To Market, To Market {Eliza}

It didn’t take long for this girl to cut right back at Crabtree’s grumbling. "Really, Crabtree? I'm sure that you'll at least be put in the stocks, and then what will happen to your poor little fruit stand? Now get my friend her black raspberries and her strawberries. Come on now, or the stocks it is!" Piper shook her head. The danger for Crabtree must have been real, because she had never heard anyone speak to him with such audacity. Not even adults. Not even her brother. Not even her mother. When Crabtree had trudged away to fetch the produce, the girl turned back to Piper with a confident smile. "Elizabeth Lucklind's my name. I know how to handle these market men. Glad to meet you!" Piper smiled shyly, offering her immaculate hand to shake Elizabeth’s dirty one. ”I’m Piper Kiehl. Thank you for-” And then she was cut off by the loud thud of the baggaged fruit as Crabtree sullenly dropped it on the counter.

The merchant opened his greedy paws for the coins he so shamelessly coveted. Elizabeth smiled and asked, "How much?" Piper was surprised by the girl’s generosity. Appearances weren't everything, but Elizabeth certainly didn't seem like she had money to spare. Perhaps bitter at being outwitted by the young girl, Crabtree only shook his head and pointed. "Nuh uh girl, this one pays me, not you!" He rounded on Piper like a wild beast, a low growl in his throat. "Pay up, girl!" Piper dropped four small coins in his hand and turned away. Uncertain how to continue the conversation, Piper began to walk to another stand. She looked hopefully at Elizabeth, perhaps she’d be willing to walk around with her to the next few stalls…?

Piper was not disappointed. Elizabeth followed, keeping up a steady flow of her bubbly speech. The pair made their way over to a dairy stand. "So, Piper, what do you do? I'm a fisher. I go every morning with my dad, who is the worst dad in the world by the way, and I take care of my mom, who is eight months pregnant with a baby boy and who is really nice, unlike my dad, and I feed my mother with the fish we catch, and I learned how to haggle from my brother who is gone..." As Elizabeth paused to take a breath, Piper wondered briefly where the girl’s brother had gone. But instead of asking about Elizabeth’s brother, Piper responded pleasantly, “I work on my dad’s fishing boats too. Daddy’s wonderful, and very skilled. We bring in a good haul.” For a moment Piper wondered whether Elizabeth would thnk she was bragging, but as if to ease her fears, Elizabeth started up again.

“So, Piper? What are you planning to get? I have a way with these merchant men as you can already see, so I bet I can get you fair deals, and get them to pay attention to you and not ignore you. It's hard to ignore a dirty secret..." Shocked, Piper looked at this girl. Those who knew poverty in the districts, was this what they sunk to? Blackmailing each other to get what they wanted? It didn't seem possible, it was so very different from Piper's own world. And yet, this girl's clothes, her face, even the things she said, proved the truth. Smiling back at Elizabeth, Piper shuffled her bag of berries around so she could check her shopping list. “Looks like just cheese and milk. But you’ll be surprised with Frost, he’s one of the only ones who’s friendly.” Not wanting Elizabeth to take this as some sort of dismissal, Piper quickly added, “But I could definitely use some help with the others, I’m not even close to done with my shopping.” Piper turned to the owner of the dairy stand, another drinker. Old man Frost, he spent far too much time in the pubs, but he was a good friend of her father’s. “Hi Mr. Frost. Just a half pound of goat cheese and three gallons of milk today.” Frost winked confidentially at the girls and went off to gather his wares. He wasn’t the conversational sort, he was a bit senile even, but he was one merchant Piper could count on to be friendly. And there weren’t many. Wondering briefly whether Elizabeth would notice how much Piper had really ordered, she turned to her new friend and asked sweetly, ”So, dirty secrets huh? Like what?” Piper couldn’t help but be curious. Besides, she would do well to pick up a few tricks from Elizabeth.

