The Alchemist's Apprentice: and the Ogre's Curse

Chapter 2

  Meeting the Grimly

  I left early in the morning just like the alchemist said, bright and early, my pack was stuffed full of my worldly possessions. It was hard saying goodbye to my mother; I told her that the first time I get time off I would come and visit her in Renworth. We stood on the door step in a clinch neither of us wanted to let go of. "I need you to be happy Lem, the apprenticeship was the best I could find, and I do hope I have done the right thing for you." She released me to look in my eyes. "If I have done wrong please tell me."

  More tears were welling up inside me. "You have brought me up well mother, I will be happy in my apprenticeship trust me. I may have not been to keen to start with but that was before I met him, he seems nice." I lied not wanting to hurt her feelings.

  She stood at the door waving as I went, tears were still running down her cheeks, I didn't look back anymore or I probably wouldn't have left at all.

  I was now reaching the spot where I saw the Ogre fishing, it was still peaceful down by the river just a bit cooler than yesterday. I could see the makeshift rod the Ogre was using to catch fish lying on the grassy bank, why was the Ogre here? If it was looking to attack the village I would not have thought it would stop here to do a bit of fishing. Then I saw the scorched earth beside it and a shiver ran down my spine. I looked about nervously at the surrounding trees, was the man still there? I doubted that, but the thought was freaking me out so I thought it was time I moved on.

  When I finally reached Godwin's house I stopped outside and took it all in, after all, this was going to be my new home for the next five years. It looked fairly pleasant to me, it was quite large with maybe having four or five bedrooms and it looked like it had been freshly painted in a creamy colour accented in bright green. It was remote here though tucked away in the forest; the nearest house was about half an hour’s walk on the other side of the river.

  I knocked on the door and waited for the gruff reply that I got on my last visit. I heard a lot of shuffling inside but Godwin didn't answer the door, I waited a few more minutes before banging louder, this time the door opened and the old alchemist stared at me with a look of puzzlement on his face, his cheeks were rosy red like he had just been for a run. "Can I help you?" He asked almost like he was out of breath.

  "Aren't you going to let me in?" I asked back.

  "And why would I do that?" He gave me a dirty look.

  "Well maybe because I'm your new apprentice and I am now living here." He couldn't have forgotten me already; it had only been a day since I last saw him.

  The alchemist seemed to be thinking. "Lemon is your name!" He said pointing at me.

  "It's Lem." I replied.

  "Yes Lem, that's right, well done come in, come in."

  Inside didn't look how I pictured it would look. I imagined rooms full of herbs and plants, bubbling pots with glass tubes leading to vials full of multi coloured liquids and total disarray. I was wrong, the room was clean and tidy with a comfortable looking chair sitting in the corner and neatly stacked books on the bookshelf that took up a whole back wall and there was a desk pushed up underneath a window. I think Godwin realized what I was thinking by the look on my face.

  "Not what you expected ehh," he said smiling. "Most people think I live in a world of clutter, just goes to show, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

  "Oh, no I didn't..."

  "Never mind, come with me, I will show you to your room, then we shall begin your training." He went out of a door on the other side of the room and I followed him through, we went up a short flight of stairs and then to a room at the end of a long corridor.

  "This is where you will stay, it's not much but it will do for you, I will give you a few minutes to unpack then you must come down. Oh, and go through the door on your left. Do not go through the one straight ahead. Do you understand?"

  "Yes." I said and then he left shutting the door behind him.

  My room was very sparse; all that it contained was a bed and a desk. I dropped my pack on the bed and looked what was on the desk. A light globe was attached to the side and a pad and pencil sat neatly in the middle. On the pad was a note that read - This will be your most important possession, learn everything that is written inside and never lose it. - That got my attention; I opened it up to see what was inside. It was blank, I flicked through it and all the pages were blank.

  "You should be done by now!" Godwin called up. He must have only just got to the bottom of the stairs. I placed the pad in my pocket and went back down the stairs. At the bottom were three doors, the one on the right was the one I came in by, the door directly in front was the door I mustn't go through, I wondered how long I could resist before I did.

  "Lemon, where are you!" Godwin called.

  I sighed. "It's Lem." I grumbled before going through the door on my left.

  I smiled at the room I was now standing in. It was exactly as I thought the front room would be with all the plants and herbs, glass tubes and bubbling liquids. Godwin saw my smile. "Yes, yes I know," he said as he turned the heat up underneath a large black pan containing yellowish water with various leaves swimming in it. "How is your room?"

  Its fine thanks, but this pad you left me is empty." I said showing it to him.

  "It's empty for now, but soon you will fill it up with what you will learn. The most important things in the world of plant alchemy," he continued stirring his concoction. "I mainly concentrate on medicine but now and then I am asked to make other things including poisons."

  I was surprised at that. "Who would want poison from you?"

  "There are some people who request it; I don't ask why if they can pay."

  I didn't really like the idea of that, I believed he was just a medicine man that helped sick people, I guess there was more to it than that, and he gave me a funny look.

