Of Pets and Peculiars

Elise didn't like slow days at the shop. They were too.. slow for her. On this particular rainy day, business had been even slower than usual. The sky thundered outside as she rested her elbows on the old mahogany desk. Her hands were propping her head up as she drifted off into sleep. The bell atop the door chimed as a tall figure in a fedora and trench coat entered. The figure took off their hat, and long blonde hair fell out. The stranger shook her head to clear off the raindrops, walking towards the desk where Elise sat. The unnamed woman smiled and held the fedora in her hand.

"'Hello! I was wondering if you carried Pegasus feathers? I need them for a spell but 'm afraid 'm all out!" The woman said with the strong accent. And upon closer inspection Elise could see that the lady had dyed the tips of her hair an odd metallic gray color. Elise couldn't help but compare it to her own bland brown hair, chopped hastily into a pixie cut and messy. She could see the woman was clearly one of a higher caliber, as her coat and hat looked new and fairly expensive. She realized she had been staring and had to remind herself of what the woman had been talking about. "Well, I think we've got some in the back, I'll check. Any specific color, Mrs....?"

She nodded slightly, "The name's Mary Ann, though my frien's just call me Mary. And preferably pink." Elise's face tinted a slight red, and she nodded shyly. "Okay, Mrs. Mary Ann, I'll go check in the back for you."

She got up out of her chair, heading to the back room. She quickly spots the needed material, grabbing it and heading back out. In the place of Mary, though, is a small girl, no older than 8, standing in front of her. The little girl had similarly colored blonde hair to Mary, and she had a little pink tutu on over her denim overalls, which had clearly seen better days. She looked up at Elise (though one didn't have to look up much, Elise was rather small) and held out her hand for the Pegasus feathers in Elise's hand. "Mary sent me! Said she had some busy-ness to get to and to give you this." The small girl placed a couple red rupees in front of her. Elise quirked an eyebrow, finding it strange but taking them and putting them in the cash register. There were no spots for them so she just shoved them in with the pennies. 'Well, maybe I can sell them for some extra cash, I can't say no to a little kid.' She thought to herself, it really was quite strange. She handed the small girl the pink ingredient.

"Here you go!" The little girl smiled and thanked her before running off and disappearing.

The rest of the day was filled with as much restlessness as before Mary and the little girl came in, as nobody else seemed that interested in buying magical wares. Just as Elise was closing up shop, though, Mary from before came running in, clearly out of breath. "Did a little version of me come through here? She is in so much trouble when I find her!" Elise nodded her head,

"She came in and told me that you sent her. She handed me two rupees and left after gave her the feathers. Is something wrong?"

Mary pursed her lips, shaking her head slightly. "Nothing's wrong. Say, you don't happen to have those rupees still?" Elise nodded and turned to the cash register, opening it.

"Yeah, I put them right-" There were only pennies where the rupees were. "I could've sworn I put them right here!" She shook her head, turning back to Mary ready to apologize for not taking care of the jewels when she saw that the other woman had a small revolver in her hand. Elise's eyes widened and she scooted back slightly away from Mary. "Holy cow! Why do you have a gun??? I don't have any money to steal!" Mary laughed and her previously alert stance dropped. "It can't hurt ya, silly! It's a pixie gun, and I think I know jus' what happened to those rupees."

Mary grabbed Elise's wrist and tugged her out the door. "Sorry, but now you're stuck with me." She continued to pull Elise along, while the smaller girl was left with her face flushed and stumbling to keep up.