Fifty years seemed like yesterday for Velma and Grace. Uncle Westy had left the "Gift and Thrift" to them with a one-liner in his Will. The shop had a backlog of valentine cards with lace around the edges, old fountain pens, and used postcards from a trade he did with a midget from a traveling circus. An outside bin provided a way for locals to dump their used clothing.
Now in their late eighties, although Velma liked to say, "a couple years ahead of 90," the spinsters sold greeting cards with yellow stains, craft items in wicker baskets, and materials for scrapbooking. Town residents still dumped items in the outside bin. One or two dead canaries and rodents also appeared monthly. When Eve Harris lost her ailing Papillon, he eventually turned up in the bin.
Grace took charge of shaking the items free of debris. She attached price tags and never felt a need to revitalize them by laundering. They did seem to pass themselves along and some returned for a second or third round.
Rumors circulated about seances where people disappeared. They gossiped about a pirate's treasure hidden somewhere in the store. Everyone seemed to think something dark went on after sundown.
On Sunday evenings, the ladies hosted a poker night in the back room. That's where the real financial aid for their golden years arrived. They denied the seances although Velma would read palms from time to time.
Many had offered to purchase the store but the sisters had no interest in selling. Out of town realtors tried all the tricks they could think of.
Nothing got to the women until one night . . .
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