Security was tighter around Claire than usual. More guards had been added to the patrol around the market. Claire noticed, and she appreciated it. The number of people trading was increasing with every trip she made, and her supplies could barely feed everyone. If there were no guards, she had a feeling she would have been surrounded and robbed clean.
As she swapped a bucket of sea cucumbers for a kilo of sugar, Scarface watched Claire from a distance. Hunger was not the only look in his eyes. There was greed and anger.
Claire finished her last trade deal with the locals and stretched her hands. "Sorry everyone, I am out of things to trade," she announced.
The long line of hopeful seafood traders groaned in disappointment.
Scarface grinned, thinking this was the right opportunity. All he had to do was rally the crowd by building on their disappointment. He opened his mouth to start the chaos operation, but hardly had he gotten a word out when royal representatives swooped in.
Vidar had returned. And he brought ten carriages and more guards.
"The prince has bought half of the grain brought by Miss Claire. Anyone who is hungry can go to the reserved porridge shelters. It’s not much, but it will keep you full," a knight announced loudly.
His voice traveled far, carrying over the murmurs of disappointment. Most of the crowd started to disperse, to Scarface’s disappointment.
Vidar escorted Claire back to the boat. The ten carriages followed them and parked in a row along the pier. Guards unloaded the carriages while others finished stacking crates of sea food in the freezer.
Vidar revealed what he had brought with a grand flourish, like a magician pulling away a cloth to reveal a jaw dropping trick.
Claire leaned forward, and her jaw dropped indeed.
Baskets overflowing with eggs. Thousands of duck eggs. Stacked next to them were heavy wooden crates packed with fresh duck meat and piles of fluffy, white feathers.
"You made this order the last time that you were here Miss Claire," Vidar said tentatively.
Claire gasped, her eyes lighting up like Christmas trees. "Vidar... is all of this..."
Vidar threw his head back and laughed heartily. "I warned you! Those useless quack-birds reproduce like wildfire! They are a plague upon our lands!"
"I love this plague," Claire breathed, running her hands over a crate of pristine down feathers. "Someone is going to make the most incredible pillows out of these!"
"Pillows? Duck feathers can make pillows?" Diggy asked.
Claire began explaining then stopped and shook her head dismissively. Today, she was in a bit of a hurry. There was no time for a lesson.
Vidar smirked, clearly enjoying himself. He motioned to a nervous-looking man standing nearby. "Bring the small box forward."
A man shuffled over, holding a reinforced wooden chest strapped with iron bands. He hesitated, looking at Vidar nervously. "Open it," Vidar commanded.
"Wait, what’s in there?" Claire asked, taking a half-step back just in case something leaped out to bite her face off.
Vidar scratched the back of his ear, looking a little embarrassed. "Well... we also happen to have a bit of an insect problem. But since you seem to be in the business of buying edible bizarre, useless things, I thought... maybe you’d want to take a look?"
Claire snorted. "Vidar, where I come from, we are in the business of eating all kinds of wild stuff. We’re a very diverse community. Try me."
Vidar’s eyes sparked with mischievous excitement. He nodded at the man. "Open it!"
The man unlatched the chest and lifted the lid.
Claire leaned over-- and her eyes went as wide as saucers.
Sitting inside the chest were small, ball-sized land snails. But these weren’t gross, slimy garden pests. Their shells were breathtaking spiral masterpieces of swirling metallic gold, deep purple, and emerald green.
The moment Claire looked at them, giant green dollar signs flashed in her eyes. Escargot! she thought frantically. High-end, gourmet, luxury alien escargot! Look at those shells! The fancy French restaurants back home would pay hundreds of dollars for a single one of these!
Most snails back home were farm-raised and bland, but these? These were wild and grown in a fresh environment! The meat was probably insanely rich and tender!
"Do you..." Claire swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice from squeaking. "Do you have more of these?"
Vidar burst out laughing, utterly amused by her reaction. To him, she was doing them a massive favor by literally paying money to carry away their gross pests!
"More?" Vidar chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Miss Claire, if you want these slimy insects, come back tomorrow and I will have mountains of them waiting for you!"
"It’s a deal!" Claire cheered, clapping her hands. She did a quick scan around the docks, her eyes searching the crates. "Vidar, I am late for my return trip. When I return tomorrow, I would like it if you gave me a tour of any available shops in the city that I can rent or buy. Not in gold, but something of equal value."
Vidar’s eyes lit up. "A shop, really!" This meant she was fully committed to doing business in the city. The prince would be thrilled.
Claire nodded. "A big shop, with a large warehouse."
Vidar rushed away, shouting loudly, "I will start working on it right away. I won’t disappoint you."
With that business finished, Claire and Paddy set off for their journey home.
***
Back at Claire’s house, Maddy, Wilder and Donovan were watching a video of the prom Apollo ruined with the ketchup prank when a truck pulled into the driveway.
Rochelle, the driver, forgot to turn off the truck because she was in a hurry. The engine sat outside growling while she burst through the open door
"Wilder!" she yelled. "We are screwed. We are so screwed. Claire is about to be screwed."
In the living room, the three people in the house looked up at the same time. Maddy, who was sprawled dramatically across the sofa eating imported chocolates Frances had shipped from Switzerland was so stunned that she dropped them. She looked as though someone had just informed her that happiness had been outlawed.
Rochelle pointed an accusing finger at the air. "The Calvert property."
Wilder immediately sat up. "What about it?"
Rochelle didn’t pause to catch her breath. She replied very loudly, in a shaky voice. "Some investor from Uppity Briarshore wants it. What happens to Claire’s big business if her land is stolen?"
Maddy stood.
Wilder looked horrified. "Lord love a duck! My granddaughter is truly screwed."
Maddy’s tears made an appearance magically. She clutched her chest. "This is terrible. How could this happen to us?"
Rochelle’s upper lip curled in something that looked like a small sneer. "Hurry, there is no time to waste. Put the damn tears away girl. We have to go and stop the sale in any way we can."
Wilder rose to her feet. "What are we waiting for?"
A minute later, the three women were racing down the road in a truck. Maddy was still crying!
Instead of following them, Donovan rushed to the dock to wait for Claire.