18th August, 1894 — At the edge of the pit

She – or rather he, because it had been Archer Whitby* out walking that morning – had been grateful for a glimpse of the sun, but was heading to the park’s edge, and the way home when it happened.

What it was, Tess wasn’t sure, but it felt like the earth had opened up its jaws to some deep hell or black abyss, because the ground was abruptly gone from under Archer’s sturdy boots. But he hadn’t fallen – whether by quick reflexes or adrenaline or sheer luck of being where he was – Archer had not fallen into the abyss entirely, but was dangling about twenty feet down from the newly-formed edge of the precipice, and clinging to some wedged-in gnarled tree root. It had maybe saved her life.

But her arms were already exhausted, and any scrabbling against the pit-side was only sending loose clods of earth and debris skittering free. She couldn’t hold herself here forever. So she looked up – felt Archer’s cap fall off her head as she did, but no matter – and wished with all her willpower that someone was still up there, and alive, and able to help.

Wishing was not the only recourse to being saved, though. To that end – she mustered the deepest breath she could to start calling out. “HELP!”

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*perceived male, see appearance section

  

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Harrison had been meeting business managers at the office in Wellingtonshire, things had not gone smoothly and Mr Knight had been forced to dismiss one of his fathers oldest hires. It was not something that Harrison enjoyed so a brisk stroll at the park was in order to clear his mind and freshen him up for the evening. A nice relaxing stroll... well that turned out well.

Harrison was lucky he had been standing where he was in line for a paper when the ground swallowed up half of the park. Harrison had witnessed construction collapse before (fortunately not his own company) and the similarity between that and what was happening made his blood run cold. The man immediately went towards where he was certain he had just seen people, shaking his head and what he might encounter. Harrison pulled out his wand ready of he needed it. The collapse ended as quickly as it began but he wouldn't be caught without magic if the edge was to give way.

"Help!"

A voice rose up from the chaos along with clouds of dust. Harrison looked over the edge carefully and saw a dark blonde man in a state of distress. Harrison could see his hands wrapped around a root sticking out from the side of the sink hole. "Hang on, chap! I'll try and get you out." he called down before putting his arm over the edge with his wand. "Wingardum Leviosa"

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Tess Whitby (Elias Grimstone)

  

Someone was up at the edge of the pit, thank Merlin. Tess’ hands were aching from hanging on; and it was hard to crane her head upwards any further, lest her neck started aching too. But in her peripheral vision – or only her imagination – she could see them drawing their wand, and heard the Levitation charm. Were they trying to raise her up?

Tess waited for a floating sensation to come over her. When nothing did, she bit down on her tongue, grateful she hadn’t let go prematurely – but more worried that if she tried to move now, to hoist her own weight further up the side of the pit, that she would lose the only purchase she had, and crash to the depths of the hole. “It’s not working!” She cried, trying not to rush him along, but feeling the strain in her arms and her legs something awful. “Can you try something else?”

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Harrison was quite confounded that his charm, a very simple one that he had used on many occasions did not work, there must be something within the pit, or perhaps that had caused the the incident that was blocking his spell. He looked around for further inspiration for the poor dangling man who looked as though his arms might soon detach. "I've another idea, just... hold on.". His instruction was possibly one of the most unecessary commands ever spoken by anyone, but his mind was racing rapidly as he backed away a little from the pit moving closer to the lake, which so far seemed unaffected. He pictured the life preservers with their long coil of rope in his head. "Accio" The slight distance he had placed between himself and the precipice must have been enough as the rope and the red ring appeared at his feet.

Quickly he returned to the edge putting a quick loop around one of the small nearby saplings to save the poor man if Harrison's grip was to fall. Peering over he dearly hoped that he had not been too away to long and hoped to see the blonde hair of the man in need. If indeed he did see Tess Whitby then he would drop the ring before calling down. "Grab into this"

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Tess Whitby (Elias Grimstone)

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   Tess Whitby

Hold on. Hold. On. Tess gritted her teeth and suppressed a desperate scoff that arose in her throat, or the temptation to roll her eyes into oblivion. “I’m trying,” she called back, more to remind him that she was still bloody here as he backed away. Her sightline out of this goddamned hole did not reach that far, so all there was left to do was trust that he was trying, too – and she had never been much good at trusting people to begin with.

Tess grimaced, closed her eyes, and tried to make peace with the thought of falling.

