The Amazing Airship Adventure (5 page)

Chapter 10: Introducing The Baker Street Youth Detectives

Emma shivered slightly and pulled the blanket tighter around her body. She watched as the fire trucks squirted water upon the remains of the burning windmill and airship debris.
Water! Ughh!
she thought to herself.

When the twins' hang glider had caught on fire, Emma had seen a small pond in a nearby forest. With a loud SPLASH! she had crashed the glider into the pond's water and muck, saving both herself and Jimmy, but leaving them covered in mud and gunk.

Jimmy was now off with a doctor, getting his arm put in a cast. He'd broken his right arm in the fall, when it smacked against a hidden boulder, and he was now getting it set. “You be careful with that arm of yours, young man,” the doctor told him. “I don't want any more accidents while you heal, certainly no flying in gliders or airships.”

“Yes sir,” Jimmy said weakly. His arm hurt, but he was more afraid of what his parents would say when they saw him.

Jimmy was about to find out when a row of cabs arrived at the scene. Stepping out of the cabs were several police officers, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Mr. and Mrs. MacDougall, and a rather large man Jimmy had never set eyes on before. This large man had a cab all to himself, and Emma noted that when he got out of the cab, it seemed to lift up an extra five inches from the ground. Who was this well-dressed hefty fellow? And why was he with Sherlock Holmes and her parents?

“Emma! Jimmy!” Mrs. MacDougall called out. She gave the twins a big hug.

“Ouch!” yelped Jimmy. “Watch my arm.”

“It serves you right, James!” Mrs. MacDougall scolded Jimmy, calling him by his real name. “You and your sister could have been seriously hurt. You could have died. If I had only known what you were up to, I would have locked you away!”

“If you had locked them away, Frances, then my home would be destroyed, and most of London would be burning like that windmill,” explained Sherlock Holmes to Mrs. MacDougall, pointing at the flaming rubble. “It is because of your children that we have the notorious mad bomber and his henchmen in custody.”

“You caught them?” Emma asked, surprised at how quickly they had moved.

“Yes,” Sherlock explained. “When Steven told us everything about the tent, I dashed off with the police as fast I could. We arrived at the tent, soon after your departure, and arrested the goons who helped the bomber. Next, we continued pursuing the airship and saw the mad bomber parachute out of the gondola. We apprehended him when he landed.”

“But who was he, Mr. Holmes?” Jimmy asked.

“He was none other than Sheldon Howe, a former member of British Intelligence, working on a flying device for the British government,” came the answer from the heavy stranger. “Allow me to introduce myself,” the man continued. “I am Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, and I work for the British government.”

“Caw! I can't believe both Holmes brothers are here,” Mr. MacDougall stated in awe.

“But if Mr. Howe was working for you, then why did he attack London?” Emma asked Mycroft.

“Because he was angry at me. Sheldon wanted us to develop a fleet of his airships. He was working alongside a man by the name of Charles Davis. While Sheldon was working on airships, Charles was creating something he calls an aerial plane. In the end, we were afraid that the airships were too dangerous because of their flammable gas,” Mycroft noted, pointing to what was left of the windmill's flames. “We cancelled the airship project and funded the aerial plane one instead. Sheldon was furious, and he started upon his course for revenge.”

“Wait a minute!” Jimmy's eyes lit up. “The S.H. on the side of the red carriage..that stood for Sheldon Howe, not Sherlock Holmes!”

Everyone burst out laughing. “When have I ever owned a two horse carriage?” Sherlock asked the boy.

“Sorry, sir, I didn't know if the whole thing was a kind of test for us,” Jimmy admitted.

“It did end up being a test, in a sense,” Mycroft explained, and he took, from his coat, two shiny gold medals. “Jimmy and Emma, because of your bravery, London is safe from the mad bomber. I hereby make you honorary members of British Intelligence, and you two will henceforth be known as The Baker Street Youth Detectives.”

