Finally, we made it to Heilbronn. The landscape stretched for miles, below the dark, starless sky; it was nearly impossible to see, but when I squinted my eyes and looked out into the horizon, I saw the giant factory on the other side of the river. "We slip in though the loading bay, find out what he's doing and we get out," said Watson as he climbed off his horse.
Holmes quickly got off his little pony. "Getting out might be tricky."
"We will get you out. If my brother is in there, get him out alive," Simza said and the boys nodded at her.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," I said, pulling my foot out of the stirrup; I took a deep breath and Holmes walked over to me as I slid off of my horse and stroked his mane, praising him. I gave him an apple and he munched it contentedly.
"Are you alright?" He asked me.
"Hmm?" I said, then nodded. "Yes, Holmes. I'm perfectly fine." He kissed my cheek and took my hand and we made our way towards the factory.
We were hiding behind some boxes as you watch soldiers marched past us. Once they left, we stood up and Holmes looked over at Watson. "Are you happy?"
Watson looked over at him as he pulled out his gun "What?"
"At this moment. Are you as happy as you would be on your honeymoon in Brighton?" Holmes asked, a slight smile playing at his lips.
"I'm not gonna grace that question with an answer," Watson replied, obviously annoyed.
Holmes looked off to the side for a moment then asked, again, "Are you happy?"
"Are we here for another reason? I think we are," said Watson. "Should we get on?"
"It was a simple question," Holmes remarked.
"Are we gonna do something or wait for them to come back around?" I asked them; their bickering was getting us nowhere and with every second we wasted, we were a step further away from victory.
"What time is it?" asked Holmes.
Watson pulled out his pocket watch, and looked at it. "Three fifteen."
"Over there in the rest of the part of the complex should be a telegraph office, send this to Mycroft. Be back here on the hour." Holmes ordered as he handed me a folded up piece of paper.
"What? No, I'm coming with you," I argued.
"No, I need you to go with your sister and Watson, that way I know you're safe," Holmes replied. I was about to argue with him again but he raised an eyebrow at me, that's how I knew that his mind was made up there was no point. I huffed and then wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him while he wrapped his arms around me. "Just promise me you'll come back in one piece," I whispered to him, making him chuckle.
I moved my head to look up at him. "I promise," he whispered to me.
"Um, excuse me. You two are really cute and all, but in case you've forgotten, we're short on time," Jane said over her shoulder.
I smiled at him and broke away from the embrace and ran the other direction with Jane and Watson.
Watson, Jane and I casually walked along the street as we passed by a group of people. We turned to the left and walked up the steps of the office building. I grabbed the knob but found it to be locked. "It's locked," I muttered. Jane walked up to it and began pounding on the door with her fist, not surprisingly, no one answered. She stepped back and shrugged.
"It was worth a shot."
"Allow me," said Watson. I moved out of his way as he picked up his leg and kicked the door open and walked in. I couldn't help but giggle as Jane and I followed close behind him. We walked up to another door to what looked like an office and opened the door with ease, I handed Watson the paper Holmes gave me and he went up to the telegraph machine, then he began to send the message to Mycroft. Once he was finished with the telegraph we hurried out of the office. I closed the front door of the building and we walked back out on the streets like nothing happened.
We eventually made it to the spot Holmes told us to met him at but he was nowhere to be found. I looked up and saw a note attached to a box. I pulled it off and opened it. "Come at once if convenient," I read as Watson looked over my shoulder. I flipped the note over and read, "If inconvenient, come all the same." Jane and Watson let out a sigh and I opened the note to reveal a drawing of a lighthouse. "Isn't this one of Rene's drawings?" I asked Watson. Watson nodded as the three of us looked up and saw the same lighthouse just down the street. We began to make a run for it.
The three of us walked inside the factory and see hundreds of what looked like bombs. Jane's eyes widened as we walked out of the factory and back outside where we looked down and saw the lighthouse. Jane held up the drawing and looked up at the building. "That's gotta be it," she said and we began to walk but we heard a gun being cocked and I looked over to see a man aiming a gun at us.
