Robert's head snapped up. He knew that knock. It was his dad.

Unlocking the door, his dad's eyebrow was already raised, before he ever saw anything.

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"h.e.l.lo, father," Robert said, stepping back to let him in.

Several adventurers across the street, were watching him, as he shut and locked the door back. He had told them he would let them know when he was ready to open the store back up.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" his father asked, looking around at the store front that had been completely rearranged.

Trudy and Liam looked up, from where they were busy rearranging the stuff on the newly moved shelves, then went back to work, when they saw that Hector wasn't going to stop them.

"I'm rearranging the store to cut down on thefts. I decided that if I was by the door, I would be able to see everything in the store, and no one could walk out with anything."

"And you think that's wise after this morning?" his father asked, not making any accusations, but making it obvious he knew what had happened.

"I've hired two guards to ensure my safety," Robert informed him.

"And you can afford that? In addition to the four new children you have hauling your goods around town?" He didn't turn around, merely walked over to where the blood marks were still faint on the boards.

They had scrubbed and scrubbed till you could only see them if you looked hard enough.

"I can," Robert said, straightening his back and raising his chin a hair.

"Their clothes were very nice. They should keep them very warm this winter," his father remarked, continuing on to the fireplace, talking about the four kids. He spotted the extra blankets stuffed under the stairs, but didn't say anything.

"Thank you. I had them made just this morning."

"I haven't seen clothing made like that before, care to share where they were made?"

Robert thought about the request. He didn't have any reason to keep it from his dad, but the way his dad was grilling him made him nervous, and he instinctively wanted to keep it from him.

"A local woman made them. She has children the same age, so I merely had to provide the materials for her."

His father nodded. Robert had told him of the woman, as requested, but he also didn't give her ident.i.ty away. He could tell his father was impressed by the grin he fought to keep off his face. The struggle only lasted a few moments before his father broke out into a loud laugh.

"I've been wondering how long it would take you to start taking charge. It took me over a year before I had the guts to step forward and start doing stuff without asking permission. I'm proud of you. If you can make it a year, I'll double the amount of stuff I give you."

Robert nodded, his stress draining away, leaving him feeling weak in the knees. He wasn't about to show it, though.

"These two are going to help me around the shop, and the four kids are going to haul everything every day. I was thinking of getting each of them a hand cart, to be able to move more things, what do you think?"

"That's a pretty hefty money sink so early. And with the weather fixing to turn bad, you might not be able to use them in the streets. Where do you plan to put them when you're not using them, to ensure no one steals them?"

Robert put his hands on his hips and stared at the floor as he thought about that.

"I guess I better focus on building a shed on the backside to lock them into. I don't want to bring them into the store, it would cause a mess, especially if I have customers. You're right, I'll have to wait a bit longer."

His father nodded as he listened to Robert work through the problem.

"I'll stop taking so much of your money, if you're going to handle your own business. I'll let my people know that those kids are yours, so they'll do business with them. I'll start sending you a bill for everything you owe, like rent and the supplies to restock. Don't worry if you can't keep up with everything, I'll still grace you the first year, just like I do all my stores."

Robert grinned when he heard this, it meant his father was going to treat him just like his other store managers.

"Does this mean that I can arrange to add on and build as I want, a.s.suming I check with the proper people first?" asked Robert as his mind ran wild with the things he would like to do.

"Don't go crazy, but yes. I will allow you to do what you want with your money. This entire side of the road, from the western gate corner, all the way to this intersection, is your s.p.a.ce. I paid a pretty coin for it, so you will have a long time of paying it back, if you don't start bringing in some real money."

Robert nodded, too shocked to say anything. The entire block was his? No wonder Lord Richmond hated him!

"That reminds me," said Robert, glancing at the two who were still stocking shelves, and motioned for his father to follow him up the stairs. They had been rebuilt by the builders when they redid the upstairs floor, so his father didn't have anything to worry about, following him upstairs. "I have a few things I need to show you," he said.

Leaning up underneath a table he had placed against the wall, he reached into the hallow in the wall, that his father couldn't see with him in the way, and pulled out the dagger and the pouch of crystals.

"This was in the first cargo containers you had Rupert and Hugh bring me, and this was hidden among my cloaks the other day, when those adventurers were first arrested."

Robert handed them both to his father, leaving the ring in the hollow. He was still waiting for the servant girl to return, if she was able to, for having traded him the ring.

"This dagger belongs to one of Lord Clark's men. It has his family emblem on it. You had mentioned they were talking of reporting back to their master, I have a feeling I know who that was, now. And as for this, I'll turn it in to the proper authorities. It's good that you didn't get caught with it, because this stuff is highly illegal. Your shop would have been closed down and you would have gone to jail, if not hung."

Robert swallowed. He had wondered if it was something like that, but he had never considered the danger he was in. Maybe he didn't want to be a merchant…

"Good job, son. Is there anything else?"

"No, that was all. I should have told you sooner. I had no idea!"

"That's alright. Being a merchant sometimes brings you in contact with things of this nature. If you ever have a funny feeling about something, you can always ask me about it. Eventually you will start to know what's okay, and what's not."

Robert followed his father, as he headed back down the stairs. He would have the kids move the blankets upstairs before he opened the store, as soon as they returned. Trudy and Liam looked to be done arranging things, and he moved over to inspect before walking his dad out.

"Where do you intend to put the soup kitchen?" his dad asked, just outside the door.

"I'm going to build a lean to on the west gate side of the building, so anyone approaching from the city side won't see it. I haven't decided if I want the soup to be cooked inside or out, just yet."

"Inside will help with keeping thieves at bay, and help warm the store, but then you'll have people coming inside, instead of using your lean to. Outside will keep those wanting soup outside, but you'll lose money keeping it hot. Make sure you weigh all of your options before moving forward."

"I will, thanks dad!"

Robert waved at the adventurers, who smiled and headed his way, as his father left.

"Finally open?" one asked hurrying towards him.

"Yep, I finally got everything cleaned up after the incident this morning," Robert said, stepping behind his counter as they followed him into the store.

A whistle sounded out, as they looked around at the new layout.

Robert was enjoying the new layout as well, as he could see everyone much easier from this vantage point. Liam was busy going behind people who messed the things up on the shelves, straightening them and adding more from their storage in the back room, and Trudy was keeping the kids busy unpacking their bags in the back-storage room, and heading back out again for more things.

The only problem was that it was colder being this far away from the fireplace in the back. If he moved the fire to the center of the room, and got a wood burning stove installed, it would better heat the entire store. He just had to wait and see if he could afford it. Maybe by the end of the week?