The Opera Singer's Daughter (A Sherlock Holmes Spin-Off Novel)

Chapter Fourteen

A bottle of milk, no doubt delivered early in the morning, was toppled over by Mr. Holmes' foot. The crash rang out behind us as we ran. There was no one lurking in the alley but where the alley met the road, I could see a cab waiting. It wasn't a stretch to assume it was with Braxton and the other men.

Mr. Holmes didn't pause as he took me down the alley then down the street. Left turn. Right turn. It was only when we were at least six blocks away from Briony Lodge that Mr. Holmes finally came to a stop. He raised his hand to summon a passing cab.

"They seemed extremely determined to carry me off," I said, panting and clutching the stitch in my side. I checked to make sure my hat was still securely on my head. It was, even with one hatpin missing. I felt a brief pang of sadness that my trio of hatpins would be incomplete now.

A necessary sacrifice.

"I would have to agree." Mr. Holmes handed me into the cab and then entered himself. He gave an address I did not recognize to the driver. "I'm afraid it would not be safe to return you to Baker Street. It would not take an idiot for them to realize who I am."

My stomach twisted at the news but I knew he was right. "Was that an expected outcome of today's excursion?"

"It was a calculated risk."

"Where will I go now?" All the reasons I had for not going to a hotel were all the more valid. It wasn't as though I could go around with a bodyguard on my heels. "All of my things are at 221 Baker Street."

"When she knows the reason, Mrs. Hudson will be good enough to pack it all up for you." Mr Holmes focused his gaze on me. "What were the other papers you found before we were interrupted? I assume you managed to keep hold of them?"

With a nod, I pulled them out of my pocket. "I didn't have a chance to look at them," I said as I handed them over. "Why did my mother hide them? Is this what those men were really searching for? Or was it me they wanted?"

"An interesting question. Given that they made a search of the house already, I would say they were looking for something in particular." Mr. Holmes unfolded the papers. "Granted, they may have thought you took refuge there, but given that they also had their agents on the streets looking for you, I think not."

Why? Why this sudden interest in my mother and me? I put the unanswered question to the back of my mind as I leaned over to look at the first of the two papers I had found. "Is that a marriage license?"

 "So it would seem, and written in German." There was a note of pique in Mr. Holmes' voice. He folded the paper before I could get a better look at it. "I'm afraid I must leave you for a moment. We are rather conspicuous together. When the cab stops, pay him and then walk down the street for five blocks until you find a small tea shop. Wait for me there."

 With that said, he pressed a coin into my hand and then hopped out of the moving cab. Surprised, I tried to look out and see where he went. However, he had vanished. Was that something he did often?

And Dr. Watson had thought I had been rash to jump out of a slow-moving train!

Breathing out, I leaned my head back. It had been a really long day and it wasn't over. Still, with Mr. Holmes gone, I had the chance to think.

Mum had left to keep harm from coming to Papa. I wasn't entirely surprised. My parents were devoted to each other, sometimes sickeningly so. They would do anything for each other.

Why hadn't Mum tried to warn me of the danger though? Had she hoped I would remain safe in school and that the men would not find me? Why had the men come for me at all? What did they think I knew? Did they hope to use me against my father?

An idea began to blossom in my mind. That marriage license. Written in German, Mr Holmes had said.

A member of royalty wouldn't acknowledge an illegitimate child. Why would they? There must be uncountable illegitimate children with royal blood in the world. So if there was this interest in me, there had to be a reason.