I think of this as a new, yet un-named, AU. At first I thought that Sherlock would make an appearance, but I'm not sure anymore.. Also, I'm not a big fan of SH tales anymore, so this story won't probably be finished..
THIS STORY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH "THE ADVENTURES OF SHIRLEY HOLMES" TV-SHOW! I just thought the name "Shirley" fits very well :)

What goes around, Comes around

Jenny rode her pony and the same time listened to the awfully scary noises of the dark forest. The pony wheezed and almost tip toed into trot.

"Whoa, boy" Jenny said, trying to calm her pony down while pulling gently on the reins. Jackson obeyed his owner's request and went back to his swift gait.

Somewhere branches scratched against trees and made Jenny feel even more uncomfortable. She wished she hadn't left the riding ring arena, and would have just left Jackson to Elena's stable. But tomorrow was Saturday and there wouldn't be no school, that's why she had insisted upon riding back home. She started to think it had been a mistake to do so.

All of a sudden a strong wind caught the trees and a heavy branch broke off from a tree. It landed straight behind the horse and rider. Jackson reared and neighed his scare to the winds. Jenny lost one of her stirrups but hold on for her dear life. When Jackson got back down, he jumped straight into a wild gallop to get away from the forest.

"WHOA BOY! WHOA!" Jenny cried, trying to stop her pony. It was no good. In fact, her frantic yelling put the pony to run even faster. Tightening her hold on the reins she desperately tried to slow Jackson down.

Then there was a sound like "snap", and she felt the left side of the reins to give in. It had been broken. "Oh shit.." she exclaimed when she saw one of the three-day event obstacles coming closer and closer. It was a massive fence; over 120cm in height, and Elena had said it was about 50cm long, with a long drop behind it. Jackson was only 145cm in height, there was not a chance they could survive the jump if her pony would try to do it.

"WHOA JACKSON! SLOW DOWN!" Jenny screamed, fear prominent in her voice. She felt the first tears of terror and scare run down her cheeks.

Suddenly there was a dark shadow just beside her. A dark horse with a rider had appeared from nowhere, and the rider started to reach for the loose-ring snaffle of Jenny's pony. Soon the rider had his hand on both of the rein that was still attached and on the other side of the snaffle. She gently started to slow her horse down and in the same time pulling gently on Jackson's bit to slow him down too. The pony obeyed, seeing that he wasn't alone in this situation; the other horse was totally in control and didn't mind the wind snuffling around them.
Both of the horses stopped. Jenny looked ahead and saw that the huge fence she had feared was only a metre away from them. She was shaking a little under her riding jacket.

Jenny turned to face the other rider who had already hopped down from his horse and saw that the he was.. No, SHE was the girl the other stable girls had talked about; Shirley Holmes.

"Are you alright?" she asked once she was beside us. Jackson was making friends with Shirley's big, dark horse.
"I.. I guess I am.." Jenny answered a tad shakily. Shirley smiled up at her. "It's no wonder if you feel unwell. Your ride must have been a scary one, because the flight I saw looked dreadful"

She had a smooth voice and kind features; little nose, bright blue eyes and high cheekbones. Her hair, from what Jenny could see, was very dark brown.

Shirley looked at the horses making contact with their muzzles. "Looks like Archibald made new friends" she said and grinned at her. Jenny could only try to smile back at her. "Do you want me to come all the way down to your stable? Archibald's presence might keep your pony calm"

She nodded and dismounted her pony. She could not ride him, since he was still a bit jumpy and of course, the reins were broken.
Shirley settled on walking with her as well. Jenny kept Jackson on my right side while Shirley kept Archibald on her left.
"You have a beautiful horse" Jenny said once we had gone on a while.

"Thank you. My dad bought Archibald when we moved back here. He thought the horse might be a good free time hobby for me. Unfortunately my week schedule is very busy so I only get to ride him three or four times a week"

"What other hobbies do you have?" Jenny asked while trying to keep Jackson from cutting in front of her because he wanted to make friends with the other horse again. Jenny could also see that Jackson was starting to relax as well.

"Well, I have a karate lesson once a week, then there is swimming once a week, a riding lesson with Archibald once a week; one of the times I'm able to ride him. And of course, the key thing that allows me to take hobbies witch I like: playing the violin. I have to practise that every day for at least an hour. A music teacher visits me once a week. Oh, how rude of me! My name is Shirley Holmes" she ended her long list and offered her hand at Jenny. She took it and shook it. "And I am Jenny Watson"

"Ah! So you are the daughter of the Watson family. I heard about you moving into town" Shirley said and smirked at Jenny's expression. "Oh, don't look so shocked! This is a small town. And my father is a police officer" she winked at Jenny when she announced her father's profession.

"Oh, I see" Jenny answered still a bit uncomfortable with Shirley's presence. The other girls had told him that Shirley was an oddball. They used to tell her about she wanting to be teenage private detective and that she would run around the town asking questions. Then they had just laughed at her stupid ness of it all. Jenny wanted to know.

"You are not the only one who has heard things about me. I have heard some about you too" Jenny started. Seeing the expression on Shirley's face she thought about not saying anything after all, but she quickly decided to give it a shot. "I heard that you are.. That you try to solve crimes" Jenny ended Shirley's face slit into a smile. "Yes, yes! And I do not only 'try' to solve crimes, I actually solve them. Some at least" she said and blushed.