ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] holmes_minor
Title: March (by I. Quill)
Rating: Gen
Length: 500
Summary: Inky follows a rainbow.
Author's Note: Happy St. Patrick's Day!


I trust that my generous readers will forgive the brevity of this missive. I am once again under the care of Father Mantis, my personal physician, after sustaining mild injuries during my latest adventure. Luckily, I have a new novel awaiting my perusal: a first edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman by Mister Laurence Sterne, and as I am a gentleman, or rather gentle-rodent, I am looking forward to keeping myself ‘quiet and still and out of trouble’—doctor’s orders—for the next week.

I shall begin at the end.

When I awoke, gold coils were piled all around me. Indeed, I believed myself to have died and gone to some dragon’s horde or pharaoh’s tomb. Then I heard a voice, human and familiar.

“Well done, Mister Quill. You have a single-handedly, or rather quad-pawedly, found the warehouse of the notorious Dublin gang. This mountain of loot is the only evidence Lestrade will need. Oh, here he comes. Watson, quick, put Mister Quill in the holdall before the police arrive.”

Mister Sherlock Holmes was on the scene, and I was being scooped up, exchanging a dazzling alchemist’s bed for a snug dark berth.

There were shouts and scurrying, which grew fainter. Finally, I heard Doctor Watson’s voice addressing me in hushed tones,

“Whatever were you doing, Inky?”

“I was following the rainbow. I wanted to see where it ended.”

Doctor Watson snorted. “Are you certain you weren’t chasing a leprechaun?”

It was my turn to snort. “I did attend that lecture on Irish culture yesterday, Doctor Watson, and they were quite dismissive of the lore surrounding that creature. No, we’ve had such a harsh winter, when I saw the rain, then the sun, I thought, well, I was so sorely tempted. I did think, for just a moment, that there might be a treasure at the end.”

“And there was, a pot of gold.”

“And once I started my journey, I felt compelled to finish it.”

“Thank goodness that Holmes spotted you from our hansom cab. You did have a peculiar look, and he decided to follow you. Good instincts, him and you.”

“The rainbow ended here, atop this building. I climbed up and crawled through a broken window. It was such a fantastical sight, I slipped right into the loot!”

“And knocked your head rather hard.”

“Mister Quill, your finder’s fee,” said Mister Holmes, slipping a dusty tome beside me, “Lestrade thinks it’s just a ‘dirty old book’ but I think you’ll find it much more and to your liking. Unless you’d like a bit of the gold.”

I shook my head, then groaned at the ache the motion produced. “I’m done chasing rainbows. And words, in the proper order, are much better than gold.”

And so I wish to each and every one of my dear readers on this day: a rainbow, a bit of treasure of your very own, and a very happy feast of Saint Patrick.

Your humble servant,

Inky Quill


Date: 2017-03-17 09:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
This is such a lovely tale. Thank you, Inky.

Date: 2017-03-17 11:39 pm (UTC)
ext_1620665: knight on horseback (Default)
From: [identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! ^^

I love 'quad-pawedly' ^_^ And I love that Inky followed a rainbow and really did find gold - though I'm sorry he injured himself ^^"

I hope he enjoys Tristram Shandy. And I do agree: "...words, in the proper order, are much better than gold.”

Date: 2017-03-19 04:41 pm (UTC)
ext_1620665: knight on horseback (Default)
From: [identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com
I think Inky already has greatness ^_^ I wouldn't want him to be quoted by this US president, but might there ever be a story where he's quoted unknowingly by Queen Victoria..?

Date: 2017-03-18 05:08 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Very nice:-)
So glad Inky was not badly injured...loved the hopeful hunt which put him in harm's way:-)

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