Part 28-29

"I had Joseph get me some matches of my own when he had to buy some for Father, and I have them safe and waterproof in here--- oh!"  I see his figure stumble ahead of me in the shadows, and I dart forward to him.
          "Are you okay?"
          "Yeah, I'm fi--- ow, no, my leg."
          "Did you hit it, or cut it, or--"
          "Cut it. And hit it. But I think I'm okay."
          I give him an arm, and he stands up.  The shadows are deepening, but I only see him wince a little, so I don't worry.  Much.  "You didn't scrape it on a nail or anything, did you?"  Not that I'd know what to do about that, given that tetanus shots probably won't exist for awhile yet.
          "No, I just ran into the brick edge there.  I'll be all right.  Here, come inside, let me show you!"
          And now he's back bouncing around cheerily, so I duck my head and follow him into the dark space.  A moment later, there's a flare of light and a smell of sulpher, then a candle is lit in a tarnished old holder.  Everything looks a little eerie, caught between dark shadows and the flickering flame light, and again I'm reminded of the night of the fire.
          "This is where I keep all of my curiousities," he begins, dropping his voice to add to the sense of mystery and intrigue.  "My secret treasures, and strange things that would frighten the ladies of the house.  But, tell me if you get too frightened, and I'll stop the tour for you."
          I grin, gesturing him to lead on.  "Let's see how brave I am today."
          "First is the natural history section."  He starts us off walking along the wall to the left of the door.  The interior space is only about five feet square, and the roof of planks and branches is low enough that I can't stand upright.  But he's either brought in old bookshelves or made them himself from extra wood (it's hard to tell in the faint light), which run around the perimeter, almost every inch covered with some little object or another.  He holds the candle close to each item in turn, moving it slowly along the length of the shelf so I can see what he's displayed.  A jar with some sticks and leaves (and presumably bugs of some sort) inside, a few large pinecones, some water-smoothed stones, a large conch shell, the bleached skull of some small animal I won't try to identify.
          "Did you find all of these around here?"
          "Mostly!  A few things were presents - Father brought me the conch shell from one of his trips, though he never did tell me which ocean it came from."
          So secretive even with his own children...
          "Here is my apothecary, so if you need medicine for anything, I can give you something.  This bottle is for stomach aches, this one is for tooth aches..."  He points in turn to half a dozen bottles of different sizes and shapes, each with a fading label covered in the elaborate typography of the day.  To my relief, I see that they're all empty - I'd hate to think what kind of horrific ingredients might have been in them originally.  I shudder involuntarily, remembering the bottle I found under Cora's bench, a bottle that wouldn't have been hidden if it had been empty.  So many sad stories around this place, can't I even spend a few minutes with this charming little boy without it being tainted by some darker thing?  (Maybe not so little, now that I've been paying closer attention, I'm thinking he's closer to eleven or twelve.  He's short for his age, but his speech and bearing indicate otherwise.)  And then I realize I'm not the only one thinking darker thoughts:
          "...wish I had something to help Cal though."
          "Your brother, Calvin?"
          He nods - I can see his silhouette against the glow of the candle, but can't see his face clearly enough to make out his expression.  Though his voice makes his depression evident enough.  "He's sick so often, and he's so very small - just a baby. When he coughs, it shakes his whole body, and I don't... I don't know if he's strong enough to fight being so sick all the time."
          Oh you poor child... You've spent all your life trying to protect yourself and your sister, and now you have a little brother too, and you know you should protect him too but what can you do?  "I know... there are some things no medicine can help," I say softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.  "But you can still love him, and encourage him.  It's his spirit that you can always help, even if there's not much you can do to help his body."
          "But he's so little... will he even know what I'm saying?"
          "He will.  Babies can't answer very well, but they can tell when someone loves them and wants to protect them.  And he won't always be a baby.  He'll be looking up to his older brother, to learn how to talk and how to act.  So just be yourself and spend time with him when you can.  He'll understand, and be happier for it."
          "Yeah... I guess you're right."  He sniffles a bit, and wipes his arm across his face.  All I want to do is wrap him into a hug, but I can see that he's trying valiantly to bear up and "be a man", and what he wants right now is the strength to bear up.
          "So.  What else is here in your room of curiosities?"