Influences of Stars

Chapter 21

The floor has been washed a thousand times over. Tibby gathers her skirts around her knees and scrubs at every crevice in the kitchen, pushing away any foul smells which could build up. "Tibby, you can stop fussing so much now," Constance says, "It's perfectly clean."

"I don't want to be the reason you fall ill. Theo shall recover soon enough, but you're with child and I fear you would not," Tibby says.

"As long as the air is clean, the sickness cannot pass," Constance reminds her, though the truth of that is not fully known. Minister Castell alluded to something evil within his sermon, and why would a malignant force care whether the air is pure or not?

"You shouldn't be here, really. We're supposed to resign ourselves to our own homes." Tibby wipes at her forehead, the cold air unable to ease the heat rising within her from the exertion.

"I can't be fussed with getting ill, so I won't. If Theo's silly enough to fall ill, that's his own fault," Constance says. The two girls share a look and laugh, ignorant in their belief that they are somehow invincible. How easy it is to separate themselves from the town's darkness when it hasn't yet reached them.

When Tibby finally decides she is satisfied, she wipes her hands dry and pulls down her skirts. She sits opposite Constance, who is now flicking through some papers Gideon left on the side that morning, only out of curiosity of course. Tibby reads the same book she has does; she is close to memorising it by that point.

They are quiet with one another, only the sound of the pages turning over breaking the silence. Are they distracting themselves, for they make their minds blank and think of nothing?

A knock comes at the door. It is intrusive. Tibby wants to ignore it, but the door opens anyway. "Mam!" she says, standing up with a smile, "What are you doing here?" She gestures for her to sit down with them. "Would you like anything to eat?"

"No, thank you." Her voice is pale. She wants to make it disappear, never wishing to bring the words she must say into existence because she knows what they will do to her child, who stands before her with wide eyes still complete with life. Mrs Abbot has to steady her breathing before she starts to speak again. "Theo's brother sent me to fetch you."

Tibby sits down.

"Is he dying?" Constance asks.

Mrs Abbot's silence gives them the answer. Her face is torn between a personal sorrow- that poor, sweet boy who knows only kindness- and pity for the two girls who are before her now, whose loss will tear at them. Theo is being pulled away, ripped from the golden memories filled with laughter.

"We must see him now," Constance says,  transferring any sorrow to foresight. If she never sees Theo again, everything will be far worse. Yes, she will gather her things and see him now and all be well. As she forces strength back into her body, she stands up and readies herself to leave. Opposite her, Tibby stays motionless. "Tibby?" There is no response. "Tibby, do you understand what is happening?" She is sharp.

Finally, the girl looks up at her friend. "Theo is dying," Constance tells her, "We're going now."

Tibby nods. As she follows Constance from the door, she is strikingly aware of her own body. It is light- alive in itself. Her skin moves. She can barely walk properly; she floats, steps one at a time to stop her legs from shattering. Everything is a blur.