The harsh cold air bit into her skin as she swirved through the streets to reach her home.
Her tears barely fell or at least they did she did not feel them, her cheeks were beginning to numb. Her feet rapidly carried her to the entrance of shacks that aligned the streets. Breathing heavily she stopped to catch her breath. She felt so tired and cold but she pushed forward. She walked closer to the hut and gently pushed the door that hung poorly on its hinges. The hut was engolfed in darkness and slightly warm but not enough. Immediately the familiar soft baritone voice of Jobbins came forward and stood before her. Nervously he smiled and looked down at her.
"Moppet, tis best you don't come any closer," he held her shoulder forcing her to look up at him.
She frowned confused and impatiently moved in his opposite direction trying to reach Phoebe.
"Why!, has she gotten worse? She asked. Her voice meek .
He lowered his head sadly and turned to look at  Travis.

She watched as Travis appeared with a saddened stare he looked at Jobbins and shook his head.

Jobbins kept her from moving, held her tight keeping her from seeing the body laying on the cot with a sheet covering it from head to toe. She twisted and pulled away from him and was pulled into Travis's arms as he too kept her from going any further.

They stared at one another as she tried to get past him.
" She. Is gone moppet," he whispered.
His heart ached telling her this.

Evangeline refused to believe him. She pulled away angry from his hold.
"She is not gone. She can not be." She cried hysterically.

She got past Travis and threw herself on her knees beside Phoebes cot. With trembling fingers she slowly pulled the sheet away from Phoebes face. The view of her made her gasp with a whimper and choked sob.

Travis cursed in tears turning away and storming off outside the hut not able to handle Evangelines cries.

"No...Phoebe..." She screamed.

She cried uncontrollably and it tugged at Jobbins heart and he began to sob as well. Soft arms wrapped around his waist and he pulled the familiar figure into a tight hug.

"Oh lad! She is gone, " he cried holding Tonk close. He never noticed the tall gentleman that stood in the door way until he came closer.

They stared at one another silently. But too grief stricken Jobbins slumped to the floor with Tonk holding him as he continued to cry.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

He sat back in a haze of fury, his mind running wild with questions and so furious with what Tonk had told him. Their lives as destitute souls was disturbing. They lived with nothing. Meagerly they ate if at all they were fortunate to round up something edible before going to bed at nights.
He couldn't fathom the idea of how they survived this long in such a way.

Fury sparked as he was given details of Tonks life. Born of a young mother that died when he was a young boy. His father was a wealthy Baron that knew nothing of his existence. He refused to go to the orphanage and ran away. Phoebe was the daughter of a prostitute Jobbins fell in love with but she died years ago of consumption. Ever since then Jobbins raised her.

He sat rigid with rage when Tonk spoke of how they rescued Evangeline from an evil man that tried to take her away.
Her father was a heavy gambler and they lost everything.
His heart plummeted with the thought of her being given to that bastard to pay off her fathers debt.
What kind of a man could do such a thing?
He was so engulfed in his thoughts and his anger he didn't realize he was digging his hands into his seat until the pain shot from his fingernail into his cuticles. Ungripping and flexing his fingers he looked up at Tonk that busied himself staring out the window nervously.

He watched the streets slowly become deserted as they turned off towards the shack ridden slum. Very few souls were about due to the cold unforgiving weather.

The carriage pulled slowly to a stop. Barely waiting for the door to open for him, Tonk pushed it open, hopped down quickly and turned to wait for Adrian.
The icy wind beat furiously at his face as he crawled out of the carriage.
With furrowed brows he took into view the impoverished shacks that lined the street.
He looked down at Tonk that expected him to follow.
Walking behind the boy his eyes took in the scenery not able to understand the living conditions of these poor people.

He watched as Tonk stopped abruptly. Looking up in time he watched a man storm off angrily from the hut. He saw the sadness that formed on Tonks eyes as he watched the man walk away in a hurry.

He followed Tonk as he quickly walked into through the door the man came from.
Adrian bent his head at the short door way and entered the dim lit living space.
He watched Tonk slowly embrace a man that sobbed and pulled him close.
Their eyes connected momentarily as he saw so much grief and pain in the other mans eyes before he slid to the floor with Tonk embracing him tightly and sobbing.

He realized with horror that he walked into a very sensentive moment. His heart lurched at the cries of Evangeline. He stood still, watching intently. It was at that moment his eyes caught sight of the young child lying on the cot. Grey and emaciated with sunken eye sockets and dead. To his utter horror Evangeline was crying for her. That child was Phoebe.

He had no clue of what to do. He watched as the older man that still held Tonk stood and went to her, knelt beside her and held her close. He tried to pull her away but she refused and lashed out at him.

" You would not call a physician, you let her die," she screamed.

She blamed him with so much ire. Before she could land another blow to him, Adrian came forward and pulled her gently. The man staggered under the weight of her outrage. Adrian turned her around to face him.
She looked up glaring at him with so much anger.

"There was nothing that could be done, Evangeline," he spoke softly.

She was so enraged, beyond comprehension. Nothing he said mattered to her.

She turned on him with fists flailing as well. "No! we could have saved her. But you kept me in your home and you would not let me leave."

He could not bare her outrage. He swallowed hard, finding it difficult to look into those eyes that held so much contempt and tears. She turned furiously and continued to scream at the man and argue with Tonk that defended him.

At last, Adrian pulled her away from him and separated her from Tonk. Her body crumbled beneath her and she sobbed uncontrollably, he held her as tight as he could. She turned her face and buried it into his jacket clenching her small fists with it as she cried . The gesture filled Adrian with an emotion so powerful that tears began to sting his eyes.  He felt a fierce brotherly need to protect this beautiful creature. Her pain was so much it shook his very soul.

The older man regareded him with so much sadness. His voice thick and hoarse.
"M'lord please take her. This is no place for her. If she stays I'm afraid the same fate will befall her," he struggled to keep his voice clear.

Adrian's anguished gaze shifted to what remained of Phoebe. He looked at the man again with a determined glare. Pain etched on his face mirrored his look.
He gave a quick nod.
"I will assume all responsibility of her and of Tonk," he whispered looking at Tonk then her.

Adrian pulled her up into his arms. She did not resist as he craddled her against his chest. She convulsed into tears wrapping her arm around his neck burying her face in his shoulder.

Soft and helpless she lay in his arms as he turned to look at the older man that looked sadly at Tonk.
He gave a saddened look towards Phoebe.
"I'll see to it that she receives a proper burial as well."
The man nodded before covering his face to hide his tears.

He walked cradling Evangeline in his arms to the carriage and held her close as Tonk followed him. She sat in his lap, as it pulled away from their home. Her body jerked with each sob and heart wrenching cries. He rubbed her back and whispered comforting words.

"Look at me Evangeline," he whispered.

Slowly she lifted her head and looked at him. He brushed away her tears from her soft cheeks and brushed her hair away from her lovely face. He looked into her brimming eyes.
" I will take care of you, Evangeline. You will be under my protection. Neither of you will want of nothing. I vow it little one."
She laid her head on his shoulder exhausted.

The violence of her cries finally subsided as the carriage pulled up to his home. He carried her into the house and up the stairs to her room. He placed her on the large bed, pulling the coverlet up to cover her.
He stood and let out a labored breath he had been holding all day.
The day was a nightmare he would never want to relive again. He looked down at her sleeping form, her sweet face was streaked with tears.

This is one nightmare he vowed she would never relive either. He would see to her well being and make sure she and Tonk lack nothing.