Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

I looked at the fairly big hole in the bottom of the boat and sighed.

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You have a choice to make. What you choose here can change the course of the story.

A) Cry. B) Complain. C) Try to fix it. D) Moan about the loss. E) Get angry. F) Swim. G) Ignore it.

That's not really a choice. I thought, because it was time to go to the village. If we didn't bring the potions we made, then we wouldn't have the money to buy more supplies to survive the summer. I have to try and fix it, because swimming the whole way was not an option with the water beasts in the area. I choose C.

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“I think... I think we can...” I stopped talking and looked at the Hag. “I need to borrow your knife.”

Unlike the last time I used it, she didn't hesitate and handed it to me. I took off running and she didn't yell or try to stop me. I already had the hand saw on me, so I made my way across the water at the back of the hut and ran into the marsh forest. I was very, very tempted to just cut down several smaller trees and try to tie them together or something. I knew that wasn't going to be enough, though.

I found a tree that was almost a foot in diameter and nodded, then got to work. They were pretty rare to find them that thick and close by, so I took my time to cut it down. It was fairly tall as well, so when it toppled over, it took several smaller trees with it. I wasn't one to waste an opportunity, so I used the Hag's knife and cleaned them of branches as well as the main tree. I tied them together, with the branches in the bundle, and dragged them back to the water.

Compared to the water beast, the trees were practically weightless. They weren't, they were just half the weight. My strength was still boosted, so I made short work of bringing everything across the water and over to where the Hag still stood and I untied the bundle. She looked like she was going to ask me for the knife back, then she kept her mouth shut and watched me work.

I had seen pictures in one of her books when I was brewing the number ten potion. The ingredients were simple and abundant and it was a very easy potion to make, which meant it was cheap and practically worthless to the Hag. I had still done up a batch years ago and used it only occasionally. I couldn't tell what the words said; but, the pictures showed using the potion to hold two pieces of wood together.

The problem I had was I needed flat wood and I knew that flat wood was inside the round trees. I just had to cut it out. I couldn't do that with my stub knife, so I never tried it before. With the Hag's knife that never dulls, I took it and carefully put it in only a little. I dragged it down the whole length of the largest tree and then made a cross cut a couple feet up the trunk.

I used the knife tip to pry up part of the bark, then almost laughed when the whole piece made a cracking sound and it fell off to leave the tree bare. I moved up and made more cross cuts, then skinned the rest of the tree. I used the hand saw to cut off the top ten feet or so, since it was way too thin to get a nice flat piece out of. I held the knife, poised to strike, then closed my eyes. If this didn't work or if I damaged the knife, the Hag would probably take another set of toes from me.

I felt my hand tingle and the knife shook slightly, then I felt that now was the time. I opened my eyes and jammed the knife into a spot that was slightly off center of the tree. To my surprise, the tree practically split all the way down the length. I almost laughed again at the result, then repeated the same thing two inches away. I went down the length and cleaned it up as much as I could and cleaned off the splinters.

I was left with a long plank that was freshly cut wood. I looked at the knife and marvelled at the blade. True to the Hag's word, the knife was still as sharp as it was when it was cutting my flesh.

The Hag's hand shot out and snatched it from me, then it was back in her belt and in the sheath it normally rested in.

I didn't comment and dragged the plank over to the boat. I flipped the flat bottom boat over and the hole looked a lot worse from this side. Luckily, it was made of wood and it should work. I didn't bother trying to cut the hole out or tried to square it off or anything. I jogged over to the hut and went inside, grabbed a handful of number ten potions, then took one of the last number nine potions.

She's going to kill me. I thought and walked back out.

The Hag's eyes hardened when she saw what I had and I ignored her low growl. I used the too short pole to measure the size of the hole and the plank I had made could cover it three times length-wise and just over half of it width-wise. It was a relief, so I used the hand saw to cut the plank in half, then very carefully applied the fortifying potion to it. I used a scrap piece of cloth, that just so happened to be my old top, and made sure both pieces of wood were covered.

