69 - Bad News

Annie had left Aster to make her way to find Poppy. They were next to receive their items. She came over and watched Poppy interact with the details. Maddy noticed her and grabbed her hand. "Annie, does this mean... if we take the money...?" Maddy's lips quivered, about to cry.

Annie squeezed her hand. "We'll talk about it when we get home, alright?" Maddy nodded and quickly wiped her eye. Poppy came over when she finished. Opening the pouch, Poppy counted the coins.

"They only gave us five gold coins! Is this a mistake?" Ollie yelled. "That's not enough to cover father's wages!"

Maddy elbowed Ollie. "Quiet! Someone might report you about what you say!"

Ollie frowned in frustration. "We can't live off this. This isn't enough to even buy meat!"

Poppy and Annie walked behind the twins in silence. Annie knew five gold coins was only enough for a few months. It wasn't enough to start farming. She didn't want to make a habit of stealing either. If caught, there were harsh punishments. She had gotten lucky.

Luck that had given the chance to meet Aster. "Poppy," Annie called out quietly. When Poppy turned with a quizzical look, Annie smiled. "It'll be fine, Poppy. I just made arrangements to start a business in town. We don't need to rely on those coins. In fact, we'll spend it to start our business."

"Our own business? What can we do?" Poppy asked, worriedly. "I don't know what else..."

"It'll be fine. I want to try a shop that sells medicine and herbs. Do you know a lot about growing them?"

Annie shook her head. "I only know about growing crops for food and flowers."

Annie cupped her chin in a thinking pose. She should've had asked Poppy first about the idea. When she saw Aster, she should've asked about places to meet nobles. Her thoughts had had been jumbled when she saw that stranger and she changed it to owning a business then.

With an apothecary, she assumed it would be easy to heal people. Problem was she had never tried to heal someone before. This was all badly planned, she thought. Thinking about what Poppy said, she looked around the stalls. Lots of stalls sold food or material goods.

She didn't see anything for flowers. Would that make a lot selling flowers? Annie massaged her temples. Did they have enough flowers to grow? There was still some snow on the ground. If they weren't able to buy seeds, they won't be able to plant in time.

Poppy touched Annie's shoulder. "Hey, Annie. There are some flowers we can sell. If not, I can work on some embroidery. It won't be too difficult."

Annie smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't think much on what to sell. The person I spoke to said he would have the building ready in a week. We can always think it over and there's no rush. I have enough money leftover."

"Thanks, Annie. You are really a good person. We can go buy the seeds now and plan what to sell in the store," Poppy suggested. Annie nodded and followed them to the stalls.