It wasn’t difficult to convince Peggy to let the girls stay in the inn, not after Jenny confided the girls had fled from the new Baron’s farm. The matron’s face had softened, and she asked no other questions regarding the girls’ stay. The mood outside the inn had changed. There were more people outside than in the morning, a pocket of people grouped together whispering to one another, watching every shadow with suspicion and fear.
Jenny got a fair share of stares. Her disguise’s size, the spear, and being an unknown in these parts all came together to make most of the simple folk cast suspicion, even more so after the lurker attack. She ignored stares, whispering, and not subtle finger-pointing. It had been the same when she arrived ten years ago: the cursed child, a scrawny girl fleeing from disaster.
With brisk steps, Jenny crossed the mercantile street. Some merchants and customers had returned, but more hadn’t bothered to set up stalls again after the attack. Thankfully, Osgar was one of the merchants who hadn’t returned. She didn’t see any other stall set up to sell animals, which could be a problem.
Jenny shook her head, reflecting on her thoughts about her talk with Isabella. Gregory had always been a stuck-up jerk. Maybe it was the curse of the nobility? Gregory’s behavior wasn’t that different from all the other noble scions from her island. But if Bee wasn’t lying, which Jenny didn’t think the girl was, Gregory treated his servants worse than slaves. Constant punishments, no resting days, and pay that often wasn’t enough for food. This made people desperate enough to eat the produce from the farms they worked on.
Flogging. The damn bastard had started flogging people as punishment. The reason why Bee had fled. She’d been caught eating from the farm’s produce. Jenny’s gums ached with how much her teeth ground against each other. She wanted to strangle that good for nothing.
Jenny’s steps took her to Theo’s workshop. The Sparksmith, as many called the man.
The place was huddled amongst the crooked, half-timbered houses of the town. The building was imposing, built from rough-hewn stone and topped with a thick, slate roof perpetually coated in a fine layer of soot. A wide double door, reinforced with iron bands, stood ajar, occasionally groaning on rusty hinges when puffs of hot air laden with the smell of burning coal escaped.
Through the doorway, Jenny glimpsed the fiery heart of the shop. A massive forge glowed orange, sending flickering tongues of heat across the interior. Beside it, an anvil sat like a sleeping beast, its surface dented and pitted from countless hammer blows. It was impressive, even if it also paled in comparison to the anvil in the dungeon. Stacks of horseshoes, unfinished blades, and tools leaned precariously against the walls while a trough of water waited to cool the man’s sweat and the metal both. The rhythmic clang of hammer on anvil formed a constant counterpoint to the hiss and roar of the furnace.
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Jenny stepped inside and was immediately assaulted by the forge’s heat.
The clangs stopped, and Theo turned toward her. “I’ll be with ye inna moment, lass.” He said in his rumbling voice before the staccato beat of his hammer started up again.
Jenny took the opportunity to check the place over, noting there were no finished weapons or armor on display, and most of the things she saw were farm tools, rough cooking pots, and shoe–horns.
After a few minutes, the man stepped away from the anvil, using a cloth to wipe the sweat. “Whatcha need lass?” The man’s eyes were glued to the metal spear. “Needa work on that one?”
“Perhaps,” Jenny shrugged. “I need some silver and gold ground to powder. And maybe someone who can repair a crossbow.”
Theo dragged his eyes away from the spear and looked Jenny in the eyes. “Did ya now? What for?”
Jenny considered her options but didn’t take long to answer. “You heard the lurker in town?”
“Aye.”
“My team is trying to find the lurker’s nest. Two of the beasts attacked the Baron’s farm a ten-day ago. I got separated from my team and…” she hesitated, leaning forward and lowering her voice. “An apothecary taught me to brew a salve that helps with healing. I prefer to part with my gold rather than my life, at this point.”
“Potion brewing? Ye walking a dangerous line, lass.” The man said, but his demeanor hadn’t changed.
“Everyone wants these monsters gone. None appreciates how hard and dangerous it is to deal with them.” She said, opening her arms in a what can I do gesture. “It is just how things are.”
“Aye,” the man said, still wiping his hands on the cloth. His eyes were back on the spear.
“Can you help?” Jenny asked after a few moments of silence.
“Aye,” Theo said for the third time. “Come back in two days.”
Jenny sighed, looked around, and saw a half-finished project in the anvil, it looked like a sword. “Is it possible to do it today? I can compensate you for your time.” She tried.
“No can do lass. Gotta meself a new order from the new Baron. Lord Gregory doesn’t seem the sort ta ‘priciate delays.”
That damn Gregory. Even here, that waste of space caused problems. “What if you let me use your tools? Show me what they are and how to use them; I’ll do the work myself and pay your usual rates.”
Theo dragged his eyes from the spear and looked Jenny up and down. It wasn’t the type of lecherous gaze she felt all her life. Theo looked at her like one would a horse, observing the width of her shoulders, the muscle in her arms, her height, and her large hands.
“Ye have any experience with forging?”
“Not forging, no. But I’m no stranger to hard work.”
Theo scratched his chin. He looked at his workshop, Jenny, and her spear. “Tell ye what. Ye tell me where that thing is from,” he said, pointing his finger to the spear. “Leave it here for a few days, and let me take a gander at it. For ten silver, you can use me tools ta grind your silver and gold.”
Jenny snorted. “For ten silver, I might as well buy the powder I need.” She pointed to the spear. “Three silver and I’ll tell you where I found this little baby, and you can hold it,” she looked the man in the eyes, “for half a bell.”
It was Theo’s time to snort, but the man was smiling. “Tell you what, lass. Five silver, and ye let me work on that thing while you do your stuff,” he said, offering his hand.
“Deal!” Jenny said, squeezing the man’s rough hands.