Hounds Experiments & Relationships (A BBC Sherlock Fan-fiction)

3. The Cross-Keys Inn

DARTMOOR.
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We find our trio driving across the moors in a large black Land Rover jeep. Sherlock is driving, with John in the passenger seat and Elisabeth in the rear seats.
Some time later, away from the road, Sherlock and Elisabeth are standing dramatically skylined on a large stone outcrop while John stands at the foot of it consulting a map. He points ahead of himself at a large array of buildings in the distance.

"There's Baskerville." Says John, pointing.

He turns and points behind them. Sherlock turns to look.

"That's Grimpen Village."

He turns and looks ahead of them again, checking the map for the name of the heavily wooded area to the left of the Baskerville complex.

"So that must be ... yeah, it's Dewer's Hollow."

Elisabeth points to an area in between the complex and the Hollow.

"What's that?" She asks.

John has binoculars on a strap around his neck and now he lifts them and looks more closely at the fencing and the warning signs.

"Minefield? Technically Baskerville's an army base, so I guess they've always been keen to keep people out." Says John.

"Clearly." Says Elisabeth.

Later, they drive into Grimpen Village and pull into the car park of the Cross Keys inn. They get out and walk towards the entrance of the pub, where a young man who is apparently a tour guide is talking to a group of tourists.

"... three times a day, tell your friends. Tell anyone!" He says.

The trio walk past the group and see that he is standing next to a large sign on which is painted a black image of a wolf-like creature with the words "BEWARE THE HOUND!!" above it.

"Don't be strangers, and remember ... stay away from the moor at night if you value your lives!" Says the man.

Sherlock has been pulling his overcoat around him as he walks towards the pub, and now he pops the collar. Elisabeth looks round at him pointedly.

"I'm cold." Says Sherlock.

The tourist group walks away from Fletcher. Once their backs are turned he puts on a large shaggy wolf's-head mask. Sherlock and John walk into the pub, which has a blackboard outside advertising "Boutique Rooms & Vegetarian Cuisine." Fletcher runs over to a couple of the nearby tourists and roars. They flinch and the woman shrieks in surprise.

Flashback to Henry Knight's father being grabbed by something in Dewer's Hollow, and young Henry's horrified face. In the present, adult Henry flinches, his eyes closed as he sits half reclined on a comfortable armchair. The flashbacks continue to haunt him until he opens his eyes and sighs. A woman is sitting a short distance away with a notebook and pen on her lap.

"That part doesn't change." Says Henry.

"What does?" Asks the woman.

Henry runs his hands over his face.

"Oh, there's something else. It-it's a word." He says.

Sighing heavily in concentration, he closes his eyes again and sees the word as if it is stitched or knitted into some fabric.

"Liberty." He says.

He opens his eyes again.

"Liberty?" Asks the woman.

"There's another word." He says, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate.

"In. I-N. Liberty In."