Binoculars to her eyes, Penny watched from her bedroom window as Mrs. Norrington, the old woman across the street, went to a cab at the curb, smiling widely. Out of the cab, another old woman exited and embraced Mrs. Norrington. Penny had never seen this new woman before, but she liked the genuine smile on the woman's face as she turned to the cabbie who was handing over her bags from the trunk. The two women laughed as the cabbie pulled away and Mrs. Norrington grabbed the handle of a small suitcase as they turned to head inside. Mrs. Norrington went in first, but the new woman paused at the door and looked over her shoulder, feeling like she was being watched.
Ducking away from the window, Penny laughed quietly to herself at her childishness. It had been quite a while since she'd been the young girl following her uncle around on his investigations so he wouldn't get hurt. The blonde was going on sixteen now, almost as tall as her uncle and her hair was adorned with two braids that she kept in a scrunchy to avoid being teased (she would have just kept them in two ponytails forever, but peer pressure easily swayed the mind of a teenager). Now, to say she had grown up since those days long ago, did not mean that she did not still help her uncle on his cases. If anything, she was planning to become a cop in a few more years so she could better help him.
Sparing a glance at her computer to see if there were any new e-mails from her uncle or friends (there was none currently), Penny flopped down on her bed. Brain looked up at her for a moment, yawned, and laid his head back down, burrowing closer to the blonde beside him. Penny's hand stroked her old friend who was getting old too fast for her liking. Brain slept most of the time now, leaving her to run about the streets alone. It wouldn't be too much longer before Penny knew she would have to say goodbye forever to him.
For now though, Penny's curious mind spun, wanting to know more about this mysterious new lady. Clearly, from the several pieces of luggage, it seemed she would be staying with Mrs. Norrington for awhile, but why? One could never grow too old to play detective was Penny's motto.
***
Peeking over the white fence of Mrs. Norrington's backyard, Penny spied the new woman and her neighbor sipping tea on the back porch. Maneuvering about the fence so she was closer to where they were at, Penny listened to their conversation. It wasn't anything interesting to her. Reminisces of days long gone, the news, and some place called St. Mary Mead. Penny did learn the woman's name - Jane - before Mrs. Norrington excused herself, collecting their emptied cups and heading inside. Turning to leave herself, Penny was surprised by Jane clearing her throat and speaking.
"Why don't you head on over to the gate and join an old woman for a biscuit?"
Penny's blood froze as she realized the woman was talking to her. She thought about running, Penny only lived across the street and the woman was elderly. They'd be no chance of being caught.
"I do hope you have some manners in respect toward your elders," Jane said, her voice just a hint of amused.
Sighing, Penny walked over to the back gate and let herself into Mrs. Norrington's yard. The woman nodded her head and smiled cheerily, beckoning the teen over.
"Come now. I don't bite and I'm sure my friend won't mind a neighborhood child joining us."
Slow steps brought Penny to the table and she took the seat across from the elderly woman. Close up, the woman was elder but probably younger than Mrs. Norrington by ten years or so. Smiling to ease the embarrassed teen, Miss Marple gestured at the small plate of cookies.
"Go on, child, take. There's more than enough."
Unsure what else to do and eager for any chance to extend the time before actually having to explain herself to the woman, Penny grabbed a cookie and nibbled it.
"My name is Jane Marple, Miss Marple to you. Tell me child, what is your name?"
The woman's voice was so sweet, it was hard to ignore it even if one really, really wanted to. Gathering the nerves Penny knew she had, she looked up, finally meeting eyes with the older woman.
"My name is Penny Gadget. I live across the street with my uncle. I apologize for eavesdropping, I didn't mean to be rude."
"You were merely curious about the newcomer, am I correct?" Miss Marple smiled and patted Penny's elbow knowingly. "So you were the one watching me yesterday."
Blushing at being caught, Penny nodded and apologized again as the older woman pursed her lips in thought.
"Gadget... Is your uncle the famous Gadget?"
