Chapter Nine

Market stalls lined the route that they traveled down as splotches of sunlight danced through the dirty panes of the Hob roof. Light highlighted the dust that blew up into the air now and again. Lovers strolled past them hand in hand heedless of the dirt and grit that clung onto their pants and shoes. People occasionally paused along the walkway casually browsing the various wares. Mothers hustled and bustled doing their errands as they dragged their children behind them. Loud voices carried overhead as patrons haggled over the price of this and that.

Both children were drawn to the slight bit of space nearby a fairly large stall that people steered around. A couple people were seated around the makeshift bar table that encircled the stall. Some sat and ate on rickety rusted stools, while others stood as they slurped from their bowls. The stall in question had a great big neon sign that impossibly lit up blinking 'Greasy Sae's Spoon'. The sumptuous smell that wafted their way seemed to drag them further towards her stall.

The stall owner was a old bony woman with tanned leathery skin, laugh lines, and crinkly eyes that showed years of past smiles on her face. She was wrapped up in a dirty apron and a dark dress, but still managed to look sort of homey. Her riot of white curls was pulled back into a low braid covered by a tattered handkerchief crisscrossed with neat stitches here and there. Greasy Sae sold bowls of hot soup and stew from large kettles hanging over a decently sized fire pit. And nailed onto one of the posts that held her stall sign, was a little note that stated that all soups and stews came with some paraffin per bowl. She refused to sell anything else.

Greasy Sae looked up from stirring one of her many kettles and swiveled their way. She squinted and adjusted her thin metal glasses, her grey eyes narrowed at them for a moment before realization blossomed onto her face. A smile steadily crinkled her eyes and exposed her crooked yellowing teeth, "Katniss! And strange blond boy. Welcome! I'm sorry about your papa, little one. On a brighter note, would you two care for some soup or are you here to trade some stuff?"

Katniss nodded towards her, a small smile tugged at her lips, "Thanks, Sae. This is my new friend Peeta, and I'd like to trade some stuff."

She tilted her head towards them in return, "Nice to meet you, other little one. You two sure you don't want some soup?" Greasy Sae gestured to the various large metal kettles that seemed to simmer away over her neat fire pit.

A shy grin flickered onto Peeta's face as he gave her a little wave, "It's nice to meet you too, miss Sae."

Greasy Sae let out a horse like laugh and threw her head back just a bit. She straightened herself, her eyes twinkled, "Just for that, your soups are on me." She bustled away from them towards a nearby shelf that held a bunch of bowls and spoons.

Katniss bit her lip and called out, "Well if that's the case, sure, but none of your house special for him. Please."

Greasy Sae raised a brow and chuckled before shaking her head, "Sure, little one." Almost everyone liked her house special. Well, those that didn't know her secret ingredient anyways. Can't please all the people though. She went over to a large kettle and ladled some soup into two wooden bowls with a flourish.

Peeta frowned and murmured poking her gently on her shoulder, "Why?"

She sheepishly looked at him and muttered, "I'll tell you later."

He shrugged and accepted it easily enough, "Okay." He figured that Katniss was much more private than he'd initially thought, but he could wait. It didn't mean that he wasn't a little irritated though.

Greasy Sae made her way back towards them balancing two wooden bowls of hot soup in one arm. She plucked two metal cups from under the bar table with her other hand, and poured water into each cup just as she placed down the bowls. She did it with an easy grace that showed that she'd been doing this for more than a decade.

"Two chicken, rice and vegetable soups for the both of you. Buns are still fresh. All of it's hot still, lucky that you two got here while there was still some left. Enjoy, little ones," with a grin she plucked out two balls of bread from a little table beside her, and gently placed them onto two little napkins beside them. With a wink she moved away from them to tend to another patron of hers.

Slowly, they both drank their savory soup and munched on their parafins. Not long after, Greasy Sae happily took half of the greens that they had left from what they'd collected yesterday. In return, she gave them a couple large chunks of paraffin each.

Katniss knew that they might've done a tad bit better elsewhere, but she wanted to make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae. She was the only one who could be consistently counted on to buy wild game no one else wanted, like wild dog or raccoons. Both her father and her had never hunted them on purpose, but when you're attacked and you take out a dog or two, well, meat was meat.

Large gobs of meat floated in and around one of the large open kettles Greasy Sae was stirring nearby. Chopped potatoes and carrots peaked up from the dark orange brown soup. Dots of oil swirling through it all. She hummed happily as both children leaned a closer towards her.

