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Friday was my day to work in back, while Jacey and Rupert handled shop business With the clearing weather, there should have been a lot of walk-in traffic, but things seemed awfully quiet when I came down the stairs dressed in jeans and layered T-shirts Jacey was sitting at a display, with an addingthe books and Rupert was resetting a cabochon in an old setting Repair work No custouys look relaxed," I said

Neither looked up Rupert said, "Taking it easy after a wildblown up"

Ouch "Sorry about that," I said

"You got a custoh," Jacey said She hit a button and a paper strip unrolled from the machine "I turned on the heat" I didn&039;t like the way she said "customer"

When I stepped into the work space, I found a woman I had passed on the street and at kirk She was midfifties, face wreathed in wrinkles that had been created by laughter Dressed in layers, like me, but in proper skirts and blouse, she had thrown her overcoat to the side and stood with hands clasped behind her back, inspecting globs of glass on Jacey&039;s workbench She wore pink, which ressive I couldn&039;t remember what her name was I cleared uilty? - s? Her first words cleared up that question Hand outstretched, she crossed to e for help before I hope you&039;ll forgive me I don&039;t know the proper protocol" At a loss for words, I accepted her hand She shook o "I&039;m Sarah Schubert My husband and I own Blue Tick Hound Guns We want to purchasee-steel was used in blades and other devices that required a strong temper, yet an elastic flexibility "I can&039;t help you" At her blank look, I added, "There are different kinds of e specialist I work only in stone"

"Oh Well, of course," she said "But you have diplomatic contacts at Enclaves" Frohtly rolled "You can contact a steel s, and he can quote us a price Our go-between Yes?"

I had no idea But I was a licensed neoe, with the visa and the GPS bracelet and whatever authority caes made contracts with the outside world for trade I realized the silence had stretched too long "Um Sure I can make the contacts" I hoped Maybe Unless I screwed up I didn&039;t even know any steel es They were a es The skin along my spine started to itch Seraph stones

"Look, Sarah, I&039;m new to this," I said "Really new You would be ht take longer than so theo to someone else"

"I appreciate your candor But you&039;re here Atlanta is the next closest option" She rattled the papers in her hand "Soht be faster, but you&039;re Mineral City&039;s neoood value for ourtime, but this was the first time anyone had openly accepted me for what I really was I couldn&039;t keep a s in e, as if it wanted to lodge in my chest "These aren&039;t your only copies, are they?"

We agreed that I would handle the trade negotiation via phone, Internet, postal service, and " And that I&039;d take expenses and a percentage for my time Sarah see ottenI just hoped Blue Tick was happy to payonce it was all over When the particulars were settled, we shook on it and Sarah left Out the back door of the shop, which surprisedover the shock of her circuitous egress, a second person knocked on the back door It was thea chare, not having gone to jail for it, and having an elder purchase a charm for his wife seemed to have freed the citizens to use my services But not yet freed them to be up front about it

After the fourth indirect visitor, I was pretty well ticked off I wasn&039;t a whore or a guilty pleasure, so I hung a sign on the back door "Mage appointments and services will be provided on Monday, noon to three Enter at front" After that, I had no ht have no appointments Monday, but at least if I did, I wouldn&039;t feel shameful

Near eleven, I finally pulled my one-piece work uniform on over reen aventurine Overhead, a new CDS disc played, an ancient, Pre-Ap rock-and-roll singer nah voice, but with a pathos I liked The crystal digital storage disc had been released in a batch of Pre-Apocalypticto new, but long-dead, artists every chance we got

For decades rock and roll had been prohibited, though no one knehat the Adainst thestone Jacey had co, and Rupert was currently listening to the Eagles, a band called Traffic, and Casting Crowns

I secured the large hunk of rough into a vise and turned on the wet saw, showering water and wet stone dust all overshapes that I would later carve and link into a necklace of overlapping leaves The diahly triangular shapes frorained, a pleasure to ith

I had learned to inspect the crystallinea skireen-glowing resonance, an echo of power, though I hadn&039;t charged it with anything yet

Maybe I could use a bit of the stone for the kirk elder&039;s wife&039;s sex char carved into an orchid, a bloorinned as I worked, i her expression when she saw it She&039;d never wear it in plain view

As the hours passed, I relaxed into working stone,as I cut and shaped leaves, and then worked so roses, a commissioned piece for an out-of-town custo Rupert and Jacey orking withwarm the room My hands were icy when I finally stopped for lunch There were custourt, while sitting at inally aware that Jacey, and then Rupert, stopped for lunch too, though we didn&039;t speak

Near five thirty the light diht froh stones for a half-dozen necklaces, and several large pieces that would work up into nice focal stones Others would consider ht it onderful

I went to bed early, the previous sleepless night catching up with ht have kept a sleepy person awake, but, like all shtfall Big cities could afford streetlights and e-shields, and the citizens found protection in sheer numbers - places like Atlanta, Mobile, Daytona, and Boca Raton But in the rest of the world, notof Darkness So the toent silent as night fell, and I went to sleep