Dusk was long past and Anya had found herself among the people she was so fascinated about before. The walk around was refreshing, and the basket was full. Gladly, she had her own pound of coins to suffice. She was told that she was a guest, however, sometimes it was hard to get by here, so respectfully… she bought her own bread and apples. Shelly told her to be frugal about it, so she rationed.

Right now, Anya was accompanied and the smell of the bread was making her hungry. A small rumble made the couple stifle back a chuckle. She couldn't help herself but join in.

"It's been a long day." Anya spoke.

"Ah, no fuss about that. Supper is soon." Charlot so sweetly said, opening the gate door for the ladies first, and bowed.

"Oh but you don't have to~" "Oh hush! In you get." Hannah ushered.

Anya stepped in first and got to see this quaint little courtyard that was lovingly adorned with light green vines. A wood table sat at the center by a staircase, with two wide benches. A tiny faucet sat to the wall on the far left and a series of doors to homes here took the second and first floors with neat little flower pots. Simple, yet lovely… It began with the loving couple and then a small little woman came down, wiping her hands dry with her apron.

"There are our two lovebirds~ oh my, who is this lovely thing?"

"Anya Flavershem." Sir Charlot gleefully stated in her stead. Anya smiled at the lady.

"Hello- Good evening, I.. erm~ It got too dark for me to walk back to my caravan."

"Encouraged her that it is wise to wait it out until morning!" Hannah brought up.

"Oh, a pleasure, dear, very wise of you to stay in, very wise, indeed. Gladly, in time for supper. We'll meet in the kitchen, yes? You may call me Mary, love."

"Um…" Anya was rather dazzled and Hannah took her food basket.

"You can bunk with me." Hannah offered. "There is a day bed in my bedroom, so the floor won't be a matter. Go and wash up, I'll be back down in a bit~" she said as she ascended the stairs.

Anya smiled and felt a nice little touch to her shoulder and she looked to Charlot who so graciously led her to another door to the left. "We will wash in my shop and be right out~"

"I can just~"

"Oh, tut tut."

Upon opening the door, there was a wide room with a simple mechanical chair at the center, which sported a plain sink, a coin register and lovely shelf for mugs. Anya took things in as Charlot hung his hat, jacket and cane. The shop smelled of some kind of mint, and fresh wood, almost like the smell of trees after a fresh rain. There were small paintings on each side of one door that probably led to his personal lodgings. Wood chairs were propped about for customers… Confidently, he went to the sink and waved to her to come.

"Do not be shy," he then smiled. "…whatever is the matter? You look as though you've seen a ghost."

Anya failed to realize her own expression of estrangement was apparent and shook it off.

"Oh, I was just thinking, that's all." she said with a tired smile, and they washed their hands together in the sink. "So, you're a Barber." Anya struck up a conversation, almost breaking from her accent for a second.

"Ah! Yes, my dear~" his voice was full of laughter. "And you?"

"I am a very messy milk maiden," Anya commented, and they both laughed.

"Oh! All it takes is a bit of practice, as do all occupations," he gave her hope and they dried their hands. "Oh come here now. Take a seat. I will make you presentable."

Anya saw how dusty she was in the mirror and how her hair was starting to fall out. "Sir, I- all right." she gave up on trying to not burden again, but knew it was fruitless at this point.

He assisted her onto the chair, and he took a fresh sheet from the cupboard and wrapped it about her, much to her amusement. For moment, she took in the shop as a whole. The chair she sat in was not the most comfortable, of course after a long while, but it was sturdy and well tended to. The sights and smells made it all so homey, which told her heart that this was right. That unwanted feeling of anxiety was still there if any of this was even real. The water was turned on, and he wet and soaped a towel. Once he set that well in his hand, he turned back to her and helped her to lean back in the chair.

"Close your eyes," Charlot advised before gently washing her face with the towel, getting all that dirt from the day off.

After that, with her face freshened, he took a comb, swept it swift along his sleeve before helping to sit up and untangled her hair from the tie. Anya felt somewhat new to this, however, women hair was more complicated than mens… and she realized that he was combing the knots out of her hair, rather cleanly in fact. With her hair laid straight, he whipped out a ribbon and lightly tied her hair neatly with a bow.

After the sheet was swept off of her, Anya felt urged to sit up at his gentle conviction and they both gazed into the mirror~

"Voila…"

She saw herself in the mirror, almost mistaking that she was looking at some stranger at first. Yet she blinked in realization that it was her. Save for the dust that was gone, her skin looked so clear and radiant, and although her hair was merely brushed and tied back with a white ribbon, it looked regal by how he moved it back.

