Anne looked around the marketplace.  In her haste to leave before sunrise, she had forgotten to grab the simplest of necessities… food.  She did; however, have eleven gold pieces and five silvers.  If she spent wisely, it should last her at least two weeks, so a job must be had.  Dressed as a man in the clothes she had stolen from the laundry, she opened the large jacket to see the gardening boy’s name just above the inner pocket.  She smiled thinking she should have known the clothes belonged to Henry.  He was always forgetting to pick up his laundry once it was cleaned.  Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out a silver coin and proceeded to the baker’s.  She was sure he would have some delicious muffins or Danishes warm and ready to eat.  Besides, he had tables in front of his place and the walk from the manor to the market had made her incredibly tired. 

Once in the bakery the warm aroma of fresh bread, rolls, muffins, and dozens of various other pastries filled Anne’s nose but further emptied her stomach.  As she allowed her eyes to rover over each delicious item the bake shop had to offer and hoped Dermot wouldn’t recognize her.  The old man, Dermot, had been selling bread at the market for years and was always one to hand her and her sister free cookies whenever their mother stopped in.  If anything, he and Haru, the florist, were the two people at market who knew her best, so she held her breath as she moved to the counter.

“Excuse me sir, may I have one of your rolls and a muffin,” Anne asked in her best masculine voice, which wasn’t bad at all.

Dermot turned from the counter where he had been adding the chocolate stripes to freshly baked éclairs.  “Of course.  What sort of roll and muffin would you like?”  His eternally cheery disposition always made Anne smile, but this time she chose to purse her lips and imagined what would happen to her if she were caught.  Then, with a steady hand she pointed to the roll she would like and told him a blueberry muffin would be fine.  Again, Dermot smiled.  “So, you new around here?”

Anne wasn’t expecting any questions and almost gave herself away when she said no, but quickly recovered when she saw the inquiring look on Dermot’s face.  “I mean to say I have been here once before as a child and thought it the most wonderful place on earth.”

 To that Dermot laughed, “I felt the same way when I first visited here.  Then two months later, I gave up my career as a law enforcer, moved here, and became a baker.”  Anne already knew the whole story, and it was that knowledge which helped her to answer his question.  “So, are you a sailor then?  I must say you don’t look like one, but then again you never know these days,” he handed her the roll and muffin in a small brown bag.

“Yes, of course.” Anne thought that was a brilliant idea. She could become a sailor! “ We are only here a few hours, so I am sorry but, I should probably be on my way.  How much do I owe you,” she looked to the old man expectantly. 

Dermot waved his arms about in a dismissive manner.  “Ah, don’t worry about it.  I’m sure you’ll be back again and when you are, perhaps you can treat me sometime.”

Anne smiled.  “Well, thank you, Mr…” she pretended not to know his name.

“Dermot.  Everyone just calls me Dermot.  And what may I ask is your name, my boy?”

A simple question to which Anne hadn’t an answer, so she chose the first thing that popped into her head, “An… Andrew.  Yes. My name is Andrew.  Thank you for the roll and the muffin, Dermot, but I really must be on my way.”  With that being said, Anne ran from the bakery, and though extremely exhausted, felt it best to keep moving.  

Andrew, she thought to herself, was a divine name for her altogether, and she was quite pleased with how quickly it came to her.  As she picked at her muffin with her thumb and index finger, she thought more on what Dermot had said about her being a sailor.  It was a grand idea.  If she found a ship in need of help, she would receive free passage from this dreadful place.  Of course, she knew absolutely nothing of sailing, but she would learn all there was to know if she could just get on board.  With that decision made, the only thing left to do was to find a ship.  Smiling, Anne made her way to the docks.

When Thaniel finally caught his breath and came back to his senses, he ran from Anne’s room to find Reyna.  He went first to their bedroom, only to find a young girl making the bed.  Then, he returned to the kitchen, which only bestowed him strange looks from Verna and her staff.  He also searched the grounds, the linen room, and the sewing room.  Finally, he decided to ask Ethana if she had any idea where he could find her mother.  Slowly, he walked up the stairs hoping he didn’t say anything to upset his overly sensitive daughter while attempting to discover the whereabouts of his wife.  Just down the hall and to the left of Anne’s room was Ethana’s, and finding himself before her door, he gave the heavy wood a soft rap. 

“Yes,” Ethana’s voice came from the other side in the form of a question.

“Ethana, it’s your father, would you mind if I came in,” Thaniel was leaning against the wall with his left hand on the door.

“Oh, yes,” Ethana opened the door.  “Father, Mother and I have been going over what I will wear to the duke’s palace today.  It would help a great deal if we could have your opinion.  I just want to make sure I look positively wonderful.”  The entire time Ethana spoke as Thaniel entered her room, he heard not a single word.  He was busy looking at his wife, who was sitting on the edge of Ethana’s bed, and wondering how he was going to break the news to her.  “So, Father, what do you think of this,” Ethana was holding up a white dress with little pink flowers trimming the skirt.

Thaniel wasn’t really looking at the dress but through it.  He was entirely engulfed in his own worries.  “Anne is gone.”

Reyna stood.  “Thaniel, what do you mean she’s gone?  Have you sent her to market?”

Angry Reyna didn’t seem to quite understand the scope of what he was saying, Thaniel erupted into a full rage.  “No, Reyna, she hasn’t merely gone to market!  She has left home, quit us, run off forever!  We were too hard on her last night.  I should not have whipped her and knowing our daughter as we do, we should have supported her last night!”

Reyna sighed before she spoke; not wanting to excite Thaniel any more than he was already.  “Thaniel, I understand you’re upset that she’s apparently gone, but where can she possibly go, really?  I’m sure she will come to her senses in due time and return home.  As for her punishment, I think it was truly the best thing we could have done for her.  If she does not learn what it is to be in her place, then she will never learn.  Now, let’s get back to the issue at hand, and help Ethana dress for tea at the duke’s,” Reyna turned to Ethana, who had dropped the dress at her feet, and was rubbing her arm nervously.

Thaniel couldn’t believe what he had just heard.  He had thought Reyna would help him find their eldest daughter, but she seemed only to care about the possibility of marrying Ethana to the duke’s son.  She seemed completely unconcerned by Anne’s disappearance. 

Upset, angry, and afraid, Thaniel tossed Anne’s note on Ethana’s bed just before his wife.  “Here, read this.  I hope it shames you as much as it has shamed me.  Now, I am going to look for our daughter before she gets hurt.  If you help me, wonderful!  However, if you do not, and she ends up in some sort of irreversible trouble, I’ll have you know, I will blame you!”  Thaniel stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.

Reyna had never been so shaken in her whole life but felt it was her duty to tend to their youngest daughter instead of wasting her time searching for the eldest.  “I do believe your father is overreacting.  This is probably just another one of Anne’s jokes, and she will be home before nightfall.  I’m sure there is absolutely no reason to worry.” 

Reyna picked up the dress Ethana had dropped upon hearing of her sister’s disappearance.  “Hmm… I do believe this is the best dress to wear for tea.  You’ll be beautiful.”

Ethana touched the airy fabric of the dress and began to wish she were out with her father looking for Anne.  She didn’t believe this was one of Anne’s jokes, nor did she believe her sister would ever come home unless she was forced to do so.  Ethana, unlike her mother, believed Anne would get as far away from town as possible and would not look back.