Another plot-light chapter, I have trouble skipping scenes where not much happens. Sorry.
"Just 'oller if you need more wood for the fire, ma'am." She called up the stairs. She hoped the fire hadn't died out. Vastra would be cold and cross, waiting for the study to warm. She should probably stock all the fireplaces, just to be safe.
She lit an oil lamp and carried it into the cellar, breaking off a small piece of kindling to light a few more lamps down there. She shook out the burning bit of wood and dropped it to the floor, shuddering and brushing at the cobwebs about. She knew spiders ate other bugs, but they still creeped her out. She loaded up an armful of wood and brought it upstairs, intending to stack it in the furthest room and make her way back to the cellar in shorter and shorter trips. Then she felt something crawling on her hand, involuntarily shrieking and shaking it off, dropping the wood to land with a large clatter at her feet. Right outside Vastra's office.
"Jenny? Are you alright?!" Vastra opened the door to find Jenny red-faced, hurriedly picking up the firewood. She bent to help. "Whatever happened?"
"Nothing of importance ma'am, sorry for startling you. Won't 'appen again."
"You screamed, are you hurt?"
"No, ma'am." She shook her head quickly.
"What happened?"
"Sorry, ma'am, won't 'appen again." They had gathered all the wood and Jenny held her hand out for what Vastra held.
"Don't be ridiculous, what room were you bringing this to?"
"The bedroom."
"Why did you scream?" They headed toward their bedroom, farthest down the hall other than the unused guest room.
"It's not important." Please, Vastra, please stop asking.
"It's important to you, and you are important to me." Vastra still occasionally had trouble with the phrase 'I love you'.
"It's really not important, ma'am." Jenny kept her head down as she swiftly unloaded the wood Vastra held onto the hearth, before adding her own bundle.
"Jenny..."
"If I tell you, you'll think less of me, you won't let me go with you tonight..." She spoke quickly as she finished stacking the wood and stood to go back to the cellar, but Vastra caught her wrist.
"My dear, I highly doubt anything you can say will cause me to think less of you. And you have already promised to accompany me even if I forbid you, so there is little point to that." She stood and gently took Jenny's chin in her green scaly hand, coaxing the girl to look her in the face.
"It was a spider." Jenny mumbled, keeping her eyes down, unwilling to admit her silly human fears.
"Pardon?" Vastra tipped her head to hear better.
"A spider." She spoke more clearly. "I felt a spider on my 'and and I... sort of over-reacted."
"Pesky little vermin, spiders." Vastra smiled gently. "Your reaction is completely understandable, my dear." Jenny glanced up, smiling shyly. She went back down to the cellar, hearing Vastra's footsteps on the stairs behind her.
"Shouldn't you be in your study, thinking about Georgiana Irving, ma'am?" She asked pointedly.
"I can think about Georgiana Irving while I help you carry firewood." Jenny sighed, but knew there was no convincing her mistress once she'd decided something. They restocked the firewood in all the rooms of the house without incident, then Vastra asked Jenny to look over her notes and see if she'd forgotten anything. Jenny couldn't think of anything to add, and left to check on the plants while Vastra thought.
They had a multitude of plants around the house, which Jenny liked, they were colourful and calming, but they all needed watering. She filled a watering can in the kitchen and made her way through the house, watering every plant she passed. She ran out of water on the first floor and walked up to the bathroom on the second floor, but the faucet wasn't working. "Pipe must be frozen." She grumbled, heading back down to ground floor. She finished watering all the plants and surreptitiously added more wood to the piles in the bedroom and sitting room. She hated the spiders in the cellar, but wanted to bank the sitting room fire before they left for the evening, and stoke the one in the bedroom when they got back.
She gathered all the soiled linens from the house and brought them through the kitchen to the small washroom. She had just finished sorting them into wicker baskets according to dirtiness when the grandfather clock rang out. It was about time to get dinner started.
She called Vastra when dinner was ready, and the Silurian had come to two conclusions about where they ought to start the search for Georgiana Irving.
