“He looks weak.” Alaric bent down and put his hand on the boys chin and acted like he was inspecting him. Alaric locked eyes with the boy trying to get across to him that he wasn't the typical slave buyer. The man cleared his throat, “So? What do you think?” Alaric stood and shook his head. “He doesn't look like he could do much work. I'd prefer to only pay six for him.” The man glared at Alaric, “That's not enough!”
“You said it yourself, didn't you? You didn't know if you'd ever be able to sell him, and that it might be better to just unload him. Six.” The man gave a half growl before shaking his head. “Fine, take him. I'm glad to be rid of him.” Alaric nodded and handed the man six of the silver dollars he had made earlier that day. Alaric helped the boy up and told him to get moving. Earl opened the door and moved aside letting them out.
They walked for a few moments in silence before Alaric spoke. “I have no intention of keeping you as a slave. My brother is missing and the description of you that I heard sounded a lot like him.”
“Then why buy me at all, if I wasn't who you were looking for?”
“Because I couldn't leave you there, and I don't intend on letting my countrymen get sold off either. I'd like you to come with me to the authorities and help put a stop to those people's operation.” The boy grinned, “I can do that.” Alaric smiled, “Good, I need to check back in with my employee, and then we'll go to the authorities.” The two of them headed back to the city center, Alaric had quite a bit to explain to Emilia.
Arriving back at the wagon, they found Emilia sitting on the back, waiting. She cocked an eyebrow at the young boy with Alaric, “Who's this?” Alaric looked at the boy blankly, realizing he had no idea what his name was. Then the boy spoke up, “I'm Brisco, this guy here just bought me.”
“Bought you?!” Emilia looked furious and before Alaric could explain, he was getting slapped in the face. “I didn't know you would be for enslaving someone to work for you, especially someone so young.” Alaric put his hands on Emilia's shoulders, “Let me explain. I heard a couple of men talking about a boy and it sounded like Charlie. They're human traffickers. I took a chance hoping it was Charlie, but it wasn't.” Alaric released Emilia, waiting for her to calm down. She took a deep breath and sighed, “I'm sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you too bad.” Alaric shook his head, “If I ever do turn to slavery as a business opportunity, you're welcome to hit me as hard as you want, but right now we need to go to the authorities.”
“Why's that?”
“They had a lot of people in that warehouse, most of them were from Estad. I want to stop them, and Brisco says he'll testify.” Emilia shook her head, “I knew coming with you would be stressful. But, it's the right thing to do, so I can't fault you. Do you want me to stay here again and watch the wagon?” Alaric nodded, “If that's all right with you. I don't want to lose what little wealth we have.” Emilia hopped back into the wagon, agreeing. Alaric looked down at Brisco, “Ready?” He nodded, “Let's go!” Alaric and Brisco started walking down the street. Alaric had no idea where the sheriff was but knew that there were guards at the gate, so headed in that direction. “By the way, how old are you, Brisco?”
“I'm twelve, and you're old.” Alaric blinked, “I am not!” Brisco giggled and walked in front of Alaric for a while. It did not take long to reach the guard house at the gate. There weren't many people moving around anymore, as it was getting late. One of the guards was standing outside of the guard house smoking, when he saw the two boys coming towards him, he called out, “Do you need help with something?” Alaric took a few steps closer before responding, “Yes, I wasn't sure where to go, but I remembered there were guards here. I want to report a human trafficking ring.” The guard about choked, “Excuse me?” Brisco stepped up, “It's true. This guy got me out and asked me to come with him to help get the people thrown in jail.” The guard stood there looking at them for a moment and called back into the guard house, “Hear that John, these boys here say they found a bunch of slavers in the city.” The guards started laughing, clearly not believing what the boys were saying. Alaric took another step up to the guard, “Look, I just paid six dollars to get this boy out without drawing suspicion. This isn't a game. I want something done about it.” The guard's laugh turned to a glare, “I don't have time for childish nonsense.” Alaric held the guard's gaze for a time before turning away, “Fine, I'll find someone else to help, since you don't want to do what you're paid to do.” The guard waved them off, “Yeah, sure, don't go causing any trouble.”
Alaric stalked off, fuming that the guards wouldn't take it the least bit serious. As they rounded a corner, a man wearing a long coat, came out from under the overhang of a building. “So you discovered what those crooks are doing then. Listen, it's been going on for some time. Some of the guards are paid off by them. Most other people don't want to believe slavery could exist here in the free states.” Alaric and Brisco were a bit startled by the man and took a step backwards, “And who are you?” The man chuckled, “Don't worry, I'm a friend. If you don't want trouble though, I suggest you keep your head down. Not many people will go up against those guys and will even turn you over to them, if you make too much of a fuss, just to keep them off their own backs.” Alaric shook his head in disbelief, but before he could say anything the man was already striding away from them.
Alaric and Brisco returned to the wagon and explained to Emilia what had happened. Emilia was furious, “It's unbelievable that they would just wave it off like it didn't exist.” Alaric shrugged, “Apparently, that's the way it is here. I guess they have a lot of people scared and are a lot more involved with things in the city than just kidnapping.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don't know that we can do anything. We don't exactly have the people or training to just go and stop them.”
“So, we're going to do nothing?”
“For right now, yes. I'll try to work something out, but it will take time.”
Emilia stomped her foot and climbed back into the wagon, not saying a word the rest of the night. Alaric and Brisco climbed into the wagon a few moments later. They gave Emilia her space and tried to get some sleep. Alaric had some difficulty. He wanted to help those people but had no means to do it. Hating not being able to do something, he also knew he would be no good to anyone dead.
The next morning Alaric showed Brisco how to turn the wagon into a small pavilion to sell things under. Alaric and Brisco also talked throughout the day, and Alaric found out that Brisco wanted to create things. He wanted to invent like lots of other people in the city did. Alaric decided that, after they finished for the day, he would try to find Jed and see if he would take Brisco on as an apprentice. Alaric wasn't really sure how the invention business worked, but it was an idea to help Brisco get started on a life of his own. Alaric also learned that Brisco was an orphan, who had lived in Aerahagen his entire life.
More people stopped during the day. All of the candles that Alaric had brought were sold off. Estadian refugees bought quite a few blankets and several pairs of shoes. The woman that worked at the tavern even stopped by to let Alaric know that she hadn't heard anything and to see if he had been serious about being a merchant. She purchased a beaver fur for four dollars. She was honest with Alaric about how much they usually sold for, this far south, Alaric had the furs priced too high. Alaric had never been down here and didn't know what sorts of prices things fetched. He asked the woman about some of his other prices. Many of the things that sold well further north, were not worth so much in Aerahagen. Especially the furs and blankets, since it did not get as cold. By the end of the day Alaric was feeling good about his time in Aerahagen, he had good information and had made some good sales. If he had a few more days like he had today, he would need to look for more goods. Which concerned him, since he had never really been around to see how to make those sorts of deals.
Alaric and Brisco helped pack the wagon back down before leaving to look for Jed. It only took asking a few people to figure out where Jed was. It was a small living space above a general store. Alaric and Brisco climbed the outdoor staircase to the entrance of the living space and knocked. At first there was no response, so Alaric knocked again. After a moment they heard a voice from inside. “Yes,