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

  Chapter 3

  Trip to Bleakwood

  The next day I awoke early, I didn't get much sleep, I didn't know if it was the strange surroundings that I wasn't used to or the strange dreams I had been having, dreams of being watched and followed. It was odd not waking up to the smells of freshly baked bread or food cooking on the hob, this is the time when I would miss my mother the most I thought, at breakfast time.

  When I ventured downstairs I paused at the door in front of me, the door I must not enter, I probably wouldn't even have given it a second thought but when Godwin told me never to open it the temptation to do so was overwhelming, what he kept in there was a mystery and it made me very curious. I now felt it was drawing me to it, for no apparent reason every now and then I would get the urge to open it, but I never did.

  Godwin was standing at the front window looking out drinking a cup of his special tea. "There is food in the cupboards, help yourself." He said cheerfully.

  That's what made me ask him a question. "Why do you seem to have two different personalities? When we are here you are quite pleasant but when outside you have a reputation of being grumpy. I have now seen that for myself at Grover's house."

  He looked at me smiling. "I have my moods like anyone else, but when I am out working in the village I put on the grumpy one," he slurped his tea again. "I need to be left alone with my work and I have had plenty to do lately, if the villagers find me grumpy and unapproachable they will leave me be. That's why I seem to be grumpy. It gets me what I want."

  Well he had me fooled and the whole village from what I had heard.

  "I think it is time for me to go on a little trip." He said sipping his hot beverage.

  "Is it to do with the green riders seen in the village?" I asked him.

  He didn't respond and continued just looked outside.

  "What do you expect me to do here while you're gone?" I asked.

  "You will be coming with me of course; you don't expect an old man to lug his own bags about do you?" He giggled to himself. "I am departing for Bleakwood shortly."

  "So soon? I haven't even settled in yet." It was my second day on the job and I didn't think I would have to go anywhere yet.

  "We leave in one hour, get ready. Oh and by the way, do you possess any weapons?"

  What a strange thing to ask, I thought of my father's pen knife then decided not to mention it. "No, why? I wouldn't have thought alchemists would need such things."

  "You will soon learn that this can be a dangerous trade to be in. Now go to the drawer under the auricula, you will find some there." He left the room and I could hear him climbing the stairs.

  This job was turning out to be a bit more mysterious than I believed it would be. I hadn't a clue what the plant was that he referred to but there was only one chest of drawers in the room, when I pulled the top drawer open I was shocked at what was inside. There was a pistol and a vibo blade sitting amongst a pile of paperwork, the blade I recognized as my mother had one that was similar tucked away in a box under her bed, she didn't know that I knew about it, but I had never seen a pistol before. Why Godwin would need these items I didn't know, I guess I would find out eventually.

  We both left on the hour, I had to go to the stable at the end of his garden and prepare Godwin's horse for the journey. His horse reminded me of the man himself, it was old, grey and seemed to be a bit grumpy, it didn't like me strapping it up ready to pull the small wagon behind it, the horse would try to nip me if I was near his head or try to kick me if I got too close to its rear. Eventually I got the job done and drove the horse and wagon out to the front of the house where Godwin was waiting impatiently.

  "Time is of the essence young apprentice, you will need to improve." He said as he clambered up and into the seat next to me.

  "Shall we go?" I asked. He just shook his head and pointed down to the two large bags sitting on the doorstep. I huffed as I got down and slung them in the back. Once back aboard he smiled at me.

  "Onwards Lemon." He said. I had given up correcting him. Then we set off heading towards Bleakwood, I have never been there before, it was close to the Kalth Mountains and me and my mother wouldn't go that way for fear of the Ogres.

  "You haven't told me the reason for this trip." I said to him.

  "No I haven't." He replied.

  I waited for more. "And?" I said getting frustrated.

  "Oh, the reason for our trip is because Ogres have been seen there."

  "Ogres? What has that got to do with you? Was anyone hurt?"

