Chapter 2
Gems and hotels
After they had left the park, Willow decided the best way to find the skyscraper was to go climb another one and see which was the tallest. Aaron wasn't so sure that was the best idea. He wanted to catch up with Puck and his human, but they had disappeared into a large crowd of people. Willow and Aaron had been walking for a good hour and were totally lost. The sun beat down on them; air muggy and humid.
"Willow, where are we going?" He asked.
"The Empire State Building. It's got to be nearby." She said.
"Can't we take a bre- Wait, come here!" Aaron told her.
"What, you see something?" Willow asked.
Aaron stopped in front of a jeweler's. It was a brightly lit and clean. Cases of rings and necklaces lined the store. There were a few people milling inside, inspecting the cases. They were wearing nice clothes; suits and blouses.
"We can trade my gems for human money." He stared in the window.
"Shh, not too loud! They can't know we're not like them. We'll go in and then to the Empire State Building." Willow agreed.
They walked into jeweler's. Willow followed Aaron. The pair went straight to the front. The cashier looked at them as they approached.
"Hello, what are you looking for?" She asked.
"I have some gems I would like to sell." He told her.
"Oh, uh, I'll go get my manger." She left.
The cashier left the counter and went down a hallway. Willow looked at the rings in case while they waited. She returned with a stern looking woman. She had white hair and blue eyes. Dressed in black work suit, she studied the pair. The pixies were used to this kind of look from Oberon.
"You have some gemstones you would like appraised?" She asked.
"Yes, I do." Aaron said.
"Come with me to my office. My name is Elaine Hirsh." She turned.
"I'm Willow McDue." She smiled.
"Uh, Aaron Barlow." He added.
They followed the older woman to the back of the store and into her office. They sat in the chairs while Elaine got out a few things. A scale, tweezers, a lamp, calipers, and a lens scope. Aaron took out the bag, dumping the gems out on a tray. The bottle of gold dust rolled on the table.
"I don't deal with gold dust. I'll give you a card to a man I work with." She said.
"Of course." He took it back.
She gave him a business card and Willow took it, sticking it in her bag. Elaine weighted and measured the gems, scrutinizing them under the light. It took a bit of time for the human to look at all of them. Willow got out her food pouch and ate some dried berries. She slipped a few into Aaron's palm. He chewed as he watched the jeweler, making sure he wasn't going to get scammed.
"Sir, where did you get these?" The woman asked.
"It's, uh, a family heirloom… My great great great-" Aaron started.
"I get the picture, Mr. Barlow. Well, all of these are excellent quality. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I'm willing to buy these directly from you. I'd say all of it is worth 3,000." She said.
Aaron knew they were worth more than that. These were from Avalon, as pure as they could be. "8,000. I- I was told they were special."
"I'm sure you were. But let's not confuse sentimental value with monetary." Elaine said.
"7,500." He frowned.
"4,500." The woman paused.
"If you won't give me a fair price, I'll find someone else who will." Aaron reached for the gems.
"6,000 my final offer." She caved.
"Very well." He nodded curtly.
She got out a checkbook and wrote a check to Aaron; he watched her curiously. Elaine handed the check to him. He stared at it for a minute until Willow nudged him. He stuffed in it in his bag. They walked out of the store and Willow tried to remember which way they were headed.
It was early evening, the sky slowly turning navy. The streetlights flickered on. She chose to go south. Aaron followed behind her. Willow was suddenly pulled into an alley. A scruffy looking man was holding a knife to Willow's cheek. The man was trying to get a hold of her backpack.
"Acorn, help!" Willow cried.
"This doesn't have to be so hard! Gimme your belongings." The mugger growled.
"Willow, right." Aaron said.
She moved as far as she could. The mugger furrowed his brow as Aaron threw a heavy jab into the man's spleen. She kicked his ankle for good measure. He grunted as Willow hooked her foot around his other ankle and he stumbled. That was enough time for Willow to get away from him. They ran out of the alley in a hurry. Aaron ran straight ahead. They slowed down after a few blocks. They panted, Willow resting her hands on her knees.
