Baker Street Charterers

In [-], London, England, at eight o'clock in the morning.

The fog in the early morning of this fog is white and humid, the small particles in the air are mixed with soot, and the breathing becomes dry and stinging, and the gloomy sky can hardly see any sunlight.Boats on the Thames River kept coming and going, and a large number of smelly fish were transported to the river bank by boatmen.

"Hey, boy, we're at the place!" A loud baritone voice caught the attention of passers-by, John stepped onto the wet shore, took off his mask that smelled like fish, squatted down, and poked The sleeping person sitting on the boat with his head bowed raised his voice, "Hey! Wake up! We're in London!"

Startled by the deafening voice, the boy called a young man immediately jumped up. The cheap and poor-quality gray beret was ridiculously tilted to one side, revealing a slightly pale face.There was still a smear of soot on the bridge of his nose, his disheveled red hair hastily tucked into a hat, and he sat awkwardly among a pile of eye-rolling fish and shellfish.He raised his head blankly, only a pair of emerald green pupils stood out on his featureless face, as bright as a burning flame.

"Are you in London?" The boy straightened his crooked hat, stuffed the fallen hair into it, and then jumped ashore neatly, almost stepping on a dead fish on the wet floor.

John kindly took the young man's arm, helped him up, and pointed to the safe avenue at Billings Gate, "Hey, boy, go to the Marylebow area you're going to. We're not on the way , I won’t send you off.”

The young man nodded, with a bright smile on his dirty face, "Okay, thank you for sending me here, Uncle John. I will definitely repay you if we meet again in the future."

John waved his hand casually, not taking his promise seriously, and laughed twice, "Okay, goodbye, the nameless guy from Liverpool."

The young man smiled and watched the tall and strong figure walk away, then turned around and walked briskly through the fish market that was shouting everywhere.Due to staying on the boat for a long time, there was a fishy smell that was definitely not pleasant from the inside out, and the passers-by all covered their mouths and noses, with abnormal expressions.

The young man smiled and didn't care, humming a made-up tune, walked to a dark corner, stopped, put his hand into his arms, took out an old pocket watch, looked at the A damaged black-and-white photo, paused, let out a breath, and murmured in embarrassment, "Are you really going... hope is worrying..."

Even so, he put the pocket watch into the pocket of his dirty coat, sighed deeply, collected himself, and then walked forward.

Billings Gate is quite far from Marylebow. The young man went from early morning until the daylight finally broke through the thick dark clouds. The streets gradually became noisy and lively, with carriages passing by and horseshoes beating.He walked past a bakery, smelled the thick, sweet aroma wafting from it, and immediately couldn't move.Turning around and looking at the deliciously hot bread just baked in the owner's hand, the teenager licked his lips, and his stomach let out a "cuckoo" that fit the occasion.

He touched his empty pocket in embarrassment, and the approaching aroma entered his nose irresistibly. He stood there and thought for a while, and finally made up his mind, took out his pocket watch, and just took a step, but Suddenly he stopped, his eyeballs rolled around, and moved to a well-dressed young gentleman walking towards this side.

Thin, not tall, with sideburns, slightly haggard face, but gentle eyes.Wearing the most common black suit jacket and white shirt nowadays, with a small bow tie.He looked as though he had been injured and had difficulty using his left hand.The young man was looking down at the note in his hand, looking left and right from time to time, completely oblivious to the boy's gaze towards him.

He thought for a while, then pulled off his old beret, a long, thick and messy bright red natural curly hair immediately let out, the boy—or, the girl dressed as a boy moved his fingers slightly , and then pretended to be nonchalant and walked towards the young man approaching here.

Ingenious angles, sensitive movements, suppressed exclamations, wronged eyes - she played an innocent girl who accidentally bumped into a passerby while walking very well, and she was very satisfied with the guilty apology from the young man.

"I'm really sorry, I was only looking at myself and didn't notice—" The young gentleman frowned slightly, blaming himself for his reckless behavior, and looked gently at the girl's pale face.It was just a poor girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, with a strong fishy smell on her body.Although the smell was very unpleasant, the young man was well-mannered and did not show any disgust. He lowered his voice and looked worried, "Are you okay, did I hurt you?"

The girl shook her head timidly, her face was black and gray, she was very funny, her clothes were shabby, her hair was disheveled, her behavior was vulgar, her smell was bad, she was a typical role of street street children in London.

The pity in the young man's eyes deepened. He carefully helped the girl up. When he found that the arms in his hands were as thin as a skeleton, and not plump at all at this age, he frowned, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only pat the girl. With the plaster on his arm, he apologized again, "It was my negligence, but you must be careful in the future, not everyone will say sorry to you for bumping into you."

There was no irony in his words, only pure exhortations.There was a strange look in the girl's eyes, but she didn't say anything, she just nodded, then watched the young man nod slightly to her, then got up and left.

She looked at it for a while, and then suddenly let out a soft "chi", which was a bit of an exclamation.Unexpectedly, in this century, there is still a gentleman who expresses sincere kindness to a dirty tramp.Since she came to this completely unfamiliar London, she has seen a lot of arrogant and self-righteous upper class people, chasing away traders begging for the elderly and passers-by who are indifferent to evil deeds, and this young man named "Watson" is her The second person who smiled at her after coming here.

As for why she knew the other person's name——

She tossed another newer gold-plated pocket watch from her hand and smiled slyly.Although she hasn't made a move for a long time, but the sword is not old, and she is still so smooth and coquettish, she has her lunch this week.

Gently opened the pocket watch, there was a photo of a young woman inlaid inside, with warm eyebrows and a gentle smile, the owner probably took good care of it, the photo looked like new, with "" written next to it, it should be the young man's mother .

