Black Market Merchant

Hana was much too anxious. Ever since Lisa had told her about the rough plan to start getting revenge for her parents, she could hardly contain her excitement.

"All I need to do is point them out to Aunt Lisa and then she can take care of them." Hanna thought tensely to herself. "If only I wasn't so little, I would fight them myself! If I were stronger, I wouldn't let them live for another day! But would I be able to do that, to k-kill someone?"

"Hanna. Hanna!"

Hanna shook her head of angry thoughts and looked up to see who was calling her. Clair was standing above her and looking at her with a worried expression. Hanna was laying on the bank of the neighborhood stream in a patch of tall green grass. She wasn't very far away from the children's play area and was just laying out of reach of the big oaks shade.

"I was trying to call you, but you didn't answer. Is everything alright?" Clair asked as Hanna sat up.

"Ya, everything is fine. I was just zoned out thinking." Hanna replied sullenly.

"What were you thinking about?" Clair asked plopping down to sit next to her. The newly grown green grass felt cool to the touch, but eventually it turned nice and warm after sitting on it. The wind was blowing rather hard today and it made the air slightly chillier than normal.

"I was just thinking about Aunt Lisa." Hanna replied. "She finally told me about her plan to get back at those horrible gangsters."

"Oh, really? That's great." Clair said grabbing Hanna's hand to hold it. "Now your parents will be avenged."

"I hope so." Hanna said looking at the water in the stream trickle by. "I know Aunt Lisa is strong, but what if something goes wrong? I mean, there are way more of them than her and they aren't a bunch of random goons either. Those guys seemed like they were the leaders of the whole gang."

Clair bit her bottom lip as she thought for a moment. "Well, I did hear about how she beat that one guy in that arena. From the way Rachel and the boys talked about the fight, I think she is capable. I guess all you can do is trust her."

Hanna sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I guess you’re right. After all I can't beat them myself. I'm too small."

"I think your size is just perfect!" Rachel said grabbing Hanna for a hug. "Besides it's too dangerous for anyone to fight grown men." Then a question came to Clair's train of thought. "So where exactly is Miss Lisa staying at? Didn't Mr. Weathers say that he went to check up on her at her place?"

"You know what, I actually don't know where she is staying at." Hanna said coming to the realization. "I don't even know what she's doing out there. Other than her being so nice, smart and being good at fighting, I really don't know her that well."

"Why don't we go find her?" Clair said standing up and brushed off some grass from her jeans and the back of her oversized grey sweatshirt. "I want to know more about what kind of person she is too."

Hanna shook her head slowly. "I don't think Mr. Weathers will let me go. He's mentioned that it might be dangerous."

"As long as he doesn't find out it will be ok. I want to go on another adventure!" A voice called from behind them. The two girls turned to see Rachel coming from the big oak towards them with a mischievous smile on her face. The wind was tugging playfully at the hem of her tattered knee length yellow dress as she walked towards them.

"I don't know. He might have his reasons for not telling Hanna." Clair replied.

"Awe, adults are always coming up with silly reasons to hide stuff from us. He probably doesn't want her to know that Miss Lisa was around the gangsters. However, we already know that! So, what's the harm in finding out?" Rachel said sitting down to join them and crossing her arms defiantly.

Hanna looked on at the two girls as they proceeded to start an argument about what they should do. She really wanted to know where and what Aunt Lisa was doing, but Clair was probably right too. Mr. Weathers was always looking out for her and it could very well be dangerous. Afterall, their last adventure almost got them caught. However, she did find Lisa leaving the gangs hideout and that likely meant she stayed elsewhere.

Hanna was really starting to take a liking to Aunt Lisa's advice about gathering intelligence. She found herself getting more curious as to how everything around her worked and what really was going on around her. This was feeling like one of those chances.

"Girls, I think we should go find where Aunt Lisa is." Hanna said interrupting the two taller girls’ argument.

"Finally!" Rachel said looking at Clair with a victorious look. She then jumped up and brushed of the back of her yellow dress smirking victoriously.

"Are you really ok with going on another possibly dangerous trip. We nearly got caught last time!" Clair replied with a cross expression.

"Well, we almost did, but this time we are looking for someone friendly. I think we will be fine." Hanna said while standing up to join the other two girls.

"Fine…" Clair sighed.

"So, what's the plan this time?" Rachel said excitedly. Grabbing her brown hair, she started tying it up anticipating Hanna’s plan.

"Well, I'll try asking Mr. Weathers or maybe Mr. Benny for where we need to go." Hanna said putting a finger on her chin to think.

"Ah, just skip asking Mr. Weathers. He's just not going to tell you. Mr. Benny is probably going to tell you anyways if you asked him the right way." Rachel said.

"Right, I'll do that then. Come on, you two want to go right now?" Hanna asked.

"Duh." Rachel replied immediately.

"Of course. I can't let you get into trouble." Clair said giving a shrug.

…

Benny was sitting in his usual spot on his front porch swing chair. If he wasn't doing his job of collecting scrap metal to trade to merchants, this is where he could be found. The sun was soon going to reach its noon time zenith and the stiff wind was rocking his chair for him. All in all, a pleasant late morning.

