Serenity Valley

by Rocky Bills

  “Well, sir, my friend is seeking a present for a very special girl.”

  “What would that be? Perhaps a nice hair ribbon?”

  “Oh, no, sir, Fulk here would not dream of tying down such a thing of beauty. He believes her flaming strands should blow freely as the flight of a hummingbird.” The vendor’s wife was smiling and moved closer to ensure she heard all the conversation. “Sir, we wish to see your fine brushes and mirrors, if it pleases you.”

  “Well, we are not really set up yet. Why not come back this evening?”

  “Oh, we would, good sir, but it is the lady’s birthday today, and she doesn’t have much time left.”

  “Not much time left, what ails the girl?”

  “I’m afraid the beautiful lass do suffer from a broken heart. You see, she has not the tools to tame her flaming locks and cannot suffer public humiliation with her unruly crop as it is.”

  The vendor and his wife started laughing with Fulk. I could tell the wife liked jibes and would help with the negotiations. He said, “Well, let us see if we can pull the poor girl back from the brink, shall we?” The man went to his wagon and shuffled a few things around, returning with a wooden box. He set it on the table in front of us and said, “I have to warn you boys, these trinkets get expensive very fast!”

  “Not to worry, sir, we have our money. Been saving all his life for this moment, he has!” The wife grinned at me. I gave her a wink and smiled.

  “Well, we will see,” the old man responded. “Take a look at these pretties!” He laid out a number of brushes, combs, and mirrors on the table. He explained, “You will note that every one of these holds the guild stamp of approval. Only the best quality do I handle.”

  Fulk and I examined the fine brushes and mirrors. When I felt Fulk was about to settle on a brush and mirror, I tapped on his foot. I said, “Good sir, these are surely of the finest quality, each and every one. I fear what we seek you may not have. We seek something unique, special, one of a kind.”

  “Oh, come now, boys, nothing wrong with these. What about this mirror with this brush?” He had placed a pretty white brush together with a matching mirror. Both had flowers and birds hand painted on them.

  “Although they are finely crafted, I’m afraid all that we have seen simply won’t do, kind sir. We will not waste more of your time. Good day, sir, my lady.”

  “Wait!” the old man cried. “Now, hold on, boys! Let’s not be rash. I have others, but much more expensive.”

  “Oh, sir, I’m pretty sure they won’t be what we seek.”

  “Hold there; I’ll be right back.” I looked at his wife, and she gave a little nod with her head. I knew I was on the right path now. Fulk looked at me, and I winked and smiled. He smiled back. The man returned. “Here, lads, take a look at these. They are my very best.” He laid out three hand-carved boxes that were works of art themselves. Each box contained a beautifully crafted comb, brush, and mirror set. The boxes were carved out to contain each particular object. I estimated the boxes took at least a month to craft; who could guess how long to make the articles within. With delicate patterns of inlaid brass and silver, they were truly beautiful. Fulk’s eyes were popping out of his head now.

  I looked at the old man’s wife and raised my eyebrows. She just shook her head back and forth ever so slightly. I said, “Sir, these are truly works of art, but are you sure you don’t have something just a little more exotic?” Fulk looked at me and pressed down hard on the top of my foot with his boot. I ignored him and continued, “Sir, imagine meeting the missus for the first time, suddenly realizing she was your lifemate. To not have her heart would end you, the terrible pangs of torment tugging at your heart strings. Do you have something fitting to that occasion, good sir?”

  “Boy, the only thing I have left is set aside for Lady Linota of Roschale Province, the famous winemakers.”

  “Could we see it, sir?” Fulk kicked me this time, and I grimaced in pain.

  The vendor’s wife said, “For heaven’s sake, Hugh, shows it to them.”

  Hugh said, “Now, Lora, you know they can’t afford it, even if I wasn’t saving it.”

  “Show it to them, Hugh. Can’t you see it's young love? Nothing stronger than young love!”

