The minute Jenny had mentioned to Rose that there was a pub near the school, Rose had insisted they go. Rose had looked like she thought the trip would save her life. Jenny had smiled and shook her head, just a little puzzled, but readily agreed—she liked a good drink as well as the next person.
Jenny watched Rose take a sip of her half-pint and lean back in her seat near the window. (Rose had been inclined to order a whole pint, and hadn't realised they'd need to sit in the Lounge Bar, not in the Public Bar with the men. Really, this girl! ) Rose closed her eyes and sighed, as if she'd been waiting ages for this little respite.
"Have you been all right this week?" asked Jenny eventually. "You've seemed like there's something on your mind."
"Oh, it's nothing," Rose replied quickly, discreetly wiping a bit of foam off her upper lip. "I'm just tired. A lot more work at a school than at my old family's house, you know."
"Mm hmm," said Jenny. She believed Rose's excuse about as much as she believed in fairies, which was to say not at all. "Nothing's happened? His Majesty hasn't taken another swipe at you?"
Rose gave a little snorted laugh. "Not since the last time."
"Well what, then?" Rose just smiled and sipped her drink. Jenny pressed a little harder: "You do know you can tell me anything, yeah?"
Rose hesitated a minute, her mouth smiling but her eyes strangely sad. "Yeah, 'course." She seemed to accept the offer sincerely, but Jenny couldn't help thinking she'd somehow just made Rose feel the tiniest bit worse.
Her eyes were drawn suddenly over Rose's shoulder to the window, to something in the sky: a bright green light streaked across, arcing in a sharp drop toward the earth. Jenny gave a small, astonished gasp: "Blimey, what's that?"
Rose turned in her chair and suddenly went very still.
"I dunno…" Rose's voice sounded odd. "...but it looks like it landed somewhere."
"Oh, I doubt it. It's probably just a falling star—"
"But it looked like it landed, didn't it?" Rose turned back to face Jenny with an expression just shy of wild-eyed. "If you had to guess where it went, what would you say?"
Jenny blinked. "Well if I had to guess, I'd say it landed on Cooper's Field, but—"
"I'm gonna go see." Rose was out of her seat in a flash, hurrying toward the door.
"Rose!" Jenny was gobsmacked; she stood and called after her. "You can't just run out there! Without your coat? It's freezing out!"
Rose didn't so much as glance back, much less answer; the front door was already slamming after her. What was wrong with that girl?
Jenny hurried outside, hoping to stop Rose before she was too far away, but she was already disappearing into the trees. At least there was a bit of moonlight for her to see by. Jenny wilted: was she really going to have to go after her? She wasn't much for running and Rose was moving at a healthy clip.
"Everyone all right?"
A voice from over her shoulder. She turned and found Mr. Smith hustling toward her, out of breath. "Did it happen here, too?"
"D'you mean the light in the sky? Yes sir, we saw it, but it was just a flash. No harm done."
"Oh, it was more than that," Mr. Smith averred, looking dazed. "I was out crossing the wood, and suddenly I was bathed in light. Green light streaming down, as if from Heaven itself! I was absolutely blinded. Then it disappeared for a moment and reappeared about a hundred yards away. It was fantastic!"
Jenny realized the look in his eye was like a positive version of Rose's – wild and eager to begin the hunt, but in his case also exhilarated. She shook her head imperceptibly.
"Well, the only problem we have is that your maid Rose just went dashing out toward Cooper's Field to find out what it was."
Mr. Smith's eyes snapped to hers, alarmed. "She did what?"
"Just went dashing out, into the dark like a mad thing. Without her coat."
"In this weather?" He looked shocked. "She can't do that!"
"That's just what I said, but I might as well have been speaking Chinese for all she listened. I was just about to go out after her."
"No, I'll go," Mr. Smith assured her, looking distractedly out at the path toward Cooper's Field. "You stay here and keep warm yourself."
Jenny nodded, watching him leave. She had no doubt he would look after her friend, but was also sure it wasn't his only reason for going.
She shook her head again, a strange sinking feeling growing in the pit of her belly.
Peas in a bleedin' pod, those two.
John hurried between the trees toward Cooper's Field, his blood rushing for reasons more than just exertion.
