“Are we going into the village this morning or working on the house some more?” Lily asked.

“Going into the village to let Mohe know the oil and cleaner are ready. After that, I thought we would explore more of the lands you claimed for us and gather more herbs and plants,” I answered as I counted my money. I wanted to take some with us just in case I decided to buy something in the village.

I had 36 12oz bottles of the peppermint oil and the same of the cleaner because I had diluted them. I would sell them to Mohe as promised. The oil and cleaner wouldn’t work quite as good as more concentrated versions would, but the villagers hadn’t done me any favors, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

“Have you decided how much to charge for the oil and cleaner?” Lily asked.

“Three cents for the oil and two for the cleaner,” I answered. “That should be fair.”

“Yeah, that should work,” Lily agreed. “Want to hear something funny?”

“Sure,” I replied smiling as I put most of the coin back into the storage unit. I had kept 100 for any purchases I would make.

“Your ancestors in this land didn’t value coins and a lot of people considered them a nuisance.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh.”

“What did they use if they didn’t use coins?”

“A combination of paper money and coins before using transfers over the network.”

“How would that work?” I asked sitting on my bed.

“Which?”

“Both.”

“The network transfers boiled down to just giving permission for a person or business to take the agreed upon amount out of your ‘purse’ and put it in theirs. It was all done with computers, so people never had to carry physical money with them.”

“And that worked?”

“Yeppers. It worked very well too.”

“What about the paper money and coins?”

“That worked well too for a time,” Lily replied. She landed on the bed and pulled one of the 1 cent value coins out of my coin purse. “This is still the lowest value coin, but it was only 1/100th of the lowest value paper money which was valued at 1 dollar.”

“That’s nuts.”

“It gets better. Just like you have coins worth, 5, 10, 25, and 50, there used to be paper money worth the same in dollars, which is a lot more than your coins.”

“So, a cent is not some great value like we think?”

“Yep. A penny,” Lily agreed pointing at the coin, “is very low value.”

“That means our coins are basically worthless!”

Lily laughed. “Not really. Value is what people decide something is worth. Don’t over think it.”

“Ok. That makes sense,” I agreed. “Why is a cent called a penny though?”

“Your ancestors were once part of another kingdom that had a coin called a penny and it was the smallest part of another coin called a pound.”

“So, they named it to honor the other kingdom’s coin?”

“Pretty much and it was something the people of that time were used to.”

“Wait. I thought you said they used paper money too.”

“Well, to go all the way back. Your ancient ancestors used trading, then coins, then paper money and coins, and finally the network transfers as time passed.”

“Alright. That sort of makes sense to me. Do the other coins have names too?”

“Yeah. The five-cent coin is called a nickel because the first of those coins were made using nickel metal. The ten-cent coin is called a dime after the word Decimus, which is a word that comes from a much older language meaning one tenth.”

“The 25-cent coin?”

“A quarter.”

“Because it is a fourth of something?” I guessed.

“Exactly! It was worth a fourth of a dollar.”

“And the 50-cent coin?”

“Half dollar.”

“That one is disappointing.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“What’s a dollar and where does that word come from?” I asked. I was fascinated by this historical knowledge.

“Dollar is the English form of thaler, which means person or thing from the valley in another language. It was a name given to coins first minted in a land far away.”

“That’s neat. What is English?”

Lily smacked her forehead and sighed dramatically. “English is the language you speak.”

“We speak Common.”

“Oh, how your people…”

“Fallen,” I said interrupting my familiar. I grinned at her. She grinned and stuck her tongue out at me.

“I suppose Common is a good enough name for English since it was the most widely used language once upon a time.”

“Is all this information on the network?”

“It is.”

“We really need to get this place finished and the computer set up. I want to read all this historical data.”

“You are not going to spend hours reading and ignoring me and your work!” Lily replied placing her hands on her hips and glaring at me.

“I won’t!” I promised. I decided to change the subject. “Are you going to wear your pajamas to the village or change?”

“Eek! I need to change,” Lily replied flying to the closest. I laughed. Lily was a mess. But I loved her and wouldn’t change a thing about her.

