It was a good idea to finish the paperwork and order straight away, because it took April a good hour to pack her bags and say goodbye to the other children - even though we had told her that wasn't necessary and that she could visit the others any time. Cáit didn't mind the wait either, as she was able to reminisce with Elisabeth while shovelling biscuits. I really couldn't understand how someone who loved sweets as much as Cáit did could have a body like that. 
"I did it as fast as I could," April apologised to us on her return from her farewell tour, but you could see from her reddened eyes that she'd been crying, "But the little ones wouldn't let me go just like that. I've seen almost all of them grow up."
The first thing I noticed was that April didn't seem to have a bag. I could tell because she had a few things in a small wooden box. "Is this everything?" I asked April and she nodded, "Everything I own. What did you expect? Riches and treasures?"
"That's still more than you had with you when I met you," Cáit giggled and I mumbled, "I only asked because I wanted to put her things in my item bag so we wouldn't have to carry them around."
Elisabeth suddenly cleared her throat and said in a sad voice, "I knew this day would come eventually and after all these years I should be more hardened as it is not the first time I have to say goodbye to one of my youngsters, but in your case I'm finding it especially challenging now. If you ever need help, you know where to find us."
April's heart broke at that moment, probably not for the first time in the last hour, and she gently hugged the Headmistress, who said to us, "Please take good care of our little April."
Of course I knew what it meant, but I cursed inwardly that April, who was already as tall as me, had been called small. She will grow a bit in the next 1-2 years and end up taller than me.

Late, but still, we made our way to Kirsty, who was already waiting for us, a little impatiently. "This is the second time in as many days I've had to keep my shop open late because of you," she said a little cynically, but we didn't even get a chance to reply because April suddenly stammered, "I'm sorry. I guess it's my fault."
Kirsty hadn't expected this reaction and muttered, "I didn't know those two snoozers were bringing anyone else. Otherwise I would have greeted you much more professionally, of course."
"As if," Cáit giggled, and I added, "Don't worry about it. The last few hours have probably been a bit too much for April."
"I'll lock up," Kirsty grinned, "Sara already warned me it might take longer today. And I'm officially closing in half an hour anyway."
No sooner said than done - the shop was closed and Kirsty led us into her workroom, where there were piles of fabric and sewing supplies lying around.
"So girls," she grinned, “How can I make you happy today?"

April looked around the study and muttered at the sight of the expensive fabrics, "Why do I get the feeling I'm about to cost you both a lot of money?"
"Because all my goods are handmade and made from high quality materials," Kirsty grinned and added, completely fired up, "I suppose you want me to dress your young companion?"
"That's actually one of the reasons. She will be our guild newcomer, working for me in my workshop," I nodded, "But I actually wanted to go over my sketches with you. I have a few things I'd like you to make for me."
"Whatever it is, I'm so fully booked right now that I have to make everything for you with ether so you don't have to wait forever," Kirsty grumbled, "I can still manage to make a few shirts and other small things by hand, but anything a bit more complicated I'd have to put in the back of the queue otherwise."
"I'm afraid the shirts will have to be custom made for me too and I'll cause a lot of work for you," April said quietly and Kirsty raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem to have taken a good look at April before and only now realised, "Wait a minute...are you the small girl Cáit's been talking about in the past? This sweet little girl who has had far too much misfortune in her life?"
Cáit nodded with a grin and Kirsty quickly said, "Don't worry about the sleeves, I can make them a little bigger on both sides if need be. Then you can pull them over your prosthesis without any problems. The shirt you're wearing right now looks a lot like cheap off-the-peg fabric."
"With 50 kids, I'm pretty sure it was pretty cheap," April said indifferently, "At least we had enough to wear - even if it wasn't always easy for us and the clothes certainly weren't the prettiest."
"Cáit told me exactly the same thing four years ago when I started this job at the age of 15," Kirsty winked, "So I know all about it. I can tell you that the orphanage isn't exactly one of my regular customers."
I'd listened to the banter between the others long enough and said, "How about I go over my sketches with Kirsty and the other two look at your designs?"
"Sounds like a good plan," Kirsty nodded and pulled a folder of her own designs out of a drawer, "Here. These are my standard pieces. If you have any questions, just give me a shout."

Kirsty actually took a long time to look at my sketches of the t-shirts and tank tops with me and then said relatively quickly, "Well, neither of those look particularly complicated and I should be able to make them quite quickly. However, I can only do one of your two ideas at the moment. Which would be more important for you?"
"Definitely the one with the short sleeves," I replied without having to think long and Kirsty nodded in satisfaction, "Very good choice. The other one would actually be a bit too daring for me. I suppose you just pull these T-shirts over your head?"
"Exactly. No buttons, buckles or other gimmicks needed," I explained, "What would be the cheapest material you currently use for work?"
Kirsty thought for a moment, "That would be cotton, actually. If you want it even cheaper, I'm sure I can find some linen. But they're quite uncomfortable."
"Cotton's fine," I laughed, "As long as it's not too thick."
She took another quick look at the sketch and went through the main features with me, "To summarise, I'm only sewing four pieces of fabric together and the openings are all neatly seamed. If you could just show me how long the sleeves should be, I'd like to try it right away."

