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Mycroft had spent all morning searching for Sherlock. He was 12 and despite old nan being there to look after them while their parents were away for business, it mainly was down to him to look after his little brother. He never sat still, it was like he physically couldn't. He finally found him just at the stage where he was beginning to worry about the 5 year old. He hadn't been overly concerned to start with because he'd taken Redbeard with him. He found the pair at the bottom of the garden where the woods began.
“Sherlock!”
The muddy little boy looked up. “Myc!”
“I've been looking for you all morning!”
“Boring.”
“Why are you digging?”
Sherlock was on his knees beside the dog. They were both digging, but Sherlock was using his hands.
“I'm helping Red.”
“He's a dog, he doesn't need help.”
The younger boy poked his tongue out and went back to digging.
Mycroft sunk down onto the floor beside him. He was happy just spending time with his brother even if he was preoccupied.
After digging for what Mycroft assumed was about 20 minutes there was a thunk.
“Mycie, look.”
The older brother pushed himself up to his knees and peered over. They had dug down to something metal.
“What is it?” Sherlock asked.
Between the two of them, with Redbeard barking beside them, they managed to pull the metal box up and out of the hole.
“I think it's something Father would call a time capsule.”
“What's inside it?”
There was a small lock on the side which Mycroft was sure he could pick if they got it inside.
“There's usually old pictures of the family that buried it or old clothes or coins. Father told me once that he found one with his brother and sister when they were small. It had toys in from what they would have played with. He said he thought it was about 100 years old and that was 30 years ago.”
“Can we see inside?”
The older boy picked the box up by the handle and held his other hand out for Sherlock to take.
“C'mon, Red,” Sherlock called.
Redbeard had gone back to digging.
“He can stay out here, 'Lock. He's fine.”
***
After making Sherlock a drink and placing the box on the table. Mycroft searched almost as hard for the lock picking kit as he had for Sherlock.
“Right then, so we're going to get into this,” Mycroft said, joining his brother when he had found the kit.
Sherlock immediately moved over onto his lap, Mycroft smiled, resting his chin on his head.
It didn't take too long to get into the box. As soon as the lid was lifted up Sherlock reached in and pulled out a small wooden object, a point on one side and a long handle on the other.
“What does this do?” He asked of his older brother while he tried to balance it on his finger.
Mycroft gently plucked it from his hands and moved the box to the side, he held the tip and then twisted it jerkily so it began to spin on the point.
The older boy was amazed with how long Sherlock actually remained entertained with such a toy as he went through the rest of the box.
“Sherlock, look at these,” he placed a few extremely old coins into his brother's hand.
“It's money. Will it still work?”
“Doubtful. I think they have a cut off date for old coins and things. They're always renewing money.”
“Why?”
“I don't know why. Father will know, he knows everything.”
There were some very old photographs at the bottom, and a few newspaper articles, one was about the coronation of Queen Victoria.
“Sherlock, look,” he showed him the photos. “This family would have lived here a long time ago. They must have been very rich because cameras were extremely rare in those days.”
“How old is the box?” Sherlock asked, examining the outside. It was well made, but looked like it could fall apart at any moment.
“This newspaper article was from the coronation of Queen Victoria. Do you remember the year she was crowned queen?”
“1836. No, 1837.”
Mycroft grinned proudly, “Well done. Do you remember when she died?”
“1901. Edward took over, but he wasn't around for very long.”
He was glad Sherlock paid attention. History was important. Especially to a Holmes.
“So there we go, these toys and items are nearly 150 years old.”
“Even older than Old Nan,” Sherlock said with a smirk.