The Bargain

Greetings, reader! After reading the original story of Elves and the Shoemaker, I decided that the shoemaker's wife needed to play a bigger role. And I also wondered how the elves knew to come help them. So we turn to a piece of bread with honey on it and the rest goes from there.

I will also show up if you feed me. Just saying.

Tina watched Jim lay out the last of the material for shoes. He started at it for a moment, then turned and went to bed. Tina took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen. She grabbed a piece of bread and drizzled honey over it. She put that on a plate and headed outside to the scrap of grass they called a side yard. Hopefully no one was around.

She set the plate down on the grass. "I'd like to make a deal," she said, quietly but strongly. She looked away from the plate for a moment and then deliberately looked back.

The small fey man regarded her carefully, as he munched on the last of the bread. "What kind of deal?" he asked.

Tina knew she had to be very specific in how she phrased this. "I would like you to make shoes for humans for us to sell. You'd use the material my husband sets out at night to make as many shoes as as you can for typical human feet."

"What do I get out of it?" he asked, chewing the last of the bread.

Tina looked at his clothes. They looked like they were made of leaves and held together by string. "When you're done, I'll make you a set of clothes."

"I want shoes too."

"My husband will make you a pair of shoes as well," Tina agreed. "Do we have a deal?"

"Do you want me to start tonight?"

"Yes."

The tiny man scratched his stomach. "All right."

"Then our bargain is set," Tina said. She deliberately looked away and when she looked back, he was gone. Tina sighed in relief. She hadn't had to bargain with the fey in years and she had been worried about how that would go.

She walked over and picked up the plate. There was a stone on it. The fey didn't like to be in debt to anyone, so he was giving her a gift in exchange for the bread. Tina slipped the stone in her pocket and hoped it did something good for them. Then she headed inside and went to sleep.

The next morning, Jim woke her up. "You didn't make a pair of shoes last night, did you?"

"No," Tina said, stretching. "Why? What happened?"

"I set out the material for a pair of shoes last night and went to bed. Now there is a pair of shoes on the table. Made out of the same material. But they're finer than anything I've made."

"Put them up online," Tina said, coming more fully awake.

"You mean sell them? But how did they get here?"

Tina briefly considered telling him, but Jim liked to believe in logic and science. And he was upset about their circumstances. The last thing he needed was a fey debt hanging over his head. She'd tell him after a few more nights. "However they got here, someone made them and left them. They must know you're a cobbler and you'd sell them."

"I suppose..." Jim agreed.

Tina got out of bed. "So I'll take some pictures and put them online and hopefully they'll sell." She was finger-combing her hair when she walked into the workshop. She had to stop and look at the shoes in awe. They were beautiful. The fey had brought out the natural beauty of the material and created what looked like a custom shoe. Tina realized she would have to make him clothes that were the best she could do.

"Wow," she said when Jim came in the room.

Jim nodded.

Then Tina got to work. She took pictures and posted them on their website and social media pages. Writing, editing, and hashtagging for all she was worth.

A few hours later, Tina's phone went off. They'd sold the shoes. Even as high as they'd priced them, the shoes had sold. "Jim," Tina said, still looking at her phone.

"Huh?" he asked.

Tina wordlessly showed him the screen. Jim's eyes went round.

"Sold," he breathed. Then he beamed. "I can buy materials for two pairs of shoes today! I looked at how these were made. I think I can come close to them."

"Let me get these shoes ready for shipping and you can take them with you when you go to get material," Tina said. If it took Jim long enough, then he wouldn't make any shoes tonight and they could have two pairs of exquisite shoes to sell tomorrow.

Tina packaged up the shoes and Jim took them when he left the house. While he was gone, Tina pulled out her sewing machine and started working. She wished she knew the tiny fey's measurements. For now, she could guess and just make a trial run of clothes. She'd make another set to give to him later.

When Jim came back, Tina managed to hide what she'd been working on.

"What's the sewing machine for?" he asked.

"I haven't sewed in awhile and I thought I might start with something small to get back into it."

Jim shrugged and nodded. "Look at what I bought. They had a sale."

Jim had bought some beautiful cloth and Tina followed him into the workshop where he paired it just so with a set of soles for high heels.

"Those will be lovely," Tina said. "But let's have supper first."

"I wanted to get started on them, but you do make a good point." Jim allowed himself to be talked into supper and into helping clean up. Then there was a video that Tina had to show him and she managed to make him forget about the shoe material laid out in the other room until it was bedtime.

Jim sighed. "I guess I'll start on them tomorrow."

"I'm sure they'll still be there," Tina replied.

"Unless our late-night visitor comes back," Jim said offhandedly.

