Chapter 2
Heat didn’t bother Maggie too much. At least, an enveloping warmth that quietly radiated out of a humming oven, didn’t bother her much.
Somehow, even without a lick of magic coursing through the building, Hart’s Crumbs glowed like an unbeatable hearth.
The front door had been locked for a few hours by that point, the evening taking a strong hold across Dunhollow as the local guards loitered the misty streets.
Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Maggie from preparing for the next day, and the day after that.
Anyone who lingered on the sidewalk outside of Hart’s Crumbs would be met with a smell of sweetened yeast, followed by a series of deeply poignant curls of floral scents.
A song she knew but couldn’t entirely recall lingered on her lips in a quiet hum as she bounded around the bakery’s kitchen.
It was lightly musical, twinged with a haunting emotion that sent a chill down her spine.
The tune’s hold over her grew stronger with each passing moment, with every step and twirl she made.
Along the island counter, rows of proofing baskets sat like manicured soldiers upon a waiting battlefield.
Wheat loaves spiced with seeds stood in the middle, surrounded by plainly white doughs and others speckled with miniature chocolate chips and cinnamon flecks.
Maggie’s tune grew louder as she brandished long strips of linen over their tops, ensuring that they would have a quiet and gentle rise overnight.
Though tiredness began to grasp at the corners of her vision, the need to be bundled up like those very loaves amounting, Maggie’s energy did not grow depleted.
“Mrow!”
Maggie twirled around the island counter, the last bundle of proofing baskets tucked snuggly within her arms. Movement curled through the storefront, only the tip of a snaking tail visible from where Maggie stood.
It only took a few moments for the kitchen’s swinging door to open up for a sun-kissed, honey colored cat.
“Sunny!” exclaimed Maggie. After resting the proofing baskets in line with a sweeping motion, she instantly crouched to greet the handsome fellow.
“I wonder what the day has brought you.” Her finger hooked beneath his chin, scratching in the crook he enjoys the most. A low, rumbling purr sounded as it vibrated against her skin.
“At least you don’t look like you’ve been fighting, or getting into too much trouble. ”
Sometimes, Maggie craved the adventurous life her roaming friend had.
Sunny, a ginger cat with spiked ears and abnormally large paws, wandered into her bakery through the back alleyway a few days after she first arrived in Dunhollow.
Other than a few minor missing patches of fur, Sunny was in great health.
He made a life through living off the streets of Dunhollow, and it got him quite far, even though now he mostly preferred the company of Maggie and her warm room.
Maggie always wondered what drove him into being curious enough to trust a human, that made the wild creature take safety in her quiet bakery.
A little voice in the back of her head whispered “fate,” and it brought a lingered smile to her lips.
Ever since that fateful moment, Sunny stuck around.
He leapt onto boxes and watched Maggie unpack her things.
He curled into dusty corners beneath tables, sought refuge and maximum surveillance on the tops of bookcases.
No matter what, he never failed to return to Hart’s Crumbs.
Sunny might be Maggie’s only friend in all of Dunhollow, but she wouldn’t dare to imagine having it any other way.
The companionship she found within Sunny was far more than finding the same relationship in hundreds of people.
At least one citizen of Dunhollow found her arrival somewhat important.
Sunny lazily weaved around her legs as she straightened back up. A fiery orange tail with bushy white tufts on the edges waved high above him in the shape of a fisherman’s hook.
“Let me guess,” Maggie mused, tapping her finger against her chin, “you spent the day chasing after all the lady cats, didn’t you?”
As if he understood each and every word she spoke, Sunny’s rumbling response croaked through the kitchen as he pounced onto the island counter, just narrowly missing the first row of proofing baskets.
Something like that might’ve sent Maggie into a nervous frenzy months ago, but somehow she knew that Sunny wouldn’t ever try to harm her baked goods.
It was as if he knew why she arrived in his home, and what she needed to do to stay.
Perhaps he could see further than she realized, knowing even the delicate secret that was tucked deep within her soul.
Instinctively, Maggie reached for the cat, running her fingers carefully along his long back, careful not to let any stray hairs fly away.
