Quiet Country People

[Dip]

Archie wasn't too fond of these visitors after lasts night excursion. He was just thankful that his father had properly delivered the corpus to the family in time. The body did have a queer line through the torso, though. He decided that it wasn't the job for a cartographer. He sighed as he heard the two walk around upstairs, and finally find the doorway downstairs. Archie drank at his luke-warm coffee, and placed the typewriter on the floor. He had already ruined the letter, it was just a matter of improving.

"Yes, yes, your're welcome and all that." He sighed, standing up and taking his dirty dishes to a little sink in the corner of the room. He decided that if he was going to live down there, he might as well live like an adult. He placed them in the sink, and dabbled a rag with some soap. He ran it over the water and let the dishes set, while he took care of the twins.

"My fahter, presently, isn't here," Archie said, once more. "His books are upstairs, but I suppose his older ones are down here, too." That's what Archie thought they were here for; books. Knowledge. Possibly to take up that apprenticeship that his father spoke of. Possibly.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Pippa was delighted to be able to meet the newcomers without having to even try that hard. But she was a little disappointed that the only seemingly young girl was a stick thin and pale skinned girl. Granted Pippa was pale as well but her skin was usually covered in a light coat of dust.

As she sat between the pale girl--Eliza-- and the blonde haired girl who Pippa had yet to learn the name of--She regarded the other people in the carriage closely. Mr. Weston the parson something or other--Pippa's family didn't attend church, they just practiced the religion at home--and then some stiffs. No not dead people. Pippa's older siblings always told her to stop calling uninteresting people 'stiffs' and to just call them uninteresting but Pippa hated doing what they told her to.

But aside from the blonde girl, Eliza and a boy who looked exactly like the blonde girl, every else looked like stiffs. Boring people who just shuffled along a regular everyday path and never did one interesting or exciting thing. Even Mr. Weston. Although that probably wasn't his fault, religious people were always boring because there were so many things that they weren't allowed to do, or eat, or sing. Walls were more interesting then them.

"I'm Pippa Stonewall--Err, Phillipa Stonewall. But no one but my older brothers and sisters call me that. And sometimes my mother." Pippa responded to the pale girl's introduction. She wanted to ask the girl if she had encountered some sort of witchcraft and was that why she looked half dead, but somehow Pippa figured it wouldn't be very polite or acceptable to say such a thing. Plus she didn't want to have to walk all the way to town.

When they arrived to town, Pippa scrambled down from the carriage, called "Thank you very much, I will be sure to tell them." and "Hope to see you soon, Eliza and blonde doppelgangers!" over her shoulder and dashed away. Now that she had already met the newcomers--The Kingsleys--she didn't have anything to do, so she figured she would just muck around in the alleys or find a mouse to drop down someone's dress.

 

[Dip]

The night was an eventful one for Callahan. As he tried to make it into the town, he didn't even come close when he caught up to someone he'd been owing money to. They got in a fight, Callahan had to do some dirty work, and long story short... Well, he managed to score a few more teeth to throw into the trade, when he would soon manage to get to the village. He didn't make it, though, and he headed home. He didn't leave without some minor loses of his own, though. He got a black eye, and a new cut right along the side of his face-- it started from his lower cheek and ended somewhere near his upper chin.

Callahan made it to the Widow's house, made her supper, and let herself scream to sleep. He got some shut eye, too, but not for long. Mrs. Hart was yelling about how 'The Belching Toads' were at it again, or something. She was hitting him with a frying pan, albeit weakly, but it still hurt. He cussed at her, but she simply squealed in his face, and he zipped out of there. He had his bag with him, thankfully, so he decided to head into the village once more.

But, the day was getting worse. Not even ten steps out, and he was already accompanied by a pest. He sighed, rubbed his eyes, and looked down at the girl. "Oh, great," He groaned. "What do you quite want, you little rodent? Some sweets? Well, news flash, kid, I have nothing for you." He kicked at the side a little. Not so much trying to hit the girl, but trying to get her to leave. "Go on now," He said. "Get, get. Go play housewife or something. Let this man do his job-- didn't your parents warn you about strangers?"

 

[Mundane Monster]

Pippa was perched on a low rooftop, looking for potential victims for her 'mouse down the dress' prank when she spotted him. Her darling lovely haired brute! Ignoring her confliction feeling and thoughts, she scrambled down from the rooftop, almost pitching head first into a bin, before darting after him. She had been planning to be quite silent and graceful as she trailed him, but soon grew irritated by all of the effort she had to put into jumping into alleys or behind people, so she took to just walking beside him outright.

She wanted to give a cheery 'Hello there!' like she had seen her sisters do to other people in the village, but before she could get the words out, the brute started calling her a pest again. And telling her what to do.

She hated being told what to do.

