The League of Berries and Laurels — Ch. 4 (Pt. 1)
Chapter 4
Jewelers Row
Relates the arrival of a salesman that is not, in itself, out of the ordinary or likely to be significant, and a wager on the young star of the Bulls of Chicago that is both.
Timepieces are widely available, their valuable exteriors only one part of their beauty, the other being the accurate keeping of that sacred quantity, measured out in triplicate by complex workings, or duplicate, as is the case with the clock that denotes the extent of the district. Desirable objects in abundance populate the windows of the street-level stores in staunch buildings, whose doorways are reinforced, as are the windows reinforced, although discreetly. They are kept safe with every invention possible, and every invention, drill, and deceit has been tried since foundation was ever imposed upon the swamp, a feat that the occasional character, evidently with nefarious intent constant on the mind, makes all the more impressive, as the store of value comes into contact with the dinghy city’s dregs and city here. Wristwatches of incredible quality are prominently displayed, those of dubious origin and function move along the street obscured, in the interface of the trench coat whose wearer paces slowly, studying faces at a blink for anyone that might be in the market for a steal. As he approaches the timepiece previously described, this situated atop a fluted post, he slows, sharing a moment of mutual recognition with the trooper on duty, who only harasses him when the purveyors of the shops, having suffered some loss, wish for all the regular characters, vagrant or no, to fear their implication in the heist, party to it or no. They tolerate the counterfeits, which might ostensibly compete with the genuine article, because anyone that would buy from him has not the sense or resources more material to buy from them, and it helps to have characters out on the street in perpetuity, knowing all and known to all and sundry. An equilibrium prevails that no one explicitly architected but to which everyone adheres.
