Maca shrugged. “It looked like someplace underground. It was just a flash of a vision. But I saw that they were in trouble and Grimbledung wasn’t able to change into a WereGnome and because of that, Drimblerod got killed. He fell off a bridge and was lost.”
Nulu leaned back. “Gads. When is this going to happen?”
Maca picked up her drink. “In the future.” She took a sip. “Sometime.”
Nulu looked at the decanter again. “So you can cure Grimbledung but it would end up killing Drimblerod.” Nulu smiled. “Well, do you know when that will happen? You can just give him the potion after he saves Drimblerod!”
Maca shook her head. “It was just a quick flash of the future and I was looking from a distance because they were on a long bridge so I couldn’t tell how old they were.” She laughed. “Honestly, with Gnomes, they look the same until they hit five hundred, then they go grey practically overnight.” She looked at the potion she had labored on for the better part of a week. “So there’s really no telling beside waiting until they’re old and grey.”
Nulu downed her drink again. She looked down at the glass. “Sorry.”
Maca downed hers as well. “Well, it’s pretty tasty stuff. The Gnolls got me hooked on it.”
“Me too.” Nulu nodded. “I’m sorry to hear it. Of course, it’s nice to know that those two Gnomes will be alright.” She paused for a moment. “Whenever they’re caught underground and get into trouble, that is.”
“I suppose so.” Maca sighed. “That Gnome.”
Nulu laughed. “If I had a copper every time I said that!”
Maca stood. “Well, it looks like Grimbledung is actually back in his shop, so the coast is clear.”
Nulu startled. “Not much gets by you, does it?”
Maca pursed her lips. “I can’t seem to get a read on Akita.”
Nulu stood as well. “Males. They’re so...”
“Exactly.”
“Well, I’ll walk with you towards his office,” said Nulu. “Thanks for the drinks and the company.”
“Any time.”
The females left the shop and when Maca was near Akita’s office, she bid farewell to Nulu and made straight for it, determined to drop as many hints as it would take to get the Constable to ask her out.
Nulu entered the Duck Inn and Dine as Flora was scolding Colossus. Not wanting to interrupt the strong-minded Gnomess, Nulu pushed past the curtain into the kitchen.
Chapter 23
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Beard
Grimbledung walked into his shoppe. “Hey, Drim. How are things going?” Before waiting for an answer, he continued: “Say, isn’t it time for brunch?” Grimbledung waggled his ears “You know besides breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper, and midnight snack, brunch is one of the most important meals of the day.”
“No.” You’ve been gone half the morning as it is.”
“Well, I’m just making sure because you know if you try working on an empty stomach you aren’t thinking about work and what will happen is that you’ll end up selling wands for less than they are worth because you can’t concentrate when you’re all rumbly in the tumbly and there’s nothing to eat not even a pot of honey to tide you over until you get a good and proper meal in you.”
“No.”
“Aren’t you a little black rain cloud all of a sudden.” Grimbledung closed Door.
“Grim, you realize that the only reason we have money to spend is because we sell wands, right?”
“No.”
Drimblerod raised an eyebrow at his approaching partner.
“Sure, sure...” Grimbledung leaned on the counter, facing Drimblerod. “I just wanted to give you taste of your own medicine.”
“Well, with all the antics we’ve been dealing with, we haven’t been open hardly at all these past few months. And that means these past few months we’ve been running on our savings. My savings. And my savings is getting low.” He pointed to the sign in the window. “We need to pull some long hours and consistent days to rebuild our savings and not flip the sign every chance we get. And it’s not helping having to replace windows and rehang and repaint doors. I think...” He leaned towards his partner. “... we need to economize wherever and whenever possible.”
Grimbledung straightened. “You mean not buy stuff just because I feel like buying stuff?” He gaped. “Extra stuff, right?” He gestured at the lately ever-present barrel of ale. “But absolute essentials, those are fine right?”
“A barrel of ale every two days is not an essential.”
