• Author
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • Amazon Books >
      • Amazon Books 2
      • Fractal Flames Photo Collections
      • Sherlock Holmes
    • New Books
  • Fractal Flames Art Goodies
  • Deep Silence
  • Links
    • Newsletter Subscription
    • Free Books
    • Audio Books
    • BAKER STREET UNIVERSE BOOKS
    • Fantasy
    • Sci-Fi Books
    • The Rocket Man Book Store
    • New Sci-Fi and Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Facts
    • Privacy Policy
  • Product
  BAKER STREET UNIVERSE
  • Author
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • Amazon Books >
      • Amazon Books 2
      • Fractal Flames Photo Collections
      • Sherlock Holmes
    • New Books
  • Fractal Flames Art Goodies
  • Deep Silence
  • Links
    • Newsletter Subscription
    • Free Books
    • Audio Books
    • BAKER STREET UNIVERSE BOOKS
    • Fantasy
    • Sci-Fi Books
    • The Rocket Man Book Store
    • New Sci-Fi and Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Facts
    • Privacy Policy
  • Product

The Baker Street Universe Blog

The Wrath of the Pointless Puzzle  "A Sheridan Holmes, son of Sherlock Holmes Story."  John Pirillo 

4/5/2015

Comments

 
Picture
The Wrath of the Pointless Puzzle
"A Sheridan Holmes Story."
John Pirillo


The Pharaoh's Royal Guards carried the heavily, golden scrolled coffer on a stretcher of silver and alabaster into the deep chamber below the Pharaoh's final resting place. It had been his express orders that it be hidden thus, until he could arise from his sleeping death and complete what he had placed in the coffer. His advisor, a wise man from the East, with a long red beard and pale olive skin, had eyed the coffer thoughtfully a moment as the Pharaoh had placed the object inside.

"You honor the dead, who have no honor."

"I thought you would be pleased with the plainness of the coffer."

"It is still a waste of the future."

The Pharaoh was a learned man and ignored the blasphemous words of his advisor. "Perhaps so, my good friend, but I suspect the future will attend to itself as it always does."

The advisor had inclined his head. He knew when to let it go and this was such a time, since he didn't want to be buried with the Pharaoh along with his seven thousand wives, slaves and guards.

The Pharaoh turned to him then and gave him a curious smile. "Do you believe in the future?"

"I believe in the now, which stretches into the future."

The Pharaoh laughed good naturedly and nodded. "Well spoken. Now, let's get back to the court before the nobles there decide to remove me prematurely from my reign.

The advisor smiled. "I sincerely doubt they would ever try such a thing, your highness."

"Oh, you don't know their hearts as well as I do...." Sheridan said, reading the book in his lap to the twelve children gathered about him and the campfire.

Emily sat with them, handing out rolls she had made and sweetened with honey and butter, while they listened, feeding their stomachs and their minds at the same time.

Finally, Sheridan shut the book.

The kids all booed him.

He held his hands up. "Please, please, have patience, the story is not yet finished."

Emily rose smiling. "Oh, I thank it is. Time for bed, children."

She clapped her hands and they all scrambled to climb into their small tents in teams of two. She watched until the last one had clambered inside, then announced. "We will have hot cocoa and sweet scones for breakfast."

"Yay!" Came cheers from all the tents, then they zippered them up and all was quiet.

Emily came over to Sheridan and sat down alongside him, enjoying his warmth as well as that of the still sparking fire they had fueled about a half hour ago in anticipation of the coming night. "You read well to children."

"You always call me a child."

"I do not!"

"So a child reading to children should not be such a stretch."

She raised a fist to punch his shoulder and on the grin he gave her, lowered it. "Must you always tease me so much?"

"Must bears do...you know...in the woods?"

"There are no bears here."

"Exactly. All the much harder for them, isn't it?"

"Oh, you're impossible!" She growled.

"Father doesn't think so."

"Well mine does. He says you and Sherlock are slivers of the same two by four."

