Have Hope

Chapter 7

"Life is full of challenges. In the end, it's getting up that pulls us through the dark days. So we can admire the sunset." Azelene Williams, Broken Breaking the Silence

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Chapter Seven

By the time that Kit and Edward and returned their horses to the stable, and had watered and wiped them down, the household had long retired.

Kit thought about waking his father up. Perhaps Cassian might be more responsive to the idea if he was not entirely conscious. He knew that was cowardly and decided to wait until morning.

Edward retired to the guest bedroom and Kit did the same.

Kit surprisingly slept well despite the weight on his conscience. He was awoken the next morning by the feeling of someone poking his temple. Seconds later, there was something pressing on his chest, about the weight of a six year old girl.

Kit's eyes opened to see his two younger sisters watching him, with wide, uncertain eyes. They were still wearing their night gowns, and their dark hair was fixed in rags to control their curls.

Emma had climbed atop Kit's chest, while Lucy had climbed on the bed beside him. In seeing the wariness on their face, Kit sat up, shuffling Emma gently off of him and beside Lucy.

Perhaps it was the age difference between himself and the girls, but Kit felt such a sense of duty towards them. It was his job to protect them. They depended on him, as much as they did Cassian. Lucy in particular. Her need would only grow as she ventured out into society. Kit feared the day she would fully comprehend just how cruel people could be.

"What is it, girls?" asked Kit worriedly.

"The doctor just arrived," answered Lucy.

"Mama says Papa is going to have an operation," added Emma.

Doctor Ward was early. Would this mean the scheduled operation would be earlier? Kit was not a doctor, and he had no idea of such things, but he was to understand that the procedure itself was quite simple. The risks thereafter were more worrying. Infection was deadly.

"Why does Papa need an operation?" pressed Emma, a sweet frown line forming between her brows.

Kit knew that the girls knew little of their mother's past, and even less about the circumstances surrounding their move to Derbyshire, and Cassian and Faith's marriage. They would find out eventually, but it was not Kit's story to tell.

"Because ... because he has a sore right here," Kit explained, tapping the right side of Emma's chest. "And Doctor Ward has kindly agreed to fix it for him."

A selfish thought popped into Kit's head. If Doctor Ward had arrived earlier than scheduled, and the operation would be brought forward, it meant that it would be highly the wrong time to bring up the subject of Kit abandoning the family business. Cassian would need Kit now more than ever to look after his mother and sisters whilst he was indisposed.

"It must be worse than a sore, Kit," decided Lucy. "Mama would not be so worried otherwise," she deduced.

Lucy might have only been ten, but she was very astute. This perceptiveness would only hurt her in years to come.

"Well, if Mother is so worried then you ought not to be bothering me about it. Should you not be trying to make her morning a little easier? What might she like? A tidy nursery perhaps? Off with you," he dismissed playfully.

Lucy and Emma ran from his bedroom in the direction of the nursery. Tidying would keep them occupied for an hour or two. It was never clean. Kit heard Cat's bark in the hallway as the little dog followed them.