When she nodded, he continued, “Farvington is my name, and I hail from —shire. I am in dire need of a reproduction of this artifact. It was entrusted to me not a day ago with the most particular and demanding instructions.”
His thin, wrinkly neck strained against the folds of his cravat as if trying to escape confinement.
“I must get it printed before the sun sets this very evening,” he continued, “or I will not be welcome back among my fellow brethren.
“You see,” he continued, noticing Ella’s dubious expression, “it is because the document must be kept as secure as possible. If I cannot complete this task, they will assume the very words on these pages have already spilled into the night air. It has happened once too often.”
Ella thought the man talked most oddly, and she didn’t understand at all, but her eyes flickered with curiosity. “Why, that is most urgent, indeed, and will require much skill and haste. You have come to an exceptional place for both,” she boasted.
She reached for the document, but he hesitated, staring down at her and then tapping his fingers on the parcel. “You are a young lass, however, not at all the Totts described to me by the villagers. Is he about, kind miss?”
She looked away from his object and back up to his green eyes. “Of course, sir, I will fetch my father for you straight away. Please, have a seat inside, and we will assist you with this matter to your satisfaction.”
Within minutes, the senior Totts came hastily from his afternoon ablutions and extended a moist hand to the seated Farvington.
“Thank you, daughter,” he told Ella, raising his eyebrows and clearing his throat until she crossed the threshold and escorted herself outside.
“Now, I understand from my apprentice that this matter requires both delicacy and privacy . . .” she heard him say before she swung the creaky door closed.
Ella kicked a passing frog and harrumphed. Typical, was it not, that she was excluded from the most fascinating request ever encountered at their shop? Possibly in all of Haven? Why must these unfair circumstances always happen to her? Surely her father would eventually require her assistance to meet the demanding requirements?