“So, what are we going to do about all this?” Lily asked after telling me what the village elders had discussed.

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?” my familiar inquired.

“Just that. As long as the villagers are willing to live and let live, I’m willing to do the same,” I answered as I watered the Thyme seeds I had planted for the fall and winter garden.

The garden was small, but I was pleased with what I had planted so far. Thyme, chives, rosemary, oregano, lemon balm, and sorrel made up half the garden. That would be quite the harvest if things go my way.

“We need some veggies too,” Lily said as I gazed on the garden. She was turning loops in the air.

“I don’t have any seeds or plants.”

“We could go see if Simon has any,” Lily suggested. “We could also check with Henry.”

“You’re willing to let the villagers be?” I asked. I was sure Lily would be, but it never hurt to make sure.

“Yeppers. As you said, live and let live,” the pixie replied. “Besides, I don’t think the whole village could kill Sara if they wanted to.”

“Uh…yeah.”

“So, what are you thinking for vegetables?” Lily asked.

“How about some beats, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage?” I asked. Lily had started making gagging noises as I listed the veggies. I laughed. “Come on!”

“How about carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, radishes, and lettuce?” Lily asked. “They all taste better than what you suggested and should live in the cold as long as it doesn’t snow too much.”

“Looked up cold weather vegetables, huh?”

“Yep,” Lily answered. “Are we going to the store?”

“Yeah. Let me clean up a little and get something to trade with him,” I replied looking at my dirty hands. I then lunged for my familiar. “In fact, come here! Your dress will make a great rag.”

The dress was yellow, had thin straps across her shoulders, and flowed to Lily’s ankles. It was something the women in Beau Ferry had often worn during the warmer months. Lily said it was called a sundress.

“No! Not my dress!” Lily giggled flying away from me.

*

We arrived at the gate a while later and found a guy waiting.

“Can I help you?” I asked him.

“Are you Jase Fisher?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m Terrance and work for Marcus Ball. We have your order ready, but Marcus didn’t want to risk angering the cougar, so he held off on just delivering your stuff,” the man said.

“You got the short straw and had to come wait at the gate?” I asked.

“Yeah. Wasn’t that bad though. It’s cool in the shade and a pretty day,” Terrance replied. He gestured above us. “Plus, the pixies are amusing to watch.”

“Yeah, they can be,” I agreed.

“I’ll make sure Sara knows not to bother anyone that is hauling stuff to the house,” Lily said before flying away.

“You didn’t react to hearing Lily talk.”

“I’ve seen pixies speak in Asheville before,” Terrance replied. “They don’t talk out loud often though.”

“I’m back!” Lily announced before landing on my shoulder. She smoothed her skirt and sat down. Terrance laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Lily asked him.

“I just find pixies amusing,” he replied. Lily smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Oh yeah. Marcus wants to know if you have his oil order ready.”

“I do. I also have 20 pounds of tea ready as well as a surprise,” I said patting my satchel.

“Well, it looks like you’re heading into the village, so I’ll just walk back with you,” Terrance said.

“Works for us,” I replied exiting the gate. I left it open.

*

“Hey Simon,” I greeted the merchant when we entered the store.

“Hi Jase,” the merchant greeted me. Lily flew from my should to greet Simon’s familiar.

“Marcus?” I said spotting the traveling merchant. He was sitting with Simon. “Terrance just went looking for you.”

“Jase, it’s good to see you. Do you have my order ready?”

“Do you have mine?” I asked.

“Yup. The others will point Terrance in the right direction soon enough,” the traveling merchant replied.

“What do you need Jase?” Simon asked after a few moments of small talk.

“Vegetable seeds if you have them,” I answered.

“It’s the wrong time of year to plant most vegetables,” Simon replied.

“Not for winter crops,” Lily said. She floated a rolled-up piece of paper to the older man. “We want what is on this list.”

“Hmmm,” Simon said after reading the list. “I have the carrot, cauliflower, and collard seeds. I’ll sell you a small packet of each for four cents total.”

He handed the list to Marcus. The other merchant read it.

“I don’t have any seeds. Most folks I know get local seeds or just buy from their farmers,” Marcus said. “It’s just not usually worth my time to carry seeds around except for the spring planting season.”

