16th Dec Prompt 2018 from Ennui Enigma: The Giant Rat of Sumatra haunts Holmes again.
Haunted
He read the headline;
Paused,
And read it several times again,
Though logic told him
Once was quite enough
For what was written plain.
~0~
Watson caught his eye,
A distant look;
A paler shade;
And wondered what calamity
Had caused the change
Displayed.
~0~
Holmes folded up the paper,
Placed it neatly
On the table,
Headline down.
Then rose to fill his pipe,
Distracted air,
The slightest tremor,
Slightest frown.
~0~
Watson waited,
Though he longed to
Reach across and
Read the news
His friend had read.
He simply stretched
And poured a second
Cup of tea for both
Instead.
~0~
A pipe, two pipes,
Were smoked
In silence
Holmes curled up
In fireside chair.
With Watson
Quite content to
Simply make it clear
To Holmes
That he was there.
~0~
No hurry to reveal
Whatever Holmes
Decided
He was willing to
Reveal.
And equally,
A friend
Who wouldn't pry,
Or pick at,
What he wanted
To conceal.
~0~
The minutes
Ticked on by.
Still silence.
Close companions
Have no need
To say a word.
Watson sipped his tea
And watched,
Unmoving,
Till the Great Detective
Sighed and stirred.
~0~
The smallest glimmer
Of a smile
Replaced Holmes'
Distant
And distracted,
Haunted look.
He rose
A brief light grip
On Watson's shoulder;
Then removed,
Was all it took.
~0~
He carefully
Reversed the paper,
Smoothed it out
With headline placed
In Watson's view;
And left the room quite briskly,
Like a man
With many better things
To do.
~0~
Watson
Took his time
To read the article.
He read it twice
And understood.
His comrade
Had reacted
In the only way
That anyone
With such
Experiences
Could.
~0~
"The nameplate of the long lost ship,
Matilda Briggs, washed up on shore"
Watson knew enough
About the case,
And all it meant,
To need no more.
~0~
This case was no adventure
To be penned,
And with his eager
Readers shared.
It was,
And always would be,
That one tale
For which the World,
And Holmes,
Were not prepared...
~0~
"Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson," said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. "It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared." The Sussex Vampire, ACDoyle