223) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 49 -- Reilly and Melkorn get promoted

Finally, as they rounded the next rocky outcropping, out of the gently falling snow appeared a cozy little log cabin, with a hand-carved sign outside the entrance announcing “Grok’s Trading Post.” The cabin nestled into a copse of evergreen trees, with stupendous mountains towering on one side and the mostly-bare steppes stretching to the horizon on the other. 

“This is the place!” Reilly exclaimed. “This is it! Horsey showed me! And you didn’t believe me! You were all, ‘No, this is crazy, following a horse.’ Hahahahaha!!” Despite her gear and heavy clothing, Reilly still managed to half-cartwheel in the snow, falling onto her back laughing, momentarily forgetting their panicked circumstances as only a child could. 

A bell tinkled merrily as Lenny swung open the heavy door while Gorb and Dominic untied Melkorn from the litter and half-carried, half-dragged him inside. Grok’s Trading Post was everything Kohra could have imagined such a place would be, and more: shelves upon shelves of tools and gadgets, skis and sled runners, spare parts for everything from crossbows to water pumps, a wall of showshoes, another of bows and pikes and battle-axes and a whole assortment of swords. The floor was almost entirely hidden by tarps and tents and winter clothing and coils of rope and animal furs and blankets, a maze of narrow passageways winding through the piles. 

They lay Melkorn gently on a pile of blankets, Lenny yelling into the canyons of stuff, “Help! We’ve got an injured man here! Please help us!”

“Back here, quickly!” a melodic voice floated out from somewhere. “Take the second row from the left, head straight back!”

Kohra and Lenny rushed back as quickly as the cramped and none-too-stable passageway would allow, emerging into a small workshop, carpentry tools hanging in pegs on one wall, the rest of the little space dominated by a large pile of netting. A middle-aged woman, Kohra estimated she was in her mid-forties, with short-cropped spiky red hair sat in the middle of this heap, weaving together dozens of strings into the thick net that was heaped around her. Looking totally out of place, she wore a sleek, well-tailored evening gown, made entirely from bits of fur and animal pelts. It was beautiful, iridescent in the way it caught the light as she moved. 

“Welcome to Grok’s!” the woman chirped, deep dimples accenting each cheek. “But first, we must see to your injured man. Follow my instructions exactly, and he’ll be fine. See that grey cabinet?” 

Kohra followed her eyes, nodding as she found it. 

“The top drawer is incense sticks; open it very slowly, because they are organized in a specific order.” 

Kohra did so, the air promptly filling with exotic, spicy scents. Arranged in perfect parallel lay at least a hundred colourful sticks. 

“Count 30 from the left, no, 31 just to be safe. Then light it near your man. He’ll be okay, don’t worry.”

This made no sense, but Kohra followed her instructions as quickly as possible, counting over 31 incense stick, taking a particularly minty-smelling one, and hurrying back to the others. 

Less than five minutes later, Melkorn was sitting, laughing, and drinking a cup of tea, his wounds having healed over in seconds, his breathing cleared of blood, and his charming little-boy-grin once again beaming at everyone. The whole cabin felt warmer somehow, notes of spring flowers in the air.

A short while later, they were all in the backroom workshop, sitting on the pile of netting while Grok continued to weave. Kohra realized suddenly (trying very hard, but unsuccessfully, not to stare) that Grok wasn’t weaving the netting with her fingers at all, as it had first appeared. In fact, both of her arms ended abruptly in stumps. Somehow, the dozens of threads seemed to be weaving themselves.

She caught Kohra’s surprised and sheepish look, and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not contagious.”

“How are you doing that?” Reilly asked, with the straightforwardness of a child. 

Grok laughed, smiling warmly at the little girl. “It’s been my experience in life, that when a person faces challenges that are out of the ordinary, they are also given capabilities that are equally out of the ordinary.”

“I think she meant how do you weave the net without hands,” Melkorn helpfully explained. Lenny barely stifled her mirthful snort; Kohra and Devona both looked embarrassed; Gorb and Dominic were oblivious, mesmerized by the self-weaving threads.

Melkorn and Reilly looked at Grok, waiting for the explanation. Grok just kept smiling.“It’s nice to meet such wonderful friends. Tell me, what are your names?”

“I’m Reilly! Reilly Tree-Child, and this is Melkorn the Mighty! He’s really strong! He beat up a mountain giant! He’s my friend!”

Melkorn grinned, placing one hand on top of Reilly’s head and petting, like she was a cat. 

“Well Reilly Tree-Child and Melkorn the Mighty, it is my great honour to host yourselves and your companions in my humble home. I can see you are of such fine character that I would like to promote both of you into positions of great importance, if you would so honour me by accepting.”

Melkorn grinned, nodding. Reilly looked up at him uncertainly, as if hoping for a clue as to what Grok was talking about.  Finding nothing to clear up her confusion, she shrugged and nodded as well. 

Grok giggled (Reilly giggling in response), and the weaving-strings stopped, hanging motionless in the air while she looked up to address each of them. A slender silver rod, about two feet long and carved with mysterious symbols down its length, floated over from a set of hooks where it had been resting, stopping right in front of Reilly. She stared, eyes wide with excitement while the rod raised itself up as if held by an invisible hand, and tapped her once on each shoulder.

As this was happening, Grok addressed her formally. 

“I, Grok Florenz of Bigelow’s Creek, with the power invested in me by these sacred mountains, hereby dub thee, Reilly TreeChild, to the exalted position of Chief Explorer of the Realm. Your responsibility is to explore, to go anywhere and everywhere in the depths of this hut, and throughout the grounds and buildings outside, discovering secrets, looking for hidden treasures, and of course, reporting back with any mysteries or discoveries that you may find.”