  “All right, then, all right!” Hugh soon produced a white box with adorned carvings and inlays of rare stone I wasn’t familiar with. The colors were brilliant, several used to make a single flower on the top. Vines and small flowers scrolled along the top edge and sides. I had never seen anything like it. Inside was a lovely polished white mirror made of some material I could not place, possibly bone. An intricate design scrolled the mirror edge. The simplicity and beauty made the other sets appear garish and overdone. The brush was another simplistic work of art. The comb was precious, carved from a single piece of bone. On the handle was a carving of a nude woman combing her hair. The simple yet beautiful design of the box and contents made it stand out from the rest. It just screamed of class and elegance. Fulk’s mouth was hanging open, so I spoke, “Sir, I think you have what we seek. What is it made of?”

  “The box is made of marble with inlays of garnet, tanzanite, and other rare stones. The set is carved from single pieces of elephant tusks by master artists of the Asian lands. The brush hairs are made from giraffe mane. I’m afraid it’s out of reach for you boys, but I’m glad you appreciate such a work of art.”

  “The simple richness is pretty overpowering, sir. May I dare to ask how much this set would sell for?”

  “This set would go for four gold, young men.”

  Fulk gasped for air. I looked at Lora, his wife. She just shook her head slightly back and forth. I said, “Fulk here has one gold, sir, deal?”

  “No deal! And I don’t believe he has a gold on him anyway.”

  “Fulk, give the man your piece.” Fulk handed Hugh the coin.

  “Well, I’ll be damned!” Hugh exclaimed.

  “Hugh, you watch your language!” Lora admonished him.

  Hugh just glared at his wife, then bit down on the coin and examined it. “Lora, brings me the scale, please.” Lora soon returned with a balance beam scale that Hugh used to check the coin weight. When he had finished, he said, “Well, that’s good coin all right!”

  “Good sir, are you sure that four gold is the best you can do for the set?”

  Hugh hung onto the coin. “Couldn’t go any lower than four, just breaking even at that price.”

  I looked at Lora. She shook her head. I said, “Good sir, say my friend here had two additional gold. Do you think you could part with it?” Now Lora was nodding her head, indicating I had the price.

  “Well, he doesn’t, but at he might, I would have to consider it, being first sale and all.”

  I said, “So, if my best friend Fulk here had two more coin to his name, you would make the deal and ensure a profitable festival by making first sale?”

  Lora was smiling wide now as Hugh said, “Yes, I would deal!”

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out two coins, dropping them on his scale. “Deal!” I said.

  Hugh looked at his wife. She nodded. “Deal!” he exclaimed.

  Everyone shook hands with wide smiles, except Fulk, who was going to catch a fly if he didn’t close his mouth soon. I finally put a finger under his chin and pushed his mouth closed. “Hey, Hugh,” I said, “those last coins were a little heavy; do we get change?” Hugh’s smile turned to a frown immediately. I started to chuckle and shook his hand, and the frown turned upward again.

  “You are a hard bargainer, young man!”

  “You too, good sir. May you and Lady Lora sell out your entire inventory at the festival!”

  By now, Fulk was regaining his faculties and said, “Thank you very much, Master Hugh and Lady Lora. Nesta is going to love it!”

  Lora spoke up now to say, “Be careful what you wish for, young Fulk. You might be gettin' much more than you expectin'!”

  Everyone laughed, and we bid our farewells. Fulk
was carrying the box with both arms around it as if it were a chest of gold. I said, “I say, Fulk, are you going to seek out a certain young lady?”

  “Oh, yea, before I lose this damn thing!”

  “I’ve got more business to attend to. I’ll catch up with you later. Let me know how it went!”

  “Sure, sure, and Gamel, thank you very much. I owe you!”

  “You owe me nothing. Go enjoy your lady; after all, it’s her birthday!” We both smiled, and Fulk trod off with his prize. I scanned the area for my next vendor.

  In little time, I found our own master tanner setting up his shop. I called out, “Oye, Master Forwin, how goes it?”

  “Aye, Gamel, 'tis a fine day. What are you up to?”

  “I was hoping to make business with you, sir, and give your festival profits a glorious start!”

  “Aye, why does me first customer have to be a rogue lad out to clip me goods?”

  “I promise it will be painless. I’m in the market for some boots, Master Forwin.”

