Yay for Elspeth and cute fluff!

"Elspeth! Elspeth, you must settle down!" I gave up in frustration and scowled at the little girl giggling at me from her makeshift bed on the settee. "You must go to sleep. Your grandmother will be home soon and I don't want her thinking we were the ones to keep you up past your bedtime."

"I don't want to go to sleep!" She protested. "Mr. Holmes said the monsters he keeps in the coat closet will get me if I close my eyes."

I shot Holmes a dirty look and he quickly ducked his head, pretending to be deeply engrossed in the book he was reading.

"That's not true." I said, sitting on the edge of the couch. "The only monsters Mr. Holmes has are the ones in his head."

Elspeth regarded Holmes with a look of awe. "He keeps monsters in his head? Is that why it's so large?"

I stifled a laugh as the face hidden behind the book arched an eyebrow higher than the pages would conceal.

"No, I'm not actually sure why it's that size." Here I paused as if looking around carefully before whispering conspiratorially, "Some say it's because he was dropped as an infant. His head became so swollen, it never went away."

Elspeth's mouth formed a perfect 'O', nearly as large as her eyes. Here at last was someone who could truly appreciate my stories. But there would be time for that later, Mrs. Hudson was due back any time now and she would not be pleased to find her granddaughter up at so late an hour.

"Elspeth," I tried to appear stern. "It's your bedtime. You must go to sleep."

"No!" She shouted, throwing the covers over her head and pouting. "I won't!"

I cast a desperate glance at Holmes who had lit his pipe and was regarding the situation with a look of indifference. "Holmes, would you play your violin? Perhaps that will settle her down."

"I believe she referred to my head as 'large' and earlier she dumped my experiment out the window with the excuse that it smelled terrible. I do not find myself willing to entertain such an audience as that."

I rolled my eyes. It was difficult enough to appease one child, let alone a grown man who still behaved like a five year old.

"Very well then, Elspeth, would you like me to read you a story?"

Blue eyes regarded me carefully. "What kind of story?"

"Uh…." I cast my eyes about the room. We had a substantial amount of books, but none were befitting a bedtime story, especially for a little girl.

"Read her my dissertation on execution methods." Holmes mumbled from his corner of the room.

"What's execution?" Elspeth piped up.

"No, no, we don't want to read that." I amended hastily. "Boring stuff really. Let's read something about…..

"Princesses!" Elspeth shouted. "Princesses with really pretty dresses and lots of jewels and then at the end, there will be prince that comes and rescues her and they ride away on a unicorn."

I heard a choking sound from the corner as Holmes inhaled on his pipe a little too quickly.

"That seems like a… wonderful story. But I'm afraid I don't have one about princesses, but I do think I have one that involves a very beautiful lady." I rose and walked over to the shelf, lovingly pulling down a very torn and tattered notebook.

Elspeth watched with a look of reverenced awe and even Holmes put down his book long enough to hear me begin the story that was the first of a much grander adventure:

"To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name…"