To hear the narration and learn how I put the episode together, check out this video:
*****
"Mistress?" Francie's voice wasn't its usual bright and bubbly tone. Instead, it was rushed and uncertain.
I stepped out and greeted her. "Hi, Francie."
Between being out of breath and her lips trying to produce the right sounds, nothing that she said in reply made sense. I invited her in.
Franice froze on the doorstep. "Oh! I didn't know you were curing someone already! I can..."
I interrupted. "She's a friend, not a patient. So please sit down, catch your breath, and when you're ready, I'll ask Bess to give us some privacy."
Francie did sit, but also started talking. "Oh! It's not me who's ill. It's Mrs. Ruffage. My mistress, Madame Hightower, believes something is wrong at the school. The Herbology school. No one's leaving."
That confused me. I'd seen Mrs. Ruffage at the tavern, listening to Bess play, not too long ago. I shared that with Francie.
"My mistress says students haven't stepped foot outside the door ever since a boy was attached the other day. Bitten in a painful way is what she says. And even Mrs. Ruffage doesn't come and go the way she used to. It's far more guarded now, my mistress says."
Thinking back, I hadn't seen any students from the school at the Copper Fox. And I'd spend enough time there to know that they hadn't been there.
"So your mistress believes Mrs. Ruffage is keeping them inside?"
"Yes! Oh, it's so hard for me to understand, but you've got it. I think."
That was... weird. But plausible. What if Mrs. Ruffage had been suffering from a slowly developing case of hoarding. But not hoarding in general - it was very specific: people. If you substitute gold for people, you'd assume it's a dragon. So... maybe this is Dragon Sickness? The school had slowly, but surely, been keeping students closer and closer to the school. And now, it seems, MouseEye's biting of the boy had triggered the disease to more fully manifest. And, it was quite possible, Mrs. Ruffage had also suffered a triggering experience that was now keeping her in the school.
I could put a potion together. That was the easy part. The hard part would be getting her to drink it. And if it turned out I was wrong, getting out of the school building could get... tricky.
After a minute of considering things, I decided on a course of action. "Francie, please tell your mistress that I'm on the case. And, if it pleases her, I'll come by her house before I enter the school."
She repeated my message a couple of times, then headed off. Bess, meanwhile, had been quiet by not talking, was asking via body language what I was up to.
"You feel like seeing Blastfire Bog in all its boggy glory?"
"So long as it doesn't involve flying, I'm in."
Which is how Bess and I ended up at Cunk's Dock to pick up and set sail in Miss Bogfire. But our coming here alone wasn't without controversy - Marvin wanted to, and I quote, 'look at something other than a pasture', but since things can be a bit sketchy, especially the bog, I thought it best that he not come. MouseEye said he should come because, and I quote (again), 'You get lost in the bog as soon as you put the coracle into the water'. Which, ok, I admit I do get turned around in there from time to time, but I figured I'd be ok.
I absolutely wasn't trying (again) to show off to Bess that I could take care of myself. And it was absolutely along the same lines that I warned Bess about Cunk being a bog goblin.
"He's a what?"
"Bog goblin. Who's quite nice and brilliant at making boats."
"Ah. Right.", she said doubtfully.
Soon enough, she met him.
"Ha! You come! Friend come! Good good!"
Once we had Miss Bogfire underway, Bess said, "Never in a million years would I have believed there's a civilized bog goblin. Never! But I guess you learn something new everyday."
Talking about learning something new everyday... as we rowed and landed and picked and rowed again (oddly enough, idle chatter starts to stop when rowing doesn't stop starting!), and after harvesting a bit of silverleaf (it's much easier gathering reagents in the fresh air and bright of the bog instead of the stale air and darkness of the dungeon!), we heard something roaring. It wasn't anything alive that was making the noise! Which, frankly, just made the sound worse. Unidentifiable roars should be considered, as a rule, to be bad. And if it gets louder, it's worse.
It got worse.
Bess and I paddled back towards the island we'd just left, in the interests of safety, security, and being able to run for our lives if the need arose. We waited, watched, listened as the roar became deafening. And then, shooting around a channel, came a boat. A large boat. With a huge fan on the back of it that seemed to propel the boat more over the water than through it. And steering this roaring fan boat thing was... a crocodile. Kind of. He was... it was like a human had had relations with a croc and this was the product of their love. A love full of trust, no doubt, in order for this particular love to exist. Or maybe it'd been a human male who'd become a meal right after birds and bees time had ended. Disturbing, when you think of it that way.
Anyway - a crocodile person. And not dressed as a crocodile is dressed (which is to say, not at all), but instead he was wearing these odd blue clothes the like of which I've never seen before.
