what? Moira, what are you doing? Get back here. Young lady, come back here this instant!" Holmes cried out in a worried whisper.
'She is going to die…'
Holmes watched in terror as Moira snuck over to the bench. She got on all fours and crawled under the bench just behind the dogs, hoping they wouldn't wake up and sniff her out. She noticed that the M card was wrapped around a squeaky toy which was under the paw of the Rottweiler.
'I can do this.' She thought.
She carefully reached out her hand to grab the squeaker and working as gently as she could, Moira successfully managed to pry the bone out from the dog's grip. She grinned.
"Come on, kid. Quit wasting my time!" A voice yelled.
Moira froze and turned her head to see a woman and her son talking to a man dressed as a royal jester; she wasn't sure what was going on.
"Hey, you can't talk to my son that way! Who do you think you are?" The woman yelled.
"I'm the Queen's Jester, you old hag. And your son smells like boogers." The jester retorted.
"Hey, you can't talk about my wife that way." A burly man said as he stood by his wife. "What do you think this is?"
"I think it's time for you to lose some weight, fatty. That's what this is."
"Hey, you can't talk to my grandson like that." An elderly woman added. "Someone oughta put you in a mental hospital."
"Someone should put you in a box floating down the river, Grandma!"
"You're probably right." The old woman sighed.
"You people are crazy!"
Moira rolled her eyes and tried to crawl out from under the bench as quietly as possible. A fanfare suddenly sounded, causing Moira to jump, hit her head on the bench, and accidentally squeeze the toy bone in her hand.
"Ow!" She cried out in pain.
That was enough to wake the baby up from its nap and start crying very loudly; the dogs woke up soon afterwards and the quickly growled fiercely at the thief who stole their bone.
"Oh no…" Moira muttered as she stood up and hid the bone behind her back. "Uh, nice doggies. Nice BIG doggies. Uh, go away please. You don't really wanna hurt me, do you?"
"Moira, RUN!" Holmes screamed.
And boy, did she run. She ran as best as she could in her dress, which was rather difficult.
"Good doggies, nice doggies!" Moira screamed as she raced across the park back over to Holmes.
"Did you get the clue?" He asked.
"Right here." She replied before continuing to run with Holmes right beside her. "Where are we going now?!"
"Anywhere but here!" Holmes replied. "This way!"
Spotting a golf kart in a nearby backstage area, Moira realized it could help them escape. "No, this way! Follow me, I have an idea!" She took Holmes's hand and led him towards the vehicle. Holmes was practically dragged through the park while he tried not to trip over the skirt of his disguise. Many of the park's inhabitants were watching the scene unfold with confused looks. The pair climbed into the kart.
"Moira, what are you doing?!" Holmes demanded.
"We're driving outta here!" The girl answered.
"But you CAN'T DRIVE!"
"That's where you come in! You maneuver the pedals while I steer!"
"Isn't there another option?" Before Moira could answer, three sets of barking were heard. Holmes froze. "On second thought, you drive." He lifted her onto his lap and he buckled them both in.
"Hold on tight!" Turning the key in the ignition and grabbing hold of the gear shifter, Moira started up the engine. "STEP ON IT!" Holmes stepped down hard on the accelerator pedal and the kart took off in a flash.
Holmes gripped the seat beneath him as the little girl sitting on top of him was trying her best to steer clear of any attractions and pedestrians with the three dogs still running after them and barking. Being only eight years old, Moira had no idea how to drive and she was doing a pretty clumsy job. The dogs were catching up and Moira made the cart make some pretty sharp turns, but it didn't slow down those relentless hounds. Holmes looked around and found a lever; he thought it would help, so he pressed down on it and shards of grass rained down on the dogs to slow them down.
"Nice move." Moira complimented.
"Thank you." The detective replied before the kart hit part of a small fence, which caused Moira to fall off.
Luckily, she didn't fall off completely and her legs and dress were dangling off the side and right in front of one of the pursuing dogs. The dog caught hold of Moira's skirt and began pulling at her. She screamed as she tried to keep her grip on the steering wheel as well as her eyes on the road; Holmes held onto her tightly and pulled, locked in a tug-of-war with the dog.
"Let go of her!" He shouted, hitting the squeaky toy on the dog's head in order to make him let go; the other two dogs were now following their comrade. "Who's a good doggy?! Ugh, they won't go away!"
Moira got another idea. "Hey, grab the clue and throw them the squeaker! It's what they're after!"
Quickly, Holmes pulled the card from the toy. "Got it!" Then he raised the toy over his head and threw it away from him and Moira, causing the three dogs to let go of the dress and chase after the toy. He hoisted Moira back onto his lap before she turned to face forward again. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good." She replied.
"Ah, there. That wasn't so…" Holmes was about to sigh in relief, until things took a turn for the worse. "…BAAAAD!"
While they were struggling, Moira had accidentally steered the kart towards a tile of stacked chairs and picnic tables and, while they were both screaming, the kart soared through the air and crashed into a tree that stood in front of the tables and chairs. Luckily, Holmes and Moira had unbuckled themselves and they jumped out of the golf kart before anyone could notice; they landed in the nearby duck pond with a loud splash. A huge crowd of people came around to see what was going on; the dogs, on the other hand, continued to happily chew on their toy.
In the duck pond, Moira and Holmes emerged from the water, gasping and wheezing for air while simultaneously spitting out the disgusting water. They quickly made a run for it while everyone was distracted by the golf kart still lodged in the tree. They ran to the wall, climbed over it, and ran down the sidewalk until they went into an alley way next to a Laundromat. They took off their costumes, dried themselves off with some towels and got back into their original clothes, breathing heavily.
"What a rush." Moira heaved as she finished drying her hair with the towel.
"Well, that was a bit of unconventional parking." Holmes commented, tossing his towel to the side and tying his scarf around his neck.
"Okay, now that you and I are out of harm's way again, can we see what the next clue is?"
"Certainly."
Holmes held up the M card, flipped it over, and found a diamond ring taped to the other side. The moment he saw it, he gasped in terror and he went pale. "Of course this would be next. I should've known." He muttered. "Nigel Moriarty, you monster. Forcing me to face my greatest fears…"
Moira took the ring and inspected it; she raised an eyebrow. "A ring? What's so scary about this?"
Holmes didn't answer her question. His only response was, "Very well. If he wants to dance, then dance we shall!" He made a dramatic pose.
Shaking her head and giggling under her breath, Moira walked out of the alley with the ring still in her hand. Holmes noticed her leaving and with a sigh, he followed after her.