Chapter Text
Helen Herriot made her way down the staircase at Skeldale House, weary after a night of ups and downs with her newborn son, Jimmy. Reaching the tiled ground floor, she turned and entered the main hall of the house, surprised to see the waiting area was empty, despite the in-house veterinary surgery being open this morning. The doors between the hall and living room were wide open, and she could see their current resident student, Richard Carmody, already curled up with a pile of textbooks next to him, trying to digest as much more information as possible before his next foray into practical animal matters. As she pondered the particularly light workload for the lone fully qualified vet on hand, the door to the front examination room opened, and said vet entered the hallway, whistling a jaunty tune to the ball of fur and tail he held in his hands, which Mrs. Herriot recognized as Siegfried Farnon's much doted upon pet rat, Vonolel.
"That your next student, Siegfried?" she asked cheekily, her dimpled smile not quite bright enough to hide the bags under her eyes.
"You joke, Helen, but I assure you, I've come across many a so-called veterinary candidate with less intelligence than this handsome fellow."
"So he comes to surgery with you, now, then?"
"I'll have you know, that Darrowby boasts yet another Rattus norvegicus domestica aficionado, and they stopped in this morning when their own murine friend acquired a very minor injury. Having been able to fix it in short order, and having no other pressing matters at hand," he gestured to the empty waiting room, "I decided to let the little chaps engage in some rodent socialization. And it was a smashing success!", he declared with a gleeful grin, hoisting Vonolel into the air in triumph.
Helen shook her head in amusement. "Glad you're enjoying yourself, Siegfried. As for me, I'm knackered. I'm off for a cuppa. Can I make you one?"
"No, no. I had one at breakfast, and I don't wish to rush through my daily allotment, lest Mrs. Hall start trying to pass off her rations to me before the day ends. She's been making a habit of things like that and she seems to believe I don't notice." Pausing in consideration of the morning thus far, he looked pensive and added a query. "Where is Mrs. Hall? I haven't seen her passing through for some time now."
"Oh, she mentioned needing to do some shopping. Apparently our holiday leftovers are finally dwindling. Who knew a rationed Christmas could still create leftovers?" She shrugged her shoulders, then added with a wink, "Must be because Tristan weren't here."
"And because I held back some of Mrs. Pumphrey's contributions to bring home." Siegfried bragged with a mischievous crinkling of his eyes. The two shared fond smiles thinking of both the younger Farnon as well as the ever-generous Mrs. Pumphrey, then Helen gave a small wave and she started towards the back of the house, Siegfried following to return Vonolel to his cage in the office.
They'd each taken only a few steps, however, when the front door opened with a surprising slam against the adjacent wall.
"Siegfried Farnon!" Audrey Hall's voice rang out, before it even registered with her that the man she was seeking was just down the hall from her current location. Her voice filled the entry and front hall, reaching the adjacent rooms, a style of entrance more typically associated with her somewhat mercurial employer than with the typically placid housekeeper herself.