Instead of imitating the four children she had seen already Selth fell in behind Jonah and Marie. Careful not to be noticed Selth moved after the pair, curious to see what they would do. She was only mildly surprised when they walked several blocks along the city and then turned into a market. The place was far larger than the intersection close to the slums. Vendors had their wares out in the open and crowds of people flocked to the different stalls despite the gray weather. Standing back in the shadows, Selth watched as Marie worked to distract the different vendors while Jonah quickly pocketed as many of the different food items as he could. Occasionally they would walk to the more expensive sections of the market where jewelers had their wares on display but Jonah almost never attempted to snatch anything there. The jewelers possessed hawk like eyes as they guarded their wares and most had one or two body guards who looked capable of beating any thief to death without even noticing what they were doing. Slightly more impressed with what she was seeing, at least compared to how the other four children were operating, Selth turned and walked back out into the street.
Stealing from the market places seemed lucrative but she wanted to do something fabulous on her first day. Besides, she needed money if she was going to buy new clothes and shoes. Food would be well and good for a later date but today needed to be something special. Ignoring the fact that she had never stolen before, outside of the squash, Selth started down the streets of Redtower. As she moved she looked around in wonder, every building that faced out onto a major roadway was constructed of the red brick she was used to seeing from across the slums. Many were four or five stories tall and took up half a block all by themselves. Plants grew by the front entrances and the streets sparkled.
As the buildings became nicer, more and more guards appeared. Selth got a few curious looks for being a young girl wandering the streets alone but she wasn’t dressed in a shift anymore so nobody tried to stop her. Smiling to herself, Selth wandered until she deemed there were enough guards patrolling the streets to indicate a suitably wealthy section of the city. Examining her surroundings, she spotted what she was looking for: a bakery. It was perfect, probably a locally owned shop where lots of cash would exchange hands each day. Skipping forward gaily she ducked into the store right behind another customer then danced her way over to a seat and dropped into it. Briefly she looked out at the city through a nearby window then she turned to observe as the baker dealt with the customer who had walked in before her. Watching closely she observed as the baker took down a box high on a shelf of spices and other baking goods, put the customer’s money in the box then put the box back on the shelf.
When the customer left the store, the baker turned towards Selth, “What can I get for you my dear?” he asked jovially.
Selth hopped up and walked towards the large man. His white apron ballooned out around his stomach and smile lines creased the corners of his eyes and mouth as they stared at her from their positions in a large, florid face. His clothes were all white, but Selth could still see the flour that covered him from his baking that morning. When she had gotten close to the baker she started pouting and said, “Sorry, I was just coming in to get out of the cold. Mama won’t let me have any money since she says I waste it all anyways.”
The baker looked disappointed, glancing at his feet in annoyance, but this was a nice section of town and he couldn’t just toss a girl into the streets for not buying anything. Instead he smiled at her and stuck out his hand, “Well I’m disappointed to hear that but sometimes little girls have to listen to their mothers and behave.” he gave a small bow which almost tipped him onto his face, “Boris Ragnut, at your service.”
Selth grasped his large hand firmly in her own and responded, “Sara Mayweather, at yours.” The last name brought a tinge of sadness to her, even more so than the first. Mayweather had been the name of her parents before they were killed in a fire that burned out the house she had lived in as a child. She had very few memories of them, it had always been too painful to think about that part of her life and eventually her memories had faded. Boris smiled at her, though, and turned to walk back into his kitchen. As he did so, Selth leapt up and snagged the key to his lock box from where it was hooked to his belt. Smirking slightly at the fact that Renth’s first ‘lesson’ had been the first criminal act she’d pulled, outside of the squash and whatever hidden memories gave her the skills she had, Selth retreated to her table, hiding the key under her shirt.
Boris turned before he went back into the kitchen and gave her a friendly wave. Selth waved back with a smile and Boris disappeared. Waiting a minute just to make sure he wasn’t testing her honesty, Selth slunk back up to the counter. She peered at the door that blocked the main area from the kitchen and was satisfied to see that it was firmly shut. Looking behind her to make sure that no one was looking in the windows to the shop, she jumped up on the counter and retrieved the lock box. Then she trotted quickly out of the baker’s shop. Quickly, Selth unlocked the box and threw the key inside, storing it for a later date. Then she shut the box, hid it by tucking it in the front of her trousers and covering the top with her shirt, and walked on. Anyone watching her would have noticed that she looked rather strange, but it was against convention to stop a girl just because she looked strange. Selth moved on uncontested.
Gradually, the massive red brick houses and stores with glass windows gave way to smaller houses that only had shutters to cover the windows leading into them. Then those gave way to the simple red brick structures that she had first observed when she left Jonah and Marie. Heading back to the meeting place, Selth hurried. She wasn’t sure if she was late for the meeting and she didn’t want the others to head off without her or think she had been caught by the city guards. As it was, she didn’t have to worry. She was only five minutes behind James and Grace who were the last of the original six children to get back to the meeting place.