Peeta sniffed at the spiced savory aroma that tickled his nose, "What kind of meat is in it, ma'am?"

"Once meat's in the soup, boy, I call it beef," Greasy Sae whispered with a conspiratorial wink.

Peeta tugged on a reluctant smile as his cheeks paled slightly. Suddenly, it didn't smell as good as he initially thought it had.

At that, Katniss nervously laughed and tugged Peeta away from Greasy Sae's stall with a wave and a quick thanks. She figured that it was probably wild dog stew today in one of the many kettles she had, and guessed that Peeta wouldn't have the stomach for that.

Greasy Sae cheerily waved back and called out, "Come back again."

As they walked away Peeta worriedly wondered, "What did she mean? Did she really mean...?"

Katniss gave him a hesitant expression, "No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good wild dog stew. Meat's meat when you're hungry, but some folks, like the Peacekeepers, can afford to be a little choosier. So it becomes 'beef'. S'why I said no to the daily special, just in case it was on the menu."

He frowned in thought and muttered, "Huh. Thanks, Katniss."

She could clearly see that he wasn't into eating wild dog. It wasn't like it was someone's pet Fido, but they didn't really have that problem in town. Right? That's probably the only reason why he was making that face. He'd never seen a wild dog, and she didn't really want him to. There was definitely a difference between Fido and a wild dog that was trying to eat your face. She inwardly shivered at the mere memory of it.

Peeta tugged onto the hand that gently held his and urgently muttered, "Hey, wait. Isn't that an actual Peacekeeper?" He caught sight of the stark white Peacekeeper uniform against the sea of dark dirt smudged clothes that everyone else around them wore.

Katniss turned her head to where he was staring and squinted before nodding, "Mhmm. Yeah, that's Peacekeeper Purina. She eats regularly at Greasy Sae's."

Purina caught them looking at her and threw them a little wave hello. She hurriedly moved past them towards Greasy Sae's stall. The other patrons didn't even blink at her being a Peacekeeper and instead seemed to welcome her with warm smiles and waves of hello. Hell, even Greasy Sae didn't have a hint of worry written on her face at the sight of the white uniformed lady.

Peeta hummed in thought while Katniss led them through a throng of people. The stench of freshly butchered meat hung in the air. As they strolled closer, Katniss spotted the Hob butcher's stall. Fresh plucked birds hung upside down his stall, newly dried blood was splattered on the white drop sheets he always had around.

A large crowd hung around the Hob butcher today. Tell tale signs of a big auction were there. And in the Hob, the standard protocol for someone showing up with a wild turkey for bidding was for everybody to bid on the drumsticks and cutlets. From the looks of it, it looked like Gale had miraculously caught two fat wild turkeys today. An old burly Peacekeeper with a bottle of white liquor in one hand stood out amongst the crowd. He was probably there to bid on the turkey too.

Peeta bit his lip and asked in a hushed voice, "Isn't that the head Peacekeeper?"

Katniss got a better look at the Peacekeeper, a scowl dragged across her face, "Yup. That's Old Peacekeeper Cray. He always pays well for meat, especially for wild turkey, but no one likes him. He has a vile habit of luring starving young women into his bed for money. During really bad times, the hungriest gather at his door at nightfall vying for the chance to earn a few coins to feed their families by selling their bodies." Disgust at the mere sight of him welled up onto Katniss's face. If looks could kill, he'd be buried in the seventh pit of hell.

A disdainful expression flitted across Peeta's face as his jaw tightened, "Huh..." Despite his hands aching and stinging, he still clenched his fists. He'd never wanted to hit someone before, but the urge surged in him. Just the thought of someone. Someone like Katniss. Someone like Prim... Just the thought of that happening to people like them, helpless to the machinations of a place and people that were supposed to take care of them. Those stupid flyers stating that the Capitol would always be there to help, and that Peacekeepers were supposed to be their protectors were a bunch of bullshit.

Katniss misinterpreted his expression and gently held onto his arm. Her voice hushed as a deep sadness shone in her eyes, "Yeah, but necessary for some folks." Her heart clenched at that thought. She'd had to do that once upon a time in another life. People were monsters more than she wanted to admit.

She tugged the two of them away from the bidding crowd. Just the sight of Old Cray made her irritated and angry. Peeta kept up to her fast pace and soon the Hob butcher's stall was obscured by a sea of people. The thought of Old Cray and those poor girls swept away by the crowd.

