What You Wish For

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Mrs Hale and Dixon joined them a few days later, looking quite happy after their seaside break but within two weeks of arriving in Milton, both had come down with a dreadful cold. Though not a medical woman, Carrie was something of a geek and as such her mind was a positive trove of useless information. She knew that there was no such thing as paracetamol or aspirin in these times but she also knew that both drugs could be found in tree bark, and that before they had been distilled into pure drugs, they were a herbal remedy.

She had been given an allowance by Mr Hale, which really was too kind of him given how little money the family had, but after he refused her protests she accepted it gracefully, for to continue to refuse would have been rude. Now she was glad of it as she set off into the centre of Milton.

Unwilling to spend money on her own dresses, she was still wearing Margaret's clothes. Fortunately Margaret didn't seem to mind sharing her wardrobe because while she had lived with her cousin in London, Mrs Shaw had kitted her out with many more dresses than a young lady could wear in one week, though Carrie was careful to keep away from the few dresses Margaret expressed a preference for.

Unfortunately her size seven feet were far larger than Margaret's and she only possessed one pair of boots, those that she had been wearing when she arrived here. Thankfully they were her day boots which she wore to class, so they were relatively comfortable with only a small heal.

She was also keen to help Dixon out around the house, though she had to say that housework in the 1850's was much harder than house work in 2011. Oh, what she wouldn't give for her washing machine and tumble drier right about now!

Still, she had other things on her mind today. As she neared the centre of town she stopped an elderly gentleman, who seemed only to happy to help her.

"Excuse me, sir, I wonder if you can help me. I am new to Milton and I am looking for a chemist shop."

"Pardon me, a what?"

"Oh, um, an apothecary or a herbal remedy shop." She had no idea what they were called in this day and age.

"Ah," he smiled. "There is an apothecary on Chambers Street. Do you know where that is?"

"I believe so, I have studied a map of Milton. Thank you."

He touched his hat, bid her good day and walked away. Carrie made her way towards where she believed Chambers Street could be found.

She couldn't remember which bark Asprin was found in so she asked the man behind the counter for something to reduce a fever. He offered her powered Cinchona bush bark, which she knew contained paracetamol, or powered Willow bark, which she now remembered was the one with aspirin in. Knowing that paracetamol was the more dangerous of the two drugs in large amounts, she opted for Willow bark. The last thing she wanted was to give Mrs Hale liver failure since she didn't know how much of the drug was in any given amount.

The shop keeper advised her how much of the powered willow bark to administer and after weighing the powder, he poured it into a small bottle, which he placed a cork stopper into before he handing it to her.

She paid for it and left the shop, only to see Mr Thornton heading towards her. Her heart skipped a beat and she found herself quite stupefied for a moment. Thankfully by the time he reached her, she had regained some of her sense. She bowed slightly to him.

"Mr Thornton, how good to see you again."

"Miss Preston." He looked to the shop she had just exited. "I hope you are not unwell?"

"Oh, no. Mrs Hale has a dreadful cold though and I thought some willow bark would help her fever."

"I am sorry to hear that."