Hi, there's another new chapter today. I'm very curious to see what you think of the new character. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Over the next few days, Natalia settled into a routine. She got up in the morning and went to the diner. James was waiting for her. They had a nice chat, got to know each other better, and had breakfast together. Natalia already knew that James had three brothers, had written a doctoral thesis at the age of 21, and had become a professor.
She couldn't put him in a fairy tale yet, but Henry said there were people in Storybrooke who didn't figure prominently in the stories of their world. Not all of the characters in the unfinished stories were known yet. But that was what she liked about James. He acted as the bridge between the fictional world and the real world. He knew his way around Storybrooke, told the best stories about the inhabitants and explained all the buildings and places to Natalia. He was a wonderful guide in this strange town.
Every morning she was happy to see him sitting in their favorite spot. The smile that appeared on his face every time she sat across from him told her that he was happy to see her, too.
After a pleasant morning, James went to work. He was teaching math at the local school, which Henry also attended. Natalia went to the library, brought Belle a hot coffee and sat down in the back corner. There she read the fairytale book that Henry had kindly given her. Or rather, she studied it. She made notes, wrote down important facts, and created a profile for each fairy tale character. This was her personal way of dealing with everything. Maybe too much and exaggerated, but it helped her to understand all the information, the new world and especially the magic.
At noon she went back to the diner and met Henry. She helped him with his homework and he answered her questions that she came across while studying the storybook. Sometimes Emma or Regina, the mayor, joined them. Natalia had already built up a good relationship with the latter. It was better than the one with her so-called mother, which gave Natalia a lot to think about.
She spent her afternoons with Belle, reading or helping in her library. Natalia loved shelving new books, advising visitors, and updating the inventory lists with Belle. But aside from these tasks, she missed her work every day. She was on vacation, but in reality she was spending it in a sunny place with a beach and the sea close by. She had no job, no purpose. At least, that's how she felt.
At home she would look for a new job, but here she was stuck and didn't think they needed someone like her.
Natalia woke up like every day in the small room of Granny's B . She took a refreshing shower, got dressed and went down to the diner. She paused for a moment. James was still not sitting at his usual place. Was he late today?
Natalia looked around. Did he sit somewhere else today? But no, she couldn't see him. But she spotted David standing at the counter. Since her breakfast partner wasn't there yet, she decided to talk to David. Maybe he had some good news for her.
"Hello, sorry to disturb you."
"Natalia, you're not bothering me. How are you doing? Have you settled in yet?" David turned to her.
"Well, I don't think I'll ever really settle in here. I miss home." Natalia thought wistfully about her apartment. Granny's room was clean and the bed was very comfortable. But she missed her kitchen, cooking in the evenings, her cozy sofa, and her perfectly furnished office.
"Is the curse upon the town broken? Regina was going to take care of that. At least that's what she promised me," Natalia asked hopefully. The word curse didn't come easily to her. She still had problems believing in magic. But if she understood Henry correctly, he was the believer and she was just the hopeful one. Or something like that.
"No, unfortunately not. I think she's tried every potion and every spell. But without success so far."
-Change of View *David*-
David could see the light in Natalia's eyes fade and the hope for the continuation of the journey was destroyed. It hurt his soul to see his granddaughter so sad. He would have liked to comfort her, but he knew that Natalia still had to process the news. He wanted to give her time. If they couldn't give her anything else, then at least that. Even if not everyone saw it that way.
"I'm afraid I have to leave again. Snow is waiting for me outside," he excused himself.
"Yes, of course. Give her my regards. See you later." With that, she disappeared into a booth on the left side of the diner.
David took the two coffees and joined his wife outside.
"What took you so long?" she asked, looking at her watch.
"I ran into Natalia," he explained, handing her the cup.
"Thank you, darling." She kissed him on the lips and they walked arm in arm to the school where Snow taught. "Oh, how nice. How is she? Has she adjusted to the situation yet?"
"Which do you mean? That she's Emma and Hook's daughter, or that she's stuck here in town? Or that we're all from fairy tales and magic really does exist?" David asked with a grin.
Snow slapped him lightly on the upper arm. "You know what I mean."
"Yes, I do. But I can't give you an answer. She looked very sad when she heard that Regina hadn't broken the curse yet."
"So she wants to go home," Snow explained.
"Yes, just like Emma did. She still has no connection to us, to this town. How could she?"
"Yes. She barely speaks. She talks to Henry, and Belle told me yesterday that she reads the storybook every day, but she hardly talks to us. Even less to Emma. And Killian hasn't even said a word to her," his wife sums up.
"That's Hook's fault, and you know it."
"Yes, but we still have to do something. She has to know that she belongs in this family, even if she doesn't want to. We have to show her that she always has a place with us."
David nodded in agreement. "And how do we do that?"
"I don't know. But the same way we do everything. Together." They kissed deeply.
-Change of View *Natalia*-
James arrived at the diner fifteen minutes later than usual. Still completely out of breath, he sat down across from Natalia. "Sorry I'm late."
"You're not late." Natalia waved him off. "We never agreed on a time."
"Thanks for understanding. I have a good excuse, too. Someone has disappeared again."
"Again? This is the second missing person case in two weeks. And in a town whose borders are sealed. In more ways than one," Natalia said, shaking her head. "Do you know who it is?"
"The school janitor. He didn't come home from work tonight. His wife probably didn't think anything of it because he often went to the pub with friends. But when he wasn't there this morning, she called the police," James explained. Ruby arrived, they gave her their order, and when they were alone, they talked some more.
