Chapter Text
Chapter 2
“How much longer? I'm literally dying over here!” Millicent Thrush flopped over a gravestone, her blonde hair flailing in the brisk fall winds. Both of the Ymbrynes had set up camp in the dark night, hoping they could catch whoever was grave robbing before the public did.
“You will not die from missing supper one night.” Ellie kept her nose down in her journal as she scribbled line after line. Ink stains blotted her left hand, the writing smeared just a bit as she finally put her pen down.
“Who says!?” Millie whined, playing with her fingers. Why did they always get stuck doing night duties when the Thrush didn't have time to even pack a lunch that day? Now she had to miss supper as well? “This is unfair!” she grumbled, taking Ellie's pen and flinging it around in her hands.
“Every single person who has ever suffered in famine. Talk to Miss Gannet some time, she will enlighten you ""Miss Nightjar pulled her own scarf tighter. She hated to admit it, but even she was starting to become peckish. It had been hours of waiting for both of them, and for her, hours of listening to Millie whine.
“Have you ever in your life just let someone be dramatic?” Millie poked Ellie’s cheek. Eleanor shook her head very minimally, still trying to keep a migraine at bay. “My, you truly do you have the greyest eyes” the Thrush finally jumped topics as she watched Ellie’s pupils pinpoint as she glanced up towards the lantern she had brought.
“What?”
“Your eyes, they are like river stones. Maybe that's why your last name was Silverstone!” Millie tacked on, taking a seat on the backside on the gravestone with Ellie instead of leaning over it.
“That's not particularly how that works, but I do enjoy that you made a connection like that.” The Nightjar looked around “quite intuitive”
Miss Thrush nodded, seemingly appeased for the moment as she shut her eyes, letting the pen rest in her hands and she finally relaxed. Even in the bitter October breezes, the cold cement of the headstone felt wonderful. “This would've been great for when I threw out my back last month ” Millie mumbled with a yawn. Within a few minutes, her body started to slouch over, her head finding Ellie’s shoulder. “You're so nice and warm” Millie mumbled, bringing her legs up. “This kid’s really gonna wait us out, huh?”
“I'm not that warm, I think you're just freezing, you don't normally go out too often in weather like this” Ellie commented, taking off her scarf and placing it around Millie then ticking it into the woman's trenchcoat. “You honestly shouldn't be out here with your asthma, but I guess it can't be helped”
“Oh I'm sure I'll be fine! I usually always am!” Millie mumbled, her eyes starting to flutter shut ever so often. How did Ellie work during the day and in the dark nights without resting at all? “You should be tired by now, shouldn't you?” She mumbled, becoming increasingly drowsy, but yet Miss Nightjar remained still, alert and ever watching. “Maybe that's why they allowed her to do hard cases?” Millie wondered as she shut her eyes.
“I don't really find myself getting tired” Ellie closed her small journal, placing it back in her pocket. but you should try to get some-”
A sudden clatter of metal broke the two ladies out of their conversation. Miss Thrush’s brown eyes shot open as Miss Nightjar's gloved hands flew around Miss Thrush in a vain attempt to pull her more behind her like a mother would her child. ”shh- shh that sounded like a shovel…..I think they are here” she scanned the area, her eyes having to adjust in the lanternless cemetery.
“Really I wouldn't have guessed!” Millie rolled her eyes, “do you take me a fool-”
“Shush!”
“You're so mean!” Millie hissed as she reached over and waved her hand hard enough to blow out the lantern. Ellie was incredibly grateful, her eyes soon locking into a rather skinny figure in the distance, a long tool protruding off the shoulder.
“Can't be older than 12….” Ellie murmured, watching the figure take the object off his shoulder and smash it with great force into the dirt of the new grave Ellie had taken the time to prepare when they first arrived. Only a piece of ply wood lay on top of it to hold some fresh dirt, and a single step would send the person plummeting down into the grave onto a pile of old leaves and coats Millie had tossed down inside
“To pad the fall” the husky voice of Millie rang in her ears from earlier. Even for as much slack as the Nightjar gave her partner for being too air-headed, Miss Thrush still put such a level of thought into the small details that Ellie wouldn't consider in such a tense situation when she needed to be upfront and ready for disaster.
“I still can't see them,” Miss Thrush whispered, snapping Ellie back to the present. “Is he coming this way?” she stood up, Ellie following suit.
“No, they are still digging.” Ellie answered, but a loud crash and high pitched shriek echoed across the grave markers.
“It worked! They fell in!” Millie hopped up jovially, “come on let's go!” She grabbed Miss Nightjar's arm and the still dead lantern nearly pulling the woman off her feet as she started to dash towards the scene where she heard the screech from.
“Slow down, I'm going to fall!” Ellie struggled to keep her footing. She was never one to run that often but with her few wards occasionally for tag, but not as much as Millie who loved to run every morning she was able.
