The suggestion of the bakery and the memory of strawberry tarts, along with the florist and lots of pretty colorful flower and flower crowns was oh so tempting for the young girl, but after a moment, she shook her head.  "I'm satisfied with all of this.  Just the things to fix my book and then no more, please."

Nettie wondered if she'd done too much. She smiled weakly and nodded. "Alright, we can do that." She went towards the shop. She carefully carried the purchases thus far.

"At least it's a beautiful day. Had it been raining, I'm not sure it would have been good to go out. I hope our luck keeps improving. Maybe that means Father Brennan will be home soon. Right?" She didn't expect an answer but she was trying to remain cheerful and friendly.

Mable's head tilted back to allow the sun to touch all over her face, being reminded of how much she enjoyed the feeling of it as Nettie spoke.  "The rain is nice too, but you're right that it's not the best for shopping.  Or for travelling, which means as long as the weather remains so clear, I'm sure Father will be back in no time!"

Her words sounded bright and positive, but beneath them was a seed of doubt and nervousness that remained.  She still couldn't quite believe that Father Brennan was okay until she saw him herself.  For some reason, she kept imagining him buried in a makeshift grave on a farm across the ocean, like her dad.

Nettie tried to be encouraging. "When he is ready to come home, even the rain won't stop him, don't worry." She still had no clue about anything regarding him at the moment, but she was going to attempt to be positive. She opened the door to the shop to let the girl in. 'You know, if you want supplies to practice your letters, we can get that here too.' It was just a suggestion. While the woman looked for what she felt she needed, she'd let the girl shop. "We can use thread I have for sewing to rebind the book... I think." She said a bit uncertainly.

Mable tried to take Nettie's words to heart.  She was probably right, after all - Father Brennan was big and strong, and he could do anything he set his mind to.  If he wanted to come back to Whitby, then he would.

But also... if he never wanted to, he would do that too.

Thankfully, Mable was pulled from her spiraling thoughts by the new store she stepped into with Nettie.  This one smelled just like old houses, but in a pleasant way Mable liked a lot.

"My letters are very good already," she said idly, "but more practice couldn't hurt I suppose.  You know who really needs practice, Miss Nettie?  That boy, Edmund.  He can hardly read or write, isn't that shameful?  Also, do you think we can rebind my book with the pink thread?  It would make it a lot prettier, but I don't want to make God mad..."

Nettie looked to the girl and smiled. "That is indeed most shameful! Perhaps if I ever met him, I will help him with his reading and letters. It is never too late to change, you know."

As she looked at supplies, she nodded then blinked realizing what Mable had said. 'Why would he mind? If you make the bible pretty to your eyes, I think it is all the better. You will appreciate it more and him." Of course, if he cared, he'd be angrier at the drawings all over his writings. She was glad she didn't truly feel convinced if he existed, that he cared about what people did over all.

Perhaps Nettie was right, both in that it was never too late for someone to change and also that a prettier Bible was instantly better than the rest.  Of course, though, if Father Brennan were around, Mable would ask him just to make sure - but then, maybe she wouldn’t, since there’s a possibility he’d be mad seeing all of her drawings on the paper.

“Maybe you’re right,” Mable agreed eventually.  “Can we bind it with the link thread, then?  And - oh, I could make a new cover for it too, with a little picture.  The regular cover is so bland!  A picture would make it much nicer, like handkerchiefs!  Miss Nettie, we are geniuses.”

There was a good chance her brother would disapprove of her condoning the girl decorating the bible, but by now it was more of a picture book. "Yes, we definitely can bind it with the pink thread. And I can see if I can find some scraps of leather that will look nice. We can stitch it onto the old cover and decorate it however you like. A little fabric and embroidery and it will be like no other book in the world." She said with most confidence and smiled at the girl. "I can't wait to see it."

“It’ll be the most gorgeous book in history,” Mable declared, “because the both of us decorated on it! Ladies are so much better at that kind of thing than boys. Come on!”

With one hand holding onto Nettie’s and the other holding the papers of her Bible, she was off to the nearest store that looked like it would have book binding materials for sale within.

"That's very true. It'll be so beautiful, I know you'll make it perfect. " She was quite excited to assist the girl in her book repair. She followed her to the shop to get their supplies.

"Ah. You know why don't we get things to make an extra book? One just for your drawings. You can make so much more art. Or are you happy with just this one book?" She asked as she eyed the numerous supplies.