[september 4]

[letitbetrue]

It's likely there are those who would find the habit strange, but Demelza has discovered a certain peace in visiting the cemetery on particularly quiet days.

She'd first come out here months ago while exploring, having found the place purely by chance, and now she comes to visit once or twice a month, usually bringing flowers along with her. There are so many graves here, so many more than she's ever seen before in her life, and there are far too many of them without flowers. It makes her wonder who mourns for these people, if perhaps they had no one in their life or if their own family and friends are long dead and gone as well. There are times when she creates stories for them all, imagining them as people other than who they might have been, but for the most part she just leaves them flowers and then walks on.

It's a fair distance from home, even from the city proper, but she's never had cause to worry about it before today. The cemetery grounds stretch far and wide, but she enjoys the walk, and it's as she's headed toward one particularly lovely monument near the back that she feels a painful sort of tugging down near the tops of her thighs. She pauses for a moment, then continues on, seeing no reason not to keep walking. The pain comes again a few moments later and Demelza stops again, one hand atop a gravestone.

She wishes suddenly she'd brought Garrick with her, if only to have someone to speak with.

Once she feels well enough to continue, she makes her way to the stone angel, lays a few bluebells at its feet, then gives it a gentle pat and turns to go back the way she's come, which is when the worst of the pain rips through her. It's the worst sort of cramping she's ever felt, worse even than when Julia had been born, and she cries out, clutching at the angel's foot in an attempt to keep herself upright.

It's a long walk back to the entrance of the cemetery, longer still to get back into the city and she is suddenly deeply afraid.

"Judas," she curses, then sucks in a few deep breaths and remembers her portable telephone. For the most part Demelza doesn't use it, but she fumbles it out of her dress pocket now, using the button and the screen as Abby had taught her, then pressing the button that will call Ross.

"Oh, Ross, please pick up," she begs softly as the telephone rings. "Please, please pick- Judas God!" she curses again as another contraction tears through her.

Comments

[herhumbleservant]

Ross doesn't carry his mobile with him while he's at work at the stables. It hardly seems practical, carrying such a distraction in his back pocket when he's meant to be focused on his pupils. Learning to ride a horse, while like second nature to him, is not an easy task for all and so, Ross has never taken issue with setting aside personal matters during lessons.

In between, he does admittedly check for messages, just to make sure nothing seems out of the ordinary. Sometimes, Abby sends pictures of Julia looking particularly sweet, and it does serve to warm him for the rest of the day until he gets to see his daughter again but today, there's nothing of the sort quite yet. It's still early, there may be something to look forward to later, but just as he shifts to tuck the phone back in his coat pocket, it begins to ring.

For a moment, he merely stares at the name identifying the caller, finding it odd that Demelza is ringing him when she so rarely does. Most times, they do well enough waiting to catch each other up on their days for when they get home and besides that, Demelza knows he's at work and doesn't regularly carry the phone with him. His chest tightens with a bit of panic, hoping he's overreacting and that this isn't urgent at all, and he manages to keep any sign of worry out of his tone when he answers.

"Demelza?" he asks in lieu of greeting, eyes widening when he hears her cursing on the other end. The baby, he thinks immediately, and Ross hates that past experience has instilled a sense of fear in him. "Demelza, what is it? What's happened?"