As they passed by some more recently put up stalls, the new merchants Bramwell mentioned caught Katniss's eye. A tall tailor and fabric stall caught her eye. It's wooden sign was brightly painted 'Twill and Spruce's Spools' with flourishing black letters. A willowy brunette with pale peachy skin turned and smiled at her as she put up a sewing mannequin into one of their stall corners. Her chest was wrapped in a swath of fabric holding a tiny baby against her chest.

A tall wide man popped out of the swaths of cerulean cloth at the back of their stall. He wrapped up his arms around the woman. Their gold wedding rings glinted against the light that reflected against the oil lamp that hung from their stall. He caught their eyes and happily waved, dimples indenting his face.

Another person emerged from the depths of their stall. They all had similar features and a certain coloring that wasn't common in district 12. The girl lugged out bolts of fabric and stood them up onto the rug in front of their stall. She looked around Gale's age, with dark curling hair and brown eyes.

Katniss unconsciously tugged Peeta closer to the stall. He smiled at her despite the fact that she had become quite enamored with the soft looking bolts of fabric. He gently felt a bit of fabric from an orange bolt of cloth and surprise spread across his face. His eyes widened as he rubbed the cloth between his fingers. It didn't look like something out of the ordinary, but it felt even softer than flannel. When he pulled it back, it even stretched.

Leaving Peeta to stare in wonderment at the orange fabric he'd been drawn to, Katniss was distracted by a thick bolt of sky blue fabric. It was as soft as a cloud and stretched just a little bit. She'd never seen fabric like that around the Hob before. Squinting at the little tag attached she saw that it said that the fabric was called jersey cotton. She bit her lip in thought and fingered the fabric, 'Maybe I could also get some new cloth for a dress for Prim. This would defenitely bring out her eyes, and it's so soft. Ohh...I kind of want a shirt made out of this. Oh! They even have a green version. Hmmm.'

Katniss hummed in concentration and ran her fingers over a length of thick green jersey cotton. Suddenly, a short little girl with a riot of light red curls bumped into her startling her out of her thoughts. Katniss blinked repeatedly before focusing down and realization hit her. The little kid was one of Greasy Sae's grandkids, Rosie. She smiled down at the little girl that clung around her legs. A big smile with a missing front tooth greeted her along with bright grey eyes, and a smattering of freckles. Katniss let out a startled laugh and gently patted her hair. She idly noted that Rusty Barb's hair was more like a crayon red than the red orange of Rosie's hair.

Rosie giggled and hugged her tighter before skipping away towards some cackling children. Katniss shook her head and a fond look softened her face. She looked back at the bolts of fabric longingly before shaking her head again. It'd be too much for two long lengths of this nice fabric. She'd just have to keep looking for something better and slightly cheaper.

As they departed from the stall Peeta scratched at his cheek as a hesitant smile crawled onto his face, "That was weird little kid."

Katniss tilted her head in thought at his words. Weird...What weird little girl? She glanced at the slightly ashamed look on his face as realization hit. The only person everyone ever called weird in that tone was... A slight frown dipped her lips down, "Oh. That's just Rosie. I know she's not quite right, but she's a sweetheart. Some people treat her as a sort of pet, but she's smarter than that. Sure, her face is kind of squished and she's a little slow, but her heart's in the right place."

An apologetic look painted his face, "Sorry... Where are her parents?"

The hardness in Katniss's eyes softened as she looped her arm with Peeta's, "Her mom is usually around here somewhere and her dad should be patrolling around. She's a Peacekeeper's kid. Darius something or another; one of the younger Peacekeepers around my mom's age, married Greasy Sae's youngest daughter. It was a pretty cool wedding."

Peeta's jaw dropped as he balked, "How is that even allowed? I heard that if they took you away to become a Peacekeeper that you'd have to be celibate and unmarried for like, forever."

She bonelessly shrugged, "I guess he didn't care. I dunno. You know what? It might actually be because he's been here almost as long as Old Peacekeeper Cray has. I remember my dad making fun of him as one of the few teenage Peacekeepers here, actually. Could be that."

Peeta sighed and gently ran a hand through his hair. A deep sigh escaped past his chapped lips, "So does everyone around here just ignore all the laws and rules?"

A cheeky smile adorned her face as she gently bumped his shoulder while they walked, "Don't be sore... There are people that work in the Justice Building that are pretty straight laced. A lot of the townies are, as you know, wary of this place. But I've seen more than a few of the legal Merchants here after their hours are finished. Umm... There was only one person that was pissed about this place in the Peacekeeper crew here, but he finished his term and decided to transfer out. That or he died and no one bothered to tell anyone."

