Harry lifted a hand to his mouth in an attempt to hide his yawn. It was to no avail, as Mr Rob raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Are you tired there, son?"

Feeling heat rising in his cheeks, Harry shook his head quickly and mumbled, "Sorry Mr Rob, no, I'm fine."

He was expecting to be reprimanded but Mr Rob just gave a small smile and said, "You should get to bed early tonight my boy. We can deal with the theatre tomorrow."

"Really?", Harry responded with surprise, before remembering his manners, "Um I mean, that would be much appreciated, thank you sir."

"None of that sir business with me Harry, call me Mr Rob. I'll see you this evening then"

And with that, Mr Rob shuffled himself out of Harry's sight, although he could still hear him huffing and puffing towards the door for a full minute afterwards. When he finally heard the door click shut, Harry ventured out from the backstage area and into the main auditorium.

And just as he had hoped, he saw Arthur, sitting on the back of a chair, with his feet resting on the seat.

"Mr Rob wouldn't be happy if he saw you doing that", said Harry.

Arthur's head turned at the sound of his voice, and when he saw Harry he smiled, "I wouldn't worry, these chairs are so beat up nobody will ever notice."

"I suppose you're right."

"Do you need to work now? If not, then I thought we could go to this town's sweet shop. We might be able to find some sticks of rock for you to try."

Harry laughed, ever since he confessed he had never eaten a stick of rock, Arthur had been on a mission to find some.

"That would be lovely. I don't have anything to do, Mr Rob has been unusually kind today."

Arthur nodded knowingly as the pair began to walk to the back of the theatre, "yes, he can be a grumpy piece of work sometimes, but he's a good man. Especially when the Company needs him."

"Do you mean... with Eleanor?"

"Yes, I....", Arthur paused and stopped dead in his tracks, looking at a figure who Harry hadn't noticed in one of the back chairs, "George? George is that you?"

When he didn't reply, they began to walk closer. When they were within a few feet, Arthur grabbed Harry's arm, "Listen. Do you hear that?"

It took Harry a moment, but eventually, he did notice the sound of George snoring gently.

He turned to Arthur and laughed, "He's asleep?"

"It seems so," Arthur began to chuckle as well, "I wonder if anybody else noticed."

"Maybe they decided it was best to leave him be."

"Perhaps we should do the same."

"Yes, it would seem rather cruel to wake him."

It was by some strange coincidence that at that exact moment, George's snores stopped, and he snapped awake, glancing left and right as he tried to orient himself.

Harry and Arthur glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

"George?", asked Arthur tentatively.

"Hmm? Oh, Arthur, Harry, it seems I... fell asleep for a moment."

"Yes, I believe you've been asleep for almost a quarter of an hour George." Said Arthur

"I have? Well, that is rather unlike me boys, you'll have to excuse me."

"Are you all right? Perhaps you should rest."

"No, no I'm quite alright really."

Harry took a deep breath before saying, "Maybe we should ask the landlady to make us a pot of tea? That always helps me when I feel unwell or tired."

"That's a wonderful idea, Harry," said Arthur, "the couple who run this inn seem very nice, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

George sighed, "Very well."

The men walked outside together, stopping for a moment to glance at the dark and gloomy sky.

"I don't like the look of that," muttered Arthur.

"There's rain coming to be sure," agreed George.

After that, they mostly walked in silence. It wasn't far to the inn, ten minutes at most. It was a pleasant enough walk, past the pretty coastal cottages and piles of dripping lobster pots. Harry couldn't help looking into the windows as they walked past. Seeing handmade rugs and pots on the stoves and the odd watercolour brightening up the dull walls. He was thinking of his own family, of course. Hearing of Eleanor's brother had caused him to worry about his own siblings, as well as his poor old mam. It was only a few more months until the Company would be passing through Liverpool and he could see them again. It couldn't come soon enough.

He should probably send him mam a postcard, he realised with a slight stab of guilt.

When they arrived, Arthur held the door open for the others, and closed it gently behind him.

They stood in the doorway for a while, peering into the room. After the brightness outside, it seemed very dingy, and the air felt very close.

Arthur turned to the others, "I'll talk to the landlady while you find a table Harry," as he was leaving, he spun on his heel to ask, "can either of you recall her name?"

"Mrs Taylor"

"Thank you George."

******

When Arthur returned, Harry had found a small table in the corner of the room. It took another few minutes before anyone spoke.

"So George," Arthur finally said, "why are you so tired?"

He took a moment to reply, "I think we're all feeling a bit run down today, and I believe that the cause is the same. This sort of disruption can be very upsetting boys, I think it has affected us all."