"SHUT UP!" She yelled, squaring her shoulders and kicking a clod of dirt at him in return. "I'm not a pest, I'm Pippa. And you are?" It wasn't the most subtle attempt at getting to know the man, but this was the first time she had said something to the opposite sex that wasn't crude or something along the lines of 'I bet I can run faster than you.'

 

[Dip]

"Pippa? What the bloody hell kind of name is Pippa?" He shook his head, tightening his backpack around his shoulders. "Callahan, I suppose." He still didn't have the slightest idea as to why this girl was following him, but he decided that being ignorant would be the best way to go. He sighed, and took out a cigarette, and a lighter for his own use. He looked down at the girl, and held out a finger to her, pointing accusingly.

"Best not be seen with someone like me, kid." He said, blowing smoke from his noes. "I'm the kinda man your daddy would shoot on sight." He inhaled once more, and blew it from his mouth. He held out the pack. "Want one?" He thought that maybe, if he scared the kid away with a dangerous drug like tobacco, then he'd be alone. Hopefully.

 

[Boss Megu]

Leanne Aemilia raised the basket of treats and held Allen Leonard's hand tighter as she pulled him into the basement where the frail looking lad welcomed them quite half-heartedly. She frowned and sighed. As she entered, she gave a gasp! This room! This ROOM, it was absolutely filthy!

She pulled her brother in the room and proceeded to twirl around, cataloging what areas needed work most. FILTH. Everywhere was filled with FILTH. Everywhere was filthy! "Allen! Do find a rag!" she ordered, not wanting to set the basket near anything so filthy. Her pastries were never going to survive this filth outbreak! The horror!

"A rag, Lily? Whatever for?" Allen asked, though already looking around for a spare rag to give her. It was always best to accommodate Leanne is such moods as this. It was hazardous to go against her now.

Leanne smiled brightly at her brother once the rag was given. "Thank you, Allen~♥" she said as she handed him the basket and pointedly went to the nearest hard surface and gently moved everything aside. It all looked like hard work, these ... things, she was extra careful with them.

Once that was done, she left her brother to interrogate get to know their new "friend". Leanne giggled to herself joyfully. Allen never had friends his own age before, she was excited for him though idly, she knew he distrusted him somewhat. She paused mid wipe, make it the both of them. Her last friend was the butterfly that perched on the rose flower in her room but it died after a week. It never left. She had named it Kristine.

When she decided she had cleaned the table to the utmost perfection that she could without her tools, she turned around to call forth the boys. She giggled to herself once more. There goes Allen, touching everything that could be touched. With the dear poor lad stuttering to the other to stop touching this and that. Oh dear.

She looked on them with fondness. It made her heart swell to see her beloved smile so freely. He had taken a more bored, blank mask lately and it wound her that he had to. This lad who had made Allen come out much placed him in equal standing as her siblings.

With a sudden mischievous smile, she crept to the lad silently and whispered "Boo" at his ear. She laughed brightly at his squeak and turned to her twin. Well look at that, they both shared that same grin.

The one they used to have whenever they did something that would give them both equal trouble. The last they shared this was two months after dear, sweet Eliza was born. The last time they were ever children. When they had placed a slimy toad on their mother's head during her tea time with her lady friends and watched her run about trying to dislodge it.

Still sharing that smile, she took the basket from her brother and swiftly, neatly and keenly arranged the contents on the table into three stacks. One large stack was for Allen, one equal large stack was for the frail looking lad, and the last stack was for her. She had baked a few variety. Leanne didn't know what the lad liked.

She hoped he was alright with blueberry, apple, raspberry and peach. If not, well, there was always croissants.

Leanne turned to the boys and grinned. "We have so much to talk about!" she told the lad. "We're all going to be such good friends!"

Sharing a grin with her brother, they held hands and they turned their equally bright smile at the lad. Allen introduced them while he took one of the pastries, though he paused at hers. Leanne inwardly huffed and rolled her eyes slightly as he touched one of the poor lad's items that she swept away. Oh her brother, always unable to resist touching interesting things. "What do we call you, dear one?" Leanne asked with a smile. "And so sorry about earlier, I couldn't resist. You're much too adorable!"

She ignored her brother's mutter of "Adorable?!" in favour of looking at the lad. Their first human friend! How utterly delightful!

 

[Banana-senpai]

"Apologies for disturbing you on a Monday morning." Allen began, recalling yesterday's incident. He wasn't good with putting himself in other people's shoes but yesterday was a little too fresh as it showed on the Angstrom cartographer's rather unhappy movements. Now Allen wasn't sure to continue so he paused for a moment as his sister playfully crept behind their nervous host and gave him an adorable scare. He couldn't help but smirk, remembering again some of their nice memories together.

