After that, it was a long and thankfully unexciting walk back to the house. Sherlock fell asleep. I didn't know it at the time, but I'd left my cane at the tor, which I would come to regret in the morning. That night I was just grateful to be in a bed and was certain the next day would go far more smoothly. [insert the hollow laughter of hindsight here]
Sherlock slept in my room, because I didn't know where his was. I slept in a chair propped against the door so he couldn't get out without waking me. He woke me by jumping up and down on the bed and saying my name over and over and over and over and over...and over again.
He and Mycroft and I all had a relatively civilised breakfast, kindly provided by Mrs Hudson, and then I thought we'd take a nice walk into town. I had by that point realised that I'd left my cane on the moor, but I was violently ignoring my leg in the hope that it would continue to be trouble-free. That worked about as well as you'd expect.
We weren't even a quarter of the way there when I fell. Sherlock ran off to get me a stick he'd seen. I sent Mycroft after him. And then my knight in a shining bluish Honda pulled up. Lestrade was on his way to the hall to question me and I saved him a trip.
He gave us a ride into town, stopped at the sweet shop, where Mycroft and Sherlock got out, and then asked me some pointed questions about recent murders, both in London and in Dartmoor. I'm afraid I wasn't taking the interrogation terribly seriously, partly because I still in Afghanistan for at least one or two of them, and partly because I was...distracted. As anyone would be. He kept trying to smoke his pen.
(This is my 300th post, by the way. Seems appropriate somehow.)
Sherlock slept in my room, because I didn't know where his was. I slept in a chair propped against the door so he couldn't get out without waking me. He woke me by jumping up and down on the bed and saying my name over and over and over and over and over...and over again.
He and Mycroft and I all had a relatively civilised breakfast, kindly provided by Mrs Hudson, and then I thought we'd take a nice walk into town. I had by that point realised that I'd left my cane on the moor, but I was violently ignoring my leg in the hope that it would continue to be trouble-free. That worked about as well as you'd expect.
We weren't even a quarter of the way there when I fell. Sherlock ran off to get me a stick he'd seen. I sent Mycroft after him. And then my knight in a shining bluish Honda pulled up. Lestrade was on his way to the hall to question me and I saved him a trip.
He gave us a ride into town, stopped at the sweet shop, where Mycroft and Sherlock got out, and then asked me some pointed questions about recent murders, both in London and in Dartmoor. I'm afraid I wasn't taking the interrogation terribly seriously, partly because I still in Afghanistan for at least one or two of them, and partly because I was...distracted. As anyone would be. He kept trying to smoke his pen.
(This is my 300th post, by the way. Seems appropriate somehow.)
44 comments:
Tracking down a possible murderer is enough to make anyone want a smoke... Or was it that you just took my breath away?
Remember the credit cards?? I still cant quite believe it... And there was me thinking I was dead generous giving them a quid each.
They certainly didn't need any more than that! As it was, they came back with more sweets than I've ever seen outside a shop.
Congratulations on 300 posts! (The mind boggles. 300!!)
Thank you for not letting this drop--I'm still dying to hear the rest. (You really know how to leave us wanting more, don't you... :D)
It was certainly an eye opener, seeing them both with the plastic.
And as if there weren't enough sweet things in my car already ;)
RR - thanks, it boggles my mind as well. Seems a bit unreal.
L - flatterer. :) There are a few children at Sherlock's school who have them too, so it's not even that it was just them. This is apparently a thing that happens these days. Seems utterly bizarre to me.
Yeah, like they all have mobile phones (no, Sherlock) and designer clothes and all that.
I didn't need a credit card until I'd run out of real money ;)
*blinks*
Is this really common, that young children get credit cards?!? Good grief, that can't be a good, growing up with the notion that getting money is like turning on a spigot.
I didn't get a credit card to use until I was in college when my mother put me on one of hers for emergencies--I never used it. I got one of my own in grad school, and I've never run a balance except for one time when a bill went missing. (Not that I've never been in debt--I am now :(--but I've never borrowed at 16% interest, and that's what running a credit card balance amounts to, which completely terrifies me and did from the start. O_O)
Very fitting for your 300th post John :-) the story of how you all found each other has to be an amazing one given how amazingly it's all turned out!
300 posts is quite impressive and it's not like any of them have been uneventful is it? ;-)
I think I didn't have one until after medical school. Even then I wasn't quite sure why I was bothering. It is a lot more convenient than writing checks though.
Anonybob - some of them have been uneventful! Well...semi-eventful... Not boring, I grant you. :)
OK I'll give you that 5% might be less than exciting but there are very few boring days with the four of you now ;-)
Not common, RR. You legally can't have one until you're 18. But parents get them and give them to kids.
Neither of my kids have them - my daughter relies on me if she needs something or else uses her student loan (what else is it for?)