She recognized this as a charm that typically enhances the beauty of the caster, however, it was cast upon her, flawlessly... Anya sat speechless for a moment, as to not alarm him to this, which seemed like a phenomenon to her.

"Oh... oh ~ my face. Sir, thank you~!" She looked to him completely amazed. "You only wiped things off, but... how?"

Charlot only tilted his head. "Huh? Well... Fine practice, I presume."

Anya smirked at him, bemused, whilst taking his offered hand. "Right,"

Perhaps there was more to this town than what met the eye, after all…

Supper was held in the little home across the courtyard, in a little kitchen where a round wood table held china and olden cutlerly all about. The woman who introduced herself before as Mary, was the wife of Mr. Jeakel Shumoker was giddy at their new houseguest. A funny girl who walked in too late to the market. Their gentleman Barber took it upon himself to adorn her to meet the rest of the scattered Jewish family; Mr. Mann, Mr. Agar and the man of the house, Mr Jeakel himself. Hannah helped prepare the table, providing an extra bowl, and cutlery for Miss Flavershem.

"Where did you say she was going, Hannah?"

"Osterlitch," Hannah delightfully answered. "Suppose she is looking for trade~ she did say she is a milk maid."

"Poor little thing. All on her own?"

"I suppose~ she did not specify. Come to think of it, she is very soft spoken."

"So, we have a guest tonight!" Mr. Jeakel soon came in, tapping his pipe.

"Oh sir Jeakel, do be kind to her. She is very shy!"

"Besides the occasional supper conversation? Oh balderdash, any fair lady caught unawares in the dark deserves a welcome here. We'll keep her safe. Perhaps, she could shed some light on some goings on. Where is the lass?"

"With Charlot." Hannah replied.

Meanwhile, Anya had to keep a tough upper lip, despite how nervous she felt about meeting new people. Charlot once again wore his jacket and her dress that she worked so hard on held more color and less dirt, with hair so neatly combed. Kindly, he allowed her to grasp his arm.

"I'm so nervous…" "Oh? For whatever for?" he asked, puzzled.

"I'm afraid,"

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he smiled. "Now, we're a family here, and quite frankly, my dear… you are already a part of it."

Her smile was faint but she was deeply touched. He held her hand as he told her this and she nodded, with a healed heart from those small words before he lightly knocked on the door and opened it.

"Good evening!" he rang his voice.

"Oh, Good evening, Charlot~" Mr. Jeakel greeted the Barber. "We have a prettied face, I see…"

Anya was coming up from behind Charlot to having all eyes on her. Mary cooed at her direction.

"Oh, look at her, as wide eyed as a caught doe. Do not be afraid, dear."

"No harm, no harm," Charlot encouraged, opening a chair for her and she sat, thankful.

"You've all been so kind," Anya finally found her voice and her chair was pressed in. "…that I honestly don't know what to say~"

Charlot proceeded to sit beside her with Hannah coming to her other side. This elder man, who looked a little meaner, much to her dismay, appeared to be studying her, holding his pipe.

"Bah, no trouble, Miss Anya. Our doors are always open to the weary traveler. Heard you were in a bit of a hurry earlier."

Anya shrunk a little, needing some kind of ruse. Yes, she was afraid… She was afraid of shattering their peaceful world after taking her in so simply. By just a few words. She was far too deep in now, especially Charlot outright mentioning family~ It was becoming harder.

"Oh, well, I was silly by coming too late. But Madam Hannah and this gentleman suggested I stay…and well… here I am."

A bowl of sugared apples were set on the table as were plates of pudding that formed more like a bread pudding. That and these tins were full of some kind of ale. If she remembered well, it was that water was not entirely the safest to drink in this period. Out of curiosity, she tasted it ~ which was nasty result of bitter and sweet, if not a bit grainy. Her heart hurt now seeing how small this meal was and to how they all made room for her still.

"No matter though, dear, there is no need to say much. But we're glad to have you with us tonight." Mary lovingly told Anya, finally seating herself among them.

"Indeed!" was a word that seemed almost chimed in unison.

Anya waited for any cues and found Charlot taking her hand with Hannah warmly taking her other. They were to join in prayer. This was something she hadn't done in a quite a while and graciously followed along when they all bowed their heads.

"Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates varieties of nourishment..." Mr. Jeakel began. "...and the miracles that You have brought us during troubled times-"

"Bring light to our lives," Charlot chimed in.

"As with our safety..." Mary then followed.

