"Nuh uh," blurted Serpica, "I'm the smartest-"

But the other orphan was already walking away, after having made fun of her trash and called her stupid. Serpica frowned, and muttered, "maybe it's just garbage to you."

But at least Al knew how to handle things. He was pretty much the best negotiator Serpica had ever seen. She would never have thought about demanding to go to the toy store, but it would be nice to have a non-broken toy. Even a really cheap one, as long as it didn't smell like pee or mold or both.

"Well," Serpica replied to Al, looking in Pyria's direction, "what I want most is just an apology. That girl has been awfully mean, and I think it would make everyone feel better. Maybe we could even get along, if she doesn't call me bad names."

But that would have to wait. The girly man tossed a cloth pouch to the ground along with a really pretty bracelet, and the pouch made a jingly noise that made Serpica's eyes go wide. Like a starving hound without an ounce of pride, Serpica jumped off of Al and onto the freezing cobblestone. She immediately grabbed up the coin and the bracelet, her heart pounding wildly, and showed them to Al.

"M-money, Al! W-w-we have money! What should we do with all of this?!" she sputtered excitedly, putting her new bracelet on, "food? Warm beds? Toys? Swords? All of those things? Al, we could buy the whole town with this much probably!"