Prompt from Domina Temporis: Baking bread
At Baker Street, a baker was at work.
Bread was being baked, the scent rising through the house and into the streets.
Children gathered at the door, noses lifted in the air at the delicious smell.
Dreamy-eyed, they gathered close;
Even the reprimand from a passing policeman couldn't keep them away for long!
Few of them knew who the baker was, and those who did kept the secret faithfully.
Giving it away would spoil their fun.
Hearing another policeman coming, the children scattered.
"Imps!" he huffed, but could not catch them.
"Just wait until I catch up with them!
"Kids these days have no respect for their elders."
Laughing, the children ran faster.
Mrs Hudson, returning from the shops, smiled as they rushed around her.
Nothing was as effective in reminding her why she loved London as sights such as those.
Of course, she'd lived in other places, and there were happy children there as well, but somehow, it didn't seem quite the same.
Perhaps it was simply that the old saying was true: there's no place like home.
Quietly, she unlocked her door and went inside, mindful that Mr Holmes had a case, and did not like to be disturbed.
Raising her nose to sniff the air, she wondered who could be in the kitchen, baking such delicious-smelling bread; she hadn't thought either of her tenants were much in the habit of baking!
She walked down the hall to the kitchen, determined to catch the baker by surprise.
Truly, if she'd thought it was anyone, she'd thought perhaps Dr Watson's lovely fiancee had stopped by for a visit; she'd never expected it to be Mr Holmes baking instead!
Uttering a small squeak of surprise, she saw Mr Holmes was just pulling something out of the oven.
Vexingly, Mr Holmes did not seem alarmed in the slightest, turning to her with a smile and saying, "You've come just in time!"
"Why were you baking? Was there something wrong with my bread?" Mrs Hudson asked, slightly peeved.
"Xenophobic, I am not, but if you insisted on baking, why did you not bake good English bread?"
"You've never seen anything like it, have you?" Mr Holmes asked, holding out the strangely braided bread.
"Zopf! Your bread is as delicious as always, Mrs Hudson, but this one was the final answer I needed, so I baked it myself."