When she opened her eyes, there was something else to hold onto – and she still had to trust that the stranger had thought this through, and would be able to pull her up. But the roots gave a sudden lurch from the pit wall, and her hands were sweaty, and suddenly there wasn’t time to think. She grabbed at it feverishly, praying that he would feel her weight latching onto it, and she would shortly find herself being hauled up rather than freefalling down.

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Feeling the weight onto the end of the rope Harrison began to pull on it, wrapping it around his arm for support. His feet resisted getting a proper purchase on the ground but eventually found their grip. The man's arms burned as he continued to pull on the rope to lift the man out of his peril. He hoped that the other man had the foresight to protect his eyes as he saw the rope cutting in the the lip of the sinkhole and likely sending a shower of mud and stones to the unfortunate below.

It was hard going, and Harrison privately thanked the time surrounded by construction types that gave him a reason to keep his own physical strength conditioned. With a final heave his was rewarded with a tuft of filthy blonde hair lifting up above the edge. He waited until it looked like the unnamed man had a purchase on the edge before relaxing even slightly, it would be terrible to get this far before sending him back down to an untimely death. If he thought it safe he would allow the rope to slacken before reaching for the edge to offer his hand to pull Tess up the last step. His heart was racing, he was caked in sweat but hopefully the immediate peril was over.

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Tess Whitby

  

She could feel the man’s struggle in every shift of the rope, and she tried to use any purchase on the side of the pit to lighten her weight for him – but when she finally saw the park again over the side, she could have cried in relief. Not yet, though: she dug her palms into the (more) solid ground left at the edge of the sinkhole, and got a knee over the side. She grabbed his hand and let herself collapse forwards – perhaps into his arms, or onto the ground, she was hardly composed enough to tell.

There was dirt smeared over her glasses. Tess blinked, and abruptly remembered who she was. Archer, not Tess. She had lost the cap; she hoped her hair was still tucked away, short. Her hands felt clammy, but she still had the glasses, and the men’s clothes. She felt her chest heaving in gasping, overexerted breaths, and tried to calm down. And no crying, Merlin. She wasn’t dead.

Archer blew out a breath, and coughed. “Thanks,” he said, doing his best to keep his tone low and level. Thanks was probably an understatement.

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The man in distress was finally up and out of the pit. Harrison felt Archer's weight pressing him down before allowing him to quickly move over one side and gather himself up while Harrison caught his breath again. "No problem." he puffed before leaning back and stretching to reset his back.

He reached into his jacket pocket and rummaged around for a moment, there was a small metal flask in there that he went to put to his lips before checking himself and offering it first to the other. "You probably need this more than me right now. How are you doing?"

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Tess Whitby

  

Tess-as-Archer did not usually get so close to anyone, not while pretending to be a man – it was for business meetings, usually, and if she brushed past anyone it was only the boys in the printshop, who knew her well for who she was. She didn’t know if it was still the adrenaline of the pit that had nearly killed her sending her pulse racing, or an adrenaline of the deception, the different perception – a lie, dangerous but freeing at the same time – but she felt almost pleased by it. Who knew why: her mind was a mess here.

“I’d ask what’s in it, but – whatever it is, I do,” Tess shrugged, expelling a shaky laugh with the rest of the unsteady breaths, and took the flask from him without waiting for an answer – another thing that was more acceptable as Archer than as a woman, brazenly swigging liquor in the streets. (Here was probably an exception to that, regardless: it had been a narrow miss with fate.)

“Well, I’m not dead yet,” she joked dryly, after swallowing the sip of drink. She was almost afraid to look back over her shoulder at the destruction – she was not sure she would be able to believe her eyes – so she looked over at her saviour instead. “What even happened?”

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Harrison handed over the flask, "Nothing special, just some good scotch, will help with the shock." he said while the other man, looking rather dishevelled from his ordeal, was already imbibing the contents.

He looked over at the gaping sinkhole and murmured in thought at the next question. "Not sure, my guess would be a subterranean collapse; I'm not familiar with what is under Hogsmeade." he let out a long sigh and looked at the man with a little concern, taking in their features to watch out for shock or any other indications that they might need a friend. "Have you got somewhere you can go? You shouldn't really be alone."

