Christine had been having a lovely time alone after sending Ellie to the market. She heard the little bell saying someone had arrived and kept her legs up on the desk.

"Welcome to Pennyfeather's Papers! I am Pennyfeather the owner of this shop. If you are looking for something in particular, let me know!" She called out without checking who it was. She had a glass of wine and was reading a book called Flatland with a curious and troubled face.

She kept an ear out though in case the person sounded like they were going to cause trouble or if it were more than one wanting to find a private shop they would know would be mostly empty to get up to some business.

Edward had been walking around the town for the last 30 minutes maybe 45 he wasn't sure. He'd lost count due to being deep in thought. His business was what he spent most of his time doing and it was time to grow it as best he could. Work had taken off and now he was looking at taking on an apprentice or two to help with the workload.

His thought process was that by the time they had been trained up there would hopefully be enough work for the three of them.

He walked in through the bookstore door of the woman who employs his sister. He heard the woman speak but didn't pay too much attention but noticed she had a glass of wine and was too indulged in her book to pay much attention to him otherwise. He glanced round the store before settling at two different areas. One was business books and the other one was almost crafts but he hoped he might be able to pick up another skill that would benefit him and his company

Christine was quiet for a while as she read more but then leaned back to try to get a view of him but she had no idea what aisle he was in. "Are you alright, sir? Do you need help finding something in particular?" She hmmed as she sipped her wine.

Something stalked the man, and before he knew it, a bundle of white fluff meowed as it gave him a disappointing look. Archimedes the feline flicked his tail and approached the stranger in his home.

"If you need my help, let me know. It's my job." She said in a cheerful singsong voice.

Edward heard the patron call out. "Yeah im OK. I'm just having a browse through your collection of business books and your Craft books"

He felt the presence of something behind him and noticed the white cat as he knelt down to look at books on a shelf. He picked up two on business and one on craft that he thought might benefit him

He came up to the counter and stopped for a moment "I recognise you. Have I come across you before?"

Christine sat up straighter when he came by and reached out for the books. She rose a brow and finally gave the man a real look over. Suddenly, her smile turned more amused. "Ah, I believe I know where. During the time I visited my ward's, Miss Ellie's, family home. I was trying to prove to her mother I was not someone who would cause her trouble. I may be unusual, but I could give her a good possible future and definitely treated her far better than her last employer from what I hear. "

She checked the books and wrote down a little note to keep track of her inventory. She told him the price but looked over at him again. "I'm giving you a friends and family discount. But I do not recall your name."

Edward handed over the money and smiled "ahh thank you ma'am for the discount. My name is Edward, Ellie is my little sister. She sometimes comes by my workshop. She's encouraging me to grow my business and hopefully take on an apprentice"

He nodded. "I don't recall you coming round but my mother mentioned it to me that you had been round and was happy that my little sister had found good employment"

He continued "I do apologise i didn't put two and two together when I saw the name. Its been a rather long day today"

Christine smiled as she took the money and nodded. "It is quite alright, and nice to meet you Edward. I wish you well with your business' growth. It's always an uncertain thing when one comes to such a decision. And when you are ready I wish you well on finding an apprentice."

She looked very pleased, "I'm glad she said that. I know she was very uncertain about me at first. I do want to help Ellie to grow and be a respectable woman that others can look up to." Better than herself, she thought.

"Ah. Don't worry about it, it wasn't important. I'm glad to have met you. Please feel free to come any time and ask me anything if you ever feel the need. I did promise to her that I would make you all confident in me as her employer and teacher.'

Edward "sadly I had no choice in the matter. My Journeyman died and I had to find work. The family did me a good deal on the equipment and I put my savings into it to start it up but like most things in this day and age. Things are evolving and we must adapt to change. I need to learn new skills to grow my business."

Edward thought for a moment "yeah my mother can be like that. She meant nothing by it its just she seen the damage that happened to my little sister by her previous employer and doesn't want her hurt again but she was happy with you"

He smiled "im sure i will. I love to learn new skills as they help me grow and become a better person"

Christine looked towards him, "Sorry for the loss. I hope you manage to get on top of this and it goes well. Luckily for me, books don't change much with time, they just find better and easier ways to make them." She smiled slightly.

"I can understand. I wanted her to feel comfortable with our strange situation. Having a woman be generous to a girl without self gain could be strange." Though she certainly was just wanting to have the girl be dressed as nicely as her and loved the joy it brought.

She glanced at him and smirked. She was bored of learning things, but didn't say it. "That's wonderful. If you need any more books, let me know. I may even let you simply borrow them as long as you keep them in good shape. Knowledge is a gift that's free to give, right?"

Edward smiled "lucky for me, I'm quite adaptable. I've just taken an contract for repairing canvas tents for the British army so there's alot of work there which is why I'm looking for an apprentice"

Edward nodded "i can appreciate that greatly. Ellie was helping me for a little while when I first set up my workshop to get started then she found work with Yourself. I'm glad she has someone who is willing to help her because she is a rare gem in life"

Edward nodded "thank you for the offer but I always like to support other businesses. I may come to you and ask if you are able to track down books for me?"