A New Day
Another chapter from The Impossible Apothecary
Hey campers, welcome to yet another chapter of The Impossible Apothecary, our cozy fantasy web novel about a young witch named Fluidity as she makes a new life in the village of Tansy Vale. It’s comfy, funny and may go places you never expected a cozy little story to go by the end.
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Chapter 13
A New Day
“Come on out. I have some nice moldy bread for you,” Flu cooed as she set the bread on the ground in front of the cottage.
From under a nearby bush, a curious little slime peeked out and rolled toward the bread. It was hard to tell where it was looking without having an actual face, but she got the impression it was switching its attention between her and the potential meal.
After a moment of contemplation, it pounced, engulfing the bread. Flu watched in amusement while the slime gave a little quiver of happiness as it fizzed and digested the mold from the bread.
Behind her, the door of the Apothecary opened, the small bell above the door jingling, and Fern stepped out, still looking a little groggy.
Startled, the little slime shifted to a bright red color, spat out the bread, now mold-free, and darted back under the bush.
“It’s okay,” Flu said with a cheerful smile. “She’s a friend.”
“Was that… a slime?”
Flu looked up from her spot on the ground, her white dress now sparkling clean, spreading out around her.
“It is. But he is still a little shy. I’ve been feeding him and trying to make friends. How did you sleep? It didn’t look comfortable, but I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Fern put her hands on the back of her hips and leaned back, releasing a mildly concerning array of pops and cracks as she stretched.
“I’m used to it. I fall asleep at my desk all the time when I work late.”
Fern took a seat on a large rock and watched as Flu put out another piece of bread.
“So what’s with the slime?”
“It’s a species I’ve never seen before, and I am trying to get it to trust me.” Flu nudged the bread a little closer to the bush the slime hid beneath. “Did you find what you were looking for in the library?”
Fern paused before responding, as if she considered her response.
“I did find something interesting. I think I know why they aren’t stealing food even if they are going hungry.”
“Something to do with clan culture?” Flu kept her attention on the space where the slime was tucked away.
“Yes, actually. Your Nana had some notes on their social structure. Not a lot, but it was interesting. Did you know among goblins the greatest sin one can commit is depriving another of food? We have had several reports of goblins getting into storerooms, but all they seemed to take were tools. We assumed it was because they were fashioning weapons for some type of raid, but after seeing their state it seemed odd that any food was left untouched.”
Flu nodded, her attention still on the berry bush. “It makes sense. Goblin clans work as a collective to benefit the whole. They don’t have a concept of personal property, or at least not the way we do.”
Fern nodded. “Right. Apparently, a goblin that accumulates any number of possessions is considered to be stealing from the clan. We always thought the reason they just wear minimal scraps of leather was because they just didn’t know any different, but it seems a goblin wearing any more than necessary is considered to be hoarding materials.”
“Sounds right.” Flu nudged the piece of bread again. “Come on out, friend. Fern won’t hurt you. She’s really nice.”
“It got me thinking. If goblins have no concept of personal property, maybe that would also explain why they keep stealing things. Maybe they just don’t know any better.”
Flu tilted her head in thought. While she had not had many encounters with goblins, she did know a little about their social structure and felt unsure about Fern’s assessment.
“I don’t think that’s it. Goblins aren’t stupid. They may have no societal concept of personal property, but they still understand others do. Out of curiosity, do you know what they have been taking?”
Fern thought for a moment, looking as if she were searching an inventory in her mind. “Mostly old gardening and farming tools. A lot of them broken or just held onto as scrap. And they’ve been rummaging in the garbage. It still doesn’t rule out that they are making weapons.”
Flu shook her head. “I don’t think so. Goblins have weapons built in. Those claws and teeth can be nasty. They don’t like carrying a lot of things with them. It slows them down if they need to run.”
“Yeah, I read that too. Apparently, they are sort of nomadic and never stay in one place too long before they relocate.”
“Get chased off, you mean.”
Fern shrank a little. “Yeah, I guess that’s more accurate. Goblins are mostly seen as vermin, and nobody wants them skulking around.”
Flu leaned down and tilted her head, her attention focused on the slime beneath the bush.
“Really. Her hair just makes her look bigger than she is.”
