The Forgotten Niece of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 14

I kept replying the last few minutes through my head, wanting to remember everything about Sherlock Holmes. The way he stood, the way he talked, the way his room was cluttered with papers and books and files and other objects that seemed of value to him.

I followed aimlessly, like a sheep, after Jack and the rest of the Irregulars, when a sudden thought came to me. Was I one of them? Was I now part of the Baker Street Irregulars?

Although I loved Matilda to death, and loved being with her, and even though she was like a grandmother to me, I never felt like I was really family. Like a blotch of bright blue paint, on a monochrome canvas.

But, with the Irregulars, I felt that I was part of their tight-knit family. I felt like I belonged there, with them. I felt proud to know them, to be involved with them, and that they liked being with me too.

I now wasn’t the only blotch of bright paint.

It was only now that I had noticed that the sun was shining, that the birds were singing, even amongst the bustle of daily London life, and that I had finally found a home.

I smiled to myself.

“What you smirking at?” Finch said cheekily in my ear and I smiled even more.

“Nothing in particular” I met his gaze, his light green eyes meeting my dark blue ones.

“Right” He said, drawing out the i, as if he didn’t believe me. I punched him in the arm teasingly and skipped ahead to catch up with Kate and the others, noticing that they were walking away at a steady pace. I heard Finch’s quick and light footsteps behind me.

“You okay Liz? Mister ‘Olmes alright I suppose?” The think that I loved about Kate is that she was always looking out for people, making sure that they were okay, and being able to make them smile if they weren’t.

She reminded me of a nurse that I used to see when I was still living with Matilda, the nurse, who name I hadn’t learnt would always walk by and smile at me, sometimes giving me an apple.

“Yes, I’m fine, and Mister Holmes was lovely, his sense of humour is quite…” I said trying to find the right word.

Kate laughed and said “Yeah, he’s a bit of a Mad Hatter sometimes, you just have to get to know him…but I suppose he’s getting worse with old age.” We both looked at each other, trying to suppress out giggles.

“And what’re you too ladies, giggling about?” Jack said nonchalantly.

At this point we could hold it for no longer, and we burst into a fit of giggles, we laughed so much that our sides began to ache with a rich pain, our faces were turning pink, and tears of pure delight were streaming from our eyes. 

“Typical girls” he sighed, but he grinned at us all the same.

I hadn’t noticed until now that Emily was skulking at the back of our group. She was just staring at her feet as she walked, it was a wonder that she didn’t hit into anything or anyone.

There was a slight frown on her face with a slight crease in her forehead. She stared at the ground, as if trying to burn a whole through it. I knew that if her eyes met mine that the brown eyes that matched Jack’s, but weren’t as welcoming, would scorch into me.

As if she had heard my thoughts, she suddenly looked up and locked her eyes with mine. I felt like I was being scrutinised. All I wanted to do right then was lean over, intimidate her, and demand what her problem was.

I had never felt so angry in my entire life. I knew I could never do those things to Emily. I needed to calm down. I stiffly broke Emily’s gaze and tried to distract myself with other things around me.