A/N : as in part 1

Holmes and companions do not belong to me

Watson POV

Moor verse 2

I wrote to London daily, told Holmes my deeds and thoughts,

Hoping he'd be grateful for my carefully penned reports.

The convict still escaped arrest, thus causing much alarm,

Sir Henry met the Stapletons, fell for the sister's charm.

I described a neighbour, Frankland, who studied law for fun,

Spent all on litigation, delighted if he won.

He also had a telescope he used to watch the moor,

He hoped to spot the convict, or more breaches of the law.

And as the days and weeks went past, the moorland touched my heart,

And Holmes, and London matters seemed distant worlds apart.

A tapping sound awoke me in the middle of one night,

When footsteps passed my bedroom, I followed out of sight,

I saw the butler by a window, with a candle on display,

I watched him for a minute, then quietly slipped away.

I mentioned this to Sir Henry, who was keen on learning more,

We planned a night-time vigil, to learn what the light was for.

The first night of our vigil brought no success at all,

But the second night again we heard soft footsteps in the hall.

And so we followed, silently, he acted just the same,

He stood with lighted candle against the window frame.

Sir Henry acted swiftly, confronted Barrymore,

And asked him quite directly, what he held the candle for.

His dark eyes full of horror, he would not say a word,

He would not give the game away, no clue to what occurred.

A sudden notion crossed my mind, I held the candle high,

And saw beyond a bank of trees, a flickering reply.

He still refused to answer us, but then his wife appeared,

And told us that her brother was the convict we had feared.

For days they'd both been helping him, supplying bread and meat,

The candle was a signal when he needed more to eat.

The servants having left the room, we stared across the moor,

And spotted where the signal lay, beyond a shadowed tor.

We knew this man was dangerous, and needed to be caught,

So started off towards the light without a second thought.

We hurried on our mission, through a dark and stormy night,

And fixed our gazes firmly on the distant burning light.

We talked of dark and evil powers, then heard a haunting cry,

A mutter then a rising howl, a wild and mournful sigh.

The atmosphere was throbbing with a drawn out mournful sound.

Sir Henry whispered hoarsely, "That's the crying of the hound!"

Yet still we stumbled onwards to the dwindling speck of light,

And tried to put behind us all the horrors of the night.

We found a guttering candle but the signaller had gone.

I caught a glimpse of an evil face, and the desperate chase was on.

But we had no hope of catching him as he raced across the moor

And as I caught my breath, I saw a figure on the tor.

A man in perfect silhouette against the pale moon light,

But as I turned to warn my friend, he vanished out of sight.

The house was banked with rolling fog, when I awoke next day,

I sensed impending danger, but from what I could not say.

Barrymore approached me, said his wife was quite distraught,

He thought it would have killed her, if her brother had been caught.

We made a pact to leave the convict living on the moors,

While his sister made arrangements for his move to foreign shores.

And in return he told us of Sir Charles's final day,

And how he'd planned to meet a girl along the yew-lined way.

He knew the girl's initials, from a letter were, "L L"

But as the note was burned and charred that's all that he could tell.

I spoke to Doctor Mortimer about the mystery name.

He recalled that Frankland`s daughter had initials just the same.

"She wished to wed an artist, though her father disagreed.

He married then deserted her; she may be who you need."

Another conversation which I held with Barrymore,

Confirmed the convict also saw my stranger on the tor.

He dwelt upon the hillside in an ancient hut of stone.

But what could be the purpose of his vigil there alone?

He seemed to merely wait and watch the moorland world go by.

I swore before the day had passed, I'd learn the reason why.

And now my tale picks up a pace, positions are defined,

And incidents described to you are seared across my mind.

The terrible conclusion was a few short days away,

And nightmares which began back then, continue to this day.

I met with Frankland`s daughter and enquired about the note.

She denied direct involvement till I read the words she wrote.

She said she planned to meet Sir Charles; he'd helped her out before,

But missed the assignation as another offered more.

I left her home disheartened, as I felt I'd missed a clue.

The total sequence of events did not, to me, ring true.

Having reached an impasse, I resolved to search the moor,

And find those ancient dwellings and my stranger from the tor.

But Mr Frankland hailed me, this filled me with dismay.

He'd wear me down with legal talk, I had to get away.

For once the gods were on my side, I used his telescope,

And spied an urchin on the hill, this image gave me hope.

I gave polite excuses as to why I could not stay,

And having bid the man farewell continued on my way.

As soon as he was out of sight, I left the moorland road,

And headed up the hill to find the stranger's rough abode.

At dusk I reached the ancient huts and studied them with care.

There had to be a simple clue to which might be his lair.

Only one, the central one, had any kind of roof,

I knew this had to be his home, but needed further proof.

I threw my cigarette aside; no person was in sight,

And cautiously approached the door, prepared to stand and fight.

The room was still and empty, and confirmed I'd reached my goal,

With food and cooking implements and blankets in a roll.

And roughly scrawled in pencil was a note of where I'd been.

It was I and not Sir Henry whom he monitored, unseen.

I stood for several minutes with that paper in my hand,

Aware that there were many things I did not understand.

Again I sensed an unknown force was slowly drawing in.

A delicate and skilful net to trap us all within.

I searched for further papers, but my efforts were in vain,

And considered who the stranger was, and what he hoped to gain.

I marvelled at the strength of mind required to live up here.

I'd wait, however long it took, for him to reappear.

end of part two