Walking a Fine Line: Day 2

Word Count: 12,062

Summary of Events:

Having questioned Theresa thoroughly about the butcher's assistant and gotten little more than his name, Joseph decides to question neighbours whom he knows go to the same butcher for information on the butcher's assistant, but even the butcher himself doesn't have near as much information as Joseph was hoping for — and the assistant's work schedule is the same as his, so he's unable to meet the assistant at the butcher shop when he stops by on his day off. Feeling quite stressed about the matter, Joseph isn't altogether appreciative when — at his oldest sister's house for lunch on Sunday — the youngest of his older sisters notices his distress and takes him aside to talk about it…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I fail to see what’s problematic about that, Joseph,” Ruth said. “Every girl falls in love eventually.”

“But I don’t know who he is,” Joseph replied. “That’s the problem.”

“You know his name,” Ruth said.

“But I’ve never met the man,” Joseph said.

“Well, if she’s sweet on him–”

“He’s also sweet on her,” Joseph interrupted. “I learned that much from Mr. Fannon when I questioned him last Saturday.”

“Surely this is a recent development if I only just learned of it,” Ruth said.

“I think it is, but I don’t know,” Joseph replied. “And I don’t like that I don’t know.”

“I’m sure they would make a fine match,” Ruth said.

“But I’m not,” Joseph argued.

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t want to like Mr. Varley if you met him,” Ruth said.

“What do you mean?” Joseph demanded.

“You’re going to have to let Theresa go someday, Joseph,” Ruth said, grasping his hand gently. “And it may well be sooner than you’re ready for it to be.”

Joseph looked at Ruth uneasily. She’d always been a perceptive one, and he didn’t like the fact that she’d made such an incisive probe.

“Besides, if you hold her back, things are likely to turn out akin to Brighid.” Ruth added.

“Brighid isn’t my fault!” Joseph snapped defensively.

“I’m not saying it is, Joseph,” Ruth said tenderly, putting her free hand on his other forearm. “But if Theresa were to become the same sort of person, it would be.”

“I… who says that I’ll hold her back once I meet this Varley?” Joseph demanded. “I just… I feel like they’re getting married tomorrow.”

“Why?” Ruth asked, withdrawing her hands from him.

“I don’t know,” Joseph admitted. “Everybody just goes on and on about how great this Varley is, which must mean he exists, but… I can’t find him, and I haven’t met him, and…”

“Theresa’s your dearest sister, so you don’t want to let her go unless you know where she’s going,” Ruth finished.

“Exactly,” Joseph replied. “And I don’t like that nobody seems to know where he’s from, where he lives, or anything like that. It’s suspicious.”

“Not even Mr. Fannon?” Ruth asked.

Joseph shook his head.

“Hm,” Ruth said. “That is somewhat unusual, I think.”

“I think I could maybe like him if I could meet him,” Joseph said. “But if he’s going to remain elusive like this, then I don’t care how much she likes him, she’ll have to find someone else who is more like a human and less like a ghost.”

“Well, there is still time yet,” Ruth said reassuringly.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Joseph replied.

Ruth put a gentle hand on Joseph’s upper arm. He knew she was trying to comfort him, but it was frustrating to him that people he knew weren’t given to hallucinations had seen Mr. Varley, but he hadn’t. It was making him question whether Mr. Varley was a real person at all, even though he knew he had to be.