Disclaimer: I'm not associated with the Doyle Estate, so Holmes and Watson are not mine (nor are Professor Moriaty, Mrs. Hudson, Mary Moristan, etc.). Elizabeth, Margret, Daniela, etc. are mine, however. The plot is also mine.

Prologue I

Ten Years Earlier...

Margret Mackenzie sighed with relief as the train pulled out of Perth Station, as her year old daughter began to stir in the sling tied around Margret's chest.

"Hush, Elizabeth," she whispered soothingly. "It's goin' to be alright."

At her mother's comforting words, Elizabeth went back to sleep. The exhaustion Margret felt from the heart-pounding race to the train station from the small village that had once been her home overwhelmed her, and she fell asleep herself.

A few hours later, the train pulled into the station in Edinburgh with the shrill shriek of metal against metal, waking Margret from a dreamless slumber. She sighed in relief a second time when the sound of a unhappy child did not assault her ears. Her relief was short-lived, however, for the young girl's rest was disturbed by the hustle and bustle outside the compartment when Margret disembarked from the train. With a sigh, Margret gently rocked her daughter in the sling as she hurriedly rushed to catch the next train to London.

Unlike the journey to Edinburgh, Margret ended up having to share the compartment with two men who were traveling together. Not that Margret minded it very much, as she sensed that these strangers would like jump to her aid if her husband did manage to catch the train that went straight to London from Perth.

James was right, I should never have married him....

"Excuse me, Miss?" a male voice asked cautiously, interupting her thoughts.

Margret looked up with a start into kind hazel eyes.

"Sorry to bother you, but we've arrived in London," the voice explained, and Margret realised was that the voice belonged to one of the two men who'd traveled with her in the compartment.

"Thank you, sir," she replied, "I'm sure that I would have missed my stop if you hadn't bothered me."

As she stood up, the man took her bags without a word, and helped her off the train.

His companion had already called a cab, and was waiting impatiently for him with their bags.

"Hurry up, Watson," he called. "I promised your wife that I would have you back home before sunrise."

The man ignored his companion's shout, as he handed back Margret her bags.

"Watson!"

"I think your friend wants to speak to you, sir," Margret observed with a slight smile.

The man chuckled, as he explained, "He just wants to get back home so that he can confirm a theory."

"He sounds a lot like my brother," Margret observed drily, as she spotted an olive-skinned woman getting out of a nearby cab.

"Margret!" the woman called, spotting Margret. Margret said farewell to the kind man with hazel eyes, thanking him once again for helping her out of the train, and strode over to the olive-skinned woman.

"Daniela, how are you?" Margret asked, hugging her best friend and sister-in-law.

"Much better than you, Margret, I'll wager," Daniela replied. Spotting the sling around Margret's chest, she added, "And this must be Elizabeth."

Bright emerald eyes peeked out from the sling, as Elizabeth looked around at her surroundings from the safety of her sling. Her observations were interupted by a wide yawn.

Daniela giggled slightly before she exclaimed, "Look at me, I'm forcing you to stand around and listen to me jabber on about things, when you are worn out from a harrowing journey to safety. Come along, let's get your things into the cab quickly, before you fall asleep right on your feet, Margret."

Margret hid a tired smile at her friend's behavior, but she had to admit that she was exhausted, especially when the rocking of the cab lulled her back to sleep....