The Second Saga: Part Fifteen

The Fairies must have been watching over Oggin as he slept, for in the morning his day bag was on the table and his breakfast too. Kajoa must have mellowed a little after he went to bed, either that or she was trying to poison him. For the second day in a row the Torchman was late, so Oggin stuffed three sausages in his shirt pocket and ate an oat cake as he transferred his tea to his “Sukamug”. This was another of his ‘inventions’, it was a mug with a tight fitting lid and a small spout. You had to suck the liquid through the spout but it was almost spill proof, even when walking. He was quite pleased with it and even managed to sell five to the shopkeeper in The Other Village. Oggin’s own example had a little woolly jacket that Kajoa had knitted for it, it kept the tea hot for longer, or so Oggin claimed anyway.

Despite the sun the morning had a chill to it and as Oggin passed the Green he noticed that Evan Evans was not there with his flock. Instead, several Crows and a few Sea Pigeons were scouting the longer grass for a meal and seemed totally oblivious to Oggin’s passing. The rest of the Village was quiet, even Ted was not standing at his post yet and Oggin was enjoying the feeling of the clean, fresh Newness Season air. Then a soft giggle reached his ears and the enjoyment evaporated like morning mist on a warm day, The Hasslesnag had announced her presents. Oggin stopped and very slowly turned to face the direction of that hated sound, The Hasslesnag was indeed there. The red and green striped suit and the little red hat seemed brighter than normal and oddly, her blond hair looked a shade or two lighter as well. She stood about ten feet from Oggin, legs crossed and one toe on the ground, she cupped one elbow and held a slender hand to her mouth but Oggin could clearly see the Impish smile and the twinkling eyes, suddenly she spoke in a clear childlike voice.

“If you keep our Secret,

I shall taunt you much less than before.

If you keep our Secret,

I shall never ever taunt you no more.

But if you go and Blabber it,

If you tell a mortal soul,

I shall drop you in the Deepest Shit,

And land you in a Hole.”

Oggin simply remained rooted to the spot, frozen.

“Remember what we have told you Oggin of the Ogg....We shall be watching you and listening to your every word....”

As the creature spoke the last words, she just slowly faded away from the feet up, till nothing was left but that Impish smile and then that too disappeared with a light ‘pop’ and she was gone.

Oggin just stood stock still for a minute, The Hasslesnag’s words still ringing in his ears and a sense of foreboding clouding his thoughts. Fairies and magical folk in general played a part in everyday life in The Land of Ogg, not a great part but it never paid to dismiss them, especially if they appeared and spoke to you. Imps and Pixies were known to cause trouble and were fond of playing tricks on mortals, however the Gnomes and Elves, The Old Woodland Folk as they were known, tended to keep to themselves and were generally seen as a force for good. The Stone Woman seemed to act as a “go between”, she was a mortal but had some of “The Powers” at her disposal, Oggin was never sure if she was a force for good or otherwise. With a shake of his head, he walked on toward Bob Weaver’s cottage, he was a pragmatist at heart and accepted what fate brought his way and tried to make the best of any situation but he was having trouble this time.

He got to Bob’s place to find the boys and Bob waiting outside the gate and was puzzled to see Bob junior waiting as well.

“Mornin’ Oggin...I ‘ope you don’ mind but I’s bringin’ the dinky cos ‘e were gettin’ bum’shis wen ‘e thought we’en were leavin’ ‘e a’hind loike”

“Not at all...young Bob junior is welcome to come for the walk if he wants to...”

At the mention of his name Bob junior pricked up his ears, looked at Oggin and gave him a huge brown toothed smile and snorted a greeting.

With the two boys supposedly leading the Donkey they set off, Oggin let the lads take the lead but observed that Bob junior seemed to be doing the leading and so he hung back, to talk to Bob in confidence. He told him about The Hasslesnag’s warning and they both agreed it would be best not to ignore it, Bob had had dealings with the fairy folk before and seemed, if anything, even more worried than Oggin. It seemed to Oggin that only by asking The Stone Woman some very direct questions and hoping for very straight answers would they discover the real truth, Bob agreed but added that even if they did find out what was behind all this nonsense it wouldn’t help them much. Oggin had to fall in with that view but said he would just feel better if he knew what was really going on.

