It's December Challenge time! Thanks to Hades Lord of the Dead for hosting this.

My first prompt is from Hades Lord of the Dead: Conversation piece

"Oh, that one's pretty."

Mary let go of my hand to lean around a couple, her attention on the small, round Christmas ornament glinting in the sunlight of a nearby window. Another step brought her to the display as soon as the crowd shifted.

"John, look. Don't you like the blue?"

I sidestepped an older lady, then two young men to reach her side. It was nice, in a muddled sort of way. The glassblower had swirled many colors of glass through a bright blue base, creating an effect somewhat resembling a twilight sky. My gentle nudge rotated the ball to show her the far side.

"You can almost see a few stars over here."

A smile rewarded my imagination, but another table caught her eye before she could reply. I browsed the glassmaker's other creations as I slowly followed.

We wandered a seasonal craft fair simply to get out of the house, and the simple outing had proven more than adequately diverting. Almost every station displayed something worth inspecting.

Like the glinting silver she had failed to notice. "Mary, there's a smith here."

"Really?"

Excitement pulled her from the holiday towels and kitchenware, and she pushed a path through the crowd to where a silversmith twisted wire around an egg-shaped cylinder with a groove in one side. Several small pieces littered the table as if scraps from previous projects, and a variety of colored beads glinted in bins along the table's back edge. We watched for several minutes before she voiced a question, pitched to avoid interrupting his concentration.

"What is he making?"

"Links, ma'am." He heard anyway, casting a smile to say he welcomed the interest. "T'would take ages to forge each one separately, but if I wrap the wire and cut each round like this—" Wire cutters fit easily in the cylinder's groove. "I get a pile of disconnected links in a fraction of the time. I like grouping them, adding a few beads, and making a repeating pattern around a necklace."

A moment's digging produced one he had presumably finished earlier in the day, and I easily saw what he meant by a repeating pattern. Groups of four or five links of slightly different sizes connected beads to a common chain. The result made the ornament appear quite a bit more complex—and therefore more expensive—than it truly was. Mary moved slowly closer, eyes on the colorful design.

"I like how you use the different beads to accentuate the chain just as much as the colors." One finger traced a link and its bead, then flipped the price tag over. A miniscule frown of disappointment pulled her hand away. "You do beautiful work, sir."

"Thank you." He smiled and nodded, but he had seen her reaction to the price just as I had. He did not try to convince us to stay.

Nor did she intend to watch for a while. "Where next?"

"Wherever you want." I preferred to find a bench, though I would not say as much. A twitch of my hand pointed her to the kitchenware. "You left off at that booth, if you want to resume there."

"That's as good a place as—" The sentence broke mid word as she halted in the middle of the aisle, then quickly took a step to the side to get out of the travel area. "Isn't he one of the Irregulars?"

I followed her gaze to a small child zigzagging the crowd. He followed the flow one way, then reversed to go the other, looking in and behind booths as he went. His mouth formed the same word every couple of seconds, clear distress growing ever stronger. Irregular or not, he needed help. A hand in Mary's ensured she followed my progress through the shoppers.

"Theo!"

He never reacted, unable to hear me over the press. I faintly heard him say that name again, though I could not yet make it out.

"Theo, come this way!"

Still nothing. He drifted further away, and I could not walk any faster. Mary squeezed my hand in warning before calling over my shoulder.

"Theo, look behind you!"

Whether luck or her higher pitch, I had no idea, but the boy finally turned. Frightened eyes locked on mine.

"Doctor!" His slight frame dodged legs much faster than I would have expected. Only a few seconds wrapped small arms around my knees. "Losted. I'm losted. They're losted. I dunno which, but I can't find 'im."

"Easy."

I rested a hand on his head as fear buried his face in my trousers. Even the older Irregulars usually traveled in pairs, and Theo was young enough he had probably never left the courtyard alone. I would need to calm him before I could help him. A moment let me maneuver us into an alcove and kneel to his level.

"Find whom?"

He merely shifted to hide his face in my neck. Fine tremors announced the moisture he valiantly fought, so I pressed lightly between his shoulders. He had obviously been alone for several minutes.

"You're safe, Theo. Talk to me. For whom do you search?"

"Jacob." The muffled word barely carried past my collar. "Jacob brought me 'n Lottie to see the Christmas trees and look at the 'iss—dis—the stuff for sell. Maybe find a treat, too, but there was a big family, and a dog got in and scared Lottie, then grown-ups got between us, 'n I can't find 'em!"

"Easy." Slow circles on his back gradually calmed the hiccupping fear. "We'll find them, Theo. It's alright. Deep breaths."

