Chapter One, Episode 96 - Stepping Out - Situationally Theirs

Review, Revision, Edit and Update

This morning, there were a couple of typos to fix, and similar to yesterday's Review I had to read carefully to identify problem areas. It seems my biggest problem is scene setting. Not giving dialogue enough strong enough 'legs' to stand on. Because this Episode followed fairly closely the previous Episode, I felt it required some word crafting. For example when Martha talks about it 'being personal', I felt her place when she said those words needed to be identified. For the most part, this Episode was quite enjoyable to work with.

Stepping Out

James Edward Digby and Martha Haverstock, the Butler and the Housekeeper for the Beaufort Estate, were to be married. The date had been set, invitations were in the mail but they had hit a bump in the road. In trying to move their households, sorting out lifetimes of belongings, they found they were not as compatible as they thought they were. They needed a walk outside in the fresh air. The sun wouldn’t be gone until about nine so, their supper done, dishes and food put away, James put his sweater on, Martha her light gardening jacket and they set out for a walk. In the house, they had dissolved the tension around their conflicts about what should go and what should stay. As Martha had said, before they really started to talk, this felt personal. After they muddled through it all and eaten their pie, they just sat  and looked at each other. “So, Martha, what are we going to do? I don’t want to go running to Giles with this latest bit of confusion I’m in the middle of, but that seems to be what I should do.”

Martha agreed in her own way.“And I don’t want to run to Elizabeth. She’s heard enough of my woes over the years - many, many years. I know they would both be kind and listen, but I don’t think kindness or listening will solve this problem completely.” 

Hand in hand they set out on their way to their cottage. “Giles gave me some advice about a concern I had and my perspective on it. He said my concern was not a problem but an issue……” James laughed, “…….or was it the other way around? Whatever it was, he said I only saw something that needed fixing. Today, that’s what I was trying to do. Fix things, get everything lined up and organized. He suggested that I should ‘go with my feelings’. I thought it an odd thing for Giles to say. He had never put much stock in feelings in the past. Each step today, I’ve been brought up short by these……feelings. It’s even hard for me to say the word.” 

Martha, listening to this good man, smiled. “Oh, heavens James. They are just feelings. Just give them their due, give them a think and get on with it. Just don’t worry yourself to death. We’re getting far too serious and it’s a lovely evening. Here, let me show you something.” Martha stopped suddenly, taking James by surprise. She was scrambling through all of her pockets. “I know I brought it with me. I’ll go through my pockets again." Martha always had pockets - pockets in her sweaters and aprons, pockets in slacks and jackets - and she was always losing something, forgetting which pocket she had squirrelled away one of her prizes. “Oh here it is. James, look at this.” Martha held up a tiny silver thimble. James squinted. “What’s that on the top and around the centre?” “It’s porcelain with beautiful tiny roses painted on the porcelain. Look - do you see them? My grandmother gave it to me when I was eight years old. It fit on my middle finger then. Now even my little finger is too big.”

“Why has this stopped our lovely walk, my dear? This little memory that seems so precious to you?” James was trying to be sensitive but really was almost amused. Everything seemed to be settling down, the wrinkles had been smoothed and now this. This thimble. How was he to respond? He’d shown a sincere interest in a great many things Mrs. Beaufort’s guests had shown him. Little trinkets, new bracelets, a new pipe but now he was not the butler and didn't know what to say. Martha had noticed his discomfort. “James, look at your face! Trying to sort out why I showed you my thimble, aren't you? I’m taking it to the cottage and it will be the first thing I contribute to our home. It has family history to it, sewing for Joanie’s children is my pleasure, and a thimble to me is a symbol of taking care of my family. That’s all just a lot of silly nonsense, but it makes me smile.” Martha put the little silver thimble in a zippered pocket inside her jacket, patted it and said to James “Now let’s stop at your house and get just one thing - something small  - that you want for our home.” They had not taken even two steps when it was James turn to stop. He looked into the sunset, looked up at the sky, whispered. ‘No, that’s far too large’ then clasped hands with Martha and they set out towards James home. “What did you think of James? You’ve got something haven’t you?”  

“Wait til I get it.” James disappeared inside his house, leaving Martha on his front porch. He didn’t even invite her to follow him. So she poked around his little flower bed for a few minutes. “Martha here. Look what I have.” 

“Why, James it’s just a very large head of garlic? You can’t put garlic in our home no matter what kind of protection it will give us.” Martha looked more closely at what James was holding so proudly. “It’s not real garlic, Martha, I keep that in the cupboard. It was a kitchen timer. Ordinarily, if something doesn't work, I dispose of it. This timer doesn’t work anymore and I have kept it because it always reminds me to taste the food I am preparing and to be aware of my timing. Not too much spice, not too little. My timing must be just right for each dish.” James stopped speaking, stood straighter and looked at Martha quizzically ….. “Is this how I deal with these sticky feeling things? Taste them?…..Martha,  let’s get on to the cottage with our treasures and stop trying to figure everything out. What do we keep from our homes? The short answer is - family treasures, and you like to sew and I like to cook.”

James Edward Digby and Martha Haverstock, laughing, hugged each other. Holding hands, they set out briskly to take their treasures to their new home. Samuel, from his vantage at the garden, had watched the sunset scene play out on the path to the cottage. 

“People need symbols, something greater than their own lives.”

~ Robert Ferrigno,  Heart of the Assassin