"Police still haven't found any clues." James pulled his notebook from the inside pocket of his coat and flipped through his notes.
"Oh, my goodness. You're well prepared. Are you the sheriff as well, I don't even know that yet." Natalia pointed at the small notebook in James' hand.
James smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm definitely not. But I'm interested in police work and I like to expand my knowledge."
"Is there a special reason for that?
"Yes," James groaned. "I'm currently working on a mystery novel, and I'm still a little inaccurate in a few places."
"And you want to gain experience by offering your help?" Natalia asked.
"Well, offering help would be the wrong term. But I don't think it would hurt anyone to get an idea of the case ourselves."
"Like detectives?" Natalia asked skeptically.
"Yes, something like that. Maybe not quite as arrogant and smug," he mumbled. "Are you in?" he asked louder.
"Yes, why not. I've got nothing else to do, so I can put my time and energy into something like this. I'm sure it'll be fun and a welcome change."
"Very good. Shall we get some coffee and go to the pharmacy?"
No sooner said than done, Natalia and James ordered a hot drink in a plastic cup and then walked to the pharmacy.
They met Emma and David in front of the pharmacy.
"The police must have been faster this time," Natalia whispered to her companion.
"Not necessarily. Not everyone talks openly to a sheriff. Maybe we'll find out something," he whispered back.
"Natalia. How nice to see you here. What are you doing here?" Emma asked as she approached. "And who's with you?"
"I..." stammered Natalia, looking for an excuse.
"I'm James. I show Natalia around from time to time. Since she needs an ointment, I accompanied her to the pharmacy," James helped her.
"Are you okay?" Emma looked worried and took a step towards Natalia.
She inevitably jumped back and Emma stopped her movement. "No, I'm fine. I just cut myself on a book and I want to bandage it."
"That's comforting. And how are you otherwise?" Emma tried to engage Natalia in conversation. But Natalia couldn't get into it yet.
She brushed her off. But when she saw the disappointment on Emma's face, she immediately regretted it. She wasn't the only one struggling with the new situation. She couldn't imagine what it was like to have held her own child in her arms just a few days ago, and now to see that child grow up and turn away from her.
"You must be very busy, we don't want to keep you any longer," she said apologetically.
"Indeed," came a voice from behind her.
James and she turned to see a tall young man. He was wearing a long trench coat, dark jeans and had a pipe in his mouth. "May I introduce myself?" He took Natalia's hand and planted a kiss on her skin. "Sherlock Holmes."
"Sherlock Holmes?" Natalia asked, looking at him in shock.
"You've heard of me? Yes, that's me, and you must be the Sheriff's missing daughter."
"You're here investigating?" asked Natalia, ignoring his assumption.
"Obviously. The local police asked for my help, how could it be otherwise? I'm just getting an overview of the situation," he explained.
"Asked for? He came to us," David muttered, getting a nudge in the ribs from Emma.
"Shall we go on? I have to go to school." With that, the famous Sherlock Holmes disappeared without saying goodbye. But at the end he took one last look at James and Natalia could have sworn it wasn't the first time the two men had met. But that was just a feeling.
When they returned from the pharmacy and the school, where fortunately they had not met David, Emma or Mr. Holmes, Natalia suggested that they could set up their base in the library. James liked the idea and together they went to see Belle.
She immediately agreed and even offered to help. While Natalia got them coffee in the diner, James, with Belle's help, set up a bulletin board next to the seating area. He pinned up all the information they had gathered so far.
He was almost done when Natalia joined them.
"Ah, good of you to come. We're almost done," James greeted her and took the full cups from her.
"What have we got so far?" Natalia took off her jacket and sat down on the sofa next to Belle.
"We know that the pharmacist, one of the seven dwarves, named Sneezy, disappeared seven days ago," James began, tapping on the first photo.
"The day I arrived in Storybrooke," Natalia added.
"That may or may not be a coincidence. We'll keep it as a note. He locked up the pharmacy in the evening, but didn't show up for dinner with the other dwarves. The next morning, he was nowhere to be found and didn't show up for work. His house was untouched. We can conclude that he disappeared on his way from the pharmacy to dinner."
"Or kidnapped," Natalia interjected.
"That's right, we can't rule that out," James agreed and continued. "The second missing person is the young wife of a local farmer. She also disappeared during the night and never came back. Nobody knows where she went. Her friends and family have no idea. The third victim was the janitor. The pattern is similar. He didn't come home from work in the evening. Based on these facts, there is already a significant connection between the victims."
"And what is that?" asked Belle.
"They all disappeared in the evening, probably after dark. So they, or their captors, were waiting for the cover of night. So you can see a pattern. So these missing persons cases are all connected."
"He's good at this kind of thing. Does he do this often?" Belle asked Natalia quietly.
"I have no idea," she replied, but cast an admiring glance at the young man who was still captivated by the bulletin board. "Do you know him?"
"Who should I know? The janitor? Yes, we've seen each other from time to time in the school corridor and exchanged a few words."
"No, that's not what I mean. Sherlock Holmes. I got the impression earlier that it wasn't the first time you'd seen him," Natalia said.
"Who hasn't met the great Sherlock Holmes," James replied, turning back to the bulletin board.
Natalia sensed there was more. But she didn't want to push James. Everyone had secrets, and everyone was entitled to them.
Please let me know what you think about this chapter and Sherlock Holmes. I am looking forward to reading your thoughts.