25/26th September, 1891 — Sanditon Season Close, during the hurricane

If they had left twenty minutes ago when he had wanted to, they wouldn’t be still be here, caught in this.

‘They’, he said, as if Caroline hadn’t stranded him in the ballroom earlier to go talk to friends of hers. As if, with the gale force winds blowing outside, uproar in the ballroom and crescendoing panic, when Evander hadn’t started pushing his way through the crush towards her, she hadn’t turned and gone the other way.

She just hadn’t seen him, he’d told himself. She was looking for him as well. And he had met her eye – he swore he had – but instead of meeting him halfway and getting out of here (or carefully waiting out the storm in some sheltered spot), something else had caught her attention, something seemingly important, and she had disappeared through the bloody doors.

Until this present moment, Evander had truly never known that he had married a fool. She must know storms like this – America had hurricanes, didn’t it? And her family knew shipping, surely knew the danger of weather like this – so she must know she would be no help saving anyone from it. Half in anger, half horror, Evander shoved his way across the ballroom, glancing left and right in the hallways beyond it and not seeing her. But there, one of the outer doors – someone had opened it, and the wind was left hammering it erratically against the wall. Gingerly, Evander approached it to squint outside – surely she hadn’t been that stupid – but a tunnel of wind surging into the building sent him stumbling back into –

“Alfred?!” Evander said as he turned and found his brother, too disoriented to decide whether he was dismayed or relieved by his appearance.

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J. Alfred Darrow

The following 1 user Likes Evander Darrow's post:1 user Likes Evander Darrow's post
   Zelda Darrow

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It had been a storm like this that had wrecked the Sycorax. That thought kept recurring to him, as much as he tried to dismiss it. This was different, because he wasn't on a ship — this was dry land, where you couldn't crash into things, where the damage done was bounded. Still, with how suddenly it had come upon them he couldn't help but be reminded. Alfred pushed one hand absently into the collar of his shirt and touched the storm tattooed on his right shoulder while he glanced at the windows of the ballroom. Maybe the Sanditon itself couldn't crash, but there was damage that could be done. Shattered glass, furniture crashing about. On a ship things were tied down in the event of inclement weather, but nothing here was. If the windows went out, this would very quickly become a catastrophe.

Zelda knew that without him having to say anything about how the storm's progress worried him. He'd caught her looking at the windows too, and then she'd disappeared, wand in hand. That was good — Zelda was good in a crisis, and good with magic. It was her whole job, and if she was on the job now then she'd be just fine. She might even save someone's life. He didn't have the same confidence about his own ability to be useful. He may have weathered storms like this before, but all his experience with it was out to sea. That being said, he was certainly going to be more useful than Evander, who he'd caught sight of slipping out of the ballroom. Leaving the ballroom was probably a good idea in general, but Alfred wanted to know where his brother was going, so he followed him to the hallway and caught up with him right as he reached the door the wind was blowing open.

"Don't go out there," he advised, grabbing Evander's arm tightly. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. "Not like that, at any rate." Alfred said it, but he didn't know what he even meant. He was instinctively worried that Evander might be swept away if he went out into the elements. Onboard he might have tied a rope around his waist to haul him back in if the wind and the waves tried to pull him off into the darkness, but what was he meant to do at the Sanditon? He couldn't tether himself or Evander to the resort when he wasn't even sure if the resort itself was safe. Though at the moment, it seemed the safer option by far compared to the howling darkness beyond the doorway.

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The following 2 users Like J. Alfred Darrow's post:2 users Like J. Alfred Darrow's post
   Evander Darrow, Zelda Darrow

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Well, Alfred’s grasp on his arm was reassuring and infuriating in equal measure, because Evander didn’t really have time to get in a well-intentioned brotherly spat when Caroline was out there probably dying... but Evander had not attended to quite so many rescues as his brother had, so perhaps it was prudent to first hear some advice?

If he could hear anything at all, against the roar of the wind. Evander clung onto the doorframe with his free hand, unable to get out his wand while Alfred was clinging to him – and not yet certain what spell to cast with it, besides. He opened his mouth, part of him wanting to snap well, of course I don’t want to go out there, I’m not out of my mind; he wasn’t even convinced he had any intention to. But –

“I’ve lost her,” he explained, as loud as he could, the urgency etched louder on his face. “Caroline, I don’t know where –” he gave a helpless shrug beneath Alfred’s grasp.

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Well, that changed everything. This is why it's bad luck to take women underway. Alfred couldn't fault Evander for trying to go out after Caroline, even if it was madness to go outside right now. Alfred would have followed Zelda into any danger at all, if he had even the slightest hope that he might be able to help. She would do the same for him — had done the same for him, in fact, when she'd worked night and day through the cursed ship in order to save his life. All the same, he couldn't let Evander go. This was a powerful storm, and likely an unnatural one, and Evander had no relevant skills or experiences to draw on.