She took the basket from him and he let her arrange her pastries. He looked at her and she paused to take his hand as if on cue, right when he held it to her. She put an apple strudel in his other hand with a smile.

"My name is Allen Kingsley, this is my... This is my sister, Leanne." Allen said, wanting very much to eat Leanne's special pastry. It's one of his favorite things in the world, how could he be holding one and not biting into it? He was trembling slightly as he let her go but he went on. "I'm here to see both you and your father. You must already know that I'm planning to have an apprenticeship under him before I proceed with the university. My sister also wants to pursue becoming a nurse although it's not the easiest, we work best together." He said with a little pride that he wasn't able to deny. In anything they do, if they do it together, they do it extremely well. Otherwise, it's always lacking. He felt that it was a slip up and finally bit into the apple strudel in his hand. He almost teared up. It was heaven.

"As I was saying, please do eat. My sister is the bes-is a magnificent- she makes such lovely pastries." He said, trying to neutralize the effect of the strudel on him. If it were just him and Leanne, he would be gushing about how delicious it was. "We're here to be formally acquainted with you as well. I saw your maps upstairs. Your work is excellent."

He finished the strudel and was unable to stop himself from taking another, a Choquette this time. When he starts with her pastries, he just keeps at it. But he gestured at the pastries to Archie, offering and he continued. "The brushwork is neat and the scale is accurate to the dot. It's impressive to work without having seen those places." He stood and took one of the maps and unrolled it a little then put it back. He took out another and put it back again. When he finally found a map of the area that looked a little neater, he unrolled and spread it. "Over here." He pointed to a blank space by the river, near the hill that blocked the road to Bath. "There's a little pond. Perhaps you haven't seen it, I doubt anyone has for that matter, by the looks of it. But do you know about it?"

It was taking some effort not to continue eating pastry and ask about yesterday's corpse but Allen kept to the point, as businesslike as he could.

But one more pastry won't hurt. He took a cream horn and tried not to tinker with the writing materials on the table beside him. He would, but not right now...

 

[Midian]

At the Kingsley's Eliza twitched with joy as she saw the parson coming up the way. The twins, as much as they had vexed her lately, were still some of her most constant companions and were gone for the day. Maria seemed to still be abed and so Eliza was completely on her own when a maid answered the door and let Mr. Weston in. It was hard to stay out of sight until Mrs. Kingsley greeted him and brought him into the parlor where Eliza was doing some sewing.
"Hello Mr. Weston," Eliza said, rising and smiling at him, the sewing quickly forgotten. When the kitten mewed it was fortunate Mrs. Kingsley had moved to open the curtains, because otherwise Mr. Weston would have seen the look of abject horror on her face. A cat?! Of everything he could have brought, he brought a filthy animal into the house? The little urchin in the carriage had been bad enough, but an actual animal--
"Oh," Eliza breathed, her hands barely restrained from reaching out to take the kitten from his pocket. It would not have been proper in the least to plunder the parson's pockets, but it's head was so tiny that Eliza was transported. She took the tiny thing into her hands and nuzzled its little back affectionately, cradling it to her bosom and bouncing it gently.
"Eliza, dear, I am not sure you should be doing that-- You'll have a fit," Mrs. Kingsley said sharply, hoping this would be her out. How could they have filthy animals in the house when Eliza was so ill in her breathing? No, no. It would not do.
"I appreciate the thought, Mr. Weston, but Leanne is not at home just now, she's gone to the Wywolfe Estate, and Eliza is so ill so often I doubt very much a cat would be good for her--"
"But Mama, just look at the darling thing! Why, it's as tiny as me and it cheers me up so! I'm sure I'll feel better, not worse, with the kitten around," she said, holding it close when Mrs. Kingsley came near her. Although her tone was pleading and sweet, the look of her face and the stubborn set of her chin plainly said that her mother was not getting her hands on the cat, not now or not when Hell froze over. For a moment there was hard silence, and then Mrs. Kingsley relented rather than have a scene in front of the parson. Eliza put the kitten into her pocket and began to tease it with a bit of ribbon from her hair, giggling as it tried to get the bright blue silk.
"It was very thoughtful of you to bring us these things, thank you very much," she said as he showed them the gifts.
"You're a very kind man. I'm not at all surprised that you are the parson," she mused, leading the kitten all over the table with the ribbon.
"I very much enjoyed your sermon last Sunday. Often I miss most of them because I have a fit and then have to go outside, but yours was very nice."
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Along the path yellow eyes watched Pippa and Callahan walk along, and the breeze that stirred the trees seemed to be scaring up whispers in the thickets. Around a sharp bend Callahan and Pippa came upon something quite curious: small footprints, like the small feet of a woman, wandering along the path. However, parallel to them were two narrow ruts perfectly keeping pace, as though the woman had had stick in each hand that she dragged along with her. Eventually a larger set of footprints joined up with hers and they wandered farther along the dusty road before abruptly disappearing altogether, leaving unblemished dirt ahead.

