Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“Um…” She cleared her throat, not quite sure how to admit her latest transgression. “Possibly I didn’t add quite enough,” she said hesitantly.
“Well, how much did you add?” May’bell demanded, putting her fists on her meaty hips.
“Um…none?” Penny winced as she admitted it. “I’m really sorry, but I’ve never made this kind of bread before and I—”
“No more excuses!” May’bell held up a hand to shut Penny up. “Head Baker Goone said to give you one chance—which I did—and you made such a mess as I’ve never seen! I’m sending you over to the Head Butcher—let him deal with you.”
“Oh please don’t!” Penny clasped her hands under her chin in a pleading gesture. “There’s a butcher over there that has it in for me. I mean, he wants to hurt me. Please don’t send me over to him! There must be something I can do to help around here that doesn’t have anything to do with actually making the dough!”
May’bell pursed her lips.
“I’d put you on oven duty, ‘cept you’d probably burn the loaves. And it’s clear you ‘ent strong enough to deliver the flour bags to the tables.” She nodded at the spilled flour all over the floor.
“We don’t got a bread girl out front ever since Talula got recycled,” the other woman suggested. “Somebody’s always having to stop their duties to go out and serve whenever customers come by.”
“Well, that’s so.” May’bell nodded as though she was considering it.
“Oh please, please let me be the bread girl!” Penny begged. “I’m a great saleswoman! I can sell bread to anyone and everyone, I swear I can!”
May’bell gave her a funny look.
“It ‘ent like you have to convince folks to buy our bread, y’know,” she pointed out. “We’re the only bakery in the whole Compound. All you got to do is take their food coupons and hand them a loaf of bread.”
“I can do that!” Penny said eagerly. “And then none of you will ever be bothered with customers again—I’ll take care of all of them!” Her heart was beating against her ribs as she made her plea. If only the other woman would listen!
“Well…” May’bell nodded grudgingly at last. “I s’pose we can use another bread girl.” She shook her head. “Go on then. But you’d best stay out front and don’t come back in the bakery. Head Baker Goone ‘ent gonna be too happy when she sees what a mess you made.”
“Thank you! Thank you, thank you!” Penny gabbled. She left the bakery as fast as she could and ran back out into the open porch-like store front filled with the dusky purple loaves…
And ran headfirst into Skrug.
She bounced off the butcher’s broad chest and fell back on her rump on the flour-dusted floor.
“What…who…?” She looked up uncertainly and saw the lipless, snaggletoothed alien grinning down at her.
“Well, well, pretty girly,” he snarled. “I was just comin’ to get some bread to bring home. Didn’t expect to see you again so soon. Ain’t you supposed to be inside baking?”
“No, I’m the new bread girl,” Penny said stiffly, getting to her feet. She brushed herself off as well as she could and took a step back, putting some distance between herself and the huge alien.
“The new bread girl, eh? And what’s that like?” Skrug asked, still leering at her.
“I just stand here on the uh, front porch of the bakery and take people’s food coupons and give them loaves of bread,” Penny explained. “So how many loaves do you need?” she asked, trying to sound professional.
“Just two for now.” The butcher held out two blood stained coupons which had pictures of loaves of bread printed on them. Penny took them carefully from him, not wanting to touch either his bloody fingers, or the bloody parts of the vouchers he was holding.
“Let’s see now, which ones do I want?” Skrug started to paw through the purple loaves with his long, bloody fingers but Penny stopped him.
“No, wait—I’m the only one who’s supposed to touch the bread!” she exclaimed in alarm. “Also, I’m the only one allowed here in the, uh, the front porch area,” she added, thinking fast.
Skrug glared at her.
“Says who?”
“Says Head Baker Goone,” Penny said promptly, hoping she wouldn’t get in trouble for taking her new supervisor’s name in vain. “She says nobody who doesn’t work here can come in. You just give me your tickets, er, coupons, and I give you the loaves. That’s it. So please back up.”
She made a shooing gesture to the huge alien to edge him out of the storefront.
Skrug backed out of the small space, a scowl on his ugly, snaggletoothed face.
“All right, pretty girly, I’ll stay back for now,” he said as Penny handed him the two loves of bread he’d touched and left bloody handprints on. “But I won’t stay back forever. ‘Cause we’ll be seein’ a lot of each other, you and me.”