What else is new?! Though I should be used to it by now.
"Halt," he said in an German accent. "On your knees."
We did as he said and held up our hands. The man began to talk to us in German, though I couldn't understand what he was saying, none of us could. Where was my dictionary when I needed it?! Suddenly, he fells over from a bullet. We took that as our cue to leave. We ran for cover. Out of nowhere, music began to play over the speakers. The three of us looked over at each other in confusion when a voice began to sing in another language. I knew only one person who played that sort of music and my stomach dropped. I drew Jane back further as another bullet hit the pile we were hiding behind and we tried to sink lower into the ground to avoid getting hit. Watson pulled out his gun and tried to take aim but the gunman, which I figured was Moran, shots but Watson moved away before the bullet could hit him. Then a scream came through the speaker, which turned my blood cold.
I looked up at Watson and said, shakily, "Please, tell me that's not Holmes." Watson looked at me with concern as there was another scream coming through the speakers. "Oh, God," I said, looking down and I looked away, closing my eyes, as Watson stood up and hurried to the side and climbed up the ladder. I took a deep breath and followed him up. I tried to focus on where I was supposed to go, but the screams continued and as much as I wanted to imagine them away, or dismiss it as an illusion, I could not.
When we finally made it to the top, we got behind some boxes as Moran shot at us again. As the music and screaming stopped, Watson raised his hat to the light and Moran shot at the hat. We looked at each other in shock. "We can't keep hiding like this," Jane panted.
"What can we do? We are up against the best marksman in London, in case you forgot." said Watson. I shook my head until I looked up and saw a couple of earmuffs then I looked over my shoulder and realized we were hiding behind a giant machine gun.
Jane seemed to read my mind, "Charlotte, I may be the queen of dumb ideas and like living on the wild side, but whatever you're thinking, it's a really dumb, possibly dangerous idea and could actually kill us. You are in over your head."
"I've never been in over my head." I gave a small smile and grabbed the earmuffs, putting them on, and gesturing for the others to do the same. It took all three of us to move the gun and aim it at the lighthouse. We moved to the side. "Ready?" I asked them. Watson nodded and he pulled the rope and the gun fired, making the lighthouse fall, we were blown back from the shock wave and stared at each other.
Once the building fell, we stood up as carefully as we could and ran towards the crushed building. We ran up the rumble and start to look for Holmes. "Holmes?" Watson called out.
I couldn't see from the dust and the debris flying everywhere, then I heard a groan and ran over to where I thought it was coming from. "Take your time." I heard him say. I ran over to the left, Watson right behind me and Jane not too far away, as I moved some heavy bricks out of the way. I managed to get a few scrapes and cuts in the process, but I didn't care. I kept moving them until I saw Holmes on his side. Watson moved him on his back and I gasped when I saw a hook in his right shoulder. Watson grabbed the hook and pulled it out of his shoulder. I knelt down and cradled Holmes' head as he smiled weakly. "Always good to see you," he muttered to Watson, then his eyes flickered up to me. "All of you."
I smiled sadly. He had sustained a few injuries, and he was lucky to be alive, I guess when you're a detective you have to get used to bumps and cuts and bruises. "We have to get you out of here," I said, moving slightly so that Watson could pull him to his feet.
It took all of Watson's strength to carry Holmes as we went into the factory. "What were you thinking?" Watson muttered to Holmes.
"Wait. Wait," Holmes said as Watson walked over the crates and pulled off the cloth to reveal more bombs and weapons while Holmes stumbled a bit and picked up a gun off of the floor and I helped him back to his feet. "If you must know, I was thinking I had him. Right where I wanted him," he continued as Watson handed him ammo and me a gun, that was loaded, and he got himself a gun.
"Right, crack on then," Watson said and he began to run across the building as Holmes stood up straighter, nodded at me, and we ran after Watson. We burst into a room and I heard someone whistling. I spun around and then sighed with relief when I saw Simza just as she spun and ran the other direction. Watson and I were holding Holmes between us, our arms are looped through his arms.
