Part 17 (1/2)

'Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I think some people would have died, and you saved them. You can thank yourself for that. And your brother will thank you too, when he arrives.'

'Mycroft is coming here?'

'He's already on the train.'

A woman in an ap.r.o.n came out of the tavern carrying a plate that seemed to be laden with every possible item that a person could want for breakfast, plus several that Sherlock didn't even recognize. She smiled, and put the plate in front of him.

'Tuck in,' Crowe said. 'You deserve it.'

Sherlock paused for a moment. Everything around him seemed simultaneously overly sharp and yet slightly distanced.

'You OK?' Crowe said.

'I'm not sure,' Sherlock replied.

'You've been through a lot. You were knocked out, and you were drugged with laudanum, not to mention several fights and a long stretch of rowing. That's all bound to have an effect on your system.'

Laudanum. Remembering the strange dreams that he'd had after he had been drugged, while he was being taken to France, Sherlock felt a twinge of what? Melancholy, perhaps. Wistfulness. Surely not . . . longing? Whatever the feeling was, he pushed it away. He'd heard stories about people becoming dependent on the effects produced by laudanum, and he had no desire to go down that route. None at all.

'How's Virginia?' he asked to break the mood.

'Annoyed that she missed all the fun. And missing her horse, of course. She wants to look around the town, but I said she can't go alone. I guess she'll be glad you're awake.'

Sherlock gazed out at the sea. 'I can't believe it's all over,' he said.

'It's not,' Crowe said. 'It's part of your life now, and your life keeps on goin'. You can't separate these events out as a story with a beginnin' and an end. You're a different person because of them, and that means the story will never really finish. But as your tutor, the question I have is, what did you learn from it all?'

Sherlock thought for a minute. 'I learned,' he said eventually, 'that bees are fascinating and sorely neglected creatures. I think I want to know more about them. Perhaps even try to change people's opinions of them.' He grimaced. 'I probably owe them that, having killed so many.' He glanced over at Matty Arnatt. 'What about you, Matty? What did you learn?'

Matty looked up from his breakfast. 'I learned,' he said, 'that you need someone to look after you, otherwise your logical ideas are going to get you killed.'

'Are you volunteering for the position?' Amyus Crowe asked, eyes crinkling with good humour.

'Dunno,' Matty replied. 'What's the pay like?'

As Amyus laughed, and as Matty protested that he was serious, Sherlock gazed out at the constant, timeless sea, wondering what would happen next in his life. He felt as if he had been diverted on to a road that he hadn't known existed. What would he find at the end of it?

Something moved to one side of his vision, attracting his attention. He glanced past the tavern, to where the road led away in two directions. A carriage was approaching a black carriage drawn by two black horses. For a moment he thought that Mycroft had arrived, and he started to get up.

And then with a chill he saw a bone-white face and pink eyes glaring at him through the gla.s.s before a gloved hand firmly pulled down the blind as the carriage pa.s.sed by, and he knew that he was right: things never would be the same again. Baron Maupertuis and the Paradol Chamber were still out there, and they would never rest.

Which meant that he could never rest either.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

I've consulted a number of books in order to get the history of the time and the area about right. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the following works: London's Lost Route to Basingstoke: The Story of the Basingstoke Ca.n.a.l, by P. A. L. Vine, published by Allan Sutton Publis.h.i.+ng, 1968 (revised and expanded in 1994) great material about the local waterways and ca.n.a.ls in the Farnham area.

The Tongham Railway by Peter A. Harding, self-published 1994 obviously the product of one man's obsession, but immensely useful. by Peter A. Harding, self-published 1994 obviously the product of one man's obsession, but immensely useful.

Bygone Farnham by Jean Parratt, published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1985. Useful if only for the exhaustive list of pubs and taverns it contains, which suggests that every second house in Farnham sold beer. by Jean Parratt, published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1985. Useful if only for the exhaustive list of pubs and taverns it contains, which suggests that every second house in Farnham sold beer.

London Under London A Subterranean Guide by Richard Trench and Ellis Hillman, published by John Murray (the original publisher of the Sherlock Holmes stories in book form), 1984. The cla.s.sic guide to London's underground rivers and tunnels. by Richard Trench and Ellis Hillman, published by John Murray (the original publisher of the Sherlock Holmes stories in book form), 1984. The cla.s.sic guide to London's underground rivers and tunnels.

Subterranean City Beneath the Streets of London by Antony Clayton, published by Historical Publications, 2000. Covers much the same ground (as it were) as Trench and Hillman's book, but benefits from material more recently discovered. Or perhaps 'unearthed' would be a better word. by Antony Clayton, published by Historical Publications, 2000. Covers much the same ground (as it were) as Trench and Hillman's book, but benefits from material more recently discovered. Or perhaps 'unearthed' would be a better word.

The London of Sherlock Holmes by Michael Harrison, published by David & Charles, 1972. An invaluable and immaculately researched investigation of what London would have looked like to the eyes of Sherlock Holmes. by Michael Harrison, published by David & Charles, 1972. An invaluable and immaculately researched investigation of what London would have looked like to the eyes of Sherlock Holmes.

A NOTE ABOUT MONEY.

Money in England in the 1860s was not like the money we have now. These days we use the decimal system, which was introduced in 1971, and there are a hundred pence to the pound. Back then, there were 240 pence to the pound, not 100. All the way through this book I've used the proper terms in use at the time farthings, sovereigns, s.h.i.+llings, and so on. In case you are interested, the conversion works out like this:

1 farthing =.

0.1 pence 1 halfpenny =.