 

[Dip]

Archibald had never been more confused in his entire life. These strangers were making his space, well... not his space anymore! The girl asked for a rag first, and that was the first call out. His room wasn't dirty! Given the stray dust specks, the peculiarly scraggly vines that covered almost one side of the wall, and it was slightly damp, but that was just because it had rained the day earlier! He didn't quite see what the big deal was, but he had to deal with another problem before he had time to ask.

The boy touched things, dragging his fingers on every trinket and knick-knack in sight! Archie was after him, fixing the things he took out of order. Putting pencils back in their respected jars, re-wrapping maps, filing the papers that were pulled out. Heavens to Purgatory, has this boy never seen an office before? Had he never been in a workplace? God forbid he goes into his father's study-- oh! Don't touch those chalks, they're new! As he fixed the things that were misplaced, he muttered to himself and to the other. Oh, such a rude person! They barely just met, and---

"Eeeah!" He Jumped, glaring at the twins as they chuckled. He got red in the face-- oh! He was being made a fool of in his own house. His own room! How rude. Very, very rude! He was ready to ask them, very kindly and firmly, to leave, but she turned to place... sweets onto his work bench. Oh, Lyall was going to have a field day when she woke up. Presently, his mouse friend was sleeping in his pocket. His stern face softened, his features shrinking slightly. He really wasn't hungry, but he couldn't be rude. He took the stack he was given, and divided it again, giving the twins two more, so he was lift with only one left. That's all he was hungry for.

Archie, albeit hesitantly, simply took a plain Chorley Cake. He thanked her, took a napkin, and folded the sweet inside for a later time. He simply put it off to the side, and listened to the two introduce themselves. He tried to ignore the female's comment about him being adorable. His heart fluttered. Adorable? He only used that word to describe Lyall. Was he as adorable as Lyall? As soon as he knew it, he was smiling quite largely to his feet. "Oh, Archie is fine," He said, looking back up at the two.

He heard the boy talk about taking on an apprenticeship, but that made Archie almost sick. No more personal space, he supposed. But, the boy praised him on his maps, and he rolled his eyes. "It's nothing, really."He insisted, but the boy went over and took out a map... While eating. Oh! He was going to get stuff on that for sure, and that was his favorite one he's made! It was from his personal collection, and he was saving it for a special occasion.

"Do be careful with that--" But, it was too late. A large glob of filling fell onto the place where the road was to be. "...Map." He sighed, recoiling back. He sighed, and shrugged. Hey, he got food, the least he could do is give them a map. He quickly grabbed a fountain pen and crossed out his signature. He wrote, in cursive, "Property of The Kingsley Family" Archie handed the pen to Allen. "I suppose you can have it now, seeing as you marked it, anyway." He shrugged, chuckling. He was still a little bummed, but no matter. He could do better.

 

[Banana-senpai]

The mousse sat on the map, mocking Allen for trying to be so formal with a lad his age. Weren't others more casual with their peers? He was a bit confused as he was always with his sisters or people much older. He barely spoke to anyone at school. He blinked in surprise at Archie as the latter wrote Property of the Kingsley Family on the map, one hand holding the cream horn and the other still pointing to the location of the pond. "You're..." He trailed off and Archie handed him the pen. He looked at the pen, then the map, then at Archie. "You're giving this to me?"

He looked again at the map, then the pen. Nobody does that to him. No one simply gives him a brilliant map and a lovely pen. Leanne would, if she had either. Not counting the things Leanne gives him, the last random present he got was from Eliza and Maria when they were kids. He was equally confused with the flower wreaths back then, but sentimental as he is, the wreaths are pressed neatly in a journal he keeps that only Leanne knew of or have read.

"Thank you. Thank you very much, Ar...chie." What a strange sounding name. Like baby-talk for a geometric figure, Arch-y. "I'll be sure to keep it." He was beginning to think this human friend wasn't so bad but a part of him wondered if Joseph would get jealous. "Please. Have-" The words caught in his throat. He was beginning to get fond of Archie but no he's not giving his share of pastry. Perhaps one is alright?

Wait, that dabby was definitely part of Archie's stack. He offered it directly to Archie with a small smile. "Come on, these are great."

 

[Boss Megu]

Leanne Aemilia had to stiffle a sniffle at the sight of her beloved Allen making friends with the poor lad. Oh, right. Archie. She giggled to herself. Such an adorable name! Oh she liked this la--Archie. She truly liked this Archie. She took a look at the map that their dear little Archie gave and smiled.