This is probably the most valuable and meaningful item on his body.

Let’s keep it for now——she thought about it, although the young man looked well dressed, but the collar of the inner lining was worn out, the shoes on his feet were covered with mud, and his face was slightly weathered. The hand that supported her There are thin calluses on his fingertips—maybe he is the same as her, but he is just someone who wants to survive in the most prosperous and filthiest city in this century.

Her compassion flickered, but she was soon attracted by the smell of bread.She took a deep breath, finally touched her suffocated stomach patiently, turned and left.

It was already noon when she walked to the Marylebone area, and the crowd was very surprised at this shabby-dressed girl who appeared rashly in this Regent Street Park—this is an elegant building built during the reign of George IV. The wealthy area of ​​the building, the people who live here are either rich or noble, and they are all well-known upper-class people in the London area.

The girl completely ignored the inexplicable eyes cast by the people around her, and looked for the room numbers one by one until she saw a house number marked "13b". Brand new wooden doors with white paint.

She waited patiently, and heard the crisp sound of high heels hitting the floor behind the door, and then the door was opened, a beautiful blond woman in a water-red corseted high-waisted dress, almost revealing half of her white breasts The woman stood behind the door, and saw the ragged girl, she was stunned for a while, her eyes showed obvious disgust, her lips with shiny lipstick moved, and a high-pitched female voice sounded, as if she was calling for her servant , "Julie—someone came to ask for money again, it's really unlucky..."

Seeing that the door was about to be slammed shut, the girl immediately stepped forward and said calmly, "I'm not here to ask for money. Are you Lucia Brown? I'm Nora Sharp, your cousin."

"Cousin?" repeated the pretty young lady in surprise, and suddenly gave a condescending, contemptuous and pitiful smile, "Oh, so I'm sorry, I've never heard of a cousin named Sharp—if you need to scam money , then better make another excuse. The Browns in Marylebow aren't a bunch of fools with money and no brains."

Before she could explain, Lucia Brown had closed the door, keeping her far away.

The old pocket watch that Nora was about to take out was put back. She stayed there for a while, then walked down the steps calmly, not choosing to continue to clarify her identity.Perhaps to her, she is the one who admits their kinship—this family is obviously a model of hating the poor and loving the rich. Judging from the tone of the nominal cousin Lucia, maybe her mother didn’t Tell her that she actually has a sister whose husband's surname is Sharp.

Nora found a corner with few people and sat down, staring at the gray sky in a daze.

What a poor woman, she thought.The mother of this body, a maid of a humble manor, married a bankrupt antique dealer, lived a miserable life, never bought a new dress for half a year, and guarded a pile of rags that could not be sold. Fake antiques until she dies—who would have thought that her beautiful younger sister was lucky enough to marry an employee of the local government in London, made a fortune with her clever mind and her husband's private rights, and became one of the most famous in London ever since? What about high class?

It's no wonder that people don't want to mention such a mediocre and poor relative at all. It's like a dirty and indelible stain on a luxurious and crystal-clear crystal lamp. It's disgusting to think about it.

It's ridiculous that before she died, she still couldn't forget this well-married sister, and told her to remember to seek that "beautiful and promising" aunt to properly arrange her life for the rest of her life, but she didn't expect that she never mentioned it at all. It's ironic that there is "Nora Sharp".

She sighed.Traveling to the UK 200 years ago, the unfamiliar place, the bad weather and the class system are bad enough, but the original family is poor, weak in character, and stupid in mind - simply thinking of going to rich relatives, She didn't consider the possibility of the other party's acceptance at all, and was as naive as her mother to be ridiculous.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she found herself passed out on a boat bound for London, holding the address of the Brown family and a worthless old pocket watch in her hand.

She sighed heavily again.

Penniless, in a strange city, her relatives don't recognize her, what should she do next?

If it was the original owner, under such a desperate situation, probably the only choice would be to become a prostitute or be kidnapped to do hard labor, right?

Nora took out the gold-plated pocket watch she had just obtained, opened it, and faced Mrs. Watson's gentle smile inside, she pretended to sigh, "It's not that I'm unkind, it's because life forced it, life forced it, you must Forgive me, Mrs. Watson."

She got up, patted her butt, and walked to the nearest pawn shop.

It was the busiest time in London, and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen could be seen everywhere. The original owner of this body was not too stupid. On the way to London alone, he wore his father's old clothes to avoid unnecessary troubles.Although she is slightly taller than women of the same age, she has thin arms and legs, and her face has not grown out. With her hair hidden in a hat, she looks like a stunted young man.However, after going through all this trouble, the clothes on her body could no longer be worn anymore. As she walked, Nora thought about how to steal a new set of men's clothes, until she passed a dark alley corner, and suddenly she heard loud voices coming from inside. , it seems someone is having trouble.

Originally, she had always ignored such things, but she heard a slightly familiar voice at the tip of her ears, stopped her steps, stood there thinking for a while, and finally chose to turn back.

This is the most common long alley in London. Probably because of the rain yesterday, dirty and stinky water can be seen everywhere, and the old newspapers that were thrown away were curled up in the corner alone in the wet.Two or three men in dirty clothes blocked a decent gentleman in the middle of the alley, swearing in a bad tone, pushing and shoving the young man's body from time to time, with a look of malice on his face.

The young man had obviously never seen such a situation before, and he was at a loss when faced with the siege of several people. He stammered and tried to persuade them to retreat with reason, but only made the three of them laugh out loud. Take young people's words to heart.

Nora sighed, cleared her throat, and greeted the other party, "Hey!"