Scandal's Daughter (A Sherlock Holmes Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

A distant bang woke me that night. Blinking sleepily, I lifted myself up in my bed. As I listened, another, softer, thud came moments later. Now completely awake, I scrambled to my feet. I shivered and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. The fire that had been blazing in my room when I had gone to sleep had gone out.

Moving quietly, I made my way to the door. I stepped out into the hallway. Everything was dark. Again, I heard the sound of something falling. This time, the sound was followed by a man's voice. Though I listened carefully, I couldn't hear the words, but the man's tone was definitely angry.

"How can Leigh not hear this?" I whispered to myself. Shaking my head in puzzlement, I hurried towards the library. Even wrapped in the thick blanket, I shivered in the cold. Leigh had not been able to complete boarding up each broken window, so the cold winter wind blew right through.

A light shone underneath the library door. I crept up to it and peeked through the ajar door. A man's back was to me. Where I had cleaned up was once again strewn with papers. The man tossed a book to the floor, causing another thud. "I told you to stop that!" a second man hissed.

"No one's going to hear us," the first man answered. And then, I knew: it was the tall man from the train station. "Let's just finish the job."

Drawing back, I took a deep breath, trying to get my bearings. Whoever these men were, they definitely were no one I should take on alone. I leaned forward again, drawn by the fact that more light was shining through. There came a sharp cracking noise, and smoke rolled out from under the door.

Gasping, I stared at the fire that was in the middle of the room. As fast as I could, I ran past the library to the stairs. Barely moments later, the two men came out and headed up. Towards my room. It was clear I needed help, so I kept going towards the lower levels of the house.

I easily wound my way through the darkness, every detail of the house memorized. I found the door to the Leighs' room and knocked loudly. "Mrs. Leigh? Leigh?" I called out, fear making my voice tremble.

Deep snores came from within. Praying that I wouldn't regret it, I grasped the knob and turned it. I pushed the door open, flinching at the loud creak it made. I wanted them up, so I didn't worry too much about the noise, only prayed the intruders above stairs wouldn't hear. The Leighs' were asleep in their bed. Their fire had also died down.

"Mrs. Leigh!" I shouted, hurrying to the bed. I shook the housekeeper's arm. "Mrs. Leigh, wake up!"

The woman mumbled something and rolled over. Horrified, I scrambled around the bed and shook Leigh's arm. "Leigh, wake up!" I pleaded as I got no reaction from the man. Something was very wrong here and, puzzled, I backed away. There was nothing I could do except save my home, so I ran out.

It didn't matter if I made any noise now. All that mattered was getting something to quench the fire. I banged through to the kitchen, searching for the pail that hung beside the old fashioned pump. Hastily, I filled the pail with water, letting the blanket drop to the floor.

Turning, I made my way back to the library, where the fire was growing in strength and size. I flung my bucket of water at the fire. The flames hissed, shrank back, and then flared up again. I recoiled instinctively, staring at the inferno in horror. What was I going to do now?

Somebody pushed roughly past me. I caught myself on the door frame as a man, most definitely not Leigh, tore a drape from the window and beat at the flames. "Get more water!" he snapped, glancing back at me. It was the second, shorter man from the train station.

At least he was here to help, it seemed. Nodding, I scrambled back down to the kitchen and hauled another bucket of water up. The stranger had beaten the fire back to a more manageable state. I dumped my bucket water on top, and it fizzled out of existence.