Dreamer's Ball [ENOLA HOLMES]

ten; the great lady detectives

chapter ten; the great lady detectives

Night crept upon Amélie just as she finally arrived back at the flat. The streetlights were being lit and the sun was nearly out of the sky. Her little sidetrack tea break with Pierre took her off schedule (though she didn't regret stopping to talk with him one bit) She found nothing at the other places, but the French girl didn't consider her little trip as a bust. She did something for Enola... that's all that matter. Helping Enola with what she wanted... Amélie secretly hoped that her own dreams and wants would come true one day... but she knew better than to even try to get her hopes up.

"Nola!" She called out as she entered their floor, but got no response. Odd... Confused, Amélie searched around the floor for her, but she being quite stupid didn't think to check the room they shared first... which is where Enola was. Enola sat on the floor next to the fireplace in her undergarments deep in thought. Her knees remained dirty and bloody, which freaked Amélie out. What happened? Amélie scurried to Enola's side and shrunk to the floor, "Oh! Nola, what happened?"

Enola didn't answer right away nor looked up at Amélie. Instead, she continued to fiddle with her corset in her hands, which had a large knife gash mark in it. Amélie took the silence as an opportunity to help. She rushed to fill up a small pale with water and grabbed a spare white cloth. She didn't exactly have a kit to properly clean the marks on Enola's legs, so this would have to do. She returned to Enola's side and nudged her softly on her leg for attention. She wanted to make sure it was okay by Enola. Enola slowly raised her head up and saw Amélie sitting before her, waiting. Enola knew what she was going to do and just nodded her head.

Amélie dipped the cloth in the water bucket, drenching it. She rung it out so it wouldn't drip all over the place, but left just enough water in for it to be damp. She placed it right on the cuts. Enola hissed in pain as Amélie gently wiped the cloth across her knees. The motions were so gentle and caring that Enola soon untensed. It was a quiet yet very intimate moment. Amélie didn't expect for Enola to tell her what happened as she could've guessed that it wasn't very good, but Enola took it upon herself to speak. She explained everything that had happened at Limehouse Lane: the discovery that her mother was in some sort of secret suffrage group affiliated with bombs and then the bowler hat man attacked her, trying to get information about the whereabouts of Pierre and Tewkesbury.

"Do you remember when I was younger, I cut my knee open trying to save a sheep from the cliff edge?" Enola asked. Her voice remained very quiet.

Amélie chuckled. That unlocked a memory deep within. She nodded her head, "oh yes, you almost died but still bragged to me the next day how you were a hero."

"Did I tell you how my mother responded?"

"No."

Enola sighed, still fiddling with the strings of the corset, "Mother was angry. Very angry. She claimed that it was nature's course and it was meant to be..." Amélie thought that sounded wrong—Enola was just trying to help. Maybe that's where her hesitation to help stems from. "It made me think of Huxley and Tewkesbury." Enola continued. Amélie didn't quite understand what Enola meant by that, so Enola began explaining her thoughts, "The truth is, we didn't ask for no title Pierre Huxley and Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether in our lives. We didn't want no title Pierre Huxley and Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether in our lives."