Prompt: Run! from trustingHim17
"I want one!"
"Tommy, give it to me!"
"Me first!"
When sharing rooms as two committed bachelors, one does not expect to host upward of twenty children between the ages of five and thirteen. But in the three years since I had met Sherlock Holmes, I had become accustomed to visits from the little street boys he termed his Baker Street Irregulars, who aside from coming to report in to Holmes, visited for Mrs. Hudson's biscuits, to have their scrapes and cuts attended to by a doctor, and sometimes simply for the warmth. I suspected many of them had precious few other places they could go, and so I made certain to welcome them. Holmes, in his way, did the same, though much less effusively and in the form of lessons in knife fighting rather than games of hide and seek.
"Now," I said, raising my voice sternly. Twenty little faces looked up at me. It was a cold winter night, and the boys had come for what Holmes informed me was the annual dinner he gave them in thanks for their service. Mrs. Hudson had risen to the job admirable, providing a dinner full of the sorts of things little boys would like, and finished with a large platter of biscuits, which was now being fought over in the way only children can. "You each shall have a biscuit, if you sit quietly and behave. If you do so quickly, perhaps I shall even tell you a story."
This proved effective, for the boys loved my tales, sometimes bedtime stories I remembered from my childhood, at other times stories from my time in Australia and Afghanistan. The boys immediately sat and fell silent, waiting expectantly. I waited to ensure they were truly quiet, then passed the dish of biscuits to Wiggins, who promptly handed out the biscuits so that each boy had two.
"Well," I said, making a show of thinking about which story I should tell. "This is a true story, about my time in India."
"Yes!" Little Simon Wattrell, six years old, cheered quietly. "I'm going to go to India someday too, Doctor!"
"Quiet, Simon, or he won't tell us!" Roger admonished. I smiled to show that I appreciated the help, then continued.
"I had only recently arrived in the country, and had three days to myself before I was to travel to Afghanistan to join my company," I said. "I decided I wished to see some of the country, for I had heard of its beauty, and joined two other newly recruited men in a trek out to the jungle, with one guide leading our way.
Never have I seen such a landscape. The air was so hot and humid it felt as if we were swimming at times more than walking. The size of the trees and plants was astonishing to me, and the colors were such as I never thought to see in the natural world. Bright blues and oranges every way I turned until I hardly knew where to look. If I had an artistic turn, I doubt I could ever find a better subject. Even the green was lusher than anything I have seen in England. The place was alive with sound, rustling and buzzing with insects the likes of which we would never see here."
"Were there huge spiders?" One little boy asked, his eyes wide.
"Yes," I said. "And even larger worms, and birds with feathers so vibrant they appeared to come from the imagination more than nature.
Now, we would have done well to listen to those with more experience, who told us not to venture too far into the jungle alone, but foolishly, we followed a trail until we could not see our way back. Yet for us this was a grand adventure."
"Did you see an elephant?" Simon asked eagerly.
"Did you have to fight your way out?" Another little voice rang out.
"Well, we did not see an elephant, but soon we did begin to feel as if something was watching us," I said. "Our leader, who had been in India longer than the others, told us we ought to head back, but like true adventurers, I and the other two soldiers insisted on continuing.
Soon, however, the man next to me touched my arm gently. 'I saw something, in the trees,' he whispered fearfully.
I could not see what he meant and continued on, though I kept a careful eye on the jungle from then on, just in case. The trees were so thick it was nearly pitch black amongst them, and I realized we would hardly be able to see if anything was following us."
I paused for effect and smiled inwardly to see the twenty enraptured faces watching me. Twenty-one if one counted Holmes, who while taking pains to not appear as such, was listening attentively.
"Before long, I caught a glimpse of movement next to us as well, and the rustling of the trees told me something was indeed following us. Whether it was something friendly or not remained to be seen.
My hopes were dashed when a low growl sounded, and the veteran of the Indian campaign who had come with us was suddenly next to me, his rifle lifted high. "Run," he said urgently. "You must go."
"What is it?" I whispered.
"A tiger," he said. "There is nothing that can move as quietly. Now you must move quickly, go! Run!"
I felt the roar the same time as I heard it. It was so loud it echoed through one's bones until the vibration could be felt throughout the body. It was the most chilling sound I have ever heard, and it occurred to me as I ran that for many animals - and doubtless some humans - that sound would be the last thing they ever heard.
'Watson, come on!' one of the other new recruits pulled my arm to make me follow him as we heard the gunshots go off behind us.
'Wait!' I said. "We cannot leave him!' I stopped and picked up a rock, intending to throw it into the forest to distract the beast, who was circling our brave guide, who had tripped and fallen was brandishing his rifle as if it would keep the tiger away. I unconsciously began to make the same noises that had attracted my childhood cat, feeling somewhat foolish and more afraid than I had ever been. When the tiger looked up and met my eyes, leaving behind its quarry of our leader, I was certain that I was done for. The creature had eyes that would put any predator to shame, and I swallowed my fear, gathering my strength to throw my rock, which suddenly felt pitifully small. In that moment, I was certain it was the last thing I would ever do.
"But fortune proved to favor me, for the rock happened to land in the midst of a troop of monkeys, who squawked angrily at my disturbance of their home. The tiger let loose another mighty roar before loping after the monkeys, all of whom retreated into the trees. I wasted no time at all in helping our leader up and supporting him back along the trail until we all three reached the edge of the jungle.
'I must thank you,' he said, panting, when we at last returned to camp, a makeshift village of tents that was nonetheless the most welcome sight in the world to me. 'Though that was very foolish indeed. You ought to know that the tiger is the most dangerous of all creatures in India, and it was sheer luck your plan worked.'
'Yes,' I said. 'I am only glad it succeeded this time. I have no intention of facing one again."
'Good,' he answered. 'I doubt you will have the chance in Afghanistan anyway. Tigers are certainly not common there.'
You can imagine I was very gratified to hear that. I had no need to see that particular one of India's wonders more than once."
The moment I was finished twenty voices burst into questions at once.
"Did you really face a tiger, Doctor?"
"Was it really that big?"
"How big were its teeth?"
"I certainly did not wait to find out," I answered, chuckling. "Yes, Jack, it was enormous, and beautiful, in its way, though I never want to be that close to one again."
"Wow," Simon said, wide-eyed. "Doctor, you're the bravest man in the world!"
"No, I assure you," I said. "That was not bravery, but foolishness. I never should have been so deep in the jungle to begin with, at least without knowing what I was doing. Which I did not."
"What else did you do in India?" Roger asked. Needless to say, they all ignored my warning about entering the jungle without prior experience, and undoubtedly thought it was a grand adventure.
"Well, you shall have to wait until next time," I said. "When I will tell you all about the poisonous snake that I found between my bedcovers one night."