A Different Tale
Prolouge
Mrs. Lovett's P.O.V
My heals click click clicked against the cobblestone streets of London. My long and lovely dress, that would seem like rags to any other, fluttered in it's forest green wonder in the chill of the wind. I had my hands all tied up holding boxes of fresh cat meat that I bought from a broker in town. It was costly, but I hoped that it would bring in a scarce few more than my usual: Zero. There was scarcely a costumer to ever even walk within five paces of me meat shop: Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium, but that didn't stop me from trying. I knew that one day, hopefully, I'd get at least one costumer. As soon as I unlocked the door to the shop, I got to work on making some pies.
"The Worst Pies In London" I'd call them to anyone that would care to listen, mostly to my upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Barker. Lucy, her first name was, married at a young age to a young man named Benjamin Barker, such a sweet man he was, had a fancy for him I did. They had a daughter too, Johanna, she called her, sweet Johanna with little yellow hair waving from her tiny head. She was but six years of age, living without a father, and barely had her mother. Lucy was one to mope around, and me, always wanting my own kin, took in little Johanna and helped Lucy raise her, although her real mum wasn't much of help.
Sometimes I liked to think that Johanna really was my lit'le girl, and Mr. Barker was my husband. I was widowed at an early time in my marriage to Albert Lovett, me darling Albert. He loved to stuff him face, that one did. Stuffed it 'til there was no room left in him, his heart gave out. Honestly, I couldn't say I ever truly was in love with the man, it was our friendship from our young years, through our families. Heh, he was a real sweet fella, but me heart always belonged to another, only Lucy snagged him first, and Albert had me.
Bang! Bang! I pounded the dough to the counter and wiped the sweat from me forehead, humming to myself about how horrible the pies were when the door opened. In stepped lit'le Johanna holding on to her lit'le dolly, skipping merrily along the way. She was such a sprightly thing, very chipper and always willing to help her ill minded mother. Poor thing she was, poor dear living like this. If only her father would get back soon, that'd be nice.
"Elo, love." I greeted her as she sat down at the ever-so always vacant table. Looking up from my work, I noticed that she hadn't been skipping, but stomping a bit merrily. "What's a'matta, dearie?"
"Mummy won't awaken." she spoke grumpily, kicking her feet against her seat. "I tried everything, but I don't understand."
I smiled meekly, and put a meat pie in front of her. "I'll go check on 'er, love, don't ya worry yer lit'le head of." I patted her head and opened the side door which led to the upstairs steps, wiping me hands on me apron the whole way up the metallic clinging steps. Swiftly as I could, I walked across the little levels platform and opened the door to her room, which used to be Mr. Barker's Barber Shop. It was pretty vacant, seemed as though no one lived there. Two wired beds sat on each end of the room: one occupied, a vanity with a dirty mirror propped up on it, and a chest opposite of the occupied bed. That's where Lucy was. She laid with her eyes closed and facing the ceiling and her right arm flailed over the side of the bed.
"Mrs. Barker?" I called to her in a whisper tone. My attempts to awaken her were fruitless since she didn't even stir at the sound of my voice. She laid there, and from a point, it hadn't even seemed like she was breathing. As I rounded the edge of bed, I noticed something a little queer. Not to far from Lucy's hand laid a bottle, propped on its side and spilt. "Mrs. Barker?" I called her name again, and truly she wasn't breathing. Cautiously I picked up the vile and held it close to me eyes, it had a danger symbol on it. Lucy had taken injected herself with poison.
"Good, Lord..."
I backed up and turned as I hit the door, racing down the steps and back into me shop where lit'le Johanna sat with her head down, kicking her feet less violently and humming a lit'le song about birds. Curious how she knew all those dif'rent types. She litfed her head as she heard the lit'le tinkle of the lit'le bell and smiled up at me.
"Did she awaken, Miss Nellie?" she asked curiously, she was very bright, but new not much of anything related to death.
"Yer mummy, love, she...she's goin' on a lit'le trip for a while, to visit a good friend of ours." I tried to put it as nicely as you could put the sense of death.
"Who is she going to visit?" asked poor Johanna.
I sighed and sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "To see the good Lord, she is." I said smiling weakly.
Johanna willingly smiled back. "Alright!" she chimed. "When will I see her next?"
"Not for a while, love, not for a good while..."
And I wasn't lying at all. Lucy was a virtuous woman and would definitely be greeted personally by the Lord, although suicide might damper her repu'ation with the good Lord. And, Johanna would one day again see her mother. But it killed me to see the lit'le one, she looked so much like Lucy, had only hints of the Mr. in her. She was so happy, and would later on, in time, realize her sweet mother's demise. I wouldn't break it to her, she'd find out on her own, that was plain and simple to understand, Johanna was a bright girl. Mr. Barker would be back from him prison trip, cause the man wasn't sentenced to life, he wasn't. Even if he was, he'd find a way out, Mr. Barker was very intelligent.
Johanna smiled up at me brightly and said, "Do we get to say goodbye?"
"Of course, love." I said to her, squeezing her shoulder."Let's go walk o'er and tell the priest abou' yer mum's lit'le trip."
We stood up and walked across the lane to the Church, where I explained to Father about Lucy's lit'le "trip" and arranged for a funeral in the next few days. Not many came to her farewell ceremony, and lit'le Johanna was confused on why exactly Lucy was being placed in the ground in a coffin.
"All in good time, love." I explained. "Let's go back home."