Dazed and Confused

Shopping with Sherlock Holmes and his landlady was incredibly bizarre not to mention uncomfortable. I did not know how these women would move around in these dresses. Back in my day women wanted smaller asses not giant ones. I suppose that’s good considering I had a bit of one. The corset tops were a bit over the top and by over the top I meant my boobs were pushed up even higher than they already were. Mrs. Hudson was a nice woman and she helped me into the corsets which were entirely more structured than the ones I had to wear back when I worked at the Renaissance festival. The dress maker was helping me into the dress as well and the joint effort from Mrs. Hudson made me look like a proper woman of 1892, London.

“Are you done in there?” Holmes questions most impatiently.

“Oh Mr. Holmes do wait the results are most definitely worth the patience, this young woman is an absolute beauty,” the dress maker states giving me a wink.

I felt a little uncomfortable when given compliments and I just smiled giving quiet thank you. To be honest I had no clue what I had looked like in the Victorian Era dress and the two women lead me out of the back room to the front where Holmes was waiting with his back turned to us whilst he looked down at his watch.

“She‘s ready Mr. Holmes,” Mrs. Hudson says politely.

“About t—ime,” Holmes replies turning around his eyes growing a bit wide momentarily. His eyes scanned the gold and emerald green dress that hugged tightly to my curves giving me a distinct hourglass figure.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting Mr. Holmes, I know you are a very busy man,” I reply with a condescending smile.

“Right you are, shall we get going to dinner? Mrs. Hudson would you mind taking her things back to the home?” Holmes says not taking his eyes off of me.

It made me want to laugh at his behavior but I held back keeping in mind that I was in a completely different world now. I went with Holmes into a carriage and sat across from him looking out of the window observing the surroundings I was now stuck in.

“You truly believe you are from a different time don‘t you?” Holmes states.

“I don’t believe, I know that or I am simply dreaming, dreaming so vividly it hurts,” I mutter the last part shifting comfortably as something was jabbing into my back from the dress.

“Is something the matter with your attire?” he inquires.

“Just something prodding my back when I lean back, it’s okay though I don’t take comfort in relaxing anyways,” I say somewhat sarcastically.

“How can I believe you are from the time you claim to be from?” Holmes questions.

“You can’t, any sane person wouldn’t believe me, I wouldn’t believe me, but I suppose after dinner you could quiz me, until then I need to come up with a story for dinner because I know Mary is going to want me to tell my story,” I state.

“What do you plan on saying?” he asks intrigued.

“I suppose something about me never knowing my father and my mother keeping his identity secret then she remarried when I was eight years old to an older man named Henry whom had other children from a previous marriage, the pair died in a terrible carriage accident and the estate was left to Henry’s children and I left with only a modest amount of money and birth certificate with my father’s true identity on it that I had researched to find Watson living in London, who is the nephew of my biological father,” I ramble.

“Not bad but have you haven’t got a name for your father’s real name,” Holmes points out.

“Care to help? Maybe you would know his family tree better than I,” I counter.

“James, use the name James,” he states.

“I’m not that stupid,” I retort narrowing my eyes at him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Holmes inquires amused.

“That’s his father’s name knowing that you like to toy with people, I’m picking Daniel, I’d like to keep my problems to a minimum for the time being,” I state.

“How’d you know that I was tricking you,” he counters.

“I didn’t I just make the accusation and assess your reaction, it isn’t very hard,” I reply simply.

“You don’t trust me?” Holmes questions with a smile.

“What gave you that idea?” I respond sardonically as the carriage stopped with a jerk signifying our arrival.

Dinner was as I predicted, I had to make up some fabrication to Mary and I sort of felt bad about it but I knew it was necessary. At one point the men left us ladies alone and Mary leaned in towards me as if she were about to tell a very big secret.

“Sherlock seems intrigued by you Amber, perhaps it is a good thing you have come, Lord knows that man is a bit of a mess ever since that Adler woman’s passing, broke his heart, though you still need to be weary he is very aloof,” Mary says quietly.

“I’m sure I can handle his aloofness, though I am not sure what you are thinking will transpire between the two of us because as far as I am concerned that man is beyond infuriating and often too conceited for my liking,” I respond.

“Keep that good head on your shoulders, it’ll do you some good when you have to spend time with Mr. Holmes,” Mary replies smiling softly.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” I state smiling back at her. Watson and Holmes came back looking rather flustered then the dinner soon ended with Holmes and me leaving in a carriage.

“Where are we going this isn’t the way back to Baker Street,” I say noticing the direction in which we were headed was quite the opposite of where we should have been headed.

“Need to make a quick stop before heading back,” Holmes states.

“Marvelous,” I reply sardonically.

