Mornings. . . Catrice wasn't overly fond of those. Were they bad? No, of course not. They were the start to the day, how could they possibly be bad? Mornings were like the first pages of a book, they were always the introduction, the beginning of a bigger story.
Unfortunately, today's introduction was going rather badly.
"Why aren't you downstairs yet?" Her mother called from the kitchen, reminding Catrice that yes, she was running late. She had been supposed to be on her way to the Sherlockian Academy thirteen minutes ago, at 6:40. It was 6:53 at the moment, and she didn't know when the bus would arrive. Heck, it had probably already passed.
"One more minute!" The girl replied, pulling her socks around her feet in a hurry.
". . . Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven. . ." Catrice could hear her mother counting from down the stairs, the words only adding to her already existing frustration.
"Stop it!"
"Fifty-three, ten seconds off! Forty-three, forty-two, for-"
"Mum!" Catrice snapped, bolting down the steps so fast she nearly tripped. Shooting a scowl at the grinning woman beside her now, the girl rolled her eyes as she snatched her bag from her mother's hands and rushed out the door.
***
The distance from her house to the academy was a bit far but not overly long on Monday, May 25th. The impressive time was due to Catrice running half the way and catching a ride on the bus for what was remaining.
She arrived at the school gates just a little bit over the time she had wanted, and quickly tried to navigate this 'partner' she had been set up with. What was his name? Nicholas Pa... Pal? Palmer? Whoever he was, Catrice only knew his name from a list she had been given through the mail. Due to never being an actual student at the Sherlockian Academy a day in her life, she had no clue who this Nicholas was, but she was sure she would hardly even need him.
Still, finding him may be a good idea.
"I'm looking for Nicholas Palmer, have you seen him?" Catrice asked as a rather cheerful looking girl skipped up to her, probably to say hello. The girl nodded, "Yeah!"
Catrice blinked, "Can you tell me where he is?"
"Oh! He's right over there!" The girl said happily, pointing through the growing crowd, "I'm guessing you're here for the case, huh? Have fun, working with Nick!" She giggled, almost knowingly, as she skipped away.
Shrugging, Catrice headed in the direction of which the girl had directed.
The crowd had grown big now and the girl quickly lost her way. Annoyed with herself, she turned to the first person she saw and asked for directions again,
"I'm looking for Nicholas Palmer, do you know where he is?" she asked, speaking to a blond haired boy who was caught up in a conversation with two others.