Chapter

the

Ninth

The following morning found me struggling to pull myself from strange dreams. Lady Ward, a good deal taller and with claws for hands, chased me around a labyrinth of hedges and sturdy Grecian columns until at last, panicked and desperate, I found Jonathan and Gertie waiting around a corner. Together the former pick pockets took my hands in theirs and led me to a large rabbit hole, into which we slipped, one by one. The sensation of falling wrenched me from sleep with a shudder. Breathing hard, damp with sweat, I looked blearily around at the bedside table where I had deposited Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the night before after reading a few pages to settle my mystery-embroiled mind. If anything, the nonsensical story had roiled my brain to an even greater extent.

Rolling my eyes at my own fantastical imagination, I hurried to untangle myself from my nest of sheets and comforters and began dressing myself in the professional woman's garb that had become my "work uniform."

Ever since I had officially taken on the title of Perditorian, no longer hiding behind the guise of an imaginary doctor and the false hair and cheap bobbles of said doctor's secretary, Ivy Meshle, I had taken great care to present myself in such a way that I might cause, to the best of my ability, my clients' impressions of me to be favorable. I must seem professional but welcoming, intelligent but not prideful or presumptuous, neither intimidatingly upper class nor underwhelming lower class, both nondescript enough to go unrecognized and pretty enough to charm—no minor feat, and yet a feat required of most professional women.

My dress, a lovely deep maroon in color pinstriped with yellow, had a militaristic cut, tailored perfectly to accentuate my thin waist and the padding (armor, storage, holster, ad infinitum) that made up the false curves I wore whenever I made public appearances under my own name and guise. Besides giving a false impression of my actual build (handy if I needed a hasty transformation, as anyone looking for me would be keeping an eye out for a full-figured woman, rather than a scarecrow), it assisted both my attractiveness and my ability to blend into all but the poorest crowds without disguise. A candlestick among hourglasses is easily noticeable, and all but the destitute made the effort to mimic the hourglass figure, no matter how candle-thin their actual shape might be.

After some wrangling with a brush and comb I brought my hair to the requisite poof demanded of the day, then, turning to the various powders and tinctures upon my bedside table, with expertise bourn of regular experience, brushed and rubbed and glossed my face to render my stubbornly Holmesian features from an uncomely sallow and sharp boned appearance to rose-dusted porcelain and delicately defined.

At last, satisfied with my appearance, I set out for my place of employment. After a short taxi ride, I found myself before a large set of offices, complete with tenant homes above and hidden rooms, entrances and exits throughout, curtesy of the ruffian who had run the place prior to myself from whom I had rightfully taken the title of "Perditorian."

"Good morning, Miss Holmes," Anne Louise, my secretary, greeted me cheerfully as I entered. Her round cheeks, pink as usual, stretched wide in a toothy smile.

"Morning, Anne Louise." I smiled at her as I removed my coat and gloves and handed them off to Joddy, who was waiting to receive them. Joddy appeared unusually solemn this morning, I noted, tucking the observation away. The young man, whom I had employed since my days as an upstart runaway and his boyhood, had become almost like family to me by now. Perhaps a younger cousin. Shaking my head at his retreating back, "What've I missed?" I asked Anne Louise.

It had been a few days since I'd taken the time to actually come sit in my office, what with my work on the case of the missing fisherman, the visit to see Mrs. Tupper and utilize the Nightingale library, and the hullaballoo surrounding the disappearance of Miss Ward. Anne Louise followed me from her desk into my office and dutifully began to read off her notes from various visitors who had recently come to the office, trying to acquire the services of a scientific perditorian.

"Young master Stewart York lost his pet rabbit and is quite distressed about her. He came in here with his mother two days ago. His family have quite a menagerie, apparently, and he is concerned that the rabbit may have been caught by the dogs but would rather you investigate than believe the animal has been eaten.

"Mr. John Ashcraft recently bought an automobile from Germany. He had it in the carriage house on his country estate, but yesterday morning it suddenly was missing. He has questioned the stable boys and his driver, but none of them saw anything or have any ideas of where it has gone. Apparently, automobile have quite distinct tyre tracks, but there is no trace of tracks leaving the carriage house.

"Miss Adalaide Johnson has lost her deceased mother's best set of silverware, most likely to petty thieves—"

"And," interrupted a new voice from behind, causing me to jump—there had not been anyone else in the room when I had entered—and turn around, startled, "Madam Cecily Krankgit lost a few bags while passing through London completely accidentally, of course, necessitating her to ask the famous Enola Holmes for assistance."

I let out a highly unladylike shriek of joy, all my thoughts of making perfect impressions on my clientele gone from my head, as I leapt from my chair. Lady Cecily—she would always be a Lady to me, even if she had lost the title by marrying beneath her rank—stood in the doorway of the hidden changing room at the back of my office. Her face was round and rosy, she was beaming—the very picture of happiness and health, and I felt an enormous surge of affection as she crossed the room and grasped my arms.

"Welcome back," I said, grinning.

Author's Note: Hi guys! Terribly sorry for the long, long wait in between chapters. Life has been busy. I got married, finished my bachelor's degree, and moved to a different state, so, ya know. Busy. I know I've said before that I was going to be more consistent, so I won't say it again. This time I'll just hopefully be more consistent without promising to, and it'll be a pleasant surprise for you all, haha.