The poor youth was clearly taking La Rosa and Joel’s words in earnest, which alarmed him. Vi exclaimed a request for everyone to scatter from her ranch, indicating that she was overwhelmed too. Joel decided it would be best to allow the two some peace. Noticing Vi’s wave goodbye, Joel bowed his head to her with a simple smile as acknowledgement. Now noticing Leon was among them, the priest dipped his head again in recognition of the additional company before turning his attention back to the young man locked in La Rosa’s arms. Finally seizing his opportunity to speak, the youth clumsily excused himself from the situation, focusing his efforts upon La Rosa, and mostly ignoring Joel. 

This was Joel’s opening.

Exercising his sleight of hand, Joel placed a few wrapped articles of food and spices into the young man’s poop covered basket in the hope of giving the young man some untarnished meals. The sound of a small chick nipping at Joel intrusive hand nearly gave him away, but fortunately the effort was executed without notice. To hide his sneaky hands, Joel bowed and gestured toward the farm, granting the youth passage away from the two. “Have a peaceful and productive day friend,” Joel softly mentioned to the young man as farewell.

As the young man wandered toward the farm, Joel looked to La Rosa, and put a finger over his lips gesturing for her silence, for she likely saw Joel’s deposit. The lumberjack was a perceptive one, and Joel was far too familiar to her artful eyes. In a hushed tone, Joel surmised, “I just behaved like a buffoon to our newest resident again haven’t I?” The question was one for Joel to answer himself, and not anyone else, but that may not stop La Rosa from lashing out a witticism. In hope of interrupting her before she does, Joel decided to offer her something else to think of. “You have the aroma of a hard day’s work Rosa, have you created a new marvel that I may admire?”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zeke rushed into the shop, and poor Pearl could only utter a yelp of surprise before he was planted on the ground by the large dog. Knowing G must be nearby, Pearl desperately tried to yell for assistance, but his attempted cries were replaced by laughter as Zeke’s tongue tickled the shopkeeper's face. Only the sound of shattering glass gave Pearl the strength to escape the dog’s strong hold over him. Forgetting his manners for a moment, the shopkeeper scrambled to find what had broken. Fortunately, it appeared to only be a low value item. With G’s order already nearby him, Pearl began to examine the contents of the bag, and as expected, G’s work was of pristine quality. “Oh, don’t worry about this little glass Gordeu. Your masterwork here is more than enough to replace it.” Rising to his feet to meet the blacksmith, Pearl wore a gentle smile, which persisted even after noticing the black ash strewn about his shop.

“Thank you for the fine work as always Gordeu, have a look around if it pleases you.”

Pearl began to assort the blacksmith’s goods in their respective places in the shop, and discarded the broken glass item. He was not going to comment on the soot and ash that now littered the shop, the fact that G acknowledged and attempted to prevent it was sufficient for him, also he did not want to insult the blacksmith in fear of possible repercussions. As Pearl worked, he noticed Zeke still sitting idly near him.

“Would Zeke like a treat? I have some snacks he may enjoy.”