I Never Forgot - Chapter 3




Basil had barely slept that night. Ever since that dreadful note had dropped through the door, he had spent every waking moment analyzing it, trying to determine who it could have possibly come from.

At any other time, he would have been able to pinpoint the sender within ten minutes of simply studying it with his trusty magnifying glass; but this time, the power of the threat, the sheer sinister nature and evil contained within the message – most importantly the threat towards Olivia - clouded his mind in the most utterly frustrating and horrible manner, like the thickest black storm cloud in his brain. It tore him apart slowly throughout the night, and eventually defeated him as he slumped on his desk, falling asleep at last.

Mrs. Judson found him early that morning as she bustled in to go about some usual cleaning business in Basil’s work room. She gasped as she saw him uncomfortably drooped over the desk, the dreaded note scrunched in his worn hand. The fire in the fireplace had fizzled out, with only some very weak embers just barely burning; much like Basil’s spirit.
Usually Mrs. Judson was used to Basil falling asleep down in his work quarters, but for some reason his defeated posture, disturbing chaotic disorganization all around on the desk, and the fact that he’d forgotten to do usual things such as put the fire out, struck her as unnerving.
He was breathing heavily in his sleep, and was twitching every now and then. Mrs. Judson was desperate to wake him up and tell him to go to bed at once, but she thought that even the most uncomfortable ways of sleeping were still valuable – as long as you were actually getting some sleep. Basil looked like he certainly needed some after his obviously rough night doing whatever it was he had been doing.

Mrs. Judson hesitated, then picked up a blanket draped over one of the armchairs and placed it gently over Basil’s back. She took the leftover teacups from last night and proceeded back into the kitchen, shaking her head.

The time came to around half eight in the morning; it was then that Olivia opened her eyes and woke up properly, stretching lavishly in her warm bed. She had been so incredibly tired after her long journey from Scotland, but her pleasant and deep sleep at Baker Street had been so replenishing…
She got out of bed enthusiastically and wrapped her tartan shawl around her shoulders over her cream nightdress, and slipped on some similar tartan slippers that she had brought with her. She took out a little fine pocket brush and gently swiped it over her ears several times, and on her cheeks. She then gave herself a little smile in her bedroom table mirror before heading downstairs.

She was halfway down the stairs, smiling slightly, when she too noticed Basil in his odd state, slumped over his desk. She gave a little gasp and rushed down absent mindedly, standing over him, just about to wake him up herself, when she hesitated, her hand poised over his shoulder. She stayed like that for a while as he breathed steadily.

She couldn’t help looking at his face, still not quite rested even in sleep. His mouth was slightly open, his eyebrows were knitted together in uneasiness, and his hand was tightly clutched around that bit of paper – though a blanket lay on his shoulders.
He looked uneasy yet… it was undeniable that Basil was handsome. His slightly puckered lips looked so soft and oddly inviting… before long Olivia found herself leaning forward towards them ever so slowly, trying to stop herself, but yet not quite being able to. She didn’t even know why she was doing it… she just was. When her face  was poised about ten centimeters away from his, she stopped again, just taking time to gaze at him, as well as contemplating what on earth she was doing, not realizing that Basil’s breathing had become not so heavy.

Just as she was paused in this confused way, Basil’s eyes suddenly shot open. A moment of panic passed as Olivia immediately darted backwards, almost falling over, as Basil suddenly sat up. Olivia started to gush apologies, but Basil didn’t even seem to notice what had just happened, or why he had woken with her face so close to his. He simply gasped.

“Olivia!” He exclaimed, seemingly just about to stand up, before falling out of his chair.

“Basil!” Olivia rushed to him to help him as he lay on the floor theatrically. She took his shoulders and helped him sit up.

“What on earth? Are you all right? What have you been doing, why didn’t you go to bed?” Olivia asked, firmly but gently, as she knelt beside him.