Well look at that, her dear one clearly looked dumbstruck. She patted him on the shoulder and giggled once more. Looking at what Allen was giving in turn, she rolled her eyes. Really now, as if she didn't feed him pastries every day. Really now! If he wasn't careful, he was going to grow fat.

"Here you go dear." she said to Archie, placing a fairly large stack from her to an intricate handkerchief she sewed in front of him. "You need to eat more, dear, you're all skin and bones, really!"

Leanne smiled brightly at him. "And thank you so much dear, we simply don't get gifts from people." she paused. Well, the gifts from her suitors didn't count as gifts really, but well, bribes was always the term they used on it.

"Archie, lovely, come sit. Tell me, are the pastries acceptable?" she asked, slightly worried. The dear lad wasn't eating it. Were they not to his flavour? Taking one random pastry from Allen's large pile, she took a bite. Well, she hadn't confused salt and sugar again. Why wasn't he eating?

Was it too sweet? Was that it?

Oh dear. She's gotten so used to Allen's taste buds that she forgotten that everyone else was different. Oh, why wasn't everyone like her brother? Such a shame.

Leanne unconsciously frowned at the strudel. Her pastries weren't good enough it seemed.

 

[Falcon]

He was allowed in. That was a welcome relief. after he had disappointed Mrs. Kingsley by refusing her invitation the day before he had been half afraid that he might have some work to do to get to know this family. Even if she had seemed the type to throw her daughters at him. But a maid let him inside and he was greeted by the woman of the house herself and the youngest daughter, Eliza.

Henry knew he'd found a home for his new little furry friend the moment it mewed from his pocket and he heard the soft "oh," escape Eliza's mouth.
"The Woodhouse family's cat had a litter about twelve weeks ago. This it the last one," he stated placing the kitten in her hands. "They were very pleased when I said I might have found a home for it. You'll want one around here. There're very good at keeping mice among other things out, and this one has already shown an interest in -"

"Eliza, dear, I am not sure you should be doing that-- You'll have a fit,"

Henry could tell immediately from her words that Mrs. Kingsley was not fond of the idea of a cat in the house. He could also tell that Miss. Eliza very much wanted to keep it, even to the point of lifting a challenging glare to her mother over it, and when she won the day . . . well that smile could win even the most hard hearted man over. Even in spite of her illness, or perhaps because of it. He wondered what exactly it was that had her so sick everyone was fussing over her.

"It wasn't only the Woodhouse family that sends their best wishes." Henry explained trying to shift the subject as he put the basket down on the table. "The Knightlys send their regards along with some apple preserves, The Fairfax family sent a dinner invitation. They have a daughter about Miss. Maria's age who is learning to play the piano quite well and two younger daughters who are quite sociable. Mr. Bates sent a map of all the best fishing spots and his wife has offered to paint a portrait of your family if you like. They're the elderly couple who sat at the very front this past Sunday. I believe there are also cards and gifts in there from the Churchhills, Eltons, Smiths, and the Martin family."

"It was very thoughtful of you to bring us these things, thank you very much,"

"Not at all. I simply wanted to spare my new neighbors some of the social missteps I encountered upon first arriving here a year and some months back. This isn't Roma, and it will take some adjusting, but the people are good here in spite of some of the oddities and the strangeness of the country."

"You're a very kind man. I'm not at all surprised that you are the parson,"
He watched her as she played with the kitten, not quite sure how to answer that. Perhaps he could be kind and generous, but that was perhaps not the first words that he would use to describe himself. Selfish, solitary, passionate about his craft perhaps, but not kind. Most people expected the favors to come with the job of parson.

"I very much enjoyed your sermon last Sunday. Often I miss most of them because I have a fit and then have to go outside, but yours was very nice."

"Thank you!" Henry said very much surprised at this compliment. He had worked very hard on that one. "I must confess, most people are not nearly so kind in their opinions. I am not the sort of man who shies away from the truth. I don't believe in giving only feel good sermons, though I certainly will from time to time. The Lord commands us to share his word and there are any many hard truths in his gospel as there are encouragements." He paused wondering if he should say more, but decided no harm could come from what he was about to offer. "If you like, if there is ever a sermon you have to miss, or even one you want to read later I would - I would be happy to save you my notes."

 

[Dip]

"Oh, no, no," He said, bringing his hands up in defense, with a nervous chuckle. "Thank you, thought, I'm quite fine with my Cake," He said, bringing his hands down. Man, he had it all wrong about these people! They were nice, honestly. Maybe a little forward, but hey, he was a little backwards. If he thought about it long enough, he could actually see himself being friends with these folk. Friends, he thought! How splendid. He would have company! But, as well as Lyall being a good companion, he longed for someone who can articulate words. Now he had two persons!