"Either she will be near places she is familiar with, her house, the market, her job, because those are the areas she knows, so as to not get lost..."
"Or..." Jenny prompted.
"Or she will be staying as far away from those places as possible to avoid running into her brother or anyone she knows." Vastra frowned and Jenny sighed.
"D'you 'ave any idea which it might be?"
"Unfortunately not."
"So will we be going out?"
"Yes, we will. We'll start near her house and see if I can pick up a scent."
After dinner Jenny cleaned up, surprised when Vastra started helping.
"Ma'am, you don't 'ave to do that, that's why I'm 'ere." She protested.
"It gets finished quicker if I help. When this is done you need to change."
"Into trousers? Why?" She liked her trousers, they allowed more movement than skirts, but Vastra usually only told her to put them on when she expected trouble.
"Just in case. If we happen to find Anna and she runs, I need you able to keep up."
Vastra helped Jenny move all the plates and things into the kitchen, and wrap the leftover food for the icebox, but washing dishes was a one-person job. Vastra didn't hardly know where anything was in the kitchen, since she rarely used it even before hiring Jenny. So Vastra went to prepare for the evening as Jenny did the dishes.
Jenny excitedly tucked her white blouse into her trousers and shrugged on the vest, trying and failing to tie her tie. She took it off and tossed it on the bed, buttoning up the vest. Hopefully Vastra wouldn't care. She went into their sparring and weapons room to grab a pocketknife, just to have, but found Vastra buckling the belt her katana hung on.
"My dear, where is your tie?" Vastra asked. Jenny sighed and hung her head, going to fetch the offending strip of cloth. She offered it to Vastra and turned up her collar, tipping her head up. "You are not going to learn to tie a tie properly if you do not practice." Vastra chuckled, slipping the silky material around Jenny's slender neck and tying the simple knot.
"I don't really mind not being able to tie a tie properly." She retorted.
"Oh? But I do so like the tie." Vastra gently tightened the knot and turned down Jenny's collar.
"No offence, ma'am, but you ain't the one wearing the tie." She grinned at her employer and tucked the tie under her vest. Vastra chuckled and pecked her on the lips.
"Now come, Parker should be out front soon."
"Be there in just a minute."
"Jenny, you recall I don't want you bringing your sword." Vastra tipped her head a smidge and managed to make it look authoritative.
"I won't ma'am, just grabbing a pocketknife."
"Jenny, with a weapon you are a threat."
"I can 'andle a pocketknife, and it'll be 'idden in my trousers." She crossed her arms, she usually brought a pocketknife when she helped on cases. "I'll be safer with a pocketknife." She knew Vastra wanted her safe.
"If you must." Vastra sighed, going to get her veil. Jenny wasn't entirely sure Parker had ever seen Vastra's face.
Jenny grabbed one of the spring-open locking pocket knives and slipped it into her trouser pocket as she left, then thought better of it and ran back to their storage cupboard, slipping another into her other pocket. Now she had a spare, and wasn't lopsided. She wasn't going to use them, of course, they were just looking for a missing woman, but Vastra only had one sword with her and Jenny still got nervous being out at night. She ran out of the room and down the stairs, stoking the sitting room fire and adding logs so hopefully it would still be burning when they got back. She laid out a few blankets to warm just in case Vastra got too cold, with the Silurian tutting at her.
"I will be fine, we shan't be staying out too long, I'll keep warm."
"What if a blizzard kicks up? What if Anna runs and we 'ave to chase 'er for a while?" Jenny crossed her arms at her employer. "I just want to be prepared, like 'ow you have that book on fixing up 'umans." She closed the grating in front of the fire, keeping all but the smallest bits of ash from floating out of the fireplace.
"Well, I suppose you have excellent timing, as Parker's just pulled the carriage up." Vastra glanced out a window. Jenny smiled and quickly pulled on her coat, helping Vastra with her hood before they left the house. There was a bit of snow blowing around outside which Jenny ignored and Vastra winced at.
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