Posted by Bowen Cates on 3/8/2008, 2:12 am, in reply to "Chapter eleven"
24.207.121.197
Chapter 12: In Which Holmes Meets a Challenge
Theodore watched his surroundings wiz by from the back seat of the police cruiser, taking it all in in wonder. It still seemed like a dream to him, all the events up till now all led - and were leading - to some half foreseen conclusion.
He had probably already seen most of these buildings that were now passing so rapidly by him, in the shape of the roofs he had been hurtling toward the day before.
He often wondered if it had been a day at all, after all he could have been falling for any amount of time. In addition, neither Theodore nor Holmes had had a watch with them. Unusual for the Great detective though that may be, but it had been too bulky to hide under his costume at the time.
Tearing his gaze from the common and ordinary of 2103, Theodore directed his attention to the man sitting beside him, the former object of his thoughts.
“Mr. Holmes?”
“Yes Mr. Trent?” he said it as though he had been following Theodore’s revelations and had expected to be called upon.
At this moment, he was remembering very vividly Watson having a similar experience in ‘The Adventure Of The Cardboard Box’ “The features are given to man as the means by which he shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful servants.” He thought. He would have to remember to keep his face under stricter control.
“Sorry to bother you sir” he continued, swallowing the lump in his throat “I was just wondering something…”
“Yes?”
“Well, how do I know I’m not crazy? I mean…I could still be at home in that tree. This could all be some insane delusion.”
“Indeed it could, sadly though, we have no way of knowing either way.”
“I suppose so” he had been hoping that Holmes would have a suggestion, something Theodore would never have thought of “but doesn’t it ever worry you? Like…we could both he lunatics.”
“Or you are, and I am merely some delusion on your part.”
“Great, just what I needed.”
Theodore hated to be rude, but he had been hoping for some kind of reassurance.
“Look, Mr. Trent, if it is of any help, I think you are more then usually lucid.”
“Uh…thanks I guess…”
The detective looked around him nervously; something seemed to be worrying him. However, before Theodore could ask what that something might be, his companion had started to speak again:
“Now that we have all that cleared up it would be best if we maintained a strict silence, if only for the last leg of the journey.”
“Why?” Theodore asked, puzzled.
“Because” Holmes informed him, “Our female companion seems to be dangerously close to flying this contraption through that air safety warning.”
“Watson warned me about her, he says she always drives like this.” Theodore assured him just as the cruiser gave a nasty lurch to one side.
“Yes, well, as comforting as that bit of information is, I must confess to feeling some trepidation as to the inspector’s driving skills, besides…” He continued distractedly while looking about for handholds. “I do not appear any more accustomed to it in this century then I am now.”
Upon following Holmes’ gaze forward to the seat in front of the detective, Theodore could see what he was insinuating. Sherlock Holmes of 2103 was holding tightly to both his armrests. He seemed to be more then a little conscious of the other hover cars, as they ducked in and out of view outside the windows.
“He was kind enough to point out to me, the location of the two escape hatches in this vehicle.” Continued Holmes of the 1800s.”
“I don’t blame him.”
“Hold on.” He warned suddenly
“What? Why?”
“We are approaching our destination.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” it wasn’t his own sanity that Theodore was doubting now.
“Really Mr. Trent, Hold on.”
“I- OW!”
The hover car came to a screeching halt outside some old looking monster of a building. However, that was all Theodore had a chance to make out before his face met the seat in front of him.
Luckily, though, Lestrade had already stepped out onto the gravel path leading up to the house, walking in gigantic purposeful strides, and did not feel the bump. Holmes of 2103 was close on her heels.
“I did warn you.”
“Ya” grumbled Theodore as he pulled himself up off the floor of the cruiser “for all the good it did me.”
Holmes smiled. “Shall we then?”
“One sec, let me just glue my nose back on.”
“Take your time; a nose is a necessary tool in the detection of crime.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
Holmes sure thought it was, if one could tell anything from that glint in his eyes.
The detective’s mood turned out to be rather contagious and Theodore felt himself struggling not to smile.
Both Holmes and Theodore climbed out of the cruiser and began their trudge along the gravel lane. It was amazing to Theodore how clean it looked, and how well kept…it unnerved him, one never knew what bizarre futuristic methods of lawn care now existed.
Holmes must have noticed it too, what a change had come over him, Watson of old had definitely been right, the bloodhound was on the scent.
He kept staring at the ground, taking in every detail. However, his face maintained a frustrated look. As if things weren’t working out right or something. Finally, it seemed that he had given up, redirecting his attention toward the house.
If one could call it that… it loomed in front of them, a huge, dark mansion all built in the Victorian style of architecture. A gleaming, overbearing tribute to the time, it stood imposing, unmoving, an immortal monument to a now dead glory.
There was something about the way Holmes looked at it…It reminded Theodore of the times when his father would point out the big gas guzzling cars as they roared defiantly by.
He would point to them and say “look, Teddy, does he really need that thing? He probably doesn’t even own it. It’ll put him in debt up to his eyeballs and for what? So he can feel important and pollute the environment at the same time. It’s because of people like him that there’s such a thing as global warming in the first place.”
“The man has taste,” Holmes announced sarcastically, extending a casual arm forwards.
“It’s big” Theodore added.
“It is that.”
“Is something wrong…Sir?” Theodore cringed; he had been forgetting his manners far too often of late.
“No.”
Holmes retuned his attention to the ground.
“Nothing? You sure? You look kinda annoyed or bothered or something.”
He knew he was pushing his luck, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.
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