... I clearly come from a different world.
(Of course, I'm a bit dubious about giving adults credit cards if they don't have at least a rough idea about what "compound interest" means.)
SH--Does she have anything left of her student loan after buying textbooks and food and rent and like that? (I certainly never did!)
To be fair to Mrs H, I can sort of see why she wanted them to have something for emergencies, given they were...between nannies at that point.
RR - I pay her rent and some money for food, she's responsible for the rest. My amazon account has been known to pay for her textbooks too!
really it was only like leaving money in the jug when you go on holiday and leave your kids at home like my parents used to do isn't it? I know Sherlock and Mycroft were a bit younger than that but still they were home alone in a lot of ways.
John--Well, yes, I can see that, more or less.
But that doesn't explain Sherlock's classmates having credit cards.
SH--Can we go back in time and you be my college mommy? :)
I wouldn't know, Anony, my parents didn't leave us alone for more than a few hours until I was in my second year of college (19, and in charge of a family of 4--a very memorable three weeks that was!).
they were home alone in a lot of ways
Yeah. I mean, they weren't, literally, in that there were other people in the house, but...yeah.
RR - there is no explanation for some of Sherlock's classmates.
Mrs T must be a fairly remarkable woman. :)
She definitely is. I would not want her job.
Young, slightly wild, children, sweet shop, credits cards... yeah, I can see how that might work.
I presume, John, that the sight of Lestrade with a pen in his mouth was enough of a distraction to stop you worrying about your leg?
Credit cards, hmm. I had one as a cheque guarantee card when I went to college (so i was a month or two shy of 17), and used it as a regular credit card as soon as I was 18. It made being a poor student a bit easier (although I was only poor relatively speaking; tuition fees were paid by the locale education authority, who also gave me a grant to cover living costs).
I used to be a "rate tart" - shopping around for the best deal on credit cards, and cancelling them when the deal ended. I'd buy stuff on my normal card (a tiny percentage of what I spend goes to Amnesty International), ay the whole balance off each month onto a card with a zero-percent interest offer, and pay off a fixed amount from that. A nice, cheap way of smoothing out the peaks and troughs like holidays and Christmas.
These days I'm *very* lucky in that I can pay off my credit card balance each month. I tend to use it for all my Internet shopping (which is almost all my shopping, TBH). Very handy :-)
Mrs T occasionally scares me. But she is brilliant with the kids. I just always feel like I might be told off for being naughty...
She only scares you because you know she wants you to come back and give another talk...
A guilty conscience always leaves you feeling like you're being told off Greg ;-)
scary yet brilliant teachers are what the world needs more of and Sherlock really does seem to love Mrs T so she must be doing a pretty good job of stretching his mind :-)
I don't know anything else to talk about!
I fear the day Sherlock leaves Mrs T's class.
Does he get another year with her, or is this one the last?
(I'm sure you have some more things to talk about, L! Sherlock must have some ideas... :D)
Yeah. That's going to be...difficult.
I presume, John, that the sight of Lestrade with a pen in his mouth was enough of a distraction to stop you worrying about your leg?
Nameless - enough to stop me being irritated with it at least!
Very difficult.
I won't say what I was thinking about sucking instead of that pen...
Something from the sweet shop?
Does Sherlock move from Mrs T in September?
(My guess would be ever lasting gob stoppers and/or a good thick stick of rock ;-) )
Good thick stick of rock is closer to the mark...
you not a gob stopper man? I always thought you were a variety kind of a guy ;-)
Oh, I do like variety. But that day it was definitely rock... but I like it all. Gobstoppers, lollipops, sherbert dippers on occasion...
variety is the spice of life but sometimes only your favourite will do that's for sure ;-)
You mean to say you weren't totally focussed on apprehending murderers that day? I never would've guessed.
Was totally focussed. Quickly ascertained your lack of murderousness. Decided you would make a good ally for some... undercover work...
Now I'm just picturing us undercover in a sweet shop, which I know isn't what you had in mind at all. Funny though. I worked in one for a while.
You should definitely take me to bed and tell me all about it.
I'll do that. Or at least I'll take you to bed.
Now I'm just picturing us undercover in a sweet shop, which I know isn't what you had in mind at all. Funny though. I worked in one for a while. Good grief, that's practically the dictionary definition of overkill - Danger in a sweet shop, looking adorable.
ps - John, did you watch Rafa beating Djokovich?
My partner and I are 30 and still don't have credit cards. We're both on a disability pension though and $800 between us a fortnight doesn't stretch far enough to paying things back so we make do (especially when Internet is $95 a month and electricity is $260 a month and running a car is essential as there's no public transport).
I do have a Visa debit card though so I can use it online and such but it only works if there is money in the account.
it's great to read all of this.
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