The CBB :: View topic - Sybil's Darkest Hour

#1: Sybil's Darkest Hour Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:14 pm

“Now, Sybil, you finish cutting out the biscuits, but mind you do not touch anything else. I will go and check for the eggs.”

Sybil Russell tossed her head and looked up at the nurse, who had cared for her and her brother, sister and cousins for most of their lives, with a sulky look. “I don’t see why I can’t get things ready for elevenses,” she protested with a pout. “Mummy lets me prepare things.”

Rosa shook her head at the small person who stood so defiantly in the corner of the kitchen. “Lady Russell won’t be home until dinner-time, so you must wait and see if she will let you help then. If you can’t be helpful here, go up and amuse your brother. Now mind me, Sybil. Not a touch on the china until I return.”

Satisfied that, for the time being, at least, she had quelled the imp, Rosa collected the basket and opened the door that led to the large garden, at the very end of which stood the large hen-houses.

Sybil watched her nurse go with a gloomy look. She should have been at school, attending the weekly Brownie meeting and seeing the new Head, Miss Bubb, but Sybil had refused to go. She had been infuriated by the fact that nobody had paid her any particular attention for the first two days of term, the sole topic of conversation, even among the Juniors, being the absence of those injured in the bus smash. Up in arms over her treatment by the other Juniors, Sybil had refused to go to school that Saturday morning, and Madge, distracted by the latest reports from the hospital where the four mistresses had been taken after the accident, as well as concern about the new temporary Headmistress, had allowed her elder daughter to stay at home. This meant Rosa had to take care of not only Josette, who was not old enough to attend school, and Sybil, but also David, who was still home from school as a result of breaking his collar-bone during the Easter holidays.

Sybil furiously slammed the biscuit cutter down on the pastry until there were a dozen round discs on the table. As she was about to bundle up all of the cuttings and roll them out, the kettle, which Rosa had put on the heat, started to whistle.

At the sound, Sybil crossed the room to the large window that looked out over the garden, but Rosa was nowhere to be seen. Sybil cast a thoughtful glance at the shiny kettle, which was singing quite loudly now. She had once heard her Auntie Jo saying something about not letting kettles ‘boil dry’, and Sybil thought this might happen if nothing was done to stop it boiling.

“Besides,” she said aloud, “Mummy let me take it off the gas once.”

Taking a step towards the gas ring, Sybil hesitated for a moment, some twinge of her conscience encouraging her to halt.

“But Rosa never told me not to touch the kettle,” she told herself, and with that, lifted the heavy object off the heat.

It was very heavy, being almost full – Rosa would need it to wash all of the dishes from breakfast, as well as the items being used to make the bread, so she had filled it nearly to the top – but Sybil turned triumphantly with it in her hand and wondered where to put it.

At that fateful moment, Josette came running into the kitchen. Josette was only four and it was proposed that she would begin school the following term, but for the moment, she was at home.

“Rosa,” she began, without noticing, at first, that the nurse was not in the kitchen, “David says, can you bwing him a dwink – ooh, Sybs!” for at that moment, she saw her sister, who was still holding the kettle aloft. For a second, she stared at that young woman in seeming wonder, and Sybil was rather pleased at her younger sister’s admiration. The next moment, however, inflated self-esteem gave way to concern as Josette rushed over with a cry of “Tan I hold it, too? Oh please, Sybs! I wants to play wiv de kettle too!”

Josette’s words ended in a scream of agony as the little girl bumped her sister’s arm and Sybil was unable to stop the kettle from tipping and pouring all of the boiling water over Josette’s chest and tummy. For a second, neither moved, Josette’s screams fading to heart-rending moans, but then Sybil flung away the kettle and pulled her sister out of the room.
Mixed with a desire to stop Josette’s obvious pain was a desperate need to keep her actions hidden – and Sybil could now see just how disobedient she had truly been.