A few minutes later, the two fresh pieces of wood turned a little grey, which meant they were as good as they were going to get. I had to use four of the number ten potions, two on the pieces of wood and two on the boat, then rested the planks on the bottom of the boat and held them in place to let the potions meld the wood together.

I was very glad that I hadn't gotten any of it on my fingers, because the two pieces of wood were no longer pieces of wood and were now a part of the boat. I sat down on the ground beside the boat and looked at the flat bottomed boat that wasn't quite as flat bottomed as it used to be. I flipped it over to see that it was actually stable with the extra weight and height.

As a final precaution, I poured the last number ten potion I had into the cracked hole, then used the hand saw to cut off several chunks from the split log I had and filled in the hole as best as I could. I sat back and let the potion do its work. It took a little while to ensure that it was done. When it was, I didn't look at the Hag and pushed the boat back into the waterway. It floated there and didn't sink.

“Check it properly.” The Hag said and picked me up, then tossed me in as if I weighed nothing.

“AHH!” I yelled before I could stop myself and I landed in a heap on the bottom of the boat.

The entire boat bobbed up and down in the water and moved out into the middle of the waterway. The part of the boat that had the hole, that I was laying on, wasn't wet or looked like it was leaking at all.

It worked! I thought in relief and sat up, then saw the Hag's angry expression.

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You have a choice to make. What will you do?

A) Run. B) Apologize. C) Tell the Hag off. D) Go back. E) Do a rude gesture. F) Swim.

I looked down at my hands and knew the only answer was the safe answer. I choose D.

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I grabbed the old pole that was still inside the boat, hefted it over the side, then pulled and pushed myself and the boat back to the shore. I had stood on the damaged part the whole time. I didn't say anything at all when I hit the dry area, put the pole down, and stepped off the boat. I dragged it partially onto the dry area and then turned and stood beside the Hag as she stared at the boat.

“Don't you ever leave in the boat without me again.” The Hag said with barely suppressed anger as her fists shook. “You don't have that many fingers left.”

I didn't comment that it was an accident, because it didn't matter. I had been in the boat, her exclusive property, and it had left the shore without her. I knew deep down that it was a worse crime than trying to escape on my own had been. I could never, ever, leave her there with no means to get back to the mainland.

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You have a minor choice that might impact how the Hag sees you.

A) Console her. B) Tell her off. C) Joke. D) Ignore her. E) Compromise. F) Attack her.

The choices aren't really in my favor. I thought as I read them again. I think I better take the best option that's available. I'll choose E.

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I turned to look at her and saw the anger on her face. “We need a safer boat for you to use.”

The Hag's face lost the anger and she turned to look at me. “What did you say?”

“I don't know how long that boat will be safe to use. You can't be travelling in it like you used to. You need another boat.” I said. “Maybe even a bigger one, so when you load it with stuff, it won't be so easy to tip.”

The Hag squinted her eyes at me. “You want me to spend...”

“We have half the hut full of winter potions.” I said. “Instead of making six or seven trips like last year, we can make two, maybe three, if they have a boat there for you to buy.”

“We.” The Hag said with a snarl.

“You told me that we were going to the village together, starting in spring.” I said. “We can only bring four cases without overloading the boat or tipping it this trip. If we have another for the second trip, then both boats could empty the hut.”

The Hag stood there for a full minute to see if I was trying to trick her, and all she got from me was that I was completely serious. We really could do everything in a couple of trips with the two of us working.

“Fine.” The Hag said and I didn't let her acceptance sway my mood at all.

I let the danger of the trip fill my mind and let my emotions about that overwhelm my eagerness to see what the village looked like. “I'll load the boat.”

“One number one and three number fours.” The Hag said as I walked towards the hut.

“I know.” I said, that way she would get more upfront money and could use it to buy a boat. I hid the thought that they might not have a boat for sale in the back of my mind. I had to hope that they did. If they did, then neither of us would have to worry about being left in the marsh with no way to leave.

I really hoped that they had a boat.