Passing as Elias - By Kate Bloomfield Page 0,29
there as soon as possible. It now belonged to her, and George would be gone for several months, which meant she could do as she pleased.
She smiled when she saw the familiar sign come into view hanging above the door. When she reached the doorstep she pulled out the key, unlocked the door, and stepped into the dark shop. The bell tinkled, and the smell of familiar herbs reached her nostrils and it was amazingly welcoming. However, at the same time it was immensely saddening, for it reminded her of her dear Professor, who she missed so much. A fine layer of dust had settled upon the counters, and bottles, so Elizabeth decided that she might do a bit of dusting before she opened the shop, for it was still before eight o’clock in the morning.
She opened the curtains, swept the floor, and dusted the shelves and jars that lined the walls. When the clock tower chimed, she turned the sign on the door to let people know that they were back open. Elizabeth was extremely excited. Her own shop. She wanted to make Professor de Bard proud.
Elizabeth stood behind the counter, measuring ingredients, and putting them into little bags. Next she busied herself crushing spine of lionfish into a fine powder. It was ten o’clock before Elizabeth realized that she had not had a single customer. The apothecary usually always had someone in it. But that was when Professor de Bard was alive, she reminded herself. Elizabeth suddenly realized that the people who walked past the shop did not bother to look at it to see if it was open. That is it, Elizabeth thought, they are assuming it is closed because they know of the Professors death.
Elizabeth had a sudden idea. She raced into the laboratory and snatched up a roll of parchment. Elegantly, she wrote the words ‘UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT’ in large letters. She then turned to the corner of the room where the model skeleton was standing. She carefully hoisted the model skeleton over her shoulder and made her way to the shop front.
People in the street stared at her as she put the skeleton next to the door, right under the apothecary sign. She stuck the ‘UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT’ sign to the skeletons hand and smiled at her genius. Hopefully this would attract people’s attention.
It worked. People stared at the skeleton as they walked by. Some small boys tried to steal it, but Elizabeth chased them off, and they ran down the street howling with laughter. It was mid day before the first person entered the shop. It was a strapping young man in a rather smart suit.
‘Good day, Sir.’ Elizabeth said cheerily. She wanted to make a good impression on her first customer. She had served hundreds of people in the past before, but this was very different.
‘Good day.’ He drawled, in a bored sort of voice, looking around at the shelves, ‘is the new apothecary available? I must to speak to him regarding a remedy for my wife.’
‘Oh, yes Sir.’ Elizabeth took a deep breath, ‘I can help you with that.’
He eyed her beadily, ‘All right then. My wife is seven months pregnant, and is experiencing nausea and back aches. I need something to stop her incessant moaning.’
Elizabeth laughed before she realized that it had not been a joke, ‘Of course, Sir.’ Elizabeth stepped out from behind the counter to join the gentleman on the main floor, ‘we have belladonna extracts over here. Your wife can rub them on her abdomen to get rid of the sickness – however, this doesn’t work in all cases, and so I would only recommend a small amount as a trial. If your wife is in quite a lot of discomfort I can recommend Triopiates, though she must not take more than fifty milligrams. However you might want to know that there are some side effects such as giddiness.’
‘What about side effects on the baby?’
‘We have not yet discovered any side effects, though tests are still being run, as it is a relatively new drug.’
‘All right, well … I suppose it will have to do. Can I get enough to last the remaining two months of her pregnancy?’
‘Of course sir.’ Elizabeth gave a smile and a nod. Triopiate was quite expensive, and this sale of a two months supply would be quite a nice amount.
‘No more than fifty milligrams a day.’ Elizabeth reminded him, ‘The pill is to be taken orally in the morning, with breakfast.’
Elizabeth packaged