Fic: Footprints, not Coffins: Gen

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Title: Footprints, not Coffins
Rating: Gen
Length: 221b
Notes: Dialogue-only, Holmes & Watson
Summary: Isaiah 11:6: "...and a little child shall lead them."
Author's Notes: For the June prompt. Inspired to Okapi Minisculus (age 3) who I discoverd this morning has a slightly unnerving problem with the word 'footprints.'


“I can scarcely believe it, Holmes!”

“But there is precedent, Watson. Is it not the prophet Isaiah who tells us that ‘a little child shall lead them’? And so it was with us.”

“But when the little one said that he’d seen a pair of coffins, I naturally thought we were too late.”

“As, I confess, did I, but the mind of the three-year old is a mystery that foils even the cleverest. Nevertheless, you cannot dispute that his assistance, though not what either of us imagined when first he approached us, still proved invaluable.”

“No, indeed, but they were two sets of footprints, not coffins.”

“Footprints that I daresay only a three-year old could’ve observed.”

“A three-year old or a sleuth much his senior who had no qualms about ruining a good suit crawling about in the mud.”

“As you say. One set of footprints could only have been made by a man with a club foot, our friend Ricoletti, and the other were most assuredly made by his abominable wife. Yes, today, a little child led us to the resolution of a most splendid puzzle.”

“And got a splendid pudding for it.”

“I tell you, Watson, that if he learns to tell footprints from coffins, I shall be following with interest the future crime-solving career of young Master Bunter.”
 

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I like the confusion - glad you/Holmes sorted that one out!

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Yes, it would have been a different story if Minisculus had actually been making coffins on the balcony in the rain.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

...the mind of the three-year old is a mystery that foils even the cleverest. I daresay if young Okapi Minisculus takes after Okapi Major, then he has a particularly original and intelligent mind ^____^ What a unusual connection between words though...

And how lovely to see the young Bunter get a cameo ^__^

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Aw. You're very kind.

Yes, when he said he was making coffins on the balcony this morning, it did give me pause. When I saw what he was doing I said 'footprints?' He nodded and said, "Coffins." And I let it go.

I needed a 'b' to end on and tried to think of someone fictional who might make the cut. I love Bunter.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Smashing start to Bunter's splendid career.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Yes, he's been curious and observant from the start!

[mafief.livejournal.com]

Pfft, oh kiddos. They are hours and hours of entertainment somedays. :)

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

In this case, singularly helpful, too!