Chapter Sixteen: Mrs Berry, I Presume?
Dear Nettie,
It's high time I paid this Mrs Berry a visit. Don't worry, I'm not going to fight her, I'm doing it for my little girl.
*whispering*
Mal said she's a witch.
Babe, since when have you started believing anything that comes out of that boy's mouth?
Shh, you never know about these sort of people. What do you think, Grunkle?
I say we give her a chance.
I think that's your stomach talking, dear.Sweet Treat lives up to its name. As soon as you walk through the door the smell of fresh bread and sweet things hits your nose and you can't stop your mouth watering. Like a herb induced dream you wander from shelf to shelf, greedily taking free samples and licking all your fingers clean. That's before you've even got to the counter where the most biggest cake with every imaginable topping sits and you're forced to press your face against the glass to look at the five figure price tag. It's a shocker this woman isn't a millionaire by now.
Malcolm, have you any experience with baking?
The amount of parties we host at ours there's a cake baked almost every other day.
Oh, good, you can be my little helper.
I've never seen anyone mix so slow, this is going to take all day.
Slow? My dear boy, how do you propose we go?
Slap everything together and give it a whiz through the mixer.Mrs Berry looked scandalised.
No, good old elbow grease has always been the way.She gently folds the mixture, adding in blueberries and kneading the purple dough so it was soft and elastic, not sticky.
Next she had Mal and Star shape the dough into balls and poked holes in the middle forming the bagel we all recognise.
Simple, really, Mrs Berry said, placing the bagels onto a baking tray and sliding it into the oven.
The bagels rose in the oven, permeating the little kitchen with the delicious aroma of blueberries.
This is real baking, Mrs Berry said.
No secret witchy ingredients?
None. Please, tuck in.
How is it?It was one bite, one bite and I couldn't wait to take another and another. It's soft and chewy, the blueberries melted in my mouth and I could feel everyone's eyes on me, expecting an answer.
Mrs Berry, if we weren't short of space at home I'd adopt you right away.
That's lovely, dear.
After that it was clear we had to take a number of the best sellers home with us. I won't be sharing the bill with you, but let's just say I will not be retiring for many years to come. And Star, she forgave me seeing as I had no qualms over her bakery idea. I still had to act like a space mazey captain for her aspiration though.
Love, Kessy H Chant.