As they reached Nitaa’s cottage the boys tied Bob Junior to a tree and the donkey just lay down and smiled at Oggin again. Oggin hated to admit it but the donkey was beginning to alarm him a bit, there was nothing he could put his finger on, it just seemed a bit too “knowing” for comfort. Oggin lead the way to the back garden and regained a little of his confidence when he found everything as they had left it. Yet again, the young Weaver boys proved their worth as they set about clearing the tools and began filling the ball-barrow with small stones. Bob senior got straight into the trench and was waiting to start with the spreading, Oggin took advantage of the opportunity and went to the back door and knocked. After a short pause, the door opened to reveal Nitta in another cat suit, this time in bright blue. Her hair was dyed to match, except for the white streak and it struck Oggin that she looked like a busty lightning bolt.

“’ello Oggin ya ole bugger....wot can I do for ya...?”

“Good morning Nitta...I thought I’d let you know we’ll be finished today...are all your ‘girls’ safe indoors...?”

“Yeah...all safe’n sand....Lis’en....I got visit’ers...so you jus’ gimme a knock wen ya dun...al’wite....”

“Will do...will do.....I’ll speak to you later then....”

She closed the door without reply and Oggin fancied he’d just been dismissed from her presents like a young farm boy. He returned to the trench to find Bob had spread the barrow load and the lads were busy filling a second load, Bob glanced up and spoke softly.

“’er’s lookin’ a bitty over dressed fer this toieme a day ain’t ‘er....?”

“Did you see the hair...?”

“Are....looked roite daft ta moi way a thinkin’....still....‘er coin’s as good as anyone’s I s’pose...”

“That’s true......I think one more load after this should be enough...what do you recon...?”

“Let’s see wen they is in an’ flat loike....”

As it turned out it took a load and a half to bring the trench up to the correct level and both men stood back and declared themselves satisfied. The four of them then brought the cover across and laid it over the trench with the slide just short of the cage, Oggin told the boys to carefully spread out the remaining spoil and stones on the bare patches and rake it smooth, then tread it down. He watched as bob cut the slide hole in the cage wall and then between them they slid the cover into place, it was a perfect fit. Oggin then got on his knees and worked his way around the edge of the lid, using garden pebbles to hide the joint, meanwhile Bob attended to the ‘flap’ of wire from the cage that would prevent feline escapes. The two boys finished at the same time as Oggin and they all three worked at getting the patches of earth covered with pebbles, to match the rest of the garden. By this time, Bob had finished working and joined them as they completed the last few feet. Both Oggin and Bob stood off to one side and looked over their work, the job was neat and tidy. The lid, with its’ oiled finish and simple construction looked very good and complemented the pebbled garden really well. The boys had collected all the tools into the ball-barrow and Oggin sent them out to the path to wait with Bob Junior while he and their father dealt with Nitta the Cutter.

Once the lads had disappeared, the two men approached the back door and with some apprehension, Oggin knocked. Nitaa opened it almost immediately and stood smiling at them, her gold eyes flashing in the sunlight.

“You boys don’t ‘ang abaght do ya.....I bett’r ‘ave a look...ain’t I....”

She set off up the garden and Oggin followed, trying not to stare at her bottom as it rocked to and fro. She looked at the slide joint with the cage and nodded approvingly and bent over to inspect the hinges on the midden cover. Oggin felt she spent just a little too long in this position but it didn’t stop him from still enjoying the view. She stood up slowly and turned to flash Oggin another of her smiles.

“Yous ‘ave dunn a first claas job..you ‘ave...it awl looks rewee good ‘a dat...don’ it....Cum in‘e ‘ouse the pair off ya....’ere’s som’body ‘oo wans ta meet ya.....both...”

She walked back to the cottage and Oggin shot a worried glance at Bob who just raised his eyebrows and followed on. The pit of Oggin’s stomach lurched and he was suddenly aware of just how a fly must feel, when caught in a spider’s web.