Sophie turned and looked at Adelice. “So? Where are they? These monstrous feathers?”

“A gypsy woman is going to bring them around soon. But I’m in a bit of a bind…” Adelice twisted her hands and smiled.

Sophie sighed and turned back to her sewing. “How much were they?”

“sixhdlskdf…”

Sophie gave Adelice a look. “What was that?”

“Sixhundslfkjsldkfj…”

Glare. “Do you want me to strangle you?”

“Six hundred pounds.”

Sophie shot off the bench, dropping her sewing. “Six hundred-“ She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Breathe, Sophie…” Adelice heard her murmur. “Breathe…” She exhaled and straightened her dress. “Just what kind of feathers did you order?”

“Fikfooten feathers…”

Sophie rolled her eyes heavenward. “You just had to pick out the most expensive feathers in the entire country!”

“They were the only ones I could find!”

“Shh!” Sophie put her finger over her pursed lips. “Do you want to wake Mademoiselle?!”

Adelice slumped onto her bench. “I’m going to have to talk to her anyways. I don’t have nearly enough money for the feathers.”

“You-“ Sophie froze as footsteps were heard above them, then slid onto her seat. “Start working!” She hissed.

Walking down the stairs, Mademoiselle’s bonnet was gone, and her honey-blonde hair was disheveled. The clothes that had been immaculate before were now all wrinkled. “What are you two babbling about?” She groaned, hand on head.

Adelice stood, valiant, and prepared to face her doom. “It’s about Mrs. Mienershaagen’s order…”
“Which one was that?”

“The one with the feathers.”

“Oh, yes, that awful thing. What about it?”

“Well, I went to the market and found some feathers for it…”

Mademoiselle stared at Adelice. “…so? What about these feathers?”

“Well, it was very hard to find feathers at the market, so I ended up ordering some-“ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Mademoiselle grabbed her head and moaned.

“Who is it?!” She yelled, then regretted, whimpering. She limped out to the main room, Adelice following her. She swung the door open and there stood the gypsy woman, a basket of fikfooten feathers on her back. Mademoiselle stared down at the gypsy woman, who was about half her size. “Yes?”

The hag squinted up at her with her one eye. “I’ve come to deliver some feathers.”

Mademoiselle swung her head to look at Adelice. “Did you order these?”

“Um, yes, but-“

“That’ll be 600 pounds.” The hag grinned. Mademoiselle didn’t even seem to notice that the woman only had one tooth.

“600 pounds?!!?”