The Christmas Mission

Chapter 9

"Each night he stands before

the kitchen island, begins again

from scratch: chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg,

he beats, he folds"

-- Susan Rich, "A Poem for Will Baker"

Ruby crept down the hallway feeling refreshed after her shower and small meal. Putting on her old clothes had been uncomfortable, but she felt much cleaner than she had when she had first arrived.

Ruby glanced around the hallway at the other wooden doors with numbers labeled on them. Other than her creaking footsteps, the hallway was completely silent, and she wondered if she were the only one staying at the inn.

She emerged from the hallway back into the vacant lobby where Carrie still sat occupied at her desk. At the sound of Ruby's approaching footsteps, she looked up, her eyes widening with excitement.

"Oh, Ruby, you're here!" she exclaimed, placing away whatever paperwork she had been working on. "I see Mary delivered the message just fine."

"Yes," Ruby replied, approaching Carrie's desk. Her mind went back to the odd young girl who had appeared to be the maid. She still wondered why Carrie had employed such a young girl.

"I just finished getting you a job," Carrie announced with excitement.

"Oh, really? Where will I be working?" Ruby wondered.

"The bakery," she said.

"The bakery?" Ruby asked. She supposed she wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but the bakery had not been a place she had ever thought of working.

"Please tell me you know how to cook," Carrie begged.

Ruby glanced down at her ragged shoes. "Um...I mean, I think so. I used to cook with my mother when I was little..."

"Oh, that will do!" Carrie assured her. "You will arrive promptly at nine in the morning tomorrow to begin working."

"Where is the bakery located?" Ruby wondered.

"You passed it on the way here. Get back onto the road and follow the smell of chocolate. You'll run into it," Carrie advised.

"Okay," Ruby replied, a bit skeptical about the whole ordeal. "Thank you. May I return to my room now?"

Carrie nodded. "I hope it's fitted to your liking."

"Oh, yes, very," Ruby assured her, slowly making her way out of the lobby and back to her room. Nervousness began to overtake her as she worried for her job, for completing her task, and finding out information. How could she do it all with barely a month to spare?

"Miss Ruby! It's time to get up!" came a call from outside Ruby's door the following morning. Ruby immediately recognized the voice as Mary's, and she slowly crawled out of her warm bed and stumbled to the door.

As she suspected, Mary stood at the door with a wide grin on her face.

"Miss Carrie told me to fetch you," Mary explained.

"Thank you. I'll be out in a moment," Ruby promised, shutting the door without another word.

She had gone out into town the prior evening to explore the town. She had found the bakery, of course, as well as several other quaint shops. She longed to purchase a large meal, but she had received no money yet. Dinner had consisted of whatever was in her hotel room.