"You should speak. You and Watson are birds of a feather...stuck together." He put his tongue out to give her a raspberry and she caught it between her fingers and glared at him.

"We're what?"

Sheridan shook his head and looked at his tongue. She let go. He rubbed his tongue, and then gave her an amused look. "Violence is the last resort of a frustrated intellect."

She stood up, and then kicked him in his right shin.

He looked up at her, his face in pain. "What was that for?"

"For being right again. Good night!"

She stomped off to her tent, clambered inside and zippered it up, effectively shutting him out from any further conversation. At that exact same moment an odd noise came from his right. He twisted about to look, but all he could see were the tall Elder trees and shrubs that surrounded their camp site. That and a large owl, whose luminous eyes were examining him with a hint of amusement.

When he thought that Emily was probably asleep, he slipped into his tent with his book, and then came out with a small coffer, the exact duplicate of the one he had described in his book to the kids. He set it in his lap and examined the scrolling marks on its sides and top. He began translating them out loud.

"That which is broken must be joined together. That which is less, must become whole."

He frowned a moment. "Some kind of curse maybe?"

Gently, he fondled the silver clasp, the only thing notable about the coffer and unlatched it. The coffer opened with a creaky sound. He froze, fearing Emily or one of the kids would awaken. Nothing. Satisfied, he opened the lid all the way. Inside were blocks of marble, cut to various sizes. He noticed that the coffer had latches on the inside as well. So he began loosening them. He placed it on the ground to do so.

As he unlatched the coffer, it spread out to form a kind of board with a vague form upon its surface. "Some kind of puzzle?" He queried himself, truly puzzled at its purpose.

He began placing the pieces of marble on the board, over and over, until they began to take some kind of shape. As he did so they finally came together in a rudimentary face with a smile upon its lips.

"I say."

"You say what?" Emily spoke to him from in front.

He looked up startled.

She rubbed her eyes dreamily. "I heard you chuckling and making all kinds of baby talk out here, so..."

She froze as she saw the coffer and the board and parts. "It's a puzzle."

He gave her a surprised look. "Why so it is!"

Excitedly, they began placing the marble pieces into positions bordering the design on the board, and as they did so, the face with the rudimentary smile turned into a second face, this one with a scowl and a warning.

Emily poked her finger at the warning. "It's a warning, Sheridan."

"Bit late now." He told her, miffed at not getting it first.

"Beware the wrath of the pointless puzzle." She read aloud.

He broke into laughter. She looked at him angrily, thinking he was making fun of her, and then saw the twinkle in his eyes. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because it has read my mind."

"How is that possible?" She asked. This is obviously from thousands of years ago. No one could possibly have known it would land in your hands.

Sheridan sobered up a moment to consider her words. "But what if they had?"

"How so?" She had asked in a manner that was very reminiscent of her famous father, Doctor John Watson.

He rose and began to pace back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back, head bowed over, his deerstalker cap slanted forwards, almost dropping off. A picture perfect replica of his famous father, Sherlock Holmes. He stopped and eyed the puzzle a moment, then Emily.

"Magic."

"Magic? Even with magic, you cannot control time."

He frowned a moment, then his eyes widened. "But Jules and Wells had traveled through time, why not another?"

"Are you saying that you traveled through time and placed that puzzle in the coffer so you could puzzle yourself in this time and space?"

"But don't you see. It's perfect. The humor. The pointlessness of it. It's exactly the kind of thing I might do, had I the ability to travel through time and space."

"Now you're really creeping me out." She answered with a shiver shaking her beautiful young body.

"No, seriously. Maybe I stowed away on Jules Master of the World and got off to do this thing."

"But how did you get back again without their ship?"

"But that's the whole point of this, maybe I didn't! Maybe the man I was, became, knew he wouldn't be returning and passed this forward to warn me of the now."

She stood up and yawned. "Whatever. Wake me up when it's time to make breakfast. Goodnight Sheridan."