The soft thumping of footsteps on the grass soon reached his ears. Looking in the sound’s direction, he saw some muddy red hair bouncing alongside the porch and coming his way. Instantly he knew it was Hanna.

"Hanna! I thought you were playing with your friends today. What brings you back so soon?" Benny called out towards her before they had even made eye contact.

Hanna peaked over the high porch flooring to look at him. "Oh, so you are home. I wanted to ask you for a favor." She then came around to the porches steps to join him.

"Really? Well, what can this old man do for you then?" Benny asked giving a faint wrinkled smile.

"Well, is it possible for you to tell me what Aunt Lisa is doing here in town. Other than helping me out." Hanna asked.

Rachel mentioned on the way here that it might be best to not directly ask him. Rather, lead up to that question with other questions. Rachel said she did it all the time to get her parents to give her things. Clair also agreed that it was worth a try.

"Well, that's kind of hard to explain." Benny said scratching his chin. "Have you been taught what electricity is? We haven't had any since a year before you were born."

"I do. It's where the lights can be on without fire, right?" Hanna said giving a nod.

"That's close enough, I guess. I am no teacher, so I can't give you a proper explanation. Lisa is working on trying to turn it back on for the town. Last time I was at where she's working, I saw that she was able to get some of the lights working. It was most exciting!"

Hanna was interested in this bit of information as well. "Wow, really?! I want to see it too! Where is the place Aunt Lisa is at?"

"Ha-ha, calm down little miss. Tell you what, I can take you there today. I was planning on taking a day off, but I could look for new areas to gather scrap along the way." Benny said getting up from the rocking chair and the old wood groaned slightly.

"That's awesome! Can I bring my friends too?" Hanna asked excitedly.

"Sure. More the merrier." Benny replied. "Go get them really quick. I am going to get my gun, never know when I might need it. It’s not exactly the safest part of town."

"Ok." Hanna said turning to leave the stairs and headed around the house where the two girls were waiting out of sight. "He's going to take us!"

"Really?" Clair and Rachel said at the same time.

"Yep!" Hanna replied grinning.

…

The walk towards the dam was a pleasant one. The sky was crystal clear, and the sun kept their skin warm despite the cool breeze. The short stay of spring was well underway, and they were enjoying it to the fullest. All the while the girls chatted amongst themselves as they followed the old former cop. Benny could not help but feel happy. The sight of the young girls laughing on this wonderful day made his old heart smile. He had even taken note of a few spots that looked good to gather scrap metal from.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Benny thought to himself. "That Twisted should have rotted a lot by now. I bet I could get a sketch of its bone structure while I am there." He patted his chest shirt pocket and felt the old notebook inside.

Just then he noticed that they were getting closer to the dam. Its imposing wall reflected the yellow sun light off its old tan concrete to create a charming glow. It was hard to fathom that this mass of rock was a product of human ingenuity, its size was just to impressive.

"Wow, that dam looks even bigger up close!" Rachel called out, breaking Benny out of his thoughts.

"Have you three not been this close before?" Benny asked the three girls. They all shook their heads ‘no’. "Well, we are headed right for the top of it. That is where Miss Lisa is working at. That dam is what makes the electricity from what I understand.” Then he gave a shrug. “As to exactly how, you better talk to Miss Lisa about that."

"Let's hurry then. I want to see what the view is like from that high!" Rachel said speeding up to jog past him.

"We probably can't get on top of it. Slow down!” Clair called out to Rachel, but she too was curious about the view. “You need to stay with Mr. Benny, he knows the right way to get there."

"Clair's right. Wait up for me." Benny replied with a chuckle. "The rest of the way is up hill. You'll tire yourself out if you tried running ahead."

After a while they had gone steadily uphill through the town and were nearly there. From here they were nearly level with the top of the dam. At the moment they were cutting through a road that was flanked on each side by red roofed storage units.

"Hey look!" Hanna said pointing up ahead. There were two ladies facing away from them at the top of the hill. "That looks like Sadie and Aunt Lisa. Let's hurry!"

The three girls quickened their pace as they went towards the ladies. Benny tried to do the same but from the popping noise coming from his knee he knew better than to go to fast.

The three girls reached the top of the steep hill in no time. Clair and Rachel stopped to catch their breath, while Hanna was about to call out to Lisa. That was when she noticed that Aunt Lisa and Sadie were talking to an oddly familiar looking man. Looking just past Aunt Lisa, Sadie and the familiar man, Hanna saw him!

Instantly Hanna froze in place, unable to take another step. She now saw that big man who carried her and her mother around inside the police station. There was no mistaking it, his face had already been burned into her memory. Hanna felt her heart leap into her throat!

Just then Benny caught up with them. "T-there she is." Benny said breathing heavily. Then he noticed Hanna's pail expression. "What's the matter Hanna?"

Hanna could not speak properly. With a tear forming in her eye all she could do was point towards the big guy and hoarsely whisper, "T-that man is one of my p-parents k-killers!"