The Tradesman

“You’re going crazy,” he scorns himself, getting up abruptly and trying to forget about the matter.

But his heart again stirs, forcing him to stop and acknowledge what has been happening. The little plant teases him as he stares at it, forcing him to admit that it can’t be a coincidence since it’s happened three times now. Without inventory or anywhere else to be, he knows that he has time to figure out what is going on, so he gives the innkeeper a little extra money to keep watch over his wagon and animals and swiftly departs.

At the edge of the town, he cuts a deal with a stableman to borrow a horse for a small fee and collateral. He then returns the way he came, which first takes him by the doctor. There, he learns that the flowers stopped growing the day he left. Undeterred, he travels on to the rural estate. The old man delights to see him, but after realizing that Roderick’s visit will be brief, he sadly informs him that the flowering plant started to wither and die a few days before his return. That leaves Roderick only one last place to go. The Eagle’s Walkway.

The journey back to the pass takes over a week, and Roderick spends the whole time trying to make sense of the whole situation and reassure himself that he isn’t losing his mind. Perhaps his mother is trying to remind him of his promise, or so he surmises.

The thought of settling down had trickled into his mind when he stayed at the old man’s estate for the first time, but he tried to ignore it after the deal fell through. The illness that placed him under the doctor’s care went a long way to help him do so, but having seen the old man for a second time, he wonders if his mother is somehow behind all of this.

If there is a way after death to influence the world of the living, Roderick supposes that she would have been the one to find it. She was always very strong-willed and could even be stubborn at times, though he rarely got to see that side of her since she was generally very content and peaceful with how life had gone for her, despite her struggles with his father.

But although these thoughts cross Roderick’s mind, he remains defiant of them. That is until he arrives at the part of the pass where he planted the seed and finds that a familiar, small plant is there to greet him. The flowers of the plant sway and wave slightly in the breezy, fall air as though to sarcastically welcome him. He responds by throwing his hands into the air as he glances up toward the heavens.

“Okay, I get it. You think that I’ll be happy if I finally stop running around, but maybe I won’t be. Maybe I’ll become like Dad and leave like he did because I’ll feel like I could have done so much more with my life. I don’t want to hurt someone the way he hurt you.”

Tears wet Roderick’s eyes as he slumps down next to the plant. His heart then begins to swell within him, but not in a sorrowful

way. No, something inside of it seems to speak peace to his mind. To remind him that he is not his father, even if he did end up choosing to pursue the same craft as him.

That reassurance slowly cleanses Roderick’s mind of any doubts he has about his own character, melting away the icy remorse he had built up from being so heartless for so long. The thought of continuing to lead his life the way he has been becomes altogether bitter, so he resolves to never be that person again, relieved that he still has a way out if he hurries.

In the weeks that follow, Roderick travels to every bank and place that he has his wealth stored in, quickly gathering together so much that he becomes very uncomfortable having it all on him. He takes every precaution he can to avoid attention and the eyes of strangers, realizing that he is always just one stroke of bad luck from losing everything.

Fortunately, he is able to arrive at the old man’s estate safely. Once there, he sprints up the walkway and bangs on the front door. The old man is still there to readily receive him.

“I am grateful you changed your mind,” he tells Roderick moments later over a cup of tea. “I was becoming afraid that I would never be able to sell anything if it wasn’t to you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, when you left, I got the feeling you would be back, and so few a

weeks later when another buyer came along willing to meet my demands, I felt uneasy. He seemed to sense this and offered me a much higher price, so high that I was about to yield. That very same day, you came by to ask about the flowers, and I changed my mind. The man was so offended that he withdrew his offer and left in a rage. He was the only person other than you to make an offer in the past year, and I was afraid that after word spread, he’d be the last.”

Roderick beams at the story, charmed that the old man had for whatever reason taken such a liking to him.

“Whatever the man was going to offer, let me pay that then.”

The old man’s eyes widen as his greyish-white eyebrows rise up closer to his even whiter hair.

“Are you sure about that?” he perplexes, uncertain that his young visitor will be able to match the offer.

As the two discuss figures, they determine that Roderick does indeed have enough to make such a promise. In fact, he has even more than that because he’d sold his entire inventory and also grossly underestimated the value of his savings.

“It’s a good thing that I miscalculated things when we first met,” Roderick remarks to the old man, “otherwise, I might have bought it from you the first time.”

This comment fills the old man’s heart with joy, and he smiles warmly. Because Roderick didn’t say anything more about the flowers, he supposes that Roderick means that he is grateful for how the experience has made them close, even friends, and it has been a long time since the old man has been very close to anyone or had any friends.

Roderick returns the smile, but then realizes that the old man has no way of knowing what exactly he is referring to. He considers telling the whole story to him, but stops himself, feeling that it is perhaps too personal to share with anyone.

A day later, the two prepare to say goodbye. The old man now has a new life to find for himself in the mountains, and Roderick has a trade company that he must now begin to manage and build further. Before Roderick lets the old man go, however, he has prepared a gift he wants to give him.

“What is it?” the old man asks, not wanting to uncover the wrapped box that Roderick has just handed him.

“I think you’ll recognize it when you open it.”

In the previous weeks, the flower from the doctor’s yard had started to wilt despite being nourished. Roderick didn’t want to lose this reminder of his good fortune and went to great effort in preserving it. Removing what remained of the stem, he encased the flower in a clear glass container.

He intended to keep this for himself, but the night before, he realized that he would miss the old man and wanted to provide him with some gesture of friendship, a gift that would mean something. There could be no better gesture than the flower itself. It wouldn’t just be a thank you to the old man, but to whatever other powers might have been behind this all.