Hellen

I heard Charlotte shout my name and I immediately knew that something was wrong. I rushed outside to find Edmund and Charles tackling each other and both bleeding badly. “What happened out there?!” 

“Edmund punched me!” 

“No! You punched me!” 

The boys continued to fight, and I turned to Charlotte for answers. “Charles was going Shakespearian again and Edmund called him Bird Brain, then this happened.” She was teary-eyed.  

“Want to come to look at dresses with me? I think I might have a couple more pounds from when I bought the apples for Jack. Maybe we can get something nice to wear tomorrow. I hear there’s a party at the bakery for your engagement.” 

Charlotte looked from me to the boys, who were still fighting violently. “W-what about them?” 

“We can handle them later,” I said simply. “Come on. You need a break from boys for once. Let’s just have fun!” 

I pulled Charlotte by her arm into the shop and we happily looked around at all of the gowns. I spotted a beautiful orange gown that wasn’t too expensive. I counted my money. I had enough for that, plus two more dresses at the same price. 

Charlotte found a dress that had a slightly larger wager, but it still wasn’t a fortune. It was only a few pounds, but it was a lovely peach color with white trim. She also found a dark pink dress that her sister, Rose, would love since Rose was jealous that Charlotte got to wear the large hoop skirts and Rose didn’t. The dress Charlotte found for Rose was a bit less than what mine cost, but it achieved our goal of staying within the budget, so we bought all three and left the store with the large amounts of fabric in hand.