Steamtown USA

[Rose Inverness]

"These aquatic animal images are simply--"

"Squishy," with a sigh, Victoria finished the sentence of Mr. Gundermann, who had made an unexpected appearance at the art show during its second day open to the public. Perhaps her substitution was not what he had in mind, for his expression shifted to consternation and he tilted his head and reexamined the photo he'd been complimenting.

The little girl had already skipped off.

[Stormcat]

"Yes, well. Octopi do tend to be squishy" replied Jessica. She hoped no one would ask her where she was to snap these photos, but just in case she would lie and say "Cancun". She didn't want to reveal the true nature of her past, as it might expose Gareth's past and condition as well.

As she was thinking of this, Gareth strolled into the gallery. "Jessica dear, the aquaponics device is complete. Soon we can start serving fresh greens at the Cake and Kettle."

[Arabella Periscope]

*It was not until the Spring festivities were well advanced -- the lady in question being a Time Traveler, having a poor sense of the smaller units of minutes, hours and days -- that an extraordinary vehicle hove into sight at the end of the main thoroughfare.  It winked with brass and engraved silver embellishments, had a round boiler and a tall chimney with a flap on top that was rattling merrily and whistling, and it was emitting clouds of lavender-colored steam.  It rolled along on rubber wheels whose spokes were wound with flowering vines, scattering petals in its wake.  Following behind it came a low wagon with rolltop bins giving off billows of white frost and glinting copper from their hinged slats.  Behind them, Arabella reigned in a marvelous hat.  It was not large, it had a flat crown and a modest brim, but it was wound with iridescent floating streamers that flew behind and above, suggesting rainbows and gold dust.  They almost seemed to have a buoyancy of their own, to be tilting up on the steam thermals of the engine's updraft like the wings of fairy terns.  They matched the sash of her white muslin gown.

When the townsfolk turned at the sound of the steam engine, the lady pulled an elaborate porcelain handled lever.  Dropclopths fell from walls behind the fountain and in many unexpected (and, I am afraid, unauthorized) places; Anna and Arabella had been at work, and due to cleverly painted leaf shadows and tiny birds and butterflies, it appeared that Steamtown was blooming even more abundantly than it really was.  Then the copper bin lids rolled back to reveal a large selection of Italian ices and cones for everyone to choose from.  A banner unfurled from the steam chimney of the engine:

                                     HAPPY  SPRING!!!*

[Rose Inverness]

"Welcome, my dear!" Anna greeted Arabella as the latter floated into town on a veritable cloud of beauty. Their mural work had been quite successful and having unveiled the paintings, Anna was feeling rather blissful. Accompanied by a bit of trepidation that always followed the showing of new artwork.

Soelle had had a lovely birthday at Chez Inverness. The family's customary way to celebrate birthdays consisted of relaxing at home, with or without friends invited to join. They felt the low-key peace of such a day helped one to keep on a level plane mentally, emotionally, and physically. To that end, no more cake than usual was consumed (though a great deal many more strawberries were.... a family favorite). Some friends had even been given strawberries to take home.

"And well done us!" Anna congratulated her radiantly-attired friend as she spun in a circle, viewing the loveliness of the town in spring as well as the permanent brilliance of the verdant imagery. She was truly glad of her family's having been brought to Steamtown, for living here was her fondest dream come true.

[Stormcat]

That morning, Gareth entered work to find a dead mouse on his desk and a beaming Sir Whiskers waiting for him. "What's the mouse for, am I getting a raise?"

"Nope! it's a birth announcement!" Sir Whiskers said. "Remember that ball at Chez Inverness? Well, I met a wonderful feline, things got heated, and long story short, she's expecting kittens! I'm going to be a Dad!"

"That's wonderful! Congratulations!" Said Gareth excitedly. He made a move to shake Sir Whiskers' hand, but then he remembered Sir Whiskers didn't actually have hands to shake.

"Yes, Yes. I haven't made a big announcement yet, but Sweetsie is just starting to plump up. I don't know when the kittens are due to arrive, but I can't wait!"

[Rose Inverness]

Sweetsie emerged from the wild meadows somewhere between Starbridge's farm, the Aquos residence, and Arabella's cathedral ruin meowing pitifully. Anna accepted her into her arms and had the kids help fix up a wooden box with soft bedding, with a little fountain for her to drink from nearby (but not so near as to splash on her). Mysterious gifts of mouse and bird kept appearing near her box, and Sweetsie made sure to leave the skulls for Rose to collect (and turn into jewelry with sparkling teeny gems inset in the eyes....)