The two girls ended up in a bathroom furthest from the kitchen, into which room Rosa had just erupted, having heard Josette’s screams and raced up to the house. With a vague remembrance of what they had been taught at Brownies – and Sybil had never paid full attention, believing that, as a doctor’s daughter, and that of Sir James Russell, no less, she knew better than the Brown Owl – Sybil pulled frantically at Josette’s clothes in an effort to remove them. Josette was still moaning, her eyes closed and her face ashen. Sybil went about her task without a word, her much-admired face set with determination, but she got to Josette’s vest and simply ripped it off. Josette let out a roar and the next instant Rosa burst into the room.

The nurse took in the situation at a glance and quickly applied her favourite remedy of burn ointment to the large burns on Josette’s chest and tummy, as well as on her leg. Josette still moaned and Rosa carried the little girl down to the kitchen where she could ’phone the San for an ambulance. Having done that, and while waiting for the ambulance, Rosa took a tea-cloth and placed it over the burn, pouring the remains of the cold breakfast tea from the pot, which still stood on the draining rack, over the cloth.

Sybil hovered in the kitchen doorway, having no idea what else to do, but Rosa ignored her. However, the worst was yet to come, when her father, along with a team from the San., arrived at the house. Apart from a look that made Sybil burst into tears, her father said nothing to her. Still, that was enough, and Sybil fled to her room and buried her face in her pillow, crying until she felt into an exhausted sleep.

Last edited by KB on Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:21 pm; edited 1 time in total

#2: Author: Róisín, Location: Galway, Eire

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:20 pm

Thanks KB that was great. I feel sorry for Sybs at the end though.

#3: Author: LadyGuinevere, Location: Leicester

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:26 pm

KB, this is fabulous. Funny how looking at things from a different POV can completely change the whole thing!

Poor Sybs... it does make her look hard done by.

#4: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:33 pm

Thank you KB. Not sure who I feel most sorry for here, Josette or Sybil.

#5: Author: Lucy, Location: Leeds

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 3:04 pm

Thanks for this KB.

I've always felt sorry for Sybil and can believe the accident happened just like this. How can Jem justify not speaking to Sybil? Always found this quite strange.

#6: Author: aitchemelle, Location: West Sussex

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 6:14 pm

Thank you KB.. I just wanted to jump in the drabble and catch that kettle!

#7: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:06 pm

Poor Sybil, yes she was a spoilt little madam, but it was pure accident - her punishment lasted for years.

Thanks KB.

#8: Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:46 pm

KB, that is brilliant. I love the way you have shown Sybs as completly in character with EBD, and yet from a different point of view and not to blame totally.

#9: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:58 pm

Perspective certainly is strange. I thought I had shown that Sybil was to blame, picking up the kettle when she shouldn't have. Confused

#10: Author: Joan the Dwarf, Location: Er, where am I?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:43 pm

KB wrote:

Perspective certainly is strange. I thought I had shown that Sybil was to blame, picking up the kettle when she shouldn't have. Confused

That's how I read it...

#11: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:19 pm

KB wrote:

Perspective certainly is strange. I thought I had shown that Sybil was to blame, picking up the kettle when she shouldn't have. Confused

Me too.

Despite not being particularly graphic, that had me wincing at the thought of Josette's clothes being torn away - says a lot for the power of suggestion!

#12: Author: Amanda M, Location: Wakefield

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:08 am

I do feel sorry for poor Sybil despite the fact that she brought it on herself due to her disobedience. It was interesting to see that she felt high and mighty at such a young age - in some respects it was probably the best thing to happen to her, by bringing her down to earth a little bit. Having said that I don't think it warranted Jo and Madge bringing it up constantly afterwards until Sybil grew up.

Thanks KB.

Star Wars

#13: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:11 pm

Interesting to see how she deliberately went against what her conscience was telling her.

Thanks KB

#14: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:16 pm

I wonder how different things would have been if the water had gone down Sybil, not Josette? I've always thought it could and probably would have gone on them both, but the way you have told us it happened, she could have lost her grip on it before Josette came in.

And I still think Rosa was negligent - why did she have to check for eggs when she'd put the kettle on - why not before or after? Why couldn't Josette have gone to look for them? My sisters used to get the eggs when they were about 4. (I guess Sybil wouldn't have.)