  “What kind of boots ya lookin' fer, young master?”

  “The ideal boot, sir, laced to mid-calf, soft and lightweight for running, waterproof for forest use, and the color of the forest itself.”

  “I may have the perfect thing for such use.” Master Forwin started unloading his wares on the big table he had set up. All manner of bridles, halters, shoes, and boots were strewn out on the surface. I helped organize them as he continued to unload. He said, “Here we go, Gamel. We sell a lot of these ta message runners. They have to be tough but lightweight and waterproof.”

  I examined the boot and found it very supple and lightweight. It had a moderate heel that blended into the sole. “This is exactly what I’m looking for, Master Forwin. Do they hold up well?”

  “One fellow has had his boots resoled three times, and they are good for three more re-stitchin's.”

  “That sounds great; what about price?”

  “They are not cheap, Gamel. I get a half gold per pair.”

  “What if I buy four pair, Master Forwin, could I get a better price?”

  “Well, yes, but you don’t need four pair, Gamel.”

  “Oh, just one pair is for me. Then there is one for Fulk, one for Lady Bella, and one for Basilea.”

  “So it’s for the forest people?”

  “I’m sorry, Master, the what?”

  “That’s what people call your group. You four spend so much time in the woods, they call you the forest people!”

  We laughed a little, then I said, “I had no idea people were aware of our adventures, Master Forwin.”

  “Gamel, people notice most everything to do with the lady and your horse.”

  “Well, then, unwanted fame. What say your price on four pair of your finest, Master Forwin?”

  “On four pair, I can go one and a half gold. I’ll make profit on the next one.”

  “Deal!” I said.

  Forwin cried, “Deal!” as well, and we shook hands. “Let me check my inventory records, Gamel. I may have them stitched and ready.”

  “Do you want me to tell you size, Master?”

  “Hold while I get my records.” Forwin was back from his cart in short order and said, “Okay, I have the lady’s size because I make her boots. What size is Basilea?”

  “She is the same as the lady’s. They swap footwear sometimes, and Fulk is one size less than me. I can draw his foot size if you like. I know it by heart after tracking him for over a year.”

  “Okay,” Forwin said. “I have two pair ready in the ladies' size. Take off your boot, Gamel.” I handed my boot to Forwin. “Where is it? Ah, there it is. I always mark the size in the boot, along with my stamp. Now, let’s see if I have it. I have it, but it’s for another customer. No worry, I’ll have my son start another pair and sell you these. Better draw Fulk’s footprint to be sure it’s one size smaller than you.” I took a piece of chalk from Forwin and drew Fulk’s footprint on the table. Forwin measured the print with some kind of calibrated stick. “Fulk is exactly one size smaller than you. Now, let me check...” A minute later, he was saying, “Got that also.”

  I said, “That’s great, Master Forwin. What can you do about color?”

  “I can dye them any color you need.”

  “Can you make them multi-colored to blend in with the forest, maybe natural tan, and light and dark green?” I drew some patterns on the table to give Forwin an idea of what I was looking for.

  “So you want them to blend into the vegetation?”

  “Exactly, Master Forwin; invisible boots!”

  “No problem, Gamel, my daughters will have fun dying them. Come by late this afternoon, and they will be ready.”

  “Is there any way you can gift wrap them, Master Forwin, except for mine, of course.”

  “Ah, presents for the forest people. I’ll take care of it.” I handed Forwin two shiny gold coins, and he said, “Gamel, you don’t need to pay now. Pay me when you pick them up.”

  “I would prefer to pay now, if it’s all right. I need to get two more things, and I don’t want to come up short for the boots.”

  “Okay. Let me make change.”

  Forwin got a thin blade chisel, a flat piece of iron, and a hammer. In no time at all, one of the coins was cut precisely in half. I said, “Thank you, Master Forwin, may your first sale prove good luck for the festival profits!”

  “Thank you, Gamel, see you this evening, then.”

  With only one more stop to make, my trading was almost complete.