"We gotta be more careful. He almost took all of our stuff." Willow said.
"It's getting late, the jeweler took more time than I thought. What do you suggest? Should we go back home?" He asked.
"What, no. We just have to have a place to stay." She shook her head.
"Stay here? You can't be serious. You were almost hurt and I have no more gems to sell. This money won't last forever!" Aaron said hotly.
"I know that, but we can't keep hopping back and forth. There has to be an inn nearby or something…" She scanned the buildings.
"We've done enough pretending, let's go sleep in the park." Aaron turned.
"NO! C'mon, Aaron. We need to stick together." She grabbed his arm.
The wind picked up and blew a piece of paper onto Willow's leg. She picked it up. Aaron looked over her shoulder.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's a grand opening to a hotel! But how will we find it?" She frowned.
"Taxi!" A couple yelled.
A yellow cab stopped and picked the couple up. Aaron and Willow looked for the next one and hailed the cab. Willow told the driver where they wanted to go. It took them an hour north and stopped at a modest looking building. Willow gave the driver some money. He took it and they got out. They walked into the hotel. The lobby was brightly lit and cheerful.
"A room for two." Willow said to the receptionist.
"We only have a queen available. Is that alright?" The receptionist looked at her.
"That's fine. We're going to stay… three nights." She decided, giving her a hundred.
"Oh, you're using U.S. notes?" She took it.
"Is it still good?" Willow asked.
"Yes, it's just old. Here's your key." She gave Willow some change and the key.
They walked down the hall to room 120. There were paintings on the wall. Willow unlocked the door. The room had dark carpet and a large bed in the middle of the room. A TV was on a stand and two dressers were on either side of the bed. Aaron turned back into his true form.
"That was exhausting!" He yawned.
"Acorn, turn back!" Willow hissed.
"Nobody's gonna come in here." He laid on the bed.
Willow thought for a moment before she decided against it. "No, we're pretending to be human!"
"Why must we? It would be easier if we stopped. I had him in my sights this afternoon and we lost him. Our mistake was not following him as pixies." Acorn argued.
"Would he have spoken to us?" She asked.
"Eventually… Maybe, I would have waited until he was alone." He placed his chin on his hand.
"We need to know his human name. Tomorrow, we will go to the police station and see what they know." Willow said as she dug through her bag.
She pulled out a pad of paper and some charcoal. Acorn sat on her shoulder. Thinking back, she visualized every detail she remembered of Puck's human form. It didn't need to be perfect, just accurate enough. Her hand filled out the page. A portrait of Puck's human form stared back.
"You got his nose all wrong. It-" Willow pushed him off with her finger. He tumbled onto the bed. "Hey!"
"C'mon, let's bathe and then go to bed." She told him.
"What about dinner?" He asked.
"It's late, dinner will have to wait. My money is the old kind. We were lucky she accepted it. I don't know if it will be taken elsewhere." She shrugged.
"Fine." Acorn got up.
Willow stared and he changed back into Aaron. The bed creaked as the weight suddenly doubled. Willow started toward the bathroom. Aaron followed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Willow frowned. They weren't strangers to public bathing. It was still a common thing on Avalon, but this tub wasn't meant for that.
"It's big enough for two humans. Why're you acting so prudish?" Aaron asked.
"This is meant to be a private bath! Humans only bathe with their children now. You go wait your turn." Willow pointed.
"Stupid humans and their rules." Aaron grumbled as he stepped back
Willow fiddled with the faucet, getting the temperature right. While looking for the drain plug, a little lever on the spout caught her eye. She pulled it. The water stopped and then came from the shower above.
"Ahh!" Willow shouted.
"Willow?!" Aaron asked through the door.
"I got it. Don't touch the the little thingy on the spout." She turned the faucet and it slowly stopped.
Willow stripped and set her clothes to the side. She turned on the water again, making it warm. Aaron grabbed a piece of paper and doodled. An hour later, they both had a bath and dried off. Willow hung their clothes on the shower bar. Aaron changed into his shorts and Willow into her nightgown. She pulled the blankets over them. They laid down and quickly fell asleep.