Mycroft paused to pin the medals on the twins. “Whenever a youth is in trouble, my brother Sherlock Holmes needs an extra hand, or the Queen herself needs your assistance, you shall answer the call of duty..with your parents' permission, of course.”

Jimmy and Emma winced at the last part but were surprised to see both of their parents beaming with pride. “If the Queen needs their assistance,” Mrs. MacDougall assured Mycroft, “then the twins will be there.”

Dr. Watson suddenly shouted, “Three cheers for the Baker Street Youth Detectives!”

While everyone cheered and applauded, Jimmy turned to Emma. “We did it, sis,” he said proudly.

“We sure did,” she agreed. “Now, I wonder what's next in store for The Baker Street Youth Detectives…”

The End

Special Sneak Peek

of

The Attack of the Violet Vampire

The MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes

Book #2

Chapter 1: Sherlock Holmes's Special Guests

“This is so exciting,” said Mrs. MacDougall. “I've never ridden in a
landau
[1]
carriage before.” The MacDougall family was riding in a luxury carriage to go to the theatre. Tonight was the first performance of a play based on a Sherlock Holmes case.

“I just hope the play isn't boring,” said Mr. MacDougall. “Dressing in a suit! Riding in a gold plated coach! This ain't to my liking,” he complained. Mr. MacDougall was a chimney sweep. He preferred wearing dirty jeans to dressing in a fancy suit.

“No need to worry, Father,” said Emma MacDougall. “This is a play about Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective.”

“And,” Jimmy, Emma's twin brother added, “it deals with a giant, killer snake!”

“Aww, that sounds good,” Mr. MacDougall chuckled, “but does it have a Violet Vampire?!?”

“Oh Dad, not that again!” said the twins together. Jimmy and Emma MacDougall were ten year old twin detectives. They had solved the case of the Mysterious Airship. Now, all the children of London came to them for help. Since the airship mystery, Jimmy and Emma had been working nonstop. They helped their friend, Nolan the Newsboy, find his stolen stack of papers. They helped the pet store solve the case of the kidnapped kitten. They even helped Scotland Yard track down a missing little boy, who was really a foreign prince.

“Dad, everyone knows that there is no such thing as a vampire,” Emma scolded.

Mr. MacDougall smiled at his fiery, red haired daughter. “How do you know? It's in all the papers.”

Emma shook her head. There had been strange reports in East London of a bat winged monster attacking people. At first, it was one or two reports. Now, it seemed like every other day, people were reporting seeing a strange, violet colored creature with sharp teeth, and glowing red eyes.

“We'll see if someone brings us the case,” laughed Jimmy. “Tonight, let's just enjoy the show.”

With all of the excitement in their lives, Jimmy and Emma were looking forward to a night at the theatre. Sherlock Holmes had invited the MacDougall family as his special guests. He knew the family, especially Mrs. MacDougall, would love a grand night out.

Mrs. MacDougall jumped for joy when they received the invitation. She wore her best dress that evening, a blue silk dress. She also wore the MacDougall diamond ring. This ring had been in the MacDougall family for over 1,000 years. At one time, it was worn by the Queen of Scotland! Mrs. MacDougall rarely wore the ring. She was afraid it might get lost or stolen.

The landau carriage pulled up in front of the Adelphi theatre. The four horses whinnied, and the driver got down to open the door. Mrs. MacDougall and Emma were the first ones out of the carriage, followed by Mr. MacDougall, and then Jimmy.

“Oww,” yelped Jimmy. He had bonked his head on the top of the carriage door. Jimmy was very tall for his age. He often went in disguise as an adult.

“Are you all right?” asked Mrs. MacDougall.

“Of course,” answered Jimmy, rubbing the back of his head. “Now, let's go see Sherlock Holmes. I'm looking forward to a fun night.”

Little did Jimmy know that far above him, on the theatre roof, a dark form, with glowing red eyes, watched the MacDougall family. The shadowy figure smiled, revealing its sharp fangs. It chuckled in a deep, scary tone. The creature unfolded its massive wings, and prepared to attack.