CHAPTER 6
815 Words
Chapter 6: Market Day
The first rays of sunlight stretched across Maple Creek Village.
Inside Sunflower Café, Lena was already kneading dough while Daniel carefully arranged fresh pastries in the display case.
He stepped back to admire his work.
Lena glanced over and smiled.
“You’ve improved.”
“I only rearranged them three times.”
She laughed.
“Yesterday, you rearranged them seven.”
“I was learning.”
“You were overthinking.”
“Same thing.”
Their laughter filled the quiet café.
For the first time since arriving in Maple Creek Village, Daniel felt… normal.
⸻
The bell above the door rang.
An elderly woman hurried inside.
“Lena!”
“We’ve got a problem.”
Lena wiped the flour from her hands.
“What happened, Mrs. Collins?”
“The baker who supplies flour to the village won’t be here until tomorrow.”
Lena’s smile faded.
“What?”
“He said the bridge outside town was damaged after the storm.”
Mrs. Collins sighed.
“The market only has a few bags left.”
Lena immediately walked to the storage room.
A minute later, she returned with a worried expression.
“Only one bag.”
Daniel frowned.
“Is that bad?”
“Very.”
“If we don’t get more flour today, we can’t bake tomorrow.”
“And if we can’t bake…”
She looked around the café.
“…we can’t open.”
⸻
An hour later, Lena and Daniel set off toward the village market.
The streets were lively.
Children chased one another through the square while vendors called out their daily specials.
Daniel slowed his pace.
“I’ve never seen a place like this.”
Lena looked at him curiously.
“You’ve never been to a village market?”
He shook his head.
“My life was… different.”
She didn’t ask more.
Instead, she handed him a woven basket.
“Then today’s your first lesson.”
He looked down at it.
“I carry this?”
“Unless you’d rather carry the flour on your shoulders.”
“I’ll take the basket.”
⸻
As they wandered through the market, nearly everyone greeted Lena.
“Morning, Lena!”
“Your cinnamon rolls were wonderful yesterday!”
“Tell your grandmother we’ll visit this weekend!”
Daniel watched with quiet admiration.
“You know everyone.”
She smiled.
“They’ve known me since I was little.”
“It must be nice.”
His voice was so soft that she almost missed it.
Lena looked at him.
For just a moment…
He didn’t look like the calm stranger she had met during the storm.
He looked… lonely.
⸻
They finally reached the grain merchant.
Lena’s heart sank.
Only two sacks of flour remained.
“I’m sorry,” the merchant said. “Several restaurants came early this morning.”
“I can only sell one sack per customer.”
Lena bit her lip.
“One isn’t enough.”
Daniel looked around before quietly picking up the second sack.
“I’ll buy this one.”
The merchant nodded.
“Of course.”
Lena frowned.
“You don’t need to do that.”
“You’ll owe me.”
She folded her arms.
“I thought you didn’t like owing people.”
“I don’t.”
“So?”
He placed the second sack beside hers.
“Then we’ll call it even.”
She smiled despite herself.
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
⸻
As they started back toward the café, Daniel suddenly stopped.
Across the square…
A black SUV rolled slowly through the village.
Its dark windows reflected the afternoon sun.
His expression changed instantly.
Cold.
Alert.
Guarded.
Lena noticed.
“What is it?”
Daniel forced himself to look away.
“Nothing.”
But his heartbeat had quickened.
The vehicle looked familiar.
Too familiar.
It continued down the road before disappearing around the corner.
Only then did Daniel let out the breath he’d been holding.
He told himself it was a coincidence.
It had to be.
⸻
Far away, inside Ashcroft Group headquarters, the atmosphere was tense.
The chairman stood before a wall-sized map covered in pins and photographs.
“Any new leads?” he asked.
A security officer stepped forward.
“We traced a signal from Mr. Daniel’s encrypted phone.”
The chairman’s eyes widened.
“Where?”
The officer hesitated.
“It lasted less than three seconds before disappearing.”
He placed a red pin on the map.
“A rural area…”
“…near Maple Creek Village.”
The chairman stared at the map in silence.
For the first time since his grandson vanished…
They finally had a direction.
Miles away, Daniel laughed as Lena playfully argued with a vegetable vendor over the price of tomatoes.
Neither of them knew…
The peaceful days at Sunflower Café were beginning to run out.
- Writer
