Rocking Around the Christmas Tree Part 4

Sherrinford strode purposefully back to the manor. The orange lights that began to blaze in some of the windows and the general feeling of warmth that the manor conveyed made the manor look extremely inviting to Sherrinford in his frozen state and he longed, for the first time since arriving, to be back in the manor. He sped up, shaking his head as he did to try and dislodge some of the freezing moisture that clung to his hair.

As he trudged wearily through the ever thickening snow he wished fervently that he would be allowed to go back to the guestroom he was occupying - he refused to think of it as his room - without any interruptions. All he wanted to do was change his cold, wet clothes and sit in front of a fireplace and he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to deal with any trouble Nemeth or Zachariah may have caused.

He was near to the manor now. He could see the kitchen door and focused intently on it as though the sheer force of is gaze could pull him towards the door without him having to move his legs. Sherrinford shivered compulsively and then sneezed. He groaned wearily - he should have known better than to come outside in the snow. If he came down with a cold now it would be his own fault. At least though that would give him an excuse to stay in the guestroom and therefore have as little to do with his cousins as possible.

A line of inexplicable dents perpendicular to his path to the kitchen door, caught his eye and held his attention for a few seconds while his numb brain struggled to find an explanation. When no explanation arrived he shrugged it off, too tired and cold to care about anything other than getting warm and dry.

He trudged forward concentrate intensely on lifting up a foot and putting it down in front of him and yet the task was also strangely mindless. There was something in the dull rhythm on walking, something that perhaps he could better appreciate when he wasn't so bone tired. He found his concentration drifting… there wasn't far to go now though…only a little further…he stopped in his tracks.

"Ouch!"

The word came out of his mouth without him meaning it too - after all 'ouch' was such a childish thing to say. But it had hurt. A sharp pain to his head as though something had been thrown -

He looked up at the nursery window. It was open a fraction but he could not see anyone through the window. That didn't mean that there wasn't anyone there though - it just meant that they knew how to hide. Spinning slowly on the spot he stared hard at the ground until he saw it. As he'd expected lying a little to his left was a dent to match the other suddenly not so mysterious dents. He plunged his hands into the snow, ignoring the way the cold snow bit at his bare hands, and pulled out a small object. A toy soldier.

Fury and frustration gave his dwindling energy levels a much needed boost and Sherrinford near ran to the kitchen door. He wrenched it open and stormed through the kitchen ignoring the surprised looks of the servants. He climbed the stairs as quickly as he could manage as he was beginning to develop a tightness in his chest (which he suspected had something to do with the icy temperatures) that made moving quickly difficult. He made it to the nursery however in time to intercept Nemeth as she excited the room.

"What were you doing in there?" he demanded. Nemeth's eyes narrowed defensively as she glared at her brother.

"Nothing." she snapped, "Why are you so wet?"

"Never mind that!" Sherrinford almost shouted "What were you doing in the nursery?"

"I do not see that it is any of your business." she replied prissily folding her arms and increasing the intensity of her glare. Sherrinford sighed and held out the toy soldier. Nemeth took it, turned it over in her hands and then raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I told you to stop throwing those toys - any toys in fact - out of the window.

"Yes?" she repeated, although this time she sounded bored.

"So why have you disobeyed me and why were you aiming at me." Nemeth's already narrowed eyes turned to slits.

"I didn't."

"There's no point lying Nemeth."

"I didn't do it." snarled Nemeth. Sherrinford rolled his eyes, not a very mature gesture but only Nemeth was around to see it and she didn't matter as she was just a child herself.

"Well who did then?" Sherrinford asked with the air of one who thought they had won the argument.

"I don't know." there was a touch of sulkiness in Nemeth's voice now. "Sherlock"

"Why would Sherlock throw his own toys out the window? No don't answer I don't want to listen to your excuses. Do not do it again and do not get into anymore trouble. We only have a few days left here and I want them to be as uneventful as possible. And if Sherlock finds out that you have been throwing his toys out the window do not come to me if he hit you because if you ask me you deserve it."

Nemeth listened to her brothers diatribe with a scowl and then gave her brother a very poisonous look and stormed off down the corridor in the direction of the room she was occupying. With a pounding head, numb hands and a great desire for a mug of tea or something similarly warming Sherrinford stalked off towards his own guestroom.

Aaaaagh! this story is getting bigger and bigger and it's nowhere near completion. Haven't read this through as it's midnight and, well, I want some sleep.

Anyway sorry for not updating before. I thought I would have time until I remember that my exam required me to remember the contents of twenty-nine essays. *shudders compulsively* anyway the exams all over now so I'm aiming to update once a week (more if I have a particularly boring lesson at school)

As usual thank you from the bottom of my heart to all my reviewers and also to anyone who has favourited or alerted this. It's that sort of support that makes writing such a worthwhile pastime (as well as the fact I enjoy it of course)

Thank you for reading

p.s. Oh and if anyone would like to suggest a song for me to write a story about you can review or message me. Just be warned though if you choose the starwars theme or the water buffalo song then the resulting fic is entirely your fault ;)