1.3 Discount Whiskers
There will always be people who cannot provide for themselves. Who's to look out for them? Certainly not the king. He does not know that they truly need help. It is the duty of their family and friends. Those close to you will give aid if you are deserving of it.
Gammon "Gold Chain" Bankpaws, excerpt from his book, The Language of Money.
"Where did it all go?"
His paws flipped the pages of his account book.
"It can't have just vanished."
A paw slid slowly down the numbers.
"They're adding up, but I can't see how."
Fey looked over his shoulder. Ferrous was agonizing over the accounts. At the rate the sales were dropping, he wouldn't be able to pay the rent on his shop.
"Fey! This is horrible! Do you know what's happened?"
Fey read off the page, "Ferrous was agonizing over the accounts. At the rate the sales were-"
"What are you doing?"
"Eh?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was just reading the- Well, I was finding out what the trouble was. Is there something wrong in that?"
"Never mind. You see, the shop hasn't been selling much, and we need to do something about it."
"Like what?" asked Fey, scratching behind her ear.
"First of all, we could stop taking in new stuff. The back room is already full and we can't afford to buy any more. If we have to, I suppose we could have a sale. That might attract some attention and almost certainly keep us open, but it'd also be taking two steps back. I really hope we don't have to."
Alternatively, they could hold some form of entertainment or social event to attract customers, but Ferrous hadn't thought of that. Sometimes, people who have visited such events will even recommend the business to their friends. Of course, for anyone to learn about them, they need to be well-advertised.
"What about this? We could have an open house. I bet a lot of people would come, and you could show off all the stuff we've got for sale! Maybe they'd even tell their friends about it. We can distribute flyers at the temple and I'm sure Saimon would be willing to help set it up."
"Fey, I hadn't thought of that. You're brilliant! Where did you come up with that?"
"It was just something I thought of."
Bullcrap.
"If we're to hold an open house, I'll need to get the shop fixed up and organize catering and clean the back room and- Oh, there's so much to do! Fey could you clean the back room? I'm going to Sapphire's house to see if she can do the fliers. Then I'll go to the metalworker's for the hinges and the town council for the catering. Thanks, Fey, bye!"
Ferrous slammed the door behind him, causing the hinges to crack ominously.
"Clean the back room? Great work Fey, you've done it again!"
Fey opened the cleaning closet and was nearly crushed by a mountain of cleaning supplies. Today was not turning out as well as she'd hoped.
^.^
"Hello, Sapphire! Are you here?"
"Morning, Mr. Ferrous," answered Cherry, rubbing her eyes. "You're up early."
"It's ten o'clock."
"What? Oh, yeah. That's early to me. What's up?"
"Is Sapphire home? I'd like to ask her about distributing fliers at the temple."
"Nope, sorry. She just left. I can tell her you came by when she gets home, though."
"Thank you, Cherry. How is Silver? Is he upset?"
"Haven't heard. He's too sick to leave his house. He caught cold when he was lost in the woods the other day. Where did you go, anyway?"
"I… also got lost."
"That sounds like you. Goodbye."
She slammed the door in his face. Ferrous sighed and ran to see the metalworker. He had never been good with teens.
"Really? Hinges?"
"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Ferrous asked nervously.
"No, but I'm still rather upset about my son being abandoned in the middle of the forest."
"It was a mistake and I did find him, didn't I?"
"Sure, eight hours later."
Ferrous bowed his head in silent anguish.
"Well, I suppose I can do it."
"Thank you very much Mr.-"
"-in exchange for that skull you've got hanging over your counter."
"What! That is an extremely rare- This is outra- Why don't- Oh, all right. One skull for a set of hinges."
"Agreed."
Ferrous left the metalworker's shop slightly disappointed and made his way to the council building to speak with the director.
^.^
Fey opened yet another cupboard. This one held a clay pot filled with coins, a tanned skin with blue fur, the teeth of some long forgotten beast, some porcupine quills, an enormous starfish, an intricately carved staff, some rusted knives, an old mill, a few copper coins, and a figure carved from stone.
As with the others before, she swept them out of the cupboard and cleaned it, then set the merchandise in the box at the front of the shop. So far she had found a vast assortment of junk and furniture, as well as a few things she couldn't identify.
"I'm back!" Ferrous said, throwing the door open, making the hinges creak loudly. "Oh, there you are!"
"Great! Now maybe you can help me identify some of this crap."
"Can you take down the skull and wrap it up?"
"What? Why?"
"They're the price for the hinges."
"Ooh, that's a good deal, isn't it?"
"Of course not! My grandfather killed that firedrake!"
"Aren't they endangered?"
"Goodness knows why, being that size," muttered Ferrous angrily as Fey took the skull down.
Ferrous' mood began to improve as he dug through the old stuff in the box.
"Hey! Here's that Empyrean umbrella! I think this is that old mill that makes herring and milk. And there's my old college textbooks!"
"Gee, Ferrous, I never woulda' guessed you went to college," Fey commented snidely.
"Worst years of my life," he said, tossing the book back in the box.
"Then why'd you go?"
"Are you serious? You can't get a job without going to college."
"I've got a job."
"A good job."
"It is a good job."
"Minimum wage is good?" Ferrous asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"No, but I do enjoy looking at your ears," she said, hopping off the counter.
"What?"
"It has nice benefits."
"Didn't you say something about my ears?"
"Yeah, they don't hear properly."
"Funny."
"Do you think we'll make any money off this junk?" asked Fey, dusting off another textbook.
"It's not junk. These are antiques!"
"Antique junk?"
"Okay, are we done now?"
"Come on, I just want to tease you a little more."
"Not a chance. We've still got to sort this jun- stuff, and put it on display."
"I can't play with you anymore?"
"No."
"How 'bout later?"
"We'll see. First I need you to take care of these boxes!
^.^
"Welcome home, mum," said Lupe as Sapphire opened the front door. "What did Mr. Ferrous want?"
"He was busy, so I'm going to talk to him tomorrow. Did you and your sister finish your assignments?"
"I'm a bit confused about the fifth equation."
"Which one is that?"
"11X+39X=i."
"Lupe, that one's simple."
"For you, maybe."
"Okay, let's start from the beginning…"