Fern got an offended look on her face and patted at her curly brown mass of hair before seemingly conceding the point.
She stood from her rock, a look of curiosity on her face as she moved closer to Flu. “Should I go back inside so it will come out?”
“No, it’s just shy,” Flu replied with a smile.
Suddenly, without any warning, the slime launched itself from the bush so fast neither woman had time to react. Smacking into Fern’s leg with a splat, it wrapped itself around her exposed calf just below her short trousers. Through its translucent body, Flu could see fizzing where it made contact with her flesh.
Fern screamed and fell back onto the ground, looking at her leg in horror as the slime turned a bright shade of blue.
“No, stop that! I said Fern is a friend!” Flu reached down, giving almost no thought to her actions, and tried to slip her fingertips between the slime and Fern’s leg, but it only tightened its grip.
Fern cried out in terror.
“It’s trying to eat me! Get it off!”
Flu stopped her futile effort to get her fingers between the slime and Fern’s leg and leaned in to look closer.
“No… wait…”
“Wait?” Fern cried out. “For what? For it to eat my leg?” Fern looked down at the slime, her eyes wide.
Flu put a gentle hand on Fern’s leg. “Just try to stop for a second. Does it hurt?”
Fern sat, her breath coming out ragged and fast. “Well, no, but don’t some things do that? Numb the spot where they latch on while they drink your blood or something? I feel like that’s something monsters do.”
“Well, yes, actually, but I don’t think… wait, look.”
The fizzing slowed, and the slime returned to its normal pale blue as it loosened its grip and leapt from her leg, quickly scurrying, in so much as a ball of gelatinous goo could scurry, back under the bush.
Fern let out a small sigh of relief. “How bad is it? Am I going to be okay?”
Flu continued to examine the leg. A band of slightly pink, clean skin wrapped around her leg in contrast to her still dirty skin from the trek into the goblin cave.
“Did you cut your leg yesterday?” Flu asked, her voice settling into the calm, careful shape she used with patients.
“Yeah, I guess. I scraped it against a rock in the dark.”
Flu nodded to herself as the pieces began to connect.
“It wasn’t attacking you. I think that cut had the beginnings of an infection. And our little friend here cleaned it out.”
“It what?”
“It cleaned your wound. It’s a peculiar little slime. It seems to like to eat things like molds and bacteria. I’m not sure if it’s just this slime, or the entire species, but it is remarkable.”
Flu kept examining Fern’s leg with fascination.
“Well, I am glad you have a squishy little friend, but it scared the hell out of me.” There was no malice in Fern’s voice. Just the tone of coming down from a few rather exciting moments with a hearty injection of adrenaline. “Still stings, though.”
Fern reached into the small pouch on her belt and pulled out a familiar bottle, taking a small sip of Ezekiel’s Miracle Elixir.
Flu recognized the bottle immediately. She had seen it at the Langtree farm when she helped Petal’s father, and again with a customer at the shop.
“Can I see that?”
Fern looked back at her, mild confusion on her face.
“Sure, but you are an apothecary. I’m sure you have something better than this if you need it.”
Flu gently took the bottle and turned it over in her hand. Uncorking it, she gave it a sniff.
“Hmm… willow bark…” She gave another sniff. “Ginger…”
She put a little of the elixir on her finger and tasted it, her face screwing up slightly at the flavor.
“And sugar. A lot of sugar and alcohol, and some other things I can’t make out. Where do you get this stuff?”
She replaced the cork and returned it to Fern.
Fern took the bottle and replaced it in her pouch. “Ezekiel. I guess you haven’t met him yet. He passes through the village pretty regularly. He’s a merchant and travels between towns selling his wares, bringing things from faraway places, just regular merchant stuff. Why?”
“Just curious. I’ve seen these bottles all over town.”
“Yeah. We went for about a year without an apothecary stationed here, so he filled a gap. He does that. Kind of like moss. Is there something wrong with it?”
“I don’t know yet, but something about it isn’t sitting right with me. Miracle elixir, and claims of fixing just about any ailment. Nothing does that.”
Flu held out her hand, and Fern took hold, letting the little witch help her to her feet.
