Lester asked if they were finished for the day, as he and Nogdorf walked back to training headquarters, the magic non lettuce garden. Nogdorf replied indignantly, “Absolutely not. Are you always this lazy? You think you don’t want to put much effort into the learning, but actually you do, because the more tricks you have up your sleeve, the more effective you will be.”
Nogdorf stopped on the way beside a creek and made a fire for tea. He had picked some mint leaves as they walked. Both he and Lester enjoyed a piping hot cup of mint tea while they listened to the creek burbling over the rocks. “Listen, did you hear someone scream?” Lester asked Nogdorf.
They sat quietly, straining to see if they could hear it again. “Help,” they heard faintly. Then, again, in the distance, they heard, “Please help.” Nogdorf kicked dirt over their fire and poured water over it, making sure the fire was out and the two of them headed toward where they had heard the cry for help. At the sound of a screech, they took off running and in an instant were at the side of Sammy, a baby squirrel. This poor baby had huge lumps all over his body and looked like someone had beaten him with a baseball bat.
“What happened, Sammy?” Nogdorf asked.
“I jus got some honey fur bweakfas and the stingers was all over me. They hurted me bad,” Sammy said weakly.
“Oh, you got stung by bees. You are pretty swollen all over,” Nogdorf said. “Let’s go down by the creek.” He picked up the baby squirrel and gently carried him down to the creek, with Lester following him. “Lester, could you gather up some mud from the creek and set it on this big flat rock, please?”
Lester thought it was a pretty strange request, but gathered a huge handful of mud for Nogdorf. After it had sat there for a few minutes on the rock, Nogdorf took some and put it on Sammy’s sores. Sammy was wiggling from the pain, until Nogdorf asked him to hold really still so the mud had a chance to dry. “But Mr. Noggy, it tight. It so tight.”
Nogdorf laughed, “Sammy, the mud gets tight as it dries. It is a good thing, Sammy. When the mud dries, it pulls the poison out so that you will feel as good as new soon.” He fed the baby squirrel some spoonfuls of white willow bark tea so that Sammy wouldn’t get a fever.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Thank you Mr. Noggy. I tell mommy you good to me. Take me home?” the baby squirrel asked.
Nogdorf and Lester took the baby squirrel back to his nest and then continued on their way. “We have a visitor coming over tomorrow who needs help with sleeping and also with pain in her legs. We need to get her remedies started so they will be ready when she gets here. Bring a bag and come with me, Lester,” Nogdorf explained.
They walked to a garden further back in the woods and as they entered, Lester commented about the sweet smell. All of the plants in this garden appeared to be the same, and since there weren’t any big trees around, these plants had grown to be over 6 feet tall. The leaves on these plants were flat and were similar to a maple leaf, but much better defined and there were 5 pieces to each leaf. Nogdorf found some buds and picked them. They were very sappy and sticky.
Nogdorf showed Lester how to pick the buds and after they had a small bag full, they walked back to the garden. Nogdorf instructed Lester on the preparations and Lester got started. He put a cast iron pan on the coals and after it had heated up, placed the buds in it. Nogdorf said, “Carefully stir it to keep it from burning and cook it for twenty minutes.” Nogdorf, in the meantime, got out out a pot and placed in it water and a pound of butter.
Lester, watching, asked Nogdorf, “Are you making supper, too? Is it going to be beef stew? I really like beef stew. I am ravenous. How long will it take to cook? You know I had planned to eat at home, but this is a much better idea.”
Nogdorf shook his head, “Stir the medicine, Lester. This is not your supper, it is the medium the medicine goes into to make it usable. I think the medicine is ready to go into the medium.” Lester poured the two together and continued stirring. While Lester stirred, Nogdorf told Lester that he had been thinking about something. “You must find a new name, Lester. Your name is not fitting for an herbal wizard.”
Lester looked at Nogdorf with a surprised look on his face. “Why, I have had this name all of my life and it has worked very well. Why do you think I should change it now?”
Nogdorf laughed and said, “Just think it over, Lester. If you can’t think of one, I’m sure I will be able to help you. Ok, the next step is to take the mixture off of the heat, let it cool down and then put it into a very cool place for the night. Tomorrow, when we get back, we will drain the water off of the mixture, since the rest of it will be congealed and strain out the greens. Then we will use the medicine infused mixture to make some cookies for Nora, the ailing deer. Well, I will let you close up for the night. I have some business to take care of. Good night.”