But, again, he was kind of hesitant about actually having friends. What if he offended them? Messed something up? Oh, he had a feeling he already did. Was it rude to not eat what they gave him? Oh no, oh no oh no! "I-I quite love my skin and bones, no offence. Oh, no, please, I'm quite full, actually. I had lunch right before you came here. I couldn't take more, I'm quite fine with just one, honest!" Oh, this was going to end badly.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Callahan...Pippa didn't quite know whether that was a first name or a surname but she didn't care enough to inquire about it. She sped up a bit and then slowed down and then sped up until she their walking was almost synchronized. She wondered if anyone was looking at them and what they were thinking. They probably thought that the two of them were related at least distantly. That thought made her frown. She didn't want people to think she was related to him. In fact that was the very last thing that she wanted. But she wasn't sure of what she wanted people to think exactly, and she chose not to dwell on that matter.

Pippa shook her head vigorously when Callahan offered her the cigarette. "My older brother often smokes and whenever he has to run, he starts wheezing and he sounds like a dying cow." But she decided that she'd still like Callahan even if he sounded like a cow with one hoof in the grave. If cows had graves that is. She shrugged at his comment about her being wary of him, "Well I'm the kind of girl that women 'tsk tsk' at." She responded, giving him a grin.

And it was true. Many a woman had caught sight of her, grabbed their children and shoved them back into their houses, but only after narrowing their eyes at her and going, 'Tsk tsk! What a beastly child!' or something along those lines. Pippa would always retaliate by charging at them or biting their children the next day.

Speaking of biting...But before she could make a comment on how she had chomped on his shoulder earlier, some tracks on the path caught her eye. Rushing forward she crouched on the ground where the tracks began and stared at them curiously. "What do you suppose these belong to?" She asked over her shoulder as she got up and ran to where the tracks ended. "They're gone!" She exclaimed "D'you suppose they flew away? They look like human foot prints but humans can't fly. Where do you think they came from?" She asked, dashing back to where she had left Callahan, and skidding to a stop in front of him, her eyes practically glowing with excitement.

 

[SilverKiramoto]

Maria couldn't believe she'd slept in so late. It was entirely unlady-like, though the day had been quite busy the day before. What with the scare with Eliza, and the visit to the town's physician...to say it was a busy day was an understatement, to say the very least. But such things were hardly the forefront of her thoughts. No, from the moment Eliza scolded her elder siblings until now, Maria could think of little else. She dearly loved her sister, and was only hoping to look after her! How could she have acted so heated towards them? Towards Maria? Perhaps it was simply something that came with the fact that Eliza was no longer the little girl Maria once fawned over, but was blossoming instead in to a spirited young woman. Maria was proud that she was, of course, it was wonderful to see Eliza so full of life.

But on the other hand...

Maria sighed, pulling herself from her bed at last. She stretched, and tried to push the harsher thoughts from her mind, the ones that always seemed to whisper the loudest as of late. The whispers that suggested things, unpleasant things, uncivil things. Yes, she needed to ignore them. Eliza was fine, of course she was going to be fine, and Maria had no reason at all to do anything extreme.

And so she busied herself with routine instead. She sat at her vanity, and ran the brush through her long, near-white hair until it was smooth and soft. Then she dressed, pulling on a simple, powder blue dress, with white lace lining the ends of the sleeves, and pulled white stockings over her legs before slipping on her shoes. Only after systematically, almost obsessively, smoothing out any creased, did Maria leave, descending down in to the foyer.

It was then that she heard the voices coming from the front of the house. Her mother's was one, Eliza's the other. Then a third voice, a man, and when she finally came upon them, Maria was amused to find the parson, Mr. Weston, bearing the gift of a mewling kitten, which seemed to have become quite taken with Eliza. While part of Maria couldn't help but agree with her mother on the fact that the creature might send Eliza in to a fit, the other wasn't so against her accepting the parson's gift. Maria could clean the kitten up, and she was sure Eliza would delight in brushing it so the fur wouldn't irritate her as badly. And besides that, it gave Eliza a strong connection to their new friend here.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted, smiling sweetly, blue eyes switching between her sister and Mr. Weston. Maria practically ignored her mother, but that wasn't anything abnormal. "I didn't realize we had a guest. It's good to see you again, parson." Though as she said this, Maria was smiling wryly in Eliza's direction. Yes, the good parson would make a lovely match for her sister, most certainly.

 

[Midian]

Eliza's eyes brightened when Mr. Weston offered to let her see her sermon notes, but she quickly flushed and tried to cover up her excitement by clearing her throat and pretending to be checking on the kitten as it batted a spare button around.
"That would be lovely, thank you very much. No one's ever offered to do that for me before."

