Prompt: a figure from the past, from Hades Lord of the Dea
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Well, I'm sure Basil knows perfectly well what he is doing."
"And so I do, Doctor! And I happen to know that Mrs. Hudson today baked one of her famous cherry pies, which if my observations are correct, is sitting right now upon the sideboard!"
I smiled, certain that our little fellow-lodgers had not the slightest idea that I was still in the room. I peeked around my armchair, seeing three tiny figures lifting each other up the notches and grooves in the sideboard. Mice, it seemed, were stronger proportionally than humans were, for I could certainly not have done such a feat of climbing.
"Might I help you?" I asked, causing Basil to nearly slip and fall. Dr. Dawson reached out and grabbed him, while holding onto a figure who was, extraordinarily, even smaller and cowered at the sight of me.
"Relax, Olivia, my dear. Dr. Watson knows of us and is quite pleased to make your acquaintance," Dr. Dawson said, patting his charge's hand. The third mouse, who I now saw was wearing a tiny skirt, looked up at me shyly and curtsied.
"How do you do, Dr. Dawson?" she said politely.
"Ah, yes, Dr. Watson, Miss Farningsham," Basil said, waving vaguely between us.
"Flaversham!" the girl said indignantly. "Miss Olivia Flaversham," she added to me.
"Very nice to make your acquaintance," I said. I was hardly confident in my abilities at guessing the ages of mice, but to my eye, Miss Flaversham seemed to be in her teenage years, almost but not quite an adult. I wondered how such a creature had found herself involved with Basil and Dawson.
"Olivia is visiting us," Dawson informed me. "Basil was of assistance to her father some years ago - in fact, that was our very first case together, do you remember, Basil?"
"Of course, however could I forget it?" Basil asked.
"Oh, but Dr. Dawson, he didn't only help my father. He saved the entire kingdom, didn't he?" Olivia Flaversham turned to me. "Professor Ratigan wanted my father to make an automaton of the queen, so he kidnapped him and then Basil fought him on the top of Big Ben!" She looked at Basil with her eyes shining.
"Yes, yes, let's not get above ourselves, shall we, Miss Firstinger," Basil said distractedly,
"Flaversham," she added, though I could see from the humor in both their expressions that this was a longstanding game they played. "Anyway, I'm to go to school now, and Father said I might visit with Basil and Dr. Dawson before I go."
"We're to see her the rest of the way," Dr. Dawson informed me.
"Yes, I've seen more than my share of crimes at schools. I should like to make sure that this one lives up to its reputation," Basil said. I hid a smile. He was obviously very fond of young Miss Olivia, however much he tried to hide it.
"I am not a student of deduction the way Basil is - or Holmes," I said. "But I did guess you were a visitor here, Miss Flaversham. Your accent is Scottish, of course?"
"It is," Miss Flaversham said. "We've been living in Edinburgh since we left London after Basil rescued Father. But my school is in Winchester."
"Goodness me, what a very long journey," I said. Particularly for a mouse. "Well, I daresay Holmes will not mind if you share this pie with us, and I certainly will not. You can tell me all about this Professor Ratigan fellow while we enjoy it."
"Ratigan! A fiend the likes of which you wouldn't believe!" Basil said. "I say, Dawson, he was nothing less than the world's greatest criminal mind. He very nearly got the better of me, didn't he?"
"Very nearly," Dawson answered, with the air of someone who had heard a story far too many times.
"Well, I have met my share of criminal masterminds," I said. "Though none, I have to say, have attempted to replace the queen with an automaton." Ingenious idea, like something out of a novel by H.G. Wells. I settled into my chair with a piece of pie, eager to hear a tale that promised to be more thrilling than any I had written. Though I suspect Holmes will scoff at the idea that any criminal mind could be greater than Professor Moriarty.
A/N: I have never failed yet to include Basil in at least one prompt response and I was not going to start this year :)