“You'll be fine!” Millie felt something catch her foot. Within seconds she was on the ground, her knees taking the brunt of her weight as Eleanor tripped over her, ending up doing a somersault into the fresh dirt they both took turns digging hours previous.
“Ah!” The Thrush grabbed at her leg as she moved onto her butt. What did she trip over? “Ellie you good? Sorry I tripped over.....this shovel!” Millie held up the offending tool towards her partner.
“See if whoever fell is okay!” Ellie instructed through a muffled hand on her mouth, entirely brushing over Millie's question as the wind started to pick up. “The drop was a bit deeper and if the person was as small as I think they were, it could have injured them!”
Millie quickly followed her partners instructions, the lantern flickering to life and illuminating the freshly erected headstone and now exposed plank of wood they were disturbed
“Hey who's down there!” Millie called chipperly, yanking one of the boards back. A tall man was struggling to stand up at the bottom, cursing profusely as he glared up at them from the darkness of the grave. “oh …. you're not who I expected…” Millie turned to Ellie. “It's a man!” she reported. Ellie came over, wiping her nose multiple times.
“This….. he's a lot taller than I thought. When I saw him he looked so much smaller-” Ellie inquired as the man finally looked up at them, grabbing the dirt around the grave to pull himself out.
“what the-who are you!? Did you set this up!?” the man shouted as he hoisted himself out of the grave. “You both know it's a crime to tamper with a grave right!?” The man crawled out, his face controlling in pain as he tried to stand up. Both Ymbrynes watched him, looking at each other in confusion. Was this really the peculiar cleaning the bones of the dead and biting people?
“First I got someone destroying the bodies in the graves, and now I have two teenagers trying to kill me in my own cemetery!” He grabbed Miss Nightjar's wrist, then moved for the other woman “your both going to answer to the police-” a sudden punch to the face silenced the man, toppling him over like a sack of potatoes.
“MILLIE ANDREA!”
“He clearly is not the peculiar doing this. And if he is, oh look” she grabbed his now limp wrist form the ground “He will be easier to drag into the council! Yay!” Millie shrugged as the man laid still. His clothing was rather grimy, but still well maintained. A now crinkled piece of paper in his pocket shone in the lantern light. Millie swiped it up, unfolding it and holding it 2 inches from her face to read.
“Mrs Debra Quintinshire, section B plot 32, needs preparation complete by Saturday, October 12th, funeral Sunday, the 13th” Millie read off, her face paling.
“We just beat up a grave digger…..”Millie Thrush covered her mouth. As horrible as it seemed, the scene before her was still quite humorous. “I can't believe we just punched a grave digger!” she started to giggle, much to Miss Nightjar's annoyance “oh my goodness!”
“Stop laughing, this is serious! Ellie huffed “And YOU just punched the elderly grave digger.” Ellie grumbled as she yanked a brown feather off of her locket “we can wipe his memory, but I'll need to drag him to a hospital. Lets just call it for the night, we can reconvene tomorrow” Miss Nightjar pinched the bridge of her nose that had finally stopped bleeding. How much scrubbing would that take to get out of her day dress? She wiped her nose again with her soaked handkerchief. “At least Millie didn't notice” she thought, taking a deep breath. Her breath fogged in front of her as she turned to listen to Millie.
“He's not elderly…..he's like…..45 at best! And I mean….he's actually kinda cute actually” She tacked on, but continued quickly upon seeing her partner's annoyed expression “And I'm sorry El. I really thought well…..he was who we were looking for, and then he put his hands on you, and-” Millie relayed as she hoisted the thankfully rather light man onto her shoulder, Ellie taking the other side.
“Just please next time wait for me to instruct you. You could have very well gotten us into a more dire situation” Miss Nightjar said as moved a lock of her brown hair that had splayed from her bun back out of her eyes. “Tommorrow, maybe we can-” Ellie was cut short as she tumbled over something, sending her crashing to the cement walkway.
“Ellie!” Millie gently dropped the man down beside a bare tree as the Nightjar covered her face, trying in vain to not scream in frustration. “What did you even trip on this time? Are you okay?” Millie crouched down, looking back where they just were. A small crumpled body lay curled up, shivering and silent with a smaller shovel laying abandoned beside them.
“I’m literally going to lose my mind!” Ellie put her head down onto her bloody knees, trying to control her anger and blood pressure as she took a few deep breaths. “Just give me a moment” Ellie squeaked, squeezing her gloved hands together as she tried to recover as Millie moved closer to the body.
“Who is this?” Millie asked, poking the head of the person and then pulling the cloak back to reveal small wisps of red curls. “Oh goodness it's a child!” She bit her lip as she grabbed the frail wrist “oh good” she sank into relief as she found a pulse. “It's a…..it's a little girl El. And she has a severed arm- oh…..” she trailed off “I think we found our culprit!” Millie gave Ellie a weak smile, the color draining from her face as she covered the served arm with one of the older coats before it made her sick. “Yay!” Millie grimaced as she moved the frail girl away from the severed arm and coat. “At least this night wasn't in vain!”