Mrs. Kingsley's eyes snapped to the two of them and, behind Mr. Weston's back, Eliza saw the wheels begin to turn in her head. It seemed the two of them were establishing a rapport in spite of her efforts to pair him off with Leanne, so she wondered if she ought to let him settle on Eliza, or try to redirect him. Eliza wasn't a sure bet as far as wives went, her health was awful and if she died soon into the marriage without any children, their connection to the parson would evaporate. No, Eliza was a bad investment. He would need Leanne if the connection was to be stable.

And speaking of her lovely, other stable children, there was Maria. Mrs. Kingsley greeted her warmly and bent to kiss her perfect cheek, marveling at how her daughter always looked like such a pretty doll. It wouldn't be hard at all to find someone who would have her. Now, someone she'd have in return... Therein lay the problem.
"Maria, dear, you've stayed abed awfully late today. Are you feeling well?" she asked.
"Mr. Weston has been kind enough to bring us some gifts to help us settle in. And a cat."
"His name's David," Eliza said matter-of-factly from the sofa, scritching the top of his head affectionately. He pranced into her lap, kneading and purring loudly. Mrs. Kingsley pursed her lips.
"You know, Allen and Leanne are at the Wywolfe Estate and my husband is away in Roma for a few days. Business called, apparently. Why don't you all go down and see them? Dwyn can ride with you all, and I'm sure I can trust our parson to be a gentleman with my daughters since he is a man of God, after all. Eliza, will you go ask Dwyn to go with all of you?"

Eliza stood and smiled at Mr. Weston shyly as she went upstairs to Dwyn's rooms. Dwyn had only recently arrived from Roma the previous night, having had to stay behind to tend to some of Mrs. Kingsley's last-minute business with their winter dresses. Fall was fast approaching on the retreating heels of summer and they would need them soon. Eliza didn't like the cold, but she knew it was pretty inevitable. She was glad Dwyn had come, though. Dwyn had been hired as her nursemaid/tutor/steward despite the fact Eliza was old enough not to need one, but Dwyn didn't smother her like her siblings did.

She rapped twice on the door.
"Dwyn, we're going to the Wywolfe Estate. Will you come with us?"

Soon they were all climbing into the carriage and setting off towards the Wywolfe Estate. In the distance ahead they could see two people walking side by side, one very and the other rather tall.
"I wonder who they are," Eliza said, putting a hand on David to keep him from jumping into the floor of the carriage.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
At the Wywolfe Estate, as the twins and Archie went round and round about the pastries, Archie heard the characteristic squeak of the floorboards overhead that indicated someone was coming towards the basement door. A moment later, someone began pounding on the door desperately, although no one spoke. When they finally managed to open the door, a single acorn rolled down the steps, all that was on the other side.

 

[Boss Megu]

Leanne Aemilia looked at Archie with a small smile, letting him flutter and stutter and mutter much similar to her sisters when they get flustered...or frustrated. She frowned. Oh dear. She hoped they weren't frustrating the poor dear. She only ever wanted to be his friend.

She watched him with a heavy heart as he tried to return all the pastries she had given him. Did he not like them? Were they too sweet? Oh dear. That wouldn't do! She'll have to simply try harder. Before she could respond to the his stuttered replies. They all jumped back. Well, she had jumped straight into Allen's arms and held on to his dress shirt, rumpling it. (She'll feel ever so rustled later on when she realized what she's done. She's ruined his shirt! In front of polite company too!)

The floor boards had creaked and desperate banging on the door began, begging to be let in. She turned to Archie in mild shock. "Are we expecting company?" she asked him, completely disregarding that they had come uninvited. She glanced her beloved Allen as he released her with a look and walked over to the door.

Leanne watched with concern as Allen struggled with the door, unable to pull it open. He gave her a pained look. She gasped as the pounding came stronger and she grabbed Archie's hand and pulled him towards the door. (She mildly thought he'd put more resistance in being dragged along but perhaps Archie was simply being kind and letting her do whatever, that was nice of him.)

"Pull!" she told the lanky lad. And the three of them pulled, and the desperate banging came as loud thumps on the door. It hurt her heart slightly.

Whoever was on the other side seemed so desperate and had not spoken at the least. What ever was happening?

"Don't worry dear, we'll be there!" She called out to who ever was on the other side. "Keep hope!" she said, not really knowing why she had the urge to protect, encourage the person on the other side.

Then, as quickly as she said it, the door pried open as easy as it always did and Leanne fell out of balance, landing on the floor with an "oomph"! She ignored Allen's worried cry and Archie's out stretched arm to help her up.

Crawling, disregarding the filth her dress was picking up, her silver-blue eyes fell on the acorn that had rolled down the steps and inside the door way. She reached out to pick it up.