*

“Hey Mohe. Hi Kitty,” I greeted the chieftain and his familiar. He was sitting outside his house mending a net. The bobcat merely looked up from where she was laying and then put her head back down and closed her eyes.

“Hey Jase. What do you have there?”

“Ama’s familiar is in that tree,” Lily pointed to a tree beside Mohe’s house. I nodded my understanding.

“A case of oil and cleaner. Six 12oz bottles of each,” I answered setting down the box they were in on the ground beside him.

“Hey Lily,” Mohe greeted my familiar as she landed on my shoulder.

“Hi Mohe and Kitty!” Lily cheerfully returned the greeting. She had changed into her “hiking outfit” since I wanted to gather more herbs and plants after we left the village.

“How much are you charging for them?” Mohe asked as he set down the net and opened the box.

“Three cents for the oil and two for the cleaner. They’ll work as promised too.”

“That’s not a bad price. The caravans charge at least twice that for the oils and cleaners they sell,” Mohe replied.

“I know, but I did tell you I would price them fairly. I might have to up the price in the future though depending on demand.”

“Unless the village wants to keep supplying bottles and jars,” Lily added. I sent loving thoughts and praise across our bond. I hadn’t thought of that angle.

“Eh, probably not. So, a price increase might not go over well, but will be understandable,” Mohe said. He stood and opened his door. “Ama, come here please. I have something to show you.”

“Oh boy,” Lily muttered.

“You can say that again,” I replied.

“Oh boy,” Lily cheekily said.

“Ha, Ha. Smart aleck,” I replied turning my head to look at her. Lily smiled and kissed my cheek. Mohe picked up the box and set it in the chair he had been sitting in.

“Hopefully Ama will be happy to try these and overlook your familiar,” Mohe told me.

“Guess we’ll find out,” I replied. Ama walked out smiling. The smile turned into a frown at seeing Lily and myself.

“I see we have unwanted guests. I’ll just go back to doing what I was,” she said.

“Wait dear. Jase has brought some peppermint oil and a peppermint and lemon cleaner,” Mohe said.

“Lemon balm,” I corrected. Mohe nodded his head.

“What does this have to do with me?” Ama asked.

“I thought you would want some of the oil to treat skin conditions,” Mohe answered.

“You can also use it to cook with,” Lily said.

“I know that!” Ama snapped. She turned to me.

“What is so special about your cleaner? We already have some that works.”

“It’ll help keep pesky insects away,” I answered with a shrug. “How special that is, is up to you.”

“I think that’s pretty special,” Mohe said.

“Indeed, it is,” Ama agreed. She then glared at Lily. “Too bad it won’t keep all pests away.”

I sent reassuring and loving thoughts to Lily. She grinned and waved at Ama. The woman frowned in return.

“What do you think Ama?” Mohe asked.

“It’s worth trying,” she begrudgingly replied. “That is depending on price.”

“Three cents for the oil and two for the cleaner,” Mohe replied repeating what I had told him.

Ama laughed. “That’s so cheap neither probably will work.”

“We’re not giving a sample away,” Lily said not able to hold her tongue any longer. “If the village hadn’t supplied the bottles and jars Jase used, he would be charging more.”

“Mohe, is that so?”

“That’s what Jase hinted to me,” the chieftain answered with a shrug. One of their neighbors had stopped what she was doing and started watching us. I guessed entertainment was where you could find it.

“I’ll try the oil and cleaner,” one of the women said. “Carol said the oil she got from him worked wonders for her…ah, issue.”

She walked over and handed me a nickel. I handed her a jar of each. “You can tell them apart by the smell. The cleaner has a lemony smell.”

“You need to find a better way to tell them apart,” she told me.

“I’ll remember that and see what I can do,” I promised.

“How much more do you have?” she asked.

“30 more bottles of each,” I answered. She nodded, took her bottles, and walked back to her home.

“We’ll buy the rest,” Mohe said handing me two dimes. Ama picked up the box and went back into their home without saying a word.

“Thanks. If anyone needs anything else, we’ll be in the woods gathering plants and herbs this afternoon,” I informed Mohe before turning and walking off.