Oregonal Sin

Aiden was still finding mud and debris in corners of his shop. He'd been able to salvage more than a lot of the shopkeepers, purely because a good portion of his goods were made of metal. But there was still a lot to make up for. He was trying to keep his prices low, to give the townspeople a chance to get back on their feet, but he was really just scraping enough to get by.  Same as most.

Still he had a lot to be thankful for. He still had the roof over his head, and a lot of his personal possessions had been in his rooms above the shop. He also had his life, which a lot of poor unfortunates didn't, although he was finding he had an ongoing hacking cough that just wouldn't shift since the flood.

He was outside on a day that looked slightly better than it had mostly been since then. Tacks in his mouth, apron on and hammer in hand, he was busy replacing some timbers and signage on the front shelter of his building that had rotted away with the waters. It felt good to be fixing things again, physical work when the end was in sight did his heart good. 

Someone caught his eye at the edge of his sight, and he instinctively turned to greet them, if only with a smile around the tacks and a nod.

The weather was making it harder to trek into town, but supplies were needed and she'd delayed the trip as long as she could. She'd decided not to try to hitch the wagon and get it through the pass, and once she'd made it into town, had bought space in the stables for her horse.

She was headed for the saloon for news when a gust of wind ripped her hat from her head. "Madre de dios!" she exclaimed as she chased it.

The town was quiet, too quiet, and business was slow. Aiden had been reduced to selling some items door to door. It was far from ideal, but it was proving a useful additional source of income. Laid up with influenza, many homemakers found themselves needing errands run, and essentials collected from town. Aiden didn't mind it, he was getting to meet more townsfolk, drumming up more trade for when things improved. So far his luck had held out for not catching anything, hopefully it was going to miss him out this time around.

A long day behind him, he headed towards the Saloon. He waved as he saw a familiar face approaching.

Note - please please make sure you've read all threads and checked on character locations and what you can find out from the 'crowd' before posting a thread or tag, so we can keep everyone in one place at one time without cloning! Thank you! Ryan and Beth have now gone from the scene but please feel free to keep on playing threads set before then or reactions after.

It had been a bad idea. Beth had known it was a bad idea, felt it, but the preacher had been so insistent and Gemma had just shrugged and said it wasn't her business what the girls did with their time off and Ryan had said he'd go with her, so Beth had gone to the church pot luck. And it had been a bad idea.

( And now )

The air was a little cooler than might have been ideal for an outdoor gathering, but hovering in the low 60s, it wasn't so bad.

There was a tent set up in the yard beside the church, a few tables put together, to make a long row, and chairs. Brother Dan has announced the last couple of weeks in church that there would be a pot luck today, everyone invited. No preaching, just community dinner. Now it was up to everyone else to show up. With food, if they wanted to and could.

It appeared that no one was in the general store but that wasn't true. When the door opened and the bell jangled, Harry popped up from behind the counter, wiped his hands on his apron and smiled broadly.

"Good day!" he exclaimed. "How may I help you?" He apparently didn't know there was a black smudge on his cheek.

Aiden was taking advantage of a fine day. He'd dragged out a small workbench, and several examples of household items and gifts made from highly polished tin were on display around him. Lampshades, tobacco tins and pill boxes were laid across a bench behind him, then  pewter plates, milk pails, coffee pots, cake pans and cookie cutters were laid out on a blanket in front.

He took a small break from hammering, looking up and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He caught someone's eye as he did so. "Good day to you. Can I interest you in anything?"