The court room had been like a bear pit. On the surface it looked respectable, lots of rich folk in waistcoats, cravats and top hats but they were all yelling stuff. Lock her up! Throw away the key! Everyone seemed to hate her. One fancy woman even shouted that she should be hung! That had been truly terrifying.

Earlier that day she'd been chased through the market place after stealing a bottle of scent. She'd have gotten away with it if she hadn't of ran into that news paper sellers stand. It had given them just enough time to catch her and summon the peelers.

Anyway, that was how she had found herself on trial and then forced into the care of 'the good doctor woods'. At least he had stopped her getting sent to prison or the sanitarium. She'd heard both were dirty and over crowded. There was hardly any food and people were always getting sick in those places.

She wondered what the doctor planned to do with her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be as bad as the other outcomes. She was to wait in his study for him where he would apparently go over the rules.

Eleanor and rules had never got on together and that was no exception now. She was supposed to be sitting in the mahogany chair and not touching anything but she couldn't help it. There were so many exciting and curious things about this room it was impossible to sit still and not touch.

There was row upon row of books, all lined up in tall mahogany book cases and under them, on other shelves, many bottles and jars of medicines and pills in all different sizes and colours.

Several posters and drawings of anatomy also graced the walls. There was a strange looking metal implement on his desk and a box of weird looking items.

She was just about to open one of the boxes when a deep voice rang out like a foghorn behind her and she jumped about ten foot into the air.

"Am I disturbing you Miss Kelly?"....