Ash and Soot
Chapter 1: All Work and No Play
London - 1934
Rain.
There are so many different opinions about rain from so many people. Most say it means a day of misery and gloom, others say it gives hope especially for farmers working to grow their crops.
Me on the other hand, I see it more as just any other day, doesn't matter if it's sunny, rainy or if the streets are blanketed in the whites of fallen snow, no such thing stops me from doing my job.
That's right, I've yet to tell you, haven't I? Sorry about that.
My name's Andrew Wester.
And I'm a climbing boy or what most people call a chimney sweep, a young one at that at just eight years old.
Most people say being a chimney sweep is a messy job, though that's a bit of an understatement if you ask me. Yes, at the end of every work day, I always come home with a face as black as a fine man's suit but in the end, seeing the grateful smiles of the people I clean for makes the effort worth it. And it does pay well at least, as long as I earn enough each day to make Casper happy then that's good for me.
Oh, you must be confused, sorry again. Allow me to explain.
The truth is, I'm adopted. Or at least I think I am. All I knew about my mum and dad was that they both died when I was a baby. Spent maybe five years in an orphanage that cared and fed me well and everyone there, including the anthro orphans were all nice to me.
Oh yes, I forgot that humans like me live among anthropomorphic animals of any kind, here in London however, it's mostly just dogs, cats and the odd horse here and there. They live, work and play just like we do and in a sense, they're just as human as us so I gave them as much respect as any other regular human deserved.
But I'm getting distracted. Sometime before I turned six, a man by the name of 'Casper Badun' came to take me in. I was so happy that I was finally going to have someone that would be like a dad to me and my own home.
…
Well… Our home isn't the best, it's always dark, a bit dusty, old and doesn't smell fine but I shouldn't complain. After all, I at least have a roof over my head and someone to care for me.
"OI, TITCH! GIT DOWN 'ERE ALREADY! THERE'S A JOB WAITIN' FOR YA!"
Ah! Casper's calling me, time to do a day of work!
Without a second thought, I turned and rushed down the stairs to not keep my carer waiting. I didn't even bother to notice the loud creaks of the old wooden staircase as I finally made it to the man himself, a glass bottle in his hand and a phone in the other. His clothes being an old dark brown coat with a darker brown shirt, black pants and shoes and a flat cap.
"Took ya long enough, boy. Some blondie by the family name of Dearly's got a fire pipe that needs a damn good scrub out. Get out 'dere and earn some out o' it!" Casper ordered me before suddenly jabbing the hand that held the glass bottle out forward, splashing my face in some kind of foul smelling liquid, making me splutter a little as he rubbed his hand against face, wiping the liquid all over, perhaps trying to clean me.
"And ya better keep that clean look on ya! If I 'ear a complaint from the ma'am about you all filthy, yer sleeping outside!" Casper warned me as I blinked a little fearfully, not wanting to disappoint my carer and master.
"Yes sir." Was all I said without hesitation before heading out of the house and making my way towards the Dearly household.
Knock knock knock
"Ahh, so you're the young man come to clean out my chimney! Goodness, you're quite young… Well, it's good to know that they're letting eager young men like you to making a living off of a hard day's work! Come in, my dear!"
An elegant yet warm face of a woman with blonde hair and a fresh woman's suit greeted me before inviting me in so I could go ahead and get started. The inside of the house wasn't anything too fancy or rich but I could tell the woman had a stable and well-earning life like I was. It didn't take long for me to be lead to the living room where the fireplace stood at the centre of the wall. With a nod, I made my way over and knelt down to look up the shaft of brick. It was dark as night, definitely shrouded and filled to the brim with soot and ash.
The familiar sound of the brush scrubbing against stone was the only thing that met my ears. On occasion, I'd peek up the inner shaft to see how much of the black blockage had chipped and fallen. It will be quite a while before the job is done.
After taking a second peek, I stopped in my tracks as my blind spot caught an object of white and light blue. My curiosity piqued, I looked behind to see someone watching me curiously.
An anthro Dalmatian around my age, a female one judging by the dress which was equally as fine and beautiful as the one adorned by the Dearly woman. Her white fur as you'd expect was home to several spots of black. Unlike the soot and ash in a chimney, the black of her spots was as nice and well kempt as the white of the rest of her fur.
"Hello." I greeted the girl in the most polite and friendliest tone imaginable which briefly caught her off-guard before she quickly recollected herself and bowed, taking both side ends of her dress as she did so.
"H-Hello." She stammered out, a bit shyly, possibly not expecting me to start a conversation with her before continuing. "I… I'm assuming you've met my godmother, Rebecca."
So that's what her relationship was with the Dearly woman was. I had read somewhere that most anthros will get a human godmother or godfather at a young age, usually just in case if they get separated from their own parents.
"Oh yes, she's quite nice. A fine woman, just as fine as you in fact." That compliment made her face go completely red as she looked away, stammering a little under her breath.
