KINDRED. ━ enola holmes. ( ✔️)

XIV. AN END.

THE BUSTLING LONDON STREETS were behind them now as they stood in front of the gate. Iron and menacing, they towered over the pair of girls. But it didn't matter much now, for they were there, and nowhere else.

Vivienne listened carefully to the words spoken by the members of the Tewkesbury family, how the mother fussed over her son's appearance, yet still managed to look at him lovingly. And the bitter feeling of jealousy crept up in her throat once again, though she suppressed it. 

Enola nudged her shoulder, gathering back her attention from her once slightly spaced out state. The girl motioned for them to go forward and talk to Tewkesbury, and though Vivienne wasn't particularly excited about it, she followed. As they walked up to the gates, Tewkesbury was quick to greet them from the other side, dressed for the occasion. 

"Congratulations. You finally look like the nincompoop you were born to be," Enola smiled, and the other two laughed. "No. You look good. This is..." she motioned to his outfit, "good."

Tewkesbury gripped the gate. "The vote is in an hour. It's, um... it's quite the thing."

"I'd hope so." Vivienne muttered, before having a moment of realization. "I- I'm not allowed to say that now that you're like, a lord, right? Because I'll still say even if I can't."

"Oh, adding onto that. I'm not supposed to bow or anything, am I, now that you are whatever you are?" Enola asked, furrowing her brows as she talked. Vivienne found it rather cute, in all honesty.

"Well, arguably, you both always had to bow and be respectful. You two just... chose not to." Tewkesbury looked around at the street as he talked. "So, uh, are you both safe? Are you... are you- are you comfortable? You two are not still living in that terrible lodgings house, are you?"

"No," Vivienne laughed a little as she spoke, her mood brightening.

"I used the reward money your mother gave me..."

"Which you reluctantly took." Tewkesbury interrupted, before allowing Enola to continue.

"-and found somewhere new for us." The brunette finished, adding in a playful glare.

Tewkesbury nodded. "And you, Vivienne, have you spoken to your parents at all? After you got caught?"

"Uhm, I wrote them a letter. Told them that I was going to run off to some place overseas if they didn't let me leave that horrendous school and give up. I got a letter back soon enough, agreeing with my terms. I think I'm clear now. Nobody has snatched me from the streets for reward money yet." Vivienne giggled nervously at the last word, even though it was a real concern of hers.

"That's good. Uhm, anyway," The young lord looked between the two girls. "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck, Tewkesbury," both the girls said in unison. 

"I'll see you both again, won't I?"

"We're not easy to get rid of!" Enola called out as they walked off from the gates, back into the streets away from the boy. She took Vivienne's hand and they took off into the bustling streets of London.

•••

VIVIENNE WATCHED CAREFULLY as Enola checked the newspaper. The other girl's finger traced a line down the column, before she paused. "Mother."

She borrowed a pencil from the man selling the newspapers, and she quickly decoded the mother as Vivienne stood to the side. 

"That's unexpected." 

"Why, might I ask?" 

Enola carefully listed the reasons, concluding that it was her brother's doing. "I'm going to need you to go back to the house."

Vivienne was a little bit taken aback by her statement, but trusted Enola enough. "Fine. Promise me that you'll come back in one piece?" The girl held out her pinkie finger.

Enola took it with her own finger and muttered a promise, before the kissed the top of Vivienne's hand. Vivienne didn't try and conceal how her cheeks flushed, and in order to avoid further humiliation, she began the trek back to the place they were staying at. 

•••

SHE WALKED THROUGH THE front door, greeting the maid who muttered something about a visitor. Now, it wasn't that Vivienne didn't trust the maid, it's just that after the hell she'd been through for the past few days, she'd been a little bit on edge. 

Still, she walked up the stairs confidently and into the living room. 

An older woman, about fifty stood up from her seat. Dressed in darker clothes, she closely resembled Enola, and Vivienne couldn't help but ask. 

"Mrs. Holmes?" 

"Oh, uhm, yes. That's me. Please, call me Eudoria." The woman held out her hand to shake, to which Vivienne did. 

"It's an honor to meet you, really. From what I've heard from Enola, you're quite the remarkable woman." The younger girl flushed slightly when she realized how she sounded much like a kiss up. 

"And I assume you are too. My daughter doesn't trust people too easily. Even then, it's only the most interesting characters." She laughed lightly at the end of her statement. 

Just as Vivienne was about to speak, the ring of a doorbell made her stand up. "One moment please." 

"Oh, yes definitely."

Vivienne walked down the stairs, and as she reached the front door and looked through the peephole she saw the familiar face of Enola. 

And as she opened the door, a smile was painted on her face. "We have a visitor, and I think you're going to rather like her."

•••

AUTHOR'S NOTE
and that concludes the book! 
the ending was complete garbage
so i'll probably end up revising it 
at some point but yeah!

thank you all so much for the support,
it really means a lot. 

if a sequel to enola holmes is ever released
i might end up writing that too! 

so thank you all for reading, commenting, 
and voting. this story was super fun to write
and all your comments made it even better.

thank you, and stay safe!