Stranger Spirits

Son of a Merchant [Chapter Four Part Three]

We had breakfast, got on the horses, and rode off. I rode behind Tita on Shiloh while Atticus and Bruno rode on Pete. We rode Shiloh's pace since he's the eldest of Bruno's horses. It was late afternoon when we reached Aucilla. It was a town that looked a little bit bigger than Spendule. Reaching the outskirts, we got off the horses beside an old well. You could see some parts of the basic structure crumbling away.

"Was this the well?"

"Yes!" Tita let out a hearty laugh. "This is where I met your parents."

"Wow." I rubbed my thumb against my smiling lips. They were here. It's so amazing to be following in their steps.

"Alright boys, Tita and I have some personal business to attend to. Meet at Tagano's after you finish looking around and don't get into any trouble!"

"Yes sir!" Atticus and I saluted in unison.

"How does money work here by the way?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Bruno inquired.

"Well, how much does a meal cost?"

"It depends on what you purchased." Tita answered. "Usually about a Quzno or two. Sell your extra fabric and then use that money to buy supplies. We'll cover lodge costs for tonight."

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome sweetheart." Tita giggled as Bruno put his arm around her waist. "See you both later."

"See you then." We called back as they walked off with their horses. I gradually transferred my gaze towards the aging well stepping towards it to touch the old stones that held it together.

"To think that my parents were here at this very spot decades ago. I always did wonder what it would have been like working the Outreach Project." Atticus didn't reply but moved towards me. While I gazed at the general structure of the well I could see that Atticus was peering inside the hole. The sun was well on its way towards the horizon so we couldn't see the bottom of the well. "Has the thought ever occurred to you that you may be standing in the same spot as your father when he was on his quest for the Gods?" I asked softly looking at him.

"To be honest, no." It didn't look like he wanted to say anything else so I didn't push him. I didn't say anything else and just put my hand on his shoulder.

We stood there in silence for a couple more moments. When Atticus snapped back into focus. "To the merchant's shop?"

Retracting my hand, I balled it into a fist and put it in the air. "To the merchant's shop!" I turned, leading the way, as Atticus followed. It took a couple of minutes for us to realize that we didn't actually know where the merchant's shop was.

Eventually we did find the shop. Atticus went directly to the counter while I looked around at the merchandise. It was interesting to see how different the styles of clothing looked from one place to the next. I was casually looking around when I heard I began to hear Atticus talk about Quznos.

I bolted to where Atticus was standing. He had all our extra cloth on display before the merchant. "Atticus, what are you doing?"

"I'm selling the cloth like we agreed."

"And for how much?"

"Twenty Quznos."

I took a sharp inhalation of breath through my nose letting it out slowly from my covered mouth. "Atticus my friend," I whispered to him. "You may be good at hunting but the art of trade is my specialty. Step aside and watch a trained professional work his magic." I flashed a cheeky smile and put out my hand to shake the merchant's. "Hi! My name is Vaughn, what's your name?"

"Frankie. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Frankie." I took my hand back and placed both my hands on the cloth displayed before us. "How's your day been? Has it been a busy day for the shop?"

"No, it's been pretty good. A steady flow of traffic has been coming in and out."

"That's great! I'm happy to hear that! Back in my hometown I actually worked in my family's shop so I understand the significance of getting and selling products. So, I'm just going to cut right into the chase with you; this fur is from our home village in the Patricot Mountains. There are quite a few sets of furs here that are from animals that can only be found on those mountains. Due to the rarity of the fur I will place a bid down for seventy-five Quznos.

"That's way too high. Twenty Quznos."

"No, seventy-five."

"Thirty."

"Seventy."

"Forty-five."

"Sixty-Eight."

"Fifty."

"Sixty."

"Fifty-five and that's the highest that I'll go."

"Fine, fifty-five...and a pouch to hold it all in."

Frankie paused for a moment looking between myself, Atticus, and the furs. His eyebrows furrowed as he mulled over the final offer. "You have yourself a deal!" We shook hands and he handed us our coin pouch filled with Quznos.

"Here you go sir."

"Thank you," I smiled and took the pouch from him. "We'll come by tomorrow to purchase some supplies." With that I turned and walked off.

Strolling towards the exit I handed the pouch to Atticus. "That's how you get it done Atticus."

I looked beside me to see Atticus's face in a dumbfounded state. His jaw was a little slack but his eyes gave away his disbelief.

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Hey everyone! This was actually one of my favorite scenes to write so far in the story! Been super busy between exams and extracurriculars but hey, I still got the update in! How's your week going?

-Ryan