Chapter 5 #2
She nodded and her hair transformed into feathers before she reversed the shift and took on a fully human form again. "I want to fly home with my treasure."
"It's not too heavy to carry?" Sometimes he was amazed by how much the crows could carry.
"No." Feathers washed over her hands.
"Okay, we'll bring the dress back."
This time, she didn't halt the change. It only took a second or two before the form of a human woman had melted into a crow. She pecked at the measuring cup with her beak before picking it up and taking to the sky.
A gasp came from the other side of the road, and Thano turned to see a middle-aged woman staring at them with her mouth open.
When she met Thano's gaze, she forced herself out of her trance and hurried along.
She had an empty basket on her arm and was heading in the direction of Eli's shop.
Thano wanted to go too, but he didn't want to scare his customers away.
He could gather shadows around him, but they wouldn't shield Tuur and since he was the one who'd drive Eli and him to The Moonlight Ranch, he shouldn't abandon him. They only had to wait for another hour or so for Eli to close for the day.
"I want to look in the basket."
"Why? You don't need anything."
Tuur gave him a narrow-eyed look. "If Eli allows breed to shop in his store, I want to have a look at what he's selling."
"You've never been in?"
Tuur shook his head.
"Okay, let's go, but try not to scare the woman shopping."
Tuur huffed. "I'm not the scary one. I don't normally eat humans."
Good point. Though, humans feared Tuur for other reasons.
They crossed the street, and Thano noted two differences from the day before. The door was kept open by a doorstop, and there was a crate with some knobbly tubers next to it. At first, he believed it was potatoes, but then saw it wasn't.
Tuur looked into the crate too. "What is it?"
"Not sure."
"Jerusalem artichokes." Eli poked his head out of the shop.
"They're good roasted or in a soup. I'm gonna buy some before I close today and plant in my garden.
Joshua Fagan delivered them this morning and said this was only part of what he had, and they're growing like weeds at the edge of one of his fields. "
Thano noted the excitement in Eli's tone and turned to Tuur.
"Maybe we should buy some for Romeo." He'd seen Romeo read in a thick book titled something about a kitchen garden, sighing and moaning about all the seeds he didn't have and couldn't get hold of.
Maybe getting some of these knobbly things would make him happy.
It had been some time since Thano had given him something in exchange for story night.
Thano focused on Eli. "I'll buy some if you let me. I'll trade with Romeo for story night."
Tuur gave him a sharp look. "I want to give him something for story night too."
Eli frowned. "I...eh...am not sure what you mean, but if you're okay with waiting until I close up, we can walk over to the bank together and do the transaction there."
Tuur nodded more excitedly than Thano ever believed he'd seen him nod.
* * * *
Eli popped back into the shop, hoping Thano and the huge man would stay outside until Rosie Stevenson was done shopping.
She was one of the women who knitted things for the market day.
When she neared the counter, she glanced out the window where Thano and the large man he suspected was Tuur still stood.
"They had a woman with them. She shifted into a crow right on the street.
" She spoke in a whisper, but Eli wasn't sure it kept the others from hearing.
"Yes, Fala Moonlight. She was on the board."
"Was?" Rosie grabbed a potato and weighed it in her hand.
"They quit today, all but Conal who will remain as The Moonlight Ranch's representative."
She looked up at him. "Who will fill their chairs?"
Eli shrugged. "No idea, but I hope they pick someone from Fisherman's Lake. Thano told me they don't have a representative, and they've always had one. It's important we have a good relationship with Fisherman's Lake."
She nodded. "I don't have much." She held up a bill and a few coins before placing the basket on the counter where she'd put six eggs, one onion, and a small bag of lentils. "How many potatoes can I afford?"
Eli rang up the items and helped her pick a few potatoes to make the price as close to the money she had as possible.
"It's market day soon." He didn't know if he said it to comfort her or himself. He hoped someone would buy a knitted scarf or something. Though, he suspected it was off-season for scarfs, beanies, and mittens. She knitted other things too, but he wasn't entirely sure what.
"Gerald will be paid on Friday, and I have some flour at home. We'll be fine." She smiled a tired smile.
"Do you get your yarn from Fisherman's Lake?"
"The wool. We color and spin the yarn ourselves."
Eli hadn't known. "Wow, that's amazing. The board is talking about adding a toll for people delivering to the dock. It would affect you."
Her eyes grew wide. "What?"
"Thano--" He gestured out the window. "--told me they're discussing it on the board. I talked to Joshua Fagan about it this morning, so I'm sure it's spread around Fisherman's Lake by now."
She stood frozen with her hands on the handle of the basket. "But people have a hard time affording our products now."
"I know. I'm in the same situation." He gestured at the content in her basket. With an added toll she most likely couldn't have afforded the potatoes.
"Right." She nodded. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll talk to the girls and see...I don't know if they have any wool to sell us at this point."