Heat crept into her cheeks because she knew how it would look with one woman going into a room with two men, but that all went out by the wayside when she remembered what they were there for. That, she thought, and she was excited about this adventure, as it was the first of many she was going on.

"Ah ha!" Quentin says as he pries the floorboard up and finds yet another seal skin tube. He pulls it out, replaces the the board and gets to his feet. "So, how many more clues do you think there are? I'm taking bets." He says with a grin waiting for their answers before opening the tube.

Gareth crossed his arms and looked at the tube. "Well, someone certainly took trouble," he said. "I think we should rediscuss the terms of my employment, sir, before we continue. I believe that so far, I have been a vital source of information in this adventure," - that, and he had managed not to vomit on his fellow travelers - "and I believe that whatever treasure lies at the end of our journey, it should be distributed fairly."

Claire's brows shot up at the abrupt turn of topic. Shouldn't that have been discussed before they got started? Silly man, she thought. But she diverted her attention back to the tube, waited a moment and said, "I'll guess ten, just for a nice and even number."

The terms of payment were laid out to Harry Longbottom originally, but he had repeated them for Gareth and Claire. But Quentin wasn't surprised that at this point Gareth was rather interested in discussing pay. "As I told you at the outset Mister Scott. Your pay will be a pound and a half per day. You will also receive one share of the sale of any treasure recovered, a share being one percent. Additional shares will be rewarded at the end of the expedition based on merit at my discretion." Quentin lays out the verbal contract once again. "You have proven to be quite helpful but I will reserve awarding additional share until the end."

As Gareth remembered, Quentin had hired him provisionally, and had only promised to recompense him for his time. He looked skeptical. "With all due respect, Mr. North, when the fishermen in town go fishing, they divide up their earnings in four equal shares, three for each man on the boat and one for the boat owner. I'd say a share would be twenty-five percent, yourself having two shares since you bring the map. I'd be surprised if the crude fisherman has a greater sense of fairness than a man of your stature."

Her eyes widened at the reporter's response. Her mouth tightened with her desire to give Mister Scott a tongue lashing he would never forget. How rude! She wisely bit her tongue, however much she wanted to yell. So instead, she put distance between herself and the men to allow them to discuss business without making her any more angry than she was on behalf of Quentin.

"Why Mister Scott, when did you decide that our agreement did not suit you?" Quentin says with a wry smile as he looks at the man more amused than anything else. Quentin could quite easily guess the reason that this was suddenly a point of contention. "As for you liking this situation to that of fishermen, that is not a fair comparison. You are, at present, my employees. That means that I set out terms of employment prior to embarking on this little adventure. I dictate my own portion of the reward because I compensate you for your time, regardless of if we find any treasure or not. The fact that I am giving you shares and giving you the chance to earn additional ones is already more generous than I have to be. Considering I will also be handling the treasures sale to the national museum I think you can appreciate why this is the case. I trust this reestablishes the arrangement?"

Gareth tried to suppress a scowl. He wanted to negotiate like a man, not whine like a sulky child. But internally he was certainly sulking. This was why the rich kept getting richer. Just because this bloke had that bloody map. He didn't even know the area. But Gareth knew that Quentin could easily hire a hundred local men in his place, so he had no ground to negotiate. "Yes sir," he said through gritted teeth, flustered over his wounded pride.

She folded her arms across her bosoms and bit into her lip so as to keep quiet. This was their discussion and she didn't need to butt in. Claire was put off by Gareth Scott after having such a positive interaction not an hour before. Shame.