Nettle

876 Words2 Pages

“Nell, look, candy!” Basil whispered excitedly. He pointed at a booth two spaces in front of them, covered in all sorts of sweets. “Can we get some candy, Nell?” “If it’s not too much, then yeah, I suppose,” Nettle smiled. She walked them to the booth Basil had pointed at. “Do you want the sugar fluff, the peppermints, or the sour hard candies?” “The sugar fluff?” Basil requested. “I want the sour candies!” Sage piped up. “Sour stuff is yummy, yummy yum yummy, like lemons and limes and a bit like oranges!” “How much is the sugar fluff and the sour candies?” Nettle asked the young man running the booth. “A quarter credit per pound for the sour ones, fluff comes prebagged and is an eighth credit for a small bag, quarter credit for a medium, and half credit for a large,” the young man replied. “You watching your siblings for the day?” “Something like that. I’ll take a pound of the sour candy and a medium bag of the sugar fluff,” Nettle smiled at him, waiting for him to bag the sour candy and get one of the bags of sugar fluff before presenting her arm. He transferred the credits and then handed her the bags, after which she began to walk away. “Have fun,” the young man called after her, “and stay away from the man selling the gold embroidered purses.” Nettle wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but if she saw a man fitting that description, she would do what he said. Who knew the other merchants better than one of them? Besides, she didn’t want a purse, and especially not a gold embroidered one. That was just silly and wasteful. They wandered among the booths for another half hour before there was a loud noise; twelve chimes of the clock in the center of the marketplace. “I guess it’s lunch time, then,” Nettle said. “So we should proba... ... middle of paper ... ...Wait-” Nettle bit her lip. “Okay, Bay. We can get it.” She walked to the booth and held her arm out to the woman, wondering how her sight could have been saved without her eyes. The woman shook her head. “He can have it for free. He is a good boy, and you, a good sister. Take it.” She pressed the egg into Nettle’s hand, curling her fingers around it. “Bu-” “No buts, dear child. It is a gift and you shall take it. Let the boy carry it with him,” the woman interrupted. “Now keep going, dear, you have much more to see within the marketplace.” “Yes, ma’am,” Nettle said. She put the egg into Basil’s hands before picking him up and taking Sage’s hand with her right. They began to walk around the booths again, not becoming aware of the time until the clock chimed six times. “You don’t have anything yet, Nell!” Sage exclaimed. “You need to get something before Rayray comes!”

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