Grimbledung gaped again.
“A barrel of ale every two days is not an essential.”
Grimbledung pouted since gaping wasn’t working.
“How about a barrel of ale a week?”
“You know these are called ponies, right? They’re not full sized barrels. Wee little ponies are they. In fact, there’s even a song about them.”
“I don’t think...”
My Little Pony. My Little Pony!
Keg!
Ooh Ahh. Ooh Ahh.
Grimbledung sang as he hopped back and forth
My Little Pony! My Little Pony!
Keg!
I used to wonder what great beer-ness could be
My Little Pony!
Keg!
Until you shared all its foamy goodness with meee!
Big adventure? Tons of fun?
A beautiful head
Ooh Ahh. Ooh Ahh.
“Grimbledung...” Tried Drimblerod.
Wheaty and strong.
Sharing it is kindness in a mug
It's an easy feat!
My Little Pony! My Little Pony!
Keg!
And icy magic makes it all cold and complete.
Yeah my little ponies,
do you know you're my very best...
“A barrel of ale every two days is not an essential,” repeated Drimblerod.
Grimbledung dropped to one knee and raised his arms over his head, his fingers were played out and waggling.
Friends!!
Grimbledung remained in that position as he looked at his partner.
“A barrel of ale every two days is not an essential.”
Grimbledung gaped. “Don’t listen to him, my little pony. Keg.” He said as he waggled his fingers at the barrel.
“Seriously. We need to make some coinage over the next weeks...” The bell above Door jingling made him look. “Especially if we’re going to be entertaining those gals,” he finished quietly.
Grimbledung hopped to his feet. “Well, that’s something I can wrap my arms around.” He waggled his ears. “Wanna hear an entendre that just popped into my head about my legs?”
“No.”
Grimbledung scowled at his partner then turned it into a broad smile as he swiveled around to the customer. “Greetings and salutations! Welcome to Second-Hand Sorcery. What can we help you with today, good sir?”
The elderly looking Human leaned on the counter. “Seems I missed the song and dance.”
“If you hang around long enough, another will make its way through the shoppe,” said Drimblerod. He jerked a thumb at his partner. “They just burble out of him when you least expect it.”
“I think you mean bubble.”
Drimblerod shook his head at the old man, “Not in his case”.
“I see.”
“You got this Grim? I’m going to do some sorting and restock the shelves.”
Grimbledung nodded at his partner. “Sure thing.” He turned to appraise the old man. “Offer you a drink?”
“Drink? It’s not noon yet.”
Drimblerod opened his mouth, decided against getting involved in the invariable discussion that was about to come out of his partner. He went to the back room instead.
“Well sure, it’s not yet noon yet because the sun’s still low in the sky but that’s no reason not to have a drink since you...”
The old man ‘harrumphed’ at Grimbledung.
Grimbledung smiled at the old man. He seemed taller than average with a large grey beard along with a similarly overgrown moustache. His large floppy hat covered the remainder of his face not concealed by hair. Only his nose and part of his cheeks were visible. “Ya in there somewhere, old timer?”
“Miner.”
“Old miner,” corrected Grimbledung.
The old man grunted.
“What’cha mining?
“My own business,” the old man said flatly.
Nice! Grimbledung nodded. “That’s what I do. Mind my own business, don’t do nothing to no one.”
The man switched to leaning on the counter with his other arm. He seemed to have a length of twisted wire in his free hand- it was the length of a wand, but was thick, rusted metal.
“Interesting wand.”
“Does most of the jobs I need.”
For a long moment the two stared at each other. Or at least Grimbledung assumed the man was staring at him- since he couldn’t see his eyes he wasn’t sure. “Ya in there somewhere?”
“I’m looking for a light wand.”
“That metal one getting heavy?”
“Light as in the opposite of darkness.”
“What’cha need one of them for?”
The old man stared at Grimbledung for a long moment. “Thought you said you minded your own business.”