The labor was not overly long. Three kittens emerged. One completely brown but with thin lines of light gold fur around each eye, one a lovely shiny gold color, and one so black its fur was tinged with blue in the sunlight. The darker of the three had light green eyes, which gave it quite an uncanny look.

Anna shook her head, "Even the cats have a brush with magic. I've never seen such extraordinary colors on animals."
Gilbert asked her, "Are you forgetting?"
Anna blushed, "Ah."

Both thought of a rainbow-colored hummingbird.

[Stormcat]

"My Babies! My Babies!" As soon as Sir Whiskers got the news he bolted from the office and ran to Sweetsie's side. "My precious babies. I was hoping at least one of them would have my intelligence, But I love them all the same!"

Jessica held an impromptu baby shower for the cats at the Cake and Kettle. All the while, she had been thinking about that incident with the chocolate machine. Who were these spirits? Why did they need her? and why did they waste such fine chocolate?

[Rose Inverness]

"Blech," Orion spit out his mouthful of chocolate concoction, which he had been stirring on the stove. "Cross off stevia," he instructed Rose, who stood on a stool next to him. She dutifully obliged. Their experiments had been rather unsuccessful thus far.

"I really hope there's some more chocolate at jolly Cake and Kettle soon, you both don't make it as fast as Miss Jesska does," Victoria said mournfully. Orion put his palm to his forehead and shook his head. Rose did the same, and Victoria covered her face with both hands and peeked out through them. She wasn't quite sure what her older siblings were doing but she wanted to be part of it all the same.

Outdoors, Sweetsie licked Whisker's cheek. The kittens were all really too small to do anything yet, so they just remained close to their mother curled up in little lumps. Such nice presents had been given at the shower... including a little mobile that spun tiny mice around above the kittens heads (to motivate them, once they began to move about).

[Stormcat]

a mysterious heat wave gripped the little town. As most of the citizens still wore victorian-inspired finery, they were often too hot to do much of anything. Jessica however, was quite content to swelter away in the kitchen of the cake and Kettle. Mother's day was approaching, and she knew she had to prepare for the influx of out of town guests who would be visiting the shop for brunch with their mothers. Jessica lived too far away from her parents to do this with her own mother, and Gareth's parents were "Long gone" as he put it. Still, she should do something to celebrate the day.

"Let's go on a picnic!" she announced to Gareth, who was sitting in a bathtub full of ice water.

"In this heat?" he asked her.

"We'll be in the shade silly." She replied.

[Rose Inverness]

The Mother's day parade (put on by the cats) was headed proudly by Sweetsie, carried on a litter (not a litter pan, but a fancy palanquin draped in silk brocade) with her kittens. They were finally old enough to open their eyes, and were blinking them sleepily at the townsfolk who had gathered in amazement (or amusement).

The Inverness family attended the picnic, in Victorian clothing that had been altered in various ways. Some of it was linen, to reduce the heat. Some was cut in fashionable and modest-enough ways that still allowed for a cooler wearing. And the children changed into swimming costumes to run through an elaborate sprinkler system suspended from two poles and spanning several yards. In fact, many of the adults indulged as well, in the frost sprayed from the outer edges of the arch.

"A creation of Master Starbridge, I shouldn't wonder?" Gilbert commented to Gareth, who was seated nearby.
"Or perhaps Arabella's genius," Anna mused.

Soelle smiled to herself and thought of the fine fellow who'd collaborated with her on the quite-practical contraption. She decided to keep that information to herself, for now.

[Stormcat]

"So how many fireworks should I put in the order?" Gareth asked Sir Whiskers.

"Fireworks? Why would the town need such ghastly things? They'll wake and scare my children!" Sir Whiskers replied, his tail loving stroking a framed photograph of his kittens.

"But, I thought for the fourth of July, you were supposed to put on a big fireworks show at night. Something about 'Rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air' or something like that." Gareth tugged at his collar. "Truth be told, this is my first year living in america, and I'm not used to most of these traditions. I still can't believe there's a holiday dedicated to gluttony and football."

Sir Whiskers did not move from his desk. "No. Fireworks." He said bluntly.

Later, when Gareth returned home for dinner, he regaled his wife with the sad news. "Oh, dear, I was really hoping to treat you to your first fourth of july fireworks show."

