The Flower Seller ( WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 7

Sherlock entered to find Wynonna and Nicole on the floor punching each other with all their might. It took him and Dr Watson to separate the pair, Nicole banished from the house without being given an opportunity to explain. She sobbed the entire journey to her house, her mother furious on seeing the state of her daughter as she entered the drawing room. Mr Holmes was summoned, apologising profusely, suggesting the arrangement be terminated in the interests of everyone.

Waverly begged her uncle to reconsider, as did Wynonna for the sake of her sister. Neither could sway his decision, Dr Watson explaining his friend's pride would not allow him to waiver once his mind was made up. Lessons in Baker Street lost their sparkle without Nicole's wide-eyed wonder, the sisters accepting they had lost a friend.

Nicole cried for three days, her mother beside herself, wondering if she should approach Mr Holmes and suggest they resume lessons. By the fourth day Nicole was no happier, her mother deciding a trip to Norfolk would do both of them some good, provide a change of scenery. Nicole refused to go, refused to leave her room, refused to eat. It was no use, Nicole's mother requested Mr Holmes visit.

He arrived the next morning spending time with Nicole's mother, Nicole summoned to the drawing room eventually. "Mr Holmes says the matter was a misunderstanding."

"It was. I'm so dreadfully sorry," Nicole said, tears welling. "I'll never do that again. I promise."

"My ward should not have struck you," Sherlock countered. "That is unforgivable."

"Wynonna didn't mean to. It was entirely my fault. I was frustrated with my work. She did nothing wrong."

"The decision rests with Mr Holmes," her mother replied. "If what my daughter says is true, please accept my sincere apologies for her behaviour."

Mr Holmes nodded. "I would like to reflect on the matter, if I may. You will have my decision in due course."

Nicole fled to her room, sobbing into the pillow for the rest of the day. Her ride the next morning had her in floods of tears again. Her horse spooked, Nicole freezing as she remembered the moment she was thrown, her chaperone grabbing the reins with moments to spare before her horse bolted. She searched daily for Waverly at the park entrance, her heart empty having lost her and Wynonna, praying Sherlock would allow them to be together once more.

A letter from Mr Holmes arrived a week later informing them he had decided to take his wards on an extended tour of Europe. Nicole's life shattered as her mother read out his words. Everything good in her life, save her family and her horse, resided at 221B Baker Street. The thought of not being able to return a death she was not prepared for. Writing a coded letter that evening, she slipped out of the house in her pauper's clothes, determined to deliver it in person. Her male persona afforded her the luxury of anonymity, her cap pulled low, her distinctive hair hidden underneath.

The distance between the two properties was approximately half an hour on foot, Nicole limping the last few hundred yards as she approached the house where she had been happy. Those out that time of night had their own agenda. Drunks, criminals, unsavoury characters going about their business under the cover of darkness. She kept her head down so as not to draw attention, invisible to those not able to see beyond her drab attire. A streetlamp opposite Sherlock's residence provided temporary reprieve from the ache in her foot, her hand on the letter tucked inside her jacket.

She looked up at the homely glow from the first floor windows, a world in which she no longer was welcome. Wynonna would most likely be playing the piano, Waverly turning the pages. Or, perhaps she might be playing, Sherlock accompanying her on his violin, Dr Watson sitting in one of the comfy armchairs puffing on a pipe. How she wanted to be part of that world again, that crazy, eccentric, dangerous world. All she had to do was deliver the letter, hoping the door on that life had not closed forever.