Reilly nodded eagerly, eyes glittering almost as brightly as when she was riding Big Kitty. “Chief Explorer!” she shouted, and without hesitation, ran off into the piles of stuff. 

Grok turned to the big, grinning farm-hand standing straight and proud in front of her. “Melkorn the Mighty, wiser than even you yet know, I dub thee, Chief Scientist.  You have full use of my research facilities, that you may use your remarkable intellect to break new ground and illuminate us all with new knowledge.” 

Melkorn grinned, as usual. 

Lenny actually gasped. Everyone else was too shocked to do even that much, smiles frozen, stares blank. 

Grok continued. “I have some extremely important experiments on the go that need someone with a curious mind, a steady hand and, most important of all, a good heart. Chief Explorer Reilly will, after dinner, show you to your laboratory. There’s a manual of instructions on the desk, and you’ll find all the equipment you’ll need. Any questions?”

Nobody even breathed, wondering how in the Hells this was happening, and what sort of disaster was about to unfold. Dominic was already planning their next move, after this place went up in flames.  

Melkorn scratched his head, suddenly sheepish, and standing at least half a foot shorter. He thrust his hand into the air. “Um, Miss Grok? I have a question.”

She smiled encouragingly.

He hesitated. “Uhh, I mean two questions.”

“Go ahead,” Grok answered. 

“Uhh, okay. Question number one: I, um, what’s a sign-tist?” The big man’s face was beet-red. 

“Oh it’s someone just like you!” she replied breezily, ignoring his obvious discomfort. “A scientist is someone who likes to learn how to do things better.”

He scratched his head again. Long pause. “Like, um, axe-fighting?”

She nodded with enthusiasm. “Exactly! What do you want to know more about when it comes to axe-fighting?”

Melkorn’s grin disappeared and he looked pensive, staring at the floor for a long moment. “I want to know how to stop getting hurt so bad.” 

He scuffed one foot against the floor. “I almost died.” He paused, counting on his fingers for more than a minute, restarting several times. “Eleven times! Including today. And last week. Oh, and the week before that. Wait, that’s one more. Twelve times!  Yeah, and, uh, it hurts. And…I don’t wanna die.”

Grok nodded, eyebrows knit together. “This is a very good question for a scientist to ask, Melkorn. I can see why I made you Chief Scientist already!”

The big man brightened, his grin rebounding even more broadly. “Um, okay, so I can…learn stuff about this?” 

“Yes! Absolutely. Chief Explorer Reilly will show you to your laboratory after dinner.”

“Thanks Miss Grok! And, uh, please let me help you. I owe you for saving my life. And for making me Chief Sign-tist!” He paused, frowning. “I can, um, split wood?  Or…carry heavy stuff for you?”

Grok chuckled. “Oh no, Melkorn! Your work is far too important for that! You’ve only a short time here, and much good science to do in the meantime! But thank you, and indeed, if I have need of your services, I will feel empowered to ask.”

He stared at her, not quite understanding what she was saying. 

“It’s a deal,” she added. Melkorn grinned, just like always.

“Hey, didn’t you have two questions?” Lenny reminded him.

He turned beet-red all over again, suddenly needing to scratch his neck, wipe his brow, rub the back of his neck again, clean out one of his ears with his finger, and cough, several times, into his sleeve. Grok simply waited, as though she had all the time in the worlds.

“Um, oh right, yeah. I, um, Miss Grok?”

“Yes?” She smiled warmly, while beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. 

“Um, yeah, I guess it isn’t a question. But, um, I can’t, uh, you know, read? So uh, I can’t read your book. I’m…sorry.”

The poor guy hung his head in such shame that Kohra’s eyes filled with tears. Oh, Melkorn, I wish I knew what to say right now.

Grok didn’t even hesitate. “You’ll be able to use the book just fine, Melkorn. You go with Chief Explorer Reilly after dinner, and by tomorrow night, I’ll expect a full report on your progress.” He stared at her. She stared right back, her smile never wavering. 

Reilly’s voice floated over from somewhere on the far left side of the cabin. “Hey Melkorn! I found it! The laboratory!” A few moments later, she popped back into the room, face flushed with excitement, talking up a storm about the different rooms in the hut and the trap-door that leads to the laboratory, and the cold cellar and the room of fruit trees and….

Then they were gone, Reilly still talking as she led Melkorn through the piles until their voices receded to a distant muffle. 

Everyone remaining watched as Grok attended to the threads, and they started weaving themselves together again. She glanced up at Kohra. “This net? Strong enough to catch a Wyvern, maybe even a Roc if you know what you’re doing. That’s the beauty of knowledge, isn’t it? You can flip the tables, and predator becomes prey.” She gave Kohra a knowing look. Kohra had no idea why. 

Before she could say anything in response, Grok was already engaging Lenny and Devona in a detailed discussion of how to make something she called “lazonnya.” A minute later, they also left, disappearing into the piles of stuff. Kohra stayed with Dominic and Gorb. 

Dominic spoke up, unable to hold his tongue any longer. “Excuse me, Grok, but…none of this makes any sense! How did you do any of those things? How did you heal Melkorn with incense? And why in the worlds did you make him a scientist? How do you know he’s not going to…uh, well, you know, Melkorn is kind of clumsy, and like he said, he can’t read. And…yeah, I’m a little confused. Are we staying here for a while? And, um, hi, I’m Dominic.” 

He stuck out his hand awkwardly, then immediately realized his blunder, blushing far more furiously than even Melkorn as he stammered something incoherent that sounded apologetic.  

Her eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry so much about the little mysteries of everyday life, Dominic. Just accept them for what they are. It’s much more fun that way.”