Freedom • Lord Tewksbury

THREE

Catherine was awoken by Enola lightly shaking her.

"Yes Enola?" Catherine asked as she rubbed her eyes. When she fully opened then, she realized that it was still dark outside, and then she realized that Enola was dressed in a boy's clothing. "What on earth are you doing?"

"We're going to go find my mother," Enola told her confidently. Catherine nodded her head, a confused look on her face.

"I'm all for that, but what exactly does that entail?"

Enola quickly explained to her the plan that she had formulated within the past hour or so, as Catherine changed into the clothes that Enola had grabbed for her. Sherlock's old trousers and top from when he was young, surprisingly fit her quite well, which Catherine was thankful for.

Enola explained their first step. They were going to plant Enola's bike in the grass not too far from Ferndell to distract the Holmes brothers. They then were going to go to the train station and get on a train to London. But of course, they weren't going to the local station, they're were going further.

The morning quickly came, and just before dawn, the girls set out on their adventure. Enola had the money her mother left for her stashed in her pocket, and that's all they brought. They both assumed they would be coming back, so Catherine didn't bother to bring anything from her trunk with her. It would just slow them down.

They planted the bike, and then began their trek for the train station, talking about the other phases of their plan as they walked. It didn't take them as long as they thought, and soon the two girls, disguised as boys, were purchasing tickets and making their way towards the platform.

The two walked towards the train as they heard an argument behind them.

"He had the carriage drop him off here this morning, surely he's here somewhere," Catherine heard a blonde woman say. The conductor told her the train was leaving, which was met with much protest from the woman.

"No! Do not let this train leave without someone on it!" The blonde woman exclaimed as the train began to move. Catherine watched as a man in a brown bowler hat stepped onto the train, and slightly tipped his hat back towards the family searching for this missing boy. Catherine got the feeling that it wasn't to the mother however, for she was still panicking. Interesting.

Catherine ignored the feeling in her gut that the bowler hat man was bad news, as she and Enola found an empty carriage.

Catherine sat down and took of her jacket, Enola following suit. As Catherine rolled her sleeves up, and took the rather uncomfortable hat off, she heard something bump against the wall. She and Enola shared a glance, before hearing a sneeze.

They looked up to the shelf above the bench in front of them to see a knife poking out of the bag on top, cutting a hole in it. A hand came out and undid a portion of the bag, and then a boy's head emerged.

Catherine raised an eyebrow as the boy in the bag tried to undo the rest of the opening, before tipping over and falling onto the floor.

"Woah", the boy said as he landed on the floor. Catherine and Enola watched as he sat up, and realized that he wasn't alone. "Hello."

"Please get out of this carriage," Enola requested immediately, as Catherine analyzed the boy. She had to admit that he was very cute, but in a boyish sort of way.

"I can't, I'm in hiding," the boy responded, as his eyes swept over the two. "Bit of a to-do. Bribed a porter to put me in this, and get me onboard. Very daring."

"Get out of this carriage right now," Enola demanded.

"You're a...strange looking gentlemen," the boy commented, before turning his gaze to Catherine. She realized that she had taken her hat off, which gave away that she was not, in fact, a boy. "And you're a very pretty girl, dressed in boy's clothing."