Rachet the goblin, a pawn shop owner in the town of Mirstone, looked bored as she dusted the display case. No one had come today and, maybe, no one would come to see her collection of treasures.

Was her mother correct when she told her that she needed to give some money for advertising? But, Rachet’s pawn shop was the only one in Mirstone and the surrounding villages. She had all kinds of treasures.

All the grandpa Thinker’s books, at least, the published ones. Enchantments that, while low level, could be used to teach someone the craft. Porcelain and ceramic vases. Pots and pans that had not even a speck of rust on them. And her paper flowers that she painstakingly painted before bedtime.

She was broken out of her musings when the door to her shop cracked open, as if whoever was coming was uncertain if they should step inside.

“Come on in to Rachet’s treasure horde!” Chimed Rachet. She saw a small girl with a ribbon in her hand. Not much profit out of this one. Probably lost. Thought Rachet, disappointed.

“I’d like to sell this,” the little girl went to the counter and placed the ribbon on top of it. Rachet decided to humor her and examined the fabric. She expected for it to be an inexpensive trinket, but the level of enchantment on the thing made Rachet gape.

“Is this a family heirloom?” Why was this girl attempting to sell her this ribbon? Did she swipe it off her family’s safe? Just as Rachet was about to give the toddler a stern talking to, the little girl smiles at her and showed her a row of pearly whites crowned by two dimples.

“I just made it. I can enchant things. Can you give me 1000 gold coins for it?” Rachet could, but it was not a fair deal for the little girl. If she was telling the truth and this was not a family heirloom, …what did Rachet care whether this girl was lying or not? It would be her hide when her parents found out.

Rachet was a goblin and a merchant. A vulture with pride, as her mother always said. This ribbon could attract more customers. The goblin could make ten times her initial investment from it.

With a smile, Rachet began counting coin bags. When she had 1000 gold coins, stashed in 50 bags, she pushed them towards the girl and pocketed the ribbon.

“Would you like to buy something from here, miss?” Rachet knew it was underhanded to set out to sell the little girl something now that she clearly needed the money for something else, but the merchant in her demanded it.

“No, sorry, I need to save the animals of the shelter,” Theanore stashed away the money in her dimensional bag and hopped right outside. Rachet was left in her cluttered shop.

She took out the ribbon and ran a finger through the fabric. Such a small thing, enchanted with…wait! She hadn’t asked the girl what the enchantments were. She just knew they were 1566 on the scale.

Running out of her shop, she hoped to catch a glimpse of the strawberry-blonde curls of the little girl, but found the same old crowd. She locked her shop and went to Dara, the fabrics merchant that had a stall right outside of Rachet’s shop.

“Dara, dear, did you see where the little girl who left my shop went?” Dara was folding a drape when she saw Rachet. The two didn’t like each other much, but they were civil towards one another.

“She went to the charity board,” Dara pointed at the entrance to the third street and Rachet ran towards there. Her little legs made sure she was winded when she reached the booth. There was a new charity hung up there and the one about the dog, for which Rachet had given money for, was nowhere to be seen.

“Did Pogo find a new owner?” Asked Rachet, hopefully.

“He got put down,” at these words, Rachet send a prayer for the soul of little Pogo. She would have taken him herself, if her shop had been doing better.

“Did a little girl pass by here? Strawberry-blonde curls, green eyes, as tall as I am?” The clerk pointed at the new charity.

“She got that hung and then said something about going to the shelter to get a pony. Good kid, that one,” Rachet began running again, this time towards the shelter.

Just as she neared it, she saw the little girl again, leading a pony with a rope. Rachet yelled and waved her hands, and the child came to her.

“Even if you don’t like the ribbon, I can’t give you back your money. I spend them on the vote,” Theanore’s little nose was scrunched up adorably and Rachet had the urge to poke it.

“No, no, dear. It is wonderful. But, what are the enchantments?”

“Quickness and quick draw, if this is all, I’ll be leaving,” the little girl tugged the pony in the direction of the teleport. When it refused to budge, she took out an apple and allowed it to take a bite.

“Florrie, I need to take you to your new home! Now, no more donkey business!” Florrie the pony snorted and took another bite. Rachet was left to stare at the little girl.

Then, her eyes fell on the shelter. Little Pogo might not have made it, but there were plenty of animals still inside. She may not have the space for a dog, but maybe a cat could be more to her pocket and space.

Getting inside, she was met by a teenager with acne all over his face. Must be a volunteer to be allowed to work here so young, thought Rachet.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“A cat that likes to be put in costumes,” Rachet already had a plan to dress up the cat and have it laze around the store. Who knew, possibly it would even attract customers.