“Likewise,” she hummed, before pushing open a back door and waving them in, while saying, “Now, Ollie, when I saw it amongst the lot, I just knew it had your name all over it.”
Ollie went in first, and he followed behind. The back room was a large, open space that was similar in coloring to the front, but much more organized, and just…less. The door they had just come through was situated to the right side of the room, but there was a set of double doors at the opposite end, on the wall taken up by counters, a sink, and cabinetry. The other three walls were lined with shelves, all holding boxes.
In the center, with still a good amount of walking space around it, was a large, long rectangular table, and while there were a few boxes on it, most of the space was taken up by short, square white bins filled with items carefully laid out inside, with very little touching or overlapping.
Noble wasn’t sure what item Janine was talking about, but whatever it was must have been spotted by Ollie, as the man let out an excited squeal only a few steps into the room, rushing towards the left side of the large table.
After a long moment of staring down into the bin, his eyes practically glowing, Ollie finally said something. “A 1905 Bernhard Strobel garden gnome. Oh, it’s glorious!” As if hesitant to touch it, his hands hovered near the rather large, old garden gnome.
Its coloring slightly burnished, the gnome was pushing a wheelbarrow, had a pipe in his mouth, and a red cap on his head. He was also wearing a beige shirt, brown pants, and boots.
After a moment, Ollie pulled his hands back and asked, “Do we know if the paint has been sealed? If the authentication certificate isn’t wrong—and based on what I can see, it’s not—the paint is a worry. My eyes are saying clear sealant based on the condition, but?—”
“Always good to be sure,” Janine finished for him. “Yes, there is some sort of encapsulant sealant on it. I’ve already tested a few spots, and they came back negative for lead. But, you know me, I’ll nine times out of ten always suggest freshening it up to be safe.”
“Always a good bet, and a safe one.” Ollie nodded. “I’ll take it!”
“Not even going to ask the price, my dear?” she giggled.
“By my guess, a little over two grand. But you know me, my budget is endless, so…?”
Noble choked on his own saliva at the price.
A couple grand, for a garden gnome!? Why did he have a feeling he didn’t want to know how much Ollie spent on things in a year? He also had a feeling that despite how long he lived, his wealth was probably nothing compared to the witch’s. Though, Noble was only guessing on that. It could just be that he’d spent far too many of his early years broke that still, to this day, it made him hesitant to spend that much on a single item, unless he really had to. Even if he could easily afford it.
“Then pack it up, I will,” Janine chuckled. As she was already wearing gloves, she picked up the gnome. “You two feel free to look around while I get this wrapped, hmm?”
As she disappeared with the gnome through the double doors on the opposite wall from the one they entered, Ollie turned to him with a bright smile. “It’s always fun getting to look atthings before they are set out or privately auctioned off! To note, avoid trying to go through any boxes, as those things are either currently unsorted, or things she has deemed possibly too dangerous to sell.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” he said slowly, with a hesitant laugh.
The man started to hum happily and walk around the table, his eyes glued to the bins.
Noble followed, as he wasn’t sure what else to do, but he barely managed to stop himself from running into the witch when he came to a sudden stop, as he excitedly pointed, and blurted, “Look! Look, stamps!”
Noble eyed the set of four stamps showing four different bears in their natural habitat. “They’re…cute?”
He really needed to try to develop at least half as much excitement as Ollie normally showed towards stamps. Because it was a hobby the man had given to him, and he should at least try, right?
“Aren’t they?!” Ollie giggled, his smile widening on his freckled face. “Let’s get them!”
He grinned back, unable to do anything else in the face of the man’s joy. “Sure?”
Noble wasn’t sure how much money he was about to spend, but…oh well…
“Garden gnomes were thought to be protectors of plant life, but they were also sometimes associated with treasure. Though, specifically at night, with the lore being that they turned to stone under the sun’s light. There’s a joke amongst collectors to always check the next day if they moved or not, and to make sure they haven’t gotten too close to your door. Or in the case of those who keep them inside, like I do, too close to where you sleep.”
That joke was…feeling less like a joke now that Ollie had dealt with a wax zombie coming to life… Yeah, no, he was going to banish the thought of gnomes coming to life from his mind, because, as he had learned on Halloween, it was best to not think about it at all.
“Anyway, garden gnomes—or as the Germans called them, gartenzwerge—originated from Germany in the mid to late 1800s. At the time, the two main production companies were Philipp Griebel and August Heissner. The latter became well-known worldwide, while the first is credited with being the originators of the tall red-hatted imagery we associate with garden gnomes today.
“Of course, as you can imagine, most of the gnome production was wiped out in Germany during the World Wars. Which, let me tell you, has made finding antique German gnomes a pain in the—” Ollie cut off abruptly when he realized he’d been babbling on and on about something most people would likely find boring.
Clutching his large, rather heavy brown-paper-wrapped gnome a little tighter, his gaze flicked to Noble with a wince as he blurted, “Sorry!” even on spotting the smile on the man’s face. Because who knew if it was real or had just frozen on there after the man had zoned out?!
Noble blinked, his smile dropping a bit as he briefly glanced over at him. “For what?”
“Talking? Talking way too much? For going on and on about gnomes?” When his boyfriend started to outright frown, he blurted again, “Sorry!” As frowning couldn’t be a good thing.