"Well, if enough of the town's citizens sign a petition to have the fireworks, Sir Whiskers will have to allow them." Gareth Said, In between reps with his barbells. "Not sure what the cats will do, since only the talking ones are allowed to vote. Anyway, how was your day?"

Jessica delivered her roast chicken to the kitchen table. "Finally got the chocolate out of the woodwork in the kitchen, and the machine works normally."

Gareth lowered his voice. "Any other incidents?"

"No" Replied Jessica. "Though my sister called me the other day and was complaining of nightmares."

"That can't be a coincidence." Gareth said.

[Rose Inverness]

Orion and Rose put their magnifying glasses to the pavement in pursuit of knowledge. A piece of parchment was lettered somewhat childishly with:

"What is Garreth's true identitiey?

• Icarus + Superhuman-strength
• Alein from an aqueaus planet

"

Naturally 'alein' was meant to say 'alien' and 'aqueaus' meant 'aqueous'. Their list fell to the cobblestones shortly after their peering in a window of the C&K yielded nothing but the normal everyday shop goings-on they'd seen so many times from the inside. They felt perhaps their detective skills were lacking something.
And later, the search for the list was even more rigorous, as it seemed to have disappeared from the street altogether.


__On an unrelated note;__

Soelle wrote a persuasive letter to the cats of the town, though mostly to Sir Whiskers, regarding the necessity for town togetherness on 'the most violent holiday of the year.' "If we can't be allowed to celebrate the end of the fighting with jubilant lights and picnics under the stars, is freedom really worth having?" her dramatic essay proposed. Despite her mother's misgivings, Soelle marched the letter all the way to city hall and put it in the post-box in the side of the building, the one marked 'in-going mail'.

[Stormcat]

Gareth and Jessica spent a week vigorously redecorating their house. Mold was removed from bathrooms, the tin ceilings were polished, and multiple rooms were painted. The couple was tired, Sir Whiskers had offered to help them, but due to his lack of opposable thumbs there really wasn't much they could do anyway. They just lay on the floor in the middle of the most recently-painted room, too tired to move the furniture back into place.

"I could go for some ham right about now." Gareth said to no one in particular.

"Get it yourself, I'm pooped." Jessica replied. "besides, I want some beef. Any cut will do."

The couple imagined the savory aromas of meat wafting through the air. Then Gareth got an Idea. "We haven't eaten real food for this whole time we've been decorating the house. How about we hold a massive banquet so people can all share food? Especially meat, But not fish. never any fish."

"You mean like a barbecue? Sounds good. I'll write up the invitations as soon as I can feel my legs again." Jessica said.

[Rose Inverness]

The kittens (having their sight now) were practicing climbing all sorts of things. Though luckily they hadn't managed to catch any, their new ability unnerved the carrier pigeons fluttering on the way to and from their cote.

Gilbert and the elder children began work on digging a moat around the pigeon cote. The water feature wouldn't bother the birds, and would provide both a deterrent and a distraction for the cats, as some minnows were also there installed....

Anna spent a few days at her sewing machine in her sunny studio on the fourth floor of the house, sewing spangled costumes of metallic-jewel-toned spandex. Their aerial act for the fourth of july festivities was carefully coordinated to use spotlights to illuminate the acrobats as they tumbled and spun hanging from black 'silks'. Against the darkness and prior to the fireworks, the display promised to be dramatic. Only Soelle, Anna, and Gil would be performing, as Orion would be running the light board.

Rose did not have quite enough experience to perform an act in the dark, and Victoria was so little she really was just beginning to learn the basics of aerial arts, and develop the strength to perform them. Anna called 'round to see if they could sit with Arabella during the performance, or possibly one of their other good friends in town.

[Stormcat]

Though it had been a clear, sunny day, a bright rainbow appeared in the Sky over Steamtown. Even though the community was mostly isolated from the rest of the world, no one could deny that something wonderful must have happened. Jessica made a last-minute decision to add a rainbow cake to her and Gareth's "Hooray! we finally fixed up the house!" barbecue.

[Rose Inverness]

As no one had answered their phones, Anna walked over to the Cake and Kettle to ask if Jessica would possibly watch over the little girls during the fourth of July festivities?

"We trust the girls and also everyone in town, but you know its always better to have an eye on young ones, and they'll be less frightened of the loud noises if they can sit with someone they know and are comfortable with. What do you say?"

The girls had walked with her and made a show of trying to pet Sir Whiskers and feed him tiny treats.

[Stormcat]

"Certainly" replied Jessica.

