The Kindness Curse

kindness earned their admiration. If she could simply remember to continue such treatment with the entire household staff, she would have them eating out of her hands. A somewhat disgusting thought, if taken literally. In short order, she would have their confidence and they would help her in taking down the judge. Destroy sweet young girls like Fern Twilby, or cheat the miller's son of his inheritance? Not while an intelligent, determined woman was anywhere in the neighborhood.
The first shop she visited was to provide herself with better clothes than the rusty black widow's weeds. While Merrigan would have loved to indulge in the deep jewel tones she saw on one rack of bolts of cloth, the material was too expensive and fragile. She had learned the value of having sturdy clothes while living on the road. Besides, the rich burgundy or the deep emerald green, while perfect for her coloring when she wore her own face, would look utterly ridiculous with her pale, sagging skin and white hair and washed-out eyes. Much as it galled her, Merrigan chose from the clothes the shopkeeper offered. She assumed the unfashionable clothes were discards from people who no longer wanted or needed them. Along with fresh new underpinnings and much better shoes, she chose two complete outfits in dark blue and a rich gray with hints of purple. Both were too large for her, but the shopkeeper gave her a box of pins for free. She used them to adjust the blue dress so she could wear it out of the shop and present a much better image to the other merchants she would have to deal with today. Once she altered her new clothes, she would be quite well-dressed, even if on plain and simple lines. She would prove her talent, even before the judge walked about in his new clothes.
Now, if only she could remember that spell Nanny Tulip had taught her, for making collars that choked their wearers days and moons after she had made them.
THE LIBRARY WAS SO utterly transformed when Merrigan returned to Judge Brimble's house that evening, it astonished her into a good mood. She did love the smell of fresh lemon wax and floor polish and the aroma of cleaned leather. The bindings of all those lovely books shone with quiet splendor as she walked around the library, inspecting the cleaning job the two serving girls had done. The library in her father's palace had been her favorite place, her retreat from an unkind, critical world, and her heart had ached a little when she saw the neglect inflicted on this place. The stable boys moved the tables into position in the center of the room, under the massive oil lamp chandelier, under her direction. Then they brought in the packages from four different shops, full of all the supplies Merrigan needed for her tailoring work.
The fresh, hot meal the girls hurried to bring her, before she could even ask, raised her spirits even more. Merrigan thanked them and, according to her long-term strategy, asked if they wanted to see all the lovely fabrics and thread and buttons and trimmings she had bought. When she offered to teach them fine sewing, to better their stations, the girls clasped hands and muffled little squeals of delight. Merrigan knew she had them in the palm of her hand. With some surprise, she decided they were actually pretty, under their dull clothes and an extra stone or two of weight.
Judge Brimble was entirely too jovially pleased with the choices in cloth and colors and patterns, when he came to inspect her purchases the next morning. Merrigan feared he might embrace her this time. Fortunately, she was already hard at work, using the sharp new scissors bought with his money. He never asked her how much everything cost, though he did care which merchants she patronized and who might have seen her in his carriage. He also complimented her on the improved image she presented in her new clothes. Merrigan almost felt a flicker of sympathy for him, when she thought of the tidy stack of silver coins tucked away at the bottom of her bag of buttons and trimmings. Between a mixture of respect for and fear of Judge Brimble and casually mentioning that she had been a seamstress to royalty, many shopkeepers and merchants offered Merrigan lower prices on her purchases. She knew they depended on her to come back, and likely planned on improving their reputations by boasting that they had sold to her. Whenever Judge Brimble came into Carnpotz, they could point to his clothes and say that the material came from their shops.
Master Twilby expressed his gratitude for Merrigan's intervention with a basket of fruity pastries, fresh from Fern's clever little hands, when he sent over Judge Brimble's measurements. That saved her the somewhat distasteful task of having to get close to the man and touch him. Now all she had to do was make patterns to suit the current fashions.
Judge Brimble was in such a jolly mood that his voice boomed through the house all morning. Merrigan sat in her library, measuring, marking, cutting, smiling, and listening. The pipe for the heating stove in Judge Brimble's office connected with the pipe for the library stove. It perfectly funneled sound up to Merrigan for her to hear every conversation he had there. She had plenty of paper and ink and ten fine quill pens that the serving girls had procured for her. Flora and Fauna. She made sure to remember their names, since it was important to her plan. Whenever something interesting came up in the judge's meetings, Merrigan made notes. She didn't learn any plots that first day, or even hints of plots to cheat other people, but she did learn quite a bit about the town of Smilpotz. The judge considered himself not only admired, but well-liked. He treated all his visitors with a jolliness that had Merrigan gritting her