"That was you." Vastra stated, half accusingly, gazing down at Jenny.
"'m fine." Jenny burrowed further under the covers. "Go to sleep."
Vastra delicately lifted the blankets and laid her hand against Jenny's forehead, gaining her an unimpressed glare.
"You was the one who said I couldn't catch a cold from gettin' wet." Jenny pointed out, wriggling away from the touch.
"You can't. But it could still cause a lowering of defences enough that you could catch one more easily."
"I wonder if they have colds in Below." Jenny mused, resignedly sitting up to blow her nose. "Even if they do, I can't have caught one that quickly. Prob'ly just the dust from the stables got up me nose."
She snuggled back up to Vastra and went to sleep.
8th April
Vastra was surprised at Jenny still being in bed when she woke up and shook her gently. Jenny groaned and rolled over, tugging the blankets around her. Vastra, piqued at the sudden lack of warmth pulled them back and Jenny rolled back again, her arms flopping weakly onto the bed.
"Think my defences musta got lowered." Jenny murmured, staring at Vastra blearily.
Vastra sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stay in bed." She ordered, getting up and setting the fire. Jenny was more than happy to comply, piling all the blankets on top of and around her until only a mess of hair was visible on the pillow.
Vastra dressed and descended the stairs with alacrity. She remembered being ill herself at the circus and George giving her what he called a 'hot toddy'. The taste had been quite frankly disgusting and she doubted its effectiveness but beyond that, she knew there was no real cure, certainly not in this era. She made Jenny porridge and tea, the sight of the urchins reminding her that they had a guest in the house. After reassuring the urchins that Jenny was in no danger and that no, they did not need to ascend en masse to see her, after all what would they do if they all caught cold as well, she informed them of Peggy's new position and instructed them to take care of her when she was ready to begin her new life Above.
Jenny was grateful for the porridge and the hot sugary tea so thick the spoon almost stood up in it. It revived some colour in her face, Vastra was glad to see. She instructed the little ape to sleep further and that she would return shortly with the recipe for something to further alleviate her symptoms.
She arrived at George's shop to find him peculiarly absent. But then, she reasoned, it was the beginning of April. No doubt he was visiting the circus, returning mended costumes, or handing out new ones. Foiled in her plan, she thought to visit Mrs Blackett, who would surely know some remedy or other.
It felt strange, returning to the gin shop, as an acquaintance, a customer almost, rather than as someone who lived there. Jenny had said Harriet Fields was living there now, in their old flat. She gazed up at the small window. Her little ape was right, she thought. Them living at 13 Paternoster Row did not change the fact they had lived here, and all the memories. Vastra grinned under the cover of her veil at some of them and went in through the door of the shop.
It was empty. Feeling a little like an intruder, Vastra ventured up the stairs, calling out Mrs Blackett's name but there was no reply. She returned to the ground floor, annoyed that her quest had been thwarted twice, when she heard voices coming from the kitchen. She called out again and they stopped abruptly.
The kitchen door was cracked open to reveal Mrs Blackett. "Oh! And tis yourself." she held a hand to her heart. "Well and here's an occurrence." She looked over her shoulder at whoever was in the kitchen with her. "Tis just Madame Vastra, dears, come to visit."
Several chairs scraped backwards. Feet clattered and a door slammed. Vastra raised an unseen eye ridge. Mrs Blackett laughed nervously. "I was just havin' some tea with a few friends. They don't like to impose. Won't you come in?" she opened the kitchen door fully and Vastra walked cautiously in. She noticed Jess was still sat at the table, nonchalantly leaning back on her chair, a guarded expression on her face. Jess gave a brief nod to Mrs Blackett who relaxed and started bustling about making tea.
"Is there a cause for such a grand visit then?" Jess was still eyeing her warily.
"Jenny is ill. I was wondering if you had the recipe for a 'hot toddy'."
Jess's chair legs slammed back down on the floor. "She's ill?"
"A mere cold." Vastra reassured her.
"Hah." Jess scoffed. "Ain't no such thing." She stood up. "Mrs Blackett!" she called out, for the woman had gone out into the yard to fill up the kettle from the stopcock. "Jenny's ill. Madame 'ere wants a cure for a cold."
"Whisky and ginger wine, s'what my dearly departed used to swear by when he came back from India." Mrs Blackett shuffled back in. "Mixed with a little hot water to make a toddy if you want to."
"You got any whisky about the place Mrs B?" Jess asked, stalking out to the bar.
"Try in the cupboard under the bar, there'll be some Stone's in there too." Mrs Blackett called after her, looking a little worried. "Miss Jenny laid up with the influenza is she?"
"A cold."
Mrs Blackett looked thoughtful. "I'll make up some chicken soup and send it over with Jess. No doubt she'll want to see her sister anyway."
"Thank you." Vastra was unsure as to the efficacy of chicken soup and alcohol but had little else to offer. And a doctor would probably only proscribe a tincture of laudanum and that was even worse.
