Chapter 74
At the Jetty
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The four boys, in far worse a state this time than last time, shook the town a second time . The pier and quay was so crowded other ships had to fight to get space to unload their cargo .
Eriksson, despite his off state from the concussion, knew what to do . He had Pegg close the pier and moved everyone out . His family's pier wasn't that big . It was quite a bit smaller than the public quay at just twenty metres long and a couple wide . Both of the sides had a couple of berths where the family's boats could moor .
The crocodile was quickly dragged out of the water and in front of the house .
Several people tried to sneak in to get a better look and maybe even touch the thing, but Peg was a good guard and they were quickly dispatched .
Eriksson had someone put the nets away while he helped Borkal free the crocodile from them . Welikro helped Claude, whose face was now permanently contorted in a pained scowl, limp off the ship, down the pier, and to the house .
"We should get you to the apothecaries as quickly as possible," Welikro said .
"I'll be fine," Claude protested, but Welikro was insistent .
Claude didn't quite trust the medical practices of this world's apothecaries . They had decent medicinal treatments, not as good as back on earth, of course, but passable, but their physical treatments were far behind . Blood-letting and lobotomies were still common practice, and induced diarrhoea was considered a great cure-all . First aid was quite decently advanced, though hygiene was a major problem, but anything beyond basic triage was uncharted territory .
No one really knew these days where all their herbal knowledge came from . It certainly wouldn't do to reveal to them that magi were the primary generators of that knowledge .
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Tooth aches were quite the issue . Any problem with a tooth saw it pulled, and quite violently as well, and without proper after care . Claude's torn muscle, for example, would most likely be treated with an ointment and a regular blood letting . He could only hope his muscle healed properly, otherwise he would be limp for the rest of his life .
He smiled bitterly .
I guess I'll have to let them cut my leg to let the blood out or it won't recover . . . "
"So do you want to go to the apothecary right away?" Welikro asked, his head starting to throb from the incessant noise nearby .
Claude also shrugged helplessly .
"I'll rest in Eriksson's house for a while . We can go once the crowd dissipates . It's getting late, so you'd best get to selling it off before people decide to go home . Just send my cut home like you did last time . "
Borkal would be in charge of sales again . They'd first pay for the repairs, and split whatever was left afterwards .
The two watched Borkal and Eriksson -- suddenly fully alert again not that he was in the spotlight -- go about their usual tall tale telling .
Welikro put Claude down in a nearby chair and dashed back outside . The other two numskulls were too busy spinning their yarns to care about actually selling anything, so someone had to be responsible .
Claude had a good view of the entire scene through the window . Pegg was doing a stellar job, and was even coldly ignoring anyone that tried to exploit their relations to him . He knew who to let in, however, and all the right people gathered around Welikro to make bids for their haul .
There were also some everyone knew wouldn't bid on the fish that Pegg also let in . They were the kinds of people with whom you didn't interfere, much less offend . Whitestag was a medium town with just over twelve thousand residents and an incredible grapevine . News spread faster than the cold in the town, and the crocodile became famous almost before it was out of the water . It had been years, nearly a decade, since one had last been caught, and no one had caught one that big in living memory . The story was made even more incredible by the fact that it had been caught by four sixteen-year-old boys .
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The chief constable soon arrived and dispersed the unwanteds and the bidding could begin in peace and quiet .
Claude sat quietly in front of the window and most people didn't even notice him . The chief constable was not one of them, however .
"Claude?" the man asked as he stepped into the house .
"Good evening, Uncle Tomas," Claude greeted hurriedly .
Tomas was one of his father's colleagues and a frequent guest at the house, and one of the greatest drinkers Claude had seen in either of his lives .
"You shot it?" the man asked, glancing at Claude's musket .
The boy simply nodded .
"A fine lad you are . Your father will be so proud . "
"Thank you, Uncle . It was all luck, though . I nearly pissed my pants when it dove into the boat, and Borkal actually did piss his pants . "
Tomas gave Claude's shoulder a satisfied pat .
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"So you're humble, too, huh? You'll get far in life like that, boy . But why are you sitting in here?"
Claude pointed at leg .
"Hurt it badly . I need to go see an apothecary, but I'll have to wait till the people disperse . "
"Looks serious . You should've gone earlier," Tomas said, a slight reprimand in his voice, then turned to his subordinate, "Mark, take him to the apothecary . "
His subordinate nodded and head outside to bring the carriage over .
"Thank you, Uncle Tomas . "
The constable waved .
"You're welcome . Your father is my colleague and a good friend . And you're not so bad yourself . It's the least I can do . "
Someone called out to Claude from outside, a woman, from the pitch . He glanced in the voice's direction and saw two beauties rushing over . He didn't recognise the older of the two .
"You know them?" Tomas asked .
Claude wanted to shake his head, but while he didn't know who the older of the two was, he did indeed know the younger . Kefnie charged over with quite a worried expression .
"My schoolmates," Claude said simply .
Tomas nodded and let the two in .
Kefnie couldn't look Claude in the eye and hid behind the older girl instead . The older one was unbridled, however, and even checked him out unreservedly .
"Good afternoon, Kef-- Kefnie . . . " the boy stumbled .
He glanced at her empty basket and clasped the chance for a topic .
"Here to buy fish?" he asked in a tiny voice .
"Yes . . . " The girl nodded, red-faced .
For all her discomfort at the situation, she still managed to remember she had to introduce the older girl behind whom she was so shamelessly hiding .
"This is my sister, Kesline . We were on our way to the docks when we heard you guys killed a crocodile, so we came over to see . They wouldn't let us in though, but we saw you through the window . "
Claude nodded at her sister .
"It's fine . The boys are with the carcass, just tell them I said you could have a look--" Claude saw Mark step in through the door . "--Sorry, I have to go to the apothecary now . "