"Goodnight, Emily." He told her sweetly, watching her enter her tent, and resolved one day to tell her how much he cared for her, his heart straining at the effort of hiding his true feelings, which had he been a more clever man than he thought he was, he would've seen in her own eyes that she already knew what he felt and was reciprocating it.

He took the coffer into his tent and sat down, pondering it again. He was about to place it back into the rucksack he carried it in, when he spotted a set of initials on the far bottom corner of the coffer with a small symbol

He plucked his spyglass from his coat pocket, and then examined the marks and the symbol. It was S.H. etched over a small smoking pipe.

"I shall not tell Emily about this. I annoy her enough as is, without giving her a pointless puzzle to worry about."

He smiled a long moment at his words and the words of the puzzle he had learned, and then he laid the coffer inside the rucksack, closed it, and lay down on his makeshift bed. He wouldn't sleep that night, because now he knew why it wasn't really a pointless puzzle after all. It was a warning to him to be careful or he would lose all that he loved.

He smiled. Maybe. Maybe not. Then sleep caught him in its gentle arms and swung him away into the blissful rest we all deserve after a hard day of labor.

But before he was lost to this world, for a brief shining moment, he saw into another world and saw himself plunging through time and space in the dark hold of a mysterious vessel. Then time and space vanished and he vanished in the bliss of deep sleep.

