From Book girl fan: Pick your favourite song from a musical and let it inspire you.
Song is at the end.
Not long after Rainy #9: Legacy
"Holmes!"
She froze, hands still deep in the dough though she listened intently to the noise above. The snapped word carried through the house to suggest a budding argument, and she would rather give up Mrs. Hudson's sugar biscuits than listen to yet another screaming match. Did she need to come back later?
"You know good and well what!" She had not heard the reply over Mrs. Hudson's movements, but heavy footsteps stomped their irritation two levels above her head. "What the blazes did you do to my room?!"
Rustling placed Mr. Holmes in the sitting room. "You did say you intended to organize today."
"Organize," the doctor snarled, his tone far different from the genial doctor Ellie had met a handful of times at the courtyard, "not send a windstorm through it! Get up here and put everything back!"
Mr. Holmes must have refused, as the doctor growled something unintelligible, but Mrs. Hudson looked up before Ellie could decide to go for a walk.
"Don't mind them, dearie. Doctor Watson finally found the prank Mr. Holmes left in his room earlier. They'll calm down in a minute."
More like had done to his room. The continued grumbling announced something much closer to anger, and she had quickly tired of listening to two strangers fight in the courtyard. She had no interest in doing so here, too.
Except Mrs. Hudson showed only amusement. Frequent glances at the ceiling evidently tracked the doctor's movements, then a smirk caught Ellie's attention. Five displayed fingers became four, three, two, one—
"Watson!"
The clear yelp joined splashing water, and Mrs. Hudson let out a hearty laugh. "Mr. Holmes might consider leaving the doctor's room alone. I do not believe he realized Doctor Watson recognized his boredom a week ago and staged a retaliatory drenching."
A drenching? Hesitant kneading resumed mixing the dough though she still listened to the men above. The others said Mr. Holmes noticed everything. How could he have missed a bucket above his chair?
And if she listened to a prank war, why did the doctor still sound angry?
Footsteps creaked the stairs, then the tall man the others had identified as "Mr. Holmes" stalked through. Soaked to the skin and looking positively cat-like in his irritation, she shrank further into busyness when Mrs. Hudson laughed away his glower. They might think this funny later, but Mr. Holmes evidently did not believe so now. He marched across the room to the rag bucket, wiped his face on the top one, and turned to leave with the rest, all without saying a word or losing his scowl. Doctor Watson reached the base of the stairs before Mr. Holmes could clear the door.
"Serves you right." Stern tone failed to match his escaping smile. "I knew that hatch would come in handy sometime. Thank you, Mrs. Hudson."
"Certainly."
Listen with your heart, Ellie May, not your ears.
Something in Mrs. Hudson's reply made Aunt Sarah's voice echo from the past, a reminder of that long-ago lesson to step back and listen rather than hear. The doctor's words did not match his tone, neither matched his posture, and Mrs. Hudson displayed only amusement. Which was most accurate?
Mrs. Hudson tossed a larger towel to open directly on Mr. Holmes' head. "He might think twice about targeting your room again."
"Unlikely." The matter-of-fact tone became a true smile at his friend's scowl—and correlated mischief rather than anger or chiding. "He will simply scour the sitting room beforehand. I'm surprised you didn't know of that hatch, Holmes. You always search a motel room as soon as we enter."
"I knew of it." Mr. Holmes' words bordered a cross mumble, but Ellie saw more meaning in the way he hid his face. "I simply did not know you knew of it."
"And let you chide me for 'seeing but not observing'?" the doctor shot back. "Again? I wonder how many other hidden corners you've found in this flat."
A resounding harrumph could not conceal Mr. Holmes' sudden interest. He looked up from toweling his hair dry to pin the doctor with a frown.
"How many have you found?"
More than he would admit, that smile suggested, and he hoped more than Mr. Holmes had located, but Doctor Watson ignored the question to focus on where Ellie started measuring biscuit-sized pieces onto a baking pan.
"Better keep the dough out of Holmes' reach," he admonished, wide grin confirming the indirect ribbing. "He has a sweet tooth worse than every Irregular combined."
We do this all the time, that declared, but I hope we did not startle you.
They had, of course, but the worry hardly mattered now. One hand retrieved a spatula from the nearest drawer. "Mrs. Hudson has taught me a lot this afternoon." Seeing provides more information than simply hearing.
Two hearty laughs answered her. Mr. Holmes' affected glower sparked a bickering argument, however, one that left Mrs. Hudson shaking her head even after their discussion had returned to the sitting room. Her murmured additions—and predictions—to the less than serious disagreement above their heads more than confirmed Aunt Sarah's lesson so long ago.
People say what they don't mean and mean what they don't say, Ellie. Some do so only when something triggers the need, but others see the need all the time. If you listen with your heart instead of your ears, however, you can often understand what they leave unspoken.
She would remember that the next time she spent an afternoon at Baker Street.
Yeah, I don't watch tv. Or movies. Took me forever to find a song that inspired a story rather than serving as an earworm, lol, but Pocahontas fans probably recognized Listen With Your Heart.
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