The Secret of Two

Chapter 3

    He led me to a carriage harboring the royal colors, red and gold, pulled by two dun horses. He let me get in first and then climbed next to me. The footman closed the door before the driver urged the horses forward. As we traveled through the streets, Chris showed me important spots we could see from here and talked about a private elite club in the Shard in Southwark.

    Instead of entering by the main entrance, we got in the palace grounds by another back door to see the royal gardens. Halfway through the gardens, Chris told me I would go with the Queen's advisor named Mycroft.

    "I won't go in, to not influence the consulting detective's decision on whether he will take my case," he explained, which made sense.

    We went through fountains and beautiful flower gardens before arriving at the entrance. We got out of the carriage and patted the horses. I gave them a sugar or two but Chris had to stop me before I gave them too many. He brought me to the entrance of a lounge.

One of the dark and large mahogany doors was slightly open, enough to peek my head through and see white and gold walls with some tapestries of past monarchs. The floor was covered with a red velvet carpet with matching couches and white and gold couches in the middle of the room surrounding an old wooden table. There was a pile of clothes and a pair of shoes on the table.

On the opposite side, another set of double doors were open. I retreated back into the corridor when I heard footsteps and voices from the corridor of the opposite doors. Back into my corridor, Christopher was gone. He left me to wait for Mycroft and so that's what I did.

I knew that the voices were now in the room. I looked behind the door and a man was sitting on the sofa on my right. I now knew why there was a pile of clothing and a pair of shoes sitting on the table. The guy was dressed in a sheet. Not very modest.

A man, clearly lost, found him. He turned to see the seated man and I hid back behind the door. I couldn't see them anymore but I knew the men were seated in silence. Then the voice I hadn't heard earlier in the opposite hallway rose. "Are you wearing any pants?"

"No," the tall guy answered.

An awkward moment of silence hanged between them. And they burst out laughing.

I was startled by another man's voice behind me, "You must be Miss Naomi if I'm not mistaken?"

I jolted away from the door and smoothed my skirts. "Yes, Mister Mycroft, isn't it?"

"Yes, and I see you have already seen the consulting detective and his associate, Dr John Watson." I nodded. "As you might have noticed my brother and his friend don't have manners. Anyway, follow me." He fully opened the door and entered.

"Here to see the Queen?" the doctor asked.

I couldn't hear what the detective answered when Mycroft entered but they laughed again in the royal advisor's face. Clearly exhausted by his brother, he said, "For once, could you two behave like grown-ups?"

The short guy calmed down, "He solves crime, I blog about it and he forgets his pants so I wouldn't hold too much hope."

"Who's this girl?" the detective asked.

"I'm Naomi Darlington, Mr Holmes." I answered. He looked at me with a suspicious look, his eyes scanning over my whole body. I felt strangely vulnerable under his intrusive gaze.

"I can see you have a younger sister, your dress is modest for an 18 year-old girl because you want to set a good example for your sister. You walked in the room with your head held high without any arrogance but still stayed in the shadow of my brother which indicates you are used to following someone in your daily life. I'm thinking of a brother who is protective of both you and your sister. He probably is older than you." Did someone tell him about my family? Uncomfortably, I shifted my stance and stared at him, not knowing what I should do. But he continued.