holmes_minor | Fic: Edinburgh: G

Title: Edinburgh
Form/Word Count: 495
Characters/Pairing: Dr Watson, Sherlock Holmes
Rating: G
Warning/Content: A journey to Edinburgh proves worthwhile

I stretched and groaned as we drew into Edinburgh Waverley station. I had fallen asleep on the journey and was far stiffer than I would have liked to be, especially as Holmes was already on his feet ready to leap off the train as soon as it was safe to do so. I preferred to wait for the train to stop before more carefully making my descent. By the time I had done so, Holmes was nowhere in sight.

I sighed and prepared to make my way to the guard’s van to reclaim both our suitcases, but was greeted by a young man, who introduced himself as Inspector McNab.

“Good evening, Dr Watson,” he said. “I’m delighted to make your acquaintance. Chief Inspector MacDonald has asked me to show you to your hotel, while he and Mr Holmes are busy. I have sent a constable to collect your luggage.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “I had been intending to accompany Holmes. I’m rather concerned about what he will encounter and would prefer to be on hand.” I held up my medical bag in explanation.

McNab grinned. “In which case, sir, I will be more than happy to show you the way. Campbell can deal with the suitcases.”

I got the impression McNab had been disappointed to be missing out on the excitement and was therefore delighted with the change of plan. We set off at a brisk pace for the Old Town. McNab offered to carry my bag, but I assured him that it was no problem, and indeed, now I had loosened up I had no trouble in keeping up with him.

We had almost reached our destination when there was an explosion and bits of brick rained down on us. We ducked into a nearby doorway until we deemed it was safe to progress. Then we saw Holmes and MacDonald emerge from one of the buildings not far away, looking grimy but otherwise apparently unhurt.

We hurried over to them, and Holmes irritably waved my concerns away. “We were so close,” he said, “but now we’ve lost them.”

“Aye,” MacDonald said, “the ringleaders will have got away. But that explosion caught the rest of the gang by surprise just as we were, and we’ll pick them up easy enough. And I’ll be amazed if none of them talk.”

“That is true,” Holmes conceded. “And we now know for sure who the ringleaders are. My guess is they will aim to take the train back to London tonight. Watson, we should follow them.”

I groaned, having been looking forward to a few days in Edinburgh, with maybe the time to look up some old friends. Fortunately, MacDonald suggested the much more sensible course of action which was to arrange for some of his men to travel on the train and arrest the ringleaders before they left Scotland.

Holmes concurred and we headed for our hotel, where I promised myself a good dinner of Scottish beef.