Holding it up to eye level, she looked up the stairs and saw no one out there. ". . . I--what?" she whispered. Looking back at the acorn, she turned to Allen. "Can I plant this outside? Like right now?" she asked him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

There was something very weird and interesting going on. An adventure of some sort that they used to do when they were little. Not breaking eye contact with her brother, she turned her face in Archie's direction, hoping he got the message.

It was an adventure they both used to do, but that was only because they had no friends. They had one now. And they will most certainly bring their ONE friend along in all their newest adventures! Now that their sister's were growing up. And this little acorn seemed to be a start of an adventure.

"We still don't know the village as well as you, dear Archie." she said as she finally allowed him to help her up, ignoring her brother's disgruntled look. "You MUST show us around, isn't that correct, Len love?" she turned to her beloved with a bright smile. "Right?" she asked again, with steel in her voice, leaving no place for argument.

This sounds like a beautiful way to start a friendship! An adventure was always the best way! . . . isn't it?

 

[Dip]

He nearly had a heart attack when he was pulled upstairs, but... they way that her hand felt on his made his worries almost dissipate. Well, until he was pulling and he saw the lovely lady take a spill. He helped her up, and tried not to smile too hard. He didn't want to scare her at all, just... give her the slightest look of happiness, with a hint of pure bliss. Archie nearly forgot that they were upstairs! Well, until she had asked to plant the seedling.

She called him dear, but if she thought that it was going to sweeten the deal of him leaving, he shook his head wildly. " I-uh, don't want to impose, as much as I'd like to show you around, but... " He rung his hands over one another nervously. "I-I simply can't! You saw what became of me yesterday, it simply wouldn't be at all... well, if I did leave." Archie slowly began feeling sick. He wobbled in place slightly. He shook ever so gently, but he almost always did. He grabbed the railing to the stairs for support. "Oh, my, it is getting late-- 11 o'clock?" Well, in the morning, "I-I don't believe my father would like it if I just left on a whim, b-but perhaps he could-- My father, exactly-- He could give you the tour you desire."

"I never was a good at... well, leaving, for example. It might be better to just go for... go for yourself, if I'm not being to rude!" He said, with a nervous chuckle. "I-I must go, though. Please, be safe-- and, oh, thank you both for the sweets."

As much as Archie wished that it would be that easy, he had a feeling it wouldn't.

--------------------

Callahan wasn't paying attention, but he figured that whatever the girl was blabbering about was probably something stupid. But what he did know was that the tracks looked suspicious, and he wasn't sure if he trusted the girl enough to lead him into a hair-brained adventure. He didn't at all trust the girl, nor did he at all want to. But he just couldn't let the girl get himself killed. He sighed, and took a long drag from his cigarette.

"I don't know, Poppy," Her name was Poppy, right? Sure, lets go with Poppy. "I don't think a girl like you should do that," Well, he told her. He wasn't going to force her to stop what she was doing. Hey, he tried, what else was he to do? Callahan turned the other way, back where he came from, and the girl was following him again.

Great.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Pippa scowled, when Callahan called her by someone else's name. And after she had gone through all the trouble of ingraining his surname or first name in her brain! She growled, gnashing her teeth together and refrained from giving him another good bite.

"My name is Pippa. Not Poppy. Pippa. P-I-P-P-A." She said slowly. "And come on! Let's see where the tracks lead!" She cried trying to persuade him to change course and head in the direction of the tracks. It was then that she caught what he had just said. "And what do you mean a girl like me? You don't even know me! You know what I think? I think a man like you should just go and live all prim and proper on an estate drinking tea all day and powdering your nose and-and recite poetry!" She screeched. Never mind the fact that half of those weren't what men did at all. Well at least the men that she knew. Which wasn't many if you omit her male family members.

She took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself. Changing her tune, she made her eyes wide and latched on to his arm."Callahan!" She whined, trying to steer him in the right direction. What was wrong with him! His stupid brain didn't match his wild and messy hair. She just knew that if his hair could move it would hop off of his head and run hand and hand with her on an adventure!! No! She needed to calm down. Her anger had never really helped her in any situation except for fighting. She needed to persuade the man, not annoy him. "I apologize for my outburst, but don't you want to have an adventure?"

 

[Dip]

Callahan looked over at Pipi-- was that right? He was hard at hearing after Hart threw that blasted cantaloupe at his head. He chuckled at what she said about reading poetry and drinking tea. Oh, it reminded him of a place he looted a while ago. Prime and proper his ass! Callahan was the devil in an overcoat. He had no time to babysit! He sighed as she asked again for an adventure, and he rubbed his eyes. "Here's a good lesson, Popper," He started.

"When you find tracks in the woods, you don't follow them. When you want to swim in a river, you don't. If you want an adventure, wait for one to come. Here! I have an adventure for you!" He started. "Go home! Leave! Sew knickers with mum, while you're at it." He waved her off of his arm, and continued on his way.