  "To become a great alchemist you need to know everything about your trade, the good and the bad," he said. "I will not bore you at the moment with the instructions of how to separate oil from a herb, how to cause the herb's fermentation and rectify the resultant alcohol, or how to go about incinerating, collecting, and purifying the water-soluble salts of the plant. These procedures will become second nature to you in time." What he was saying was going in my head but I still didn't understand a word of it. The alchemist continued. "In fact after awhile you will be developing some tricks of your own and preferences for modes of operation."

  This seemed very complicated stuff, I wasn't sure my mind could cope with all the information required to be a plant alchemist. "What would you like me to do?" I asked.

  "First things first," he said indicating a chair for me to sit on. "You need to know the rules of the house."

  "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm clean and tidy and I will be sure not to get in your way." I said.

  "I'm not fussed about all that; they are trivial matters I need to tell you about the important rules of the house." His face went incredibly serious. I don't think I was going to like what he was going to say.

  "The first and most important rule is do not open the door at the bottom of the stairs."

  "Why is that?" I asked.

  “I have told you not to, that’s why!"

  He shocked me with the force of his voice.

  "The second rule is do not upset the Grimly, you wouldn't like to see him upset."

  I didn't realize someone else lived here too. "Who is this Grimly?"

  "The Grimly isn't a who, he's a what. He lives in the greenhouse and tends to my plants; he is very good at what he does as long as you don't upset him."

  This was all very strange; Godwin must have seen my confusion.

  "Let me explain. A long time ago I helped some people with a problem they had, to cut a long story short, the problem came with me and set up home in my greenhouse, I had plenty of trouble with it for quite a while but eventually our differences were sorted out and now the Grimly and I have an amicable relationship, I let him stay here and he looks after my pla
nts."

  This was a bit worrying, I had never heard of a Grimly before and it sounded a bit frightening.

  "Rule three. Drink plenty of tea."

  That rule sounded good to me, I did like a good cup. I nodded.

  "Right, now that's done let us go and meet the Grimly. Move slowly and don't act nervous, it can tell when you’re nervous and may play up a bit. Remember, you're a stranger to him and it may take some time before he trusts you." Godwin walked over to a door in the back wall, leaning up next to it was a long staff that Godwin took hold of. That didn't bode well for me. He saw me looking at it. "It's just a precaution if he gets too frisky, now come on let's go." He opened the door and I could instantly feel the heat enter the room. I gulped and tried to settle the butterflies in my stomach.

  The greenhouse was astounding; it spanned the length of the whole house and must have been forty feet long. Every colour of the rainbow and every smell of the plant kingdom assailed my senses. It was a beautiful sight, like walking into a paradise. "This place is amazing; I've never seen anything like it before!" I said shocked.

  "And you will never see anything like it anywhere else, this is my life, this is a plant alchemist's life," Godwin said smiling. "Ok, let us see if the Grimly is up to visitors today." He raised the staff up in front of him. "He's fine with me but I have never had visitors in here before and I don't know how he is going to react. Just keep your wits about you."

  Slowly we moved deeper in between the plants, I stayed close to Godwin's back. Leaves rustled ahead of us and Godwin froze. "It's only me!" He called out. "We have a new guest that will be staying with us for a while!"

  The leaves fifty feet in front rustled again but this time it was accompanied by a deep low growl.

  Godwin turned to me. "Be alert boy, and don't be scared." He said.

  How could I not be scared with what he has told me? The growl got louder.

  "He is a friend! He is going to help me like you do!" Godwin gripped the staff tighter.

  Then it happened.

  The plants and bushes started to move. The Grimly was coming towards us, slowly at first but then sped up to an astonishing speed, I couldn't see it, just the movement of the plants as it sped though them, the growl was getting louder also. I grabbed hold of Godwin's tunic and tried to hide behind him. "Be prepared boy!" Godwin shouted. I looked around him as the rushing Grimly reached us.

  A black cloud loomed up in front of us ten feet tall; it seemed to make the form of a giant beast with a gaping mouth that roared at us. I have never heard a noise so frightening in my life, my very soul quivered at the sound. A misty claw reached down and picked up Godwin by his collar and moved him to one side.

  "Now don't be silly!" Godwin shouted. "Behave! He is a friend!"

  The Grimly ignored him and bent over to look at my crouched shaking form.

  ""Stand tall boy! Show no fear!" Godwin called watching.

  "I was scared stiff of this giant black cloudy beast looming over me.

  "Do it now!" Godwin sounded angry.

  I closed my eyes and summoned up the courage, on wobbly legs I stood up tall and faced the Grimly. I could feel it's breath on my face as it sniffed at me, I opened my eyes slowly and I could see two red orbs checking me out. "My name is Lem, and that is very rude!" I said to him.

  The Grimly seemed to tilt its smoky head to one side then look towards Godwin.

  "Do you really think that is the way to introduce yourself to someone?" I was getting a bit of force to my voice. The Grimly took a pace backwards and seemed to shrink slightly. Godwin stood with his mouth agape astounded at what he saw.

  I moved closer to the Grimly. "Shall we start again? I am Lem; it's nice to meet you." My fear had gone and my confidence had grown.

