Chapter 7 - The Mysterious Mr. Grimsworth
Mr. Grimsworth ushered Hollie inside, muttering apologies about the state of his abode.
“Do watch you step there. Oh, and watch out for the bird cages.” He directed Hollie through a veritable maze of a hallway, from whose beams hung an assortment of cages which housed a variety of birds. They scuttled about in their cages, chirping with interest at the stranger. “Some of the them hang quite low. And the birds themselves will talk your ear off if you let them.”
When they were finally free of the hall, Hollie found herself in what appeared to be the drawing room. There was a fireplace, a couch, and two leather chairs. But every wall in the room was covered by bookshelves filled to the brim with tomes and notebooks. Despite the number of shelves, there was no room to hold all the books, and several piles of them sat stacked on the floor and shoved away in corners.
Mr. Grimsworth motioned for Hollie to take a seat in one of the leather chairs while he sat on the couch.
Mr. Grimsworth's Sitting Room [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53847071737_dc1e259151_z.jpg]
“I do apologize for the mess. I’m in dire need of a housekeeper to help me organize things and to keep things in their proper places.” He shot her a self-deprecating smile. “I’m a bit—how can I put it—scatterbrained you might say. Now, how can I help you?”
Hollie still didn’t know what to make of the man. He seemed friendly enough, if a bit mad. She was about to answer when a long, whining meowww caught her ears. A large gray tabby had wandered in from an adjoining room and made its way to the couch, rubbing its body against Mr. Grimsworth's legs until he picked up the tubby animal and set it beside him.
“Geoffrey,” he scolded the cat with a smile. “How many times have I told you that it’s not polite to interrupt when someone is trying to speak? Now let’s give our guest our undivided attention, shall we?” He scratched the cat gently behind its ears, and it settled itself contentedly in his lap and gazed at Hollie. “I’m sorry my dear girl. Do go on.”
Hollie laughed, feeling more at ease after such an obvious display of affection for the animal.
“I’m new to Foxley Cross. Well, to this whole world actually.”
Mr. Grimsworth arched an eyebrow and listened with interest as she explained her arrival, the cottage, the letter, and her interactions with the Willowroots and Alice Chipping. Then she told him how she’d picked up his job on the Quest Board, thinking that all she’d be doing was gathering mushrooms, and then found to her surprise that Spotted Redcaps were creatures, not fungi.
At this Mr. Grimsworth laughed.
“And did you catch them?” he asked her.
Mr. Grimsworth in his study [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53848222228_fb5902c470_b.jpg]
“Well…” Hollie grimaced, trying to decide how to best put her concerns into words that wouldn’t cause offense. “I asked my Codex what use someone might have for Spotted Redcaps, and it couldn’t give me an answer. And to be honest, not knowing really anything about this world, I was worried that you might want them for—”
“Some sort of nefarious purposes?” he asked with a glint of playfulness in his eyes.
Hollie blushed and let out a breath.
“Yes.”
“Ah, my dear girl. I completely understand. And no need to feel embarrassed about it. If I was in your situation, I would probably feel the same. Especially if the person who wanted the creatures had a name as frightening as Grimsworth!” He shook his head. “I’ve never liked the name much myself. In fact, if I were to ever move elsewhere, I’d probably change it as it wouldn’t be good for business. But my grandfather, Bartholomew Grimsworth, came to Foxley Cross nearly a century ago, and everyone here has gotten used to the name by now and trusts me completely with their animals!”
“Their animals?” Hollie asked.
“Yes,” he answered, puffing up his chest. “I am the veterinarian for this village and the surrounding areas. And since my specialty is animals, I also see the occasional patient from Willow’s Wind for treatment.”
“So that would explain all the bird cages,” Hollie laughed. “But, if you’re a veterinarian, what exactly do you need the Spotted Redcaps for? Not that I think you’re planning on cooking them or anything.”