Grimbledung nodded. “Sure, sure. I’m just asking because that way I’ll know what kind of wand you need.”
“One that makes light.”
Grimbledung nodded as he moved around the counter. “Sure, sure. But...” He moved to a shelf that held a row of dark brown wands. “These are our Conductor Wands. They’ll make different types of light depending on what you’re doing.” He picked up a dark wood wand with a red spiral running down it. “If you’re looking for a way to light a dark forest with really, really bright light, then I’d go with this.” He waved the wand and a blinding white-blue light exploded through the shop. Piercing even his hair and hat, the old man flinched.
Grimbledung put the wand back on the shelf. “Or if you’re looking for something more discrete if you’re into sneakery, this may be more to your liking.” He picked up another dark wood wand. This one had leather wrapping on the handle and a silver spiral running from the edge of the wrapping to the tip. As he waved it, the old man took a step back. Instead of an all-encompassing light, this one produced a tight beam of light from the tip. Grimbledung pointed it around the Shoppe’s walls, ceiling and floor. “This is also great if you have a cat. They’ll chase the light all day long.”
“Don’t got no cat.”
“Well then.” Grimbledung put the wand back on the shelf. “What sort of light you looking for then?” He gestured at the shelf and winked. “That will decide what sort of wand you should get.”
“I’m working in a mine.”
Grimbledung snapped his fingers. “Easy potatoesy.” He reached for a lighter wand on a lower shelf. It still had leather wrapping on the hilt but the spiral was a light blue. “This is the one then.” He waved the wand. A tight blue-white beam of light shone from the end. It wasn’t nearly as tight at the silver etched wand. “You can keep this in front of you and not blind yourself. Plus...” He moved his hand further down the hilt and the beam of light got wider, “... the further down you hold it, the wider the beam.” He turned the wand around and offered it hilt-first to the old man. “Handy wand, this.”
The old man took the wand and grasped it at the very front edge of the leather wrapping. A tight blue-white light emanated from the wand, as he moved his hand back, the beam got wider to the point of almost acting like a bull’s-eye lantern. “Nice.”
“So what you mining, old miner?”
The old man put the wand in his trouser pocket with one hand and put his other hand in his other pocket. “What’s it cost?” He asked.
Inside Grimbledung did a little flip. Since the man was already reaching for his coins, he knew that any price less than absurd would be accepted. “Three silver since it’s a multi-use wand,” he said with a straight face.
The old man fished around in his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He selected three silver with his other hand and dropped them into Grimbledung’s. “There ya go.”
“You know, I’ve always liked mines. What would be the odds of getting...”
The old man turned and walked out of the store.
“Well then,” said Grimbledung as he moved back to the counter. “Guess that’s it for him.” When he got to the counter, the bell above Door chimed again. Grimbledung put a broad grin on his face as he turned. “Welcome to Second-Hand Sorcery. We endeavor to serve,” he said to the tall Elf that was closing Door behind him. Water wand sale, coming up...
Drimblerod moved past the curtain as the Elf left the store. He had an arm-full of wands. “How many water wands that Elf buy?”
“Eight.”
“Eight?”
Grimbledung shrugged. “Some sort of birthday celebration or something.”
“Weren’t you listening?”
“I heard he wanted eight water wands and I heard he didn’t ask for a discount for buying that many wands. What more is there to hear?”
Drimblerod considered that for a moment. “I suppose not much else. That’s a good start on the week.” He raised an eyebrow. “And you charged that guy three silver for a Conductor’s wand?”
“He reached into his pocket before he asked the price,” explained Grimbledung.
Drimblerod nodded. “His own fault, then.”
“Exactly. So what’re you putting out?”
“Well, it seems I need to bring out some more water wands all of a sudden. We’re down to less than ten of those in all now,” Drimblerod looked down at the wands he had balanced in the crook of his arm, “but first I’ll put out these Conductors, Levitation, and Pixie Sticks.
The bell chimed again. Both Gnomes turned to look. It was Chéri. The Gnomes both frowned.