Peeta let out a low whistle, "Well, damn."

An apathetic look colored Katniss's face as she shrugged. She didn't really care for that Peacekeeper, and whether he lived or died didn't really concern her. A curious look crossed her face, "Yeah. I was kind of surprised that you hadn't been here yet, actually. With the way your mom tries to crush the life out of you guys, this would've been one of the rebellious things that I thought you might indulge in."

A bright flush spread across his face as he coughed, "No. No. Not a rebel. Besides, with what my mother constantly yells about the Seam and how much better Town Merchants are, you couldn't guess? "

She couldn't help the snort that escaped her, "Touche. As for the rebel bit, you are now. You're here with me aren't you?"

He tightened his arm around Katniss's and hummed, "Yeah. That's true."

A light white stall with a sign in the shape of a scroll along with fancy gold lettering declaring it to be 'The Write Stop' made her snort in amusement. Peeta let out a little oh and was the one to draw them into a stall for once. All the wooden shelves full of note books, sheathes of different papers, and the assortment of different pens, pencils, and other writing implements made Peeta's face light up.

Katniss pulled away from a clearly drooling Peeta and caught sight of the stall owner Eustace. Eustace was a short old man with a balding head, a fairly bushy grey beard, a round belly and a wide grin with violet eyes that always seemed to dance. He kind of reminded her of a too tall dwarf, if those things even existed.

He peered up at her and chortled, "Good to see that life hasn't beaten you down, sugar."

Although his customary smile was in place, she could see the deep eye bags that hung on his tanned skin. She leaned against his stall table and shot him a wane smile, "You too, old timer. You gonna be okay?"

His eyes dimmed a bit and he pulled out an old pink weathered hanky from his pocket. He blew his nose and shot Katniss a sad grin, "Should ask you that, sugar. You lost your, dad. Foundation, mom's and dads. I lost my Molly in that explosion. She wanted to save up to help build up our shop and the mines paid much better than here, so you know. Couldn't stop her no matter how hard we tried. Stubborn girl. Hurts deep inside. Donna's always cryin' now, but it can't be helped. Three months' ain't nothing when you loose your child..."

Kantiss nodded empathetically, "Sometimes my heart just hurts."

He sighed and seemed to pull himself up to stand a little straighter, "Don't I know it. You need something for the little flower of yours?" He didn't bother asking about her mother. News had gotten around to those that were still alive and knew Aven, that she wasn't doing too well. It would probably be like the time when she and Aven lost their first child. She'd been almost comatose for months until she'd gotten pregnant with Katniss, and the light of life seemed to swell back into her.

She nodded, "Yeah. It's Prim's birthday today. Do you think you have a card that she might like?"

He scrunched his lips this way and that, making his beard and mustache twitch. He turned and walked around his stall table before ducking down, "Yeah. I think I've still got some cards. Haven't got any new ones. Molly...Molly used to make new ones and my heart just hasn't been in it lately to make more."

Eustace popped up with a small shoe box in his arms. He looked down at the box and took in a deep breath before reluctantly letting it go, "Here you are, sugar."

She gently held the box in her hands and rifled through the cards. Cards of sketched flowers, cakes, and birds in different inks, watercolors and paints, greeted her. She gingerly pulled out a card with a water color duck wearing a birthday hat. Inside the card was Molly's distinctive cursive with looping letters saying 'Have a ducktastic birthday!' Katniss bit her lip at the bad jokes. She didn't really know Molly all that well since she was quite a bit younger than her, but she could see how much her parents loved her. A bitter twang hit her.

Eustace gazed at the box lost in thought for a moment. Katniss cleared her throat and slid the card towards him, "Can I buy this one?"

He glanced down at the card and let out a wobbly laugh, "She had my sense of humor. You can have it for free, sugar. Say happy birthday to the little flower for me and the missus, yeah?"

She nodded resolutely as he slid the card into a protective plastic.

Peeta came out from the large shelves that lined the stall with a basket full of sketch books, pens and pencils. An embarrassed smile grew onto his face, "I've never had pens or pencils like this."

A bright smile flickered onto Eustace's face, "S'always good to see another fellow that's enamored with stationary supplies like me. That'll just be five credits, young man."

Peeta paused for a moment, before a thrilled grin encompassed his features, "Really?" He deftly plucked the credits out of his pocket and handed it over bouncing slightly on the back of his heels.

Eustace chuckled and stowed all of Peeta's purchases into a paper bag, "Yep. And if you're interested in the more colorful variety of things, you should check out Amaryllis's art stall. Should be three stalls down from this one."

