1919
"Uh...dad?" Howard called softly. Jeremy had fallen silent for a few minutes, staring at the fireplace, his chin resting on his hand.
"What?" he asked, finally turning his gaze away from the fire.
"May I...ask you a question?" Haward looked a little uneasy, wich was unusual: he had always been a jaunty boy, much more than his dad had been as a child.
"Tell me."
"I was wondering...well...do you miss him, dad?"
Jeremy didn't answer immediatly. He looked at his son, biting his lower lip.
"I do" he said slowly "and I missed him terribly at the time, of course...I had no one beside him."
"You admired him" Howars stated.
"Yes, I did. And I still do. It was hard to live with him without growing to admire him, you know" Jeremy gave an odd smile.
"But...do you think he actually cared about you?"
Jeremy sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know. Still today, I sometimes wonder if he really cared about me. I guess he did, in his own way" he shrugged "I guess I'll never know."
There was a brief silence, then: "Well...do you want me go on with the story?"
"Yes" Howard said quikly.
"Alright, then. Now, there's nothing special to say about the next ten years. I left London that night, and within a few weeks I had left England as well. I made a fake name for myself, and travelled through half Europe. Anyway, I never forgot my father's death wish, nor the riddle he wanted me to solve. Then, about ten years later, I finally came back to London..."
1907
"I'm so happy we're finally back to London!" the eighteen-years-old girl exclaimed as the train stopped in the station "I can't believe we've been away for ten years!"
She was tall and slender, with soft brown fur and balck eyes. Her brown hair were tied in a short braid, who reached her shoulder blades.
Hiram Flaversham smiled to himself as his daughter jumped out of the train. Though she loved Scotland, she had missed London very much despite the bad memories, and now he was glad to see her so happy.
"Hello there" a well know voice said behind them "it has been a long time since the last time we met, hasn't it?"
Basil of Baker Street hadn't changed much during those ten years: he had just some wrinkles around his eyes, but he looked so very much the same who had helped her when she was just a little girl.
"Mr. Basil!" Olivia exclaimed, hugging him. Basil seemed surprised, but not displeased.
"Uhm...I'm glad to see you too, Miss. Flag...Flegh..."
Olivia laughed. "Flaversham! It's Flaversham!"
"Whatever."
Doctor Dawson laughed. He looked much the same Olivia remembered too, just a little older.
"Give up, Olivia, he'll never get it...well, well, look at you...my, how you grown! You've become a beautiful young lady."
Oliavia blushed slightly at the compliment.
"Then, how's the journey been?" Basil asked.
Hiram Flaversham shrugged, lifting his suitcase. "Oh, I has been goood enough. I'm just a little tired...I'm afraid I'm getting old."
"What about a nice cup of tea, then?" Dawson suggested "it's almost five o'clock, and I'm sure Mrs. Judson would be happy to serve you some of her cheese crumpets."
"Oh, those cheese crumpets!" Olivia said dreamily "they're one of the most delightful things I've ever eaten!"
Basil laughed. "I must agree. Let's go to Baker Street then, Toby's waiting out here."
1919
Jeremy stopped talking to look towards the clock.
"Uh...dad? Why have you stopped?"
"Well, it's alomost five o'clock...what about some tea?"
Howard grinned. "With mom's cheese crumpets?"
"You just read my mind."
About fifteen minutes later.
"Much better" Howard said, patting his stomach and taking another crumpet.
"I don't think your mother will take it too well when she'll come back and find out there are no more crumpets" Jeremy said, swallowing the last crumpet with some tea "but I think that was worth of it..."
"Hmhm..."
"No talking when your mouth is full, Howard..."
The boy rolled his eyes as he swallowed the crumpet. "Okay, okay...now can you go on with the story?"
"As you wish, boy" Jeremy said with a grin "now...where were we?"
"Mom's just come back to London" his son reminded him.
"Oh, right...now I do remember."
1907
"So" the old lady said, pouring a cup of tea for herself "did you relly rent the room upstairs?"
"Indeed" Mrs. Hillman, a widow in her sixthies, nodded "I rent that room to a student. He went to London the last week."
"Hm" the other lady, Mrs. Horton, sipped some tea "a student, uh? What is he studying?"
"Psysical science" Mrs. Hillman answered "he's got a lot of books, you know. I tried to read one of them once, but I couldn't understand a word. That boy has to be a genius to study that...that stuff."
Mrs. Horton laughed. "I agree, psysical science sounds terribly complicated to me. May I ask what is our genius' name?"
"Ratchett. Jeremy T. Ratchett."
The other lady raised an eyebrow. "Ratchett? That's an unusual name for a mouse."
"Well..." Mrs. Hillman lowered her voice "in a matter of fact, he's not a mouse."
Her friend's eyes widened as she almost dropped her cup of tea on the floor. "You mean...he is a...a rat?"
"Indeed."
"YOU..." Mrs. Horton stopped and lowered her voice "you have a rat living in your boarding house?"
Mrs. Hillman laughed softly. "You look a little surprised, my dear."
"Of course I am! A rat, for the Heaven's sake! He may be dangerous, and...I mean..."
"I know what you do mean" the old widow said quietly "but he's different from any rat I've ever know. He's the best tenant: he pays me three guineas a week, and no one of the others occupants of the boarding house has never complained about him."
"Really?" Mrs.Horton looked stunned.
"Yes. And he's a very polite young rat, I should add" Mrs. Hillman laughed "but he's very reserved... almost lonely. He never speaks about his family."
"That doesn' surprise me" Mrs. Horton said with a sly grin "he's rat, after all...I don't think there is much to be proud about his family."
"Mrs. Basil!" Mrs. Judson exclaimed as she saw them approaching to the house, without giving any sign to have noticed the Flaversham's: she looked terribly upset "you're finally back!"
"What happened here?" Basil asked, jumping off of Toby's back and walking towards the landlady, followed by the others.
"I...I don't know" Mrs.Judson said "I was at the market, I came back just a few minutes ago, and...I found these...scratches...on the door."
Basi looked towards his home and shuddered: on the wooden door there were a lot of deep claw marks.