======Anne Carter======

Anne walks on the periphery of the group. Bartholemew, and many of the Fishers, are trudging along too, some of them drunk, others sober (or just less drunk) who are helping the drunk ones along the muddy path. They are messy people but are //her// messy people. And her messy dogs too, she thinks as she watches Bow and Arrow pad along nearby. 

She sheds a few tears as she thinks about the more-than-messy situation that the rain has put them all in. If only water could be cleared away as easily as chimney soot. 

They may all be separated from each other in due course, but Anne resolves that she will endeavour to keep in touch as many people from Little Avoning as possible. Not just for the purposes of financially supporting those who need it, but for her friendships too, especially with Ophelia and Bartholemew. Maybe she will see many of the townspeople when sweeping their new chimneys in Leeds.  

Anne hopes her dad has arrived in Leeds safely. She will ensure that finding him and Miss Darling is the first thing she does when she gets to Leeds.  

Anne’s thoughts are interrupted when Goody offers her clippings of a rose from her garden. She thanks her and takes them. Anne will really miss the way that the people of Little Avoning cared for each other regardless of familiarity. 

As she holds the clippings, Anne wonders if the plants will grow in Leeds as well as they did in Little Avoning. Anne knew the climate of the town she moved to with her dad as a little girl so well, and how to care for the plants accordingly. Now she was going to have to learn a whole new climate. 

Maybe chimney sweeping wasn’t the only job Anne could do in Leeds. Maybe more paths would blossom.