Sir Whiskers was in a bit of a sour mood, the humans had unanimously voted for there to be fireworks at the festivities after all, himself being the only opposing vote. He dodged the girls attempts at petting him, and when offered a treat, he merely snatched it up and skulked off. "Oh ignore him girls, he's not very happy about the fireworks. He and the other cats in town are going to be hiding in our basement for the night anyway." Jessica said.

On the big day, the girls arrived early in the morning to the mayor's mansion. So early, that Gareth was still asleep. He quickly dressed and greeted the little ones. "Alright, so if you're going to be with us for the day, we have a few rules. Number one: stay out of the attic. We pretty much shoved all our stuff up there and it's not safe to be playing around in. Number two: you make a mess, you clean it up. We just redecorated the entire house, so we want it to look nice. and Finally, leave the cats alone when the fireworks are on. They'll be scared and the last thing they need is someone trying to pet them. All set? then let's go!"

Gareth was still not used to american customs, but he seemed to accept that today was a patriotic holiday. Similar to the ones he had back home, albeit the colors were different and the parades featured different vehicles. He pinned a red, white and blue rosette to his otherwise unpatriotic brown suit, while his wife decided white and gold stars would complement her blue dress perfectly. Her red corset was tied up with white ribbon. She took the girls by the hand, and she and her husband led them to the main street where the parade was to be held.

[Rose Inverness]

"Many thanks," said Anna and skipped off to prepare for the performance. (Time seemed to be shifting again, as she was sure she'd already performed a few days ago...)

Rose, sitting at the aerials performance, was suddenly discovered to be blanketed in cats. They'd gathered to sit on her lap, a foot, a hand, wherever; just cuddling close as they could. Even her shoulders had cats on them, and one of the kittens (the gold one) had entangled itself in her hair. Her wide eyes seemed to shrug (as she didn't dare shrug her shoulders, for fear she might startle the felines). Cats always had a special fondness for Rose.

They did disappear just before the fireworks display, but just as quietly and unobtrusively as they'd alighted. That is except for the black kitten with blue-tinged fur who seemed to be oblivious to the noise, and remained in a pocket at the front of Rose's dress watching the display of lights in the sky.

[Stormcat]

Gareth took off from work early to enjoy a nice relaxing sit but the creek. He was admiring what a beautiful day it was when suddenly, a fish popped it's head out of the water. In it's mouth was a waterproof envelope, with a royal seal.

"Oh no." said Gareth, but he took the envelope anyway. He read the message and the day seemed to darken. He tucked the letter into his pocket and sadly walked towards the Cake and Kettle.

Jessica was arguing with a pair of cats, insisting that they could not pay for their steamed milks with dead chipmunks when she noticed her forlorn husband come in. "Something wrong dear?"

"Jess, we need to talk. Privately." Gareth said. Jessica excused herself and the couple locked themselves in the kitchen. As soon as Jessica locked the door, Gareth held out the envelope for her.

"The prince has died, and we are to attend his funeral." Gareth said, with no emotional infliction.

Jessica grabbed the letter and read it. "...But, this means that you-"

"I know." Gareth replied. "I'm back in line. As much as it pains me to be." His dark eyes were cast downwards.

"But as long as the king is still on the throne, we can be together, right?" Jessica said.

"It is so, I do hope the queen can conceive again, and quickly. With or without your parents help."

"Still, she must be so heartbroken. He was born sickly, but I never thought-"

"Jess, you're tearing up."

"I know, I know." Jessica wiped away a tear. Her voice cracked as she spoke "I just can't stand the thought of sending you back."

Gareth wrapped Jessica in a tight hug. "Darling, you know I would give anything for you to be by my side. But the life we've made here, I don't want to give it up. I love you Jess, and even if I have to renounce my birthright, I will not leave you. My adopted father might not see the value in humanity, but I do."

Once Jessica had finished crying, they agreed that they would attend the funeral, if only to comfort the grieving king and queen. Jessica eventually convinced the two cats to take out a tab, and they headed home to change into mourning clothes. Sir Whiskers met them at the door. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm going to need to take a few days off, funeral to attend." Gareth said, refusing to divulge more information than that.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sir Whiskers replied. "Was it someone close to you?"

The couple did not answer. A half-hour later, they returned to the door dressed in black and carrying a steamer trunk. Under the black lace veil, it was hard to see Jessica's tears. But until she knew her Gareth would not have to return, she would continue to weep. The couple walked towards the river, not talking to anyone who passed them by. When they reached the beach, the Bathysphere was there waiting for them. A royal gaurd was there to escort them and take their steamer trunk. Once everyone was inside, the bathysphere sealed itself and rolled into the surf.