"Turn in three...two...one!" Holmes shouted and Jane and Watson spun around and begin firing at our pursuers. It took a while for me to figure it out, but I got the hang of it. Oh, if only my dear mother could see me now. She would probably faint, or have a heart attack, and maybe tell me over and over again why a woman should not carry a gun; while my father would perhaps be pleased with my newly acquired skill as he always insisted that we know how to defend ourselves should the need arise.
"That's the way," Watson said, letting go of Holmes' arm as he fired with his machine gun and I guided him over to the other side with Simza and her crew.
"Come on! Hurry up!" She shouted and we all ran out of the crumbling building; when we made it to her, she asked if we had seen Rene.
"No, but I'm certain he's been here," Holmes replied as some of her people turned around and shot at Moriarty's men. It was the constant sound of gunshots and it was really loud, we could hardly hear each other talking.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Over that wall!" Simza shouted.
"Holmes, how did you know that we'd find you?" Watson asked him.
"You didn't find me...you collapsed a building on me," Holmes remarked as I heard a gunshot ring out, hitting one of Simza' s men and we turned around and fired at the gunmen.
We kept running and made it to a brick wall as I saw one of the gypsies throw a rope over the wall but before any of us could get to it more bullets rang out, making us duck for cover. The three of us stood up and fired our guns at as many people as we could.
"If Mum could see us now, she would have a heart attack!" Jane cried. But then someone started firing back and we ducked for cover again. Then an extremely loud bang roared across the air and I realized they were firing canons at us. I raised my eyebrows when I saw part of the wall collapse.
"Well, there's our way out." I said as the boys nodded.
"Where are the horses?" Holmes asked, loudly, as we escaped the factory and ran out into the forest.
"They're behind!" Simza shouted.
"We need them!" Holmes shouted back.
"So you wanna go back?" Simza asked him.
"What's our way out?" I asked her.
"There's another way out!" Simza replied as she pointed off to the side and I saw train tracks in the distance.
Seconds later, we heard something screeching then an explosion as I realize they are shooting bombs at us. My heart thumped harder in my chest as we ran across the forest and dodged and avoided the bullets and the bombs coming at us. I heard bullets go through the trees and bombs exploding just off to the side of us as we continued to run as fast as our legs could carry us. The trees started to fall as a huge bullet went through them knocking them down. The shock wave of the explosions caused us to fall forward and down a slope and then landed next to each other. We were dazed for a moment but adrenaline took over and we flew to as some of Moriarty's men came after us.
Holmes and Watson punched a few men, Jane and I managed to headbutt one man and elbow another, who was coming up behind us, in the stomach. Holmes was able to take a gun away from one of the gunmen, kicked him, and gave the gun to Watson, who grabs it, takes aim and shot Moran, who was coming after us with a gun.
We took a breath as we heard a train whistle approaching.
We ran towards the train as Tamas opened a compartment and climbed in. He held out a hand to the next person, which was Simza, then he grabbed Watson's hand then Jane's, then mine then finally, he helped Holmes and we left the city behind us.
After a while, the train chugged lazily over the tracks. Simza began to sing as she has Holmes laid next to her while the rest of us sat quietly, trying to recover. Simza stopped singing. "He's not breathing," she said after she placed her hand over Holmes' nose. Watson gave me a look then ran over to Holmes to look him over. He checked for a pulse, but didn't feel one. I looked up at Watson and I was sure he could see the panic and fear creeping up in my eyes.
"Cradle his head," Watson told Simza then he looked over to Tamas, "Raise his legs." I slowly got up and started to walk over to them. Tears fell down my face as Simza and Tamas did as Watson ordered. "You are not going to die on us." Watson started to push down on Holmes' chest but he didn't move. He huffed. "I'm not gonna make this easy on you." Watson said and he slams his fist hard against Holmes' chest. "Come on! Come on!" Watson said as he continued to push down. I slowly knelt on the other side next to Holmes as I watched Watson push down on his chest some more. Jane placed her fingers in his neck to check for a pulse but didn't feel anything. She look up at us and shook her head. Watson stopped and stared at the ground.