Which simply meant Alfred would have to do it. They couldn't leave Caroline out there, but Evander couldn't go. Alfred wished he had a heavier coat on, and not this ballroom jacket — and boots instead of shoes — but he'd make do. A storm like this had brought down the Sycorax, but he'd survived that.

"Are you sure she went out there?" he asked, as he let go of Evander's arm to turn his collar up against the wind.

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Alfred let go of him, and Evander was finally able to dig out his wand, though he paused, bewildered, by what Alfred was doing. Oh. He was coming too, then?

In the circumstances – the billowing storm, the flash of fear for Caroline’s safety – Evander forgave himself the burst of relief he felt at that. Only because, well, because... Alfred might know what best to do.

And Evander certainly would not have set foot beyond this door if there was any alternative option, so it was with a resolved frown that he shook his head. “I’ve looked everywhere else,” he said first, hastily, and he had, just hoping; but that was mostly a lie, because the truth was worse, the truth was – “Yes, she went out there. I watched her go.” But if she was out there, there was no time to talk about it. Evander glanced around the hallway, as though something useful might present itself and prevent him from having to go out too. “What do I do?”

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Alfred considered this. There were two possible avenues of answers. On the one hand, he could give Evander a list of practical things to do inside the resort, things that could help prepare for Caroline's return. Find a blanket from one of the rooms, and thick and warm one. Pilfer a bottle of brandy from the kitchen. See if you can find some clean rags or bandages somewhere. If Alfred found her out there she was likely to be soaked to the bone, and could very well have some minor damage from falling trees or other flying debris, so getting her warm and cleaning her wounds would be the first order of business. Evander could make himself useful doing that.

On the other hand, was it fair to ask him to stay here when Caroline was out there? It was where he would be most useful, without a doubt, but if something bad happened — if Caroline was more than just wet and cold and sporting some new scrapes and bruises — was it fair for Alfred to deprive him of the chance to help her by sending him off on a blanket-finding errand? In a worst case scenario, if Caroline was gravely wounded or deathly ill because of going out in that storm, would Evander ever forgive Alfred for keeping him inside? Would he forgive himself for staying?

Alfred wavered. "I can find her," he promised, though he was not at all sure of this. "Do you want to come, or stay?"

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Alfred was giving him a way out of this. It was what Evander had been hoping for; it was almost what he had been expecting. He and his brother did very few things together – nowadays, he had been going to say, but probably also never – and if one were to choose the one of them better prepared for a rescue mission, it would be Alfred. Only – how much use was Alfred, without a ship? Did his brother even have his wand on him? Did Alfred even use magic anymore?

Not that Evander had much experience facing a catastrophe of this scale – not that he knew where to start, magic or not – but he was resolved to be of some use. The most favoured spell in his personal arsenal had always been finite incantatem, but neatly ending other spells was probably no good in the face of a hurricane. Perhaps a sturdy shield charm would help, once they were out there. And, before they did, there was impervius – “I’m coming,” Evander decided, trying not to glance out-of-doors and immediately scare himself out of it. He tapped his wand to his face first, and then briefly to his clothes. “Here, this should help a little, with the rain,” he suggested, sure that the spell would not spare everything in these conditions (– he was mostly accustomed to using it when caught in an irritating drizzle –) but any visibility and resistance to the water would be helpful. He was determined to be helpful.

(There was another merit to this decision. Evander had been stuck in Britain while Caroline had nearly drowned on that cruise, and the stress of all the unknowns, the waiting and the fretting, was almost worse than the thought of anyone’s great bodily injury, or indeed, certain death. So at least this way he could avoid that.)

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Alfred wasn't sure which decision he'd expected Evander to make, but he wasn't surprised when he announced he was coming. "Alright," he said with a nod, letting Evander apply the spell to him. The sorts of precautions Alfred would take were decidedly less magical. He was used to weathering storms on ships, surrounded by sailors, many of whom may not have even learned to read and write, much less attended Hogwarts and learned spells like impervius. Instead of breaking out his wand, Alfred retrieved a piece of rope — fortunately he knew where everything was in this place, having worked here all season, and there was a supply closet half a dozen feet down the hallway. He handed one end to Evander, then set about tying the other end around his waist.