With a happy nod, Peeta collected his paper bag, "Thanks mister!"

"You're welcome, young man," Eustace waved at the two children as they walked off and away from his stall.

As they walked towards the art stall, Katniss shot Peeta a curious look, "So you really like art? How'd that happen?" They didn't really have an environment conducive to anything really creative in district 12, so it was interesting to note that he had managed to find a hobby like that.

"I've always liked art. You know, like painting, sketching, drawing, coloring and all that stuff. I know we never really had a way to do that in school...Let alone our district, but just reading about how that was an option back in the Dark Days..." he let out a wistful laugh as he clutched his purchases to his chest.

His eyes brightened and crinkled as he gave her an impish grin, "That's a thing of the past now though. Now I don't have to use frosting cakes and cookies for my art. Or sketching with left over coals from the fire and squished berries, the ones that sometimes got thrown away from the bakery. They don't hold up well. So, I'm really happy I got to come here."

A bright smile dimpled Katniss's face, "I'm glad."

She could totally see why this made him happy. Creative products like art supplies just didn't come through the Merchant market. However, they did come through the Hob Market.

She bit her lip as she idly listened to him go on about the various pros and cons about pencil crayons vs paint. It didn't really mean much to her since she didn't have art as a hobby. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really have a any 'real' hobbies to speak of, not like that at least. Well, unless you counted hunting illegally. Or maybe singing, but she didn't like doing that in public. She did enjoy reading too, but it wasn't as creative as drawing or painting. Books had been too expensive to own before now though, but that could be considered a hobby. Oh! She enjoyed carving things, that could be her hobby. It would be nice to bond over something creative with Peeta.

Inwardly, she preened, 'Maybe I have hobbies I can share too.'

It didn't take them long to come across the art stall. It was brightly colored in bolts of sunshine yellow fabric with bits of red thrown in here and there. The sign nailed above it, was bright and shiny with gold lettering: 'Amaryllis Art Alley'.

Amaryllis turned out to be a darkly tanned, petite woman with black birds nest hair, sparkling green eyes, and scars that dotted her arms and hands. At the sight of them, she perked up from her slumped position on her chair, "Well, hi there! I'm Amaryllis. Welcome, welcome."

Peeta's grin seemed to crack his face, it was so wide, "Hi. Can, we look around?" He bounced on the heels of his feet, head swiveling here and there as if he were trying to drink all the art supplies with his eyes.

Katniss shot her a friendly look, "It looks neat in here."

Amaryllis bobbed her head and gestured to the opening of her stall, "Why, thank you. And of course! Go ahead and browse. Always happy to have fellow art lovers."

It didn't take long for Peeta to find what he was looking for. Blissfully, he bought paint, pencil crayons, markers, and fine brushes at a discount. They were apparently Amaryllis's first customers of the day, and she appreciated their business.

Once they were done at the art stall, the two children started to wander around the hob again. Katniss was determined to find something, anything that Prim might like at this point. She tried to concentrate harder in order to look for something Prim would really like as they passed by more and more Hob merchant stalls.

When she felt like just giving up and conjuring something simple for her little sister, something caught her eye. Goats. There not too far from them was an old man who looked to be selling a couple goats. Prim loved animals, sometimes more than people. They would be perfect.

As she pulled them closer to his stall, her thoughts pulled at the flashes of information that flooded her brain. She knew from her late father, that the old man kept a small herd of goats on the other side of the Seam. Everyone called him Abe the Goat Man. His joints had always been swollen and twisted in painful angles from her knowledge, and he had a horrible hacking cough that proved he spent years in the mines. But he was lucky. Somewhere along the way, he managed to save up enough for all these goats and now has something to do in his old age besides slowly starve to death. He was filthy and impatient, but the goats were always clean and their milk was rich and creamy if you can afford it.

One of the goats, a white one with black patches, was lying down in a cart. It was easy to see why. Something, probably a wild dog, had mauled her shoulder and an infection had set in. It was bad, the Goat Man had to hold her up to milk her, but Katniss knew someone who could fix everything that ailed that goat. She noticed another goat beside it, a white one with black and brown splotches, who was leaning heavily to one side against the other goat. It was clear that it had a bad limp.

"Peeta," she whispered, an undercurrent of excitement laced in her voice, "I want those goats for Prim." She tugged on his arm and bit her lip, doing her best to contain her excitement. No need to let Abe know about her interest too soon.

