#declan 1

Watches weren’t Percival’s specialty. At least, not yet. His swift fingers often weren’t swift enough, and people tended to notice when someone reached for their wrists. But the old wizard he’d walked past onto the way to Tremblay Manor was the perfect target. Too wrapped up in his own world, and too old, to notice, meant by the time he did notice his watch missing, Percival was already sprawled across the sofa in the manors common room, inspecting the watch closely when Declan walked in. “Hey mate.”

When Beth was growing up and in college, she had always wanted to be a teacher. It had been her dream and when it had come true, in her home town no less, she never would’ve guessed that there would be a time where she almost resented her job. The Dryden family had enough money to last them generations but Beth had always had a strong work ethic. She could afford not to work, but she did anyway but it was Ellie, not the money, that made her think. As they walked through the gates off the park and the little girl ran off towards the climbing frame, knowing to stay in sight of her mother, Beth felt a pang of guilt. She had gone from being with her daughter constantly, to only being with her for a few hours a day and although the little girl never complained or whined, Beth had felt guilty from the day she went back to work.