Jayden cut slowly and carefully. He wasn't sure how much the leather was worth, and how bad a mistake would be.

Jamal had told him as long as his cuts were outside of the line, he would be fine. Jamal would do the detailed tidying up work on any overhanging pieces. The important thing was not to cut smaller than the template - that couldn't be fixed.

Lachlan had been working hard at it for a couple of hours before Jamal came back to see him. "Alright laddie. I reckon it's time for morning tea. What do you think?"

"That sounds great", said Jayden still hungry after the escapades of the previous evening. He was sure he'd missed at least two meals - a second dinner and breakfast.

"Well, I haven't got much food here", said Jamal. "I would send you out to the shops to buy some, but... well we wouldn't want you to get lost in the streets, would we? Being as you're new to town and all, 'eh Lachlan."

Jayden nodded, relieved. He certainly wasn't ready to go shopping in a country he was unfamiliar with, with signs written in a language that he couldn't read. That would not end well.

Jamal brought out some flat breads, dried meat and some kind of sauce or dip. He piled them together to make a kind of sandwich. He handed the first one to Jayden, and then made another for himself.

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It was quite tasty. The meat was pretty dry, but the dip was delicious. Jayden wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was fresh, spicy and richly flavoured, and made him hungry for more. Not that his appetite needed any help right now.

Jamal gestured to the pile of flatbreads and encouraged Jayden to go ahead and make his own.

Jayden did. He put even more of the sauce onto his bread than Jamal had.

"Ahah! I see you like the ular sauce. I'm a fan of it too. This is one of my favourite flavours. Although the taro one is pretty good too. It's a very different taste. Quite savory. Some people don't like it. But this one is popular with most Deltorans.

"Is that the name of the city or the country", asked Jayden, aware there was so much he didn't know.

"Ahh", said Jamal, in realisation of Jayden's ignorance. "We are in the city of Deltora, which is a trading port of the kingdom of Blythe. Blythe is a struggling country now. Back when trading was more common, Blythe was a major force on the continent. Now this harbour focuses only on domestic traffic, and it is still somewhat busy but no longer as prominent as some of the other ports around."

Over the course of the day, various customers came into the shop, out of sight of Jayden, but he could still hear them easily. He listened carefully to their conversations, trying to learn everything he could about the town, its culture, the people in it, what they liked and didn't like, and what they tended to talk about.

He felt like a student again, back at school. Hoping not to be called upon for a test. He'd never been that great in school, and it felt like in this case, failing could be fatal.