ext_1620665: knight on horseback (Default)
[identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] holmes_minor
Welcome to the October activity post—this month it’s story time!

Yes, for the rest of the month we will be telling a spooky story together, comment by comment.



My esteemed co-mod has furnished me with an example, to explain how all this is going to work:



Person A (the mod) starts the ball rolling: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson found a…

Person B adds a new comment: Nasty smell in the house where they believed lived their…

Person C adds their comment: Suspect. Looking in the kitchen they saw a...




So in each new comment we resolve the previous cliffhanger and leave one of our own for the next contributor. There’s no hard and fast limit for the number of words you can use but the game will probably work best if you make your addition relatively brief.

You are free to make as many contributions to the story as you like. However, once you have made a contribution, you must wait until at least two other people have had a go before adding your next comment.

Incidentally, please remember to put each new contribution as a new comment, not as a reply to the previous comment. And let’s aim for bringing the story to a close somewhere on Halloween itself! As we’re all in different time zones, perhaps by 08:00 UTC? (That is, by 8am on the 1st of November in the UK.)



And so, here is the first line of our spooky story:


It appeared Holmes and Watson's new client had a haunted…



And away we go!



As always, you needn’t take part in this activity if you don’t wish to. Once you’re a member, you can post what and when you want—as long as you keep to the 500 words or less wordcount and the ACD Holmes ‘verse. AUs, crossovers and fusions are all permitted, as long as the characters remain essentially recognisable as the original ACD versions.

Please see the profile for the full posting guidelines!

Date: 2016-10-15 07:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Corridor in their house. The servants complained they had heard. ..

Date: 2016-10-15 09:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...low voices and rustling, as of silk and starched linens. The laundress was very clear on that point. The butler blushed. He was a fair-haired man and was nearly crimson when he took me aside and sotto voce added...
Edited Date: 2016-10-15 10:14 am (UTC)

Date: 2016-10-15 12:58 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
"Never look backwards or you will fall down the stairs" I pondered over the neat italic script, the unusual slope of the letter "f" and the minute sketch at the end of the lettering, clearly depicting a frolicking....

Date: 2016-10-15 05:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
faun. I had leant a little closer to see who (or what) the faun was frolicking with, when ...

Date: 2016-10-15 06:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...Watson took a sudden step away from my side and tried to cover an exclamation with a cough. I glanced over my shoulder and was met by what I can only describe as an admonitory look. My eyes were flashing over his person and our immediate surroundings for a clue to his behaviour when...

Date: 2016-10-16 12:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tripleransom.livejournal.com
I heard a skittering noise from behind me, followed by...

Date: 2016-10-16 05:51 am (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
the tinkling of tiny bells and the unmistakable and totally unexpected aroma of...

Date: 2016-10-16 08:55 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
...wet cat. "If our spectre is the neighbourhood Tom, Watson, I shall feel my valuable time and talents sorely wasted. Nevertheless, our next step is to...

Date: 2016-10-16 10:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
I had taken a step further away from Watson as I spoke and was gesturing with both my hands, as Watson reminds me I am inclined to do, when he startled again. I paused. Watson's eyes were fixed on my hands.

"A cat's digits are neither long nor dexterous and to extend them, he must unsheath his claws," Watson said through teeth that appeared to be clenched. "I am grateful that no claws are involved...as yet...




Date: 2016-10-16 02:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
but I would beg you to look..."

He failed to finish his sentence as ...
Edited Date: 2016-10-16 02:36 pm (UTC)

Date: 2016-10-16 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
said, "This is what happened to the footman, sir, when I was a lad, but he was a tabby."

Watson gripped my shoulder. "Was?" he asked.

I would have made an enquiry on that point in a moment myself, but the progress of my apparent transformation had seized almost all of my attention. The little that remained was resisting an urge to stretch my neck back and rub the side of my head against whatever part of Watson I could reach.

"That was over twenty years ago," the butler explained, "of course, since then there have been...

Date: 2016-10-16 06:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
... others. Oy, leave my boot laces alone!"

The last comment was addressed to me, as I had decided ...