"Tie it on. This keeps us close, so we can help each other once we find something," he instructed. More than that: if one of them was crushed under rubble from a falling building or swept out to sea, the rope would provide a path the other could use to find the injured one — but that seemed like it might scare Evander, so Alfred didn't mention it. If it ended up being relevant, he'd figure it out, surely. "And if the visibility goes down, we can still find our way back to each other." It was not quite the same as tethering to the ship, but being tethered to another person was at least some protection. It would have to do; they had no better options. "Ready?"

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Tie it on. Evander’s fingers fumbled with it, already numb from the cold winds before even setting foot out there; or perhaps it was just the fear of it, because something in his mind could only connect ropes to nooses. But if Alfred thought being tied together was going to help and not just drag one or the both of them down, drown them in the encroaching waves, then fine – Evander didn’t have time enough to question him.

“Alright,” he agreed, once he had gotten the rope about himself – it had taken a try or two to get it securely, but he was only glad not to slow them down any more by asking his brother for help. Evander stowed his wand again, supposing it would only get blown away out of doors, and nodded at his brother once more, yes, I’m ready, and then plunged outside.

He already felt lost and bewildered and adrift under this howling sky, but, while he was still close enough to communicate, yelled in Alfred’s ear, “I think – this way!” She would not have gone wandering off away from the party all the way to the terrace or down to the boardwalk or the beach in this weather, surely; but her sister-in-law had gone outside for some fresh air a little earlier, so perhaps Caroline had gone the same way as that. Hopefully if she had merely skirted alongside the building, she might have been able to stay out of harm’s way.

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Even knowing what to expect, the force of the wind still made him stagger when he stepped out into it. It was already darker than it should have been outside, due to the heavy clouds above them, but he could see the trees bending into sharp angles against the skyline still. Some of them were probably going to fall; they had never had to withstand this kind of weather before and they wouldn't handle it gracefully, Alfred imagined. Falling trees were probably the least of their worries, though, if the building started to feel the effects similarly. (Coming from his experience on the water it was almost disorienting that the building and the very ground they were standing on weren't already listing in the strong wind).

He nodded, though he wasn't sure whether it made any difference to Evander or not, and followed behind him, ducking low to try and keep his body as small of a target for the wind as possible. He carried the extra rope over his arm while they were still close together, so that it didn't trip either of them, but he knew he'd be grateful for it as soon as they left each other's side. The rain was so thick already that the visibility out here wasn't more than two fathoms, if he had to guess. They carried on that way as well as they could for some distance, until Alfred grabbed Evander's coat and tugged to get his attention. Up ahead a small creek, which existed almost entirely to provide a nice aesthetic for vacationers having lunch on the nearby patio, had flooded and caused part of the path to collapse.

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

He had been scanning their surroundings furiously as they stumbled on, even before Alfred tugged at him. Evander turned sharply to follow his gesture, trying to keep his feet steady as he squinted. Maybe Alfred had been trying to warn him about the break in the path, the flooding damage; but Evander’s gaze had caught on something just beyond it, on the patio. A tree, bent and broken, its top-heavy branches snapped off in the wind – the patio, its usual furniture and decorations blown away – one distant, dark-haired figure, slumped back against the wall.

His heart dropped through his stomach; he didn’t know if he had truly seen it in these conditions, or his brain had simply filled it in in dread, but she had been wearing that colour dress. It was her, he knew it. And he was too far to see properly, but it didn’t look like she was moving.

Forgetting the rope that bound them, and uncertain of how he was going to actually make it across to that part of the patio, Evander lurched forwards into a jog, shoes slipping and nearly sending him falling as he pitched over the broken-up path as far as it went; without waiting for Alfred, he splashed into one of the waterlogged areas, staggering into it and suddenly barely able to keep upright. It was deeper than he’d thought, and strewn with debris he hadn’t seen. “Caroline!” He called, against the rain, hoping she was conscious but seeing utterly no sign of it from the figure. “Caroline!”

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Evander barreling ahead into the water was the absolute last thing Alfred would have advised him to do, had the weather been still enough for them to exchange words of advice, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He was going to be soaked through and catch pneumonia and die (except no, he wasn't, because this wasn't the middle of the Atlantic ocean and it wasn't the mountains of Peru; this was England, where the storm would eventually pass and leave them to change into dry clothes and sit by fireplaces). He was going to be swept out to sea and lost to the waves (could that happen, or was the storm bounded by the Sanditon's weather charms? Would he just wash out into a mostly calm sea and be able to paddle back to safety in an hour?)

Alfred grit his teeth and dug his heels into the ground, hands groping for the rope that connected them so that when Evander inevitably lost his footing, Alfred might be able to tug him out before he drowned. "Careful!" he called out, though he had no idea whether Evander would be able to hear him over the wind and the rain. "You're no use to anyone dead!"

