After a long moment of silence, Joshua shook his head."I have a crate of Jerusalem artichokes out in the alleyway if you want to buy some.They're growing like weeds, so I figured it was time to thin them out."
They grow like weeds?Eli listened as Joshua talked about how he'd dug up enough to fill several crates.It wasn't something Eli normally stocked, mostly because it wasn't something Joshua normally sold, but since he was running low on just about everything, he gladly agreed.
They walked over to the bank, Joshua bought some venison when they got back to the shop, and then they stared at each other in silence.
"I'll head back and harvest everything I can.You're fine with me coming in tomorrow?"
Eli nodded.A lump grew in his throat, so he cleared it before he spoke."Yeah, I'll take whatever you have."
"Live birds too?"
Eli gave another nod."Yeah, might keep someone alive a little longer."
Joshua gave him a glum look.Neither of them spoke about what it would mean for the future.Eli considered Joshua a friendly business acquaintance, but it might change if there was more of an economic strain on their relationship.He didn't blame the Fisherman's Lake people for resenting the Last Hope's direction.
"Right."Joshua let out a loud breath."I'll see you tomorrow."
Eli raised his hand in a wave as Joshua exited the shop.
As soon as he was alone, he looked around.How often had there been vampires in there without him knowing?Vampires were those who blended in the best, and he was convinced he'd had vampires browse the shelves without knowing they'd been vampires, but what if they lurked in the shadows all the time?
Was he being watched?On the other hand, why would they watch him?It wasn't as if his life was filled with excitement.
His heart rate was elevated for the first half of the day, then it was as if it didn't have the energy to be afraid anymore and went back to its normal rhythm.
When the door opened and a slim, dark-haired woman who was vaguely familiar walked in, he didn't react much.She wore an ill-fitting dress, but it was nothing unusual.Some people couldn't afford to be picky when it came to what they wore.
Then she spotted the basket in the corner next to the counter and cawed.Eli jumped at the sound and looked between her and the basket.It was the one where Eli had a few second-hand kitchen utensils and other smaller gadgets he'd once bought from the delivery man who came from Grave Ville.He hadn't sold many or he might have looked into getting more, but people mostly came to him for food, and he didn't have space to offer a lot of other products.
"Look how shiny!"
It was a set of measuring cups and spoons in brass.The cup-sized scoop was a little dented, but all of them were shiny.Eli looked at her again.He was pretty sure she was the crow who'd been in with Thano.
"Has the meeting ended?"
She tore her gaze away from the brass, but it looked as if it took effort."Meeting?"
"The board.Thano said you'd all quit."
"Not Conal.He remained to keep an eye on the humans."
Eli nodded."Didn't you want to stay on?"He had no idea what a crow's ambitions were.Were they like humans or were they like crows?And if they were like crows, then what?What did crows want out of life?
She scrunched her nose and went back to studying the light reflecting from the measuring cups."I believed it would be more like in the stories."She turned the tablespoon around and made a series of hoarse clicks no human should ever make.Then she clutched the set in her fist and focused on Eli."Did you find any cupcakes?"
He shook his head."No, sorry.I've been thinking about it, though.To make cupcakes, you need cupcake liners or whatever they're called."
She gave him a puzzled look, so he shaped his hand into a bowl."Something to pour the batter in that you can put in the oven when you bake.In the before-time, they were made of some sort of paper."
"Why don't you have paper anymore?"
Eli stared at her."I...eh...it was decided...by the leaders."Eli didn't know why.In the beginning, they'd claimed a shortage, but it was something they easily could've fixed by now.Or maybe not.Maybe it was the lack of trees.The others owned all the forests.
"But not by breed.We give you settlements, we allow you communication and connecting roads, you have electricity, but you don't make paper.Before you had large buildings that made paper."
How old were crows?Had she lived in the before times or was it something she'd been told?"I'm sure we could have paper if the leaders allowed it.There is paper.The bank and board have papers, so there has to be a paper mill somewhere."
"Humans are stupid."
