Welcome March! Hopefully, spring will arrive on time!
I was so entranced with the idea of Holmes swimming after we discussed "The Lion's Mane" that a report on other times Holmes had the opportunity of swimming would be of interest. Alas! He may have had opportunities but, unless he did so during the Hiatus, nothing comes to light in Watson's chronicles. If someone runs across such a reference, please let me know.
What did come to light, searching through my Sherlockian ephemera ,was an issue of The Parallelogram from 1999. My name was listed as an attendee at that month's meeting. Holy Cow! I am celebrating my Silver Anniversary as a Sherlockian! So now I continue rummaging through the past quarter century and I came across a short pastiche, condensed from a longer story. This was written for a Holmes Under the Arch conference. I still liked it and hope you do, too.
THE HOLIDAY
I had been associated with Sherlock Holmes for nearly two years when an even occurred that inspired me to hurl down a gauntlet, so to speak. My Aunt Hannah wrote to tell me of a death in the family and expressed a desire to see me. As Holmes was, at that time, engaged in a problem in Malta, I decided to slip away without leaving a clue as to my whereabouts..
I checked the train schedules to Edinburgh, packed my valise, my medical bag and fishing pole, and simply dashed off a note to Holmes saying I was taking a holiday. I left my note with Mrs. Hudson and started my journey north.
My Aunt Hannah was glad to see me, so I settled in comfortably for a fortnight's visit. On the third day of my sojourn, I returned from an invigorating walk to find my aunt pouring tea for the noon meal. Holding a cup while she poured was Sherlock Holmes.
"My dear Watson, you look very surprised."
"I rather suppose I do. Obviously you've met my Aunt Hannah."
"A reasonable deduction."
"John, " said Hannah, "do shut your mouth and sit down. Your friend said you might be expecting him, but he wasn't sure. Have a scone each of you while I dish up the stew."
It was amazing to me that Holmes portrayed his presence here at my aunt's as perfectly reasonable. We chatted of this and that. Then Hannah cleared the table and ladled the remaining stew into a container for an elderly neighbor. As she left, she invited Holmes to take the second bedroom if he would be staying.
"You left me quite a puzzle, Watson."
"One you readily solved."
"Not that readily. One who didn't know you as well as I would have had more difficulty, I believe.
"Mrs. Hudson gave me your note scrawled on the back of that notice your tobacconist sent you, reminding you at Burry's Gold Leaf was in. I'll have to try that. I thought a spur-of-the-moment holiday to be out of character, Watson. Something must have initiated your departure. So I surveyed the room to see if anything was disturbed."
"How could you see anything? I was quite thorough. I took the letter from Aunt Hannah with me."
"Ah, there was a letter. I thought so but I didn't ask Mrs. Hudson. I determined that would be cheating."
"At any rate, I did find a disturbance. My first clue appeared on the bookcase. The book of train schedules was set tidily in place. This was unlikely. Our constant use has made its pages tend to bunch up. The little book always bulges out."
"I simply shook my head.
"I took the book down and found that each page had been smoothed out and the wrinkled corners straightened. Turning the pages carefully, I found a page where the inner edge had been carefully aligned, probably with your fingernail. There was a slight indentation part way down the page. I sat at the desk, the nearest flat surface, where you had most probably sat as well. Some papers on the corner were stacked so neatly that it had to be deliberate.. I took the top piece and holding it at the edge of the desk, brushed some dust and ashes from the desk's surface onto the paper. When I shook it gently, times appeared. You removed at least the first piece of paper under the one on which you'd written the times, but you do tend to press down when writing. I found that Scotland was your destination and that you'd left from Euston Station, therefore taking the London and North Western Railway which would have connected you with the Caledonian at Berwick.
"I asked about you at the Caledonian Station in Edinburgh, your medical bag making you memorable, and found you'd hired a trap for Calder. Once I was in Calder it was an easy matter to inquire at the post office for relatives of Dr. John Watson."
"I suppose my lot in life is to be constantly amazed at your perspicacity."
"Indeed, I have worked diligently, as you know, to develop this gift. But tomorrow, I shall depend on yours."
"How so?" I asked.
"Why, to find another pole! A little rejuvenation would be welcomed after Malta. I shall relate my adventure as we see what the Almond River has to offer. And when we return, we might allow Mrs. Hudson to come in and dust up a bit."
