Chapter 3: She Walked Out of the House

It wasn't particularly bright out when Charlotte walked out of the house. She looked around the street and saw several people walking by, paying no mind to her.

She silently sighed and noticed the smell became even worse. Then, the realization hit her.

'Pollution... that's why,' she thought while looking up,

She turned her head back down and looked both ways. Another realization hit her.

'Wait... where do I go? Should I just go a random direction and just hope things will turn out okay?' she pondered.

'Well... I mean... I might as well-' she was cut off by someone who tapped her on the shoulder.

The culprit was an older woman who was wearing a simple pale purple dress. She wore a purple scarf to complement the dress and had a basket in her hand. She was a bit shorter than Charlotte, so she lifts her head up to talk to her.

"My dear Charlotte, what are you doing?" the older lady spoke.

She had a deep yet rich voice, almost like a smooth wave that sometimes crashes onto the shore.

Charlotte noticed that she had a very beautiful British accent. She seemed to have interacted with her before.

"Oh! Good morning! I was just looking around to see if there was anyone else on the street. The smell is quite atrocious today no?" Charlotte swiftly replied, trying to be as natural as possible.

"It is bad every day my dear, though today is particularly bad," she looked up.

"By the way, do you have a light cold? Your voice sounds different. I do have some medicine I can give you, I just need to fetch it from my purse-" the older reaches into her basket.

'Sounds different?' Charlotte questioned. She decides to change her voice.

"I am feeling a bit under the weather recently, but I have recovered quite a bit. Really, thank you for your concern," Charlotte replied.

"That's good. I've heard many people have been sick lately and so you should remember to take care of yourself," the older lady smiled.

'It seems like I don't need to fake an accent after all,' Charlotte quietly sighed, relieved.

"My lady, where are you going this early in the morning?" Charlotte cautiously asked.

"Why to the market of course! Don't you also need to open shop, my dear?"

'So I do have a job. I really need to work to keep up this farce.'

"I do need to open up shop. I always dislike doing it so early in the morning"

The older woman laughed, "You have always complained about it so I am not surprised."

'It seems that she knows me well. I need to be careful.'

The older woman started walking, "Come. Accompany me to the market will you? We will pass by your bakery anyways."

'Bakery? I bake for a living?'

Charlotte nodded at her request.

'It seems he really accounted for me to be transported into the book. At least I know how to bake. Hopefully, there are recorded recipes down or something...' she thought while tailing behind the older woman.

They chatted for a bit before reaching her bakery, which was a ten-minute walk away from where she lived.

The conversation was about miscellaneous subjects that don't really provide Charlotte with information. But, it did show her how the people during this era acted and talked, which is crucial if she wants to blend in.

"You seemed quite out of it today my dear. Do please take good care of yourself."

"Yes, I will my lady." Charlotte smiled.

"Alright, if anything does happen, do go to the Duchbury mansion for help," the woman once again smiled.

'Ah! At least I know her last name.'

"Take care Mrs. Duchbury!" Charlotte politely waved.

Mrs. Duchbury seemed a bit hesitant about something as if she was debating whether or not to say something.

She then seemed to have made up her mind and then replied "Good luck my dear," with a difficult-to-describe smile.

It wasn't a sad smile, it was a happy one. A happy smile that hid a secret underneath, as if she knew something that Charlotte didn't.

She walked away in the early dawn as the pastel white-yellow light shined throughout the scenery. There was little to no noise on this cold morning but the weather seemed to have warmed up a bit.

Lightly, she blended into the atmosphere, with the people, and went back to her reality, strolling through the streets with a basket in hand.

Charlotte did ponder about this as she stared at her back, before turning away and making a mental note in her mind.

Looking at the bakery, it was actually quite cute. It has a large window, which allows people to look inside the shop. Above the window is a white canopy and a tall black street lamp beside it.

In front of the window is a small table with chairs that have accumulated a bit of dust. She assumed this was where customers sit for a break.

Charlotte took out the keys to the bakery, or what she assumed was the key, and opened the bakery door.

Despite the outside, the inside had a light smell of baked pastries. Like the exterior, the interior was also beautifully decorated.

In front of her were a counter and a very old cash register that was different from modern times. To her left were counters filled with trays and several shelves against the wall. By the window was also another counter that seemed to be used to display the baked goods.

She went behind the counter and into the kitchen.

The kitchen had two different brick ovens that were a bit bigger than the ones she saw at her house. She looked to the left and saw a very long counter with ingredients labeled such as flour, yeast, salt,...

There were two huge shelves with several trays and a towel covering each of them.

Charlotte went over to that shelf and lifted the cloth covering one of these trays.

'Baked goods... that haven't been baked. It seems like it was left overnight to rise.'

She started to reminisce about the time her teacher taught her how to make different baked goods.

'He really prepared me for this...' she silently thought.

'Welp, time to open shop and clean the place, especially the table and chairs outside.'

She turned to look at the trays 'It seems like... I have to bake all of these baked goods.' she sighed.

'This is going to be a long day...'