Basil didn’t really comprehend the questions; his eyes just looked bleary and slightly bloodshot.

“I… but, the note… the letter… confound it!” He suddenly stood up roughly and grabbed the note, wanting to tear it apart, but couldn’t destroy his only clue – at least not yet.

“What… what note?” Olivia asked, deeply confused as she glanced at the paper in Basil’s hand.

Basil paused, slightly snapping back to life out of his chaotic state. He turned to Olivia.

“Oh… it’s… it’s…” He looked at her face; she looked so concerned, so utterly innocent, that he thought it best not to show her the letter yet… it would just disturb her… very much so.

“It’s… nothing. I… I may show you later, perhaps.”  He slipped the note into one of his books and snapped it shut fiercely, as if he wanted to snap the note out of existence too.

There was a slightly awkward silence as Basil cleared his throat and straightened his tie, then he pushed the chair back into place under the desk.

“Uh… how about breakfast?” Basil enquired. Olivia smiled.

“You sit here, my dear, yes yes. Mrs. Judson will make you something.” He said as he bustled her into the chair. He crouched down to the fireplace and proceeded to scrape the old ashes into a metal tin. He did it so quickly and neatly – the fireplace was clean in no time.

Olivia still looked at him with great concern. She definitely wasn’t stupid. She knew something was very wrong – she sensed it immediately. She knew that note had something to do with it, though Basil had done his level best to try and conceal it.
If he wouldn’t tell her, she’d have to be her own detective, and find out what was on it.

Mrs. Judson came out of the kitchen and greeted Olivia warmly.

“How did you sleep, dearie?”

“Very well, thank you. The bed was so nice and comfortable, thank you so much!”

“You’re more than welcome, sweetie. I’ll fetch you some breakfast, shall I? Is porridge all right?”

“Yes! That would be lovely.” Olivia said happily. She only just realized she was absolutely starving – apart from the little cheese crumpet snack last night she hadn’t had a proper meal for days.

She looked at Basil, who was standing in front of the fireplace, hand on his chin. He looked very deep in thought, as always, frowning slightly. If only he had had a pipe in his mouth he would have looked like his typical self once again.

Olivia stood up and had a little nose around the room. She stared when she spotted Ratigan’s little death bell still on the shelf above the fireplace, even after 15 years. Behind it, she saw Ratigan’s portrait – still there, completely covered in dust, signifying that time had also buried Ratigan into the deepest and darkest of memories.

Basil saw that she was looking at it. She looked completely lost in memory, her eyes in the direction of the photograph but not focusing at all.

“Recalling the past?” asked Basil. Olivia snapped out of her thoughts. “I bet you’re also wondering why on earth it’s still there?”

Olivia nodded.

Basil paused. He then took the photo and lifted it out of its place. The dust flew absolutely everywhere, and even cobwebs that had built up over time stretched out in their wispy greyness, still clinging onto the photo even though it had been lifted out of its place. Basil swatted them away and blew on the photo in the direction of the fireplace, more dust fanning out all over, making Olivia sneeze. A little spider crawled out from behind the photo, startling Basil. He gave a little comical squeak, making Olivia laugh.

“The truth is… I actually don’t know. I’m sure you were expecting some sort of long and in-depth answer, but… it’s just stayed there, a monument of my victory…” He chuckled, “Sorry, our victory.”

They then turned to each other at the same time and gave each other a little knowing smile.

Once the photo was relatively dust free, Basil and Olivia were just silently looking at it for a moment, seemingly both recalling the past….

…Though Basil couldn’t ignore the problem of the note. It was constantly praying on his mind, and the fact that Olivia was here was making his heart joyful, yet agonizingly uneasy at the same time. He just couldn’t let anything happen to her. He was going to figure this out, but at the moment, he didn’t want to worry, nor did he want Olivia to worry. He decided to make the most of their time before things got serious…

He turned to her, “I say, Olivia… do you… fancy taking a little walk in the park?”