[Rose Inverness]

Orion held the binoculars to his eyes and Rose stood on a sturdy but small bench to reach the eyepiece of the telescope. Her jaw dropped.
Orion was likewise impressed, “Was that….?”
“The thing Mom taught us about!” Rose finished excitedly. They were happy to have seen something they’d only heard of in lessons about exploration and transport.

The attic room was equipped with various observational devices. This was one of several attics in the Inverness’ several-story home. The uppermost contained simply a hammock; Anna’s retreat, and off limits to Everyone else.

The children tried to interview the minnows in their newly installed moat to find out where the Aquoses had gone, but the only minnows left (after the kittens' hunting spree) were ‘mum.’ Anna and Gil tried to assure their middle two that not-speaking was ‘in character’ for fish.

Rose gave up and went to extract the bones of a couple chipmunk carcasses which had shown up mysteriously. She would clean, lacquer and set jewels creatively in fitting spots on the bones, and then create jewelry from them. Her jewelry was beginning to pile up as quite a collection in the house.

Rose’s birthday had come and gone in early June, with typical laid-back family coziness. She was now 8, and had begun to shift more toward industriousness without losing her childish fancy.

[Stormcat]

The automated machines operating the cake can kettle seemed to operate just fine without their mistress in sight. But it had been months since she was last seen. It was almost time for them to be producing pumpkin spice lattes and maple tea cakes, but there was no one there to switch out the seasonal recipes. It seemed monotony had taken it's hold over the cake and kettle.

Until the day the bathysphere rolled up on the beach. Out stepped a joyful couple. "I'm so glad everything got sorted out!" Jessica announced to no one in particular.

"Indeed!" Gareth replied. "The Queen shall have another child, and this one will thrive!"

They headed into town to survey their domains. Jessica quickly swapped out the recipes for the automated machines, the suggestion box was full of "We want pumpkin spice lattes" comments.

Gareth returned to work to find Sir Whiskers apparently after a violent fit. "WHERE WERE YOU!?! I HAD TO PLAN THE ENTIRE HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION BY MYSELF! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD THAT IS WITHOUT THUMBS!?!" the cat screeched.

"That is none of your business, sir." Gareth stated calmly. "And since you've finally realized how important I am to you, I wouldn't mind a pay raise."

"Yes! Anything! Just don't leave me alone again!" Sir Whiskers.

[Stormcat]

A time warp had allowed halloween to come and go with most of the town forgetting it happened. Still, There were jack-o-lanterns abound, so Jessica started up her annual "Jack-o-lantern recycling project" at the Cake and Kettle, to ensure she would have enough pumpkin fillings for tarts, pies, cookies, and cakes for the upcoming thanksgiving harvest festival.

Since the office was closed on sundays, Gareth offered his assistance for the pumpkin recycling project. The couple was hard at work with the little bell over the entrance door rang.

In walked a woman who was clearly from out of town. She was wearing "normal" clothes, as opposed to the steampunk finery everyone in town wore. This was not unusual in itself, lots of guests from out of town came to try Jessica's delicious baked goods. But this woman seemed to have an aura of bitterness around her and was drinking from a bottle of very expensive bottled water. "Can I speak to the manager please?" The woman called out in a pompous tone.

"Hello, I am the manager" Jessica said as she approached the woman.

The strange woman's dour expression suddenly changed into a wide grin. "Pleased to meet you! I am the world-famous Hani Vari, Better known on the internet as 'The Food Lady'! I'm here to offer you a fabulous deal!" Ms. Vari extended a hand bedecked with long, fake fingernails.

Jessica glanced down at her own hands, which were elbow-deep in pumpkin guts. Ms. Vari withdrew her hand and prattled on "As I'm sure you already know, people pay MILLIONS to advertise on my blog, but today, I want to sell my products through your quaint little shop!"

For the first time ever, Jessica was mad at her husband for including the Cake and Kettle in the town's tourism brochure. "I make all the products sold in this shop in the back room, from fresh, local ingredients. I don't need any-"

"But my products are all GMO-free, gluten-free, and They are all organic! Normally I charge $1,000,000 dollars to sell these, but I'm only going to charge you $900,000!" Jessica hadn't had time to check her income statements, but she knew even with hers and Gareth's income combined there was no way they could afford this. Jessica waited for the woman to stop inflating her own ego to speak.