“Well, and a good day to you too.”
“Sorry, Chéri,” said Drimblerod, “we were hoping for more customers”.
“We’re on a roll.”
Chéri moved as Door closed. “Well, that’s what I am. A customer.”
“Welcome to Second-Hand Sorcery!” Exclaimed Grimbledung. “Peruse the merchandise!” He waggled his ears.
“Nice.”
Grimbledung nodded at his partner. “Keep stocking, I’ll get this female to buy half the store,” he said with a wink.
“I’m in the market for a wand. A wand.” Chéri held up a finger. “Singular wand.”
“Sure, sure. You say that now”. Grimbledung moved to Chéri then spread his arms out wide. “When you have all this to choose from, the sky’s the limit.”
“I have two silver left to my name and I need a decent levitation wand and enough change to get lunch the next three days.”
“Well, that’s a pretty low sky, but we can make that happen.” Grimbledung walked backwards and extended his hand to his partner. “Oh yes, we can make that happen.” He snapped his fingers several times. “Just about now, in fact... It’s gonna happen.”
Drimblerod shook his head as he put a levitation wand in Grimbledung’s hand. “That wand’s only worth a silver on a good day, you know. To a friend in need, it’s a five copper wand.”
Grimbledung ignored him. “All for a measly two silver. A pittance really, considering the wealth of knowledge and customer support that accompany your wand. A trifling.” He held two fingers up to his lips and blew on them as he spread his hand out. “A wisp of an amount.”
Chéri held out a silver coin. She tilted it back and forth. “The word on the street is that that thing’s worth half a silver.”
Grimbledung looked around suspiciously. “Well, if that’s the word on the street, ” he handed her the wand hilt first, “who am I to argue?”
“Well, you’re always good for an argument,” said Chéri.
“That is true.”
Grimbledung glanced at Drimblerod. “Aren’t you supposed to be stocking or something?” He turned to look at Chéri. “A measly half a silver you say? At that price, I might as well just give it away for nothing.”
Chéri beamed. “Well, that’s a deal I can agree with.” She clapped her hands twice.
Grimbledung frowned.
Behind Grimbledung, Drimblerod gave the Assassin a nod and a wink.
She put the coin back into her purse. “You sure drive a hard bargain, Grim.”
Grimbledung smiled broadly. “That I do!” He rubbed his hands together. “That’s also the word on the street too, you know.”
“Oh, I do. I do indeed.” She smiled. “And I do appreciate it, really. And I’ll make up for it when I’m all settled again.”
Grimbledung waggled his ears. “So what do you need a Levitation wand for?”
Chéri tucked the wand into her purse. “Well, you know we’re out at Aution gathering wood, right?”
Grimbledung nodded. “Heard that someplace.”
“And I’ve decided that I’m through loading wood by hand.” She patted her purse. “So that’s why I need a way to levitate the wood onto that wagon.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Grimbledung smiled at the Assassin. “So have you decided where you’re going to put your humble abode?”
Chéri shook her head. “No, not yet. I thought we needed to talk to Big Julie or someone before we just started building in town. No?”
“Yes, actually,” said Drimblerod as he moved beside his partner. “She’s formed a council that’s making sure people don’t just throw up houses helter skelter.”
“Uh oh. What’s a permit cost?”
“A copper”
Chéri blinked. “That’s nothing.” She raised an eyebrow at Grimbledung. “A pittance, really. A mere trifling even.”
“Right? That’s what I said!” Grimbledung hopped up and down.
“Well, her plan is to make it inexpensive for people to get a permit so that people don’t sneak around and just build where they want. If the permits are too high, people’ll do their best to avoid paying. This way, folks just pay the copper and register for a permit.” He smiled. “And then Missus Mayoress and the City Council knows exactly who lives where and what size place they have so they can levy the appropriate taxes later on.”
A New Hope (Tales From a Second-Hand Wand Shop Book 4) Page 14