A/N1

I have removed my Moor poems for now but wished to retain all the poems which were so generously contributed by fellow writers on this site. Most no longer post here, and one..the gallant Nytd…is lost, but I am incredibly grateful for friendships made and stories shared.

A/N 2

This evolved from a PM conversation with Lemon Zinger,and we have written roughly half each. It also happens to answer a prompt by sagredo (see the forum- plot bunny adoption agency) and is a fluffier version of HOUND for those of a nervous disposition. Still contains mild peril though! We thoroughly enjoyed writing this together :-)

Thank you very much

Mrs P :)

Thanks again to medcat for beta reading. Where would we be without you!

AU, possibly some spoilers for HOUND.

Watson's POV


Less Hound

by Lemon Zinger and mrspencil


HOUND poem is in kennel at present having a rest.


Poor puppy-need a second opinion?


Puppy? Are you quite certain it was a puppy?

Now that would be an interesting, and less scary, scenario. Hound rhymes more easily though.


That would be an hilarious AU

Holmes scared of a puppy...


"It was the footprint of a gigantic puppy!"

That would be silly.


I said an AU, someone planted the footprints.


Of course! Much more reasonable and less silly.


See, awesome idea, right?


Holmes was determined to locate the hound,

We crept forth slowly not making a sound.

To see what we saw made Holmes quite grumpy

As we stared at the face of an innocent puppy.


Terrible, perhaps, but that was written in like two minutes, so there wasn't much thought behind it.


The puppy looked up, with it's puppy-dog eyes,

It was cute, not monstrous and hairy,

I sighed, this can't go in my journal,

My readers expect something scary.


Still not completely convinced of the potential


It yapped then licked the detective,

And scampered around on the moor

And melted the heart of my comrade.

What else is a puppy dog for?


Hmm!


Alas, as it playfully gambolled,

A very unthreatening dog.

It spotted an insect to follow

And wandered too close to the bog.


Suddenly, it is a puppy in peril story!


Holmes's saved the pup from getting wetter,

I watched him fuss over the English Setter.

The pleasant scene I wanted to share

But for Holmes's pride I wouldn't dare.

~0~

Instead I gave a fitting description

Of a big hound in my transcription

The end of the case was very dramatic

For a detective who was very theatric.

~0~

Then quite suddenly I realized

That Stapleton had tried to demonize

This poor puppy licking Holmes hand

And I wondered what had become of the man.

~0~


Over to you!


I stared at my partner in horror,

There was Stapleton still roaming free,

There were clues we still had to decipher,

And a cute little pup held the key!

~0~

Holmes picked up the puppy (quite gently)

And studied its collar and tag

An address was engraved there quite clearly,

We'd soon have our foe in the bag!

~0~

To Grimpen Mine, Dartmoor, we headed,

Prepared to find Stapleton's track.

Holmes carried the pup (it was sleepy)

As usual, I covered his back.

~0~


And over to you again!


It was easy to pick up the trail

And soon we heard him ahead

He must have known we followed

He hurried by the sound of his tread.

~0~

The puppy was keeping silent

He seemed to know that he must

Suddenly we lost the trail

The puppy's nose we had to trust

~0~


Does Stapleton die or do they catch him?


So, now we relied on the puppy,

To pick up the trail of our foe,

We'd only his keen sense of smell,

To indicate which way to go.

~0~

So bravely the puppy moved onward

And entered the great Grimpen mire,

The puppy was small and courageous

The bog-sodden plants were much higher.

~0~

The lead was our only connection,

The puppy was well out of sight,

Completely obscured by the marsh-grass

So Holmes, being cautious, held tight.

~0~


I did not really advance the story much, I was distracted by the image of the puppy being too small to see over the marsh grass, sorry about that

Well, what does happen to Stapleton then?


That daring young puppy lead us well

Into the heart of the bog,

It's courage was admirable,

Since it was such a small dog.

~0~

We began to hear Stapleton ahead

And we hurried to capture our foe,

When suddenly he was in front of us

About to kick the pup into the swamp below.

~0~


Save the puppy!


I got out my trusty revolver,

Prepared to make Stapleton pay.

But, the risk was I'd injure the puppy,

And that would have ruined my day.

~0~

So how could we rescue the puppy?

And stop its demise in the bog?

We had to stop Stapleton's action

Before he disposed of our dog.

~0~

A pattering sound through the marsh grass,

Holmes and I looked at each other;

The pup wasn't yapping in terror,

The puppy was calling its mother!

~0~


Now - over to you, I'll let you decide just how big and glowing its mom might be!


It's mother saw Stapleton's threat

And hurried to protect her son.

With a growl and a leap she was on him

Her quick actions couldn't be undone.

~0~

She knocked the scared man to the ground,

His neck became blood-stained red

Stapleton's plan for his enemy

Had turned on him instead.

~0~

So now the man lay dead on the ground

And I was nervous about the mother

But the puppy licked Holmes's leg

And she knew we were no bother.

~0~


So what becomes of Pup and mom?


We stared at the friendly puppy,

And the monstrous mother hound

And looked at Stapleton's body

Sprawled bloodily on the ground.

~0~

And we left the Dartmoor marshes,

With two new pets in hand.

Two furry, loyal Irregulars,

To add to our little band.

~0~

The noblest, bravest canines,

You could ever hope to meet

Now curled up on the hearthrug

In our home in Baker Street

~0~


Would need to be a big hearthrug.


Of course, as the puppy grew bolder,

He developed the instinct to roam.

He knew he could wander as far as he liked

As his family were waiting back home.

~0~


So, possibly, more perilous adventures to come!


The End

Back to you!