Elephant's Memory (Sherlock BBC)

1: Mother

Chapter One: Clara

"Julie! Hurry up!" Clara Evangeline called to one of her foster children, dark brown eyes glistening in the early morning. The blonde little girl hopped down the stairs, straightening her pretty plaid skirt. Clara tutted.

"Can you tuck in Julie's shirt tail, Mary-Kate? There's a dear." Clara said. A sixteen-year-old girl with hauntingly dark eyes and black hair nodded blankly, tucking the back of the six year old's shirt in.

"Why do we have to go to school?" Julie complained as the butler handed her a bowl of porridge. "Ryan doesn't have to!"

"Ryan is older than you, and he will be going to school." Clara replied dully. "Mary-Kate, can you be a dear and go make sure that Katherine and Karen-"

"GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!" A high pitched scream sounded from three floors above.

"Too late." Mary-Kate muttered, before Clara hurried up the staircase to discipline the twin girls who were now screaming at each other over the bathroom.

"Katherine! Karen! That's enough bickering out of you!" She said, tone filled with annoyance. Both immediately turned around, placing their hands behind their backs after straightening their matching dresses.

"Hello Miss Evangeline." They said respectfully, Katherine ending her sentence after Karen.

The twins looked exactly alike, identical almost down to their finger prints. And even those were similar. They had the same blonde hair that was usually French braided back, the eyes the color of rich dark chocolate, they had the exact same eyeglass prescription, the same tooth problems, and they even got sick at the exact same time.

"We didnt know you would be here this morning." Karen said cautiously. With her business dealings and appearances as a socialite, Clara was never at home as much as she liked.

"You never know when I'll show up." She replied. "However, I've a reason to be here today. I've got to escort Ryan to Oxford in about..." She glanced at her watch. "Six hours." She glanced up and smiled. "Ah, heres the man of the-"

"Hi, mom." Ryan called over his shoulder as he rushed past her and into his bedroom.

"What's the rush?" Clara muttered, escorting the twins downstairs so that they could take their places at the long table. She took her own seat and watched as her children were served breakfast.

"He probably forgot to pack something." Katherine said, digging into her chocolate chip pancakes. Soon after, Ryan came out of his room behind them, ready to eat.

"Ah, there's my beach boy" Clara said warmly, gesturing to the seat to the right of the head of the table. Clara herself sat at the head, and Herbert, her butler, broght her her usual breakfast: A small omlette with chives and a small strip of bacon. She placed her napkin in her lap and smiled at her odd family.

Each of these children had some sort of a gift or a bad hand dealt by life. The twins were both very intelligently gifted; Karen had a very high IQ for a thirteen year old and Katherine was a math whiz. Little Julie always saw a bit more than what others could see; she was a budding psychic. Mary-Kate and Ryan had the most similar issues; the previous year, Mary Kate had witnessed her parent's double suicide, and when Ryan was twelve he had witnessed his parent's brutal murder.

"Good morning, Ms. Evangeline." Susan, the children's live in psychologist, said as she came down the stairs.

"Good morning." she replied. After she sat down, Clara addressed the therapist again. "So, Susan, what are your plans for the day with our ladies?" Clara said, crossing her ankles.