I don't know what came over me just then, but there was a whole lot of it. It was making me tremble and feel angry and want to rip my hair out. Then I raised my fist on his chest. "Come on, Holmes. Don't you dare leave me!" I shouted as I took both of my hands and pushed down. I could barely see through the mist of tears that were stinging my eyes. "I know you can hear us, you selfish bastard!" My voice cracked and tears ran down my face, as I pushed down his chest again but nothing was happening. I stopped pushing and laid my head over his chest and began to cry into his shoulder.
This can't be happening!
My own worst nightmare was coming true and I broke out into passionate sobbing. I felt someone pull me away from him but I struggled with them as I tried to cling onto Holmes. I couldn't fight them off. I looked up and realized it was Simza pulling me away. She held me close to her as I cried out. Jane held onto Watson as he let out a small sob. He sniffed when suddenly an idea came to him, something he remembered.
"His wedding gift!" he said as he pulled back from Jane and we were confused about what he was referring to. He reached into his pocket and revealed a little black satchel and pulled out the needle. He took the cap off with his teeth and stabbed the needle into Holmes' chest. I looked up as Watson took the needle out. We sat and stared at Holmes' lifeless body for a few seconds before I saw his brown eyes open and he let out a yell which made me jump back.
He got up and ran to the other end of the compartment. He stopped himself before he could crash and looked back at me and the others. "I had a terrible dream, you were marrying Gladstone and I was in a restaurant, that satanic pony was there as well! A massive fork in his hoof and he turned on me!" Holmes shouted as Watson and I walked over to him and calmed him down. He let out a few deep breaths then asked. "What have you administered?"
Watson held up the needle. "Your wedding present."
Holmes brought a hand to his chest. "Who's been dancing on my chest?!" He asked loudly.
"Us." Watson said, pointing at himself and I.
"Why is my leg so itchy?" Holmes asked as he looked down at his leg.
"Because there's a large piece of wood sticking out of it," Jane replied, furrowing her eyebrows at the sight.
"Good Lord," Holmes muttered. "Tamas, I've an important job to discuss with you. Remind me of it later."
I led Holmes over to crate for him to sit on as Watson handed him the needle. "Sit down drink this, I gotta get that out before it turns septic."
Holmes did as he was told then turned to me. "Did you call me selfish bastard?"
"Probably." I answered as Watson took Holmes' leg and wrapped his hand round the wood.
"Just leave it in!" Holmes said but too late as Watson pulled it out. He closed his eyes, repressing himself not to scream and I flinched. "Oh, you are so subtle," he muttered at Watson.
"Be nice," I said firmly to him as Watson worked on his leg.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to Brighton," Holmes said to Watson. Watson looked up at me in slight shock then over to him and said, "Me too."
A few moments of silence passed before Jane spoke up. She was sitting with her chin propped up on her knees. "I think we should go home."
Watson nodded in agreement and Holmes said, "I concur." Watson, Jane and I looked over at him as he continued. "We're going home." He paused briefly before adding, "Via Switzerland. What better place to start a war than a peace summit. We'll drop in to see my brother." He looked over at Watson. "I'm sure he's missed you." Watson gave a small, relieved smile. Simza relaxed as well.
"That means we'll still have a few hours until this train stops. Get some rest," I said sternly to Holmes and he closed his eyes and laid his head on my shoulder. Jane looked over at me and made a face at me, giggling. I shook my head. I never thought I could become so attached to someone in a matter of days, but it seemed to be true. Sherlock had made an impression on me and- Wait, did I just call him by his first name? And did I just admit to myself that I loved him? Why couldn't I rid myself of this feeling?
Exhausted from the day, I closed my eyes and laid my forehead on his.