A giggle escaped Amelia's lips as James snuck up on David and tickled his ear with the feather he'd just found.
“Ger'off,” David said and waved his hand. A cross expression flitted across his face but they all knew he didn't mean it.
“Found it!” Sophie's voice came from Amelia's right. She turned towards her friend as David and James came hurrying over. Sophie held a small plastic Tupperware box with the words 'official geocache' on it up in the air and grinned. It was her first find of the day. Amelia and David were on two, leaving only James without a find in the circular route of nine that they'd planned for the afternoon.
James beat the three over to the box and quickly took the log book from Sophie to write their usernames and the date into it. Amelia gave her attention to the box. She had made several cute origami figures in case there was something she wanted to trade for in each cache. It was rare she did, as the contents were mostly kids' toys, but sometimes she found a pretty stone, shell or even something cool like a nice pencil or pen.
It only took her eyes a second to fix on the tiny envelope with the little wax seal on it nestled amongst a kid's plastic yo-yo and a small figurine from a kinder surprise. It was Myron's seal, and immediately her heart rate increased, while she struggled to fight the smile wanting to spread across her face.
She hadn't even mentioned to Sebastian that she was out geocaching with her friends. They'd only decided for sure that morning, when the day had dawned bright and clear, if not a little on the cold side. It could only mean he was paying attention to her.
Amelia bit down on her lip as Sophie continued to look through the box, but if she noticed the strangeness of an unmarked envelope she didn't say anything.
“Done?” Sophie asked James when she was bored of looking. He nodded and folded the log book's top back over before holding it out.
“Where did you find it?” Amelia asked as she held out her hand for the box. Just as she'd hoped, Sophie absentmindedly handed her the container and looked away to point at a gap between two large boulders. A small rock and some disturbed twigs and leaves sat near the hole and had evidently been used to hide it from anyone but the most eager of hunters.
“I'll put it back,” she said. “You guys can get a head start on the next one since I'm ahead of you.” She took the log book from James and shoved it into the box with one hand while she slipped the envelope out with the other.
James and Sophie ran off but David lingered, making it harder for her to slip the envelope into her pocket without anyone noticing. Eventually, the geocache was back in its hiding place, the letter was in her pocket, and she was walking along the path after James and Sophie.
“Is everything all right, Amelia?” David asked, taking up position beside her on the path.
“Yes, why wouldn't it be?”
“Well, it's just that you've been a little... different, lately. More focused. You've laughed less and you keep going to London. And you seem to keep getting hurt.” David kept his eyes on the path ahead and she noticed James glance back at them before taking Sophie's arm and hurrying her up. She fought to keep the surprise from her face. They must have all been talking about her. She self-consciously shrugged her sleeves over the fading scabs on her wrists, the last remnants of her most recent ordeal.
“It's been a tough few months for me. With the stalker, things got a little crazy, and I've been learning some new things and doing some research on some topics that keep taking me to London,” she said, rambling as she tried to put their minds at ease.
“James thought you might have a crush on this Sebastian guy.”
“Oh... no, not him.”
“So there is someone in London then?”
Amelia blushed at the question. There was someone, but it was far too complicated to explain. She couldn't look at David as she tried to think of a way out of the conversation.
“Make sure he deserves you, Amelia. He should be willing to move heaven and earth to keep you safe.”
“There's nothing official. I just like the guy, and I'm not sure if he even feels the same yet.” She bit down on her words, knowing she'd never be able to fully explain, but wondering if David was right. Could she be happy with anything less than someone fully devoted to her?
She couldn't imagine Myron ever wanting to put himself out just to protect her, especially if he felt it was her fault she was in trouble. He'd turned her away when she'd been scared of her stalker, although he had dressed as a rubbish collector to keep an eye on her once she had been hurt. That had always struck her as an act of guilt, however.
“You were so happy when Craig was around. We'd like to see you that happy again. Please don't settle for anyone that isn't at his level.”
Amelia smiled at this. She didn't talk about her late husband much but she knew they meant well.
“I promise I won't accept anyone in my life who isn't at least the man Craig was.”
“Good. Now let's see if we can keep our lead in finding geocaches.”
David put his arm through Amelia's, giving her no choice but to be hurried along by him to catch up with the others. She desperately wanted to read her letter but she also really wanted to show her friends that there was nothing to be worried about. The changes in her life weren't bad. If anything, she was living more than she ever had before. It just kept her far busier.
For the next three hours she pushed the letter from her mind and continued to hunt for little boxes in the English countryside. By the time they were done, she had found four, David had found three and James and Sophie had finished with a sole find each.
“Let's go to the pub,” James said, linking his arm through Sophie's and leading the group towards the cars.
“I can't,” Amelia replied without hesitating. “I've got some work I need to do this evening.”
“You're a writer, you can work any time.”
Sophie gave her a pleading look, matching the tone James had used.
“It's research, and someone else is helping me out with this bit. I'm really sorry, guys, I can't keep them waiting. I'll have drinks with you another night.” Before any of them could object any further Amelia hugged James and David and hurried towards Sophie's car. She knew her friend would drop her off before heading to the pub. She'd berate Amelia the whole way, but the hard part was over.
As the front door clicked shut behind her, Amelia sighed with relief. Sophie was a good friend but incessant about Amelia needing to socialise more, and they were never going to agree. An afternoon geocaching with her closest friends was more than enough chatter for the week. The effort had left her drained and eager to return to having her own thoughts and characters for company.
