Messenger

Just after supper, Matty joins the crowd hurrying toward Trade Mart. Matty greets his neighbors and they greet him in return, but the atmosphere is intent and serious. Matty thinks it doesn't feel right, especially when he realizes that people are whispering nervously. He joins a group standing near a platform and stands next to Mentor, hoping that Jean will come. Mentor greets Matty affectionately and when Matty says he has nothing to trade, Mentor says that everyone has something to trade. Matty notices that Mentor has lost weight. He tries to shift the conversation to Jean and mentions the puppy, and Mentor laughs and says that Matty needs to take the puppy soon, as he's getting destructive.

For a moment, things seem normal and cheerful. Then, Matty wonders why people are here, as nobody seems to have anything to trade. He notices that some couples appear to be arguing. Then the tall man named Trademaster walks to the stage. Matty knows that he came, already named, from somewhere else and brought trading to Village. He stops at houses after Trade Mart to check on trades. Tonight, he carries a thick book. Everyone stands at attention as Trademaster announces the start of Trade Mart. A woman begins to cry, and several people lead her away, but Matty notices that few people look in her direction. Mentor's face looks different, and he's focused on Trademaster. When Trademaster asks who's going first, Mentor frantically calls out and shoves his way to the front of the crowd.

When Matty gets home after Trade Mart, he tells Seer what happened. Mentor went first and stepped onto the stage after pushing everyone aside. Seer looks concerned and says that the few times he went to watch, people called out, laughed, and teased. Matty says that people seem nervous now, and says that when a person stood next to Trademaster, Trademaster asked them, "trade for what." Mentor answered that he wanted "same as before," and everyone laughed in an odd, knowing way. Matty says that whatever Mentor is getting, it has to do with Stocktender's widow. She blushed and said to her friends that Mentor needs to trade more.

Matty says that Trademaster seemed to agree and wrote something in his book. Then he asked, "Trade away what?" This time, Mentor whispered his answer to Trademaster so nobody could hear. For everyone who traded, Matty says, their first answer was loud and public, and their second was secret. Sometimes, the crowd jeered at a person, and Ramon's mother wasn't allowed to trade for a fur jacket. Restlessly, Seer asks Matty to make tea and confirms the verbal exchange people went through with Trademaster. Matty suggests he steal Trademaster's book, but then apologizes for wanting to steal.

Seer asks if anyone got things to take away, and Matty answers that some people were given delivery times. One woman got a Gaming Machine, and Matty makes one final plea for a Gaming Machine of his own. Seer ignores this and asks if people who traded looked different when Trade Mart was over. Matty says he wasn't paying attention; he was tired and uncomfortable. Seer asks about the person who got the Gaming Machine. Matty says it's the woman who lives near the marketplace. As she left, she was walking with her friends while her husband, who has a limp, walked behind. Matty thinks of his puppy and remembers something. He says that the woman is usually nice to her husband, but as she left, she scolded her husband for being slow and made fun of how he walks. Disturbed, Seer begins to walk toward bed. Matty says that Mentor's birthmark is now gone.