Archive of Our Own ^beta

For one weekend every year, the small, Southern Kerch town of Lij suddenly became bustling with more people that Kaz or Jordie had ever seen assembled in one place. The main square was overtaken by a bustling market that sold everything from livestock to flower bulbs to glinting shovels that had not once been covered with earth. Da bought buckets full of seeds there every year and while he was busy haggling with other farmers, he let his sons wander the market with five kruge to spend on whatever they wanted. The brothers looked forward to this day every year and this year, the youngest could hardly contain his excitement.

As soon as they had docked their small rowboat at the edge of town, Kaz was assaulted by the wafting smells of frying potatoes and sausages from the food vendors who were set up along the main street leading up to the market. He couldn't wait to get his hands on a cone of salted potatoes.

They followed Da obediently, only pausing a few times to ogle the wares on display, until the reached the center of the square. Only then did Da finally pull a crisp kruge bill from his pocket and place it safely into Jordie's open palm. Jordie was poised to run off immediately, but Da grabbed the back of his shirt just as he was about to bolt, nearly clothes-lining him.

“You watch out for your brother, hear me?” He pointed at Jordie slowly, and then at Kaz. “You boys always watch out for each other.”

Kaz nodded. It was an important task to be trusted with.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Jordie said with a roll of his eyes. “Can we go now, please?”

Da nodded. “Meet me back here in one hour. And mind your brother.”

“I will!” He exclaimed and pulled Kaz along with him into the crowd.

Kaz hardly knew where to look. He quickly located the potato seller that he had been smelling in the air and was about to start towards the cart but Jordie dragged Kaz along in the opposite direction. He had spotted a booth displaying a color of sugar beets that neither of them had never seen before, and Kaz, too, was quickly entranced by all of the strange produce and new inventions on display. Near the edge of the square was a loud machine covered in wheels and belching steam out of a blackened pipe. A portly man a few stalls down was demonstrating how to remove the hard stalks from flax by smashing them between a series of levers. Everything was loud and overwhelming. Kaz found himself edging closer and closer to Jordie so he wouldn't get swept away by the noisy, curious crowds.

“Wow, look at them!”

Kaz followed Jordie's pointed finger to a group of smart-looking men exiting the Lij branch of the National Bank of Kerch. They were dressed very strangely. Instead of the sun-bleached shirts and weather-beaten hats Kaz was used to wearing, these men wore dark woolen suits, shiny leather shoes, and stiff, short brimmed hats.

What use were those in keeping the sun out of their eyes? Kaz wondered. And how did they manage to keep the dirt from the fields off their shoes? Maybe the men were new to farming and inexperienced. That must be it.

“I wonder where they're going...” Jordie mused, tracking them with his eyes as they headed down the main street together. The group of men was heading away from the crowds of the market, probably off to take care of important business. He started after them. “We should follow and find out!”

“I don't think we should,” Kaz said in a small voice, though he scurried after Jordie anyway. “It looks like they're leaving the fair. Won't we get in trouble?”

“Go back and hold Da's hand, then. If you can find him.”

Kaz glanced back over his shoulder at the sea of people milling through the main street. He'd never be able to find Da in the crowd by himself. He also remembered Jordie was still holding onto the five kruge that Da had given them to spend on anything they wanted from the market. Selfishly, he thought again of the cone of potatoes. No, he was definitely going to stick to Jordie's side in order to score himself a snack later.

They snuck down the street together, crouching behind flower pots and peeking their heads around corners. Kaz had never been very good at sneaking. Every time he tried to sneak up on the herd of deer that frequented their fields, they'd spot him right away and bolt before he got within twenty feet. Jordie said that he couldn't be any louder if he had cinder blocks tied to his feet.

“I want to talk to one,” Jordie decided, after following the men for over two blocks.

“Why?” Kaz asked. He didn't think the men looked very interesting. He thought they looked a little scary. Like a group of villains out of one of the stories Da would read them by the fire after a long day.

“Just because, Kaz! Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know what else is out there besides farming markets and vegetable stands?”

Kaz frowned. Out there? Out where? What else could there possibly be? He wondered. Lij was the farthest away from his own home that he had ever been. He'd never even thought of what else lay beyond the borders of the small town. Probably more farms and towns, just with different names. His own world, he suddenly realized, watching the tall, confident men in their sharp black suits, was very small.

Jordie took in a deep breath, drew himself up to his full height (which seemed very tall to Kaz), then charged into the street. He didn't stop running until he banged straight into one of the men, who dropped his briefcase at the collision and sent documents flying into the street.

“Oh no!” Jordie exclaimed in feigned alarm. “I didn't even see you there! Let me help you pick those up!”

He bent to the ground and started shuffling the papers into a neat stack. Only then did Kaz have the courage to return to his brother's side.

“Here you go, Mr....?”

“Oh, my name is Van Dorn,” the man said, tucking the papers away neatly in their case and waving away his colleagues who were waiting for him a few paces away.