Comments
    Picture
    My Book Store

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    3D
    3D Design
    Abstract
    Abstract Art
    Abstract Artwork
    Action
    Action Adventure
    Action × Adventure × Classic × Comic Book Hero × Crime × Criminal × Criminals × Death × Destruction × Fantasy × Marvel × Movie Serial × Murder × Mysterious × Mystery &time
    Action And Adventure
    Ad
    Ads
    Adtion And Adventure
    Adventure
    After Death
    Albert Einstein
    Alexander Dumas
    Alien
    Alien Races
    Aliens
    Alternate Realities
    Alternate Reality
    Alternate Worlds
    Amazing
    Angel
    Angelic
    Angels
    Animation
    Apes
    Apocalyptic
    Art
    Artbook
    Arthur Conan Doyle
    Artist
    Arttist
    Artwork
    Atlantis
    Atmospheric Images
    Atomic-weapons
    Audio
    Audiobook
    Audio-book
    Audio Books
    Audio Music
    Audionovel
    Audio Novel
    Audio Story
    Author
    Author Site
    Avenger
    Awesome
    Baker
    Baker Street
    Baker Street Adventure
    Baker Street Adventures
    Baker Street Universe
    Batman
    Battle
    Battles
    Beast
    Beasts
    Beautiful
    Beautiful Images
    Beauty
    Bedtime Story
    Black Magic
    Blog
    Bloodstone
    Book Cover
    Books For Sale
    Book Trailer
    Breath Taking
    Breath-taking
    Buck Rogers
    Bully
    Buster Crabbe
    Camelot
    Cannibalism
    Cannibals
    Captivating
    Cartoon
    Cartoons
    Catastrophic
    Centaur
    Centaurs
    Center Of The Earth
    CGI Images
    CGI Short
    Challenger
    Children
    Chiller
    Chinese Mythology
    Chinese Mythology Movie
    Clark Kent
    Classic
    Classic Animation
    Cliffhanger
    Cliffhangers
    Climate Change
    Collection
    Colorful
    Combat
    Comic Book Commando
    Comic Book Hero
    Comic Book Heroes
    Comic Books
    Comics
    Computer Design
    Conan
    Cool
    Cool Animation
    Cop
    Cops
    Count Dracula
    Courage
    Cowboys
    Creatures Of The Night
    Creepy
    Crime
    Criminal
    Criminals
    Cross Time
    Cults
    Cute
    Cute Cartoon Characters
    Danger
    Dazzling
    Dazzlng
    Dc Comic
    Dc Comics
    Dead
    Deadly
    Death
    Death And Destruction
    Death And Dying
    Delicate
    Demon
    Demons
    Destruction
    Detective
    Digital
    Digital Art
    Digital Images
    Dimension
    Disney
    Doctor Watson
    Doctor Who
    Do It
    Drafting
    Dragon
    Drawing
    Earthquake
    Ebooks
    Edgar Rice Burroughs
    Einstein
    Einstein And Tesla
    Eisenhower
    Elegant
    Elves
    Enchanted
    End Of The World
    End-of-world
    Engage
    England
    Evil
    Excalibur
    Exciting
    Exploration
    Eye Candy
    Eye Dazzling
    Fairies
    Fairy Tale
    Fairy Tale'
    Fairy Tales
    Family
    Famous Authors
    Fantas
    Fantastic
    Fantasy
    Fascinating
    Fear
    Fiction
    Fight
    Fighter
    Flames
    Flowers
    Flying Man
    Forever
    Forever Love
    For Young Children
    For Young Kids
    Foul Play
    Fractal
    Fractal Flame
    Fractal Flames
    Fractal Flame Slide Show
    Fractals
    Fractal Science
    Fractal Universe
    Fragile
    Free
    Free Read
    Free Reads
    Friendship
    Fright
    Full Color Video
    Fun
    Funny
    Future
    Future World
    Gallery
    Gene Autry
    Genetic Manipulation
    Genius
    Ghost
    Ghosts
    Giant
    Giants
    Godzilla
    Golden Age
    Golden Age Pulp
    Gorgeous
    Gossamer
    Graceful
    Great Science Fiction Writers
    Great Science Fiction Writing
    Great Sci Fi
    Great Sci-fi
    Great Textures
    Great Writers
    Great Writing
    Guest Blog
    Gunner
    Hairy Monsters
    Harry Houdini
    Haunting
    Heart Warming
    Heinlein
    Hell
    Herbert George Wells
    Hero
    Heroes
    Heroes And Villains
    H.g.wells
    H.g. Wells
    High Adventure
    High School
    History
    Hitler
    Hollow Earth
    Holmes
    Horror
    Humor
    Humorous
    Hunter
    Hypnotic
    Hypnotizing
    Image
    Images
    Incandescent
    Incredible
    Incredible Artist
    Inner Earth
    Insight
    Interviews
    Invaders
    Invaders From Another Planet
    Invisible Man
    Japanese
    Japanese Monster Movies
    Jimmy Olson
    John Carter
    Journey To The Center Of The Earth
    Jules Verne
    Jules Verne Master Of The World
    Jungle
    Jungle Lord
    Kaiju
    Kali
    Kiindle Story
    Kindle Book
    King Arthur
    Knight
    Landscape
    Landscapes
    Lawman
    Legendary
    Lemuria
    Life After Death
