“You can’t charge more than the reloaded bullets themselves would be worth,” Lewis protested, trying to talk him down.
“I can and I will, if the buyer’s desperate enough,” Ned replied with a grin. He abruptly scowled and turned towards his truck. “Hey! I said five people at a time! Paul!” The bodyguard hurried forward, along with a few of the defenders Trev had assigned to manage the crowd and keep townspeople browsing the goods to the limit the trader had set.
“I can and will break fingers if I see anyone stealing,” Paul rumbled. The Aspen Hill residents who’d tried to crowd the line to start their own shopping hastily retreated, hands up to show they were empty.
Ned turned back to Lewis. “Sorry. Like I was saying, this stuff’s got a serious demand and what you can make with it is worth its weight in gold.”
“Judging by your trade rates gold isn’t doing so well,” Lewis pointed out. “And it takes more than just powder and primer to make bullets.” His dad, who was along for the negotiation as a silent observer, snorted in amused agreement. It turned into a brief but deep cough.
The trader shrugged. “Maybe so. But without them you’ve just got shiny brass trinkets and hunks of jacketed lead.”
“If I can’t get the value of my time and all the other expenses I’ve put into this out of the reloaded bullets, there’s no point in doing it,” Lewis shot back. He had to admit he kind of enjoyed the bartering process. “I appreciate that you mainly came out here for this deal, but if it’s a bad one I have to walk away.”
There it was. Lewis was desperate to buy, but Ned would also be desperate to sell. He’d invested fuel to get here, and while he’d probably get a good return from the town and other buyers this was why he’d come.
“Don’t think I won’t walk away myself,” Ned warned. “Condoms and movies and gold coins would all be nice to have, but this stuff is hard to get your hands on and nobody on the continent is making it anymore. Unless of course Canada or Mexico or the occupying blockheads have a factory going somewhere. And if they do I doubt any of what they make is going to find its way to you.”
That was also a good point. “That might be true,” Lewis admitted. “But even if it’s a bad supply how’s the demand? Are you inundated by buyers trying to get their hands on a product that requires specialized tools and other materials to even get any use out of?”
“Yes. The military. But I thought I’d give the little guy a shot at my wares first.” Ned sighed. “Look, kid. You’re sharp, but neither of us is going to walk away from this deal happy. Just like any good deal. I can walk the price down a little, but I offered a reasonable trade to begin with.”
Lewis kept up the pressure, and the trader stubbornly pushed back, but in the end he was satisfied by how much he got the man to lower the cost. He ran home to gather up the agreed upon trade goods, and couldn’t fully conceal his satisfaction as they made the exchange and he hefted the boxes of materials he’d been trying to get for so long.
Under 60 pounds, he guessed. It felt like it should weigh more, take up more space, considering the massive amount of value he was going to get out of what he held.
He was in business.
“No buyer’s remorse now, hear?” Ned said, clapping his shoulder.
“No, now that the deal’s made I’d say it was pretty fair,” Lewis admitted. “If you have more of this I might be in touch sometime in the future, depending on how my luck goes.”
“I might. And if I’m around this way again I’ll look you up.” The trader grimaced and glanced towards his truck. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get things squared with Mayor Pennypincher over there. The guy haggles like a used car salesman.”
Lewis couldn’t help but grin. “Probably because he was, at one point.”
“That explains it. If you thought you dug in like a badger for the best price…” As Ned walked off Lewis heard him grumbling loudly to himself. “You’d think that junk he laughingly calls firearms were made of solid gold and shot diamonds. And what good am I even going to get out of them when he’s buying up all my ammo?”
Once he was gone Lucas took one of the boxes and did his own hefting as he inspected it. “Congratulations, son.”
“Thanks.” Lewis shifted things around long enough to pull his dad into a one-armed hug. “However you managed to set up this deal, it means a ton.”
His dad paused for a couple deep coughs into his elbow, then handed the box back and examined what remained of their reduced supply of precious metals. “I guess I’ll get in line for browsing. There’s a few other things I saw that I might be able to trade for.”
“Good luck.” Lewis went in search of Trev, eager to get started with the reloading after so long planning and searching for what he needed.
His cousin was shaking hands with Ned’s bodyguard and pocketing something small enough to fit in his closed fist. As Lewis approached Trev turned and grinned. “Is that what I think it is?”
“A whole lot of it,” Lewis agreed, grinning back. “Ready to make some bullets?”
“Sure, I guess.” Trev glanced over at Deb, who was standing with April, Aunt Clair, and a few other women from the shelter group. “Let me go tell my girlfriend that her boyfriend’s no fun and wants to spend the day playing with toxic metals and propellants instead of shopping.”
That was another thing to be pleased about. Whatever issues Trev and the brown-haired woman had been dealing with hadn’t gone away, but things seemed better between them. They were obviously getting more serious and finally willing to formally acknowledge their relationship, if still noticeably shy on intimacy.
He clapped his cousin on the back. “Just tell her you’ll give her some ammo as a gift to make up for it. Bullets are a girl’s best friend.”
For some reason Trev gave a surprised start and absently patted his pocket as if checking for his recent purchase. “I thought diamonds were.”
It didn’t take much for Lewis to put the pieces together there. Probably a good thing he was holding these boxes so he couldn’t put his head in his hands. “You didn’t.”
Trev hunched his shoulders. “I know it’s a grossly unnecessary luxury,” he admitted in a low voice, obviously not wanting Deb to hear. “But it was a decent price and I want to do this right.”
Lewis sighed. “Well it’s your business. I can try to appraise it for you if you want, or we can find someone who can.”
“You think Ned cheated me?”
“No. But it never hurts to be cautious.”
His cousin gave him a doubtful nod, obviously experiencing buyer’s remorse. Lewis felt a bit bad about that. “Just give me a second.”
He watched as Trev went over and quietly spoke to Deb. As his cousin spoke the brown-haired woman nodded and grinned over at Lewis, giving him a congratulatory thumbs up. In just a moment Trev came trotting back over. “Okay, good to go. Unless you want to buy something else?”
Lewis hesitated, then shook his head. “Nah. Nothing there I really need more than what I’d have to trade to get it. Most of what looks interesting Matt’s already snatched up for the town.”
“True. Besides,” Trev said as he hooked an elbow around Lewis’s neck, starting them back towards the Halsson cabin, “once we start making serious money off this we can trade for stuff whenever we want, with something everyone will be willing to trade for.”
“Preaching to the choir.” Lewis led the way to his room, where he’d already set up his reloading station and spent a bit of time making all the preparations he could without these final materials. Now that he had them he was ready to jump in with both feet.