"The Roses," June 2024 Holmes Minor Monthly Prompt

[gardnerhill]

Title: The Roses
Author: gardnerhill
Fandom: ACD
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Word Count: 221b
Rating: G
Warning: None
Summary: Holmes has learned that the best route is not always a straight line.
Author's Notes: Written for the June 2024 Holmes Minor monthly prompt, "Border."

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Story on Dreamwidth
Story on AO3




Inspector Bell thanked us for our assistance, and we boarded the train at Edinburgh Waverley.

I went over the itinerary in my mind, now that I was no longer occupied with the case. We would reach Newcastle in time for an early supper, a more civilised option than Durham or Darlington, and resume travel to London the following morning; if we avoided delays we would be scheduled to arrive at Euston Station by evening…

But my friend's momentary wistful gaze westward, the closer we came to the city, caused me to reconsider.

"So, Watson. You have never visited the site of Hadrian's Wall?"

Watson laughed ruefully, facing me. We had been together for so long that he no longer needed me to elucidate the trail of my deductions of his thoughts. "Never, in all my travels. Someday I shall have to come back and remedy that."

"There's no need to wait." I shrugged. "Nothing pressing awaits us in London, and at any rate we can travel there by train from Carlisle as easily as we could from Newcastle. Tomorrow we can travel west rather than south, and conduct a border inspection for a day or two before heading home."

John's face lit up.

It was a small thing; but such things secured the border that held us two together.

I beamed.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Some sightseeing! Lovely!

[gardnerhill]

That's the nice thing about being self-employed; you can take a quickie holiday before heading home.

[smallhobbit]

Holmes, not only spotting Watson's interest, but doing something about it 🙂

[gardnerhill]

Post-Reichenbach, I have a feeling Holmes would be a little less apt to focus wholly on the work and nothing else. A 2-day spontaneous holiday sounds lovely.