Chapter 11
Beyond the locked door
I found it very peaceful at Godwin's house, I kept myself busy by reading the books from the shelves and experimenting with the large selection of plants in the greenhouse on the back of the building making various ointments and remedies, some went well others not so good, I managed to cover the floor in the back room with orange foam, it took me hours to clear up the mess. The Grimly was very helpful as well, he collected the plants I needed and placed them by the door. I never actually saw him though, he kept quite hidden amongst the vegetation and I only caught sight of the wispy smoke floating above the plants. Blaze had been good company too; I let him graze in the back garden while I lounged on the grass reading books on the art of plant alchemy. It had been two weeks since Godwin went with the green riders to Woodridge and I still hadn't heard anything from him, I had gone past the worryingly stage, there was no point worrying I thought, it wouldn't help him. The only trouble I had living here was sleeping, knowing I was all alone didn't help and I was having bad dreams that were progressively getting worse, I wouldn't say they were nightmares but they weren't too pleasant, the most recurring dream was about my mother, I was planning to visit her next week and kept dreaming of the moment I saw her but there was always a shadowy figure just out of my line of sight watching me. On some occasions I would go out to the stable and bed down on bales of hay with couple of light globes hung on a post, knowing Blaze was there helped, I think he liked it too. Other then the dreams I was surprised to find I was enjoying my time here; maybe I could make a good alchemist after all. I had been into the village a couple of times to get provisions, Godwin had a little stash of money not so well hidden away in a pot on the mantle in the kitchen. I didn't stay long in the village because the people treated me a bit different to what they used to, they didn't really want to talk it was just a quick hello and goodbye, I wasn't sure if it was because of my association with Godwin or the way I arrived back under guard from the green riders. I gave it no thought; I didn't particularly want to chat either.
One thing I was proud of was not opening the door at the bottom of the stairs, the one that Godwin told me never to open. Well I tell a lie, I did try to open it the second day I was here but it was locked which was a good thing really because there must of been a reason why he didn't want me to go down there, but it was hard to push away my curiosity.
I was now rummaging in Godwin's greenhouse searching for a particular plant to make a night fever ointment, I had checked his stock and that one was getting low and I could use the practice. I tried not to come in here too often because I then felt that I had to try to learn all the plant names and they just baffled me and I didn't want to push my luck with the Grimly messing around in his home.
There was a loud bang on the front door that made me jump and I knocked over a cactus, I cursed. No one had visited me all the time I had been here, this could be my first customer as an alchemist's apprentice; I felt the butterflies in my stomach as went to the door and composed myself before pulling it open. "I’m Lem, at your service." I said.
There was nobody there.
I walked out a few feet and looked around, evening had not set in yet and it was still light but I couldn't see anyone out front. I returned back to the greenhouse, did I imagine the knock? It was possible. The plant I needed was sitting at the entrance. "Thank you Grimly, it's much appreciated." I said. In return I heard a loud purring sound coming from deep in the greenery. The plant was a toadflax and now I had to grind it up, I took it back to the laboratory ready to be processed. The book for the ingredients I left on the table open at the night fever potion page but when I went over to read what I had to do next I discovered it was gone! Did I leave it there? I'm sure I did. Maybe I put it back on the shelf, I wasn't sure now, I felt I was going crazy, this could be why Godwin is like he is, and living alone does strange things to your mind. I went to look on the shelves in the other room, there was a handy ladder attached to the shelves on runners so you could reach the top shelf and pull yourself along, I found it great fun to climb to the top and push myself along as fast as I could go. Well, it was fun until I fell off and bruised my elbow, that's when I found out that Godwin's ointments really do work. It was lucky for me that Godwin liked order so it wasn't hard to find it under the letter N. It was there; I must have replaced it but couldn't remember doing so. As I pulled it out I knocked a couple of other books on the floor. Typical I thought, I climbed down with my book tucked under my arm and went to pick them up when a shiny object caught my eye lying on the floor just underneath one of the bookshelves, it must have fallen out of one of the books I thought. I picked it up and turned it over in my hand; it was highly polished and looked like a door key.
No! It can't be!
I had to try it in the lock of the door at the bottom of the stairs. I stood looking at the door for what seemed an age pondering what to do with a feeling of excitement and dread at the same time, I now had an opportunity to see what Godwin kept in there that was so secret, I couldn't do it, I would be violating his trust I thought. But he wouldn't know would he? The key might not fit anyway, I tried it and it did fit, slowly I turned it and the lock clicked. My heart was pounding in my chest, I don't know why, this was Godwin's house, the grumpy old alchemist, what could he have that was so secret? I would just have a quick peek. I turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open with a loud creak.
Before me was a staircase leading down in to pitch blackness, I was a bit disappointed, I was hoping to be dazzled by a hoard of treasure, there was no way I was going down there, just the thought of the darkness was giving me a fright, maybe in the morning I would take a few light globes and venture down, maybe. Just before I was going to shut the door a rush of air shot up the stairs and knocked me backwards sending me crashing to the ground. "What was that?" I said out loud. Was that trapped air that was escaping? I wasn't sure but it shook me up as I wasn't expecting it. I will listen to the old man next time I thought feeling a bit shaken. I dragged myself up and went to shut the door when I noticed the inside of it was made of metal and was strongly reinforced with metal bars, that was strange, it was very unlike him to have a door like this. I looked closer and the door seemed to shimmer.
"Oh, no!" I said as a panic attack started to build up in my stomach. "It's silver!"
I ran back to the room with the books and scooped up the two that were lying on the floor. One was called Night lights, I threw that away, the other was called Night Terrors and I slumped down to the ground in shock. "What have I done?" I said.