The Holmes brood- A Sherlock's sister fanfic

ZOE RIVER'S DIARY CONTINUED

It surprised me of course- but recently so many strange things were happening, that I was quite immune to shock. Plus- I can't believe any man coming to me and saying, 'Hey there mate, I'm your brother.' But why would anyone say so for no apparent reason? So there I sat, trying to find out some way to verify his statement.

'You can believe me or choose not to. But that does not alter the truth in any way.'

'The Other one.' I murmured.

'What?'

'Nothing. Do tell me how the others don't know about you yet.'

'To explain that, I have to reel off a whole tale.'

'I don't suppose I have anything else to do for the present moment.'

'You see- when we lost Redbeard, Sherlock was quite young- ten or eleven atmost...........'

'Redbeard- as in the Irish Setter you three had, in your boyhoods? The one Mycroft and Sherlock absolutely refrain from telling me about, since Sherlock behaved like a total infant when it died?'

'They never told you about it? Then how did you know?'

'Bits and trifles from here and there. Do go on.'

'Well, so there was this death of our dog that hurt poor Sherlock, and I was the one responsible for cheering him up since Mycroft was in university, even I was not very up in the spirits, so I started hunting mysteries up and solving them for a distraction. Once I had solved them; I'd put chits and things around the place with clues and the unbelievably wool headed policemen would find the real culprit finally.'
'Interesting, had Sherlock not been a detective; I might have done the same.'
'Then I stumbled upon this case, most singular in its context. Reminding me of an old group of people -I had the sense to inform myself about. Infamous....'
'Scowrers.'
'Correct.'
'You found things out, maybe let some hints slip by to Mycroft and Sherlock, and did a wholly good research. Information that could finish them for once and for all. But they found you out.'
'You aren't as stupid as I thought.'
'Stupid ! I've done the same things myself. So whatever name stands for me stands for you too.'
'Good grief ! Do you always talk back like that?'
I smiled guiltily.
'Whatever. So they found me out. And once when Mycroft returned it was my turn to go to the university. He asked me to fetch him his old painting things from the shed, so that he could dispose them off....'
'Wait a minute, Mycroft actually painted?'
'Yes, doesn't he now?'
My jaw dropped to the ground. But I was amused at the same time. I had finally got something to blackmail dear old Mycroft about. My jaw on the floor at once convinced Sherrinford that I was completely unaware of the matter, so he continued.
'The shed had no inflammables whatsoever. I had just walked out of the window behind, when the thing blew up-sky high (Well not that much, you do remember don't you, that we Holmeses have a thing for the dramatic?) And I was sent flying into the thicket nearby.'
'And they never found you?'
'No, an elderly man found me. He was my confidante and the only one who knew of my existence. He even helped me finish my university; under the name of Warren Rivers. I took great care that my people, or infact anyone remained oblivious to my being alive still. When I was three and twenty, I joined this Society of freemen, under the Secret Service.'
'Wait- do you really expect me to believe that? The British Secret Service is under the government. And whatever is under the government is under the scrutiny of Mycroft. And he does not overlook anything. He'd have known ages ago that you were alive and kicking.'
'Kid, you forget again that I am a Holmes, I have my own principles and I can easily get off the news. Besides, there are a hundred of societies around the world that are not known to your omniscient, cake- loving British government.'
I giggled, ' Underground?'
' Well, sort of. We have a code. The police won't be after us.'
'Mycroft did tell me about that society of vigilantes. And said that sometimes the law can't get everywhere. And sometimes they are best left alone.'
Sherrinford continued, 'The Scowrers were asleep until lately. Recently, it decided to bomb a part of Georgia.'
I smirked, ' And I believe that the nuclear bombs are in Old warehouse 6- belonging to one Trevor Franz Shultz- who is if I am not wrong is a member and not a German or a Dutch.'
'How do you know that?'
'A courier girl's disguise isn't as bad as it sounds. A golden wig, a fake parcel that has reached the wrong address, a simple county accent, a bit of stupidity and a habit of banging on people and apologising every now and then can is very advantageous. I'm thinking about writing a thesis on the matter.'
There was a silence.
'By the way, why did you save me.'
'Well, I think I did say I'm your brother.'
'Oh I'm not buying that at all. You know me only a few weeks. And Holmeses are least given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. That's what Mycroft told me anyway.'
'That's dead true. We are not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. We are always worried sick of our siblings. I'm sure you agree.'
I tried to change the topic and succeeded, 'What happened after I was chloroformed?'
'As soon as they were out of sight ( utterly foolish of them to make me stand guard and see if you were feigning it, which you certainly weren't), I fished you out. It was a squeamish affair to ship you to safety unseen by that rogue Cunningham. The next work in order was to see if you were still alive. Which I doubted not for one moment. And here you are alive and well. But you have to stay under cover for a while till things get hushed up and your brothers get things in hand.'
'But I am dead.' I said gravely, 'How do I deal with that? I mean, I have to attend some school or something.'
'Darlence Holmes is dead.' said he taking out some papers and a birth certificate, 'But to my knowledge Zoe Rivers is alive and so is her brother Warren.'
'Is Zoe Rivers real.'
'She was-died some years ago. Hardly anyone knows about that death though. We'll leave for Kent tomorrow.'
'Then all I have to do is read up on her life and act like her?' I said, 'Seems very easy.'

[(A/N): Ehehehe (that's my laugh when I feel guilty, by the way) sorry for the very incorrigibly late update. I am in a terrible temper after coming to this place where I am completely alienated. And I half forgot about Dacey and her brothers. But yes, I finally have my laptop. So I'll be able to update properly again]