But Amity only blinked slowly, licked her nose, and then wandered past with marked disinterest.
The beast’s visits were so infrequent and unpredictable, Viv hadn’t spared a moment’s thought for how the cat might regard their baker.
Or maybe Viv trusted the Stone, and there’d never been a danger from the start.
They left the shop, and Viv followed the rattkin as he scampered to the merchant district on the north side.
It took the better part of the morning to gather everything Thimble needed, and Viv found herself thoroughly lost on several occasions. When they visited the mill, she bought flour from the same miller she’d rented the cart from. For a few bits extra, he threw in some empty sacks to carry the jumble of bundles, sealed jars, and pieces of crockery remaining on Thimble’s list.
The rattkin never hesitated, navigating unerringly through a warren of alleys and streets. They visited various shops, and several times, he rapped on the door of a private residence. In one notable case, they visited a bespectacled old man whose house swam with a heady mix of exotic scents. Each time, Thimble tapped his list to request an item of the proprietor, then looked expectantly at Viv until she paid.
List conquered, Viv limped awkwardly to the shop with two flour bags over one shoulder, bulging sacks clenched in a fist, and the rest tucked under the opposite arm. Her lower back was complaining again. Thimble marched before her, clutching an armload of wooden spoons. When they arrived, Viv sidled past Hemington and two other customers into the back and unburdened herself with a sigh of relief.
Thimble immediately set to unpacking and arranging his prizes in the pantry, struggling gamely under the weight of the flour sacks but declining any assistance with a sharp shake of his furry head. Viv shrugged and left him to it.
“Find everything?” asked Tandri.
“Sureseemsto beeverything,” Viv groaned, cracking her spine.
Thimble popped up between them, shocking them both with his longest utterance yet.
“Enough t’ be getting on with.”
Then he returned to his parcels with gusto.
* * *
After massaging awaythe worst of her back pain, Viv took over for Tandri as they served the latest round of customers. Behind the two of them, Thimble hummed tunefully to himself. A clatter of pans and bowls and wooden spoons was followed by much measuring and scraping and stirring.
He quickly appropriated the small table they’d been using as a drying rack, clambered up on the footstool, and began kneading out his dough. A mist of flour drifted around him as he worked.
While the dough rose, he approached with a nervous twitch of whiskers and whispered, “Latte?”
“Thimble, I’ll keep a fresh cup in front of you all day, if you want.”
His whole body wriggled with pleasure.
Later, after all the customers were served, Viv and Tandri watched curiously as he resumed his work. He smoothed out the dough with his new pin, spread a thick cinnamon filling across in a glistening layer, then carefully rolled it into a long cylinder. He sliced it evenly, peeled apart the rolls, and deposited them neatly in a pan.
While the dough rose a second time, he lit the stove, threw fistfuls of sugar into a bowl with butter and milk, and stirred vigorously to make a glaze. A pleasant yeast and sugar smell pervaded the shop.
Once the rolls had risen to his satisfaction, he hopped down to slide them into the side box, then sat on the stool, steepled his fingers, and patiently waited.
The scent that arose from the stove now was impossible to ignore.
“Good gods,” murmured Tandri. “That smells amazing. I almost can’t stand it.”
Viv was about to agree but then looked up as she caught motion from the corner of her eye.
A carpenter, if the shavings in his hair were anything to go by, swayed in the entryway, his expression foggy. He sniffed hugely, then blinked. He just stood there for a minute, glancing quizzically around the shop and at the menu.
“Help you?” asked Viv.
He opened his mouth, closed it, and took another deep lungful.
“I’ll ’ave… whatever it is you ’ave,” he said.
He took the coffee Tandri brewed, paid dreamily, drifted into the dining area, and sat. He absently sipped his drink while staring off into the distance.
