“Two rooms. Do you have them, how much, and are they in the rear where we can watch the ships?” Camilla said.
“A full copper scat a night for each room, and I don’t care if you double up in one to save money, but I insist on quiet, and yes I have a room in the back. Two, in fact.”
“We won’t be doubling up, but will take two rooms, if you please. We’re not sure how long we’ll be here, but probably at least three days.”
“In advance.” The woman held out her hand.
Camilla looked at Shell as if waiting for him to pay. He didn’t know what a copper scat was, or any other names for the coins he had in his purse beside calling them copper, silver, or gold. He pulled a small silver coin and passed it to her, ready to pull another to join it, if needed.
The woman shook her head and almost took a small step back as if afraid of the coin. “I can’t make change for that!”
Shell cast caution to the wind and opened his hand, displaying five coins and acted as if he was selecting one of them. The woman snatched one of the smaller copper coins and held it up. “This pays for two rooms. Five days. If you leave earlier, I’ll refund you two scats a day. Fair?”
“Fair,” Shell said.
The woman opened the door and escorted them inside. Shell and Camilla exchanged grins. Inside was a seating area, clean and cozy, with a fireplace. Directly ahead of the front door were stairs. Standing aside, the woman pointed to them. “Four doors at the top of the landing. The two in the back are yours. Come and go as you please, but I lock the door after dark, so knock, and I’ll let you in. The outhouse is behind, fresh water in the pitchers for drinking or washing.”
It struck Shell that she hadn’t given her name, had probably repeated the same spiel about the rooms hundreds of times, and didn’t bother listening to her words. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the same exact words probably fell from her lips like magic. He wondered if she ever walked inside and said them by accident.
Camilla thanked her and climbed the narrow staircase. A square landing with a thin carpet over the plank floor gave them a place to stand beside each other and look around. The four doors were closed. Camilla stepped forward and knocked softly on one at the rear. When nobody from inside objected, she opened the door.
Shell followed her inside. A small window provided a limited view of the port, ships, and activity. A raised bed, the first Shell had ever seen, stood against one wall, a set of drawers beside it, and pegs on the wall for hanging coats or whatever.
Camilla said, “Nice. Clean. I like it. Why don’t you check out your room and give me a few minutes to myself, and then we’ll explore?”
The second room was much as the first, but slightly larger, with a bigger bed that had more lace and frills. There were twice the drawers, and while Shell needed only one, or two at the most, he grinned that he had managed to get the better room. It also smelled of flowers, and he suspected at least one woman had rented it before him.
His window was the same small size, lace curtains hung to shield the room against the setting sun, and heavier ones were there for sleeping in the daytime. He threw the window open and let the breeze off the water flow inside carrying more strange scents, odors, and smells, along with the myriad of noises, most of them unfamiliar. The chants of sailors, the curses of landlubbers, and orders shouted by anyone in charge of another jarred him. Horses hooves clomped on pavestones, wagon wheels squeaked, venders shouted about the quality and prices of what they sold.
Another street lay below on the slope, nearer the ships. The seaward side held docks, piers, and sheltered warehouses. Nearly every dock held a ship. Men swarmed, loading or unloading, sometimes both, as if the very life of the ship depended on getting it ready to sail again.
Camilla knocked softly on his door. He let her inside, determined not to mention the differences in the rooms. She glanced around and said, “A chair or two would be nice.”
“Use the bed.”
Shell went to the door, peeked outside to make sure they were alone, closed it. He went to where he’d dropped his backpack and sat on the floor, back to the wall, knees pulled to his chin. “Okay, we’ve arrived. What now?”
She smirked, but kept her voice soft, “Are you asking how you and I are going to defeat the enemy?”
He laughed. She had a way of deflecting his conversations, but this time he wouldn’t have it. “No, but we need a few simple plans from the start. First, we have a lot of money. Remember how the woman downstairs reacted to a small silver coin? From her reaction, I think we have more money than a hundred people hold in their lifetimes, maybe more.”
“So?”
“So, carrying it with us is stupid. A robber will take it from us. Where can we put it, so it is safe?”
Camilla said, “You’re right, of course. We should set up a sacrifice stash.” When Shell didn’t answer, she continued, “We each hide a small amount of money in our room, some coppers and a small silver, more than what a thief thinks we’d have, and we put it where it will be found. A thief will grab it and escape, thinking there is no more to steal.”
“I like that. We hide the rest in a better location.”
“More than one location. Just in case. Always put valuables in more than one place.”
Shell nodded with appreciation at her suggestions. She obviously knew more about being sneaky than he did. “How do we choose locations?”
“You put the bait, the sacrifice, in your top drawer, under your things, as if you were trying to hide it. Wrap it in a shirt or something. The rest of your stash will be better hidden beneath a floorboard, or a hole in the wall or whatever. Most thieves will be looking to get away as soon as they find the smaller stash.”
“That’s clever.”
“We also separate the gold coins and hide them even better, for instance, we toss a few on the ground outside the outhouse and kick dirt over them. Who is going to dig there?”
Shell wrapped his arms around his shins and pulled his knees high enough to rest his chin on them. “What are we going to do then?”
“It’s what we’re not going to do. We won’t mention the name of certain other places, the families we belong to, or anything else to do with our reason for being here. We are just killing time while waiting for Uncle Jack’s ship to arrive from Racine. We will eat at the inns, and listen to what people talk about. We’ll watch the ships unload, and act just like any other brother and sister. Uncle Jack has arranged for the wagon and mules, and we are here to help him drive the seeds home. Simple.”
“What are we trying to find out?”
“Anything that relates to the invasion or how we might sail across the sea. We may have to travel all the way down to Racine, where the others left to board a ship, but the first days are just to gather information.”
Shell closed his eyes and thought for a few seconds. “What you’re really saying is that you have no more of an idea of what to do than me.”
She flashed the brilliant smile that distracted him every time. “Exactly. Why don’t we go find somewhere to eat after we hide your money?”
“Mine?” he asked, confused as to why she called it his.
“Yes, silly. Mine is already split into three parts, and two are well hidden.”
Together, they removed the coins from his backpack and made piles. One, mostly smaller copper and two small silver, were placed in his purse, with the silvers inserted into slits in his waistband. His backpack was emptied, with a single silver and six coppers of different sizes hidden in a wrapped shirt underneath the others, and at the back of his drawer with the other contents of his pack. All his belonging were placed in two drawers, the very first place a thief would search. The coins might fool burglars or thieves into believing they had found all he owned.