"Maybe they will," Tina replied.

The next morning, Tina was not at all surprised to hear there were two pairs of beautiful high heels sitting on Jim's workbench.

She came in to see them. "They're beautiful," she said, running her fingers over them.

"I wish I could let you keep them," Jim said.

Tina turned to him and smiled. "If I kept all of the shoes I thought were beautiful, we'd never sell any. I knew what I was getting into when I married you."

Jim laughed. "I suppose that's true." He looked back at the shoes. "It seems someone around here has a hidden talent."

Tina nodded and smiled, but inside she started to worry. Had he figured it out? She knew she needed to tell him, but she didn't want him to freak out. Tomorrow. She should tell him tomorrow.

This day passed much the same as the one before. They sold both pairs of shoes for far more money than Jim thought was reasonable. Tina managed to stop him from making any more shoes, and they went to bed.

The next morning, Tina woke up at the same time as Jim and they both walked into the workshop together to see if anything has been done with the material for four pairs of shoes that Jim had left out the night before.

Tina knew she shouldn't be surprised, but that fey cobbler truly had a gift. Then again, he was magic.

Jim grinned and turned to Tina. "So, fess up, did you make these?"

Tina was confused. "No. If I could make shoes like this, don't you think I would?"

"Oh. Really?"

"Yes. But I was meaning to talk to you about that..." Tina managed to sit Jim down. "We were really desperate and I know you don't like me messing around with Them, but I didn't know what else to do."

"Slow down. What happened?" Now Jim was the one confused.

Tina sighed. "I made a deal with the Others to make shoes for us to sell in exchange for a set of clothes from me and a pair of shoes from you."

Jim stared at her for a moment. "You made a deal with the fey."

Tina nodded.

Jim took a moment before speaking. "Why would a fey who can make shoes like this want shoes that I made?"

"Because human made shoes are different." The tiny cobbler was standing on the workbench, next to the shoes. His clothes made of leaves looked even stranger in their house than they had on the lawn. His bare toes wiggled on the workbench.

Tina's eyes went wide. This was not something she'd wanted to deal with.

"Different?" Jim managed. Tina had told him never to be rude if he met a fey. She was glad that had stuck.

The cobbler shrugged. "Yup. So, how is my set of clothes coming?"

"I should have them finished by tonight," Tina replied. It was probably time to end their arrangement anyway. Three days was about all she had expected.

The small man nodded. "Then i'll make more shoes for you tonight, but after that, I'm done."

"How do you make such beautiful shoes?" Jim asked.

The tiny cobbler laughed. "Simple, I put my heart and soul into it."

"And magic," Tina couldn't help adding.

"That's just to make it easier. You think I want to move around big galumphing shoes by myself?"

Tina had to admit that he had a point.

"You'll find it in you," the tiny man said to Jim. "You just needed to stop feeling so desperate."

"We appreciate you helping us with this," Tina said. Jim looked like he was in shock.

"Well, that's what the deal was." The man shrugged. "I'll be back tonight to make the last of these shoes." And with that, he disappeared.

Tina turned to Jim. Very gently, she said, "Never refer to them by their name, or they may come visit you."

Jim nodded, silently. After a moment, he managed, "That's not what I was expecting."

Tina couldn't help but laugh. "Me either, honestly. Now, come on. I need to get these shoes sold and finish his set of clothes. And you need to make him shoes."

"How were you going to get me to make his shoes?" Jim asked, still not quite there.

"I was planning on telling you," Tina reminded him. "I just didn't think the cobbler would show up when I did."

Jim nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, I think I have an idea of his shoe size, so I'll get started on those. I hope they'll be good enough."

"They will be," Tina told him. "I know you'll put your heart into it. You can do this."

Jim smiled at her and gave her a hug. "Right."

The two of them got to work. Tina took her own advice and put her heart into sewing the clothes for the tiny cobbler and they were probably the best clothes she'd ever made. "Maybe it's time to get back into this," she thought.

That night, they had a full outfit, including tiny socks, laid out and ready for the tiny cobbler.

"Should we wait up and give them to him?" Jim asked.

Tina thought for a moment. "Probably not. Typically, they don't like to be seen. I'm surprised he let us see him earlier today."

"Tina?"

"Yes?"

"I know you did this to help, and you did help. But please don't do something like this again without letting me know first."

Tina nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry I kept this a secret. I hope we won't need to ask for their help again, but if we do, I'll talk to you first."

They went to bed. In the morning, there were eight beautiful pairs of shoes and their offering was gone. Tina sighed in relief. They were back on their feet and no longer indebted to the fey. Life was looking up.