Date: 2016-10-17 12:19 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
A dog named Carlo. Well, there was nothing for it, but to...

Date: 2016-10-17 01:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...run up the tapestry. I perched on the brass rod from which it was suspended, claws firmly hooked into the fabric on either side of the metal and surveyed the corridor. It was an excellent vantage point. Below, the dog barked. I smiled at him. At least I felt as though I did. I could not be certain how my facial muscles were being affected by this unusual turn of events. The dog appeared to understand my expression. He pranced in agitation, tail awag, nails clicking on the polished floor and barked all the louder.

"Here now," the laundress scolded, seizing his collar and tugging him in the direction of the back stairs. "If you get mud on my antimacassars, you can forget about soup bones for a month."

She had a special understanding with the cook.

The butler looked at Watson. "If you don't require Mrs Childers attendance any longer." He let the sentence trail off.

Watson looked up at me. I ...
Edited Date: 2016-10-17 01:05 am (UTC)

Date: 2016-10-17 05:38 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
could tell the poor fellow was struggling to keep apace with events. I also suspected that my feline transformation had brought to mind the tragic events of ten years ago when...

Date: 2016-10-17 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
we had lost a client up the chimney when a sudden shock had caused a similar change. Although on that occasion it had been a ...

Date: 2016-10-18 09:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
the perfect explanation!

Date: 2016-10-18 12:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...the land steward. I stepped daintily down onto Watson's shoulders and purred in his ear. While there, I gave it a lick, before meowing and pointing my nose in the direction of the hall window with its view of the formal gardens and the edge of the woods. Watson placed a steadying hand on my back and proceeded in the direction I had indicated. I felt his shoulders relax when I tapped the glass near where a thread of smoke indicated the location of the land steward's house a short distance inside the woods. That I retained my faculties was clearly a relief to Watson and I knew he would do his best to ensure I didn't become a winter cap, which might be a danger at the land steward's house if he was...

Date: 2016-10-18 02:39 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
still subletting a room to his sister, Miss Daisy, the owner of an avant garde millinery shop in a nearby market town. Her experimental pigeon bonnets had been all the rage last spring and had featured heavily in the fashion pages of the London papers. Perhaps the danger would be lessened if he persuaded Watson to carry a...

Date: 2016-10-18 09:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
bottle of sherry with which to distract her. However it is not easy to mime a bottle of sherry, with the result Watson decided I was telling him to take some ...

Date: 2016-10-19 08:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...a stray mouser looking for a new position. A careful look, and listen, around the stables might be a very sound second step after our visit to the land steward's house. Although, there might be some peril in leaving Watson behind with...

Date: 2016-10-22 09:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
a lady, a set of skittles and potentially a new hat. Who knew where such attractions might take him. Fortunately at that moment there was a knock on the door. The butler hurried to open it to find ...

Date: 2016-10-23 09:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
...a neigh. Digging my claws deep into Watson's jacket for stability, I looked back over his shoulder. Mrs Hudson was indeed galloping in our direction with the butler bringing...

Date: 2016-10-25 11:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
a spare saddle and bridle. Even though the transformation was not of my doing I suspected our landlady would still hold me responsible. Fortunately Watson appeared to be of the same opinion and turned towards the stables, but at that moment ...

Date: 2016-10-31 03:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com
... a very tiny faun (or perhaps a ferret, one never could be too sure when using feline eyes). Clearly, the best course of action would be to engage in pursuit. But just at that moment, I caught a waft of the most delicious aroma coming from a neighbor's kitchen and sprang off to investigate.

Watson, meanwhile....

Date: 2016-11-01 05:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Entirely justified, we'd never have finished it otherwise!

And congratulations on ending with such a great pun!

Date: 2016-11-01 08:20 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (Ferret)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Of course...the fallen ferret-faun forest!
How could I not have seen?
Edited Date: 2016-11-01 08:20 pm (UTC)

Date: 2016-11-05 09:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saki101.livejournal.com
Ah, this is brilliant and hilarious! (And thoroughly justifies the overage!)

It was all great fun!

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