Part Twelve

Oggin stopped in his tracks, he was fond of H’rsh the Boog and the thought of her coming to any sort of harm worried him. He made up his mind to check on her first, he reasoned that she was closest and the Wolf Woman had that damn great she-wolf to protect her. He turned and made his way toward the Smelter’s Wood, he would cut through there, to save time. Smelter’s Wood, as the name suggests, was the site of the old iron foundry. It was formally run by the Romans, who had used Tosk and Walland captured men as slave labour and many had died in the process, so the place had now acquired a ‘mystical’ importance that made most people stay well away. Oggin however, was not one of those people.

Walking at a brisk pace, Oggin reached the wood in a few minutes. It was a place of quiet desolation, the trees were stunted and gnarled into weird shapes, the ground had very little grass and the bare soil was coloured with a reddish hue, even the birds stayed away. Here and there Oggin spotted clusters of blue and white flowers growing out of the red soil, in strange rows. The dead have returned he thought to himself, stepping over the gravesites with care. The smelter itself was now a bleak pile of stone blocks, some soot blackened and some deep red, broken beyond repair. The process of producing iron and its working into tools was now solely the province of the Smithen classes and by general consent, it remained so. Oggin didn’t believe in such things and although self taught, he had become a proficient, if somewhat secretive, worker in iron.

He reached H’rsh the Boog’s cottage and with a sense of deep foreboding he noticed that the front door was hanging off the top hinge at a distressed angle, he called out.

“H’rsh....H’rsh the Boog...where are you....!”

The answering silence was only broken by the buzzing of insects and the twitter of birds. He called out again.

“H’rsh the Boog...where the hell are you....!”

“Here Oggin da Ogg...lis’nen to yaself der...all a shoutin’ an’ such....”

Oggin spun around to find the diminutive figure of H’rsh the Boog, her hair a riot of colour, staring at him through her bottle bottom spectacles.

He stepped forward and in a show of relief and affection hugged the little woman clear off her feet.

“H’rsh....Thank the Gods you’re safe...!”

“Put me down ya loon ya...wit are ya goin’ on about...”

Slightly embarrassed, Oggin returned H’rsh to her feet and stepped back.

“Greedle the Bronzed has gone missing...”

“So youse come round to hug the stuffin’ outta me an’ jus ta tell me dat..?”

“H’rsh....she’s gone missing...in the middle of the night and her cottage has been stripped bare...abandoned....”

“Oh dear Lord....!”

“...and set fire to as well....even the dogs have been butchered....”

“Oh my...dat’s terrible so it is....and one of dem brown boyos was only here yesterday...he took all of da buds off da hemp bushes....”

“Er....Hemp bushes...?”

“Dat’s roite....Oi was just startin’ to cut down the rest of da crop cos I taught dey’d be back fer it....”

“Rest of the crop...?”

“All da bushes an’ stems an’ such....dat woman must makein’ a terrible lot o’ rope from all a dat....der’s bushels o’ da stuff....”

It gradually dawned on Oggin that this slightly deranged, myopic woman had absolutely no idea what she had been growing for Greedle. Nonetheless the type of thugs Greedle had been associating with, wouldn’t hesitate to ‘remove’ her if they wanted to and they still might. He really didn’t want anything like that to happen to the little mad woman and needed a plan to keep her safe.

“Now H’rsh....listen to me...I don’t know what happened to Greedle or why she’s gone...but I don’t think she’ll be around for a while...so this is what I want you to do....Pack up a few things in a bag and go to Tookie the Boog’s place...Tell her I sent you and you’re to stay there for now....do you understand...?”

“But what about all of dem plants...?”

“Forget the plants H’rsh....nobody is coming for them....and least, nobody you’d want to meet...!”

“Roite you are den Oggin....Oi’ll do dat straight away den...straight away....”

“Good you do that...be as quick as you can mind....I’m going to see The Wolf Woman...she was growing...er...’hemp’ for Greedle as well....Stay well H’rsh The Boog and don’t dally about the place.....Stay well....”

“You an’ all Oggin da Ogg....Stay well...”

With a final wave, Oggin set off for the Wolf Woman’s place. Having found H’rsh to be safe and sound, well as sound as she ever was, he had fewer fears for Nina, the Wolf Woman now but as she was another of his “business contacts”, he still felt a genuine pang of concern for her safety. He knew it would take a while to get there but his conscience wouldn’t let him just ‘let it go’. Oggin reversed his path and returned to Smelters Wood, intending to use the old ‘cut through track’, to the copse and on to the Wolf Woman’s place. As he reached the cut through there was the familiar ‘pop’ sound and the inevitable puff of smoke, as Oggin waited for the smoke to clear he wondered if anyone else had to put up with this scruffy fairy turning up so bloody often, sure enough, the haze cleared to reveal, The Stone Woman.

“Greetings to thee...Oggin of the Ogg...I come to bring you news and advice.... and advice and news...Heed my good and sage advice...Oggin of the Ogg....Which is this....’You can take a Duck to water...but you cannot make it ride a Horse’.....and my news...which follows....Greedle the Bronze has been banished from the village....!”

“I know...” replied Oggin

“Yes...but knowest thou why, Oggin the Wise....knowest thou why...?”

“Er...no Gladys...you’ve got me there...”

She leaned forward and spoke in a low, conspiratorial tone.

“It seems that...someone...informed her that her “former employers” knew where she could be found....and that they were on their way to collect her “debts”....which were considerable...”

“Wow.....did she get away okay.....Did they catch her?”

“Oh yes...she got away...in a bit of a hurry.....and as far as I know “they” still have no idea where she is....in fact...they never did....!”

“Ahhh....I see...so the whole thing was a ruse then....”

“Indeed it was Oggin of Ogg...indeed it was...the aim was to drive the woman and her trade out of The Village and as far away as possible....”

“I understand....but that will lead to a great loss of coin to many of the more...’innocent’ parties...”

“They’ll recover Oggin...in time...they’ll recover...and in the mean time we shall help them....”

“We....?”

“Yes Oggin of the Ogg...We......I have chosen you to assist me in this charitable venture...”

“Me...?”

“Indeed...and it would help immensely if you could rise above monosyllables when you speak...”

“Right....I mean okay....I mean...er...I need to go now....”

“Yes you do...but not to see The Wolf Woman as you had planned...She is in rude health...I spoke with her these ten minutes passed...she too received a visit from one of Greedle’s minions and parted with part of her crop...the profitable part....but be assured, she has come to no harm...nor will she...”

“That is at least, good news Gladys...I was a bit worried about her....”

“Well worry no more....You may return to your home and fix that washing line...as you promised....I shall see you again quite soon and in the mean time.....remember, that a Crumpet in the pocket is worth two in the shoe rack...!”

With a ‘pop’ and a puff of smoke, she was gone, leaving a very bemused Oggin standing alone in the woods.