  Chapter 8

  I spotted the caravan wagon I was looking for. I always visited this wagon when it made festival; it carried treasures from distant places. It was owned by a strange sort of people, some called them Gypsies. I approached the table that was being set up. “Oye, Master Trader, how are you today?” I said.

  A tall man with black hair, dressed in orange and brown clothes, answered, “Aye, 'tis as good a day as ever was and as good as some have been.” As I tried to understand what he said, he smiled, obviously pleased with my confusion. “What can I sell you today, young man?”

  I looked at all of the unusual items on the table and said, “I am shopping for a couple of ladies.”

  “Well, if it's ladies items, let me get my wife to better help you.” He called out in some language I didn’t understand, and an attractive woman soon appeared at the seller’s table.

  “Hello, young gent,” she said. “So you looking for some special things, I think?”

  “Yes, my lady; first, a woman’s necklace.”

  The young woman got very excited. “We have many necklace, be back, stay!” Soon the woman returned with two wooden boxes. She said, “We look here to see necklace, yes.” She opened the flat boxes to display hundreds of beautiful necklaces. I started browsing through them, and soon enough, I came across what I was looking for. It was a golden heart mounted with a sturdy but attractive gold chain. I picked it up to look at it. She said, “You good pick, nice I show.” The woman took the heart, and pressed a tiny clasp that opened it. “Inside for writing, engrave, Ivan good engrave.”

  I was pleasantly surprised and instantly knew what to have engraved. I asked, “Do you have paper and ink for writing?”

  She hopped around a bit and said, “Yes, yes, go no go, stay.” Soon the woman was back with parchment, quill, and ink. I wrote out what I wanted engraved and handed the parchment back to her. She just looked at it strangely, then called her husband in her native language.

  Ivan was soon next to her and asked, “You want engraving in locket; I master engrave for you.”

  His wife handed him the parchment and asked a question. He rattled off something in his native tongue. She bounced some more. “Oh, oh, be lucky girl this one gets!” The woman ran around the table and gave me a bear hug. She said, “You boy be good, girl lucky be having!” When I was released, I could feel the red face I was wearing. This made the woman clutch her heart and babble to her husband in their language. Iv
an was chuckling and looking at me.

  He said, “I tell Giselia what you write. Now she like you much. She very hot blood, this one, my wife. I can engrave perfect; you will like very much. Will be ready this evening.”

  “Master Ivan, I need one more thing for another woman, something from a far-off land. May I write some symbols down?”

  “Of course, of course, you write and we see then.”

  I took the parchment and wrote down some of the symbols I had seen on the ladies’ katana swords. I said, “I look for something for my sister from the land that uses these symbols.”

  Ivan asked, “Present for sister?”

  “Yes, for sister.”

  “Present to come from place this tongue?”

  “Yes, do you have anything?”

  “We will see; wait, no go.” Ivan turned to Giselia and started talking back and forth in their language. Ivan was rubbing his chin, and Giselia was scratching her head. When I was ready to give up, Giselia exploded with a torrent of jabber and started hopping up and down. She then climbed into the wagon and started digging through it. As things flew out of the wagon, Ivan caught them. Ivan and I were both laughing.

  Finally, she let out a squeal of satisfaction and said, “I find, I know to find, here I have now!” Giselia ran over to the table with a long plain wooden box and put it on the table. “Sister be likening much, perfect you make present good.”

  I examined the box, initially thinking it plain, but then realized it was absent of even the slightest imperfection. Delicate and totally perfect, the light-colored wood had a grain so fine it was almost invisible. A bouncing Giselia said, “We ship can buy, Orient from come present, now open, I open.” Giselia was excited and hopping up and down again. I looked at Ivan, and he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. I found myself grinning back at him. Giselia opened the box with wide eyes. The moment I saw the contents, I knew it was indeed perfect. The inside of the box was carved to allow recesses for three objects. In one end of the box was a curved black hair comb with two rows of symbols on the solid portion, inlaid with some kind of bright green stone. The other components were two matching pins about eight inches in length. I picked up one of the pins. The main shaft was made from steel similar to a katana blade. The last three inches of the blunt end was ringed with black and bright green stone to match the comb. From the ends dropped delicately braided tassels of a soft white thread.