#15: Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 11:25 am

KB wrote:

Perspective certainly is strange. I thought I had shown that Sybil was to blame, picking up the kettle when she shouldn't have. Confused

Yes, I got that, she has been told not to, but there was also the fact that she had been allowed to do it under supervision and that she had been warned against letting a kettle boil dry. She then choose to disobey, which was wrong, but with good intentions, not just pure disobedience. Her previous state of mind as well, feeling ignored and that her mother had put the school before her (probably not for the first time), feeling bored and lonely mean that maybe someone should have noticed.

Yes, you show Sybil to blame in her act of disobedience, but you also show it in context where she is not really to take the total blame.

#16: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:47 pm

Thanks, KB. I feel sorry for everyone. My heart goes out to both Sybil and Josette.

When my fiancee's brothers were about 8, their Mum sent them out to get the potatoes and eggs. They decided to put the potatoes on top of the eggs which wasn't a very good idea! My fiance thinks though that they did it so they wouldn't have to go and get the potatoes and eggs anymore.

#17: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:11 pm

Thank you KB. I can see how it was disobedience on Sybil's part but she had had confusing messages about 'not letting a kettle boil dry' and having previously done it under supervision probably made her feel she was doing the best thing in the circumstances. I know she should have run down the garden to Rosa to tell her but she did look and couldn't see her. Why couldn't someone have taught her to turn the gas off! That sounds more sensible than letting her lift it, even under supervision.

I think the adults were either negligent or naive in the view that children never disobey. If they've got any brains at all, they will work out a justification for what they want to do.

It is one of the things about EBDs portrayal of small (and older) children that has always seemed unreal.

Apologies for the rant Wink

#18: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:11 am

I did first aid training yesterday, and when we did burns & scalds, we watched a nasty video (I think all first aid training videos are pretty nasty). It was of a mum and girl of about 8 making cups of tea, mum goes to answer the phone saying "don't touch anything" to the girl who watches the kettle come to a boil as it sits at the front of the worktop, then picks it up and takes it to the cups and pours the water - in the cup and over her hand.

Children want to help and though Sybil was disobedient, imagine what would have happened if she had gone to tell Rosa the kettle was boiling and Josette had come in when the kitchen was empty and she had decided to 'help' Mummy and Rosa.

I also do not understand how she was supposed to makle such a good recovery with no scars - I know the recovery is seen taking place over a long time. The trainer mentioned a little girl called Terry Calvesbert, who you may have heard of because she's been seen on tv with Simon Weston? She lives inmy home town and had very bad burns when she was 3 years old and is now about 7 - she is in the local paper from time to time (Brave Terry starts school, etc) and the scarring is still very evident.

#19: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 10:36 am

Re: Josette's recovery, when I was researching this story, I found an article that said skin grafts were being used in the 1920s for burns, so I imagine they were relatively common at the Sanatorium. I don't think there's any indication that she has no scars, although they aren't specifically mentioned later. However, as they were down her chest and leg, they probably wouldn't show under her clothing.

The oddest part for me appears to be Josette's own forgetfulness in the Swiss books when she and her friends are wondering why Sybil is so touchy regarding mentions of her beauty.

#20: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:20 pm

Would scalds necessarily leave as much scarring as ordinary burns? Perhaps my earliest memories involve repeated application of acres of gauze, after being doused with a pot of coffee. I'd tried pulling myself up by the tablecloth -- mistake that halted use of tablecloths in my family until all 8 of us were well beyond toddler stage. There was no scarring, though of course the coffee may not have been straight from the stove, and first aid was presumably in adult hands. I don't remember that part!

I can't add anything on how wrong I think the perpetual guilting of Sybil was, though I don't blame the adults quite as much for their original absence. Being "in charge" of younger siblings was fairly normal for us from a young age.

#21: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 3:26 pm

I had a friend at middle school who had pulled a kettle over onto herself as a small child, and she had very nasty scars all down her left arm and across her chest and stomach, so I always thought that Josette MUST have had scars, especially as it took awhile before the burns were treated.

#22: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:51 pm

You might be right, Kathy. I had always assumed it was very serious burns and she would need skin grafts, but it's possible they weren't that severe. And if the Sue Barton (or is it Cherry Ames) books are right, using cold tea would help Josette heal without scarring.

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