andhiswife | (Reply)

"No," Greta says, drawing out the vowel in playful reassurance, as if the idea hardly bears consideration. "Not everyone." Softening into sincerity, she adds, "You're certainly not the only reason people might be on edge."

Nor is it something they could allay even if they wanted to. It would be nice, she thinks, if they could create a little oasis of near-normalcy in all this, but she isn't sure it's likely, and that isn't why she's here. It's a practical matter, first and foremost: the dwindled population still needs to eat, and not everyone can take raw ingredients and make something edible out of them. She isn't worried about the city running out of flour (yet), but that doesn't mean any of it should be wasted in clumsy attempts to learn how to bake under extreme duress. Not when she can make enough bread for everyone, given time and a little assistance.

"It's enough that we're feeding them. And if you're keeping them on their toes...?" Greta shrugs. "Might be just as well. Everyone's been very polite." She might chalk that up to basic human decency as much as anything else, but she also likes to think Anne's presence is a motivating factor.