"And we thank you for bringing Anya to us tonight, for it is unknown of the dangers that lurk at every corner. In your name, we pray~"

"Shalom ~" they naturally chorused with her voice trailing a second later.

Anya's thoughts were on overload as the family began to pass the apples about. When Charlot passed to her, she paid no complaint and placed some on her dish beside the baked pudding. She forked a bit of the pudding, which had an amount of dry plum and breading. It much like a thick version of thanksgiving dressing, with... barely much flavor. However it was good enough to swallow, despite how dry it was.

"Oh! Do eat it with the apples and cinnamon. It will take the edge off, love." Mary advised.

"It is very good, madame~ It's wonderful after all the walking..." Anya said after swallowing.

"So you have been voyaging, well on your way towards Osterlitch, I've been told." Jeakel prodded, gently.

"Mm," Anya took a moment to swallow again. She knew these sorts of questions would come. "Yes, sir…"

"Are you with your own, here?" Jeakel asked then, which prompted a lot of interest among the lot, Charlot included. Those hooded green eyes caught onto hers when she glanced for a second, and she took a breath.

"For the moment… I, I am meaning to meet a friend halfway." she answered. "Currently off to sell one of our ponies because, well… hence the need to get to the market." Anya fabricated, her smile tight lipped before forcing down another sip of ale.

"Oh, my dear… I am so sorry~" Mary saddened.

"It would seem that our worries were set in the right place." Hannah spoke. "Finding fellow stragglers like yourself all along the way…"

"Osterlitch is a wonderful place," Charlot wistfully explained. "… it's where many families have gone when they had nowhere else to go~"

"Do you think that you might all go there?" Anya innocently asked.

"Ah~" Charlot sadly smiled. "…for the last few months, we haven't been able to try."

"Why not?"

"There is the threat of a storm keeping us here, child." Jeakel replied. "Our job now is staying where we are until it blows over. The fact that you managed to enter the gate is some kind of miracle."

Right then, Anya realized that they were mildly aware of the barrier around them and tried not to look obviously panicked. She had to think for a moment, apparently to be worried with the lot of them, undoubtedly.

"To me, there was… nothing out there. Just a road." she continued as someone was watching through the window, being one Calico cat. "I saw a town nearby, and~"

"Let us not worry her, Mr. Jeakel. Please…" Hannah kindly defended.

Anya neatly set her fork down on her plate and wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin.

"You mustn't mind Mr. Jeakel, yet recently we've all been slightly on edge," Charlot humbly whispered to her.

"Indeed, right, my lad… I meant no ill will, madame. But if you will all excuse me, I wish to retire. The meal was lovely, Mary…" Mr Jeakel soon rose, gave his wife a kiss and placed his cleaned dish in the sink. "Goodnight and goodnight to you, Miss Anya, and feel welcome here."

At that, the old man left through the door into the courtyard again, leaving her with the three others for the time being. Anya tightly drew a breath through her nose, however she was glad that was passed… at least for later. The cat at the window flattened her ears and jumped down from the sill.

Anya felt a pat on her back and shared some reassurance with the couple who found her.

"Forgive me. The least I wanted was for this meal to turn awkward…"

"Oh, he is always trying to rough up newcomers. Charlot is right. He is all bark, and no bite~" Hannah smiled at her as there was much of the pudding left to eat.

"I guess so…" Anya replied, continuing to eat along. She was hungrier than she thought because the taste was no longer a bother.

"As soon as you are through eating, we will show you to your lodging." Mary brought up, picking upa few things into the sink.

"Oh~ yes, yes, I was forgetting." Anya was quite honest about that, finishing what she had on her plate. Granted, she was full. "Allow me to help…" she offered, whilst cleaning her place.

"Dear thing, thank you~" Mary warmly.

Hannah, Anya, even Charlot stayed for a time, cleaning up the tiny kitchen. It was a team effort, which was not often families would do for each other, unlike in generations like this. Eventually, it was time to call it a night which was dastardly early to Anya, given that it was merely 7:30 in the evening. The gentleman Barber had retired after bidding a sweet goodnight, and from the window by the daybed she was able to see that he only lived across the courtyard, within her sights. It was not like she was going to sleep anytime soon… but she hoped Shelly was all right out there.

Several minutes had ticked by as Anya just watched the stars twinkle above, basically in awe of just how endless they were compared to the stars at home. There was hardly any light here. She was not the only one asleep though as Hannah kept the wick lit through the crick of the door. However, when Anya looked down, she saw one familiar cat was sitting all too neatly below, swishing her tail. It was Shelly!