She set off home, carrying a bottle of Bells whisky and Stone's ginger wine, with instructions on how to mix it. Her concern for Jenny overrode the curiosity as to what Jess and Mrs Blackett had been doing in the kitchen with whomever else it was that had been "visiting" but she made a note to inform Jenny when she was well again. She had read Jess's wariness as a belief she had come to investigate them, Jenny had no doubt informed them of Vastra's new occupation. It aroused Vastra's suspicion at any rate.
Jenny was asleep when she returned, so she merely mixed the whisky and ginger wine and left it by the bedside. Vastra checked on Peggy, who was looking morosely out the window at another April downpour.
"Are you hungry?" Vastra asked her, standing by the doorway. Experience had taught her that urchins were always hungry. But Peggy shook her head. Vastra came to stand by the windowsill, remembering when she had stood by Jenny at the flat window.
"It is lonely, isn't it." She remarked, not looking at Peggy. "Not being able to return to your world."
Peggy sniffled. "S'not like they were friends exactly or anything. But they were all I had since I was five. And it was more than I'd had beforehand. Bein' a Ratspeaker…it's what I was. Who I was. What am I meant to do now?"
"The urchins will look after you. Find you places to stay, if you wish. And there is always a meal to be had here."
Peggy was silent, remembering the offer Jenny had made her that fateful day at the docks.
"Workin' for a slightly more scrupulous gang, Jenny said."
Vastra considered the ragtag band of urchins that made up the Irregulars. Despite their worldly wise and cunning approach to life, they did have some scruples she supposed. "Yes."
"But I won't see me liddle rat mates no more." Peggy burst into tears, inconsolable. Feeling that she lacked the ability to calm Peggy down, Vastra retreated back to Jenny in their bedroom.
"You bin out I take it?" Jenny asked, gesturing part of a blanket at the now empty tumbler.
"Mrs Blackett suggested it."
"S'nice."
"She said she'd get your sister to call later with some chicken soup."
"Jess? She was there?"
"Yes. There seemed to be quite a meeting going on when I arrived. They all made a swift get away out the back door."
"Prob'ly Jess's 'cause' or whatever it is she fights for. Socialism." Jenny muttered. Vastra poured her another tot and placed it on the bedside cabinet. "How's Peggy?"
"Distraught, to say the least." Vastra shrugged.
"Mmph."
"How are you feeling?"
"Hnnghhh." Jenny groaned.
"I'll leave you to sleep." Vastra got up and wandered back downstairs, a little at a loss as to what to do now. She tried to read in the living room but was swiftly interrupted by a knock at the back door. Parker was there with Boggin.
"I heard Miss Jenny was ill." He said immediately she opened the door. "So I bought some cough mixture for 'er. The 'fluenza can bring on a terrible cough in the after." He gestured a brown bottle of liquid at her.
"Thank you Parker." She took the bottle and nodded her head to him and he put his cap back on and went about his work in the stables. Boggin lingered.
"She alright Madame?"
"She's sleeping. It's just a cold."
"S'never just a cold Madame. Kills you on the street one of them can." Boggin shook his head seriously, alarming Vastra. Jess too had laughed at the idea of it being just a cold.
"I'm sure she will recover in good time." Vastra ushered him out the door. She looked at the label on the bottle as she carried it upstairs, read the listed ingredients and immediately returned downstairs and poured it down the sink in horror, quite confident that whatever it might do, it wouldn't cure a cold. She'd felt the whisky was dubious enough.
Restless, she returned upstairs to Jenny's bedside to find Peggy sat there, dolefully sat at the side of the bed watching her.
In answer to the raised eye ridge, Peggy answered, "You said she was gonna watch over me. So seein' as how she's ill, thought I'd watch over her."
"And how is she?" Vastra asked, sitting down on the bed beside the pile of blankets that she assumed Jenny was within.
"Sleepin'."
There was another knock at the door and Vastra left Peggy to her task to answer it.
The Irregulars were back in force. "We got her some lozenges. To help with the cough when it comes." Thrupp thrust them at Vastra, who didn't enquire as to how the urchins might have "got" them but merely thanked them a little wearily. She wondered what the lozenges contained as she eyed them dubiously.
Half an hour of distracted reading of a book later, the door knocked again.
"Some chicken soup as promised." Jess barged in, holding a towel wrapped around something. She deposited the contents of the dish in a saucepan on the stove and started heating it up. "You c'n take yer veil off if you want, s'not like I ain't seen your scaly face before."
Irritation at the constant stream of interruptions gave way to appreciation for all the people who clearly cared a great deal for Jenny. Her chosen family. It made Vastra feel a little lonely. She removed her veil and waited silently for the chicken soup to heat back up.
When she and Jess went up to visit Jenny, the young woman was awake and grateful for the food. Jess eyed Peggy as she stood away from the bed.
"Latest addition?" she asked Vastra, tilting her head at the ex-Ratspeaker.
Vastra nodded.
An: Whisky is not alas a cold medicine, but ginger is pretty good in all forms and I do swear by Whisky Mac and bed rest for a cold. Chicken soup apparently also has some decongestive abilities.
. Look at this monk drinking Stone's ginger wine. Clearly good.
