Bonds of Time

Chapter 4

Time passed, slowly but steadily, like a sluggish snail in a haze. The days turned into weeks, and before Giselle knew it, a month had already passed.
She had anticipated a difficult and challenging path in front of her, especially with Holmes as her tutor.

And she thrived where challenges were present.

And she was eager to start.

Her initial excitement, however, soon changed to lethargy. Whatever she had imagined certainly had not been what she received. As the days passed, Sherlock locked himself in his rooms more and more, until he didn’t even step out for days on end.

Giselle had nothing to do.

Nothing, except helping Mrs Hudson around the house, which was not a favourite past time of hers.

She liked the kind little old lady, but cleaning and keeping up a household was not an activity that Giselle particularly enjoyed. The only thing that came out of it was that Mrs Hudson simply refused to take any rent from Giselle.

Not that she had any money to begin with.

Still, she was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Giselle could swear that Mrs Hudson was her guardian angel incarnated. But she knew she couldn’t remain dependant on the old lady forever.

She had to find a job. She cringed at working what was stereotypically a ‘woman’s job’. She longed to become a doctor with all her heart. But she knew that her dream was next to impossible. Even though she did not want to, she had to search for a job; if only to be able to clothe herself.

So, after spending exactly a month in the year 1891, she borrowed a simple blue dress that used to belong to Mrs Hudson’s daughter, did her hair in a small simple bun and went out searching for a job.

Technically speaking, she had only one place in mind, one that Mrs Hudson had told her about. A husband of an old friend of Mrs Hudson’s needed a shop assistant. He had quite a successful bookshop, full with shelves of books from top to bottom. And it was his successfulness that made the arthritic old man search for an assistant.

***

Joseph Flint, the owner of the bookshop, was more than surprised at the ‘helper’ that Mrs Hudson sent. She had promised that the worker was ‘intelligent, hard working and open minded; a true book lover with vast experience in books.’

Needless to say, he removed the ‘Help Wanted’ sign from the window and waited patiently for the future assistant to arrive. Not long after his decision to remove the sign, a young woman walked into his shop.

He sighed. Joseph had hoped that the worker would have arrived before the first customer. But it seemed as if the worker would arrive late. He stood up and turned towards the blonde woman.

“How may I help you, madam?” he asked.

Her bluish grey eyes found his.

“Good morning, sir. May I speak to Mr Flint, please?” she replied. He nodded, indicating that he was the person she was searching for.

“Mr Flint, my name is Giselle Elmer. I was told that you needed an assistant by Mrs Hudson. I presume Mrs Hudson mentioned something?”

To say that he was shocked was an understatement.

“I-I was expecting a man.” He stuttered. She raised an eyebrow.

“Surely Mrs Hudson didn’t portray me as such?”

“She said that you were open-minded with experience in books.”

She nodded.

“I can confirm that what she said is all true, sir. Am I to understand that this is because of my gender?”

He looked in her eyes. They were shielded; veiled. Nothing was shown. But even through her veils, it was obvious that she was educated, in a way that other women were not.

“Come with me. Let’s discuss our business in further comfort, madam.” He said as he locked the door and put up the ‘Closed’ sign.

Flint walked behind a large bookshelf where a small door was hidden, leading to a small quaint cosy sitting room.

The window was open and the cool September breeze was fluttering around the fringed hems of the heavy curtains, which were a light blue colour. The curtains were drawn and what sunlight was present was pouring through the slightly open window.

The mahogany couches with muted dirty blue upholstery were made also of a heavy make. The carvings of the heavy furniture in the room were exquisite; roses were entwined with flowers and wheat stalks in an eternal embrace.

Or at least for as long as the furniture withstood the heavy hand of time.

“Please sit.” Mr Flint said as he lowered himself slowly on the comfortable couch. Giselle seated herself on the couch opposite the coffee table in between them.

He stared at her for only a moment before he asked her the first question.

“I apologise if I seem rude, madam. But I wonder, what made you want to search for a job?” he said.

“Because, I need the money to live, sir.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why now? Again, I apologise if I am being intrusive, but you understand, I need to know who I’m employing.”

Giselle nodded to show that she understood.

“At present times, I happen to find myself in need to support myself, seeing as my family is no longer able to support me. And I do not believe in a marriage for convenience.” She said.

Mr Flint nodded and looked at his hands in thought. He looked back up at her, staring in her veiled blue grey eyes.

“Mrs Hudson also said that you have extensive knowledge in dealing with books and intelligence. Would you mind explaining, madam?”

Giselle bowed her head.

“Mrs Hudson is kind in her compliments.” She said softly.

She looked back up. “By extensive knowledge, I think she is referring to my studies and to the fact that I love books.”

“Really? And what kind of books do you enjoy mostly?”

“Almost everything, sir.”

“Would you mind naming some authors?”

“Of course not. Thomas Hardy, George Elliot, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Poe are some from this century. But if a person was looking for a classic; I would suggest authors such as Shakespeare or Homer. Not that this century’s authors aren’t good enough. On the contrary, they are quite gifted.”
He stared at her in amazement. “You really like books, don’t you?”

“Yes sir. I also tried my hand at writing, if it is not too imprudent to say. ”

He leaned forward, clearly interested.

“That’s interesting Madame. What kind of stories, if I may ask?”

“Oh, they were really general, a little bit of everything. But if I had to give a rough genre I would go for adventure with a dab of science.”

His eyebrows rose even higher.

“Not what I expected, but I have to say, I am rather intrigued. Would it be too impolite if I were curious enough to ask to read a story of yours?”

“I would love to. But unfortunately the manuscripts were lost.”

He nodded to himself.

“Pity. Yes, you’re good enough. You can start today if you want to. Do you have any other engagements? I can show you around and teach you how everything works around here.” He said.

***

Giselle’s face was split into a smile as she closed the door behind her that evening. She was beyond happy that she managed to find a job that even though it lacked the challenge that she loved, at least, dealt with something she loved dearly.

Giselle found Mrs Hudson, as expected, in the sitting room, mending a handkerchief. She smiled and opened her mouth to give the news to Mrs Hudson. However, the voice that rang throughout the sitting room did not belong to her, but to Sherlock Holmes.

“Miss Elmer, please come up, if you don’t mind.” He said.

Giselle closed her mouth and sighed. Before she turned towards the stairs she looked at Mrs Hudson and smiled. “I got the job.” She said, as Mrs Hudson smiled in reply and a few moments later she found herself seated in Holmes’ couch in his ever messy room.

Her eyes followed him as he paced, avoiding the clutter expertly. “Your first assignment is tonight.” He said suddenly as he stopped and looked directly at her.

She frowned.

“Assignment, as in what we spoke about two months ago?” he nodded in response.

“But I have no idea what to do, seeing as I had no proper training.” She replied.

“Yes, I am aware of that fact Miss Elmer, which is why I will be setting you a relatively simple task. I want you to get as much information about a certain Captain Basil as possible.”

She sighed. She could tell that it was going to be a long night.
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I am so so so sorry for the long absence, but I was on vacation and I couldn't update. Also writer's block was a little harder to overcome than expected :/ Anyway, I'd like to thank
IXamXaXLoser
everybody dies;
PunkRockChick
Spanx.

Any comments? (I apologize if this chapter was a bit filler-y, but it was extremely hard to write).