Mable leaned into the hand on her shoulder, scrubbing her face so she could look at Nettie and her drawings properly.  It was embarrassing that she was crying like this in front of two near strangers, but she couldn't stop.

She hoped Francis didn't think she was a cry baby or something.

"I just miss him," she hiccupped.  "It's been forever since I've seen him, and I wanted to see him, and now I'm worried about him."

It wasn't a problem Nettie could solve, no matter how much they both wanted it to be.  "But I guess now - my problem is this book.  I broke it -" her voice cracked with emotion.  Mable gasped, trying to catch her breath and calm herself.  It was still very difficult.  "Can we really fix a book?  I wanna do that if we can."

Nettie was very understanding to her problem. She stared down as she finished putting the pages in order and handed the last ones over. "I understand. I miss him too, and I never stop worrying." Especially lately. "This is something he wanted to do. But when he comes back, I will make sure he comes and sees you immediately. Alright?" She said to her.

She looked at the old and worn Bible. "I believe so. It might not be the exact same but we will have all of the pages in the cover once more. It'll just take some spare paper, glue, and thread. If you don't mind me helping?"

Francis watched the entire thing from the doorway looking very annoyed. How could anyone miss that bastard? He huffed and ignored the tears as he leaned down to pick up a page that had managed to ride the air close to him. "You missed one." He said and leaned as far as he could to give it to the girl without having to get too close.

"I'm not totally useless , eh?"

Mable gave a small nod at Nettie's words, though they didn't do much to comfort her.  Who knew if Father was ever going to come back?  She couldn't even remember the last thing she'd said to him.  Did he remember?  What if he forgot about her completely?

Francis brought her out of her spiral, and Mable took the paper he was holding.  It was a picture of her and Edmund and a boat.  She waved her hand, "you can keep that one.  I don't really like it that much and - see this person here?  That's Edmund, so you should keep it so you can remember what he looks like while we're gone."

Francis looked from the paper then back at her. She was too young so she wouldn't understand, but he knew far better. "I was trying to be nice. But fine, leave it on the floor." He dropped the paper and huffed. He knew he'd already been forgotten. The man turned and left the room while saying in a singsong voice. "I hope you both get caught and in trouble. You'll never be allowed here agaaaiiin.." he said as he left, whether or not he thought it was true.

Nettie wanted to cheer up the girl, but cast a dirty look at the man for his words. She didn't know who he was, but it seemed there was some history between the two and someone else. Malachi did mention a brother named Edmund. It seemed there was something difficult going on, she wasn't about to stick her nose into this business though.

"Come on. Let me help you fix this book. I can get you some lunch if you like? You've been eating alright haven't you?" She said looking at the girl in worry. "I know you miss him, but I promise. I can not contact him, and until I do I am just as lost as you are. I have almost always known how to find him before. This has been very troubling but my only choice is to hope he comes back. He is .. ' She wanted to say stronger than he seems. But she saw his body and the scars. What was going on in his mind? Was he haunted by something so unspeakable? "He has a lot of trouble, but he's made it this far."

Mable frowned at Francis' rudeness, immediately regretting trying to be nice to him.  He really was just a stinky jerk.  Nettie was very kind, though, even though Mable had been a stinky jerk to her, which meant that she was a really kind person at heart.  Mable much preferred her to Francis.

The girl picked up the paper Francis left and listened quietly to Nettie.  "I think all that just makes me more worried.  But if you think he's okay despite all that, I'll believe you.  I guess... I guess you know him better than I do."

She sighed sadly, wiping more tears from her face as she held the cover of her bible, filled with loose papers.  "I definitely need help fixing this.  But I'm not really hungry.  Can we go somewhere else?  Being here makes me sad."

Nettie nodded as she slowly rose to her feet. She barely had spent a glance at the strange man who was cruel to the girl. After offering her a hand to help her stand. "How about we go to the market and get some supplies for fixing this book? It'll get our minds off sad things."

She hoped she could help the girl. If her brother wasn't around and she really wanted to see Malachi, she must feel so alone and abandoned. Nettie could relate. "And even if I am unsure of how he's doing, i have to remember that my uncle is older than I am. I know I would be ok in London, because I'm careful. And I trust him to be the same.' That was a lie. She knew he'd been up to something. She feared what could happen. But she had no choice, but she also couldn't tell anything like that to the girl. It would make her worry. Nettie had decided that all she could do was hope her uncle's self destructive behavior wasn't as bad as it looked. As much as he'd hurt her recently, she didn't want him dead.

Mable stood after Nettie, already looking a little brighter at the mention of going to the market.  She loved the market!  Already, it was working its wonders, taking her mind off of her worry.

"Okay, okay!  The market sounds like fun!"

She wiped the last of her tears away and was off, backtracking through the church and outside again where Nettie had first approached her.

Nettie looked more relaxed as the girl cheered up a little. They began to walk to the market. "Is there anything else you'd like to look at while we're here? I have a little allowance I can use if you need anything." It was her new task to take care of the girl. "You know, I have lately started working doing some sewing work. Do you know how to do anything like that?" She asked just for conversation as they headed to the market. "It's very relaxing."