Chapter 1802: Chapter 1802
"Girls, I need you to help collect some rainwater."
The adults were all busy fighting the fire, and the reinforcements from the church who had just arrived couldn't spare many people for the courtyard. They were braving the rain, setting up a perimeter to prevent anything from escaping. Clearly, the Church of Death and End already knew what Jenkins was up against.
That left only the young girls to collect the rainwater. Though they had no proper containers, they managed to gather a small amount by resting their leaky baskets on their laps, letting the fabric of their skirts catch the drops.
Most of them knew Fini, of course, and they knew exactly who had just braved the inferno to save them. Crucially, Jenkins had also promised to make up for their losses today, so the girls didn't object to the inconvenient request.
At that moment, those on the upper floor saw Jenkins lift Melinda Priest into his arms and carry her to the gaping hole in the building's wall.
The sky had already started to darken. In the gloomy twilight mist, the blazing building stood out like a massive torch.
Jenkins stood at the breach in the third-floor wall, his back to the inferno. The brilliant light from the flames behind him cast both him and the girl in his arms into stark silhouette.
Against this dramatic backdrop, he leaped from the building, descending through the rain to the ground below. He bent his knees as he landed, absorbing the shock of the fall.
The girls, who had kept their distance from the burning structure, immediately hurried forward with their baskets. Jenkins, in turn, silently took a few steps to meet them in the downpour.
To Captain Rogues, waiting off to the side, the scene was strangely familiar: Jenkins, encircled by the flower girls, stooping to lay Melinda down as dozens of hands offered up the water they had gathered.
The encroaching darkness, combined with the silhouette of the burning building behind them, brought to his mind the deeply religious oil paintings that hung in the church. And the subjects of those paintings...
"What am I thinking?"
Startled, he snapped back to reality, astonished by the direction of his thoughts. He gave his head a hard shake, trying to clear his mind in the rain, before stepping forward to ask if Jenkins was all right. At this point, it was hard to say which would be worse: the fallout if something happened to the man before him, or the catastrophe if the Cursed Item broke loose.
The arrival of the Church of Death and End signaled that Jenkins's role here was over. He wasn't looking for recognition or a chance to be part of the action; he had no interest in meddling any further in this affair.
Thus, after learning the name and designation of the Cursed Item from the Gravekeeper squad sent as reinforcements—A-05-3-7411, the [Poison of Bloodline]—he washed his hands of the entire affair.
He gathered the girls, who stood waiting miserably in the rain for their promised payment, and led them over to the carriage where he found his cat and the bags of food.
Chocolate was still sheltering from the rain beneath an impossibly large tulip, its chin resting on the edge of the carriage shaft as it watched the burning building. Only when Jenkins approached did it slowly rise to its feet, fixing him with an expression of profound, heart-wrenching pity.
Jenkins knew this was just one of the cat's ploys. It was a master of feigning misery to win sympathy. In fact, that very morning, when Miss Stevel had helped Jenkins turn back into a human from a mouse, Chocolate had worn the exact same pathetic expression.
Still, he couldn't help himself. He scooped the cat up, tucked it into his pocket, and then called to the girls, handing each of them a paper bag. A Gravekeeper guided them all to a nearby stable, a dry refuge from the rain and untouched by the fire.
"There's food and some change in the bags. I'm sorry about what happened today, but everything is fine now."
"Then sir, when can we leave?"
One of the girls asked, clutching her basket and paper bag tightly to her chest. Most of them were shivering, soaked to the bone. Although the fire had been brought under control and the rain had ceased—at Jenkins's command—the temperature was not about to rise anytime soon.
"We have to wait a little longer,"
he explained apologetically.
The flower girls hadn't actually witnessed anything supernatural. Seeing the Cursed Item would have surely driven them mad. And back on the third floor, neither Jenkins nor Captain Rogues had used any overt powers, aside from tossing a few explosive charms. Any strangeness the girls might have seen could easily be dismissed as hallucinations brought on by fear and the chaos of the fire. Besides, people rarely take the word of a child seriously. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel★fire.net
The flower girls would only need a final check from the church to ensure they weren't carrying any suspicious items from the scene. After that, and a stern warning not to speak of what happened, they would be free to go.
This was all a matter of procedure, and procedures took time.
Jenkins knew the girls were anxious to go home, so he promised to wait with them and see them off personally. He also had a word with one of the Gravekeepers, who helped him find a clean, safe spot and procure a fresh change of clothes for each girl so they wouldn't catch a cold from their drenching.
All this commotion took some time, and by the time he was leading the girls away, the streetlights were already glowing. It was half-past seven in the evening. Everyone looked exhausted, but thankfully, they were all physically unharmed.
It was clear that while the girls remained a little wary of Jenkins, a seed of trust had been planted. Life's hardships had taught them all too early about the wickedness of the world, but their innate goodness allowed them to recognize that true kindness also existed.
Jenkins couldn't escort every girl home, but most of them lived near one another and could travel together for safety. Before they parted, he renewed a previous offer, this time as a firm promise: each of them would be guaranteed an allotment of tulips to sell every morning.
"If your friends also want to get involved in the tulip business, give me their names and addresses, and I can let them join too."
That statement earned him a great deal more trust. The instinctive wariness they held for a stranger had been washed away by his heroic actions that day, and the divine domain of the [Protector of Flower Girls] was slowly starting to manifest its power.
The girls accepted his generous offer, promising to stick together and support one another as they accepted his help. Though for now they operated under the guise of being "Fini's friends," they all knew who truly deserved their gratitude.
He also gave them his address, promising to visit when he had the time. The flower girls were scattered across the city, but he knew he could find these girls, buffeted by fate, if he just rose early enough: by the doors of the flower market, in the yards of the carriage depots, or at the crossroads on the edge of town.
Jenkins promised he would help them.