The Jack of All Trades {Sherlock Holmes}

Chapter Five

Pulling a single feather from her headdress, the woman showed it to the audience. On the rear of the crossbow was a small metal cup. The woman gently dropped the feather onto it, and Evelyn's breath hitched.

The arrow fired, whizzing across the room quite quickly. Sherlock followed it's flight while John was gasping at the sound of the arrow's release. Neither noticed Evelyn as she place a hand on her hip, a small memory coming to the front of her mind.

The arrow embedded itself in a painted board on the other side of the circle, making John laugh. Evelyn removed her hand from her waist, placing it over her heart and laughing quietly with him, hoping no one had seen her small trip down memory lane.

A new character entered the circle, chainmail across his body, and an ornate head mask upon his head. Holding his arms out to the side, two men came over, attaching heavy chains and straps to him.

His arms were folded in front of him. He backed against the board, now chained to it. Sherlock spoke quietly.

"Classic Chinese escapology act." John and Evelyn turned to him as John quietly hummed a question.

"Oh," Evelyn started. "The crossbow's on a delicate string, having the feather set it off. The warrior must have to escape his bonds before it fires." Sherlock looked down at her, a single word jumping out at him as he nodded.

Nervous.

Evelyn turned back to facing the circle as the woman loaded another arrow into the crossbow. More padlocks and chains were added onto the warrior, causing him to cry out as the men secured him to the board tightly.

Stepping away, the music began building in intensity, cymbals crashing unexpectedly. Evelyn jumped, and she quickly raised a hand to the back of her neck in embarrassment. The woman picked up a small knife, displaying it just like the feather before it.

"She splits the sandbag; the sand pours out, gradually the weight lowers into the bowl," Sherlock said softly. The woman did exactly that, the warrior struggling against his chains as sand began to pour out of the bag.

As the sand continued to pour out of the bag, the weight lowered towards the bowl at the back of the crossbow. The warrior got one of his hands free. John watched the weight lower, and Evelyn looked nervously at it as it crosses paths with the sandbag on its way up.

Watching the warrior as he got his other hand free, he started tugging at the chains around his neck. Evelyn gripped her scarf tightly, the weight only a few feet above the bowl.

The warrior cried out again as he pulled at his chains, and the weight got ever closer. The weight touched the bowl, the arrow streaking across the room.

With a second to spare, the warrior pulled free of the chains, ducking down to the floor as the arrow thudded into the board behind him. The audience began to applaud, all clapping and smiling except for Evelyn

"Are you alright?" John asked, looking at her worriedly. She quickly smiled, nodding.

"It was just a little nerve-wracking," she convinced. "I'm alright." She quickly looked over her shoulder, expecting Sherlock to be there, but quickly discovered he wasn't. She shrugged, not very worried.

The applause halted as the woman began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant moonlight shores of the Yangtze River, we present for your pleasure, the deadly Chinese bird-spider." Evelyn gritted her teeth as a masked acrobat descended from the ceiling.

Rolling through the air, the broad red band wrapped around his waist unraveled. The audience applauded as he stopped a couple feet above the ground, his body completely parallel to the floor.

"Wow," John exclaimed. "Did you see that?"

Yes, Evelyn did. But it did nothing to calm the knot tying itself in her stomach.