"O-Oh, sorry. I'm Andrew." How could I have forgotten to introduce myself?
"P-Perdita." She replied, letting a small smile form on her face which I responded to with a smile of my own before returning back to work, the blockage was now getting easier to clear out.
"...Is it a messy job?" I heard Perdita ask through the sound of brush against stone.
"Yes, it does get rather dirty indeed most of the time but making the people happy does make it all worth it." I replied with another smile when suddenly I realised that I couldn't pull or push the brush. It must've gotten caught on something.
With both hands on the brush, I yanked the brush handle as hard as I could to get the brush to break free from whatever in all the soot and ash was holding it in place until finally after one last tug…
The brush had broken free but doing so had caused the rest of the blockage to fall apart into dust that exploded into a cloud of black that engulfed me and most of the fireplace.
It took a few seconds for the soot clouds to clear up, the ambience being broken with the sounds of a girl coughing which was enough to snap me into realization that Perdita was still behind me as I immediately spun around to see the young girl Dalmatian bent over, hand in front of her mouth as she coughed in response to the ash. Whilst her dress had managed to remain stainless, her face had patches of soot that almost matched her spots of black, there was less white on her at this point.
Without any hesitation, I pulled out a clean piece of cloth and stood up, my head now at level with hers as I carefully wiped the cloth on her face, removing the ash as best as I could. In the end, there were still some grey patches on her face, but it was nothing a bath wouldn't be able to fix.
"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" I blurted out of worry as she cleared her throat and looked at me once again with a light blush on her cheeks.
"O-Oh, it's alright. Thank you." She said reassuringly with a nod.
"Goodness, Perdy dear! What happened to you?" The woman whom I now knew as Rebecca had just come in and noticed the Dalmatian's stained face. Good job, Andrew, you've really done it now.
"Oh nothing, Rebecca! The chimney sweep just had a bit of an accident with the blockage, it wasn't his fault." Perdita explained as the woman looked over at me and was taken aback by the sight of me who had been given a new coat of chimney dust thanks to the clouds.
"Good heavens, young man, it's all over you!" Rebecca exclaimed in shock before taking out her purse and pulling out a few coins. "Please, accept these as an apology and a thank you for dealing with my filthy chimney!" She said, hoping to make amends with the payments.
...Ten Shillings?! That was about half a pound!
"T-Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Dearly!" I thanked the lady gratefully, ecstatic with my earnings.
"Oh-ho, it's just Ms. Dearly, young sir, but you're welcome!" Rebecca corrected me with a chuckle, almost as if relieved that there would be no bad blood between us for what had happened, then again, I would hold no ill towards her regardless.
Pocketing my earnings, I made my way to the Dearly's front door and was about to leave when I heard a voice call out to me.
"Andrew?"
I turned around to find that it was none other than Perdita, holding something in her hands as she faced me with a smile that was friendlier than before.
"I wanted to thank you for trying to clean me up and… Well, you're a very nice boy… So I wanted to pay you myself." She explained before giving me what she held in her hands.
A Nestle's whole nut milk bar.
"P-Perdita, are you sure?" I was in awe that she would give me something like this but she only nodded in response before going back inside.
I've never gotten to taste chocolate before… I think I'll save it for when I get home.
"'Bout time ya got yer arse home, ya slug! Ya better 'ave made a few bob from your job at that Dearly woman!" Casper said the second I opened the front door before making my way over to him and held out the amount of coins I had earned to him.
"Bloody 'ell, them Dearlys 'ave got to be rich!" Casper said, stunned at how much I had made before swiping every single coin out of my hand and staring at it with a satisfied grin.
"Ohoh yes, I'm definitely gonna be on the good piss tonight!" He exclaimed euphorically and was about to leave the house… until he looked at me for a long while.
"...What are ya hidin', boy? Ya better not 'ave stolen something!" Casper glared down at me before shoving his hand into my other pocket and pulling out the chocolate bar Perdita had given me.
"I BLOODY KNEW IT, YOU DID STEAL SOMETHING! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YA, YA THIEVIN' LITTLE GIT?!" Casper suddenly screamed furiously in my face, making me step back.
"N-No sir! Ms. Dearly's god daughter gave it to me and-"
"Likely bloomin' story! What 'ave I bloody told ya 'bout taking stuff that don't belong to ya?!"
I tried to explain again, but Casper was having nothing of it and immediately opened the front door.
"Now get ou'side, you're sleepin' on the road! YA SELFISH, GREEDY LITTLE SOD!"
I didn't dare argue with Casper. I knew I had disappointed him and made him angry and I knew I had to pay the price. With no words other than "Yes sir.", I walked out of the house and sat against the front wall while he walked off down the road as I heard him mutter something before he left my vision.
"Bloody chimney-prickin' gobshite stealin' behind my back after everythin' I do for 'im."