Apologies for the delay, and now on with the story!
Madame Tibaldi felt the uneven tread of the single well worn step under foot as she entered a large, cluttered room. The marble step was so worn in fact that she nearly lost her balance. That she was looking everywhere except where she was stepping was also partly to blame – yet perfectly understandable for the room, oh the room! The wondrous room! Everywhere Madame looked there was something that caught her eye and fired her curiosity. To describe it all will not be easy, but here goes -
The floor – what could be seen of it - was made of white marble tiles that matched the worn step. The center of the room was dominated by an open square of display cases with curved glass tops – the type of cases seen in confectioners shops, but these did not contain candies. Instead they were filled with small bottles, jars, boxes and tins of ointments, oils, tinctures, other fluids and powders. Some of the items were common things, such as Sweet Oil, and some a bit more uncommon, Deadly Nightshade for example, and some, well some must be some sort of gag gift Madame thought – Eye of Newt!? then, gazing about the place Madame had some second thoughts about the gag gift conclusion.
Around the outside of the room on three sides were assorted glass front cases with books and things. Along the fourth wall was a lab setup that could only be imagined by a mad scientist. Something was brewing and bubbling along, but what? Madame could not even begin to guess. As Madame made her way around the room, taking in all the sights at the invitation of Mr. Brewster, her mind began to process the space she was observing more clearly. The woodwork was black throughout. The general feel was Victorian, and yet also older. When she looked up to see the ceiling, instead she saw a skylight several stories up. The floors above were as if in a library with books, books and more books lining the walls. A spiral staircase was in one corner. A more standard type began on the ground floor to the left of the entrance, she had almost missed it because of the cabinetry built into it. Crosswalks cut through the air on the floors above so one did not have to run all the way around to get where they needed to go. It was altogether marvelous.
Looking about, she backed into the largest crystal ball she had ever seen – a full yard across. No harm done – it weighed far too much for Madame to move it even a tiny amount. As she gazed into the enormous crystal, wondering what might be revealed to her, she found other eyes gazing back! Stepping back a bit, she looked around the ball to see her host and another man, and another and finally another. Remembering the sign outside the store she surmised that here were the other Brewsters and Mr. Crackstone – but who was who?
Her Mr. Brewster – oh listen, yes she already was thinking of him as her Mr. Brewster – Absalom, handled the introductions. His elegant self was matched by the first man next to him – almost as tall, just as elegantly attired with a head of dark, wavy hair, slightly receding hairline – a touch of gray at the temples, a most distinguished profile with a Roman nose and thin mustache, dressed much like Mr. Brewster with a matching stickpin, but his cravat and waistcoat were both black, giving him a somewhat more severe appearance than her Mr. Brewster. Still, the charm was the same when he said, "how do you do."
Her Mr. Brewster introduced him as his brother – as if she couldn't guess – he was Mr. Zachariah Brewster. A pair of somewhat watery eyes belonged to their uncle – a bit stooped at the shoulders, white hair, his clothes also dark, somehow older and less elegant, this was Mr. Obadiah Brewster. He did not say much, but made companionable if absent minded sounds and turned to go about his business,, which is to say, he went to a well worn comfy chair and sank into it. In mere moments a rumbly snoring sound could be heard.
The last man was much shorter, and best described as round. Two large, sad round eyes peered from his round little face, his body seemed round as well, even though he did not appear fat – he just had rounded shoulders and a tubby round tummy but otherwise was not heavy. Absalom introduced him as Mr. Bartholomew Crackstone. His suit was black, he wore a black tie instead of a cravat, and had no waistcoat. He said "Hello" in a soft voice before shuffling off through a dark curtain at the back of the room. This left Madame with the two Brewster brothers, their twinkling eyes and expectant looks. They apparently knew why she was there, even if it still wasn't all that clear to Madame herself.