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. . . Using a tour guide booklet she found at the diner, Cass was able to find her way back to the quaint pawnshop. After taking a closer look at the antiques in the window display, she was hesitant to go inside but decided to trust her instincts. Besides, Peter was never daisies and roses, so she shouldn't expect his clue to be either.
Cass was almost immediately greeted by a young man in his late twenties, he introduced himself to her as 'Gideon'. He had little bit of an accent, which she caught on was not unusual in Storybrooke. And just like almost everyone else in the small town, he had a warm, welcoming smile. A guy like him surely didn't belong in such a store.
Coming up with quickest lie she could think of, she asked him if he had any used camera equipment for sale. Taking a swift look around the shop, Cass figured something so modern would be hard to find.
"Let me see if we have anything in the back," Gideon replied as he gestured toward the storage room.
Cass nodded in gratitude and shifted her attention back to the other trinkets on the many worn shelves. There were plenty of glass viles scattered about, aged clothes hung in one corner, a set of two wooden puppets sat on another shelf. It was a rather peculiar inventory, she wondered how often the store made any business. However, one thing in particular finally caught her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a wooden pipe.
It looked so much like it, but it couldn't be, there was no possible way. Cass carefully picked up the pipe from the shelf and ran her fingertips along the far too familiar dark wood. Then she flipped it over to satisfy her curiosity. Her knees had suddenly gone weak as she put a hand over her mouth to hold in her gasp.
It was hardly noticeable, but there, right on the edge, was the smallest engraving:
❦PP x CA❦
"Beautiful, isn't it." Cass turned to see Gideon setting down a box on the counter.
"Sorry, I was just admiring its craftsmanship," she scrambled to gently place the pipe back on the shelf, "It's quite exquisite. Where did you get it from?"
He leaned over the counter and shook his head, "I'm afraid it was one of my father's great finds before he passed."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Cass sympathized as she shuffled through the box, "I also lost family some time ago." She took out a camera strap and a few lens filters, "How much for these?"
Gideon shook his head, "Consider them yours."
"Really? Are you sure?"
He nodded, "I'm supposed to get a shipment of new inventory some time next week, and I need to make more room in the back."
Cass smiled in gratitude and headed out the shop. As she stepped out the door, she took one last glance back at the pipe.