“Cooking them!” he exclaimed. “My dear girl, did you actually think I would be cooking Spotted Redcaps? Cooking them?” He shook his head in disbelief and laughed. “Geoffrey, can you imagine such a thing as cooked Spotted Redcaps?”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea—”
“It’s okay,” Mr. Grimsworth laughed. “As you said, you haven’t been in this world for long. So why did I ask for Spotted Redcaps? Well it’s actually a simple—and not so frightening—answer. I’m a [Naturalist]. Apart from fixing up sick animals, I also study the natural world around us.”
Gently, he lifted the large cat and set him on the couch, then stood up and walked over to one of the shelves.
“You see all of these books?” he asked.
Hollie nodded. He plucked one from its resting place on the shelf and held it open to her. Every page was blank.
“All of these used to contain information about all the species in Balnochy. Plants, animals, sentient beings like us. Creatures of legend and folklore. The uses of herbs for medicine. Everything that [Naturalists] like myself have gathered through centuries of exploration and careful observation. And now… It’s all gone. All of it! Everything but my own personal notes, which thankfully, I do have quite a lot of. But it’s a great travesty, and I’ve no doubt it’s due to this…this…cataclysmic magical assault on the Kingdom’s Library which you’ve described.”
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He slid the book back into the shelf and took a seat on the couch once more.
“And it does sound like you might be the solution to this dire mess, Hollie. But onto the more immediate matter at hand. The Spotted Redcaps. I have one in my study, and I’ll show it to you in just a moment. I found him a few days ago in the woods just southeast of town, close to Brambleburr Farm. He was acting strangely. Sick most likely. He just sat there as I approached, looking sluggish, and, well, you’ve seen how quick they are to scuttle off when they’re scared. But when I got home, I found all my books empty! I searched through all my notebooks to see if I’d ever written anything down about Redcaps, but fatum vegrandis—species of small fae—aren’t my specialty and besides, you’ve seen the state of this place.” He motioned to the room around them. “A giant, unorganized, heaping mess! So I thought I would hire someone to bring me a few Redcaps for observation, to see if I might be able to set the little fellow to rights again. Speaking of which…” He stood up and motioned for Hollie to follow. “Would you like to see him?”
“Yes! Of course!” Hollie nodded eagerly, then rose to follow after him.
She was anxious to see the little Redcap up close, and grateful that all her fears about Mr. Grimsworth had been put to rest.
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The stairs to the second floor of Mr. Grimsworth's house led to a singular long hallway off of which sat half a dozen rooms on either side. It was enormous to say the least, and nearly as big as The Jolly Gnome.
“I know. I know. It is large in a ghastly sort of way,” Mr. Grimsworth said. “My grandfather was well off, to put it mildly. He had made quite a bit of money back in Derby raising prized horses. When he got older, he wanted to get out of the city, so he came to Foxley Cross and had this house built. And while I certainly have no use for half the rooms here, my father was one eleven children, so this place was, at one point in time, quite bustling and brimming with life! Now there’s just me.”
“And Geoffrey,” Hollie added.
Mr. Grimsworth turned to Hollie and nodded with a smile. “And Geoffrey.”
“And all your birds.”
“Ha!” Mr. Grimsworth laughed. “Those aren’t pets, my dear girl. Just wild birds I find that have been hurt. Broken wings, torn out feathers, that sort of thing. I fix them the best I can and let them go, though a few won’t ever be able to live freely again. I have an area in my back garden that is completely fenced in so no predators can get to it, and I let them explore out there every day. Get some fresh air in their lungs and stretch their wings a bit.”
“That’s so thoughtful and kind,” Hollie said. She felt absolutely rotten that she’d ever thought such horrid things about this man who, though he may be a bit odd and eccentric, was truly so kind and generous in such an extraordinary way. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you the benefit of a doubt.”
He waved her off and turned into a room.
“No worries. No worries. Like I said, it’s completely understandable. Now, would you like to see our little friend?”
Grimsworth's study [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53848222193_00a38dfd05_b.jpg]
Hollie followed him into the room. It was large, with two sets of windows that overlooked the road heading south out of the village, and they let in an ample amount of sunlight. There were two bookshelves, a drawing table in front of one window, a desk in front of the other, and a large, wooden table in the middle of the room. On it were an assortment of medical utensils, bandages, tinctures, herbs, a mortar and pestle, a series of magnifying lenses, and right in the center, a large cage with some leaves and grass, a bowl of water, a dish of berries and nuts, and one tired, ill-looking Spotted Redcap.
