Robin and the Red Crow

Chapter Five - The Idiot at the Door

The following day, Robin woke early to prepare breakfast before the rest of the house woke up. As he made his way down the stairs, he was disappointed to find Jo again sitting at the kitchen table with Cookie on her lap, already waiting with her basket of eggs.

"Good Morning, Mr. Robin! I have eggs for you in case you change your mind about making Sunny Side Up eggs again this morning."

"Thank you, Jo, but I think I'll end up saving the eggs for something I'll make later," Robin replied, washing his hands in the sink. "Would you mind putting them down in the root cellar for me until I need them?

"Yes, Mr Robin," Jo said dejectedly, moping out of the kitchen with her basket of eggs.

Robin smiled to himself as he walked over to the icebox. It was a bit strange. For a minute, he felt almost as if he was in surgery again, asking his assistant to prepare him the tools he needed, but this time, instead of life and death, the only thing at stake was a bad breakfast.

Jo returned a minute later without the eggs, dejectedly sitting on her seat and watching Robin work.

Since he was worried that he was once again the last person to wake up despite his best efforts, Robin decided to make an easy fruit salad recipe he had found in an old cookbook with the pears and apples they had around the kitchen. It was a bit simple, but due to his hurry, and since Miss Holly had yet to buy food at the market, he was limited in the recipes he could use.

As Robin cut into the fruit and mixed the ingredients, he felt a tingling in his arms.

I think I might be enjoying this. Robin thought to himself, trying to hold back a smile.

Although Robin doubted he would return to London at the end of this trip and leave behind being a doctor to pursue cooking, he noted that it could be enjoyable to start making meals for himself instead of relying entirely on his staff. Robin thought back to some of the meals his mother made when he was a boy, wondering if he could make those meals for himself one day.

As Robin finished mixing the fruit salad, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"I'll answer it," Jo said, exchanging a suspicious glance with Robin.

Jo turned her head to the side and placed her hands side by side in front of her right eye. Suddenly, her fingers shot open, and her eye seemed to see something past Robin. Robin mused that this must be how she could look through the door knocker as she had when he had first arrived.

After a moment, Jo let out a loud, frustrated groan as she dropped her hands. Jo slumped off her chair and stomped over to the bottom of the stairs.

"Miss Holly! Dexter's at the door!" Jo yelled, doing nothing to hide the annoyance in her voice.

In the instant that followed, Robin heard several loud crashes, followed by Miss Holly flying down the stairs.

As she arrived in the kitchen, Robin was pleased that he wasn't the last person to wake up. Miss Holly had run into the kitchen in an oversized velvet nightgown, her hair falling out of a loose braid over one of her shoulders.

Jo followed her into the kitchen, rolling her eyes and sitting dramatically back in her seat.

"How do I look?" Miss Holly asked frantically, looking between Robin and Jo. She pulled the braid back and wrapped it behind her head. Seemingly pinning her hair back with magic instead of using pins.

Miss Holly started pulling at the oversized nightgown this way and that, changing it into various styles and shapes of dress, with Jo shaking her head at the different styles. Miss Holly glanced occasionally at Robin as well, as if to gauge his opinion.