As the newest Sherlock Holmes novel continues to work its
way though the publishing process toward its debut in November, I am posting
previews from the book -- introducing you to some of the irregulars featured in
the Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars.
This week,
I’ll preview Snape, one of the
irregulars Doyle never mentioned by name. So, let me introduce you.
Irregular Lives tells
the story of how Holmes met Snape -- a blacksmith’s son, who forged a life from
the rubbish in the Thames. Snape was a soft-hearted bruiser who tried his luck
in the rough and tumble sport of bare knuckles boxing. Here’s a scene for that
story:
The bell clanged. The
two pugilists cautiously approached the center of the ring.
Sambo’s arms and
hands remained at his side. He put his chin up, inviting a blow. Snape knew
better than to take a swing that would throw him off balance. Instead, he
snapped a jab to the African’s gut.
Sambo sprang to life
and moved toward Snape, throwing light punches, sizing up his opponent. His
right arm was cocked as he continued to jab with his left. Snape easily
deflected the punches, waiting for the big one. It came fast! Snape twisted his
head and body away as Sambo’s fist grazed his left temple.
Sutton immediately
closed in and grappled with Snape, delivering jabs to Snape’s kidneys. The boy
pushed him off with both fists. As he did so Sambo swung another hard right.
Snape ducked low and returned a punch to Sutton’s ribs.
Snape had been
knocked off his feet twice in the preceding five rounds. Sutton delivered a
crushing blow in the fifth, and then walked to his corner as if the fight were
over. The crowd, whose mood had shifted slightly onto Snape’s side, let out a
communal groan. A smattering of applause and table banging was hushed as Snape
rolled over and got up on one knee.
Sutton sneered. He
walked slowly toward the boy. Under the reformed regulations it was a foul to
hit an opponent who was down, or had one knee and one glove on the mat. Snape
looked at Wiggins who was waving from the corner. Wiggins held up his hand with
his little finger and index fingers pointing upward—then sharply turned them
down. Danger. Snape got the message. He placed his other glove on the canvas
and, with one quick push, rose, shoving his body forward into Sutton who was
unable to throw a punch.
The crowd cheered as
Sutton became incensed and struggled to disengage himself from Snape’s hug. The
referee pried the men apart. The two men locked eyes as they separated. Blood
was trickling from the corner of Snape’s mouth. His knuckles were black, blue
and bleeding.
“You’ve never been
closer to hell,” Sambo Sutton growled.
“And I’m takin’ you
with me,” Snape replied.
I hope that you will follow this blog in the coming weeks as
I introduce Archie, Kate, Benjie, and others. You can cartch a glimpse of
Wiggins and Ugly in previous posts.
While these sneak previews are fun, they are not a
substitute for reading (or listening to) the entire adventure. I’ll let you
know the moment it hits the bookstores in November -- but you can PRE-ORDER now on Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment