Mid-Day, June 22, Year of the Great Kingdom 597
With no other options available to her, Telma was forced to speak with the woman that came to see her. After a few timid questions back and forth, they established that Telma was physically un-harmed, just hungry and dehydrated. The girl's name was Safflina, "like the flower" she explained with a slight giggle – which nearly made Telma giggle too. That was the first moment that her heart began to relax. It was such a girlish thing to do – giggling at a flowery nickname. It helped her to believe that this person did not mean her any harm. But soon, Safflina's Hylian was being strained and she found it difficult to continue their little talk.
"I have a friend, her name is Lavender, she speaks Hylian very good. Would you like to meet her?" she asked softly. The prospect of meeting more Gerudo shook Telma badly and her tiny confidence in this new acquaintance nearly shattered. "I…I…" she stammered, "I d-don't think…" "It will be ok, I promise." The girl tried, smiling sweetly again, "She's very nice. Come on." Safflina finished, holding her hand out to Telma from the doorway.
Trembling so badly, she nearly tripped and fell several times, the young woman allowed Safflina to gently lead her out of her room (clutching her basket) and down the hall toward the bar. As they passed the reception desk, Audra glanced up and curled her lips into an obnoxiously wide smile – baring her disgusting brown teeth. "Its ok… its ok." Her escort kept whispering to her as the terrified girl slowly made her way to the other side of the building.
Once inside the western room, Telma spotted the four other girls from the night before, huddled around a table at the far side. A weathered, impossibly-old crone stood behind the bar – who hastily motioned for the girls to move away and give the poor girl plenty of space. Safflina carefully led her right up to the bar and helped her to sit on an empty stool. "There we go… you're ok now." She soothed, patting Telma's hand once she sat.
Still hugging her basket of clothes for dear life, her eyes drifted around the room. This place seemed oddly familiar to her, but it had been so many years, and only one brief visit. "Do you remember me, child?" the old woman asked quietly. Darting her attention back to her, Telma shivered at the owner's yellow eyes and fierce glare. Yes, she could barely remember her from when her mother brought her here. But the memory was unpleasant and intimidating. When she didn't answer, Agnes continued, "Your mama brought you here once… You called me 'Grannie Agnie'… remember?"
Silently, Telma nodded "yes" to her, but said nothing. "Yes child… it is you." She crooned quietly, grinning at her. "We saw her travel back this way only a few days after you left… but you were not with her, were you?" she asked in a hushed voice. Again, without speaking, Telma slowly shook her head "no" at the old woman. "I thought not." she finished, waving at Safflina to join the others at the farthest end of the room. The girl softly rested one hand on her shoulder and whispered, "I will be right there." And stepped away.
Her panic began to slowly rise again. Her papa was murdered. Her home was gone. She had been kidnapped and taken to this hostile place. She had been safe in her room – at least, safer than here in the open – but now she was exposed and vulnerable with these strange people. Her trembling became uncontrollable and she dropped her chin onto the clothes in her basket.
"No one stays here for free, child." The crone continued, ignoring her fear, "The captain who brought you in left enough for one night and some food. Which has been provided." Telma's memory of the previous day was fragmented and blurred. Someone had found her… they led her inside… then she was in the room by herself. But when she realized what the old woman was saying, a new horror came to her mind – she was about to be sent outside again. "P-please," she whimpered, "I d-don't want to go… back out there. I… I don't have anywhere to go." Bitter tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Suddenly this old woman was her only savior, and she was now begging her to let her stay.
All of this had been planned by Agnes of course -the entire conversation. She knew exactly how lost Telma was – or at least she guessed very accurately. But she was very skilled and well-practiced in these kinds of negotiations, and played the skeptical, un-informed bar owner well. "Well," she began, taking a deep sigh, "I'm not sure what you could offer me, child. All you have are a few scraps of cloth in that basket…" she finished, trailing off and turning her eyes back up to the woman, expecting something.
Telma's mind began to turn furiously, trying to find some solution. Escape would be impossible – not until she had recovered and learned enough of the language and landscape to safely make her way back to Hyrule. It was true, she had no money or goods to barter; there was only one way she could survive. "I can work." She tried to answer confidently, but her voice was still shaking. The old crone pursed her lips and looked down at her own hands – which were covered in many rings and bracelets. "Hmm" she hummed, "I have a full staff already… and times are slow right now… You would likely be more of a burden than an asset here, girl."
The tactic was cruel, but brilliant. In a flash, complete desperation filled Telma's heart – she had to convince this woman that she was worth keeping around. "I c-can… I can cook! I can… clean! I know how to grow vegetables and keep animals!" she plead, hoping something would intrigue the inn's owner. But the old woman shook her head "no", "I have girls to cook, and to clean, and to mind the animals outside. We don't grow anything here, child, the ground is too dry. We trade for what we need. I'm sorry, I'm just not hearing anything that I need."
Pitiful, dirty tears streaked down Telma's dust covered face and dropped onto the bar top between them. "P-please… just for a little while…" she hoarsely sobbed, but the old woman continued to shake her head "no." Suddenly, without warning, Audra – who had quietly entered the room behind Telma – slammed a heavy ledger and stack of papers down upon the bar top beside the girl, causing her to shriek and jump off of her stool. "Agnes! You have to see this! – Oh, shut up girl and sit down, this will only take a moment!" the old bat hissed before turning back to her sister, "These figures just do NOT add up! But I am still certain we are losing money!"
The two ancient sisters began to fiercely bicker and forget about their newcomer. Agnes was infuriated at the interruption – this was not part of her plan – but Audra was insistent that the establishment's records were out of order and was not able to determine whether or not they had made a profit for this month. Completely bewildered, Telma nearly took the opportunity to run – when her eyes noticed a curious thing about the bar's records: they were written in Hylian. By complete coincidence -or divine intervention- her eyes had fallen upon the one mistake Audra had made in her tabulations, and she quickly realized that the old clerk had arrived at the wrong figure.
"You made a small profit." She muttered, but the shrieking old women did not hear her. Faster than a heartbeat, a new plan came to Telma's mind. It was desperate, even dangerous, but it gave her one small advantage. "You made a small profit!" She cried over them, halting their argument and raising their eyebrows in surprise. "What do you know of it?!" spat the clerk – insulted that some intruder would dare to question her maths. "W-well," stuttered Telma, resisting the urge to retreat, "Right there." She pointed to the page, "This smudge… it changed your 1 into a 2… you deducted too much for your costs. If you recheck it, you'll see you made a profit this month."
Clenching her jaw dangerously tight, the clerk quickly withdrew a pair of cracked spectacles from her pocket and leaned very low over the ledger to check Telma's words. With a defeated grumble, she scooped the documents back up into her arms and shuffled back to her station. "You know numbers?" Agnes asked, genuinely surprised. Telma could feel her advantage now – it was as slender as a hair, but if she could grasp it, and tug just right… she might be able to save herself. "I know business." She corrected with a firm voice, "I used to help my p-… my family with their transactions."
The old crone's eyebrows lifted even higher – this was unexpected. Telma was a beautiful and – judging by her clothing – voluptuous specimen. Agnes had hoped to turn her to an expensive comfort vai, but this… this was a different proposal. Audra's eyesight had been declining for years and the old bat was taking longer and longer to tabulate the establishment's records and make certain that profit was being made. Agnes couldn't (or wouldn't) trust any of her other girls with it – she didn't want them to know how much money she was making. Also, while they spoke some Hylian, she doubted any of them could read or perform maths with it.
"What did you have in mind, child?" she asked quietly.