The Horns of Kern

  Chapter Eleven

  The night air was bitter, and the wind stung Gertrude’s face. He made his way slowly and laboriously to the coroner’s hovel. The sled bearing the body of the human was heavy and it took all of Gertrude’s strength to pull it. He finally arrived at his first destination, mounted the stairs, knocked on the door and waited.

  The door opened. In the doorway stood Jasper the coroner, an elderly frog troll with a large grey beard and purple age spots all over his face. “Gertrude, by what honor is it that I should be receiving a visit from the Grand Frog Troll?”

  Gertrude pointed at the sled. “I have a dead human for you to take care of. I do not wish to leave him out all night for the rats to feast on him. I would not wish such a bad meal on a harmless rat.”

  Jasper smiled and nodded. “Is this one of the apothecary’s failures or did he die by other means?”

  “He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and ran into the end of my sword. He was trying to kill my mother.” Gertrude saw Jasper’s brows raise in surprise.

  “I do hope your mother is all right. I have an order for bread and cookies for tomorrow’s eve for my dinner.”

  Gertrude smiled broadly. “If you would be so kind to get a coat and hat on, I would be most happy to help you take him to your mortuary.”

  Jasper disappeared inside and reappeared moments later dressed for the cold evening air. The shop was only down a few hundred feet from his hovel and with combined effort, they managed to get the body into the vault.

  “I will send the bill to you, oh Grand Frog Troll. I expect a fine dinner and a chance to set my gaze upon that beautiful mother of yours.” He faked a lurid smile.

  “You old letch! I do not think that it is the food that you want to feast upon.” Gertrude hit Jasper on the back. “Thank you. I must go see Gillion before the evening ages.”

  Gertrude turned and headed toward Gillion’s. The wind had picked up. It whistled around the buildings, creating whirling snow devils in his path. The candles were still shining in the windows of Gillion’s hovel. He mounted the steps, raised the large brass door knocker and brought it down on the hammer with a loud ‘Clang!’ Coming from inside, Gertrude could hear a voice and Gillion’s dog, Rose, barking.

  “Come in and leave the cold outside.”

  Gertrude quickly opened the door, stepped in and closed it quickly behind him. “Gillion, it is me, Gertrude. How are you this eve?” Gertrude reached down to stroke Rose and scratch behind her ears.

  “I am freezing! The wind seems to have found every hole in the shell of my house. What, dare I ask, brings you out on a night like this?” Gillion shifted in his chair and pulled a blanket up over him. “The blog is hot and the boo-boo juice is in the cupboard above it.”

  “No thank you, Gillion. I have other business to attend to tonight.” Gertrude was about to sit down.

  “Not for you, you young hopper, for me! And please put an extra drop of the juice in it to warm this old frog troll’s bones.” Gillion waved his hand for Gertrude to get busy.

  Gertrude smiled, walked over to the stove and did Gillion’s bidding. He handed the boo-boo laced blog to him and sat down. “My mother was attacked by a human today...”

  Gillion almost spilled the hot blog into his lap. “For the love of Kern! Is she all right ?”

  “Yes, she is fine, but the human did not fare as well. I just left his body over at Jasper’s. I think we need to call another meeting of the committee tomorrow. I thought that I would give you the courtesy of being the first to know. I plan on asking the committee for permission to set up guards around the village.”

  “In light of the attack on your mother, I think that would be prudent. I shall send Rose in the morning over to Wendlyn’s with a note. He will see that the message is delivered to the rest of the committee members.” Gillion sipped his blog.

  “I thank you for your help, Gillion. I must leave now as I have to go and inform Octavius and Norman of the day’s events and of the meeting tomorrow.” Gertrude got to his feet and donned his winter wear once again.

  “Be snappy when you leave, Gertrude. I do not need the cold to find my old bones…” Gillion pulled the blanket up further around him.