Chap. 151 Business before pleasure
"Oh, look at his horses!" Glyena cried, as they approached Lizard's caravan. She went running to them.
"Glyena! Stop!" K'ndar cried.
She stopped, turning in wonder.
"Why?"
How to explain the concept of security to a child?
"That caravan? It's Lizard's home, just like your room at our weyr. It's not polite to just barge in," K'ndar said.
"But it's OUTSIDE, K'ndar," Glyena protested.
"That's how Lizard lives. It might be on wheels, but that's his home. He's a trader, he and Uncle Sandriss were partners for several years, and he's my friend, too. But he's still a private person. He's had problems with thieves and raiders, and so he has a guardian dog. I've met the dog, but he's probably on duty right now, and I honestly don't know how he'd react to us, approaching the caravan without Lizard being here."
"How do you know your friend isn't in the caravan?"
"I don't. But he has fire lizards, and they usually come out to meet Siskin when I'm in the vicinity. That hasn't happened, so I am guessing Lizard is out doing business right now. What I usually do is walk to within calling distance, like this."
He strode across the meadow and then stopped, looking for the dog. "Then, just like you'd do at home, at someone's weyr, I call "Hello, the caravan! Hello?"
There was no response. But Crunch, the guardian dog appeared from beneath the caravan and stood at attention, looking hard at K'ndar.
"Oh, there's the dog! He's big. What's his name?"
"That's another thing. I know his name, but I won't call it out. He's on duty, and he knows it. I'll just stand here for a moment, let him get my scent."
"Why does he have a guardian dog?"
"Last time he was here on Northern, someone burned down his wagon because he wouldn't fall for the conman's tricks. In the past, he was stabbed and cut up by thieves. Sandriss saved his life. He shouldn't need to worry about that here, but he travels alone, with valuable things to trade, and thieves know it."
They looked at the dog. Crunch analyzed their scent, carried to him on the breeze, and began to wag his tail.
"He's wagging his tail, K'ndar, that means we can up there now!"
"It means he knows who I am. It doesn't mean I'm allowed any closer."
"Oh, come on, K'ndar! He's friendly! Look at him wagging!"
"Glyena, it doesn't. It means he won't attack, but, I don't know if he would if I tried to enter the caravan. I'll send Siskin to find Lizard, then he'll know we're here," he said.
"Will he be a long time? Because I want to do the Gather!"
"I know. If he's not here in a few minutes, we'll go do the Gather. Or, I can come back by myself after we've gone through the aisles. I have some business to do with him, and you might want to consider having him sell your bridle for you."
"And the horse races, I don't want to miss those," she said.
"Me neither. They start this afternoon. We'll watch them," he said.
"I wish…I wish Greta had been honest, I was so excited thinking I was going to be a jockey again. That was so much fun," Glyena said.
"I know. Greta's leaving like that, it surprised me, too. But, maybe she had reasons she didn't want to or couldn't explain. She did pay up, so let's just leave it at that, shall we?"
At that moment, Siskin cheeped and took wing. K'ndar turned to see Lizard approaching, at the same moment as his fire lizards zipped up to meet Siskin. The trader waved in greeting, and whistled. Crunch launched, running past K'ndar and Glyena to greet Lizard, tail wagging so hard it beat his sides.
"Ah, there he is!" K'ndar said.
"Good lad," Lizard said, scrubbing the dog's neck, "now go greet our guests." The dog spun and raced to K'ndar, and sat at parade rest, his eyes dancing.
"NOW we can say hello to the dog, Gly." He knelt down to meet the dog at its level. "Hello, Crunch! This is Glyena, my sister," K'ndar said, thinking it seemed to have doubled in size since the last time he'd seen it.
The dog sniffed Glyena's legs, then suddenly collapsed, tail pounding the grass, as he begged for a belly rub.
Glyena fell on him, laughing, shocking both Lizard and K'ndar. But the dog was wriggling with joy, his jaws wide open in a doggy laugh. His teeth were formidable and close to Glyena's face.
"Sheesh. Look at those teeth," K'ndar thought, but the dog was plainly enjoying being mauled by a child.
"Well!" Lizard said, coming up to K'ndar's side, "So much for the guardian! Look at this lout, he's goofy." The dog's eyes were scrunched shut, his tongue lolling in ecstasy. "His breeders told me he'd be good around kids. He's a good judge of character, he is," he said.
Glyena looked up at him, a huge smile on her face as she vigorously scrubbed the dog's belly. "He is so sweet!" she cried.
"Obviously, little miss, he approves of you," he said, laughing.
______________________________________________________________________
"I'm glad you didn't tell me where you got your, um, cargo, K'ndar," Lizard said, pointing a surreptitious thumb at Glyena. She was chatting with his horses, but was still in earshot. It was never a good idea to discuss business around children.
