11 The Solution

At first, Vy had no idea what Carole meant by that. All the food stores have closed by now as the streets were almost completely empty. Why would there still be food? As she looked out into the street, it did not take her long to realize that there were a few long tables set up.

All the storekeepers who had finished closing their stores for the day had brought out the long tables into the middle of the street. Hot steaming pots of tea were found on every table and the tired shopkeepers were all chatting with one another. Soon enough, from the corner of the street, Vy noticed some people walking towards the tables with pots in their hands.

They were the vendors from the food streets! They brought with them food! Everyone took out their bowls and cutlery and cheered as the food gets spread out to everyone. Carole waved to one of the vendors, a young man named Poki who promptly brought her a set of food.

"I'm going to need one more set for this young lady, Poki," Carole said with a smile as she received the tray of food from the young man.

He simply nodded and went to get the food as requested. It did not take long for him to return with a tray of hot creamy soup and a bread bun on the side. He handed it to Vy, who received it with thanks and sat down to eat with Carole.

"This town sure is lively," Vy said, as she started to eat her supper.

Carole smiled, "It sure is. Oh Vyrena, didn't you mention you were looking for a job?"

"Yes I did, I had also asked the barbecue meat stall owner to help me keep a lookout. But…"

"Oh, you asked Gonzo? Let me call him over and see if he might have any leads," Carole walked out and looked around for Gonzo.

When she noticed him sitting at one of the long tables, she waved and called out to him, "Gonzo! Gonzo!"

The men seated near Gonzo noticed Carole calling out to him and alerted him immediately. The burly man immediately put down his mug of mead and rushed over to her.

"Hey Carole, what's up," he asked.

But as soon as he saw Vy, he knew why she had called out to him.

"I'm afraid nothing came up on my end that would be suitable for you, Miss. Most of them are hard work, a man's work as we like to say."

Carole gave an annoyed look and lightly nudged Gonzo, "Really? There are plenty of strong women working a man's job and I dare say better!"

Everyone who heard the conversation started to chuckle as Gonzo looked embarrassed by the statement he made. But it was all in good fun.

"I asked around too, and unfortunately no one's hiring at the moment. However, if you would be alright with helping with my store, I would be more than willing to have you."

Vy smiles as Carole's kindness warmed her heart. "I will definitely help you, Carole! I'll take you up on that offer. But I was meaning to tell you just now, I did manage to find myself some work."

She went on to explain to Carole and Gonzo her meeting with Rodrick and him hiring her to help him with his work in the earlier parts of the day. Working at the book shop was unique and rarely heard of, but the older woman and young man were more impressed that Vy knew how to operate the typewriter. They were also shocked to learn that she could read and write.

It was uncommon for people in their time to know how to read and more so read and write. Carole had learnt her fair share on how to read while she was apprenticing but writing had never been her forte. For the young man Gonzo, he had lived in this town and his nearby village all his life so he did not know how to do either.

Whenever something is written was required by the common townsfolk, they would approach a scribe, or in this case Rodrick the bookshop owner to help them write it out. Some of the townspeople and villagers were often intimidated by the bookshop and would enlist the help of other townsfolk to help them get it sorted.

Vy thought over what she had heard and realised that with her unique skillset, she could help to fill the gap in the market.

"If there was someone in the market square, be it set up a stall or took in requests from the townsfolk and travelling merchants to write up letters and stuff like that would seem to help solve the issue," Vy spoke her mind out loud.