Bess managed to find out they're called 'denim'. And that they're the biggest fashion hit in the crocodile people community since polyester. Whatever that is.
As to how Bess got the opportunity to ask - when the fan boat came flying around the channel, Grins At Food (the name of the crocodile man), spotted us then immediately cut the engine to float up to us.
He grinned. Thankfully, I didn't know his name yet. "Ladies! Hey! How are you? I haven't seen such beauty on the water since last year's Flower Festival. So - whatcha up to?"
Bess and I just looked at each other and started giggling. It was Bess who answered. "We're doing a bit of ingredient hunting. My friend is a witch."
"Are you now? Cool. Cool! Say - I'm sure you're getting along just fine, and I have nothing against Cunk's custom coracles (and tell him from me that if he still is refusing to use that name for his business, he's leaving money on the table), but what you need is a little bit of horsepower."
Bemused, I said, "Where are the horses? Do they do well in a bog?"
Grins At Food just laughed at me. "Ah, nah, babe! All the horses I need are in this baby!", he said as he patted the huge metal engine.
Bess leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Let me handle him. He's close enough to being a typical lounge lizard that I've got his measure. You navigate and we'll be done quickly. You ok with that?"
I nodded. And with that, we were off.
The roar of the boat was obscene. It was difficult to hear myself think, let alone hear what anyone else was saying. Yuck! However, we were able to get from place to place far faster than in Miss Bogfire.
On our way to a location I knew had a grove of Nurse Willows (for the Surgeon Sap it oozes out), I spotted some mushrooms. Now - these mushrooms, despite not being full-sized, still rose over my head. We took a couple of mushroom caps. And in the process filled a lot of the free space in the boat!
While Bess and Grins (and by now I did know his name) worked to arrange the caps, I spotted a snake. And an opportunity. You see - a snake's promise is one of the most powerful reagents you can harvest. For one thing, it requires a wand. For another, snakes have no incentive to keep a promise. I'd brought Sarah, so I had the things I'd need. What was needed now was a promise and something to trade so that it'd keep its word.
"Greetings, snake. I'm Mistress Sweetwater."
It's hooded lids considered me. "Greetings, human."
"I wish to trade."
"I wish to fly, but not all wishes are granted."
"I'd like a promise from you."
"In exchange for...?"
"What would you like?"
"To fly."
"That's doable."
"Indeed? What then shall I promise?"
"I have an idea."
"Do keep me in suspense."
"What if you promise, once you've flown, to never return to the bog."
"And why would I promise such a thing? I like the bog."
"But wouldn't you rather be up in the clouds? You can live in the Cloud Isles."
"Indeed? Let me consider it."
The snake was negotiating hard! It'd spotted that the mushroom caps were settled and that we were ready to go. I tried again. "Are the Cloud Isles not a place for you?"
It regarded me again. "I have no idea. So why would I agree to live there?"
"Would you like to live in safety and comfort? Be unmolested as you molt? And eat your fill as you will in my cottage?"
"I'll fly and in return I'll live happily in your cottage? And promise to never return to the bog?"
"Yes."
"Agreed."
I had the wand ready, so as the snake said 'agreed', the words became a mist and the mist turned lavender and was absorbed by Sarah. I picked up Slow Slither (her name), draped her around my neck, and we headed off. Bess flashed me a look. I returned a shrug. "You are crazy, girl!", she said as she shook her head.
While I'd hoped to gather some Silverleaf in the bog, an impatient serpent began to get on the nerves of a flirtatious crocodile man.
"When shall I fly?"
"Today maybe. By tomorrow definitely."
"Hey babe. Check out the wake this boss machine can throw!"
"Sorry - when did you say I can fly?"
"As I said, today or tomorrow."
"I can get the engine screaming loud and drown out most everything else!"
"Are we any closer to flying?"
And so on. Grins was grinning at Slow, Slow was anything but at getting under Grins' skin, and Bess and I started holding our collective breath.
Bess, wisely, intervened. "Say, Grins, you've been a big help to my friend and I, but we have to be getting back. You know, obligations and all..."
"Oh, yeah, that's cool. I'll zip us over to your dinky goblin barge and then you can make your own way out. Cause, you know, I don't want to offend your slithery friend. Or whatever."
The engine's roar helped keep an awkward silence from manifesting, but it couldn't keep the reek of affronted reptile from permeating the boat. Maybe it didn't take eons to get back to Miss Bogfire, but it sure felt like it did.