Kaz furrowed his brows at the strange-sounding name. It sounded very strong. Important. It was not a country name like theirs.

“Sorry for bumping into you, sir.”

“It's no problem, son. Are you heading to the fair?”

“Just coming from it.”

“I see. Are you from one of the farms in the area?”

“Yes, sir. We grow wheat and barley.

“And strawberries,” Kaz whispered from behind his brother. Jordie stepped on his toe.

“And we have cows. We... we supply all the milk to Lij!”

Kaz glanced at him in surprise. That wasn't true. They did have cows, but only two. They produced only enough milk for their small family and their neighbors across the lane. There certainly wasn't enough to send to Lij. Why was Jordie lying?

“All of it?” The man asked with a skeptical chuckle.

“Yessir, all of it!” Jordie boasted with pride. “Ours is the finest in all the south!”

The man laughed. “What a glowing recommendation. You'll become a successful businessman yet! You'll be running the floor of the Exchange in no time.”

“What's that?”

“The Exchange? Why, the most important place in all Ketterdam! It's where all business starts. Fortunes are made at the Exchange every day for those smart enough to open their eyes to opportunity.”

Jordie's eyes widened.

“No matter. There will always be plenty of friends to help you out in Ketterdam. It's a city of good business, as long as you know the right people,” he said with a wink.

Kaz tugged at Jordie's sleeve. “We should go back... Da'll be worried.”

Jordie ignored him, having eyes only for Mr. Van Dorn. “Do you... do you think I could become a businessman? And make a fortune?”

“Certainly, lad! There's always a way for a self-made man to get a start in business. Men at the Exchange are always looking for runners and if you work hard enough, you can climb your way up the ladder.”

“Wow,” Jordie breathed, eyes as round as coins.

“Jordie,” Kaz whispered more insistently, trying to pull his brother away. He didn't understand what kind of ladder Mr. Van Dorn was talking about, but it didn't sound like the kind he was used to climbing in the hay loft. “They're going to run out of potatoes...”

“Oh alright, alright,” Jordie sighed in annoyance. Then he puffed out his chest and addressed his new friend as formally as he could. “It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Van Dorn. Thank you for telling me about Ketterdam. It sounds like an amazing place.” And he stuck his hand out to shake.

Mr. Van Dorn shook his hand firmly, eyes amused. “Likewise. I hope you make it up to to the city one day. I'm sure you're capable of accomplishing great things.”

Jordie was practically glowing from the praise as he and Kaz made their way back into the market. There was a spark in his eyes that Kaz had never seen before, like suddenly they were alight with a flickering flame. He talked of nothing but what he speculated this far-off city of Ketterdam was like for the rest of the afternoon. All Kaz wanted to do was enjoy his potatoes in peace but Jordie insisted on asking every visiting salesman at the market about the city. What was their shop like in Ketterdam? Did they make a fortune there? Did the canals run with gold? Kaz didn't care about gold. He just wanted to find Da again and escape Jordie's incessant chattering.

“You know, you could buy a whole basket worth of those potatoes if we had more money,” Jordie scoffed, kicking a rock moodily across the cobblestones. “Businessmen make tons more money than we ever will.”

“I couldn't eat a whole basket of potatoes,” Kaz remarked, popping another piece into his mouth.

“That's not the point,” Jordie mumbled.

Kaz didn't know what the point was, so he ignored his older brother and continued searching the crowd for their Da. They finally located him haggling over a bag of phosphorus fertilizer. Kaz wrinkled his nose at the bag, knowing he'd be joining his father in the field over the next week to till the powder into the dirt. But Jordie wasn't deterred at the prospect of the backbreaking labor to come. He was still excited about what he had learned earlier in the day and asked Da to tell him everything about the city.

“Can we go one day?” He asked excitedly. “Please?”

“To Ketterdam?” Da asked, eyebrows raised. “Why would you want to go there? And who'd milk the cows while we're away? Or water the crops and tend to the fields?”

The excitement on his face quickly turned to a scowl.

Da sighed and placed a hand atop his oldest boy's head. Jordie leaned out of his grasp with a frown.

“I'll take you one day. Maybe after the harvest. Ketterdam is a grand place, but it can also be very dangerous if you're not careful. People can get swept up in that city by false promises and swindlers.”

Kaz didn't know what any of that meant, but it sounded a little scary.

“What do you think, Kaz?” Da asked, a smile returning to his face and turning his attention to his younger son. “Would you like to go all the way north to Ketterdam and look at the big houses that line the Geldstraat?”

Kaz scrunched up his nose. “No, I like our house best.”

Da laughed and took his hand. “Me too.”

As the family of three made to return to their rowboat, only one of their number looked back at the market, hoping for just one more glimpse of the prosperous-looking men in their impressive black coats. One day, maybe Jordie would meet someone just like them in the big city and take a chance at a new life.

But for now, he turned away from the buildings and canals to face the empty expanse of farmland ahead of him.