Chapter 9
Martin scuffed his shoe on the tarmac of the playground, hands stuffed in the pockets of his rather big coat. School had finished at least five minutes ago and still nobody had come to pick up the two twins. Most of his fellow classmates had disappeared of with their parents, garbling excitedly about the day. Hamish was a bit away chatting to Mortimer, whose parents hadn’t turned up either. Martin was confused. Where were Papa and Daddy? Papa had said that they would pick him up or Aunt Molly or Uncle Greg. Nobody had turned up yet, which upset Martin. He felt dejected. Alone. Even Hamish wasn’t involving him in the conversation. Because Martin wasn’t a genius like the others. Daddy was, Hamish was and Molly was almost definitely going to be. But Martin wasn’t. He wasn’t even like Papa. He wasn’t clever or friendly. The only thing that he could do was play instruments and paint. What use was that?
“Where’s your dads?” Martin blinked slightly, deep blue eyes finding the source of the question. Karina stood in front of him, a light smile curling the corners of her lips.
“Not here yet...” Martin murmured before biting his lip.
“Oh...” Karina tilted her head. “Maybe you could come round to my house! Mummy would be fine with it.” A wide grin lit up Martin’s face but quickly disappeared.
“Daddy is teaching me violin tonight,” he replied in a dejected manner. “I can come round another time, though! I’ll talk to Papa!” Martin smiled slightly, one which was returned by Karina.
“I want you to meet my Mummy and my little brother and sisters,” Karina suddenly chirped, grey-blue eyes sparkling. She grabbed Martin’s hand before he could say otherwise and pulled him towards the gates. Near there stood a woman strikingly similar to Karina in appearance. She was certainly beautiful. At her side stood a toddler with scruffy red-brown hair who seemed to be pestering her. Probably to go home. In front of the woman was a buggy with two little baby girls in it. Twins. Like Martin and Hamish.
“Mummy, mummy, this is Martin!” Karina exclaimed cheerfully as she ran up to the woman, Martin dragged behind her. The five year old bit his lip and a hand moved up to tug at a raven black curl.
“Hello, Martin,” the woman smiled down at him almost fondly. A strange look in her eyes. “I’m Irene.”
“Hello...” Martin stammered, shifting on his feet. He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye. A silence followed the reply. Silence promptly broken by Karina who went on to introduce her siblings.
“This is Rhys, my little brother,” Karina pointed to the now scowling boy. He didn’t give Martin so much as a glance. “Rhys is his middle name... he doesn’t like going by his first.”
“What’s that?” Martin’s curiosity was piqued. Karina paused for a moment.
“Sherlock.” Confusion hit Martin’s mind, spreading like wildfire. But that was his daddy’s name. Nobody else has his name.
“I used to know your father, Sherlock,” Irene put in smoothly. “A long time ago.”
“Oh... ok...” Martin mumbled, moving his glanced from Rhys to the babies.
“These are Wilhelmina and Carmen, my little sisters,” Karina continued somewhat proudly. “They’re just under one year old.” Martin nodded slightly, feeling rather flustered. He didn’t like being around so many new people. All the attention being on him.
“We had better go, Karina,” Irene smiled softly at Martin. “I hope you can come round after school sometime, Martin.”
“Bye, Marti!” Karina waved frantically as she began to walk away with her family.
“Bye, Kari,” Martin’s goodbye was quieter but no less enthusiastic. Soon they were out of sight and a sigh escaped his lips. He wished had more friends. More people to talk to. Karina was great but she was only one person.
Martin went to sit on one of the park benches, joined by Hamish a few minutes later. It seemed that Mortimer had been collected. The playground was quiet, a light wind whistling through it. The breeze had a slight chill to it which caused Martin to pull his green scarf tighter around his neck. His eyes staying fixed on the gate.
Although it was only a few minutes in reality it felt like ages before John got out of a taxi and headed for the twins. Both were instantly up and dashing over, attacking him with hugs.
“Papa!”
John smiled down at the boys, ruffling their hair as he ushered them into the taxi. “Hello Hamish, Marti.”
“Why did you take so long?!” Hamish was instantly demanding as he was sat down and buckled in. Martin opted for silence and listening.
“You dad got a new case... a very intriguing one. We lost track of time until Uncle Greg reminded us that we had to pick you up. I’m sorry.”
“Did daddy solve the case?” Hamish immediately brightened, eyes sparkling.
“No... He’s still there. I’m going to leave you in the care of Mrs Hudson and return to help in.” A storm settled across Hamish’s eyes in an instant.
“I want to go! I want to see the crime scene! I want to help Daddy!” His voice was whining and angry at the same time. Martin, personally, had no wish to see his dad at work. Wasn’t really interested in that type of thing. Crime and all. He just wanted to get back to his violin, piano and sketchbooks.
“It’s no place for two five year olds.”
“Please,” Hamish produced the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. It was incredibly similar to the one Sherlock occasionally pulled on John. John couldn’t resist someone looking like that.
“You have to be on your best behaviour, ok. Both of you.”
“Yippee! I’m going to solve my first crime!”