16th June, 1888 — Fairchild Household
Davinder Patil

It had taken her several hours to repair the long scratches in her dress by hand, a fact she found entirely vexing not so much because of the absence of magic but rather the disappointing evidence of how much her practical skills had suffered due to its presence. She had been industrious once, but now it was a laborious task made even longer by her attention being intermittently taken up with staring out of the window, wondering when the next sign of the doom undoubtedly coming upon them would arrive.

Apparently that day was not quite here yet, so Temperance had no qualms about banishing Blythe to her bedroom to begin her summer homework while she and the boy sat down to lunch. He was silent during her blessing, as per her usual preference, but without Blythe to converse with and having spent much of the last few days rushed off her feet at the Infirmary Temperance did not object to conversation quite as much as usual.

“Have you been out in the fog today?”

If nothing else, he was a good indicator of what was going on; if some new calamity befell them all then it would probably befall him first.

  

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Wonderful set by Lady <3

Lunch time already. It felt as if time passed very quickly when there wasn't much sunlight to see outside, and with all the nothing that there was for Davinder to do. He wished that there were more kids in the area to play with. He imagined that if he had gone to school, he'd be like Blythe, doing her homework, which did seem a little more interesting after a few days of doing nothing.

Usually, he barely expected conversation, or talking at all except for prayer. Even then, he expected it to be something about his English, or that he needed to go run an errand for them. Rarely it was something like this. Davinder expected that this was some sort of trick question. Had she told him not to go out in the fog? Not that he could remember. Or maybe he had misunderstood something.

"Yes ma'am," he decided to say, "I went for a walk." he had also decided that he wanted to climb a tree, but hadn't found any suitable, or ones that were too far away from the house. Davinder had tried, but he'd ended up falling and had scratches all over his legs. He had hoped she wouldn't notice.

  

Well, he didn’t appear to be dying so that probably meant the Lord had decided to spare them for another day. Of course it was still quite early in the day so it may be worth keeping a distant eye on him this afternoon in case something developed that they would be better off avoiding. She would be no use to her patients, and none of them would be any use to God, if they became insensible or lost their wits.

“Good,” she nodded her approval. “I’m glad you’re keeping yourself occupied. The Devil makes work for idle hands.”

And in her estimation there were none quite as idle as her charge. Quite why her brother had sent him to her without any kind of intonation as to what he was for or indeed where he had come from she would never know but apparently he did have his uses.

“And are people still going about their business?”

  

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Wonderful set by Lady <3

Davinder hated it when she talked religion. He especially hated talk of devils, because usually bad things followed, like punishments for doing something wrong that he thought was just fun, or talks of hell that scared him. Davinder didn't think he was too idle, but he never did much productive unless he was instructed to do so. He didn't think there was too much to do, he didn't have very many friends.

He took a bite of his lunch and nodded. Arguing always seemed worse. Obey father and mother, or at the very least, the woman who houses you because some man she knew brought you here.

"I think they are. I can't see them too much. They look the same." Davinder managed to say. In reality, he didn't really look out for other people like he assumed his caretaker did. At least, some of the shops weren't open, but he had only noticed that the lights inside looked a little dimmer.

  

His silence and deference to his betters was, Temperance would concede, probably the boy’s finest quality and he was displaying it in spades at the moment, thoroughly earning another nod of approval. It was more than Blythe had received today so likely a record for him.

“That’s something I suppose,” she muttered, cutting through a carrot with precise neatly. “The route to St. Fergus ought to be manageable in that case so there will be no excuse for anybody, though I can certainly think of several that will use it as one.”

There were altogether too many casual worshippers for her liking these days, those that came for conversation or because it was simply routine: this out to sort the wheat from the chaff!

  

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Wonderful set by Lady <3

A nod. What he was doing or saying was alright then. But he wasn't saying nearly as much as what was running through his head at the moment. Davinder watched as she cut the carrot, eyes pointed downwards at his own meal, which was nearly finished.

Davinder began to fidget, "It's a bit far away in fog, right?" he didn't really want to go to church, especially not if the fog kept progressively getting worse. Whatever plans Temperance had made, he hoped he wouldn't have to move aside his plans of running through the yard imagining things. He was a little old for the type of games, but he would never want to read and didn't have many plans otherwise.

"What do you think I should do?" Even if Temperance's suggestions weren't often ones Davinder listened to, boredom struck in odd ways.

  

Shooting him a sharp look when he questioned the going to church Temperance wondered, for only the briefest of moments, whether he might be right. The fog might not have caused too much trouble thus far but when one was unable to see more than a few inches ahead then that was unlikely to be the case for much longer. And heading out for unnecessary things was undoubtedly foolhardy.

But church was hardly that. In fact it was the most necessary thing in the world and if they were to stand a chance of earning the Lord’s forgiveness and a reprieve from the fog then it was imperative that they went. Things would only get worse if they did not.

“Pray.” She said simply. He knew how, she had made sure of that, even if nobody in his life before coming to England would have taught him the importance of it. She was aghast that Mayfield had not done so and privately thought the best place for both Davinder and Blythe was under her care, though she would never admit to such a self-aggrandizing belief. “And beg forgiveness for your sins.”

  

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Wonderful set by Lady <3