Sherlock Holmes and The Menacing Moors

Allan Mitchell

Description

A call from an old comrade has Holmes chasing a reported agent of Satan between the towering tors and bottomless bogs of Dartmoor only to find the limits of his own confidence and his Public's esteem. Only Watson stands his friend but even his patience is stretched. Sherlock's retreat to the bees of Sussex serves only to show him that his skills are unique and are desperately needed elsewhere. On returning to London, Holmes finds malign forces have been bringing ridicule to his doorstep. In this tale, the Great Sleuth is brought to life, uniquely, in expressive verse, a favourite form of the author who loves the language of Sherlock Holmes and the Menacing Moors.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 21 juillet 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781780927473
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MENACING MOORS
by
Allan Mitchell



Publisher Information
First edition published in 2015 by
MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor,
Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2015 Allan Mitchell
The right of Allan Mitchell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not of MX Publishing.
Cover design by www.staunch.com



Introduction
Sherlock Holmes is of a place in time, later-Victorian London in fact, a place in time captivating and intriguing but tantalisingly just out of reach, though holding our minds in a hazy cloud of memories which are not our own but which we have constructed from the writings of the times into which we have been immersed and in which we feel we have taken part.
Sherlock is the one with “other knowledge”, knowledge which we and Sherlock share, and no other, except for the snippets which Doctor Watson is permitted for his stories. We feel for Sherlock when credit for his efforts go to an undeserving Lestrade or Gregson. His mood swings infuriate us and his interest in the cocaine bottle is cause for concern but we begrudgingly understand that his exceptional mind craves stimulation and exercise. He is the flawed genius and there is a basic goodness about him, and he has a simple sense of justice - punishment for the unrepentant villain, compassion for the helpless victim.
For so many of us, Sherlock Holmes exists on the platform of a smoky railway station, at the telegraph office writing out an urgent communication to Lestrade, in his Baker Street rooms jumping from his chair to greet a young lady who has travelled by dog cart and train to engage his services, on the Thames in a steam launch trying to catch the villain making off with ill-gotten jewels, out on the moors in pursuit of a large incandescent dog and a butterfly-hunting fiend, and doing whatever our minds can conjure up from the adventures we have shared with Holmes and Watson and those other characters born of the mind and experiences of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock: we find his image emerging from those oldish-style black and white illustrations prepared by Sidney Paget for The Stand; the locations of his exploits are mysterious and intriguing; his opponents are evil; and, despite the fact that his magnificent pipe was a later invention by others maintaining and expanding the world of Sherlock, he does has a great hat!
So many times has Sherlock tried to fade away to become a vague and distant memory; so many times have we dragged him from his hiding place on that dingy, dark, smoke-ridden Victorian street to take us on just one more adventure, in his time, or in ours. While our minds can do that, Sherlock Holmes can never die. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle couldn’t kill him off, so what chance us?
Sherlock is as real as we want him to be, as real as Robin Hood, as real as their arch-rivals, Moriarty and the Sheriff of Nottingham - his character exists in our minds, in many ways like another two-dimensional black and white character from a later era, now distant and ever-retreating, one Winston Churchill. Sherlock and Winston can still be found around London, embodied in its fabric - statues to both exist, museums celebrate the life and achievements of both. However, while one can visit the tomb of the famous wartime leader, Sherlock has no need of one.