"Was it…um, contaminated?" K'ndar said, appreciating his circumspection.
"No, no, not at all, in fact I made a decent amount of money on it, and here you are, minus my commission," Lizard said. He handed over 16 marks.
"Whoa," K'ndar said. He'd not expected the opals to bring that much.
"The man who bought it was insistent, he demanded to know where it came from. Was there more, he wants as much as you can provide, but what he left unsaid was that he'd much rather know where he can get more without having to go through me. We've dealt in the past, so he knows I'm being honest when I say I have no idea where it came from, and I don't know if I can get more. Apparently it was top quality," Lizard said, "when he saw it for the first time his eyes about jumped out of his head."
K'ndar stashed the money in the pouch around his neck. His mind raced. He'd planned on giving the opal that Greta had paid for her harness to Terylin. But now?
"I…I can get more, but, I'm hesitant to do so. There's, um, ethical issues."
Lizard scowling, snapped, "They weren't stolen, were they? Because if they were, K'ndar, we do no more business. Ever."
"No, no!! I wouldn't ever do that, Lizard, never! No, it was a fair and square..um, acquisition. I..I found them. I won't say where. I promised to not reveal, um…"
Lizard held up a hand. "I understand. I take it there were others involved. I shan't pry. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. The less I know about this sort of stuff, the safer I am. Just remember, should you ever come into possession of more, I will have no problems at all selling it."
"Selling what?" Glyena came up to them.
Flustered, K'ndar said, "Um, your bridle?"
"Oh, yeah, my bridle! Lizard, sir, I made this bridle and I was going to sell it here at the Gather but K'ndar said you are probably the best person ever ever to do trades and sell things so I would like to ask you if you would sell this for me?" she asked in her normal tsunami of words. She pulled the bridle out of her backpack.
Lizard solemnly took it from her and looked at it. At first it was a cursory one, then he began to appreciate it.
"This is very, very fine work, lassie. YOU made this?" he asked, genuinely impressed.
"Yes, sir," she said, proudly.
"You have a talent, lassie, a real talent. I can easily sell this. But I must ask you, do you understand what a 'contract' is?"
"Um…is it like, a promise?"
He nodded. "In a way, it is. I make my living selling things, trading things, bartering things. A contract is a promise between two people to do those sorts of things. Are you interested in selling it, or bartering for it? Is there something that you want that costs money?"
"Um…I don't know. I used to want a fire lizard and K'ndar told me you sell eggs, but now there's fire lizards at our weyr and if I want one all I hafta do is wait until Zeta lays another clutch and then my friend Lindea might let me have an egg but I don't know if Shirae would let one in the weyr and so right now I don't want one but if I …"
"Glyena! Just answer in less than a thousand words!" K'ndar said, exasperated but laughing, too.
Lizard laughed. "Yes, please, let's keep this simple, so that you can go and do the Gather," he said.
She took a deep breath. "I think right now I just want money," she said.
"Good choice. Now then, part of the contract is that you give me the bridle. I will make money on it in one way or another. When I do, I subtract 10 percent of the money it brings for my commission. That's what I charge to do the selling for you. It's what I charge your brother when he sells things through me, like the horsehair chokers he used to make. Do you understand?"
"I think so."
"Do the math, Glyena," K'ndar said, more to allow her to show off her skills.
"It means that..that you get part of the money before I get the rest."
"Yes. Now, it might take me a while to sell it. I will keep it until it's sold, do you agree to that?"
She turned and looked at K'ndar.
He nodded. "It's how I do business with him, and I and Uncle Sandriss will vouch for him," he assured her.
"Okay," she said, re-assured.
"When it's sold, I take my commission out and send the rest of the money to you. We can send it via fire lizard, mine to Siskin, that's the fastest way. Do you understand?"
"Yes," she said.
"Do you agree with the terms of the contract?"
"Yes," she said.
"Okay. Let's contract then," but without confidence. In all the years of trading, he'd never contracted with a child before. A promise made with an adult was made with a handshake, and at times, written down on a scrap of hide. But with a child? He couldn't remember! He glanced quickly at K'ndar with a big ? in his eyes.
She stuck out her left hand, pinky finger extended, waiting.
K'ndar, behind Glyena, waved his left hand over her head, pinky extended. Ah, Lizard thought, I knew it had something to do with fingers.
He took her hand and felt her small finger wrap around his. Something else. Something other than just this…
K'ndar mimed covering his heart with his right hand. Ah, that was it.
He placed his hand over his heart, and so did Glyena.
"Contract?" she said. He smiled. "Contract."
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