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Many thanks to Linda62953 to help me to present this story better.
Chapter 3: Into town
Walking toward the town, Charlotte often stopped to inspect the plant life around her. This was clearly an ordinary valley with grass on the outside and ploughed fields closer to town. There were lines of trees with bushes around the fields. On steep sections, there were groups of trees where the ground would just wash away without them. She was starting from scratch so even common herbs would be handy to have on stock. Moreover, she even found flowers that she had rarely seen before; her bag was filling steadily.
On closer inspection, the village consisted of two streets with houses built by them and a couple of farms further away flanking the fields. Even in the village, there was enough room around the houses for vegetable gardens.
Two roads were visible leading away from the village, one leading roughly westwards down the valley to probably more open terrain outside the mountains. The other road led towards the castle and was mostly hidden from view by forest but probably led to the castle gates after a few sharp curves along the slope.
A noticeable path led upwards from the village to the north. This village had some traffic from people climbing a lower pass through the mountains than the one Charlotte had used. However, that pass did not lead much closer to where her aunt lived.
Getting close to the town, she followed a small path, which led her down to a bridge that crossed the main stream running through the valley. The bridge was built from rope with enough planks attached to it to allow walking across it. It was constructed for humans to cross. With cattle, you had to travel lower into the valley to find a place to wade the water. That would be the main reason the side of the valley she lived was sparser used.
Walking up again on the other side of the stream, she could hear children's voices trailing downwards from the houses. After a few moments, she walked past a house onto the main street of the village.
A few houses along the street, a young woman was busy rotating a wooden wheel attached to ropes. Charlotte walked in her direction curious about what she was doing, on closer inspection; she was busy creating a new rope.
"Good day lady," greeted Charlotte making the woman look up from her work. She had been concentrating enough, to miss her approach. "Do you have rope on offer for trading?"
The woman was frowning, being pulled out of her concentration but did not dwell on it. She took some time gazing with a sharp gaze at Charlotte before the replied. "You're not from this town or any of them near, I am Louise Robbins," and extended a hand to her.
"Charlotte Cartwright, nice to meet you," was Charlotte's reply while shaking hands. Louise's hands were tougher, and she had a stronger grip than Charlotte. She reminded Charlotte of some of the witches she knew who lived higher up the mountains. She had a rather slender body but with power in her muscles and reddish brown flowing hair.
"About trade, I have the largest set of goods on offer in Roding. Step into my shop to have a look yourself," said Louise walking into the house, leaving her work for now. Most of the house was used as a store, with boxes and racks filled with all kinds of items.
The moment Charlotte entered the darker house; she noticed two yellow eyes and a lot of anxiety and hostility projected towards her. A young almost black cat was standing up from a barrel it had a white collar and one white paw.