  "No, nobody was hurt, we're going to meet someone there who can help me with a certain problem I have." He pulled out a large juicy fruit and started to munch on it.

  "Why can't you just tell me it straight without beating around the bushes?"

  Godwin stopped chomping on his fruit and looked like he was thinking of what to say to me. "Ok Lemon. Me and you are going to stop the Ogre raids."

  I couldn't believe what I just heard. "We are going to deal with the Ogres? How can an old man and a sixteen year old boy do that?"

  "You will see, you will see." He replied.

  We traveled for a day having food breaks either by the side of the path or in disused barns, the alchemist didn't seem to want to be seen heading this way. I asked him what was expected of me being his apprentice as we sat on the grass by the wagon just out of sight of the path. We had a few pieces of fruit to keep us going.

  "To do as I tell you." He said sternly. "It's as simple as that. You watch, learn and take notes. The trade you are entering is a complicated art, but if you're diligent you can become as good as me." You could tell he really liked his occupation. "Alchemy is the art of principles." He said. "The separation, circulation, and recombination of elements and qualities. Once you get your head around that it becomes easy." He said.

  I doubted that!

  "The things we can do Lemon, the satisfaction when an experiment goes exactly the way you wanted it to go. It’s when a potion that took you months to complete serves its purpose with astounding results. The struggle to get to that point is well worth the trip even if you don't think so at the time."

  He was quite convincing, if he wasn't an alchemist he would make a good salesman.

  Eventually we reached the outskirts of Bleakwood, it lived up to its name, I noticed as we drew nearer to the town that the trees were thinning out and the foliage on the bushes lacked the density further back in the forest, we were on a hill looking down at Bleakwood that sat at the bottom, the Kalth mountain range creating a formidable backdrop.

  Godwin made me pull up just before we passed the border sign welcoming us to the town. "Come with me!" He said excitedly jumping down from the wagon rather spritely for an old man. I got down and followed him in to the rough beside the path.

  "Where are we going?" I asked.

  Godwin had stopped about thirty metres from the horse and wagon and was scrabbling around on the ground. "Help me look." He asked.

  "Look for what?"

  "Cimicfuga." He replied.

  "If you have forgotten I only started my apprenticeship yesterday, you sound like you're talking gibberish to me."

  "Look for small seedlings in the soil, it's a plant also known as Bugbane. This is the only place it grows."

  "It's getting dark now how can I see them in the gloom?" I dropped to my knees and started to shift the loose soil around.

  "You will know when you see them, they glow yellow," he looked over to me with a frown.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "You should be writing this down, you're meant to be learning on the job."

  "But you said..."

  "No buts, always keep records first, everything else comes second." He sounded quite annoyed. I pulled out my pad and started to write when Godwin leapt up with a cheer. "Look here," he said thrusting out his hand; on it sat a small seedling sprouting two glowing yellow leaves. "See, they are here, we will probably use these on our trip." He cradled it in his
hands. "I need at least fifty of these, you find them and I will get the container." He went back to the wagon to open up one of his large cases.

  "Fifty!" I quietly said to myself. "I am going to be looking all night."

  It took about three hours to get the amount he wanted and carefully planted in the container, I seemed to be doing all the work while he made cups of tea for himself. "What will you use these for?" I asked as I shut the case, it was really dark now and I was finishing up under the brightness of the light globes we brought with us.

  "In time you will see, when we have a quiet moment I will brew them up, you will probably be surprised at what they can do when put them with the correct ingredients." I did notice that the alchemist never really gave me the answer I was after. "Chop chop, I don't fancy staying out here at night if there are Ogres lurking about, we need to find an inn to stay in."

  I was tired and needed some sleep as I didn't get much last night. I hopped back into the wagon's seat and whipped the reigns. "Off we go Blaze," Godwin gave me a funny look as I spoke. "Well you didn't name him so I thought I would, do you like it?"

  Godwin chuckled. "Let's get going, we will need our rest for the coming day.”