He wasn’t sure where he was, just knew he had to find the old man, the one he remembered from some time ago, he would know what to do, how to help Tepic with his problem. He had just stepped away from the beach he and Beryl had been found on, unaware he had done so in front of all the urchins. Now he was on a different beach, heading unsteadily towards the smells of a large port.
As he got nearer, he began to recognise some of the buildings in the distance – he was in Steelhead, just the place to find a boat or airship to Athens, after all, from there it would be simple! He carefully avoided anywhere he might have been recognised, it wouldn’t do for any of his friends to see him like this, and it would certainly not do to be found by any of his enemies!
Hanging around the Port, hiding in corners and shadows, he soon discovered a cargo airship heading for Greece, and though still shaky he managed to sneak aboard. The advantage of cargo airships was that if you were travelling in the hold, there was always something interesting to eat somewhere. The little jars of fish eggs were a bit salty, but the duck paste was delicious, almost bringing a smile to his face. There was a faucet to one side of the hold, obviously intended to wash the place down, but more useful to the traveller, providing all the water he needed.
It was several day later that the ship began to descend towards it’s destination, and the airmen came down into the hold, forcing the boy to hide in the half empty gourmet hamper. What he hadn’t planned on was one of them spotting the leather strap had come loose, and refastening it, with him trapped inside! The airship docked, and the cargo carefully lowered to the ground. As he was lifted, still trapped, from the mass of other good, the hamper was placed on the back of a two wheeled donkey cart, and he heard the crew mention some bloke called Epicurus. The bumping of the cart was actually quite soothing, and after all the excitement, Tepic drifted off to sleep.
He woke when the basket was dropped onto a surface and the lid lifted, a large bearded face staring down at him in astonishment.
“You are not on my order, I wouldn’t even begin to know how to prepare and cook a small fox!”
The boy shot out of the basket at high speed at this remark, being someone’s dinner was not in the plan, but as he tried to exit left, a huge hand grasped his collar, holding him suspended in the air. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t turn to bite the strange man nor shrug out of his jacket. Without changing his mild tone to any degree the man continued, “Ah, my pate de foie gras, nothing more than a few smears remain, the caviar, just empty pots, and is that the bone that once held the succulent ham I ordered? Wait! What is this? You have left me something… oh….. it’s the potted Wiggyfish, speciality of New Babbage!”
With a sigh, the man turned the boy to face him, still suspended in the air, and asked “Did you enjoy my delicacies?”
“Them fish eggs were a bit salty, reckon yer need ter eat em with biscuits or sumethin, but the rest of the nosh weren’t too bad….. errrr….. yer gonna eat me?”
“Ah well, at least you appreciated some of your stolen treats, which is as it should be, and no, no one eats foxes, no matter how well stuffed they may be!”
With that the man gently placed Tepic on his feet. The boy looked around at his surroundings, they were in a large, airy kitchen, tiled floor and white painted walls, with blue highlighting. Small windows in the thick walls let in light and a gentle breeze, though the air was almost uncomfortably warm after the city. The man sat on a stone bench draped with rugs, and asked Tepic how he had come to be there. There was something about the man that the boy felt he could trust, and anyhow, as long as he was talking the police were not being called, so he launched into the story of the Man in Blue.
It was several hours later, the boy now speaking from the floor where he had sat down, that he reached the moment of detailing, and his voice stuttered and broke, unable to get the final words out. The man leaned forward and rested a reassuring hand on the lad’s shoulder, then spoke, “So you have come to the cradle of civilisation, to see our doctors, I am guessing?”
Looking down at the floor, the lad nodded, weariness falling on him like a blanket.
“Then you will be travelling onwards to the Islands, a good fortune for us both! I will supply you more suitable attire for our climate, and set your feet in the right direction, and you will bring me back an amphora of the famous Kos honey, the sage mind you, not the pine! Now, lets find you a corner to sleep in!”
In the morning, Tepic was set on his way, bathed and now outfitted in a light tunic with a blue patterned edging, leather satchel over his shoulder holding his belongings, though he had left his city togs with the man to collect on his way back. The sky was blue, the breeze cool, and the sea below sparkled on the brightly coloured boats in the harbour. Tepic was on his travels again!
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