Sunlight, id like to see some sunlight. Id like to go for a walk outside, feel the wind on my face. Will you go with me for a walk?
She hesitated, thinking for a moment, then nodded and helped Cailin up. “Yes, of course. You’re well enough now, I suppose. I’m sure the fresh air will do you good, too.” Margaret glanced around the room, then nodded again and offered her arm to Cailin for support.
Before they left the infirmary, Margaret picked up a blanket and wrapped it around Cailin’s shoulders. “It won’t do for you to catch anything, you’re still quite weak.” Her smile was encouraging, or at least she hoped it was.
Once outside, she smiled again, though shot a slightly concerned look at the woman beside her.
“Do you think Margret you could fetch me a cup of tea, im sure i’ll be fine here under the tree, i’ll just rest for a bit, that walk took more than i was expecting out of me and im sure someone would be along presently, Its been such along time since ive felt the sun and the fresh air.”
Calins mind was clearing from the cobwebs that had been clouding it for the last few weeks and now there was only one thought on her mind India and finding her Mamma
The request gave Margaret pause, and she regarded Cailin thoughtfully for a long time before finally accepting. “Of course.”
She walked off, and was soon back with a cup of fresh tea. She paused again, then spoke. “If you’d like some time to yourself, I’ll keep an eye on you from inside.” A warm smile. “Just call me if you need anything else.”
Hearing activity in the infirmary snapped Dahlia out of her state. Shaking her head, she picked up her notes beside her chair. She frowned deeply, realizing she needed more room for this equation and rummage around fora bigger piece of paper. After a few moments of searching, she finally found a late scrap piece in her trunk. Pinning it to the wall, she began her equation and molecular diagrams. Something about this equation still stumped her, she’d need her father’s help later.
This work kept her busy and mind off her pain, so she was pleased to have something to be working on, at least until someone approaches her.
[quote=“daena”]“Do you think Margret you could fetch me a cup of tea, im sure i’ll be fine here under the tree, i’ll just rest for a bit, that walk took more than i was expecting out of me and im sure someone would be along presently, Its been such along time since ive felt the sun and the fresh air.”
Calins mind was clearing from the cobwebs that had been clouding it for the last few weeks and now there was only one thought on her mind India and finding her Mamma[/quote]
As Calin sits waiting for her tea she catches a whiff of smoke, not that of a fire but herbacious, strong, with a hint of rum, a familiar scent that brings up memories of a train ride and another time. A shadow stretches out from behind the tree, tall and full of volume, as if it were wearing a large cloak or coat. the soft crunch of thick leather boots on dried leaves alerts her that the shadows owner is now standing a few feet to her side just out of direct sight. a soft murmur mixed with tobbaco smoke drifts across the small gap
"it can’t be…"
Flashes of red from the woods, something moving. A man walks out into the clearing, smiling and talking briefly with one of the perimeter guards. The guard, looking both bemused and confused at once, gestures up towards the camp and disappears back into the woods. The red coated new arrival, starts moving up towards the camp looking curiously about.
[quote=“Wulfen (David)”]
“it can’t be…”[/quote]
Cailin looks up into the strangers eyes, eyes that belong to someone that isn’t associated with the pain and memories of Skye
"Forgive me but i’ve met you before? haven’t I, I seem to remember a trip somewhere. it was a long time ago wasn’t it?"
Sergeant Dorchester smiles slightly as if recalling something long past “Yes Lass it’s me Dorchester, though back then I was a corporal, we ‘ad a ride on the old orient express with ya Father, i was workin’ with ‘im and spent a lot of time lookin’ after you, don’t ya remember?”
“Dorchester you looked after me when Father was busy with his research, after Mamma… “
Cailin’s voice trailed off as though she had been over whelmed by her memories and she seemed to shrink like a little bird traped in a snare.
“I have to get to India, there has been to much happening here recently and I have research that needs attending to, but I need a bodyguard, and there Is nobody I can trust here anymore, Is there any chance that you can manage to break me out of here and get us to India? Like you helped Papa?”
“this research that serious?” he asks, then a strange look passes over his face “truth to tell luv, they’ve been all hello like but i aint exactly feelin like i’m wanted 'ere at the moment. what the 'ell i owe your dad like, i just need to get me kit then we can see about scaring us up an spare airship eh?” he finishes with a friendly conspiratorial wink.
With pen in mouth, Dahlia looks out of the window after noticing a flash of colour out of the corner of her eye. She heard faint voices and saw figures but could barely make them out. Moving her glasses to the end of her nose, she notices a figure coming from out of the woods.
“Hmmmm” she thought out loud, pushing her glasses back up, taking the pen out of her mouth and picking up a medical chart before going to check on the current patients in the quiet Infirmary. Everyone seemed to be fine and recovering after inspection, although Cailin was missing. Odd she thought, but guessed that she went for a stroll. She was medically in decent health, she must have just wanted to stretch her legs Dahlia shrugged. Glancing at her equations on the wall and her books left lying across the tables, and a few on the floor, she decided she needed to clear her head after her brief time working. She picked up her tattered copy of Poetic Edda to help ease her mind. Walking out of the Infirmary, she slipped by unnoticed and went outside and sat outside the Taverna and begun reading.