The Summons
Long overshadowed by more recent and pressing cases requiring the remarkable cerebral capabilities of Mister Sherlock Holmes, the details surrounding the case of the mysterious Moors of Devon, the looming battlements of Baskerville Hall and the devilish howl of the Hound of Hell had been stored away in the Sleuth’s brain-attic, filed and catalogued for retrieval if ever the need arose for their consultation.
The morning sun of Autumn had yet to rise and herald the start of yet another overcast and gloomy day, but Holmes, being so often the case, was already awake. Not yet dressed for the day, he was surprised to hear Mrs Hudson’s knuckles rapping on his door and calling out, “Mister Holmes, it’s an urgent message I have - just delivered by special messenger.” Opening his door, he saw a sleepily dishevelled Mrs Hudson holding a letter in her outstretched hand. Taking the letter and examining both sides of its envelope, Holmes said briskly, “Thank you, Mrs Hudson - what could be so urgent to warrant my attention at this unearthly hour?” Mrs Hudson, yawning and far less than interested, replied, “A good detective would look inside the envelope before asking me silly questions. It’s back to bed for me - it’s far too early for breakfast!” Holmes, recovering his composure, addressed his landlady more gently, saying, “Indeed, Mrs Hudson, but I fear I’ll be in need of a pot of strong, hot coffee to stir my brain if someone is summoning me so urgently.”
Further examining the envelope’s exterior and noting the erratic manner of the handwriting and the lack of crumpling or folding of the letter, and the absence of a postage stamp, features which spoke, firstly, of its urgency and, then, of its carriage in a despatch satchel by a special courier, Holmes reached for his letter-opening stiletto, a souvenir of a vendetta case he had handled in Palermo some years earlier, slipped its blade under the sealed fold of the envelope and, in one rapid movement, sliced it open to reveal the contents. As was his habit, Holmes examined those contents before retrieving a single folded sheet of paper. Unfolding this, Holmes adjusted the gas lamp to its maximum brightness, sat and read, on both sides, what emerged as a desperate plea for help. Jumping to his feet, he ran to Watson’s room, banged on its door and shouted...
“ The game is afoot, Watson! Pull on your boots!
Grab your hat and your coat and bring something that shoots
For we’re after a foe who has nothing to lose -
Your old Army revolver is what I would choose. ”
“ You should check it for bullets - you’ll need a full six
But you may need some more if we get in a fix;
So bring a whole packet - it might come in handy –
And do not forget that half bottle of brandy. ”
“ And that lantern we used in our Whitechapel caper,
Of which you have written for some London paper,
I have filled it with oil and trimmed up its wick
So, the fog, we’ll now see through, no matter how thick. ”
“ Between you and your gun and your military bluster
And me with my cudgel and old knuckleduster
And us both with some steady reliable light,
I think we’ll be fine if it comes to a fight. ”
“ For we’re off to the Moors where the wind blows and howls
And where, after each sundown, an evil thing prowls
Seeking souls for some vile and insidious rite -
It’s a beast full of fury, spilling over with spite. ”
“ We must both keep our wits and not once drop our guard
Or the lesson we’ll learn will be ever so hard.
Courage, John Watson, we’ll need all we’ve got
If we are, by this demon, once put on the spot. ”
“ And such agents of Evil are not known to rest
So it’s crucial that each of us strive to his best
To reach down to the depths of his soul and extract
Every smidgin of nerve that a man can exact. ”
Watson woke with a start at the noise Sherlock made
And he knew he was in for some new escapade.
“ Holmes, is that you? What was that about Moors?
It’s really too cold to go roaming outdoors. ”
Sherlock made no reply, but sat scanning his map
Of the wastelands of Dartmoor laid out on his lap;
He looked up with a face full of anguish and gloom
As a bleary-eyed Watson emerged from his room.
Watson’s eyes were half open, his hair was a mess
As he said to Holmes gruffly, “ My Stars! I confess
That my slumber’s been ruined; my rest’s at an end;
That wasn’t the way to arouse a good friend. ”
“ I was dreaming, you know, of a field, green and warm,
And a trickling brook and a miniature swarm
Of those midges which gather and hover above
Any moisture they find in this land that I love. ”
“ I was watching the swans sailing by in their fleets
And reflections of clouds forming little white sheets
In a blue English sky when, alas, my delight
Was destroyed when I woke with a terrible fright. ”
“ There was nothing but darkness where once a bright sun
Had been filling my dreams full of sunbeams and fun.
What has happened to drag me from slumber so deep?
Is there some drastic reason you won’t let me sleep? ”
Holmes held up the letter - a message delivered
Just minutes before and at which he had shivered
When reading its contents - his blood had gone cold -
The words which he read hinted horrors untold.
“ Mister Holmes, ” it had started, “ there’s no time to waste -
Please drop what you are doing and come with great haste -