(A/N): We're back with Vi, Evie, Hettie, and Pip.

January 16th, 1966

Vi

It was obvious that Evie was skeptical about my abilities- or the strength of my convictions, even- but I didn't think there was much I could do to prove my determination right at this very second- beyond a much longer, more in-depth conversation- so I simply bumped her shoulder with my palm as comfortingly as I could. "Evie..." I had the urge to tell her I would convince her, but it neither felt like it would fit, nor would have much of an effect. "...I can hold the shutter for you?" The way she shook her head seemed entirely instinctual.

"No, you- I'll be holding the shutter, while Hettie actually does the... y'know, reattaching, thing. She's better at that sort of thing than either of us- far, far better-" Hettie's shrug was chock-full of only mostly false modesty. "-but you can... hold the toolbox?" It made sense, seeing as our father's toolbox- well, Hettie's, now- was probably slightly heavier than the window shutter, and since I'd always been a bit more physically fit than Evie had, of course it fell that way.

"And I'll hold the ladder, like usual," Pip chimed in cheerily, which was fitting, considering his considerable fear of heights. "I'm happy to do my part." He was, as ever, infallibly genuine.

Hettie reached a hand out to grab the arm of his jumper, tugging it- and him, by extension- playfully. "Where would we be without you, Pippy?" It was rhetorical, I think, and Pip mostly took it that way, too.

"Well, strictly speaking... still on the ground, I suppose." It was such a Pip response that it made us all smile against our better judgement- which was, as always, the reason he said it. "Though... I am a little worried about you girls all going up on the roof in those clothes." Fair enough. We were all, except for Evie, still in the clothes we'd slept in, if not quite pajamas, and Evie was dressed casually and comfortably- two things that didn't lend themselves to durability or washability.

"We'll be fine," Hettie told him, pointedly rolling up her sleeves. "If I can work on cars in a mini skirt, I can work on a roof in my comfy trousers." Pip gave her a look that was equal parts awed, and unsurprised- as though he wasn't surprised that she would say such a thing, but was just constantly surprised in general by Hettie as a person.

"Y'know, oddly enough, you weren't my main concern." I could see on her face that it hurt her- because even if we all knew he didn't mean it that way, it was habit for her to see dismissal in any form as a personal failing on her part. Pip meant that he thought she was the most competent of the three of us, at least in this context, but Hettie automatically took it as evidence that Pip cared the least about her... which I'm sure absolutely wasn't true. "Hettie-" He must have seen it too, because Pip immediately set about trying to put her at ease. "Hettie." Anyone else might have tried to use her full name rather than reiterate the nickname, but we knew Hettie didn't like her first name being used as a general rule, let alone at a time like this, where she was already reminded of the family- the parents- that'd given it to her.

She nodded, eyes glued to the hand still tangled in his jumper. "I- I know. I know. It's fine, you don't have to- Stop trying to reassure me, it's fine. I've got it." We made sure not to stare- not to do anything that would let her convince herself that we were judging her in any way. Pip lowered his eyes too, joining hers on that contact that connected them.

"Well... in that case, should we see about that ladder?"

It was the perfect thing to say- to not try to handle the situation, so to speak, because there's no way Hettie would allow anything else. There's no way Hettie could cope, with anything else. Pip couldn't outwardly reassure her, but he could support her... and given the opportunity, he'd always take it. Emotional support, and physical support, since he helped her carry the ladder once she'd dragged it free of the shed. The second it was fully erect against the side of the house adjacent to the garage and we all stared up at it from below for the first time, I caught sight of something we hadn't noticed before now. "What's that?" I asked. "On the underside of that step- a note?"

It wouldn't be the first time we'd found some old list or set of instructions hidden away on one of dad's old things, but this looked... new. It was for that reason, and that reason pretty much alone, that I looked to Hettie after asking this question- after all, if there was something new on one of dad's tools, there was no one that could've put it there except for her. Pip looked to her for answers as well, but while he and I only turned our attention back to the note after seeing Hettie's blatant confusion, Evie's eyes remained glued to the piece of paper. As it was, the step it was attached to the underside of was just out of reach for all of us, even Pip, so in order to get ahold of it, one of us would have to climb a few steps to be able to reach it. Before we even had the chance to discuss the subject, however, Evie sighed heavily and shook her head with a weariness I wouldn't have thought her capable of before today.

