The Girl Who Was Born to Be Broken; Chapter 7

Once the girl began abstaining from milk and cheese, she was feeling back to her old self in no time, and even had a rush of energy. The mother lamented that all of her hard work to turn the girl into a lady had been lost. The healers must have bled that out of the girl instead of the illness. The mother would have to start over again. But the mother’s lamenting didn’t dampen the girl’s spirits, because not only was she feeling better, but the tinker had announced that the entire family was in need of a diversion, so he was taking them all to the fair with him at the end of the month.

The girl sprang at the chance to help the tinker restock his cart and fix up wares for sale. The girl would always volunteer for anything that would get her out of the house, and out from under the mother’s eye. It also helped that the tinker had no problems listening to the girl’s fanciful stories, and often asked questions or gave her ideas when the story would get stuck or seem like there was no way to resolve the characters’ current predicament. Both the tinker and the girl enjoyed their days together, and before long the tinker had the most organized, and cleanest cart in all the lands, and quite a respectable set of wares to sell – both brand new and patched making them good as new. The girl called the latter group, “Patched as new!” and the tinker promised that he would call them that from thence forward. This made the girl smile, and she gave each of the pieces an extra polish so they gleamed just a touch brighter than the new pieces.

Normally the tinker would leave for the fair the day of, well before the sun had risen. However, with the family in tow, they all left the day before. The tinker and the mother rode in the front of the cart, and the girl and the older daughter rode in the back-work area. All of their supplies were in the smaller laundry cart that the tinker had ingeniously tied to the back of the work cart. The morning was quiet and passers-by were few and far between, so the tinker looked back into the wagon and asked the girl for a story. Before the tinker had even stopped talking, the mother cut him off and chastised him for encouraging the girl and her nonsense, and then emphatically told the girl that there would be none of her story nonsense on this trip.

The tinker tried to argue back that they should be encouraging the girl, but was soundly rebuked by the mother who reminded him that no man would ever want to marry and no family would ever want to employ a girl who prattles on endlessly all the time telling lies. The tinker tried to remind the mother that there was a difference between stories and lies, but the mother refused to hear it, saying that one and the other would soon fuse together until the girl would not be able to tell the difference. Mercifully, the argument was interrupted. A woman from a house near the road recognized the tinker’s wagon and had run out to the road to flag him down.

She needed to buy a pot and a pan for her daughter’s dowry, and since her daughter was to be wed at the fair, she hated the idea of having to unpack and repack the trunk during the festivities. So was there anyway that she could buy from him now. Never one to pass up a sale, the tinker handed the reigns to the mother and hopped down to help her. As this woman was one of his regular customers, he wasn’t going to charge her his inflated fair prices, and thus hoped that she would be satisfied with patched goods. So when they rounded the back of the cart to find the girl proudly displaying two beautiful patched pieces, he said a silent prayer of thanks.

Before he could get a word out, the girl launched into a sales pitch unlike any he had ever heard. He generally let his work speak for him, and in doing so he thought that he did good business. But in no time at all, the girl had sold the woman the two patched pieces, some needles, a hair piece, and a new belt buckle for her husband to wear at the wedding, all for the price of what the two new pieces would have been, plus the rusted and bent pitchfork without a handle that the woman had in her yard. The woman gathered her new items, thanked the girl and the tinker profusely and hurried back home with the air of someone who was getting away with something. When in reality, the tinker had been trying to sell the hair piece and belt buckle unsuccessfully since the last fair, and he would be able to fix and sell the pitchfork head for two to three times what a pot and pan would go for. He would have accepted the pitchfork alone for all of the goods the woman took. He marveled at the girl.

“I do believe you could sell a glass of water to a drowned man.”

The girl beamed, and announced that she would work on polishing the pitchfork while they made their way to the fair. At first the mother bristled at the girl’s suggestion of doing the work, but when the mother realized that the girl would be quiet as she concentrated on the task, she bit her tongue and they all enjoyed a peaceful ride through the countryside.