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

There was a current dragging him about the legs, and Evander kept pitching sideways with every step, going more off-course the further ahead he tried to move. He could heard Alfred’s voice somewhere behind him, but it was just an indistinguishable roar amidst the rushing water and lashing rain. He could guess at what his brother meant, though. Don’t be an idiot, he would be thinking. You’re not built for this.

Evander knew he wasn’t. The rope went abruptly taut about him, and he was grateful for it, for it was about the only thing holding him in place. He waited where he was, fervently trying to keep still, in hopes Alfred would catch up or find a way over so he could keep going, otherwise he was going to have to cut the rope and leave him behind, because that was Caroline.

And she was probably dead by now, left out here, as unconscious as she’d looked against that wall. She had probably hit her head and bled out by now – the rain was sliding down his cheeks from the repelling spell anyway, but he felt close to sobbing at the thought. He managed to wade out of the surging water again, drenched through in spite of his spells, and, after an impatient tug on the rope to make sure Alfred was still somewhere near, Evander hauled himself over a short stone wall and landed unsteadily on the patio.

She was still slumped where he had seen her, like she had been thrown back against it – she hadn’t moved. “Caroline,” Evander said, faltering as he reached her, horrified. “Help me!” he yelled back at Alfred, running his hands over her to assess her injuries, looking for a pulse. He couldn’t find one, couldn’t find anything, didn’t know what to do if she wasn’t responding to him –

Someone appeared at his shoulder and he gripped Alfred’s arm urgently. “I don’t know if she’s –” he spluttered, unable to finish that thought aloud; “Just help me get her back inside.”

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They'd managed to get over to her without either of them drowning, which was quite an accomplishment giving Evander's stunt earlier. No time to count their lucky stars, though; Caroline (if that even was Caroline — it was nearly impossible for Alfred to tell, beneath the rain and with her crumpled up like that, but he expected Evander would know) was limp, which wasn't a very good sign. "Hold her head steady," he called out. He tried to scoop up as many of her wet skirts as he could as he carried her feet back to the relative safety of the Resort. Getting her inside and out of the rain would be the first step, but she probably needed a healer. Would they be able to find one in these conditions? He didn't know what might have happened in the ballroom while they'd been braving the weather. Suppose the windows had shattered, or something had caught fire, and they were only moving Caroline from one disaster into another?

Well, one step at a time, he supposed. They'd made it inside. Alfred put Caroline's feet down and then returned to the door to shut it, using all his body weight to get it swung closed when the wind kept trying to pry it open. The hallway was pitch black, since the candles were out in all the lights, but at least they were out of the wind and the rain.

"Lumos," Alfred muttered as he found his wand, his numb fingers fumbling over the end of it. "Is she... breathing?"

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Having taken that instruction for a lifeline, Evander had thought of little else but keeping her head and shoulders steady until Alfred set her feet down; Evander lowered her down in the hallway, the slam of the door somehow subdued against the thudding of his heart.

He’d barely noticed the lack of light until the Lumos took effect, but Caroline’s unconscious form looked worse for it, ragged and pale. Evander touched her wrist and then her cheek – no response – and he couldn’t tell whether her skin or his fingertips were the more numb, but cradling her head under his arm, he leant down and put his face near hers, unable to see any rise and fall in his chest. What was he supposed to do if she was – oh. There was a tickle of breath on his cheek from her mouth. Without looking away, he nodded in answer, but – not sure if his brother had caught it, he forced out the words. “She’s breathing,” he said.

And at least she was inside now – he rummaged for his wand again, casting shaky drying charms over her sodden clothes. But she wasn’t responding... so he twisted in place and looked up at Alfred, half-pleading and half-grateful for all he had already done, an unspoken thank you in his eyes. “Will you see... see if you can find a healer?” That was hardly Alfred’s responsibility – his brother should be with Zelda if he was anywhere – and he wasn’t sure if that was an impossible task, in whatever chaos had become of the ballroom by now, particularly if there were worse casualties to treat. And he had never much liked being indebted to his brother for anything – he had never been more indebted to him than he was now – but the fact remained that he didn’t dare leave Caroline alone.

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The following 1 user Likes Evander Darrow's post:1 user Likes Evander Darrow's post
   J. Alfred Darrow

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Alfred let out a huff of breath at the answer. If she was breathing that was a relief. It wasn't good that she was unconscious, by any stretch of the imagination, but if she was breathing then there was still some hope that she'd pull through alright.

"Yeah, of course," he said immediately, nodding and pocketing his wand again. He didn't know any healers, but he'd do his best. If he couldn't find one, he could at least find Zelda. She'd know what to do. His expertise ended with weathering a storm.

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER