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The mercedez took a sharp, questionable turn down a narrow alleyway. The pavement turned to uneven cobblestone and the town buildings into dark wood and stone. The mercedez stopped in front of an old wooden door and white siding with black iron twisting along the garden boxes.The chauffeur unlocked the door for Lenore. She stepped out onto the cobblestone as the car drove off. She adjusted her tights and fixed her skirt from the lengthy car ride. There was warm light coming from the windows, giving the old building a cozy, cottage vibe.The bell rang as the door swung open. The smell of dusty old pages and warmth of a fireplace hit Lenore head on.“Welcome! How can I help you?” A tall girl with butterfly lashes waved from behind a small rustic wooden counter. Beside her, a candelabra illuminated towers of faded old books behind her. In fact, the entire establishment, or rather a dim overstuffed closet, had endless towers of books in front of endless book shelves.“Hello! I’m Lenor-” Lenore stepped forward and kicked a tower of encyclopedias across the narrow floor, knocking over candle sticks on a nearby desk.“Lenore! Yes! We’ve been waiting for you! It’s your first day isn’t it?” The girl pulled on a string connected to pipes along the ceiling. A faint ring, off in the distance.“I’m Eulalie! We don’t open for another hour. In the meantime, Morella will show you what daily tasks are required from you!”“I’m Morella!” An orange head popped out from behind a book tower, loose papers swaying to the floor.“Where did you come from-”“Upstairs of course! Now we must get going. We have a busy day ahead of us!” Morella grabbed Lenore’s hand and led her down one of the many cluttered entryways to even more cluttered hallways. From what Lenore could gather from squeezing between stacks of leather bound novels and stained loose parchment, the walls were fixed with elaborate oil paintings. Lenore raised an eyebrow at a wall of picture frames. Are these family photos? Morella pulled Lenore down another barely walkable hallway and into a broom closet.In the closet were shelves filled with cleaning supplies, gloves, mops, brooms, buckets, and candle stick galore. Morella grabbed an apron.Lenore reached for a feather duster, “Looks like I have my work cut out for me”.“No, not that” said Morella, “ Lady Whitlock has something else that needs to be done”.“... Lady Whitlock?” Lenore asked.Morella gave her an apron and leaned against a loose wall. Wait, a loose wall? The wall unlatched and spun half way revealing a spiraling staircase. A slim iron railing followed all the way up to an old rustic door. “This is the back way, hidden from customers” Morella whispered as she heaved the door open. Lenore shielded her blue eyes from the beams of sunlight peeking through the ivy covered glass. The overgrown and tangled greenhouse seemed like a colosseum compared to the cluttered mess of a bookstore below. Broken flower pots and old soil covered the floor. Dead ivy climbed the walls. Some of the windows had broken glass and the flower beds were dry and brown.Morella handed Lenore a pair of gardeners gloves, “I’ll see you at lunch!” leaving Lenore alone inside the greenhouse attic.