"I swear to God, if that says what I think it does..." Her angry, under the breath mutter trailed off, but the message was clear- Evie had some idea of what might be on that note, and she certainly wasn't happy about it.

"What-" She didn't even have to cut me off, the way she started climbing without so much as saying anything to the rest of us did the work for her.

Apparently, Hettie was just as concerned by this as I was, because she grabbed Evie's arm before she could get further than the second step. "Evie- We're not going to talk about this?" She sounded almost desperate, and Evie shot her a particularly odd look in return.

"What's there to talk about?" She asked- again, rhetorically, I assume- and Hettie blinked hard. "It's just a piece of paper, right?" For all intents and purposes, we knew she was right, but... it still made all three of us nervous, I could tell. Reluctantly, Hettie released her, and we watched on in silence as she clambered up the last step- last two steps, just for good measure, so she didn't have to stretch- and pulled the folded piece of paper free. After she opened it, there were a long, long few seconds where nothing happened- and then, suddenly, Evie snorted. "Shopping list," She told us. "Eggs, milk, bread- that sort of thing."

None of us relaxed, because I think in that moment, we all remembered that this new version of Evie had discovered a penchant for lying- and as she folded the note and slipped it into the pocket of her comfy trousers, I knew it was because she wanted to hide the contents from us at all costs... something she never would've done if was penned by either of our parents, even if it really was just a shopping list. No, Evie was hiding something... and her decision to keep the note out of our reach meant it had to be a clue- a big one. The problem was getting our hands on it.

(A/N): Vi says she's always been a bit more physically fit than Evie because I imagine she did a sport or two during her school years that Evie didn't, plus her job is slightly more physical (well, there's more standing and walking back and forth, at least), and nowadays she goes dancing way more than Evie does, not to mention the fact that she's just built slightly more athletically.

Hettie has family issues that are particularly exasperated here because Pip is sort of seen as the group's emotional core (along with Evie, but Evie is Hettie's best friend so it's a little different between them), so when Hettie feels rejected by Pip, she sort of feels rejected by the whole group. We'll find out later (at some point) more about her family issues and the long road she's been on to (mostly) being able to overcome those issues, but I'm not even close to writing that part yet, so it's a long way off.

I imagine Pip is one of those people that aren't funny, exactly, but they tend to just say completely normal things in such a way that you can't help but laugh.

I also imagine that Hettie's a pretty physical person but isn't accustomed to physical affection, per se, so she sort of just grabs and tugs on clothing, or pushes shoulders, or slaps arms, or ruffles hair (a hair ruffle from Hettie is BIG, and it's how the other girls knew Pip was there to stay, when Hettie ruffled his hair for the first time- and he nearly fell over). Pip is also someone who didn't grow up with a lot of physical affection (Hettie's family didn't hug, Pip's family hugged but it was very brief, stiff hugs for the sake of appearances), but unlike Hettie, he sort of took it upon himself to make up for that fact by being super physically affectionate with basically anyone who would let him be, which is how he ended up being the one that everyone goes to when they need a hug. Chances are, whenever anyone needs a hug, Pip needs one too, anyway.

Vi and Evie both used to be more physically affectionate, and Evie is still a bit more that way than Vi is, but there was definitely a sharp decline after their parents died, and their relationship went downhill.

Lou... Lou's family would say they're physically affectionate, but hugging isn't something they really do outside of extreme circumstances. They consider tending to each other's wounds and being each other's alibi to be affectionate, if you know what I mean.

As of posting this (about 3:20am, 11/11/24) I just finished writing chapter 653, which is set to be uploaded on 10/8/26. The next chapter I have to write is the special chapter to be posted for Leo's Birthday. By the way, there was a typo in this part of the last chapter where I said 546 was to be uploaded on 29/2/26 when in actuality it was 29/6/26, so I just amended it. Also, we're at 950k words, woot!

PS: If any time I use the word 'trousers' seems odd, it's because I wanted to say 'pants' but couldn't, because that means underwear in British English. So, 'comfy pants' becomes 'comfy trousers'.