They arrived in good time, and found an ideal spot to set-up. Feeling emboldened by the earlier sale made the tinker optimistic that this would be the most profitable fair he had ever attended. So he decided that the family could splurge, and he sent the two daughters out to buy meat pies for their supper instead of the food that the mother had packed. The girls hurried off before the mother had a chance to veto the suggestion. Once alone, the tinker took a deep breath to build up his courage and launched into the speech he’d been rehearsing in his head to try to convince the mother to let him have the girl stay with him during the fair to make sales. He argued that women often helped their husbands at the fair, so it wasn’t improper, and if she performed like she had that morning they could make enough money to set some aside for the leaner months.

Much to his surprise, the mother interrupted him mid-speech and agreed with him wholeheartedly. She kissed him on the cheek, and said that she would take the oldest daughter to wander around the fair, and leave him and the girl to sell and trade their wares. It took the tinker a moment to change gears, and enjoy the fact that he and the mother were of the same mind for once. He decided that he could re-settle the goods in the cart after supper, and instead made a small fire and sat companionly with the mother until the daughters returned. They arrived shortly with not only piping hot meat pies, but a flagon of ale as well. Before the tinker or the mother could ask how they were able to afford the ale, the girl handed back all of the money she’d been given and explained that she overheard the food vendor lamenting that his last ladle’s handle had broken off. The girl announced that her father was the tinker and could surely fix the ladle. Elated he brokered a deal with the girl for the fix, and said that he would be by later that evening.

True to his word, the vendor stopped by, and while the tinker fixed the handle, the girl showed him other wares that might interest him. By the time he left, the girl had secured meat pies and ale for the entire family for the duration of the fair. The tinker and the girl spent the rest of the evening preparing, and discussing proper pricing and barters for all of the bigger pieces. The tinker said that he trusted the girl to decide what was fair for the smaller items. This process lasted well into the night, because word had spread through the other vendors present that the tinker had already arrived and several stopped by to inquire about fixes, or buy new items that they needed for the fair. By the time the tinker finally laid down to sleep, he was exhausted, but giddy for the next day. He had already done as much business that evening as he would do in an entire week on the road.

The next day, they arose with the dawn, and after a quick breakfast, set up shop for the day. The tinker soon realized that he could leave the showing and selling of goods to the girl entirely, as she easily handled multiple customers at once, and began working on fixing the pitchfork. He would set it aside to do quick fixes that customers brought, then went back to the pitchfork. People were thrilled that they could get their goods fixed on the spot, and the girl made sure that they had something to look at while they waited. During lulls in the sales, the girl would closely inspect items that had been traded, and she would give a quick polish to those that required no fixing and add them to the for-sale items. In doing so, she was soon selling or bartering items that had been procured only hours before.

By the time they closed up shop, it was well past supper time, and the meat pies that the mother had brought for them had grown cold. Even so, they were devoured and greatly enjoyed. The tinker took stock of the day’s business, and was flabbergasted at the sheer quantity of goods and money that had changed hands, and from his cursory inspection it looked as if the girl hadn’t made a single transaction that wasn’t in their favor. She had even lined up a buyer for the pitchfork as long as the repair could be completed before the end of the fair the next day. Exhausted but elated, the tinker gave each daughter and the mother some spending money, and agreed to accompany the eldest daughter as her chaperone to the dance that night. The girl had no interest in the dance and instead wanted to see what she could buy with her money. The mother said that she was too exhausted to take another step, so the girl proclaimed that she could push the mother around in the smaller cart. It took some cajoling, but the mother finally agreed on the condition that they return back to the cart as soon as the girl had spent her money. The girl quickly agreed, and the two parties headed out in opposite directions.

The girl struggled to push the weight of the cart, but kept quiet as she didn’t want to be forced to turn back. Several passers-by offered to push for her, but the mother waved them away joking that it was a game for the girl, too ashamed to admit that she was too tired to walk. One man almost insisted, thinking the girl too young for such a job, but the girl’s bright smile and eager confirmation of the mother’s story convinced him to continue on his way. Truth be told, the girl was too young for such a job. Despite her precociousness, the girl had only attained eight years. But the girl had heard tell of a vendor selling magic trinkets and the girl was determined to find this vendor and have one for herself.

Suddenly, the mother turned to the girl and told her to stop. Obeying, the girl came around to the side of the cart to see what had stopped their progress. Two entertainers had broken into an impromptu act, and the girl climbed into the cart with the mother to watch. They both laughed and clapped along with the rest of the crowd. When they finished they held out their caps for coins, and the mother gave the girl one, so she ran forward and proffered it to the entertainer. When the entertainer turned to take it, the girl realized that this man had come to the cart earlier in the day to have a metal hoop fixed. The very same hoop that had just been used in his show. Evidently, the man recognized her as well.

