Story part 12 -The Scientific Method

Despite the comment, which Mrs. Maria brought straight from the realm of superstition and believing in the supernatural, Benjamin  decided to approach the matter like a researcher should: rationally, asking questions and hoping for substantiated answers.

“Well, I don’t know anything about spirits, but I heard there used to be a tradition around here, one of going into the forest. But to what purpose? Do you remember anything from your grandmother’s recounts?” Benjamin pondered. “For example, since you mentioned it was during the harvest festival, then when the people going there came back, were they bringing any seeds or seedlings with them?”

“Yes, those who came back would sometimes bring a herb, or a handful of blueberries or raspberries.”

Benjamin grunted nervously. The inscription he’d seen in the hut had been written in raspberry juice.

“Excuse me, ‘those who came back’? You mean they weren’t all?”

“Some would lose their way on occasion, because the forest is vast and there are no roads there. Although… that’s not entirely accurate, either, as my grandmother always said that they weren’t losing their way, but finding it instead. She said they were taken by the forest spirits, but that it was a good thing, that they wanted it that way,” the woman said. “Those who came back and brought something, they were blessed with the plants flourishing beautifully for them, and those plants continue to grow to this day. Hah, recently even too much! One of my neighbors had suuuch big spikes on her grapes.”

“Spikes? How? Maybe those were just thorns?”

“Nah, I saw it myself, spikes like pegs stuck between grapes. She had to cut with an axe, there was no way around it.” The woman looked at her hand, which was now properly oiled and bandaged, so that she could not get rid of the healing ointment too soon. She looked at the doctor with undisguised repreach. “Now look at what you’ve done. How long must I wear it?”

Cooper just heaved a sigh.

A couple of questions later, Benjamin and Cooper said their goodbyes, cautioning Mrs. Maria against unnecessary work, and officially ended today’s house calls and headed back towards their part of town. Evening was nigh, but Benjamin was in no hurry to get to his flat or the inn today. The herbarium and reports had already been completed, and Salina had plans so they were unlikely to share a table tonight.

Not that it bothered him in any way, of course.

“You know, the more I think, the more I get the impression that something strange is going on here,” Benjamin mused. “That lemon I got from you was the size of a melon, the clearly oriental grass is having a great time in the fumes of alcohol at the inn, and Mrs. Maria over there was talking about spikes on a grape. They should not have spikes! Even the Greasy Butcher, oh, there grows a verbena in complete shade, though it requires sunlight. At first I thought that maybe there was something incredibly fertilizing in the soil, but it’s more than that.”

“You’re a scientist. What does the method tell you?”

“Leaving nature spirits aside, because I don’t subscribe to such things, the stories I’ve heard have one thing in common: the forest. The plants of Thornwood must be unique in some way. If the locals have been transplanting those over the years, one by one into the city’s flora, then perhaps that’s the reason for such deviations.”

“Not all plants come from the forest,” Cooper noted. “From what I know, many came to Slickhaven through foreign traders and travelers from distant lands.”

Benjamin nodded. “Right. So maybe there’s something in the water or air? Imagine a fertilizer so small it would be invisible to the eye, but yet still there, floating in the air. Maybe the wind brought something like that from the forest and into everyone’s yard?”

“If that was the case, I would no doubt have many more calls about coughs and throat illnesses!”

“What puzzles me are the people who went into the forest but never came back, although that’s probably best left to the guards. I shall concentrate on solving the mystery in my area.” Benjamin fished out his notebook from his coat and immediately lost himself in it. “For my research, I’ll need samples of water, soil, moss, leaves, plants… obviously from different layers of the forest, everything from the litter to the canopy, ideally collected at a similar time. It’s too much work for one person, even myself.”

Cooper moved the botanist walking blind before he fell under a parked hay cart. Benjamin didn’t even register it, and after a moment’s reading he snapped his fingers in exultation.

“I know! I’m going to organize a scientific expedition. I’ll require at least half a dozen assistants for research and sample collection, and probably another half-dozen to ward off the wildlife.”

“An expedition… in Slickhaven? That’s the first.”

“All the better! Could you please point me to someone from the local Forestry Department?”

“You know, this may come off as a shock to you, but we don’t have a Forestry Department here.”

“Really?” Benjamin was shocked to his core. The absence of such a key unit was quite an oversight. It was a miracle the city was able to keep on running at all. “Okay, so who should we ask for permissions and the allocation of resources to carry out high-priority scientific research?”

“You’re not in the capital. Here, the highest official is the Bloody Monarch himself, but he–”

“Most excellent!” Benjamin interrupted him. “As a local magnate, he will no doubt want to hear about the potential benefits for his town and subjects.”

“For his subjects, no.” Cooper shrugged his shoulders. “For his throne and lordship, now you’re talking.”