At Jonah’s word all seven of them retreated a short way down the entrance of the alley they had come out of and showed what they had recovered. Charles and Johny had the smallest load with twenty coppers between the two of them. That would have seemed like a fortune in the slums but, given the dejected looks of the two, Selth surmised that they had had a bad day. James and Grace pulled out several of the orange spheres which were simply called ‘oranges’ and thirty coppers. Jonah and Marie had the largest take so far with a few pieces of jewelry, three silvers, fifty coppers, and several different pieces of fruit. When the group turned to Selth she pulled the box out from under her shirt and flipped it open. She hadn’t actually counted the money beforehand but, from the weight of the box in her hands when she had grabbed it and the satisfying jingle it made whenever she shook it, she knew that it was fairly full. Inside was far more than she had expected though. There were ten silver pieces nestled together in one corner of the box and several hundred coppers were scattered throughout it. Most impressive of all there was a gold piece buried beneath the mound of coins.
Selth frowned, feeling a twinge of guilt, but whatever enabled her to steal as well as she did also dulled all her feelings of remorse over her thievery. She had probably cheated that baker out of a full month’s worth of work if there was something as valuable as a gold in the box but she only felt as bad as if she had taken a few coppers. The baker would make more money, he probably had plenty put away in other places as well since only a fool would keep all their money in one place. With that thought, Selth smiled again and gazed at the gold in admiration along with everybody else.
“Where did you get that?” Charlie gaped, struggling to tear his eyes from the gold to look at the whole box.
“There was a baker a ways into the city, I snagged his key and then stole the box.” Selth said by way of explanation.
Jonah clapped her on the back, giving a satisfied laugh but Marie gazed at her with hatred. Selth squirmed uncomfortably under the older girl’s gaze. She didn’t know why Marie hated her so much, it wasn’t as though she was trying to steal some sort
of spotlight from her. She would have been happy for Marie to keep all the attention anyways, if only to stop the hatred. Cutting into her thoughts Jonah spoke up, “Okay, I’m going to head back with Selth to deposit her find with Renth.” At Selth’s surprised look he added, “We can’t be seen walking around with a box full of that much money in full daylight trying to buy things. Plus, I don’t know how to split it all up so Renth’s going to have to help us. The rest of you give me half of what you found. I’ll take it to Renth and you can go have fun in the city.” The five other children, even Marie, did as Jonah said and then broke off to do as they wanted. “Be back at the house before the sun goes down!” he called after them as they vanished into the maze of the city.
Selth and Jonah wandered back towards the safe house. Jonah kept looking at the box in Selth’s hands with admiration but he didn’t say anything as they walked back. When they reached the door to the basement however, Jonah bent down and pulled her around to face him, “Look, it’s really impressive what you did with the baker. But don’t do it every day, if you get caught stealing in the rich areas of the city they’ll chop off a hand at the least. Possibly even hang you.”
Selth pulled away a step, shocked, then shook her head to clear it of the sudden fear. “Okay,” she said, “I only did it today because I wanted money to buy clothes and shoes.”
Jonah burst out laughing, “Well, you’ve got money for clothes and shoes now.” he roared as the two of them went down the stairs to the basement of the house.
Renth popped his head through the whole in the roof as they entered, “Back so soon?” he asked.
“Need your help splitting Selth’s haul in half.” Jonah said, qualifying their entrance, “She has, well, I don’t actually know how much she has, but it’s a lot.”
Renth laughed, “Good, good, I’m coming down. Hang on.” he removed his head from the ladder hole and soon after descended to the basement. Taking his half of the earnings from the other children and putting it aside Renth moved towards Selth’s box. He flipped it open and stared with wide eyes at the contents. “Where’d you get this?” he asked her in a breathy voice.
“From a baker in a rich section of the city.” Selth answered smiling.
“Tell him your name?” Renth asked, swinging so his full attention was on Selth, his voice low and dangerous.
Selth squirmed under his piercing gaze, “No, I told him I was called Sara Mayweather. I didn’t tell him anything revealing.”
Renth stared a moment longer at her, as though attempting to gauge if she was telling the truth, then nodded. “Alright then. Let’s get counting.” he spun to the box and began removing coins one at a time. Fifteen minutes later he turned back towards Selth. In front of him there were four piles of coins. Two piles of silver and two piles of bronze, the gold coin sat in the middle. Motioning Selth over he started talking to her, “You get half the bronze coins, which means three hundred bronze, and half the silver which is five silver or five hundred bronze. For the gold, I owe you fifty silver but I’m a cheap bastard and I did you a kindness yesterday so I’ll give you twenty five.”
Selth glared up at him in anger, but eventually nodded her head. Renth probably didn’t even have fifty silvers and what she was getting was more money than she could have comprehended just a few days ago. She didn’t need fifty silvers anyways, thirty silvers and three hundred bronze would be more than enough according to Jonah’s reaction to her previous question. Renth scooped up his half of the coinage, including the gold, then scuttled upstairs. A few minutes later he returned with twenty five silvers clutched in his thin, bony hands. “Why don’t you show Selth how to navigate the market today Jonah?” Renth asked. As Jonah opened his mouth to protest, Renth cut him off, “Do it now and you won’t have to do it another time. This way things are easier for Selth from day one, rather than her bumbling around not sure what to do for several days.”
