Nancy Springer - The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan

T HE C ASE
OF THE
P ECULIAR P INK F AN

T HE C ASE
OF THE
P ECULIAR P INK F AN

AN ENOLA HOLMES MYSTERY

NANCY SPRINGER

PHILOMEL BOOKS

To my mother

PHILOMEL BOOKS
A division of Penguin Young Readers Group. Published by The Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.). Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd). Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd). Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India. Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd). Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa. Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England.

Copyright 2008 by Nancy Springer. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Philomel Books, Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Springer, Nancy. The case of the peculiar pink fan: an Enola Holmes mystery / Nancy Springer.
p. cm. Summary: Fourteen-year-old Enola Holmes, younger sister of the famous detective, Sherlock, endeavors to save her friend Lady Cecily from an arranged marriage.
[1. Arranged marriageFiction. 2. Lost and found possessionsFiction.
3. Characters in literatureFiction. 4. London (England)History19th centuryFiction.
5. Great BritainHistory19th centuryFiction.
6. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.S76846Cat 2008 [Fic]dc22 2008006933

ISBN: 9781101358085

A LSO BY N ANCY S PRINGER

T HE E NOLA H OLMES M YSTERIES

The Case of the Missing Marquess

The Case of the Left-Handed Lady

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets

T HE T ALES OF R OWAN H OOD

Rowan Hood, Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest

Lionclaw

Outlaw Princess of Sherwood

Wild Boy

Rowan Hood Returns, the Final Chapter

T HE T ALES FROM C AMELOT

I am Mordred

I am Morgan le Fay

Ribbiting Tales

CONTENTS

M AY , 1889

I T HAS NOW BEEN MORE THAN EIGHT MONTHS SINCE the girl went missing

The girl has a name, my dear Mycroft, interrupts Sherlock with only a slight edge in his voice, mindful that he is his brothers dinner-guest. Mycroft, an excellent host despite his reclusive ways, has waited until the wood-pigeon pie with currant sauce has been despatched before addressing the unpleasant problem of their youthful sister, Enola Holmes.

Enola. Nor, alas, did she go missing in any usual sense of the term, adds Sherlock in quieter, almost whimsical tones. She rebelled, she bolted, and she has actively eluded us.

But that is not all she has actively done. Grunting as his frontal amplitude gets in his way, Mycroft leans forward and reaches for the cut-glass decanter.

Aware that Mycroft has something of essence to say, Sherlock waits silently while his older brother refills their glasses with the excellent beverage that is making this conversation palatable. Both men have loosened their high starched collars and black ties.

Mycroft sips his drink before he continues speaking in his usual ponderous and irritating way. During that eight-month period of time she has been instrumental in rescuing three missing persons, and in bringing three dangerous criminals to justice.

I had noticed, Sherlock acknowledges. What of it?

Do you not detect a most alarming pattern in her activities?

Not at all. Sheerest happenstance. The case of the Marquess of Basilwether she stumbled across. Lady Cecily Alistair she found while administering charity upon the streets in her guise as a nun. And

And she just happened to be able to identify the kidnapper?

Sherlock stares down Mycrofts acid comment. And, as I was going to say, concerning Watsons disappearance, if he were not so publicly linked with me, would she have become involved?

You do not know how or why she became involved. You still do not know how she found him.

No, admits Sherlock Holmes, I do not. Partially due to the mellowing influence of his brothers well-aged port wine, and partially due to the passing of time and certain events that have occurred, thoughts of his runaway sister no longer cause him sharp chagrin and even more keen anxiety. And it is not the first time she has outwitted me, he says, almost with pride.

Bah. What good will such tricks and temerity do her when she becomes a woman?

Little enough, I suppose. She is a true daughter of our Suffragist mother. But at least for the moment, I no longer fear for her safety. Evidently she is quite able to take care of herself.

Mycroft gestures as if brushing away an irritating insect. That is not the point. It is the girls future that is at stake, not her immediate survival. What is to become of her in a few years? No gentleman of any means will wed such an independent young woman who interests herself in criminal activities!

She is only fourteen, Mycroft, Sherlock points out patiently. When she reaches courting age, I doubt she will any longer carry a dagger in her bosom.

Mycroft arches his thorny eyebrows. You think she will eventually conform to societys expectations? You, who refused to take a degree in any recognised field, instead inventing your own calling and livelihood?

The worlds first and only private consulting detective gestures dismissively. She is female, my dear Mycroft. The biological imperatives of her sex urge her to nest and procreate. The first stirrings of womanly maturity will impel her

Bah! Balderdash! Mycroft can no longer restrain his asperity. You really think our renegade sister will settle down to find herself a husband

Why, what do you think she will do? retorts Sherlock, a bit stung; the great detective is unaccustomed to the word balderdash as applied to his pronouncements. Perhaps she intends to make a life-long career of finding missing persons and apprehending evildoers?

It is possible.

What, you believe she might set herself up in business? As my competition? Sherlocks annoyance gives way to amusement; he begins to chuckle.

Mycroft says quietly, I would not put it beyond her.

Youll have her smoking cigars next! Sherlock Holmes laughs heartily now. Have you forgotten our sister is just a wayward child? She cannot possibly possess such fixity of purpose. Preposterous, my dear Mycroft, utterly preposterous!

C HAPTER THE F IRST

S O FAR, MY ONLY CLIENTS AS D R. R AGOSTIN, Scientific Perditorian had been a stout, elderly widow anxious to find her lost lapdog; a frightened lady who could not locate a valuable heart-shaped ruby which had been given to her by her husband; and an army general whose most cherished souvenir of the Crimean War had disappeared, namely, his bullet-riddled leg-bone signed by the field doctor who had amputated it.