Owning a nanny goat could change your life in District 12. The animals can live off almost anything, the Meadow's a perfect feeding place, and they can give four quarts of milk a day. To drink, to make into cheese, to sell. It's not even against the law. Owning two, that could make an even better change. Not to mention, it was already part of her big master plan. She'd definitely turn one of them into a miniature cow after getting them both fixed up.

Peeta hummed and squinted at them before nodding slightly, "They look like they're hurt pretty bad."

Before Katniss could protest, he gave her a wink and pulled her even closer to the Goat Stall, "We better take a closer look."

They went over and bought a cup of milk to share, then stood over the goats as if idly curious.

He gave them both a suspicious squinty look before scowling, "Leave them be."

"Just looking," Peeta stated, shooting him a charming smile.

Abe's scowl lessened before he snarked, "Well, look fast. These two go to the Merchant butcher soon. Hardly anyone will buy their milk, and then they only pay half price," he grumbled stretching slightly before firmly sitting on his upturned bucket and leaning against his cane.

Katniss bit her lip and chanced showing her interest, "What's Rooba giving for them?"

Abe shrugged, a calculating glimmer flashed in his eyes before his face became apathetic, "Hang around and see."

It didn't take long for Rooba to turn up. At the sound of the familiar jingle jangle of her keys, Katniss turned and saw Rooba coming across the Hob towards them. Towards the goats that she'd really hope she could get for Prim. A tight knot of anxiety plunged into Katniss's stomach. What if she couldn't get the goats for Prim? They were the only gift idea she could find that would certainly knock her little sister's socks off.

"Lucky thing you showed up, Miss Robba," Abe stated with a wry grin.

He gestured at them with his cane, a crooked grin on his lips exposing his decaying yellowing teeth, "Girl's got her eye on your goats."

"Not if they're spoken for," Katniss blinked and sheepishly smiled. It wouldn't do to get on Rooba's bad side. She still needed to trade with her after all.

Rooba looked up and down at Katniss before she frowned at the goats. "They're not. Look at that one's shoulder. Look at that one's limp. Bet you half the carcasses will be too rotten for even sausages."

Abe reeled back, an offended look washed onto his face, "What!?"

Rooba shrugged, "You heard me."

A deep frown furrowed his face, making his grey bushy eyebrows almost cover his eyes, "We had a deal, Miss Rooba."

She shook her finger at him, her tone entirely chastising, "Abe, we had a deal on animals with a few teeth marks. Not those things. Sell them to the girl if she's stupid enough to take them." With that she swiftly turned, her keys loudly jingle jangling as she went. And as she marched off, Katniss caught her subtle wink. Maybe she did have a chance to purchase Prim's gifts.

Abe let out a frustrated noise and turned his eyes onto the two children, "You want these two, they're twenty-five credits each."

Katniss shook her head, a stubborn frown flittered across her face, "No. Rooba's right, they aren't worth that much when they look like they're gonna keel over."

Abe let out a growl, his nostrils flared, "Why you!?"

Peeta deftly stepped in with an apologetic smile, "Besides, sir, they're supposed to be a gift for someone."

At that his scowl and anger dissipated slightly and he let out an irritated huff, "Fine. Better be glad, you're friend's nicer than you, girl. What you willing to give for em?"

Katniss inwardly beamed. She was really glad Peeta had come with her on this Hob trip. She was quite aware that she didn't have the charisma to pull off what he just managed to do with surly old Abe.

It took them the better part of half an hour haggling on the price. Because of the constant haggling back and forth, quite a crowd had gathered by then to hand out opinions and advice. A lot of people agreed that it was an excellent deal if the goats lived. On the other hand, many also agreed that Katniss would be completely robbed if they died. People kept taking sides in the argument, but Katniss paid them no mind. She just wanted the goats.

After another long while, they settled on nine credits each, which was a steal if they lived. Katniss knew just how to make them live though. She just had to visit Shady Jim.

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AN: Thank you for those that read, followed, and or favorited this story. A great big thanks to the reviewers 8goose8 and TwinK21. You guys are awesome!

8goose8: I'm glad that you like it!

Twink21: Thank you very much. I hope you like how she still got the same thing for Prim with a little twist. She made it so that anyone looking at their house would see the same old shack and then want to walk away. It's kind of like a contentment charm with a mix of a confusion charm laid in. As for the healing bit, she's never been good at healing anything with magic. And with Katniss's original body/personality, it would make sense that she couldn't really do that in this life time either. That'll be in the upcoming chapter.