“I see you’ve come to give me my coin back!”

The girl giggled and blushed before echoing back what he had said to her that afternoon. “It is for your very good work.”

The man erupted with laughter, and between guffaws explained his merriment to those around him who were startled by his sudden outburst. Though the girl was enjoying the moment, she was intent on getting a trinket, so she made her way back through the crowd to the cart and without any further ado, started pushing once more.

The break had done her good, and the cart didn’t feel as heavy as it had when they stopped for the show. Unfortunately, because of the show, there were twice as many people milling about and no clear path for a cart. The mother pointed out an opening to the left, and the girl headed toward it, but unbeknownst to the girl, who was too short to see the over the cart and the mother’s head, there was a small dip in the path. When the front wheels of the cart went into the dip, their forward momentum came to sudden stop and the entire cart toppled forward, handles flying out of the girl’s hands, and sending the mother sprawling into the dirt.

The mother’s scream of panic as she flew attracted the attention of everyone nearby and they all turned to see what horrible act had occurred. The girl stood motionless, half terrified at what was unfolding in front of her eyes and half confused as to why it was happening. Mercifully the cart tipped to the side, instead of following the mother’s trajectory, so when the mother rolled over to look back at the girl, she had a clear line of sight and her panic turned to embarrassment and rage and tears.

“You stupid girl! This is your fault! I hate you, I hate you! You are so worthless! You stupid girl, I hate you!”

As if the mother’s awful words had broken a spell, people sprang into action. People rushed forward to help the mother, two men set to righting the cart, and the girl turned on her heel and started to run. She didn’t know where she was going and she didn’t care. All she knew is that she had ruined everything and she would never be forgiven for what she had done. She didn’t even understand what it was that she had done, but with the mother’s words echoing in her ears, she knew that it was irredeemable.

The girl didn’t make it far before she ran into a person. Or rather, a person stepped into her way to stop her, then knelt down, and wrapped their arms around her in comfort. In the warmth of those arms the girl began to sob, and clung to the person as they quietly whispered in the girl’s ear that everything would be alright, and that the mother hadn’t meant what she said. Outside of the safety of the arms wrapped around her, those words would do little to contradict the mother’s, but in that moment, in that safety, the girl’s tears began to quell.

Time and space lost all meaning for the girl, she knew only the safety of those arms, until she found herself released, and turned to face what she had wrought. Instead of a calamitous scene, the girl saw the mother seated back in the cart with a mug of ale, laughing congenially with several women. The girl turned back, wanting an explanation from the person who had comforted her, but there was no one there, and the girl realized that she didn’t even know if she should be looking for a man or a woman. Someone old, or someone young. She knew the feel of their arms and their musky sweet scent, and that is all. The girl turned back to see the mother gesturing for her.

“Come along girl. It’s time we made our way back. But no pushing the cart for you!”

The mother laughed at her joke, one that the mother would repeat for years to come, and the women around her tittered uncomfortably and fell away, while a man picked up the handles of the cart and easily started pushing it back the way they’d come. The girl rushed to keep up with the man’s long strides. In no time, they were back at their camp, and the man helped settle the mother by the fire, and stoked it so that it burned cheerily. Before he had finished his work, the girl had climbed into the back of the work cart and sat in the murky darkness under the workbench hugging her legs to her chest. Assured that both the mother and the girl were settled, the man left.

The mother was content to sit by the fire alone, and made no effort to inquire after the girl. Some time passed before the tinker returned with the older daughter from the dance, both in high spirits. The mother matched their jollity and when the conversation turned to the events of her and the girl’s evening, the mother recounted the incident of the cart tipping, as if the whole thing was one big lark. The tinker expressed concern, but the mother waved it away, saying she only had a few bruises and scratches. Nothing to fuss over, it was no big deal. Despite her assurances that all was well, the mood had fallen, so the mother announced that it was time for bed, and the trio set about preparing themselves for slumber. No one thought to check on the girl, who remained curled up under the workbench at the back of the cart for the rest of the night.