The Oggin Saga Trilogy: Part Three

A Prologue:

Life in The Village, or what passes for life, went on throughout Newness Season and into Warm Season. The rise in temperatures brought more work for Oggin the Ogg, indeed, so much so, that he and Bob Weaver decided to work together on a more or less permanent basis. By using Bob’s cart they could go further afield and now cleared middens in That Village and in The Other Village as well. The spoil and compost they produced was initially brought back and piled up in Bob’s garden and the Weaver boys would make sure it was always covered and kept dry. Some they would bag up and sell to gardeners for vegetable patches and flower beds but most of it went to The Wolf Woman, for her small holding business on the outskirts of the village. The youngest twins, Bob and Bob, although only thirteen years old, were entrusted with this task and became firm friends with The Wolf Woman and her She Wolf, which they re-named “Fluffy”. The Wolf Woman seemed quite smitten by the twins and being from The Fens herself, she enjoyed the chance to speak in that strange accent again. All this work meant Oggin had more coin coming in and Kajoa was not slow in helping him dispose of it, not of course that he would mention it. However, a “Knick-Knack extension” was on his mind as he knew it would be needed soon.

H’rsh the Boog was still living with Tookie and had tried to set up a Herb Garden in Tookie’s back yard but strange, unexplained “accidents” kept happening to it and in the end she gave it up as a bad job. Gossip held that the coin H’rsh received for her old cottage was running out and there was much speculation as to how the two women would support themselves in future.

Nitaa the Cutter acquired a young apprentice called Taly, apparently she was from Westex and around ten years old and was very gifted with animals. She had been seen playing with various woodland creatures and when out of the cottage was followed by a small flock of twittering birds and a fawn. Nitaa herself was gaining a growing reputation as a hairdresser and despite her outwardly harsh attitude was slowly becoming an accepted member of village life.

Annie, The Bonnet Biddy, had taken a back room in the village shop and restarted her business with a new line of what she called “Flossinators” which were selling well in the area. Although some wags reckoned she could have chosen a better name for them since you had to stand at least six feet away when she mentioned the bloody things out loud.

The never changing life of The Mammie didn’t change. As ever, new children came and went, older ones were replaced by younger ones in a cycle of repeated caring, cuddling and cosseting. It was noted however that Ted the Postman tended to have a lot of “messages” to deliver to her cottage and some would come quite late in the evening.

On a sad note, The Wolf Woman’s former “friend”, Janice the Farmer, had been found dead at her farm cottage. As she had no living family, tradition dictated that the four oldest members of The Village were given the job of searching her dwelling for any signs of foul play. As expected, none was found, it seems she died in her sleep but however they did find a “Testament” which named Nina the Wolf Woman as her heir. The four agreed that this was a “genuine statement of testament” and as no one came forward to claim any unpaid debts, the title to the farm would be offered to The Wolf Woman, to do with as she deemed fit. In the village, this news was greeted with a lot of rumour and supposition. Most of the villagers knew of the previous ‘relationship’ between the two women and moreover, of the way it had ended, so most were surprised to hear of this Testament and its contents. In any event, this would make Nina one of the wealthiest unattached women in the district, in terms of land owned.......