When we did pull up to the coracle, I was afraid a quite surly croc might throw the mushroom caps overboard by throwing and deliberately missing the coracle. It didn't happen. Owing, I believe, to Bess' stroking his ego and making suggestions that the caps were probably too unwieldy to be moved carefully from boat to boat.
Grins rose to the challenge. Sort of. He hefted the mushroom caps over his head and tossed them into Miss Bogfire. The second cap totally filled her. "Ok, well, there you go."
Bess and I tried to figure out how we were going to fit into the coracle. It didn't look good. "Are you sure you can't give us a tow to Cunk's dock?" Bess tried valiantly but to no avail.
"Ah, sorry babe. No can do. Gotta rock and roll. But if you're ever in the area again, look me up and maybe we can hang out. Cuz, you know, once you croc it, you'll never knock it, cuz we know how to rock it."
Bess and I gingerly, tentatively, got onboard, keeping a tenuous balance. Grins roared off. Thankfully the wake didn't topple us.
"You wouldn't happen to have a plan to get us home safely, do you?", Bess asked hopefully.
"Not yet. Let me think."
I'd hoped MouseEye would suddenly appear. But if he was going to show up, it hadn't happened yet. I figured Marvin suddenly showing up would increase our problems, not solve any. Would summoning Vapour Trail help? Yes. Yes! I reached out mentally. And got back something on the order of 'Your location is outside of my service area'. Right.
"How's it going?" Bess, to her credit, was holding it together. Maybe not well, but kudos to managing it as well as she was.
"Working on it.", I said distantly.
I remembered Sarah. I held her up, focused, and entered the wand's realm. I found myself standing in front of the lone tree on the hill. The figure of Sarah was some distance away with her back to me. I... this felt important to solve on my own. I chose to not go to the figure and instead to stay with the tree. The tree. The tree I'd been inside, felt roots reaching out, touching other roots. That, I thought, was the start of the answer.
I approached the tree, touched it, even hugged it. Still I was separate and apart from the tree.
"Be the tree. Be yourself.", said Sarah's voice from behind me.
I breathed, focused, and without stepping, entered. The sensations changed, but were also so familiar. But I was focused on reaching out, feeling the information network within the web of roots.
I was a witch and a tree and a message travelling along and outward, looking for help.
Help answered.
And then I opened my eyes and saw Bess looking at me. "Help's on the way."
A relieved smile was her only answer.
We waited for a few minutes. "You call for the broom?", Bess asked.
"I tried her, but no dice. No, this is help from a different place."
"Oh."
We started chatting about mostly nothing, trying to pass the time. Which may be why it took a minute to realize that the coracle was moving slowly, gently, but definitely in the right general direction. Looking down, we saw the bog's plant life - weeds, reeds, grasses - undulating. In wave-like harmony. It was hard staying still, maintaining balance, while the bog itself propelled us towards salvation. We ugly-cried in relief. Slow Slither, meanwhile, peeked out from under the mushroom caps. "We fly soon, yes?"
Between sniffles and gulps of air and aching laughter from the question so disconnected from our recent trouble, I managed, "Yes. Although tomorrow is looking far more likely."
"Figures", she said, then slunk back to the bottom of the boat.
Bess shot me a quizzical look. I hadn't explained things yet. So I did. And she sat there looking bemused. "Remember how I said that if I ever tell this tale, I'd have to tone it down a bit to make it believable?"
I gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Sorry?"
"Oh! Don't apologize! Let me put it this way - you're giving me so much material, an absolute embarrassing amount of material, that I'll be set for life telling fresh tales to the end of my days. Say - speaking of... There's something I want to share..."
Whatever it was she wanted to tell me got interrupted as we rounded a last corner. "Hey! You move! No splash! No work! Move how?" Cunk, standing at the end of the dock, peered at us coming closer.
I carefully waved. He seemed to ignore it, or at least not see it.
Minutes later, the coracle bumped gently into the dock. Cunk steadied the boat as we stepped out. "You move! Move how?"
I shrugged. "We needed help, so I guess I asked the bog."
Cunk looked again and apparently saw the undulations of the plant life. "Ha! Bog paddle for you! Boggy paddle! Ha ha!" Bess' lips rolled up, stifling a laugh. Nearly stifling. "Boggy paddle", she repeated, with a pained grown from a bit of wordplay.
"Cunk? Can you keep these mushrooms safe until I can retrieve them?"
"No. Will take. You go. They come."
That was unexpected! "Thank you! Can I offer you something in exchange?"
"Yes"
Ummm... I wasn't sure what to say. So I asked what he might like.
"Later. Not now."
Right! That was something to work out later. For now, it was time to get back.
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