Knowing what was going to happen next, I slowly unbuttoned my shirt and ended up back in my bra in front of Kirsty, who had pulled out several different fabrics in the meantime. 
"I don't have a huge selection of colours to choose from, but how about black? You won't notice it so much if everything isn't perfect on the first try."
My eyes immediately lit up at the suggestion and Kirsty said, "You already know the procedure. Stand over there and hold out your arms."
Less surprisingly, a few moments later Kirsty had produced an almost perfect copy of a modern T-shirt and as I looked in the mirror she said, "That was almost a little too easy."
"It could maybe be a little shorter," I mused, "And the fabric takes a little getting used to. But apart from that, I'm more than happy with it."
It didn't feel quite the same as what I was used to at home, but I still preferred it to the expensive silk shirts. 
Kirsty looked at me for a moment and then said to April, "Come here a minute. I could see what I've just done for Em as a real alternative for you. Then you won't have to deal with buttons all the time."
I couldn't imagine how April had managed so far, as it took me ages to get into these shirts, even with two healthy hands.

"I suppose I should take my top off too?" April asked, but Kirsty shook her head, "You're only slightly taller than Em and these things are extremely loose. So I'll just do the same again."
"Should I just put it over my shirt to try it on?"
It was only then that Kirsty seemed to realise why April had asked her that question and then muttered, "You're right. Would probably be a sensible idea after all"
"Then I'd suggest you start sewing. It might take me a while," April grinned and I shook my head, "Don't worry. We'll help you."
After I peeled April out of her shirt, I realised the difference in quality between off-the-peg and tailored clothes and was glad I'd paid the extra few Yorkies because it was a real ordeal to get the bloody buttons undone. In fact, Kirsty finished making the T-shirt faster than we finished taking off the shirt and removing the prosthesis.
"Moment of truth," Kirsty smiled and pressed the shirt into April's hand, "Just pull it over your head."
Of course, the whole process looked a lot more awkward than when I put my shirt on, but in the end the result was satisfactory and for a brief moment I had the feeling that April was smiling a little sheepishly, "With a little practice this would be perfect for me. At the orphanage, I always had someone nearby who could help me if necessary."
"Does that mean I'm going to make more of these?" Kirsty asked and we both nodded.

"Do you think you could make these in larger quantities?" I asked Kirsty and she immediately nodded, "Of course. But it's only worth the effort to me in a limited way. Let me be honest with you, I have no problem making something this simple for you and the other guild members, but my other customers can go ahead and pay for expensive silk."
I realised what Kirsty was trying to tell me, "I just thought it might be a good alternative for the orphanage. The headmistress didn't sound entirely uninterested when Cáit and I talked about it.”
"So that's why you asked about the cheap material?" Kirsty asked curiously, which I had to deny straight away, "It's another reason, but the idea is actually to make cheap and simple everyday clothes, where it doesn't matter if they get dirty. Even if I didn't give a damn about money, I can't afford to work in expensive silk shirts."
So far I've renovated most of the mansion with ether to practise my skills, but as soon as I have to do it myself, white silk shirts are definitely out of place - and Kirsty is well aware of that.

"You know what," Kirsty said after a moment's thought, "I'll take care of our new guild member now. Unfortunately, the biggest hurdle in her case will be when she needs sleeves, because I really should be making them to her specifications. Once my stress has subsided a little, we'll discuss whether we can somehow produce your invention in larger quantities. I can see this product making us a lot of money, but I really hate doing mass production on my own. We'll probably have to involve the Merchant's Guild to protect the product, as there's nothing like it in Yorkchester that I know of. Perhaps we could even have it made in one of the Guild's factories for a small fee. But I really need to think this through.”
"No problem," I smiled, "in fact, when I drew that sketch this morning, it was primarily about me. I didn't know that I would have my first employee by the end of the day. I promise you I'll have a solution by winter. I listened half-heartedly, but suddenly an idea struck me, "Zips. You could put them on the sleeves."
I liked my idea, but the other three suddenly started to laugh.
"You're talking funny again. Is this some sort of Northern invention?" laughed Cáit and Kirsty just asked straight out, "What's a zip?"
"I'll show you the next time I think of it. My broken blue trousers should have one," I grinned. I couldn't even be angry then, because this time I even knew they weren't pulling my leg on purpose.

We ended up sitting in Kirsty's workroom until almost eight o'clock because she really wanted to get everything done at once to save time. But the upside was that April and I were able to go home with lots of T-shirts. "By the way, I'll give them to you for the price of the material and add the working time for one of my filthy rich clients. Whether I charge two hours more or less makes no difference because of my latest ridiculously expensive job.”

April had put together a really nice outfit, consisting of nice short leather shorts and a brown leather jacket that she could wear open, with the sleeves just long enough to hide the beginning of her prosthesis. We all knew she would have preferred the thick jacket to hide something, but she was sensible enough to realise that wasn't possible at the moment. After paying Kirsty another half a fortune, she said, "Can we take off to the mansion now? Because I could use a long bath. I can't tell you how happy I am that Em has finally fixed the bathhouse."
"Wait? You're still going to a bathhouse?" April said in surprise, before suddenly looking down at the floor in shame, "Please go without me. I'll just attract all the attention there."
"The bathhouse is part of the mansion," I grinned, "So don't worry about it. The only eyes you'll attract there will be ours."
"Does that mean you'll be staying overnight in one of the empty rooms?" Cáit giggled and Kirsty nodded, "Pops left this afternoon on a mission that's taking a bit longer. I would have spent a couple of nights with you anyway. That's the reason why I didn’t bother finishing all your stuff today as I don't have to run through half of Dubstep at this time of day."
"Wouldn't it make more sense for you to move into the mansion?" I asked, "You're there pretty much every day anyway to use the bathhouse."
"As soon as Pops gives the all-clear," Kirsty muttered, "I'd love to, but he's not ready yet."