estate is beautiful and the company still self-sufficient and somewhat profitable, he doesn’t want to feel like he is starting over, especially since it will be hard to grow a company established in such an outlying place. Roderick has been sticking around in hopes that the old man will reconsider his price and lower it even more, but that prospect becomes doubtful.
“That is the cost, young man, though I admire your perseverance to try and persuade me,” the old man reminds him as the two of them wander the garden behind the estate. “I have done the accounting, and that is how much I will need to buy something small in the mountains and sustain myself until old age finally comes to take me.”
He is disappointed by the old man’s response to his final offer. Not because of the old man’s firmness, which Roderick personally thinks is wise of him, but because he realizes that there is nothing he can do now but make a decision.
“I’d be giving you everything because you’re insisting that I also buy the house, but I would never be around to live in it. I just don’t think I can do it. I do hope someone comes along so that you can live out your days as you wish.”
The old man smiles at Roderick appreciatively, but then his eyes shift to the ground behind him.
“That’s strange,” he trails off, stepping by Roderick to bend down. “I don’t remember ever planting these.”
Roderick kneels by the old man, who is examining a group of budding, lightly-pink flowers growing together in bunches from a small plant. The old man seems very confused by it, though it is no surprise to Roderick that he could have forgotten about placing the plant. The old man already demonstrated a few times an ability to be rather absentminded. Roderick attributed this to age and nothing more since the old man has otherwise been rather sharp and witty in conversation.
“Well, they’re pretty, so I suppose it’s good that you did.”
The old man then looks Roderick in the eyes, a smile returning to his face as he places his hand on Roderick’s shoulder.
“Even if you don’t come back to buy the property, I hope you’ll come through this way again before I sell.”
After some more light conversation, Roderick thanks the old man for his hospitality, bids him farewell, and goes on his way toward the next town. Shortly thereafter, Roderick becomes ill and has to stay put for another whole week, this time under the care of a doctor in a small, trailside outpost.
On his final morning there, Roderick is treated with a warm breakfast made by the doctor’s wife. Afterwards, he thanks her and is escorted by the doctor to his wagon, which has already been prepared. Looking back at the doctor’s home one more time, Roderick notices something familiar. A small, flowering plant with lightly-pink flowers.
“I have only seen these once before,” Roderick comments as he walks over to them. “What are they?”
“I’m not sure,” the doctor responds. “I don’t really care much for gardening. Anything that grows here grows on its own.”
With a quick survey of the property, Roderick realizes that this must be the case. The yard surrounding the house is nothing but a scatter of weeds and grass with a few other wild plants mingled in. A doctor, he imagines, would be too busy for such things.
“Would you mind if I pick one, then?”
“Of course you may,” he offers kindly. “My wife will also appreciate one, so thank you for pointing them out.”
The two wish each other well, and Roderick then travels to a larger town, an economic center for the region he is in. There, he plans on selling most of the wares he has been acquiring in the countryside. He has found that people in the country tend to sell things that people in the city will buy for a much higher price, which has been an important element of his success. This stay in town is no different, and he is able to end up selling all of his wares in just a few days.
Having turned such a quick profit, Roderick is eager to move on and scour the countryside once more, but a great storm hits the plains and keeps him stuck inside his inn for several days. One particularly stormy evening, he lies in bed, staring at the ceiling while twirling the flower in his hands. There is something about it he finds enchanting, which is why he has kept it in water to preserve it for this long.
“It’s strange,” he thinks out loud. “No matter where I go, no one seems to know what you are or where you are from. You seem to be as much of a stranger to these parts as I am.”
The thunder calms a little after that, and Roderick is able to fall asleep, the flower resting on his chest. When he awakes, the sun has returned and the dark clouds have passed, so he hastily dresses himself and hurries outside.
Just beyond the inn’s entryway, he spots a small, flowering plant out of the corner of his eye just off to his right. He is hesitant to turn at first, troubled by what he expects to see. Sure enough, there they are. Lightly-pink flowers.
He removes the older flower from inside of his vest to compare it to these ones. They appear so similar that they might as well have come from the same plant. Roderick looks around to see if maybe there is someone to ask about the flowers, which he doesn’t recall being there when he arrived in town, but decides that there is no point. The memory of the seed and the pass are now at the front of his mind, though he tries to dismiss it.
“You’re going crazy,” he scorns himself, getting up abruptly and trying to forget about the matter.
But his heart again stirs, forcing him to stop and acknowledge what has been happening. The little plant teases him as he stares at it, forcing him to admit that it can’t be a coincidence since it’s happened three times now. Without inventory or anywhere else to be, he knows that he has time to figure out what is going on, so he gives the innkeeper a little extra money to keep watch over his wagon and animals and swiftly departs.
At the edge of the town, he cuts a deal with a stableman to borrow a horse for a small fee and collateral. He then returns the way he came, which first takes him by the doctor. There, he learns that the flowers stopped growing the day he left. Undeterred, he travels on to the rural estate. The old man delights to see him, but after realizing that Roderick’s visit will be brief, he sadly informs him that the flowering plant started to wither and die a few days before his return. That leaves Roderick only one last place to go. The Eagle’s Walkway.
The journey back to the pass takes over a week, and Roderick spends the whole time trying to make sense of the whole situation and reassure himself that he isn’t losing his mind. Perhaps his mother is trying to remind him of his promise, or so he surmises.
The thought of settling down had trickled into his mind when he stayed at the old man’s estate for the first time, but he tried to ignore it after the deal fell through. The illness that placed him under the doctor’s care went a long way to help him do so, but having seen the old man for a second time, he wonders if his mother is somehow behind all of this.
If there is a way after death to influence the world of the living, Roderick supposes that she would have been the one to find it. She was always very strong-willed and could even be stubborn at times, though he rarely got to see that side of her since she was generally very content and peaceful with how life had gone for her, despite her struggles with his father.
But although these thoughts cross Roderick’s mind, he remains defiant of them. That is until he arrives at the part of the pass where he planted the seed and finds that a familiar, small plant is there to greet him. The flowers of the plant sway and wave slightly in the breezy, fall air as though to sarcastically welcome him. He responds by throwing his hands into the air as he glances up toward the heavens.
“Okay, I get it. You think that I’ll be happy if I finally stop running around, but maybe I won’t be. Maybe I’ll become like Dad and leave like he did because I’ll feel like I could have done so much more with my life. I don’t want to hurt someone the way he hurt you.”
Tears wet Roderick’s eyes as he slumps down next to the plant. His heart then begins to swell within him, but not in a sorrowful
way. No, something inside of it seems to speak peace to his mind. To remind him that he is not his father, even if he did end up choosing to pursue the same craft as him.
That reassurance slowly cleanses Roderick’s mind of any doubts he has about his own character, melting away the icy remorse he had built up from being so heartless for so long. The thought of continuing to lead his life the way he has been becomes altogether bitter, so he resolves to never be that person again, relieved that he still has a way out if he hurries.
In the weeks that follow, Roderick travels to every bank and place that he has his wealth stored in, quickly gathering together so much that he becomes very uncomfortable having it all on him. He takes every precaution he can to avoid attention and the eyes of strangers, realizing that he is always just one stroke of bad luck from losing everything.
Fortunately, he is able to arrive at the old man’s estate safely. Once there, he sprints up the walkway and bangs on the front door. The old man is still there to readily receive him.
“I am grateful you changed your mind,” he tells Roderick moments later over a cup of tea. “I was becoming afraid that I would never be able to sell anything if it wasn’t to you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, when you left, I got the feeling you would be back, and so few a
The Tradesman Page 2