Jonah sighed, then nodded his head in acquiescence. Renth pushed Selth’s money into a sack and handed it to her then Jonah took her hand and they walked back outside. They quickly emerged back out onto the main street and hurried off to the right. Following several turnings that he had obviously taken hundreds of times before Jonah led Selth into a square filled with vendors and shops on all sides. Despite the weather and the rapidly falling sun people were moving back and forth between vendors in large crowds, buying all sorts of things. Taking a silver from her bag Selth said, “Thank you for bringing me in those two days ago. And thank you for being so kind to me.”
Jonah accepted the coin with a nod of his head, “What do you want to get first?” he asked her patiently.
But Selth was already shaking her head. “You don’t need to help me.”
“Renth said . .” Jonah started.
“It’s fine, I’d prefer to figure things out for myself.” she cut him off.
Obviously relieved, but trying not to show it Jonah shrugged. “Okay. If you say so.” he said, then turned and ran off to find Marie and the other children. Selth smiled and began looking at the shop names. Clothes first, then shoes, then some food. Gliding along the edges of the market she finally found what she was looking for. Written prettily on a sign was ‘Buxon’s Tailor and Clothier Shop.’ Pushing open the door Selth headed inside and peered around. The store was brightly lit with oil lamps and candles and a fire blazed in a hearth set in the far side of the room. Behind a counter stationed near the door a smiling man stood gazing down at her.
“Can I help you with anything young lady?” he asked pleasantly. But Selth wasn’t paying him any attention. She stared around her, enraptured. Cloths of all different colors hung from the walls and there were more fabrics than she could ever have thought existed in all of the world. Trousers, dresses, tunics, suits and cloaks were all fabulously displayed in different areas of the shop and the shop itself was made of a lovely dark wood that seemed to reflect the light in every direction. Seeing that she was completely lost in the wonders of the store, the man moved around the counter and walked over to her. He settled a hand on Selth’s shoulder and laughed as she jumped up, breaking from her reverie. Holding out his hand to her he reiterated his former question, “Hello there. My name’s Buxon, anything I can help you with?”
Selth stared up at the man who towered over her. He was at least six feet tall with large hands and feet. His belly pushed out against the confines of his shirt and the top of his head retained only a scattering of hair. Kindly eyes stared down from behind a large nose set in an equally large face which was heavily wrinkled. Yet despite his apparent age, Buxon stood tall without a stoop to his shoulders or anything else that would indicate a failing body. Realizing she was staring, Selth stumbled into speech to try to cover her rudeness, “I’d like to purchase some clothes from you.”
Buxon paused, deciphering what Selth had said before nodding, “Of course and do you have money to pay for these clothes?” he asked her. While he still had a kindly look to his face she could tell that he would not feel the slightest bit bad about kicking her out of his store if she failed to produce coin. Nodding to the man, she reached into her sack and pulled out several silvers. The old man’s eyes widened when he saw them, but Selth quickly swept the coins back into her bag. Buxon looked up at her, “What can I help you with then?” he asked cheerfully.
“Just some nicer trousers and a nicer shirt.” she started, “I’d also like a coat to go over top, and a cloak to cover it all. Nothing fancy please but make it sturdy. I’d like these to last for a while. Oh, and also make the shirt and coat dark green. The cloak and pants should be black.” Selth wasn’t sure if those were the best colors, but she liked the way the clothes Jonah had given her looked so she figured it would be best to stick with something similar.
Buxon peered at her, examining her small size and thin body “I have the materials for what you want but I’m afraid it’s highly unlikely I’ll have anything premade in your size.” Briefly, he glanced at her bag of money, “It’s also going
to cost a bit more than three silvers.”
Before Buxon could go on Selth spoke up, “For some basic clothing!” she shouted, outraged yet at the same time not sure where this new voice was coming from. “Three silvers, fifty coppers and not a mark more.”
The tailor looked at her in surprise, then nodded his head. Selth smiled to herself, he had probably assumed that she knew nothing about the price of clothing and had been trying to overprice her order. Buxon motioned her towards a back room and she moved into it. He quickly walked to the front entrance and locked it, then gathered a measuring tape and ruler from behind his counter and followed her into the back room.
Half an hour later Selth emerged, Buxon behind her writing on a large pad. “Come back tomorrow.” he said to her, “I’ll have your order ready by then.” Selth smiled and left the money for the clothing she had ordered. Then, bowing graciously to the tailor, she backed her way out of the store and ran right into Marie.
Spinning, Selth looked up in shock. Marie was evidently surprised as well but she recovered herself quickly. Looking with disgust at Selth she started talking, “I don’t know what a filthy slum rat like yourself is doing nosing your way into Renth’s house but stop. No one wants you around. You’re taking up space and every time we look at you it’s like the slum has come into the place.”
The God in the Shadows (The Story at the Heart of the Void Book 1) Page 6