"Look, Even though I run this place, I have a PHD from Miskatonic University in mad science. I have studied GMOs as part of my graduate thesis, and they are far safer than say, a man-eating rosebush." Ms. Vari tried to interject, but Jessica continued. "Furthermore, No one in this little town has that kind of money to burn. And no one in town really cares if something is gluten-free or Paleo, or whatever is the food fad nowadays."

Ms. Vari smirked. "Fine, but you'll be sorry you passed up this offer! It could've made me rich! You! I mean you!" She stormed out the door, nearly tripping over Sir Whiskers on the way out.

"What's her problem?" Gareth asked, popping out from the kitchen.

"You saw her too?" Sir Whiskers said. "Crazy lady demanded to see the mayor and wouldn't believe I was it! Apparently she wants to open an expensive health-food store in town, but we don't have any lots big enough to accommodate her plans."

Gareth glanced out the window to see Ms. Vari getting into an outlandish Escalade. He furrowed his brows and a raincloud suddenly Ms. Vari found herself drenched in rain. No where else in town was getting wet. The door on the Escalade slammed shut, and she sped off, never to be heard from again. "Serves you right for insulting my wife."

[Rose Inverness]

Anna and her three youngest children bustled into the Cake and Kettle, shedding fur-lined velvet capes and quilted canvas jackets as they went, becoming enveloped in the cozy atmosphere.

"Three mini-pumpkin pies, three pumpkin spice lattes but hold the coffee, and one hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick, as well as one maple tea cake," Anna rattled-off, while wiping a nose and turning another's head to keep the youngster from staring at the odd lady being followed by her own personal raincloud. Victoria was the outlier in the food order. Even at 4, her taste-preferences were refined.

Anna continued, "And how are you, Jessica? It feels its been so long since I've seen you but I'm quite certain we just watched the annual 'Felis Silvestris pageant' together... didn't we? You might wonder where my eldest is... and to tell the truth, we aren't quite certain either."

The Inverness family had agreed to keep secret Soelle's actual plans. {She and a dear friend of hers had decided to travel the globe together aboard a ship of possibly-piratical talents, seeking multiple types of treasure as they went. They'd been married before they went, and yet the whole thing had to be hushed, for reasons unknown to any but those they'd lived with.}

[Stormcat]

The town's ever-present time warps prevented Jessica from actually answering that question.

None the less, The bunker in the Aquos family basement proved especially useful during the black friday rampage. Once small business saturday rolled around there were no further reports of injuries, hexes, projectile electronics or spontaneous combustion.

Gareth headed to work the following monday after the thanksgiving weekend. The scent of pine hung heavy in the air, and on his brisk walk to the town hall, he seemed to recall more pine trees than there were before the holiday. "Was there space in the budget for more municipal trees?" He asked Sir Whiskers on his arrival.

"Not in the slightest. The trees you see in the forest nearby just showed up." Sir Whiskers responded, after knocking a pen off the desk. "Well, all the better, it's that time of year and we need to start gathering pine boughs for decoration anyway!"

[Rose Inverness]

The Inverness family had an oakwood stand on the main road selling cranberry sauce, -relish, -juice, -pickles, and -preserves (as well as fresh cranberries).  They'd at some point (potentially during a time warp) arranged to help Mr Starbridge sell some of his produce. The cranberry bog had been particularly forthcoming this year and Gil and Anna had been hard at work finding ways to put the bright red fruits to good use.

They also sold some apples and oranges from their own orchard. A few apple pies doused with freshly dried and grated cinnamon were at home in the pantry, as the kitchen table had been judged 'too vulnerable to cats'. They'd been baked for Anna's and Gilbert's birthdays (Nov 30th and 27th, respectively).

Herbs from the Inverness herb garden were also for sale in the stall in small blown-glass vials. Here there were:

Cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, chocolate mint, regular mint, pineapple sage, eucalyptus, bay leaves, elderberries, marjoram, and several other things.

The stall was heated, by way of having a platform base with a steam-based heating system inside it. It would radiate heat up from the platform so one's feet stayed nice and toasty. The family kept it tucked away in a lockable nook in the outer wall of their art shop and gallery so that pulling it out was not too much trouble, but it was safe from random out-of-towners. Questions were pouring in during their produce sales that day about whether the gallery would be hosting an exhibit soon. Anna handed each a piece of parchment with submission information in script across it, hoping for a few artists to add their works to the pool.