“You don’t mind closing up early?” asked Plinth.

“I’m afraid if we stay open any longer we’re going ta turn into an orphanage.” Cophin dropped a pot into the kitchen sink. “Let’s just finish up this order for our last and only customer so we can close the dining room.”

“He’s already gone.” Ash leaned around the corner. “He yelled something about revenge and ran out the door. He did leave a purse of coins on the table.”

Ash handed a *Jingling* pouch to Plinth.

“There’s that at least. You take them to tha rooms. I’ll try to figure out some kind of work rotation.” said Cophin.

#

Plinth led the group of Ave, Tasha, Rosy, Ash, and Luke into the courtyard out back behind the kitchen. Tasha carried Eins in her arms.

“Why are those chickens eating a pile of shoes?” asked Rosy.

“They need the fiber.” Ash remarked.

Rosy turned to Plinth. “Since I’m going to be staying here for a few days I should warn you that I have some unusual dietary restrictions. I can’t eat a lot of fats or grease. I need a lot of fiber so if you have any fresh fruit or vegetables that would be fantastic.”

Plinth put on a little smile. “We may be able to accommodate you.”

Plinth opened a door off of the courtyard. He squeezed his way down a short hallway.

“We weren’t expecting so many applicants so we only had the one room prepared. There’s a second storage room we can clear out and use. I’m thinking we divide it up between boys and girls. You don’t mind sleeping on the floor do you Ash and Luke?”

Ash and Luke looked at each other.

“No-bed buddies again?” Luke raised a hand.

“You got it.” Ash gave Luke a high five.

*High Five*

Plinth opened the door to a small single occupant sized bedroom. “This is where you girls will be staying. Why don’t you ladies go and get settled in.”

Rosy crouched down and entered the room.

Ash stepped up and pulled Eins out of Tasha’s arms. “Eins can sleep with us. You know, so that he doesn’t bark too much.” Ash tilted his head at Rosy.

Tasha nodded her head. “Right. He can be a little noisy sometimes.” She handed the dog over.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Eins pouted.

Tasha and Ave stepped into the bedroom behind Rosy.

Plinth folded his hands. “Now there’s only one bed and one nightstand, but I should warn you. The bathroom has a leek in it.”

“Oh? Well we can figure something out. I’m used to traveling around and dealing with unusual spaces.” Tasha rubbed her shoulders.

Ave opened the door to the bathroom. “It’s fine. I’m sure we can work around it-”

Ave stopped talking. She stared into the room. Tasha and Rosy peeked around the corner into the bathroom behind her.

There was a single stalk of leek with long green leaves delicately resting on the rim of the washbasin in the bathroom.

Plinth hid a chuckle behind his hand from the doorway. Tasha rolled her eyes. Rosy gave a polite “Ah ha.” Ave stepped up, picked up the leek, and tossed it out into the courtyard for the chickens.

Plinth suppressed his laughter. “Anyway, I’ll leave you all to get unpacked.”

Plinth rolled to the back out and continued down to the end of the hallway.

“And this is where you two will be staying.” He opened the door to a storage room. There were crates of produce and grain piled up in the corners.

“Ah, just like home.” Ash said.

“Ahem.” There was a sudden cough.

“Oh yes. Ash, Luke, this is Mistress Starling. She’s the owner of the building and our landlady.” Plinth proceeded to squeeze himself against the wall so that a small woman could shuffle around from behind him.

Mistress Starling was a shrunken old woman maybe a meter tall. She was exceptionally elderly with a hunched posture and visible veins on her hands and arms. Her plain cotton dress was tied off with measuring tape. Her silver-blue hair was pulled back in a bun and a pair of long sewing shears was jabbed through like a hair pin. Every now and then a loose silver strand of hair would catch the light and sparkle. While she did have a pair of glasses tucked in a pocket her eyes were sharp and hauntingly blue. Piercing irises like cerulean pools that seemed to look through you rather than at you.

She frowned as saw Ash and Luke.

Ash and Luke frowned in return.

“You…” Ash growled.

“Do you, know our landlady too?” Plinth guessed.

Ash put a hand on his hips. “We sure do. She got us kicked out of the Gambling Hall today.”

Mistress Starling adjusted her hair bun. “I did no such thing. It looked to me that you two got yourselves kicked out.”

“You wouldn’t move!”

“Neither would you.”

“You could have gone around!” Ash yelled.

Mistress Starling ignored Ash. “Are you sure about this Plinth? I don’t know if I want to rent out a room to deadbeats.”

“Well you don’t have to worry about that because we’re not getting a room. We’re getting a storage closet.” said Ash.

“Your dog has bugs on him. You better not be bringing bugs into my building.” Mistress Starling narrowed her gaze onto Eins.

“What!? How dare you. That is preposterous. Hold on. Luke help me examine the dog.” Ash lifted Eins up into the air.

Ash and Luke grabbed Eins. They took turns probing the dog’s furry body with their fingers. Eins wiggled in their grasp. Finally Luke held up a dust ball sized brown speck. He brought his eyeball as close to the fuzz ball as he could.

“Hoho. Nothing to be worried about. This is only a common psychodidae.” Luke smiled.

Plinth and Mistress Starling had blank expressions on their faces.

“It’s a moth fly. A drain fly? A common house pest that lives in sewers. It’s harmless to humans.” Luke assured them.

“Hmmm. Make sure your dog is clean.” Mistress Starling said.

“Yes man. Right away mam.” Luke said.

The old lady shuffled down the hallway and disappeared.