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“I must say, I was rather surprised to hear that you wanted to visit me,” Barok stated as he poured the tea for his newfound niece, Iris.
“Well… we’re family aren’t we?” She asked. “It would be pretty silly if we acted like nothing had happened.”
“You do have a point there…”
“And, besides! I made a new blend of tea!” She smiled. “I recently got a shipment of Purple Passionflower, so I had to try out a new recipe I had thought up of!”
The calming aromas of the tea filled the room as the dark brown concoction filled the sitting room. Iris had already set out the small purple flowers onto the tea saucers, their blue-purple tendrils spread out in all directions, the hue was hypnotic.
“You know… when I first saw these, they reminded me of you,” Iris said.
“Me…?”
“Well… they’re the same color as your hair…” She replied. “And Holmsies also told me that a lot of people thought it means suffering and death…”
Barok nearly choked on his tea.
“But I think they’re misunderstood, they’re really just lonely…!” Iris continued. “And they just need love and patience, and care, like any other flower!”
“That is truly profound, thank you for that,” Barok nodded. “I promise to keep it close to heart.”
Iris looked over to the mantle and smiled, “Uncle! You still have it!”
Leaning against the clock at the center was the small handmade charm she had made nearly half a year prior. A charming purple cat with a tophat and a cape.
“Of course, I promised you that I would take good care to treasure it…” He nodded. “After all, it seems you put much work into it, I would be foolish to discard it foolishly.”
“I’m really happy you like him! It’s always good to have a little friend!” Iris said. “I made a couple more for Susie, Narudy, and Holmsies! I’m working on one for Zoomie too!”
“You’re very skilled, have you crafted for a long time?”
“Mhm! I found a book one time, in the library, that had all of these cute little patterns so I drew them all and figured it out from there!” She explained. “Now I can make patterns of my own, it’s really fun!”
She got up from her seat and started straight for the fireplace. Opening up her satchel, she pulled out another tiny creation and set it next to the purple cat charm. It was a small pink bear, resembling the young girl, now holding the original’s hand.
“I thought you would like this, so your charm doesn’t get lonely while you’re out,” She said. “Like I said, it’s always nice to have a little friend…”
Barok felt his heart swelling and a gentle warmth welling up inside. He smiled and nodded.
“Thank you, Iris,” Barok said softly, “You truly are too kind.”
“You’re welcome! And I really do like talking with you too!” Iris added. “You know, you’re not really as much of a scary vampire that you look like, you are really nice!”
“Well… I suppose I’m glad that I do not scare you?” Barok chuckled.
The two spent the rest of the morning drinking tea and talking about anything and everything that came to mind. Eventually the morning tea sept into the early hours of the afternoon, and the clock chimed twice.
“My goodness, I did not mean to keep you for so long,” Barok realized. “We should probably get you home… it would not do well to have Holmes worried.”
“That’s probably a good idea… who knows what Holmsies can think of when he’s bored?” Iris mused.
“Very well… I suppose it is a rather nice day today,” Barok said. “Perhaps I should walk you home…?”
Iris smiled and nodded, “I would like that very much, please!” She was elated, a particular gleam shimmered in her eyes, reminding the prosecutor of his dear older brother. “Then we can continue our conversation!”
The two walked hand in hand through the streets of London, heading to Baker Street. It was an uncharacteristically bright and sunny day in the metropolis with a clear sky revealing a brilliant blue. Nearby, there were flowers in bloom in window boxes, a gentle breeze causing the blossoms and leaves to flutter. Iris hopped as she walked, which was rather charming in Barok’s opinion; she hopped over every crack and every line, humming a little chant as she did so. Iris Watson was quite simply full of life, truly intriguing the taciturn prosecutor.
“Uncle… you’ve told me a lot about my father, but what was my mother like?” She asked innocently. “Were they happy…?”
“Well… your mother was a very bright and witty woman, and she also loved to garden,” Barok answered. “You know… her favorite flowers were irises…”
“Really…?”
“Aye… perhaps there is such a thing as fate after all…” Barok nodded. “I truly do hold your mother in high regards… she was wonderful to talk to… especially when one needed advice or clarity… have you ever considered taking up knitting or crochet, Iris…?”
She shook her head, “Not very often, though Mrs. Hudson tried teaching me,” she replied “Did my mother?”
“Yes, she did enjoy it very much,” Barok said. “I think she would be impressed with your skills too, especially those charms…”
“You really think so?” Iris grinned. “You know… I think that’s a good idea! I might have found some old knitting needles up in the attic once! Maybe Susie knows something about knitting!”
Eventually, they came up across an old chalk drawing on the sidewalk. Iris let go of Barok’s hand and picked up a pebble. She hummed as she tossed it and started to hop on the squares, save for the one with the pebble. Barok stared as she repeated her path before picking up the pebble and handing it to him.
“Here, you try…!” Iris smiled impishly.
“Oh…?” Barok asked. “I’m afraid I am not acquainted with this game…”
Iris giggled, “Alright, it’s really easy though, so don’t worry!” She pointed to the semicircle at the top of the pattern labeled with the number ten. “That’s Heaven, you can stop and turn around when you get there.
“So you throw the pebble on a square, if it hits a line or bounces out, you lose your turn,” Iris explained. “So you hop on one foot for the single squares, and you hop on both of your feet on these double squares. You can’t touch the square with the pebble in it, unless you’re picking it up.”
Barok hesitantly tossed the pebble, which landed on the third square, which was a single.
“Hey! Good job!” Iris clasped her hands. “So! You can hit every square but the third one!”
Barok nodded and got ready to hop, just as Iris told him to. He felt his face warm up, and he clenched his jaw, hoping that no one was staring at him.
Hop.
Hop.
Skip.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
Once he made it to ‘heaven’ he turned around and hopped back the same pattern.
He handed the pebble back to Iris who tossed it to the ninth square, which was a single.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
Hop. Hop
Skip.
She changed which foot was hopping on the singles when she hit the fifth and six squares, which were set as doubles, like the seventh and eighth squares.
“Hmmm… I wonder…” Barok mused as he tossed the pebble, hitting the fifth square.
He turned around and closed his eyes.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop. Skip.
Hop.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
“Woah!” Iris gasped. “You got it right!”
“I’m more surprised that I did it to be honest…” Barok chuckled before hopping back.
Iris tossed the pebble and landed on the second square.
Hop.
Skip.
Hop.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
Hop. Hop.
Hop.
Every time she hopped on a square, she turned ninety degrees, almost as if she was in a dance, or, as if she was a dancing doll in a music box.
Together, they figured out more variations of the art of hopping, all without a care in the world. They laughed and made their own dances with nothing but a pebble and squares.
And neither of them cared if there was anyone staring.