Sometime during the ride Tepic must have fallen asleep, for the evening light had turned to the glow of morning, showing a less densely forested mountain than Pelion, and when he asked where they were, Chiron replied “Olympus!”, before continuing “It’s the Home of the Gods, foxboy, so you watch your manners!”
As they topped a rise, a deep hollow opened out, several buildings nestled comfortably within, overlooking the view to the south. Even from a distance Tepic could recognise a forge, with a large anvil placed out in front – in fact, though most of it was outside, it looked very like Mr Tenk’s workroom.
They cantered towards the buildings and could see a large man seated on a bench, drinking from a silver bowl and munching on his breakfast. Though he looked up and nodded to the centaur, he didn’t rise in greeting, which the lad though a little strange.
“Hephaestus, my Lord.” Chiron said, dropping the boy from his back and bowing deeply, which Tepic swiftly imitated.
“Ah Chiron, my friend, and what is this, you have brought me an apprentice to stoke my furnace?”
The centaur succinctly told the tale, the god nodding in interest at various points, glancing at the boy who dropped his head every time he saw the god looking at him, but gazed at him in awe the rest of the time. Hephaestus was truly one of the most magnificently ugly people he had ever seen, which since he had heard gods could look like anything they wanted seemed an odd choice.
“So child, you want my help?” the god asked as the story finished, “And why should I help you, who stares at my hideous appearance, for I am the ugliest person you have ever seen, yes?”
“errrr…… yes, Sir” he stammered.
To his surprise the god slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously!
“Ah! He comes to beg help, then tells the truth when most would prevaricate and lie! Let us see what we can do!”
With that he got up from the bench and moved towards the forge. The boy could see his legs were bent and deformed, and he walked with difficulty, an ungainly step. Without thinking, Tepic ran forward and ducked under the god’s arm, rising up to give support.
“Thank you young one, a pleasing act, though not needed, I am used to this broken body of mine.” Hephaestus said, continuing “You wonder why I look like this, though I could choose any form I wished? Well lad, I am a Smith, and Smiths have wide visions but have little use for illusions!”
He swung himself onto a bench by his worktable, and Tepic could see there were benches and wide stools carefully positioned at all the main points of the work area, obviously the Smith worked sitting. The god asked the boy to show him the things he had collected on his journey, and the last remains of his beloved tail. With revered care, Tepic drew forth his pride and joy, laying it down, then added the silver ring, the olives, the Royal Jelly and bee venom, and lastly, the arrow the centaurs had loosed at him.
Hephaestus examined each item in turn, harrumphed a few times, then nodded. He instructed the boy to collect buckets of charcoal from the store and stoked the coals of the dormant fire. Tepic had never been kept so busy, carrying buckets of coals or water, pumping bellows, occasionally being called over by the other two to be poked, prodded and examined before being sent off on another errand. Eventually the fire was hot enough for the Smith, and bending the arrow onto itself several times, he placed it in a crucible to melt. Taking a thin, red hot poker in one hand, he lifted Tepic’s tail and pushed it down the inside the bones, burning out the contents. The boy shuddered, but continued pumping the bellows, then gave a cry of amazement as the white fur just at the tip of his erstwhile tail turned jet black.
Placing the empty tail aside, Hephaestus began pouring molten bronze into a series of small sand moulds, each pour taking his full concentration. Once he had finished, he set them aside, and Tepic watched pop-eyed as the Smith squeezed the oil from the olives into a jug – the strength of the god was prodigious indeed! He then took the ring and the smallest, most delicate hammer and chisel the boy had ever seen. Tapping gently all round the ring, he separated it into two halves, one with lugs pointing clockwise and the other anticlockwise. It seemed a strange thing to do, and Tepic wondered what it was for, though both the adults nodded together as it at a job well done.
They stopped for a bite of lunch, a simple salad with a crumbly soft cheese and a sweet almond drink to quench their thirst, while the metal cooled. Then the Smith broke open the moulds, revealing three sets of tiny hollow cylinders, which he slotted together to make three long segmented tubes. After binding them together with wire, he pushed them down the hollow tail, then pressed on each in turn. To the foxboy’s astonishment his old tail moved in a different direction with each push! Satisfied, the Smith held the tail point down and carefully poured oil into each tube, capping them off with a thin metal plate. Finally he heated the halves of the ring and slipped one part over the fur and around the tubes at the top of the tail, plunging everything into a waiting bucket of cold spring water. The hot metal contracted sharply, binding the whole creation together.
Tepic watched in fascination as the Smith lifted his tail and gently pressed the metal coverings, and it moved smoothly in all directions. Then he realised the two creatures were watching him, and he had a sudden premonition. Before he could move, Chiron had him by the scruff of the neck, hauling him over the anvil, using one large foot to pinion his legs and a hand on his back to hold him secure! The Smith spanked him three times on his tail stump then with tongs placed the second half of the ring on the end of the stump before dousing the whole of the boy’s rump with freezing cold water! A faint smell of burning fox filled the air, as did the unearthly sound of a fox in distress. The Smith examined the results of his and the centaur’s work, then nodded, and the boy was released to slump sobbing to the ground.
“Why’d yer do that fer?” he gasped out, wiping tears of pain and humiliation from his eyes.
“Ah, my young friend,” explained Chiron, “sometimes medicine can cause pain before a cure is effected, can you understand that?”
“What, like the stuff they doses yer with in hospitals, tastes awful but makes yer better?”
“Yes lad,” the Smith said gruffly, “now stand up and let’s see how your new tail fits!”
The news that he might soon have his tail back overwhelmed and feelings of discomfort Tepic still felt, and he bounded to his feet. The Smith held the newly crafted tail against the boy’s stump, and with a twist and an audible click it locked into place. The lad turned and craned to get a good look, catching glimpses of orange and white flicking behind him. Each time he turned, of course, the tail moved round with him, staying out of full view! He could feel it move, it’s weight swinging behind him, giving him a feeling of being almost complete again. There was no feeing in it though, as if he had been sleeping on his tail and it had gone to sleep, and even when with a quick turn the tip banged against the anvil it didn’t hurt.
Chiron had him slow down and once he was still had him move his tail stump from side to side and up and down. As the stump pressed against the metal disks, the tail curved round, wrapping around his legs, and they assured him that with time he would be able to control it much like in the past.
To feel the weight and swing where his tail should be was a wonderful feeling, and Tepic was truly grateful to Hephaestus, thanking him profusely for his help. There was still a hint of sadness in his voice, and the Smith and centaur exchanged glances, before Chiron reminded the boy that Hippocras had suggested one further visit, and that they should leave now if they were to catch him. With that, he mounted once again on the centaur’s back, and they waved goodbye to the Master of Metals.
Yay! I knew Hephaestus would fix you! *nods*