‘Of course. Take a proper break. I’m not due at the Rum Den for an hour yet. I could make a start on those for you if like?’ Isabel pointed to the boxes.
‘Really?’
‘Really.’ Isabel grinned, she’d enjoy reading the backs of all the different products, to see what they were for.
‘Ah, thanks, Isabel, my stomach appreciates you. If you can just unpack everything on to the trolley; it’s out the back in the storeroom, and tick it off on the invoice inside the box as you go that would be brilliant.’
‘I think I can manage. Go. Enjoy.’
‘Cheers. I’ll be back in a jiffy.’ Delwyn grabbed her tote from behind the counter and disappeared out the door.
Isabel shoved her bag under the counter and looking up saw a face had appeared in the storefront window. She mouthed, ‘I’ll be fine,’ and waved Delwyn on her way before popping out to the storeroom to retrieve the trolley. As she pushed the door open with her backside and reversed into the shop, she heard the door jangle. She let go of the trolley and turned around expecting to see Delwyn once more having forgotten her purse or some such. Instead, a woman who looked a little like a French Resistance spy in her trench coat and beret was perusing the shelves nearest the door.
‘Hello, how’re you today?’ Isabel called out with a smile.
‘Hello, I’m good thanks, pet,’ a northern accent intoned as she turned her attention to Isabel.
A holidaymaker then Isabel surmised.
‘I’m after something for my daughter’s skin. She’s had an outbreak of spots, and I want something natural to clear it up. She’s only thirteen, and I don’t like the idea of her slathering her face in chemicals.’
‘Fair enough too,’ Isabel said wishing she had Molly’s book to hand. She cast her mind back trying to visualise the pages. She knew her holy grail, apple cider vinegar was good; she’d been reading up on all its different uses. She was sure too she’d read something in there about dandelion tea being used to treat skin complaints. She headed over to the teas and ran her finger along the shelf until she found what she was looking for, Dandelion Tea. She glanced at the back of the box and was pleased to see she was on the right track. ‘Here we are,’ she said reading the instructions. ‘If your daughter drinks one to two teaspoons of the dandelion tea leaves steeped in hot water three times a day it will help clear her skin up. If you’ve got a sec, I’d like to look something up for you?’
The woman smiled and nodded that she was happy to wait, so Isabel took herself out the back to the storeroom and procuring her phone Googled her apple cider query. She reappeared a tick later. ‘I just wanted to check the administration of it. Apple cider vinegar one part, to two parts water dabbed on the affected areas with cotton-wool will help too,’ she said, retrieving what was becoming her go-to remedy of choice, a bottle of the organic vinegar.
‘Thank you.’ The woman took both items, turning them over to glance at their respective prices before passing them back to Isabel. ‘We’ll give them a go, ta very much.’
Isabel glanced at the counter hoping the till would be user-friendly. She rang the purchases up without any problem and even managed to navigate the EFTPOS machine, passing it over to the woman to swipe her card without any bother, thanks to having had practice at the Rum Den. As she called out a cheery goodbye and left the shop holding her The Natural Way bag, Isabel felt inordinately pleased with herself. She’d completed a successful sales transaction. Then seeing the boxes reminded herself she had a job to do.
͠
By the time Delwyn breezed back in Isabel had served two more customers, unpacked both boxes, and was familiarising herself with the different products as she put the stock away.
‘I hope I wasn’t too long? I did rather make the most of you being here.’ She gave a sheepish grin.
‘I was fine. I sold a box of dandelion tea, a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar, some vitamin E tablets and a chamomile body wash.’
‘And you’ve unpacked and put away most of that order. Wow, well done you! It was a treat to sit down and eat and not shove something down behind the counter like I normally would. You can guarantee the shop will be dead until I have a mouthful of sarnie. Nothing like a gob full of egg sandwich to win a customer over. Thanks heaps, Isabel; you’re a star.’
Isabel flushed at the praise and slid the bottle of maca liquid onto the gap on the shelf. ‘What’s maca liquid?’
‘Maca root is a superfood of the Andes, and it’s used to build up a weakened immune system. The ancient Incas were big fans—Isabel, have you ever thought about studying herbalism or naturopathy?’ The latter was blurted.
Isabel’s hand remained in mid-air, floating beside the tub of vitamins she’d been about to pick up. ‘Pardon?’
‘It’s just, you have an obvious interest in natural remedies.’
Isabel looked around the shop filled with so many weird and wonderful lotions and potions, and then back at Delwyn. A seed had been planted. ‘I didn’t know I had until I met Constance.’
Chapter 34
Constance wanted to go back to Quarr; it had been hers and Henry’s special place, and she needed to go there. Why? She wasn’t sure other than there, she knew she would feel close to