"Crowds is scary alone."

"They can be," I agreed, "but you're not alone. I'll help you look. I bet Mrs. Mary will help, too."

"Of course I will." The promise's proximity pulled Theo's face from my shoulder. He relaxed a touch more at finding her kneeling as well. "How about you two look from here," she suggested, "while I check the other side of the festival? Lottie probably dragged him to look at the 'pitty bubbles' a few aisles over."

Probably. That girl loved anything shiny. Theo would not remember her using that phrase, however, and the imitation made him giggle.

"Lottie doesn't say that!"

"No?" Mary posed a thinking expression. "Are you sure?" He nodded, but his grin announced her mission's success. One finger tapped his nose before she gained her feet. "Alright, then. I'll be back soon enough."

She disappeared into the mass of people as I settled on the floor of our alcove, my back to the wall. Every child I saw stood next to an adult. He would need to help me look.

"We can see a lot from right here," I told him, a silent invitation seating him next to me. Low tones kept him calm even as I asked him to focus on the many people. He would recognize Jacob faster than I would. "Try to scan faces. Remember that Jacob and Lottie are shorter than the adults, so you can ignore every grown-up and look for another child."

"What's 'ignore'?"

"Pretend they're not there," I answered. "Nobody will hurt you, and you're not looking for an adult, so you don't even need to look at them. Do you see anyone shorter than a grown-up?"

Young eyes scanned the many people much faster than I could, but fear crept back into his words at finding nothing.

"I don't see 'em."

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "It's alright, Theo. Just keep looking while we talk. Do you have a favorite display?"

"The dream catchers."

"Do you mean the ones in the corner?" He nodded. "I liked those, too. Did you see the feathers that change colors?"

"Those were cool," he agreed. Worried tension finally started draining from his shoulders. "I liked the 'Merican eagle feathers. Did you know the dream catchers come all the way from America?"

"The Native Americans gave us the design, yes. Is that Jacob?"

I referenced a boy wandering the gallery's front wall, but Theo shook his head. "We saw him earlier. Jacob laughed about his twin. Do you have a fav'rite?"

"I do not, but I think Mrs. Mary liked the silversmith best."

Confusion tore his attention from his search to look at me. "Why don't you have a fav'rite?"

"I like them all," I answered simply. He did not need to know that I had tired of walking an hour ago. I shifted to hide a spasm as I found another question. "Did you see the silversmith?"

"Yeah." Another glance checked faces, apparently missing where Mary weaved through the people in front of a jewelry booth. "'E wus makin' some lace for necks with wires. The grown-ups said it was good, but even Lottie didn't understand why."

"Women enjoy things that look nice, including necklaces. Mrs. Mary wanted to buy one."

That expression announced he still did not know what use anyone would have for bits of wire and glass, but Mary reached the edge of the crowd before he could reply. A boy peeked around her then dodged through a gap to crush Theo in a hug.

"There you are!"

"Jacob!"

Jacob's embrace pulled the smaller boy to his feet, but Jacob did not squeeze for more than a couple of seconds before he released his hold to muss Theo's hair—and earn himself a frown.

"Don't do that, squirt. Scared me."

"Not s'posed to get lost, Theo," Lottie said at the same time. She waved at me but focused on the boys. "Stay together."

"Didn't try to," he shot back. "Bunch of grown-ups pushed me away."

"Thanks for finding him, Doctor. Mrs. Mary." Jacob quickly cut into the budding argument, one hand still on Theo's shoulder. "The dog getting inside upset a lot of people for some reason, and when it all settled, Theo was gone. We've been looking all over for him."

"Not a problem at all." Only the wall let me stand without using the cane I carried. "Enjoy the rest of the festival. I think Holmes said he might have work for some of you starting in the next day or two."

More like he had mentioned possibly wanting our help, so I could not imagine him excluding the Irregulars. A rapid agreement met the warning, but another thanks and a hug for each of us saw Jacob, Theo, and Lottie darting toward the furthest row. Mary's fingers intertwined mine.

"How much would you wager that they're heading for the chocolatier against the far wall?"

Surprise let a laugh escape. "Far more than they will pay for their sweet," I returned. "Do you want to keep exploring the booths?"

"What do you say we get a cup of tea?" She waved to reference a spot at the edge of the crowd. "One of the booths is advertising an Indian tea that sounds good."

Both a drink and a few more minutes to sit sounded like a wonderful idea. I willingly followed her three rows over to where most of the food had been set up.

I may not care as much about the craft fair as she did, but the time together made the outing worthwhile.

Hope you enjoyed :)