“Well hello, little chap!” Mr. Grimsworth did his best to sound cheerful as he approached the small creature. It turned its gaze to the man, but other than that, it remained quite listless. “This here is Ms. Hollie Townes.”
Hollie smiled and gave a little nod as the Redcap looked her over.
“She is the one who has taken the job to bring me a few of your fellow Redcaps so that we can figure out what exactly is going on with you. Hollie,” he turned his attention to her now. “Why don’t you come on over here and I’ll take him out so you can hold him and get a closer look.”
Hollie gasped. Would the Redcap really let her handle it? Mr. Grimsworth opened the top of the cage and gently scooped the little creature out and placed him into Hollie’s open hands. It gazed up at her with big, sad eyes.
“Poor little thing,” she said, trying her best to smile, though it was everything she could do to hold back her tears. The Redcap looked so ill, so lethargic, and it was clear something was deeply wrong with it. There was no fighting spirit, no noise of protest, no trying to flee. A sudden, horrible thought crossed her mind. “You don’t think this has anything to do with the magic storm in Derby, do you? Because I know all of that is supposed to rest on me, but I don’t even know how to go about doing that, or how long it will take, and by that time…”
Mr. Grimsworth placed a reassuring hand on Hollie’s shoulder and smiled.
“No, my dear. I don’t believe it’s anything of the sort.” He touched the Redcap’s head softly with his index finger. “I think it’s something common, and hopefully minor. Something that if I have the other Redcaps, I might be able to fix. And I really do need to fix this. I can’t stomach watching any creature so helpless and hurting.”
Hollie nodded.
“I understand,” she said. “Mr. Grimsworth, tomorrow I’ll go back to the woods and I won’t leave until I have the Spotted Redcaps for you.”
“Thank you, Hollie,” he said, then took the little creature from her hands and placed it back into its cage. “I know we can count on you.”
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When Hollie returned home that evening, she gathered everything she would need for the next day’s trek back into the woods. Mr. Grimsworth had given her a large, wicker basket as well as a handful of blackberries and blueberries from the bushes in his garden so that the Spotted Redcaps she gathered would have food.
“Now when you see one, Hollie, the best way to go about catching it is to sneak up quietly while it sleeps then clasp it quickly between both hands and place it in the basket. They’re fast little buggers, and if you let them get a start on you, they’ll slip away faster than you can say Jack Thornfork!”
“Jack Thornfork?” Hollie asked.
Mr. Grimsworth waved his fingers in the air. “Oh, just a silly expression, my girl.”
Before they’d left the study, Hollie had noticed several of his notebooks sprawled out and lying open upon the table. They were full of sketches of all sorts of things: trees, bushes, berries, leaves. There was a colored sketch of a bird, its head and breast a bright, blazing yellow, and its feathers a mix of brown and gold and orange. All of the pictures had labels and notes scribbled down in a messy hand.
Yellow Bird [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53847959796_870b9da932_b.jpg]
“Nature journals?” Hollie asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Grimsworth smiled proudly. “One or two days a week I go out to the fields and woods nearby and sketch what I observe.”
“You’re quite talented,” she complemented him. “I was gifted a journal and drawing set as well, and I’ve sketched a few things—a Spotted Redcap even—but they don’t look remotely as nice as yours.”
“Ah, well, it comes with time and practice. You learn the basics first. The tools and pencil grips. Things like value, shading, and perspective. How to block and then add detail. You know,” he perked up and smiled widely. “If you’d like to, we could go together sometime and do some sketches. I can teach you a few things about drawing, but also about observing the world around you. Which, when you do eventually put your [Cottager] class aside and become a [Ranger] and set off on your quest, will come in quite handy! What do you think?”
Hollie smiled. “I’d like that very much indeed!”
Now, back at her cottage and looking everything over, she couldn’t wait to get to sleep and start off first thing in the morning. She had a Spotted Redcap to save, and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way.