Fern chuckled. “You just have to know Ezekiel. Nobody really thinks it does all that. It’s just how he promotes things. He’s a bit of…” She paused to think of the right word. “A showman.”
“Interesting. I would like to meet this Ezekiel if I could.”
“He’ll be coming through town again soon. I’m sure you will get the chance.”
Flu mulled over everything she had learned. She could recognize a few ingredients from smell and taste, and they did have medicinal properties, but it still didn’t sit right with her how he was labeling his elixirs. Hopefully Fern was right and she would get to meet this Ezekiel soon. Her mind coming back to the present, she looked Fern up and down.
“I would like that. In the meantime, we should bandage that leg. But first you should get cleaned up. You can use my shower if you like.”
Fern got another puzzled look.
“Your what?”
—
“This is amazing,” Fern called out with enthusiasm through the washroom door. “And you do this every day?”
Flu smiled from the hallway. “Pretty much. Nice, isn’t it?”
“The water is so warm!”
Flu smiled and went about her business, prepping a few items here and there, until she heard the shower stop.
“What the hells?” Fern’s voice carried through the washroom door and down the hall.
Flu dropped what she was working on and rushed to the door. “Are you all right in there?”
“Yeah, just my clothes… hold on a second.”
When the door finally opened, Fern’s hair was still damp, the water doing little to tame her brown locks’ curliness, and Flu looked at her in disbelief. “My clothes are gone, and these were sitting there instead.”
Fern was wearing a pair of short black trousers that, despite the color, looked very close to what she would normally wear. Then there was the sweater. In matching black, it showed a few threadbare spots, and it was adorned with tiny little white skulls woven into the wool.
Flu stared at her for a long moment. Her face was unreadable as she looked at the familiar clothing. Little conflicted feelings that she couldn’t put words to stirred in her chest.
“Are you okay?” Fern asked after a moment.
“Yeah, I just… those were Nana’s clothes. I just…” She swallowed as she took in the sight before her. “They look good on you, though.”
Fern’s face flushed a bit.
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t find my clothes, and these were lying in their place. I thought you put them there. If it’s a problem, I can take them off and just put on the robe that was in there or something.”
Flu gave a little shake of her head. “No. I just didn’t think about it. The Apothecary usually takes my clothes to wash them when I shower. I didn’t realize it would do that with yours. I’m sorry.” Flu swallowed dryly as she spoke. “And since my clothes wouldn’t fit, I guess it found some of Nana’s clothes from upstairs.”
Fern fiddled with the baggy sweater. No matter how she adjusted it, one side or the other would fall off her shoulder.
“Wait, did you say the house washes clothes?”
Between them, the floorboards creaked and split apart. One of the cottage’s tentacles flopped onto the floor, wide and flat, holding Fern’s soaking wet clothes in a ball, heavy with water.
“Yeah,” Flu replied. “They won’t be dry for a couple of hours. I’m so sorry. I just didn’t think…”
Fern chuckled. “It’s okay. Really. Warm showers and a house that washes clothes… I’m starting to think I may need a magic house too.”
The cottage made a strange sound that almost seemed happy as it retracted the tentacle and wet clothing.
Flu had a hard time pulling her eyes from Fern and gave her head a little shake to clear it.
“Now, let’s get that wound covered properly.” Flu led her to a comfortable chair, and taking a seat on the footstool, she opened a portal to her storage space and pulled out some clean bandages.
Fern watched with a hint of anxiety on her face as the portal zipped shut.
Flu’s hands worked with calm efficiency as she began wrapping her leg, covering the cut that had already begun scabbing over.
“So,” Flu started, “I think we should talk to someone about the goblins. Who do you think we should go to?”
Fern gave the question some thought for a moment before speaking. “Probably Eloise.”
Standing up, Flu offered her hand and helped Fern to her feet. “Good. And maybe we could stop and get a coffee on the way? You know, just for a little treat?” Flu could feel the warmth on her cheeks as she made the suggestion.
Fern smiled at her, her own cheeks still flushed. “Sure, I think that’s a great idea.”
Flu brightened immediately. “Great, we can take the fairy door!”
Fern paused for a moment. “Would you mind if we took the long way? I think a walk would be nice.”