They spent the next hour negotiating the whole trip. They were to leave the following week and take a train to Tewkesbury, Wales, finally to Abergavenny, and then they were to ride to the inn in Llanfoist. The rest of the trip's schedule was at their whim.
They departed for their trip on a relatively nice day, a small fog that had not burned off hung by the road. Their sleek black carriage pushed the fog away as they neared the train station.
Julia was the first one to leave the carriage, for she was not use to its movements and had wished to get out the whole half hour trip; but she would become accustomed to it in the years to come as a detective.
She jumped, however, when the baggage carrier came up to her and addressed her as "Miss," instead of Julia, or little girl.
"It is all right, Julia, he is just going to carry our luggage on to the train." Watson said as he lifted up is daughter so she was not be separated from himself, Holmes, and Mycroft. Julia nodded her head up and down, for she did not speak in public.
Once they were on the train, the trip was rather smooth. Julia slept until they reached Tewkesbury; because they had left for the train station around five o' clock. When they returned to the train, things started to go awry. For starters, a drunken man was swaying around the hallway, then the train had to stop to throw the man out, and then the galley had a small explosion, rattling the train. However, the train reached Abergavenny in one piece.
They went to the ticket house where Mycroft pulled aside one of the attendants.
Holmes could hear the conversation, "Boy, I am Mycroft Holmes, I was sent by the Diogenes Club. There were four horses that were supposed to be ready." Mycroft hissed into the young man's ear.
"Yes, yes sir. Just follow me." the man stuttered, shaking from head to toe.
When they reached the stable there were in fact six horses. One heavy set pack horse, four walking horses, and one Welsh pony. Julia immediately ran to the pony, giggling under her breath. She untied the bridle and walked it over to the others. A small smile shown across her face, the first smile from Julia that Watson and Holmes had seen in three years.
"I will ride this one!" she said quietly, her sing song voice back from the grave of her emotions.
"Julia, you do not even know how to ride! We'll just…" Watson was cut off be Julia running to where she noticed earlier the saddles were kept. She grabbed a saddle the proper size, ran back to the pony, and began fastening the straps. In under two minutes, Julia had all of the straps fastened, had mounted the horse, and was waiting for the others to follow her lead.
Watson was standing in the middle of the doorway, dumbstruck; that is until Holmes came up behind him and whispered, "I taught her four years ago, I did not think she would still remember."
"Oh," Watson muttered about five seconds later.
There were laughs galore when Mycroft attempted to attach the saddle to his horse. When ever he tried to put the saddle on, the hose would side step. Holmes had to dismount and do it for his brother, who was muttering excuses even though no one was listening.