chapter 2

Stepping into the bakery Sarah was at first disappointed. A selection of fresh loaves of bread, calzones and healthy looking sandwiches (or at least what remained post-lunch hours) filled the glass cases surrounding the entryway. But Sarah's nose would not be deceived so easily and she quickly found a side passage almost hidden in the far corner. Sarah walked past displays of various birthday cake designs that could be made to order, through a small room full of shelves and bookcases and tables holding jar upon jar of all manner of candy - none of which seemed to have been opened in years. Finally, in the very last room, Sarah found what she had been looking for. Racks of gooey chocolate chip cookies nearly the size of dinner plates, moist warm brownies, all manner of cupcakes, pies, cream-puffs, donuts, tortes, and too many other things to mention. All of it seeming fresh out of the oven, as if they had been prepared just in time for Sarah's arrival. Strange that it was all hidden in back where no one could see, Sarah thought, but considering the town's attitudes toward such things it was just as well.

Sarah found herself salivating, everything looked and smelled so good, how would she decide? It wasn't like she could eat it all, no matter how much she found herself wanting to. Again lost in thought, she didn't hear the shopkeeper approach.

"OOOH!" Sarah yelped, nearly jumping out of her shoes as a slender finger prodded the squishy bulge above her belt where a muffin-top was beginning to form.

"Can I help you find something?" purred the shopkeeper, wearing a wicked grin. She was taller and more slender than Sarah, but older, perhaps around thirty, with angular features and lustrous wavy black hair and pale green eyes. She seemed to Sarah more like a model or a movie star than a baker or shopkeeper, and strangely out of place.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't see anyone at the front," Sarah stammered, not knowing what else to say.

"Mmmm, oh don't worry about that, only a special kind of customer finds their way back here. And this room was made for them." The shopkeeper's eyes trailed up and down Sarah's body like a predator sizing up her prey, sending a chill up the young girl's spine. She paid it no mind, as the dazzling scent of sweets and the shopkeepers slow sultry voice had her practically hypnotized.

"Special...kind?" Sarah murmured.

"Oh, yes." the shopkeeper replied. "The kind strong enough," she began, walking a tight circle around Sarah and brushing her fingers across Sarah's cheek, "to overcome petty ideas of guilt and shame. The kind that wants it, needs it. The true hedonist that can't live without it."

"What?" Sarah spoke as if in a trance, more an expression of confusion than a question.

"Pleasure," the shopkeeper answered anyway, quickly popping a delicate chocolate bonbon in Sarah's open mouth. The thin outer shell liquefied instantly, and an explosion of creamy flavors like she had never tasted flooded her palate. To say it was the best thing she had ever tasted would not come close to doing it justice. Overwhelmed, Sarah felt her knees go weak and almost fell, but just barely caught herself and staggered away from the shopkeeper. "You look like a girl who takes her pie with two ... no, three scoops of vanilla." She flashed Sarah that wicked, self assured smirk that promised she knew Sarah better than Sarah knew herself, and headed behind the counter.

Sarah shook the the confusion from her head. "No... actually..." She managed stammer, causing the shopkeeper to spin on her heels in surprise. Feeling as if waking from a dream, Sarah shook her head again more vigorously. "No ... need something to go ... just came to pick up something ... for a picnic ... in the woods." Now it was the shopkeeper's turn to look confused, but only for a moment.

"What a pity. Not much demand for it around these parts, so much of it just ends up going to waste."

"Then why make it all?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"Practice makes perfect," came the reply from a back room, the shopkeeper returning quickly now wearing an apron and gloves. "And you never know when someone special might stop by." She purred. Sarah picked out a few choices almost at random, everything looked good, but mostly she just wanted to get out of there. This had taken more time than she had expected. The shopkeeper insisted on tossing in "a few" extras on the house, since they would likely get thrown out at the end of the day anyway. Sarah practically had to fight her to limit it there though, else she'd be saddled with an arm load she couldn't carry.

Finally exiting the store, bag near bursting with goodies, Sarah trudged on down the road toward the trail. It was easy, level walking, but her bag was now much heavier than she'd have liked. The road turned to dirt and gravel as she went, but she didn't look up until she came to a junction at first she didn't recognize.

The road turned here, at a stone wall and the trail diverged just ahead, but now there was a new road - a driveway actually - leading to a gate in the wall. It had always been overgrown to the point she'd never noticed before. The stone wall surrounded a large old estate with a ruined, or at least run down, mansion. It had always been abandoned as far as Sarah knew. It was a big dark, creepy place that kids would tell scary stories about. She and a few adventurous friends had once found their way in on a dare, a few years back. Originally the dare included spending the night, but none had been quite that brave, and they agreed to fib about that part.

Had someone move in? The very idea was strange to Sarah. Who would want to live in a ruin like that? Sarah couldn't see anything from the gate, and didn't really want to anyway, so she kept going. Getting closer to her destination, she was feeling hungry, and beyond that, eager to sample again the baker's delicacies.