gardnerhill: (JWP 2018 Perfect Score)
[personal profile] gardnerhill posting in [community profile] holmes_minor
Title: Change
Author: gardnerhill
Form/Wordcount: 400
Characters/Pairings: None
Rating: G
Warnings/Content: None.
Summary: John Watson might be able to learn something from Neville St. Clair.
Author’s Notes: For the Holmes Minor April 2019 prompt: Change



My cheque-book was empty once again. Money slipped through my fingers so readily that no-one needed to be Sherlock Holmes to know I had once been a soldier. With a sigh I reached into one trouser pocket and pulled out a handful of coins, depositing the whole of my fortune on my night-stand.

I looked at them. A few shillings, one half-crown, some pennies; just over a quarter of a pound. I'd hardly noticed them in my pocket. Copper and silver; shillings to be pushed across a counter for another beer, half-crowns and crowns swept up by a racing tout or card sharp, pennies to beggars.

Beggars…

The most vivid image that remained in my mind from our last case had been the astonishing transformation of the twist-lipped and hideous beggar Hugh Boone into Mr. Neville St. Clair.

But now two other images from that case rose before me: my first view of St. Clair's home The Cedars, and the man's sodden coat weighted down with pennies and half-pennies to sink it in the river outside the opium den where St. Clair had kept a room in which he changed from respectable businessman to scarred pauper. Over 2 pounds sterling in small copper coin; a beggar's boon indeed. That mountain of copper, begged a penny and half-penny at a time, had paid for that villa.

For most of my life I had followed a soldier's pattern where money was concerned: receive my pay, spend it all, then languish in penury until I was paid again. I counted myself fortunate if I only had to pass a day or two with empty pockets. Now I had proof that those pennies in sufficient quantity could support a middle-class existence.

For one whimsical moment I thought about turning beggar and amassing my own fortune on the streets of London. Instead, I rummaged in my room and found an empty tobacco tin.

I scooped up the pennies and dropped them in. A short clatter; four small clanks at the bottom. My begging bowl, for myself.

And into it, I would put my day's-end coppers from now on – farthings, pennies and half-pennies – and see how long it took to fill the tin, and what value it would hold in the end. No great pledge; only a quiet promise to myself.

Tin and copper; they just might bring security to a man perpetually short of sterling.


Date: 2019-04-15 11:51 am (UTC)
stonepicnicking_okapi: okapi (Default)
From: [personal profile] stonepicnicking_okapi
Lovely vignette! I hope the tobacco tin serves Watson well!

Date: 2019-04-15 03:08 pm (UTC)
smallhobbit: (Holmes Watson 221B)
From: [personal profile] smallhobbit
What a great idea of Watson's. Hopefully he won't need to use the tin too often.

Date: 2019-04-15 07:06 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (Default)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
A wise move, Watson:-)

Date: 2019-04-16 11:32 pm (UTC)
scfrankles: knight on horseback with lance lowered (Default)
From: [personal profile] scfrankles
It's such a clever idea to use TWIS to give Watson a change in perception. I was particularly struck by the line: My begging bowl, for myself. It's not just a case of Watson being more sensible - he's taking more care of himself and being kinder to himself.

Date: 2019-04-20 01:31 pm (UTC)
capt_facepalm: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capt_facepalm
Smart move, Watson, but all those poor beggars who now will have to go without!

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