2nd Dec Prompt from Ennui Enigma: Someone discovers that The Hound of the Baskervilles left behind a puppy
Legacy
A cold and frosty sunlit morn,
A stark and windswept moor.
The fog has disappeared
And all is silent as before.
The hound is dead
The plot against the
Baskervilles is stopped.
One boot retrieved
From treacherous ground,
Which Stapleton had dropped.
A weary doctor, and detective
Back inside the hall;
Sir Henry shaken badly
By yesterday's close call.
A drink to steady shattered nerves,
A rest, a roaring fire;
A recap of that dreadful night;
The end at Grimpen mire.
~0~
A noise disturbs this peaceful scene;
A knock, then three times more.
Holmes discovers Frankland's daughter
Standing at the door;
A small and wriggling puppy
Wrapped in woollen shawl, held tight.
She heard the creature whimpering
Outside her home, last night.
The bundle is unbundled;
Two solemn eyes peer out;
Bedraggled fur;
Distinctive paws;
Those watching have no doubt
About the canine's parentage
Its legacy of birth.
Those centuries of legends
That the devil walked the earth.
~0~
They stare in fascination
And the tiny dog stares back;
Big eyes in small and handsome head,
Its coat, a rough coal black.
All are silent, well aware
Of tensions running high;
They almost hear a distant howl;
A desperate maid's last cry.
But then...the mood turns upside down;
A leap, a joyful bark.
A scampering pup, no devil-dog,
And light returns from dark.
An eager, bounding innocent
With hopeful wagging tail
Allows old fears to fade away
And common sense prevail.
~0~