My One and Only

Chapter 22

Sakura walked through the hallway, determination in her steps. She was going to get to the bottom of this. The kind maid that had found her had informed her the girls she'd seen had baskets. So, they had likely been carrying out their chores.

She stopped a nearby servant carrying a bin of towels, "Why might someone need a basket?"

"A basket?" He asked, staring at her peculiarly.

"Yes. What do the maids use them for?"

"Well," He said, adjusting the bin on his hip, "if they were carrying a basket they were probably picking the fruits that grow in the garden."

Yes! She was finally getting somewhere. "What does that mean then? Where can I find the maids that pick fruits?"

"There isn't a specific order, we all do a rotation of chores. But picking fruits as part of kitchen duties so means that they were helping out there."

"So I just have to go to the kitchen?"

"Yep, they might have some answers."

Sakura smiled, happy that she now had a direction in which to go. "Thank you!" 

She ran off to go down to the kitchen. Turning a corner and opening the door to go down the stairs. She flew down the stairs, taking two at a time.

The kitchen was busy, predictably. Sakura walked deeper into the main area, trying to find someone that wasn't so occupied. When one of them walked by her she quickly tugged at his sleeve. 

He turned to give her his attention, despite the tray of dirty plates in his hands. "Yes? What do you need?"

"I want to know which of your staff goes out to the gardens with baskets to pick fruits."

He looked pensive for a moment. "There's a lot of people that help out with kitchen duties, and we're constantly rotating. But there should be a list in the pantry somewhere that says who's supposed to do what on which day."

Sakura's eyes glowed, that was exactly what she needed! "Really! Where is the pantry?"

"Take a right, then the third door to your left," He pointed towards the entryway to another section of the kitchen.

"Thanks!"

He smiled, "No problem." Before carrying the tray of dirty dishes to a nearby sink.

Sakura ran to the pantry, dodging through passing by staff. The pantry was full of food but there was a small wall that seemed like it would have been the perfect place to put the list of chores on. But it was barren.

There was nowhere else it could have been placed. Frustrated, Sakura decided to once again ask for the assistance of a nearby kitchen maid.

"Excuse me, Isn't there supposed to be a list of chores on that wall?"

The maid looked toward where she was pointing before nodding, "Oh! Yes! It's replaced every week and the new list hasn't been put up yet but it is usually there."

Sakura frowned, "What do you do to the old list?"

The maid looked confused, "We throw it away, of course! What else is there to do with it?"

Sakura let out a small sound of anguish. All that searching for nothing. She had arrived at a dead end.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura sat gloomily on the edge of the bed. Dang it this sucked. She took a deep breath. There had to be another way. She wouldn't give up hope. The sound of the door opening caught her attention and she lifted her head to look.