    Lois Lane
    London
    Lone Ranger
    Love
    Lovely
    Luminous
    Madame Curie
    Madame Tesla
    Magic
    Magical
    Magic And Illusions
    Marilyn Monroe
    Mars
    Martian
    Martians
    Marvel
    Mechas
    Meditative
    Merlin
    Merlin And Arthur
    Merlin The Magician
    Mesmerize
    Mesmerizing
    Metaphysical
    Military
    Military Science Fiction
    Minotaurs
    Monster
    Monsters
    Moriarity
    Mosnters
    Mountains
    Mount Shasta
    Movie
    Movie Preview
    Movies
    Movie Serial
    Movie Trailer
    Mp3
    Mrs. Hudson
    Murder
    Music
    Musical Instruments
    Music Video
    Mysterious
    Mysterious Lights
    Mystery
    Mystical
    Myth
    My Work
    Nazis
    Near Death Experience
    Nemo
    Nerds
    News
    Newsletter
    Newspaper
    New Stories
    New Story
    Nicolas Tesla
    Nightmares
    Noir
    Non Stop Action
    Nonstop Action
    Novel
    Novels
    Occult
    Odd
    Old Time Radio
    Opar
    Other Side
    Outstanding Photos
    Parallel World
    Parallel Worlds
    Paranormal
    Paranormal Romance
    Past Life
    Peaceful
    Peaceful Images
    Photorealistic
    Picture Book
    Pirates
    Pocket Universe
    Podcast
    Pod Cast
    Poetry
    Pretty
    Preview
    Professor Challenger
    Professor Moriarity
    Promo
    Promotion
    Promotions
    Pulp Fiction
    Racy
    Radiance
    Radiant
    Radio Shows
    Remarkable
    Republic
    Republic Films
    Republic Serial
    Republic Serials
    Retroworld
    Review
    Robert Heinlein
    Robin Hood
    Robot
    Robots
    Rocketman
    Rocket Man
    Rocketmen
    Romance
    Romantic
    Romantic Love
    Sabotage
    Sale
    Savage
    Scary
    Scenic
    Science Facts
    Science Fictiion
    Science-fictiion
    Science Fiction
    Science-fiction
    Science Fiiction
    Science Fition
    Scifi
    Sci Fi
    Sci-fi
    SCI-FI
    Scii Fi
    Scii-fi
    Scintillating
    Sdcary
    Secret Bunkers
    Secret Openings
    Secret Soldiers
    Serial
    Serial Novel
    Serials
    Sexy Women
    Shadow
    Shakespeare
    Shangri-la
    Sherlock
    Sherlock Holmes
    Short Stories
    Short Story
    Silly
    Slideshow
    Slide Show
    Slideshow\
    Slimy Creatures
    Snging Owboys
    Soldier
    Soothing
    Soothing Views
    Space Ship
    Space Travel
    Special Effects
    Special Forces
    Spectacular
    Speculative Science
    Spies
    Spiritual
    Splendid
    Spy
    Star Travel
    Star Trek
    Star Wars
    Stop Motion
    Stories
    Story
    Stunning
    Stunnng
    Super Hero
    Super Heroes
    Superman
    Super Missiles
    Supernatural
    Super Powers
    Super Science
    Super-soldier
    Super-soldiers
    Super-weapons
    Suspense
    Swashbuckling
    Sweet
    Sweet Moral
    Swirls Of Color
    Switzerland
    Tale Of Magic
    Tarzan
    Teenage Angst
    Teen Love
    Teens
    Terrifying
    Terror
    Textures
    The Big One
    The Flash And The Arrow
    The Invisible Man
    The Shadow
    Thoughtful
    Thriller
    Time
    Timelines
    Time-travel
    Tonto
    Tote-bags
    Trailer
    Trailers
    True-love
    Tutorials
    Tv
    TV Show
    Ufos
    Undead
    Urban Fantasy
    Urban Fantsy
    Vampires
    Victorian
    Victorian England
    Victorian London
    Video
    Videos
    Vigilante
    Villain
    Villains
    Vines
    Violence
    War
    War Of The Worlds
    Warrior
    Warriorr
    Watson
    Watson Newspaper
    Weird
    Were Beats
    Werewolves
    White Light
    White Magic
    Wizard
    Wonderful
    Work In Progress
    World War 2
    World War 3
    World War Three
    World War Two
    Writers
    Writing
    Writing Tutorials
    Young Adult
    Young Love
    Zombies

    RSS Feed

    [object Object]

Books


Urban Fantasy
Sherlock Holmes
Action Thrillers
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Mysteries and Thrillers
​Greeting Cards
Artwork
Audio Books
Music
​Super Savings Bundles

​

Support

Contact
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Author
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • Amazon Books >
      • Amazon Books 2
      • Fractal Flames Photo Collections
      • Sherlock Holmes
    • New Books
  • Fractal Flames Art Goodies
  • Deep Silence
  • Links
    • Newsletter Subscription
    • Free Books
    • Audio Books
    • BAKER STREET UNIVERSE BOOKS
    • Fantasy
    • Sci-Fi Books
    • The Rocket Man Book Store
    • New Sci-Fi and Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Facts
    • Privacy Policy
  • Product