Now she felt like she could hole up and refocus on her books, or whatever task Myron had planned for her next. Assuming he really was called Myron. She'd tried not to think about her discovery of him possibly being Mycroft Holmes and over one hundred and fifty years old, but occasionally her mind revisited the notion, even if it wasn't something her mind could quite grasp as a possibility. If the science existed to make people live that long now, she might just believe it, but if all the signs were right, then it had existed for far longer than that.
She hurried to remove her boots and push the thoughts from her mind. It wouldn't do to dwell on them. Once her soft slippers were on her aching feet, she padded over to the sofa, removed the letter from her jacket pocket and sat down. It didn't take her long to prise off the seal and open the small envelope. Inside was a small length of paper folded in half twice. She read the words and frowned.
A: The art of a number is made up of observed facts, and this is the important cache.
As the lines deepened on Amelia's face, a small sigh escaped her lips. Myron never made her tasks easy, but then she was meant to be learning from one of the brightest men on the planet. The sentence made little sense to her, so she put it down and removed the rest of her outdoor clothing. When she still had no idea where to begin, she filled the kettle and flicked the switch to start it boiling. Even he would approve of her having tea while she tried to solve the problem.
The first object of confusion to her was the letter A. It implied this was the answer to a question, but she had no idea what the question was. If it didn't mean that, then the sentence had an answer that had A as part of something else, perhaps. She did suspect Myron might start to bring several different answers together to provide information for one final task. It was more natural to have to learn and notice things before you might need them. The art of seeing possible key pieces of information before you knew you needed them was something hard to teach.
The answer being related to some future event would also fit with the last few lessons she'd had with Tom. He'd momentarily paused their martial arts lessons to teach her techniques in moving stealthily, as well as spent several hours heightening her memory recall. For several days she'd suspected something else was coming, even if it was sooner after the last set of lessons than normal.
With a cup of tea in hand, she settled into the leather sofa and held Myron's letter in front of her, studying it for some kind of clue.
Several minutes passed by and she found herself growing frustrated. Neither Holmes brother would take this long to work out what it meant, and she needed to get as close to their level of skill as she could. It wounded her emotions that no matter how hard she tried she couldn't be as good as they were.
In an attempt to calm down, Amelia placed the letter on the coffee table, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She then finished her tea and picked up the letter again. Instantly the answer clicked. She'd been thinking about the message as a whole when it was probably a sentence within a sentence.
Amelia grabbed her pencil and quickly went through possible words to skip and what was formed if she followed any sort of pattern. After several minutes of underlining and rubbing out, she had one possibility that looked feasible. Every fourth word.
The number of this cache.
A grin spread across her face as she retrieved her laptop from her computer area and booted it up. She then went to the main geocaching website and looked up the day's finds. The geocache itself was the sixth one of the circle they'd picked out, although it was their fifth of the day because they'd started slightly farther around the route and ended with the first. While Amelia was wondering which of these it could be, she also realised there was the total number she'd found, as well. Working backwards from the current total, she noticed it was her fifty-first geocache find. The answer to Myron's question could be any of the three possibilities.
Hoping to get a little more information out of the man himself, she rummaged in her handbag for the phone he'd given her. It didn't take her long to tap out a message.
Got your letter. Unique delivery system. Any time frame on my answer?
When she was done, she read over the message several times, feeling her stomach flip at thoughts of him being well over a hundred and under a false identity. It wasn't the first time that she'd wondered if she wanted to be involved with the man. She really didn't know very much about him, and immortality was a complication.
Pushing aside her fear, she pressed the send button. It was too late for regrets. She was already in deep with the Holmes brothers. All she could do now was learn to swim.
While she waited for a response, she pulled up the latest file for her novel and threw herself into the second draft. It was a little earlier than she would normally like to take a second look at a book, but it was better than sitting, doing nothing, and her publisher would be pleased if the book was finished early. Something she'd never yet managed.
She'd been working just long enough to lose herself in her characters' world when the phone buzzed, making her jump. Her heart leapt in her chest as she looked at the reply.
I hope you enjoyed your modern treasure hunt this morning. You've got time to figure out the answer. Not all problems have deadlines that are apparent at the beginning, or information that is obviously connected.
Amelia almost dropped her phone in shock. This was extra teaching and advice and very forthcoming for Myron. He was either in a good mood or pleased with her, for some reason. Whatever the cause, she wasn't going to waste the goodwill.
I did enjoy the treasure hunt, and my extra surprise. I even managed to retrieve the letter without my friends noticing. Are you well and in the government's good graces again?
Amelia relaxed and made herself another cup of tea. She could do this; she just needed to trust herself and keep going. Whatever Myron's world involved, as long as she stayed calm, she could cope with it. As she sat down with her fresh beverage, Myron's reply came through.
I'd be very concerned if you had let your friends notice you take the letter. Sebastian insisted you'd become very adept at sleight of hand or I'd never have put the letter there. I am as well as can be expected if you're referring to my health, and the government soon remembered how much they needed me. Now, get back to your writing and do stay alert. We wouldn't want you to miss anything important.
A grin spread across her face as she imagined Myron saying the last part. It wasn't a question, but she knew she could get away with one quick reply.
As you command.
She allowed herself a brief thought over whether the message would make him smile or not before she did as she'd been bid and continued with her work.