“You’re going to need starting capital,” Father said once they were inside Yellowrock the next day.

His voice was gruff and- A change from his usually chipper attitude on this topic. Walking with a limp and a larger walking stick, he stood ahead of her as they passed through the western market. Once again she wore her brown tunic underneath her hooded black cloak.

“That is… If you’re trying to make a business out of whatever you’re doing.”

The entrance to Yellowrock gave way to the packed streets inside the hold.

“What is that?” she asked. Freya was familiar with the term capital. All the gentry seemed to have it and none of the common-born did. “I know what the word is, but maybe my definition lacks …..definition.”

They passed by a potter, then a couple of other artisans showing paintings, murals, and carpets as they made their way in. Most of the vendors were mice, but a few rabbits were hawking wares here and there. A lone otter was standing at a cart selling baked fish on a stick, and the smell seemed extra salty to Freya's nose.

“Clams, my dear,” Father said. “Lots of them. Ah, here is the street.”

“Yes. Clams. How many do I need and how do I get it?” she asked.

“Well first you need to write a business plan but I can explain the basics. You see, when I started fletching arrows, I needed a way to make them, for which I needed a supplier for the iron tips, the shafts and the feathers. Consider your fixed costs for operating a business. What would that be if you’re raising chickens?”

“Well, chickens need exercise but they do that on their own. They also need food, but most of that we can grow. If I had to pay for feed, a month of seeds would probably be one clam for each chicken.”

Father nodded as they reached a locked store. He fumbled around with some keys looking for the right ones.

“If you have any employees as I do, you’d also need to pay them. Now consider your one time costs, like if you were to set up a shop like this.”

“Oh! Like the pen? Or I could set up an office if I needed that but I probably won’t. Maybe a coop for the chickens for the rain? That would be a one-time expense. I don’t know how much a coop would cost to have built but I could hire Grandpaw.”

The large building was two mice tall and read “The Corporals Complement” above a design of an arrow.

“Good, good. Now one other thing is it has to make sense. You see here, we sell arrows to the government and they buy them five for a clam. It takes me about a pearl, or a fifth of a clam to make all of the arrows, giving me a good profit margin if you don’t account for taxes, my paying my employees and the rent on this place. So it has to make sense whatever you’re charging. Are you going to be selling the chickens or leasing them?”

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I hadn’t even thought of that, the voice in her head said, And already father is trying to get me to do arithmetic. This seems a little fast?

We decided last week that we couldn’t just wait on someone else to just give us money so… Freya thought.

So, how about we uh take charge of our own destiny.

That seemed like a lot of work.

“I don’t know yet but do you think you could explain that also? And I’m sorry if this is all a lot for you Father, but really I want to know everything about running a business before I even start.”

He laughed.

“Freya, it would give your dear old father much joy to see you pursue your dreams. Well, let’s see simply… I sell arrows, with no expectation that the coalition will return them to me. The Yellowrock Union leases this storeroom to me on account of every space inside the rock being valuable. It isn’t a lot. I pay enough to be close to the military storeroom because that is where my arrows usually end up first, so it saves my customers time. I know a few archery enthusiasts that buy the rest of my stock. This is the main reason that I stock bows and quivers, as I sell far fewer of those.”

Freya considered what it would be like to let her chickens go free. She felt pretty attached already.

“I think it would have to be a lease then. Can you tell me a bit more…” She leaned over to accept his walking stick as he sat down. His lame leg seemed to be acting up today, as she watched him massage above his knee.

He gingerly sat down behind the counter, as she sat next to the door on a bench seat.

“I would imagine that it would be like leasing a coach with cockroaches although the families that could do it would already have coach teams. So each time you lease the chickens out you would have to have a contract to explain the length of time, the payment, and the care and feeding of the chickens. Oh, probably the penalty if they don’t return the chicken or if they are late in returning one. That is probably it.”

He reached under the counter to show her an arrow.

“And you know,” he said, turning it over, “ I could always use feathers in my business. Consider yourself hired. I’ll give you say one clam for every fifty chicken feathers you get from the pen. You don’t have to pluck them out of the chickens, they tend to lose a bunch during the winter season I’ve heard.”

Freya blushed. She had her first customer. Who cared if they were related?

“You know,” he said, “sometimes Soldiers from the aviary bring their own feathers after they molt, and we use them in specialty bolts, but for the most part I’ve had to get someone to gather them for me. Imagine using some of your own fur or perhaps your nail in a weapon that you’re using against an enemy.”

Freya gasped. That sounded very self-subsistent. She couldn’t imagine making a weapon out of parts of her body, but that was what these birds were in essence doing. It sounded so different from anything she had ever been used to, but also it made twisted sense if she tried to put herself into their position.

“I’ve got a couple that keep returning to me. When they come back from the furthest reaches of the Coalition they just turn in their feathers for the war effort. But remember, these birds—their feathers are small. With chicken feathers, well I could get a strong flight path I think. This reminds me, I also have a small target practice range so that my customers can try out any new designs I create. It’s only two lanes but it’s in the back. I never took you to this range because you were satisfied with my targets at home. If you wanted to try one of my short bows or crossbows, we could test some of the arrows and bolts before the morning rush.”

The irises in his eyes grew huge. Freya returned his smile.

“I think that I would like that. I should have an idea what my feathers can accomplish.”