| |
“And this tiger just came out of nowhere and attacked us.”
Holmes gave Watson and Mrs. Hudson a closer look. “You seem untouched.”
“God’s grace and quick reflexes.”
“John left me bruised.”
Watson glanced at her. “I am deeply sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I was just stating fact. If you hadn’t left a bruise on me, I would more than likely have been torn apart like that poor couple was.”
Watson leaned over and then caressed her cheek with a kiss, then a pat on her hand. “I am glad you weren’t, even if it sad for the loss they experienced.”
Holmes sighed. “Nothing is certain in life.”
Watson didn’t lift a glass, but replied. “I’ll drink to that.”
Mrs. Hudson wiped at a tear in her eyes. “They were so young and handsome.”
Watson pulled her next to him and kissed her again on the cheek. “I’m sorry you had to experience that.”
Mrs. Hudson swiped at more tears. She then laughed. “I’m being a crybaby, aren’t I?”
Holmes put his own hand over hers and patted it gently. “No harm in feeling for the loss of others. We can’t always save the world; but we can save parts of it. So we have to be grateful for that which we can serve; and that which we could not, bless it and pray for its sanctity and safety.”
Mrs. Hudson nodded. “Holmes, sometimes I am stunned by how different you are from when you first came to us and now how much different you are than...”
Watson stiffened.
“Sorry, John.”
He relaxed. “No harm done.”
But Holmes knew his friend better than his friend would admit sometimes. It had been harm done, but not intentionally. Watson and he were still quite sensitive to the loss of their original partners. The intensity of memories may weaken over time, but never the love you felt.
That was man’s curse and blessing. To have to endure pain, but also to be able to rise above it and clamor triumphantly towards the heavens, an angel in the making.
“I hope your day went better than ours,” Watson finally said after a long pause in the conversation.
Holmes smiled. “Invariably, just as contorted as your own.”
“Inevitably?”
“All rivers flow to the sea.”
Watson gave Holmes a questioning look at his cryptic statement.
Holmes looked Watson in the eyes. “Let’s just say that I found more than I was looking for and leave it at that for the moment.”
Mrs. Hudson rose, patted Watson on his right arm and left for the stairs. “Got a batch of scones I don’t want to burn.”
She left.
Holmes leaned forward. “What didn’t you tell me, Watson?”
Watson looked shocked for a moment, and then smiled. “Your ability to read between the lines never fails to astound me, Holmes.”
“What happened?”
“I think it was planned.”
“The attack of the tiger? The animal which struck the couple?”
“Yes. I know it sounds impossible. But the way that tiger went for their faces...it’s just not like them to do that. And this one was an older one. No one knows how it even got out of its home. It had never shown any violent tendencies before. Young children could climb on its back and it would purr.”
Holmes chuckled. “Hard to imagine that.”
“It was one of the reasons I sought the zoo, to remind myself that there were still parts of this world that intended us no harm.”
“And you shot it dead.”
“Sadly so.”
“You had no other choice.”
“No...I did not. This doesn’t make me regret the choice any the less. You know that I abhor violence as much as you yourself.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you think it was an arrow fired at you, but struck someone else just as dead?”
“Because it didn’t make any sense. If it was attacking me, then why did it go for them as if they were the same as I?”
“What made you think that?”
“The beast didn’t even look at them. Its eyes were looking upwards the whole time.”
Holmes considered that.
“And you noticed something else, you said?”
“Actually, I didn’t, but in fact I did. A man. An odd looking sort. He didn’t think I noticed, but a tall, very gaunt man was following us.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. He bought a caramel apple right after I bought two for myself and Mrs. Hudson.”
“And?”
“Then he bought a second. Each one he scarred with a long fingernail, as if it were a blade tearing into a face.”
“That’s very odd and peculiar indeed, Watson.”
“I thought so.”
Then when we headed for the home of the tiger, we passed a vendor selling peanuts.”
“And?”
“He stopped to purchase peanuts next to the tiger’s home. He no longer had the apples. But the strangest thing was...”
“Yes?”
“I saw the tiger eating the two apples the man had scarred.”
“Strange.”
“Yes. Tigers don’t eat caramel apples.”
“Tell me everything. From the beginning again.”