"Yes. He's the man who finally captured Dr. Claw two years ago," Penny replied, leaving out the fact that she had been the one to subtilely lead her uncle to the villain's lair.
"Ah! Yes, I read about him while I was in France a few years ago. He sounds like a great detective."
"He's been promoted to Lieutenant since then, but yes, he is great."
Watching Penny silently for a moment, Miss Marple quirked her head in thought. "By chance, are you planning to follow your uncle's footsteps?"
"Yeah. I've always loved detective work. Mysteries, crimes... they've always been so fascinating to me." Penny paused. "I know there isn't a big welcoming party for women detectives and most guys will laugh at me at first, but I'm determined to do it."
Smiling approvingly, Miss Marple felt a sense of pride in her chest as she looked on at this girl, seeing herself for a faint second, decades ago, saying something very similar.
"Penny, you will be an amazing detective, I just know it."
***
Miss Marple was visiting her old friend, Mrs. Eda Norrington, for the next six weeks. They had met some years ago when Mr. Norrington had been murdered. Jane had been the one to discover the man's death had been committed by their cook, whom he had been having an affair with. They remained friends after that and when Miss Marple had found herself stateside for awhile, she was graciously invited to stay with her old friend, whom had never found a way to properly thank the woman for what she had done all those years ago.
At first, Penny knew nothing about this woman, but with some digging and googling, she discovered Miss Marple's detective achievements in a number of cases over the years. Penny came to idolize this woman as a hero. Sure, she loved her uncle, but if it hadn't been for Penny, he probably wouldn't be where he is today. There wasn't any major woman detectives anywhere for Penny to look up to really, so she figured this meeting was heaven sent and spent hours talking to Miss Marple during her stay. She was delighted to find that not only was the woman pleasant, but she was smarter and more in tuned to her surroundings than even the most seasoned detectives Penny had met down at the station.
"I want to show you something," Miss Marple said one day, setting a small box on the kitchen table inside Mrs. Norrington's home.
Intrigued, Penny watched as the older woman flipped open the top and delicately removed several photos. They were primarily pictures of Miss Marple with famous people or at famous locations. Through the pictures, Penny imagined herself abroad a ship heading toward India, meeting the Queen of England, and even standing beside juggling clowns. There was one picture, however, that stood out to Penny.
In this picture, a young woman, no more than twenty four, if that, stood on a balcony looking out over water. Her body was faced away from the camera, toward the water, but her face was turned toward the camera. Soft curls, brown, possibly, it was hard to tell as the picture was sepia, framed a familiar face. Eyes were bright and full of life and the woman smiled with lips soft and plump, like they had heard the funniest joke in the whole world.
"I was a very young woman there. I was vacationing with a very good friend of mine from school in Wales." The smiled that crossed the old woman's face touched her eyes as she remembered the moment from a thousand years ago, seemingly.
Penny was too stunned by the beauty of Miss Marple as a young woman to speak.
***
Penny's dreams had a tendency to be very realistic and incredibly imaginative. In one dream, she scaled Mt. Everest to the very top, Brain at her side the whole way. She woke up from that dream shivering a very real shiver of cold. In another dream, she literally surfed the web on a surfboard, Brain on his own board by her side. That was probably her most favorite dream of all time.
Well, aside from this one.
In this dream, Penny found herself in the past. The forties? Fifties? It didn't matter, only that there was a feel of an old noir film. Penny's hair was loose and she wore a jacket and skirt of black. A hat perched on her head, tilted slightly to one side. She sat behind a big desk, files neatly laid out to one side, small adornments and ledgers on the other. A picture frame contained a younger her with Brain. There was a door across from her, words printed backwards on the frosted glass, but it was clear what it said - Penny Gadget, P.I.
Just as she was beginning to enjoy the dream, it took an odd turn. A knock at her door revealed the young Miss Marple peeking in. The woman smiled pleasantly as she entered the office and Penny's heart beat sped up as blood rushed up to her face. It seemed that this young Miss Marple was even more fetching than the picture of her and Penny only distantly wondered if perhaps the real Miss Marple had had this effect on the men in her time.
