Elementary

Farrah and Tristan were walking home from their last day of school. They had successfully finished the puzzle that Barton had given them. In fact they finished it so easily they left Barton standing there shocked. "Did you see the look on Barton’s face when I handed him the wooden puzzle box open?" Farrah said busting out laughing. "Yeah, he looked like he'd seen a ghost!" Tristan added laughing as well. They stopped laughing and walked in silence for a bit. Tristan broke the silence first, looked her way and said "You know, we make a great team." She smiled to herself and said "We sure do. I don't know what I'd do without you around to help me with some of the puzzles I've encountered." Farrah replied. "Yeah, I know. Same here. I think we both help each other out that way." He said. "Oh most definitely!" Farrah exclaimed. "I'm good at some facts and actually working on the task at hand. While you're good at older facts that I forget and you're good at analyzing a situation too." She explained. It was true; they each had different qualities and strengths that made them the perfect duo. "Oh, I almost forgot! I have to go to the library to drop this book off!" Farrah said. "Oh for goodness sakes Farrah, you borrowed another book?" Tristan whined. Farrah always enjoyed reading a good book. But not just any book, she always enjoyed a good mystery book, preferably Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes was her role model. She always considered herself as Sherlock Holmes while Tristan was John Watson. She often thought of Sherlock Holmes as her idol because he was so good with logical reasoning and he was a detective. Farrah's number one dream was to become a detective. Of course she knew that Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character but she always thought that he could still be a role model regardless.

"What book are you going to borrow this time?" Tristan asked Farrah. "Well as you know we've read every single Sherlock Holmes novel right?" Farrah quizzed. "Yeah, well all except the first book that is." Tristan answered. "Yup! Exactly. The first one is the only one we haven't read yet." She answered back. "Oh, so you found the first book from the library?" Tristan asked, surprised. "Uhh. . .no." Farrah laughed. "Oh so which book did you get?" He asked, confused. "It was a character analysis of all the Sherlock Holmes characters from each novel. I tried looking for the first book but found this one instead. It's really hard to find that first Sherlock novel in this town." She explained. "Well, I always expected our parents to have a copy, but not even they have the first novel" Tristan said in a rather disappointed tone. He always wanted to read the first book just like Farrah. But since the first book was nowhere to be found they merely skipped over the first book and started on the second book. "Exactly, now your mom and dad have nothing but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & other mysteries and puzzling books as well, am I correct?" She asked. "Yes, Farrah." Tristan huffed. "My parents have just about the same collection of literature as yours. Give or take a few from each. Are you going somewhere with this?" He asked rather impatiently. One thing about Farrah, she always tried to make a mysterious connection about everything. She always thought that when something wasn't right there was a case that needed cracking. The scary part for Tristan? She was always right about it. He doesn't know how she knows or how she does it but she was always right and always solved the case. One time during their sophomore year there was a prankster in the school. Farrah was the first to notice it and rest assured two weeks later she had all the evidence and facts she needed to crack that case wide open. Of course Tristan had helped, but Farrah is usually the first one that sees when something is out of the ordinary. "Of course I'm going somewhere with this! You know I don't babble like this unless I have something to say!" Farrah said in defense.

"Besides you just said the key to all of this anyway." She said coolly. "I did? What was it?" He asked, completely confused. "You said yourself that our parents basically have the same books, give or take a few from each, in their collection!" She looked at Tristan who was lost and confused. "UGH! T.C! Don't you think it's weird that not one person in our family has a copy of the first novel?" Farrah asked. "Farrah, that's probably just a coincidence. I mean didn't your mom tell you that they lost their copy?" He asked. "Yes, and didn't your mother say the same thing?" Farrah asked suspiciously. Tristan didn't say anything right away because he too was starting to feel something was out of the ordinary. "Yeah, she did. She uh. . .said that our copy was lost a long time ago. Like a long, long, long time ago." Tristan said uncomfortably. He was beginning to feel like something really was wrong. "Really? Well, how long ago?" Farrah asked. "Like before our family moved here to Albany. Back when my, and your, ancestors were living in England." He informed me. "You know, that's another thing that bugs me. Both of our families are originally from England but both moved to Albany at the same time. Like what’s up with that?" Farrah asked. "Look, can we stop talking about this?" Tristan asked, irritated. "Why?" Farrah stopped walking. "Because you know there's something they're not telling us right? You know that there's something not right about all of this. You can feel it too. Even though you don't want to, you do." Farrah said. Tristan did feel that something was wrong. He's felt for a long time that there were things, secrets, which their parents weren't telling them. Although he didn't want to admit it, he knew it was true.

"Look, I'll admit, it is weird how close our family is. I'll admit that it's completely weird how none of our family members have the first book to Sherlock Holmes. I'll even admit how weird it is that our family gives us different excuses about certain things the older we got. I sometimes find it weird how much we're into puzzles. But I never questioned it because I want to believe that there's nothing weird going on, and you should do the same Farrah. Maybe we're not supposed to find out. Have you ever thought about that?" Tristan was a little scared because of all the "coincidences'' he just mentioned. He also felt a little guilty because he thought that he made her feel bad. He looked at Farrah with apologetic eyes and started walking again. "See? You do feel something. That look you just gave me tells me so." She ran to catch up with him. "Look, I'm sorry I pushed all that information and those facts at you. I just feel like there's something missing in my life. In both our lives really. I mean, I just want to know about the history behind both of our families. I just don't want to hear the lies they've told us in the past. I mean why hide, or get rid of, or whatever they did to that book? What was so bad about the first Sherlock Holmes book that they had to get rid of or hide it? I'm just tired of their secrets and cover ups. That's all." Farrah said. This time it was Tristan that stopped walking first. He turned to Farrah, who was standing there with her head down. Her jet black bangs were covering her eyes. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did." He reached over to her and hugged her tightly. He hated seeing his best friend so unhappy. "If it's really important to you, I'll help you find out things. We can ask them together. And if we get a strange answer we can go looking around for our own answers and clues. How does that sound?" he asked. Farrah hugged him back. She loved his hugs. She loved how safe and special she felt when she was with him. He was her best friend and partner in crime (or in this case puzzles). She sighed and tried her best not to cry and replied "T.C that sounds great. Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me that I figure this one out. To be honest that's the reason I'm going to the library today. I don't have to return this book for another week, but I finished it early and I asked Mrs. McLeary to see if she can get a hold of a copy of the first book for me. As it turns out she has her own copy of the book and she's willing to let me borrow it. So I told her I'll come by to pick it up today." Farrah confessed. They finished their hug and started to walk again.

Tristan looked at her in a bit of shock. Why didn't she mention this bit of information earlier? Was she hiding something? Tristan had decided to throw that thought right out of his mind. He knew better than to think that Farrah would hide something from him. They were best friends! They would never hide things from each other. After that thought Tristan thought about the Scarlett Redfield lie he had told her. But the only reason he had decided not to tell her was because she would’ve scolded him about it. "Oh really?" He replied nonchalantly. "So that's the real reason why we're going to the library?" He asked trying to hide the true meaning for his asking. "Yes, that's why we're going to the library today." Farrah answered. "So um. . .why didn't you tell me this before in the beginning?" Tristan quizzed. They both stopped and looked at each other. Farrah looked at him and thought about how he didn't tell her about Scarlett. They started walking again but at a slower pace. She simply replied "I don't know. But I'll tell you one thing though. . .this makes us even. Doesn't it, Tristan?" She glanced at him and kept walking with a proud pep in her step. Tristan, on the other hand, stopped short. His face was completely shocked by what she said. He then turned red from embarrassment and ran to catch up with her. "Touché, Ms. Jones. Touché." He managed to say. "How did you find out?" He asked suspiciously. "Tristan, I'm Farrah "The Puzzle Cracker" Jones. How could I not find out?" She shot back. "Wow." He said. "What?" she asked rather angrily. Just thinking about Scarlett touching him was enough to make her blood boil. "You really are just like Sherlock Holmes, as I am Watson. You know I really do believe that someday we'll be as great as them." Tristan said quietly, trying to change the subject. "Not just someday" Farrah said. She knew he was trying to change the subject, but went along with it because she didn’t want to argue anymore. "Soon. Soon we'll be as great as them T.C., I know we will." She smiled at him and he smiled back. They walked the rest of the way to the library in a comfortable silence.

To Be Continued. . .