Anya peered back into the room to make sure she was alone. She took the quilt and wrapped it over herself… The matter now was just getting to the courtyard without waking anyone... So she chose to wait a bit until the wick was turned off in the next room, which took another twenty minutes. Anya took a breath and covered herself in the quilt, and subtly changed back into a red tailed hawk.

Slowly, she edged her way out from under the quilt... and slowly climbed up the cushion carefully without tearing any linen. From there she lightly hopped onto the tiny window sill. With her keen eye she spotted the feline hide herself behind an ale barrel and hopped up onto the vine covered wall... On slant and silent wings, Anya jumped into a brief soar and followed the cat as she climbed upward to the rooftop just above the Barber Shop.

As soon as they hid themselves in the shadows, both girls reverted back to their human selves. Shelly looked agitated while Anya looked sheepish~

"Enjoying the sleepover?"

"Yeah, I get it. I know just what you are going to say... That it was a stupid ass decision-" Anya rolled her eyes as she guessed.

"Look, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings earlier... It was only the possibility should we be found out- and, I am not here to say I told you so."

"That's new for you..."

"No kidding," Shelly grumbled. "So I take it that nothing strange happened here?"

"No."

"Did you mention anything?"

"Just... white lies...?"

"Meaning?"

"Okay, I- told them that I was meeting a friend half way, towards Osterlitch, because we needed the money from a selling a pony. That's why I was at the market so late."

"... I'll grade that a C plus."

"What did you want me to say?"

"Oh I don't know, that it's none of their business to know... "

"Okay, when they walk me back to the cart tomorrow~"

"Um... well, about that..." Shelly looked worried.

Anya furrowed her brow. "What?"

"We kind of have a little situation, while you were here..."

"Shelly, just say it..."

"A death eater is onto us..."

"WHAT?" Anya had to squeak and covered her mouth in hopes of not waking the entire Ghetto.

"He threatened Lyra's great grandfather outright, not us... that he was waiting to bite him."

"No... this is a joke..."

"It's not, Anya, I'm sorry! I was so scared, I thought he was going to kill me right then and there!"

"What are we going to do now?"

"Well, first off... Charlot needs to stay here, at any cost~ if he dies -"

"Don't say it! Please..."

"It was good that you came here. He is the last Peverell."

"I won't let anything happen to him..."

"I know... I saw you earlier. You looked so happy..."

"Yeah, he and Hannah are great... Not sure about Jeakel."

"Who's that?"

"The Patriarch here. He seems suspicious of me." Anya nervously stated. "And I get that. You were not joking about how paranoid they are..."

"Yeah. I followed him this morning…. Well perhaps you can just leave?"

"No. I can't~ I'm in too deep. They're going to look for me- No, Charlot's going to look for me!"

"Okay, okay, we will figure out something... For now, I'll stay in here incognito and you... I guess you're settled... Just convince him that you want to stay. That's all. We don't want him leaving the barrier... Tell them something somber like... you just got news..."

"... okay."

Shelly sighed. "At this time, people here are used to that. So don't feel bad- just make it convincing... They will believe you."

"I hate lying. Especially when he was so kind to me..."

"We're doing him a kindness. Think of that, okay?"

"Right..." Anya dryly swallowed, holding a soft look in her eyes.

"... well, as far as I can see... magic isn't a prospect here..."

"I don't know about that... Charlot. I think an enchantment was cast on me earlier before supper." Anya mentioned.

"Like what?"

"Beautification? I don't know, but he didn't seem that he was aware of it. He only washed my face and combed my hair and I swore that I was looking at a perfect stranger in the mirror... Not sure if it was accidental. It was so subtle and soft."

"Maybe it's a talent. Like us and our animagi..."

"Yeah. That's a nice thought."

"Just be careful. Best not to mention anything... and please, don't hint about me? I am just a stray cat in town."

"Got it..."

"Okay... Better get back up there." Shelly whispered, ushering her friend to get a move on.

Anya's figure shrunk down, back into the size of a hawk and she soared across the court, landing lightly on the sill where her lent daybed was. Shelly watched from the shadows before shrinking back into that size of a cat. The hawk was ginger with the arm chair before she slid under the quilt, listening that the household was purely quiet, with only crickets being the only ones awake.

Absolutely thankful that no one was roused by their private conversation, Anya completely reformed herself, almost knocking a side table over. Being quick, she caught the leg of it before it hit the weak floor.

"Oh god…" she shuttered in mere relief. "The least I need is for them to know how much of a klutz I really am…" she whispered as she settled in the bed. "Sure I can fly, but it's often the air that helps me be much less…"