  The Grimly was now my size and I got a better look at him. I wasn't sure if it was shrouded in the black cloud or it was made of the cloud, its form was bulky with a large wide head with two small red eyes sitting above a wide mouth. "Grimly." He said in a deep wispy voice.

  ""Hello Grimly, I'm sure we will become friends while I am here." I said.

  The Grimly shrunk some more and bowed it's head before breaking up into a mist and disappearing back into the plants.

  Not a sound was heard for a few seconds before Godwin spoke. ".that was amazing!" He came over to me and patted me on the back. "That’s bloody amazing." He turned and made his way back inside.

  "I don't know why you brought that staff in. It wouldn't have done a thing against the Grimly." I called after him.

  "It makes me feel better carrying it." He replied.

  Back inside his work room he said. "Right now that the excitement is over, let's get to work." He pointed to a pile of plant pots that had been thrown into a corner. "You can start by sorting them out, fill them with soil and place them in the greenhouse."

  "There must be a hundred of them!" I grumbled.

  Godwin glanced over at them. "Yes there must be, there is a spade in the garden, go dig a hole, it must be at least two feet deep, that is where you will find the best soil."

  I looked at him blanked faced.

  "Today would be good. I will make some tea; you must drink my tea while you're in my home." He said strolling off towards the kitchen.

  My back ached after all the digging I did, I must have been at it for hours while Godwin pottered in the lab drinking tea. I never got any; he always forgot to make me one even though he always said I had to drink it in his home.

  "Come on Lemon, we have an appointment to keep in the village! And bring my bag, it's by the Bergamot!" He called out to me. I had just finished filling my last pot, hooray I thought; maybe this would be a bit more interesting. Then I had to work out which plant was a Bergamot amongst the thousands of plants in the greenhouse, I didn't have to look that hard as the plants leaves started to rustle as the Grimly rushed low through them, all I could see of it was a slight wisp of black cloud it left in its trail floating above the plant tops. The Grimly sped passed me and off back into the greenery. By my feet now sat Godwin's bag, I think he likes me I thought.

  It took us forty minutes to walk to his appointment; it was at Grover's house, the village baker. "Ahh…Godwin," he said when he opened the door. "You got my note. Rose tripped over a rock cake yesterday," Godwin stood there stony faced. "I know, I know don't ask." Grover continued.

  "Yes, yes, now let me in I have plenty of my own work to do." Then he pushed passed him into the house. I was quite surprised at how grumpy he was; he seemed to change character when he was out working.

  "And young Lem is here too," Grover said, he then lent in close to me and whispered in my ear. "Commiserations to you,” I looked puzzled. “On your new job." He continued then tilted his head towards Godwin who was marching down the corridor.

  "Yeah, thanks." I replied.

  "I give you a week before you murder him." He laughed.

  I knew Grover well; my mum and I were regular customers of his. He baked the best cherry cakes this side of Getty, and he always slipped in an extra one for me.

  We went into the room at the back of the house, it was nice and cool in here, there was a large fan in the corner blowing its refreshing air around the room. Sitting in a comfy chair with her leg propped up on a stool was Grover's wife rose.

  "Oh about time," she moaned. "The pain is excruciating, my poor foot is throbbing like never before."

  Godwin sat down next to her then clicked his fingers at me. I guessed he wanted his bag.

  "Hello Lem, commiserations." She said smiling. I poked my tongue at her which made her laugh. Godwin gave her a dirty look and she immediately looked away.

  The alchemist pulled out a tube of brown coloured ointment that looked like mud; he squeezed some into the palm of his hand and then rubbed them vigorously together.

  "How goes the work?" Grover asked.

  "Meh." Godwin replied slapping his greasy muddy hands on Rose's foot, she tensed as the cold ointment was slathered from he
r toes to her calf. Grover looked at me and I just shrugged back.

  He tried to make conversation again. "Have you had a visit from the green riders recently? They have been in the area knocking on doors, something about Ogres I think, they have been seen nearby in the other villages too. It's all a bit strange really; they don't usually come out this way."

  At hearing this Godwin stopped what he was doing suddenly. "Right Lemon, we are done here." He stood up all agitated and quickly packed his bag up.

  "Is that it?" Rose asked a bit perplexed.

  Godwin dropped the tube on her lap. "Apply this twice a day; the swelling should go in a day or two. Now we must go. Come on Lemon hurry up!" He was already moving to the door.

  "Sorry," I said to a confused Grover. "I better go."

  Grover stopped me. "Hold on lad, take this with you." He shoved a bag in my hand, I knew what it was by the smell and it was a cherry cake like I thought

  “That’s very kind of…” I started.

  "Lemon!" Godwin shouted as he left the house. I had to run to catch up, he was going at a fair old pace down the street.

  "What was all that about?" I asked him when I finally caught up to him.

  "Never you mind apprentice, we just need to get back." He was looking around very suspiciously as if he thought we were being followed. It was obviously something to do with the green riders being in the village, I did hope it wasn't, because if they are looking for you there was trouble ahead.