"I was wondering if you would like to join me for some tea, if you're not too busy?" Miss Marple asked.
"O-of course," Penny managed to stutter out. "I would love that."
The woman smiled and held out her elbow for Penny to take, the look in her eyes said that there was more to this tea business. Flying out of her chair, Penny took the woman's arm and together they exited the office and building. They walked a block away and entered a small apartment building. Inside, Miss Marple led the way up to her apartment and with a large gulp, Penny followed the woman in.
"Would you like some biscuits with the tea?"
"No, I think I'll pass for now," Penny answered. She could barely talk, much less swallow.
Penny went into the main room of the apartment and looked out the window, collecting herself. It was a dream, oh she was definitely aware of that, but it didn't change the nervousness in her chest one bit. Before too long, the smell of jasmine and cinnamon filled the apartment and the blonde found herself moving toward the kitchen. The room was small and painted yellow, white cabinets decorated the area around the sink and oven. There was Miss Marple, her hat gone, jacket hung up in the closet by the door, and white sleeves of her blouse rolled up to her elbow.
"Come on, why haven't you removed your jacket? Sit and get comfortable," Miss Marple said, smiling over her shoulder.
Taking off her jacket, Penny couldn't resist what she did next. Forgetting her hat, she stepped up behind the woman, her arms encircling a thin waist, and pressed her face to the soft curls of dark brown hair, inhaling the scent of perfume she had been smelling since they left the office. She didn't see the grin that crossed over soft, painted red lips, but Penny felt the touch of soft fingers on her arms, touching and gliding from wrist to elbow. Penny felt completely at peace in the moment.
A tear rolled down Penny's cheek as she realized eventually she would wake and this moment would go away. It'll be just a memory of hero worship and first love that one day Penny will probably forget about, seeing only wisps of it in her memory but unable to tie it back to where it originated from. She hugged the dream Miss Jane Marple tighter, wanting to never forget the feeling of this moment. Eventually, Miss Marple wiggled around in Penny's arms and touched her cheek so kindly that it made Penny cry even harder.
"Don't cry, Penny," the woman whispered.
"I love you," Penny sobbed and held Miss Marple's hand against her cheek.
"I love you too."
Lips pressed against lips and the dream wavered as Penny roused from sleep. Tears still rolled down her cheeks even as the last of the dream disappeared.
***
Penny helped Miss Marple take her bags out to the waiting cab. The day had come where the older woman had to go back to England and the blonde teen's heart was heavy. She never mentioned her dream to the real Miss Marple, had no intention to from simple embarrassment. Today Penny did all she could to swallow down her heavy heart and tears so she could wish her now idol off in good spirits. Still, as she helped the cabbie put the last suitcase into the trunk of the cab, a tear slid down her cheek. Then another and another.
Seeing this, Miss Marple embraced the teen. She had grown quite fond of this young detective, felt wonderful whenever the girl was around and now to know that she was going halfway back across the world, Miss Marple was quite sad as well. For a long moment they hugged each other until Miss Marple spied the cabbie's growing impatient face and reluctantly pulled away from Penny.
"You won't forget to write to me, right?" Miss Marple asked softly.
"No, of course not."
"And when you graduate from high school, you're going to send me an invitation, right?"
"Yes."
Miss Marple smiled and patted Penny's arm lightly. "Good girl. Don't forget what I've told you."
"I won't forget a word of it," Penny smiled through her tears.
"See you soon then, eh?" Miss Marple said and began to turn to get in the cab.
Without thinking, Penny held the older woman's arm and quickly pressed a light kiss against the surprised woman's lips.
"Goodbye," Penny said, blushing now.
Kissing Penny's forehead, Miss Marple laughed softly, a little confused by the moment. "Goodbye," she said and got into the cab.
Penny waved at the cab until it turned the corner and sighed heavily. From the doorway of her home, Brain peeked his head out the doggy door. With a smile, wiping her face, Penny jogged toward the elderly dog.
"Come on, Brain, let's see if uncle needs any help with a case."