Everyone seemed to have moved on. Zek settled back and began to doze again. Actually, ‘dozing’ wasn’t the word for it. On the outside, it probably looked like dozing, but Zek was still restless. All he was doing at this stage was sitting with his eyes closed. He heard footsteps passing him by.
Overhearing Dorchester’s comments about airships, the man glances briefly up at the lonely vessel tied to it’s moorings, before obviously deciding it’s none of his business why someone would steal something so obvious, with a visible shrug, he turns and walks into what was described as “the bar” by the guard.
Wandering in, not seeing anyone, he walks behind the counter, removes a bottle and quickly writes an I.O.U. before seating himself down after finding a glass. Sniffing the bottles contents, he again shrugs, removes his hat and pours himself a shot.
Esther glowered over the top of her glasses at Zek- Had he just gone directly from trying to tell her what to do to ignoring her?
Yes. Evidently he had.
Ah, well. She hadn’t won this argument, precisely, but at least Zek’s sudden lack of interest meant that she hadn’t lost it either, and she’d come to that position with a minimum of fuss. She wasn’t in the mood for arguments, though that wasn’t to say she wouldn’t have engaged in them when they arose.
She turned and stalked into the infirmary, but a quick glance around told her Dahlia was nowhere to be found. Neither, to her surprise, was Cailin. She could only assume that someone else from the medical team was aware of her absence -Cailin, as far as she knew, wasn’t yet well enough to wander about on her own.
“Let’s go look outside,” she told Harriet.
Passing through the Taverna, she nodded at the man sitting at the bar, quickly searching her memory -admittedly shoddy as it currently was through self-induced sleep-deprivation- for his likeness, confirmed that he wasn’t someone she recognised. The Taverna wasn’t her domain but no one who could claim it as such was about, and having lived in its back room for much of the last year had instilled some sense of responsibility (and more than a little of the gypsies’ possessiveness) toward it in her, so she asked; “Can I help you with anything?” and hoped that he wasn’t someone from the village. She really wasn’t in the mood for villagers.
As the lady & child enter the bar, the man quickly stands and grabs his hat. At her request, he quickly pulls a pad from his pocket.
“Good day to you Madame.” bows, old fashioned tricorn hat on heart, looking back at the woman and child, his bright red eyes gleaming
Quickly consulting the notepad
“Could you perhaps direct me to the offices of either of the Royal Mail and one Ms. Jane O.Flowers or that of the Company and a Ms. 74?”
The notepad is returned to it’s pocket
[quote=“siximpossiblethings”]Esther glowered over the top of her glasses at Zek- Had he just gone directly from trying to tell her what to do to ignoring her?
[/quote]
(Ah, I see. I hadn’t heard from anyone for a few pages, so I assumed Esther had gone on to find Dahlia. My mistake.)
Jane looked around, somewhat puzzled. She had been sure she had seen him around here. She glanced towards the lighthouse and had the traitorous thought that, since it was still standing, there was a good chance Lewy hadn’t actually landed yet. That was an unfair assumption, she told herself firmly, he’d only crashed into it once.
The wind rustled through the trees and Jane froze. She’d walked a fair distance from the taverna, but it was still in sight. The area was hardly empty, she could definitely see people out and about. Superstitiously she checked her mail-bag. Empty. She had filed all of the messages onto the ICT, and then forgotten she had done so.
So didn’t have any mail to deliver at the moment.
Which meant she wasn’t safe.
Silly, she chided herself, superstitious, having a letter to deliver didn’t actually make you safe
Even as she thought these perfectly rational thoughts she started walking back towards the taverna. Which was the obvious thing to do really, everyone ended up at the taverna eventually, Zek was near the Taverna, Lewy liked to drink and to talk to Zek… so that was where Lewy would end up. Her actions were perfectly logical and not at all because she was paranoid about being alone on Skye. She was alone in Hell all the time. People often told her that was much worse.
“Offices?” Esther smiled, despite her exhaustion, pleased that the newcomer wasn’t from the village. “That’s a bit grand for anything we’ve got here. I’ve seen both #74 and Jane about in the last little while- Jane went to meet the ship that just arrived, I believe. I’m not certain where #74 is at the moment. Honestly, though, here’s the best place if you’re trying to find anyone, everyone passes through eventually.”
[quote=“siximpossiblethings”]
“Offices?” Esther smiled, despite her exhaustion, pleased that the newcomer wasn’t from the village. “That’s a bit grand for anything we’ve got here. I’ve seen both #74 and Jane about in the last little while- Jane went to meet the ship that just arrived, I believe. I’m not certain where #74 is at the moment. Honestly, though, here’s the best place if you’re trying to find anyone, everyone passes through eventually.”[/quote]
Smiles with a mild look of exasperation
“She did? Bother, must have just missed her. Allow me to introduce myself madame; #13, Coach Guard of the Royal Mail, at your service”
Bows again
“Mayhaps I’d better run back to the ship and find Jane, report in and all that.”