“One day will you be leaving me for a pretty cat?”
Sunny eyed her sideways, the dark slits in his eyes narrowing further. He ruffled his fur and stretched his long front legs forward. Neatly trimmed, but still strikingly sharp, claws flexed from Sunny’s furry paws.
“I see,” drawled Maggie, the corner of her lip curling upwards. “Then it was a fight this time, wasn’t it? Showing the rest of the stray cats of Dunhollow who reigns supreme?”
That time, Sunny’s purrs grew louder and he pushed his bony head against her palm, insistent for more diligent pets.
Maggie eagerly obliged, making sure to get his favorite spots behind his abnormally wide and sharply shaped ears.
Sunny let his eyes close as he enjoyed the momentary massage, only the sound of crickets beginning to spring to life outside filling the air.
Eventually, Maggie sighed and pulled her hand away.
“Unfortunately for you, I can’t spend all night petting you.
” Maggie gave him a look before pulling her hand away.
His eyes peeled open to reveal a growing perturbed expression.
“Don’t look at me like that!” She held her hands up defensively.
“Until you can learn how to sweep up this mess, you’ll just have to wait. ”
Though there was only a playfulness to her words, Maggie couldn’t help but let her shoulders sag in defeat as she overlooked her kitchen.
Everything about the bakery was a dream.
Having the ability to wake up early in the morning, long before anyone else in Dunhollow, to begin crafting sweetened treats and savory breads, was all Maggie ever wanted.
The fact that it was in her hands at that very moment still felt unreal, as though she lingered far too long in a dream, unable to see the reality any longer - not that she would ever want to arise from it.
Despite everything being as she wanted, there was something still missing.
Something that Maggie was afraid would be just out of her grasp for much longer than she liked.
A life was no good, no matter how many blessings might’ve been delivered, if there was no one to share it with.
In the end, solitude still managed to rule out any chance of happiness she might find within Hart’s Crumbs.
There was far too much work for one person to accomplish for her to revel in the things she finally had the chance to grasp.
Sure, she got to spend hours doing the one thing she was good at, the one thing she loved, only to be worked to the bone to survive.
The mess in front of her stretched into the storefront.
Not only did she need to clean up after the prep work she did for the morrow, but the entire day remained in the rest of the shop.
Previous patrons who left their finished plates and empty cups of tea needed cleaning, the windows grew far too smudged for Maggie’s liking, though she knew very well that the only person available to fix them was herself.
The list dragged on and on, and all she could do was stand there, smelling the rising yeast from the series of proofing baskets.
Maggie let the broom fall from her hands, the wood clattering sharply against the ground.
Upon the counter, Sunny had curled into a position that resembled the loaves rising alongside him, before flinching at the sudden noise.
He even meowed, the curve of his tone reflecting that of someone asking a question.
“Can you imagine what it would be like if I had a partner?” Maggie asked.
Sunny watched her with a peculiar expression. What am I, his small face seemed to say, chopped liver?
Maggie laughed and ran her hand down the cat’s back. “You know what I mean,” she mumbled. “Someone to help clean, so I could focus on my baking. Someone to man the front, so no more Dunhollow ladies feel the need to gossip about me. Someone to support me.”
Sensing the change in tone, Sunny’s eyes grew large as he headbutted her palm.
“I’m alright,” she continued. “A silly wish, I know. But a wish all the same.”
Looking around the room, Maggie’s heart began to fill with a familiar feeling. “You know what, Sunny?” she called out. “I am in no mood to wallow. I believe our rising loaves require a pick-me-up, don’t you agree?”
As if he could tell what was about to happen, the orange cat lurched to his feet, circling the counter with his tail high in the air. It wasn’t long till he started meowing, standing up on his back legs and waving two paws in front of him.
Maggie twirled around the room and kicked off her shoes.
Magic, she grew to learn, lingered in many things of the natural world.
The humans might not approve of such things, or choose not to believe any of it exists, but it still remains all around them, no matter what they wish to think.
To truly practice magic, the caster must simply seek it out from wherever they are.
Magic would always be there, just waiting.