"You couldn't sleep either?" Harry asked, without thinking. It was a relief to hear that the others were upset as well. He had been afraid that he was the only one who had been distressed last night.

"I was too afraid to try. I stayed down here for far too long and worked myself up into such a state that I tossed and turned for hours."

Harry hadn't been expecting such an honest answer, but the pained expression on George's face made him wonder if he was as eager for a confidant as him.

"I struggled to sleep as well," said Arthur, "I'm relieved it wasn't just me."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Mrs Taylor with a large floral teapot. She seemed to have been rather excited by the request for tea- Harry imagined it was not made of her often. It took her several minutes to distribute the cups and the saucers and the jug of milk and the sugar and oh, she had found some cake in the kitchen and thought they might like some, but she could get some soup if they were still hungry...

George thanked Mrs Taylor profusely, while Harry studied the illustrations on his teacup. They were some sort of flower, purple ones. He wished he knew the names of plants and things.

"She's very nice," said George when Mrs Taylor had finally left. Arthur nodded while he stirred his tea.

"Anyway," he continued, "Harry I believe you were about to say something before Mrs Taylor arrived?"

Harry could feel his eyes widen at the mention of his name. He couldn't remember what he had been about to say, but he felt the need to say something—

"Well, I suppose...." George at him nodded encouragingly, "I found myself unable to sleep last night, because I was thinking, thinking of my family."

Both men were looking at him expectantly now, waiting for him to continue,

"My...my sister. A few years ago her baby died. She was so sad all the time, but I would give her my drawings and tell her funny stories and things. And I was thinking... if something like that were to happen now, I wouldn't even know. My mother is all alone now at home most of the time. Perhaps I should have stayed."

He stopped talking and looked down at the table. He could feel his face turn redder and redder as the silence became longer and longer. But when he finally dared to glance up, Harry realised the reason for the quiet was that Arthur was crying. He was trying to hide his face in his hands but his shoulders were shaking. George patted his shoulder awkwardly.

It took a while for Arthur to collect himself enough to say, "I am so sorry. It's just...my mother. My mother died. My baby sister too." He trailed off for a moment, "I tried to be a good son, help my father. But everything reminded me of her. The whole town. It was even worse at home, father hardly ate, never spoke, I didn't know what to do. When I saw a chance to escape, I took it. You didn't do anything wrong Harry, but I did. I was all he had and I left. Now he's all alone."

In the silence that followed, George cleared his throat, "you know boys, I've been at this Company a long time and I've learnt that everybody has left something behind. Everyone here is running from something. Perhaps you have been selfish, but everyone must be selfish sometimes. Our souls were dying, one way or another and so we escaped to survive. We are all broken, but that is because we are alive."

When Harry picked up his teacup, he realised that his hand was shaking and his tea was cold. George was right, although Harry had never quite been able to put it into words. His soul had been dying at home. At strange as things were now, at least he was free.

He looked at Arthur, whose pensive expression seemed to match his own. He looked at George, who seemed lost in his thoughts as well. But he had one more question.

"Why are you here George? What were you escaping?"

"Oh, well let me see," George gave an empty laugh, "We were raised by my grandmother, my sister and I. She died when we were about 15, and we used all the money she left us to move to Newcastle. We thought it might be easier for me to find work in a big city like that. My sister, well, she was always sick in one way or another- chest infections, pneumonia, smallpox. I worked whatever jobs I could to pay for doctor's visits and medicine and such. I really thought that if I just kept working, I could get us a nicer place to live, some decent food, maybe a trip back to the sea and she would get better. I really thought I could save her."

"But the next time she got sick, we couldn't afford a doctor. I thought we might be alright, I would have the money in a few weeks. By the time I could call a doctor, he said it was too late. She was just so weak, and we were sleeping on the floor of a freezing boarding house. There was nothing I could do."

"She wanted to be buried on the coast, facing the sea. But by that point, I couldn't even afford to buy a proper grave in Newcastle."

George's shoulders slumped forward and he held his head in his hands. Arthur and Harry exchanged a helpless look.

Then he looked up, his eyes were shining with unsplit tears but he was smiling.

"Thank you boys, for listening to my story."

Harry nodded, "Thank you for listening to ours."

"It's rather good, this talking thing, isn't it?" asked Arthur.

They laughed for a moment.

"My tea is cold."

"Mine too."

"I'll ask Mrs Taylor for some more."

******
Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This one got a bit longer than I was planning, so I will probably try and cut it down at some point.
As always, if you're enjoying my story, please consider giving it a vote! :)