Narration
Speech
Thought
Other's Speech

"Ok, so first off, you already know that Crabtree has a little drinking problem. Prize, over there, had a little drug addiction for a while, he's over it now, but it still makes great ammunition. Blacknumb cheated on his wife for a while as well. There are many others. By the way, don't use these every time. Only when they give you a hard time. If you want something, and it's not a fair price the first time, make them give you a better one by listing flaws. Dents, scrapes, there has gotta be something. On veggies and fruit look for bruises. Maybe size. Maybe it looks too small. Either way, get them to lower their price by listing flaws."

As Piper made mental notes about Eliza’s instructions, she also decided to avoid the blackmailing at all costs. She could afford to pay the bad prices, but she didn’t like to. That’s why she was out at the market instead of in the grocery stores for the rich. That’s why she tried to bargain rather than just taking any price. And that’s why she’d settle for a bad price over ruining a man’s life.

Piper looked over at Elizabeth again, wondering how she had learned these things. Though the two girls were close in age, did the same job, and probably lived no more than a few miles away from each other, Piper was slowly realizing that their lives worlds apart.

“So…um…can I try?” She’d let Elizabeth choose the stand, Elizabeth knew her way around this place, and it was pretty clear that Piper did not.

(OOC: Sorry for the late [and preposterously short] post!! I’m going through a brief period of writer’s block My doctor prescribed two muse pills and a large plate of bacon though, so hopefully I’ll be back to normal soon!)

Piper worked her way shyly around Blacknumb’s place. It was different from most shops, less of a stand, and more of its own, small, open air market. Of course she had been here before, but it wasn’t her most common destination. Blacknumb’s was a place you went to get odds and ends, not a grocery stall. And despite her family’s relative wealth, Piper was quite frugal. She didn’t really need anything in here this week. As she weaved through tackle sets and shiny beads, smelling salts and glassware, Piper began to become desperate. Her mother wouldn’t notice if she spent more money than she needed to, but that didn’t mean it was okay. If she was going to buy something, Piper was darn well going to need it. That was when she noticed Elizabeth dreamily eyeing a fishing pole. Well, it’s the least I can do for her. Reverently picking up the object, Piper strode confidently over to the checkout stand. She could do this. Elizabeth was with her, and she could figure this one out. Clearing her throat jauntily and rather humorously to amuse Elizabeth, Piper said, “Excuse me, Mr. Blacknumb? I’d like to make a purchase.”

The storekeeper walked carelessly over. “That, girl? You don’t have the money for that.” He paused, perhaps waiting for them to leave, then cackled condescendingly and said, “That’s fifty coins girl.”

Alright, look for something wrong with the fishing pole. But as Piper examined the pole, she realized her mistake: it was perfect.

There was only one thing Elizabeth could be doing: making stuff up. Because this fishing pole, no matter what anyone said, was perfect. Varying degrees of color? Yeah right. Blacknumb wasn’t a genius, but he wasn’t a fool either, and he’d figure it out pretty quick if they were lying or making stuff up. Elizabeth had said not to pull the big secrets unless absolutely necessary, so before they resorted to that, Piper needed to try something else. It was time to think outside the box.

Piper looked casually around the shop. It was a collection of oddities. So don’t bagain, barter. Become the seller, not the buyer. What does this man need? Rather impressed by her new strategy, Piper again examined the shop. There was a large jewelry rack, filled with dozens of exotic jewels. Sea glass necklaces, pearl earrings, coral bracelets, tortoise shell combs, and other such precious items decked the shelf to overflowing. There were a lot of diamonds too. Gaudy, cheap, obviously fake, diamonds. As she gingerly fingered her little hairpiece, Piper knew exactly what this gruff merchant needed. But getting him to realize it, that would be the trick. Taking control of this situation would require all of Piper’s thought and Elizabeth’s confidence. And she needed Elizabeth to catch on. She would. She had to. “Well, Mr. Blacknumb, if you can’t lower the price, I suppose we’ll just be going-” Piper pulled the little diamond hairpiece from her ponytail in perfect rhythm with the word going. She saw Blacknumb’s eyes widen as she laid it carefully on the counter, pretending to re-do her hair. Please catch on, Elizabeth.