He kept a nervous eye out for any more lights in the sky, simultaneously hoping for and dreading another inexplicable event. He wanted more evidence to help explain what had happened, but also wanted to be able to keep his head in the face of it and wasn't at all sure what his limits were.
Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He wondered if it had ever happened to anyone.
His ankle caught and twisted a bit in an unseen hole; he barely maintained his balance as he extracted himself. What had Rose been thinking, charging out into this countryside without so much as a lantern? Or proper clothing? He'd never heard of a female so impetuous, so reckless. His mind began drifting toward other adjectives, too, like…intrepid. A corner of his mouth drifted upward despite his concern. One might use "foolhardy" as another word for "fearless."
John always thought he knew human nature like a disappointing book he'd had to read a million times. It wasn't often a person surprised him. When he found Rose he didn't know whether he'd scold her or thank her.
He laughed out of nowhere, quite surprising himself.
But as he continued, a dread began to settle in his stomach: what if he didn't find her? At least, not in a timely enough fashion to save her from injury, some sort of disaster? What if he was being a naïve idiot, rhapsodising this as some sort of merry lark?
He frowned and quickened his pace, ignoring scratches from various branches.
A few minutes later he burst into a clearing to find Rose standing there in the open space, tiny amongst the towering trees and shining pale in the moonlight. She scanned the wide open space with something like desperation but he flushed with relief. "ROSE!"
She startled and her head jerked to face him. She didn't look the slightest bit relieved to have been found; in fact, his presence seemed to make her even more distraught.
He didn't understand, but kept walking toward her. He intended to tell her she'd just done something very, very stupid, had scared and worried her friend and had necessitated him coming to her rescue. But something very different came out:
"Did you find it?"
Rose blinked. "Excuse me?"
"The thing that fell from the sky. Your friend said you saw it too and went rushing out to find it." She simply stared at him, and he raised a conspiratorial eyebrow. "I came all the way out here, risking life and limb to make sure you didn't kill yourself. The least you can do is share."
The strangest look crossed her face then, a mix of wonder and confusion and—was that affection?—and something quite like fear. She really was the most remarkable puzzle. "N-no," she said finally, and he felt, quite honestly. "I've looked all over and not a sign of anything."
John nodded, feeling the potential adventure slip away but finding he didn't mind. "Perhaps it was just a meteorite," he offered. He looked at her. "A bit of rock debris moving through space? They reach great speeds and often heat up and emit light when they enter our atmosphere." He frowned mentally—that was a bit more than he realized he knew on the subject. "Anyway," he said with a rueful smile." Perhaps our imaginations ran away with us."
He watched Rose considering this. "Maybe…" she said. She didn't seem reassured.
You don't believe that either, his brain goaded. What about that blinding flood of light? John silenced the voice in his head when he noticed Rose's teeth chattering. "Whatever it was, I'm sure it poses no threat," he said firmly. "And now I must insist we go back. You've been out far too long and are quite seriously risking your health."
Rose nodded and turned to him, shivering visibly, and John found himself at a loss. He would readily give up his coat to her, but it simply was too frigid out—if he were to become incapacitated by cold he would be no good to her. There was only one thing for it.
He began extracting one arm from the sleeve of his heavy coat; Rose looked at him in confusion. "We need to stop you shivering and I need to stay warm enough to make sure you get back safely," he explained. He took the plunge and reached out his arm. "Come here."
She looked at him, wide-eyed and uncertain. He lost some of his confidence, thinking maybe he was being presumptuous.
"That is, if you don't mind," he added gently.
She didn't look at him. "I don't mind," she said softly. She moved into the circle of his arm and he pulled her against his side, draping the coat over her and his arm and holding the whole thing shut as best he could with the other hand. The warmth was a relief to him as well.
"In the name of survival," he said with a soft smile, "we will have to be a bit scandalous. Just for a while."
They started back toward the deeper woods. Rose began to accept his embrace and the warmth it offered, curling herself further into him. John let out a very quiet sigh.
It was a moment before he spoke. "Even though our little chase was all for naught…" he ventured, "it was fun to pretend, wasn't it?" He chanced a look down at her.
There it was again, that expression on her face. A swirl of emotions he couldn't understand, and yet found fascinating. "Yes," she offered finally. "It was." Her smile made its way through at last.
They walked back into the woods in companionable silence.
A moment after they left the clearing, an invisible Jeremy Baines screamed.