There was no more talk and Holmes instructed me to stay in the carriage and wait for him. I merely shrugged uncaringly as he left the confines of the carriage without so much as another word. In the dimly lit streets of London I noticed something; rather someone familiar, after Holmes had only been gone for a couple minutes. I could have sworn it was the man that I had met at the party and without another thought I exited the carriage. Soon I was making my way through the people trying to catch up with the man in the long billowy black coat with light brown hair. I found myself in a cul-de-sac with a nearby well and I strained my eyes to see where the man could have been.

“Are you looking for me lovely?” the familiar voice inquires from the shadows.

“What do you want from me? I’m not smart or anything useful to you, you took me from my whole life to a time I do not belong in,” I say forcefully.

“I think you are plenty smart Amber, what I want you will have to figure out yourself, besides I think you look divine in this time’s fashions,” he says towering behind me, his hot breath spilling onto my neck.

“You killed Adler didn’t you Moriarty?” I counter trying to turn around but his hands were firmly rested on my shoulders.

“Smart girl, I am excited to hear what else you will come up with, perhaps you should stay here in this time, at least here you serve some purpose no longer a wandering generality as you so eloquently put it the last we spoke,” he states.

“You sick twisted son of a bitch,” I growl in anger as my fists balled up and I turned quickly connecting my left hook with his nose.

“Tsk-Tsk darling, that temper will get you nowhere,” he says moving back into the shadows disappearing as three henchmen came at me with manic looks on their faces.

I backed up into a wall as they came near me and made sure to take in every surrounding. This was when I noticed the garbage pail with the metal top next to me. As the first man leapt forward at me I grabbed the lid and it collided with the side of his face with brute force causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thud. Next one was right on me and I picked up the front of my skirt and kicked him in the testicles hitting him with the lid as he fell down. Then the last caught me by the throat with his filthy hand to which I tried to brought the lid up and slammed it on top of his head, his hold only wavered a moment and I knocked in his arms taking his grip off my neck then grabbed his hand swinging it behind him and thrusting it upwards to cause some serious physical pain as I kicked in the back of his knees.

“I’m sorry does that hurt?” I mock as I pushed his arm upwards as he howled in pain.

“Are you done?” someone says beside me and I dropped the man’s arm swinging around with my left fist connecting with Moriarty’s face. Once I did though I realized it wasn’t Moriarty but Holmes who was now holding his jaw in pain.

“He was here but he’s gone, damn it that son of a bitch is gone,” I say all at once my hand throbbing with pain from punching both Moriarty and Holmes.

“Come on,” Holmes says gruffly as he moved me through the streets with his hand at the small of my back.

We got into the carriage and I was still angry, so angry to that my body shook. Holmes didn’t bother to say anything to which I was a little thankful for. By the time we reached Baker Street I wasn’t shaking as much but my thoughts were still muddled. Holmes led me into his home once inside I finally looked at his face that now a bit swollen from where I had hit him. We both sat down in the sitting room and I almost immediately I felt bad for hitting him.

“I’m sorry I hit you, does it hurt?” I ask sincerely instinctively reaching out to touch the side of his face.

My fingertips grazed the area carefully and my eyes comparing the two sides to assess the damage done. Our eyes met one another’s for a few moments causing my heart to jump into my throat.

“I told you to stay in the carriage,” Holmes states pulling away and standing up.

“Well sorry for wanting to go back to living my old life in my own damn time,” I retort as anger bubbled up inside of me.

“Oh would you stop with that time nonsense, it isn’t possible,” he counters annoyed.

“You don’t even care Holmes, it doesn’t matter that I am a human being caught between this ridiculous game of cat and mouse between you and Moriarty all you are concerned with is what this has to do with you,” I snap.

“You’re right I don’t give a damn, and I can’t help but wonder why the hell Moriarty would choose someone as insane as you to put in the middle of this,” Holmes says tauntingly.

“You know what Holmes, you’re a damn narrow minded fool, you can’t see past your silly little logic or impetuous anger and that will always be the downfall of you,” I retort angrily.

“I heed not your observations or assumptions of my life,” he states coldly.

“Fine by me not like you could get anything from my words you’re too damn obdurate to admit anything,” I snap narrowing my eyes at him.

“I am not stubborn,” Holmes argues but I just shook my head and started heading for the exit.

I was furious and wanted nothing more than to leave. As I wrapped my small delicate fingers around the doorknob I paused waiting for Holmes to protest my leave but it never came causing my anger to flourish even more. I turned the doorknob in fury and swung the door open then swiftly pulled it back behind me as I walked out of the building. What use was a selfish man like him? I wanted to go back to my own time and I knew he wasn’t the least bit interested in helping me do so. In the words of my time ‘fuck him, I can do it on my own.’

Truthfully I was a little scared but what did it matter anymore?