“I’ll check with Henry then,” I replied.

“He should have most of what you want,” Simon agreed as he gathered the three seed packets for me. He set them on the counter.

“Jase don’t forget the surprise,” Lily said from where she was playing with Simon’s familiar.

“Surprise?” Simon inquired.

“Ever heard of mead?” I asked.

Marcus and Simon laughed.

“Of course,” Simon answered after getting his laughter under control. “The brewers make some whenever they can get enough honey.”

“Mulled mead makes for a fine drink on those cold winter days too,” Marcus said. “Wait. Are you saying you’ve made mead?”

“Two small batches,” I replied pulling out two flasks from my satchel. I set the flasks on the counter. They were labeled. I tapped the one on the left. “This one was made with regular honey from honeybees. The other was made with honey from the mutated bumble bees the pixies had found.”

Simon reached under the counter and pulled out two cups. He lifted an eyebrow in question at his fellow merchant. Marcus nodded in agreement. “May we try them?”

“Sure. That’s why I brought the flasks.”

He poured a little of the regular mead into both cups and handed the second one to Marcus. They sniffed and then sipped the mead.

“Not bad,” Marcus said.

“No, not bad at all,” Simon agreed.

“Jase don’t forget the candles,” Lily reminded me.

“Thanks Lily,” I replied pulling two candles out of the satchel.

“I take it the candles are made out of regular and mutated beeswax,” Marcus said.

I nodded yes as Simon wiped out the cups and poured in some of the mead made from the mutated bumble bees’ honey. They repeated their sampling process.

“That is much better,” Simon said. “What did you do different?”

“Nothing,” I replied.

“Seriously?” Marcus asked.

“Seriously,” Lily answered flying back up and sitting on my right shoulder. “The wider candle is made from beeswax taken from the mutated bumble beehive and burns at least twice as long as the normal candle does.”

“I think that’s due to the mutation in the bees,” I added. Lily nodded her agreement.

“And Trinity and those other young fools destroyed the hive to harvest all the honeycombs at once,” Simon said.

“What?” Marcus asked. Simon and I filled the traveling merchant in on what had happened. “Short sighted fools indeed. If they had left the hive alone, it could have been harvested several times a year and greatly increased the income from it.”

“How much of the mead do you have?” Simon asked. “And the candles too.”

“Ten gallons of each type of mead and 20 mutated beeswax candles. I had brought the regular one just incase you wanted to compare the two,” I answered.

“I’ll give you two cents for each candle” Marcus said.

“I’ll give you three,” Simon countered.

“That makes me think you’ll both sell them for at least twice that,” I said. Both just grinned in answer.

“How much do you want for all of the mead?” Simon asked.

“I’ll match Simon’s offer for the candles and mead,” Marcus said earning a glare from the older merchant.

“Perhaps Jase should just sell the mead to the tavern directly,” Lily said.

“No!” Marcus nearly shouted.

“No. Don’t do that,” Simon said.

Lily sent me some information over our bond after communicating with a few other pixies and accessing the network. Mead sold for fifteen cents per 750ML bottle at the tavern. A gallon was roughly 3800ML.

“The tavern sells mead for fifteen cents per bottle,” I said. “That means you guys probably charge around ten cents per bottle to the tavern.”

“Something like that,” Simon admitted. Marcus just shook his head in disbelief.

“I’ll sell you the regular mead for five cents per bottle if you’ll provide the bottles. I want twice that for the mead made from the mutated honey since we won’t be able to make anymore until another mutated hive is found,” I said after quickly discussing things with Lily. “I’ll also take three cents per candle that you guys offered.”

“Do we have a deal?” Lily asked sweetly.

“Yes,” Marcus and Simon quickly agreed.

“We should also go get the oil you owe me,” Marcus said.

“If you’ll meet us at the gate to our property with the equipment, I’ll be there just as soon as I talk to Henry Farmer about seeds.”

“Alright,” Marcus agreed standing up. “I’ll go get my lads started.”

“I’ll have one of my lads there as well,” Simon said. “I’ll pay you now too less than the four cents for the seed packets.”

“Fair enough,” I replied.