White Roses a.b

chapter 9

CLOSING SALE, read the wooden sign posted in the cobbler's window. WALK IN BEFORE THE SHOES WALK OUT.

Ashley and Mary Ann stood beneath Ash's lace parasol, admiring the storefront across the street and building their courage to go inside.

'It's perfect,' Ash whispered, the first to break the silence. She pointed at the large picture window. 'Imagine a collection of crystal cake plates there, with wedding cakes and birthday cakes and, oh, the best unbirthday cakes. Plus a centerpiece – a five-tiered showpiece done all in latticework and scalloping, with sugared berries and flowers piled on top.'

Mary Ann leaned into her. 'I would have to measure the window dimensions to be sure, but I bet we could display upward of a dozen cakes right up front. That would attract plenty of foot traffic, and if we posted flyers throughout town . . . Oh, Ash. I'm sorry I called it silly. This really is our bakery, isn't it?'

'Of course it is. We'll paint a banner on the glass to read SWEETS AND TARTS: THE MOST WONDROUS BAKERY IN ALL OF HEARTS.'

They shared a unified sigh. A passing froggy footman gave them an odd look, before licking his eyeball and continuing on.

The shop was on a cozy street lined with flower boxes and thatched roofs, a cobbled road that clattered with passing carriages. The morning was fair and the town seemed more crowded than usual. Passing baskets overflowed with onions and turnips from the nearby market. A crew of carpenter ants were whistling along with the beat of their hammers as they erected a schoolhouse around the corner. Overheard bits of conversation bustled with news of the Jabberwock, though they talked of it more like a long-passed fairy tale than a recent horror, which was the way of the people of Hearts.

Ash had the overwhelming sense that she would be happy to come here every day. To live a simple life here on Main Street, away from the manor at Rock Turtle Cove, away from Heart Castle.

Her attention caught on a street performer on the corner – a trumpetfish, playing for the passersby with an open case gathering coins in front of his musical mouth. Normally the sound of his music would have brought to mind the White Rabbit, but now Ash's first thought was of Andy and his silver flute.

A new dream weaseled its way into her thoughts, unbidden and unexpected.

Her and Mary Ann. Their bakery. And . . . him. Entertaining their customers, or returning home after a day of making merriment at the castle.

It was so absurd she immediately chastised herself for the thought. She barely knew the court joker and had no reason to think he would ever be anything to her beyond a couple of unusual dreams.

And yet, if she was only a simple baker, and not the daughter of a marquess, and not the King's intended . . . then the thought of the court joker becoming something more to her no longer sounded so impossible.

Could this be her future? Could such be her fate?

She was surprised at how encouraged she was by the prospect.

'Ash?'

She jumped. Mary Ann was watching her with a furrowed brow, her face shaded by the parasol.

'Do you know him?' Mary Ann asked.

'Who?'

'The trumpetfish?'

'Oh no, I just . . . thought it was a pretty tune.' She dug a coin from her purse. 'Let's go inside and take a look around, shall we?'

She didn't wait for Mary Ann to respond, dropping the coin into the trumpetfish's case as she made her way towards the cobbler's shop.