Harrison made a little sharp intake of breath and waited until he had taken another sip. "I know it's a tough question, but were you here alone when you went down?" the man could very well have been promenading moments before the collapse and now the object of his affection lay in the hole somewhere, just waiting for Archer's adrenaline to clear and their absence hit him like a carriage.

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Tess Whitby Elias Grimstone

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   Tess Whitby

There was a faint buzz in her ears, a strange, restless, static noise that made it difficult to fully concentrate on anything. The shock, or the worry. Tess gulped down more of the bloke’s scotch than was polite before pressing the flask back to him with an awkward nod of thanks.

Subterranean collapse meant next to nothing to her, but it certainly was a horrific accident if it was anything. There was something horrendous about the ground beneath one’s feet giving way. Tess wasn’t sure she would ever feel at ease walking in the park again, honestly. Her mouth still felt dry from it; she shivered slightly.

“Um,” Tess said, a brief cloud of confusion crossing Archer’s face as he registered the question. Everything that had happened before the almost-fall felt impossibly distant to bridge. “No. No, I was alone.” Archer remembered in relief. “But I should go home and check on my s... cousins,” he corrected quickly, because Archer Whitby didn’t have sisters, and Tess’ head was still reeling a little. And, amidst her own panic and relief came a reminder that she was not, at this very moment, alone. It felt awful that she hadn’t stopped to think about it until prompted. “And you –” Archer asked, in sudden concern, “were you with anyone?”

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   Harrison Knight

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The man sighed in relief that the other gentleman was not going to suddenly break down in tears over the realisation of a loss, although it may still happen, shock hit hard. He shook his head "No, luckily not, just out for a bit of a stroll to air and a few things out." he could not imagine how it would have felt had he brought one of his siblings out.

He noted the slight correction in the man's voice but paid it no attention. "I have a carriage outside the park, if my valet has not fled, would you like a ride to your cousins?" The other man might very well have his own carriage but it would not be polite to withhold the offer of a safe and warm carriage to whatever destination he needed to get. If he accepted, it would only be a short walk to the parked up closed carriage, well appointed and complete with a rather frightened, but still present valet.

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Tess Whitby (Elias Grimstone)

  

That made her feel a little more at ease, that he hadn’t been forced to save her rather than search for someone else he was with; she would not feel that guilt on her shoulders for the rest of her life, thank Merlin.

If it had been an ordinary day, Tess might have scoffed at the offhand mentions of carriages and valets – imagine having all the wherewithal for all that. This fellow, she realised, was probably someone. Still, that was kind of him. “Ah, I’ve only got to get to the other end of the High Street, just off the end, Whitby & co., the printshop –” Tess explained; not far at all. “I can walk,” she added swiftly, grateful for the offer but sure she could manage walking for a few minutes across town without fainting or something. Archer’s forehead was clammy, sweat beading at his hairline; Tess wished she had kept his cap. “But – Archer Whitby,” she added, trying to distract him from his offer of assistance with belated introductions. With a wry smile, she stuck out a hand to shake his, as if they had not already grabbed hands at the edge of the pit. “You’ll say if there’s something I can do for you? I’ve got my life to thank you for, I’d say.”

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Harrison nodded at the other chap's insistence on self-reliance, no harm in that if he was sure. He reached back out and shook the hand, a proper introduction after the initial more perilous handshake. "Harrison Knight. I think I know the place, I'll have to bear you in mind next time I need a good printer then."

He drew in some breath and looked at the devastation that framed their conversation. "You know what, if you are sure you are OK I might stick around here and see if there isn't anyone else I can help. Awful sight this is. I hope we get to talk again under less dramatic circumstances." he thanked Merlin that he was safe but knew from experience that they might be finding people days or weeks later in all the collapsed rubble.

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Tess Whitby (Elias Grimstone)

  

Nice of him to say, about perhaps using them for printing – with an inward smile, Tess considered that a near-death experience was a rather extreme way to be getting new clients. (She was not entirely averse to it. Whatever worked.)

He seemed wealthy, she had figured that much from his clothes and his carriage, but he was also going to – stay back and help, which surprised her somewhat. (Tess did not think much of the upper classes and their human generosity, generally.) Not that they could ever pick and choose who ordered from them, but maybe Mr. Knight would be the kind of custom they did want to have. “Likewise,” Archer agreed, sincerely. “Look after yourself, Knight.” Better that she left now and saw that her sisters were all safe, Tess thought – if she looked at this scene any longer she thought she might break down in tears.

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