As the Crow Flies Chapter 3
Buskins are long socks or stockings worn under a priest's garb. Admittedly this one is late because I got a bit too excited writing moments from chapters to come and forgot I had to get there first! Extra long chapter to make up for the delay, (plus I really wanted to get this one right).
The following Monday, Elphaba was outside hanging out the laundry. Her hands were still raw from polishing the chapel yesterday, and the bone chilling wind made this simple task more of a trial than Elphaba would have liked. Seeing as it wasn't a Sunday, Elphaba had traded her head covering for a simple navy knit hat.
After dropping one of Frexspar's buskins for the fourth time that day, the man himself came striding across the grass carrying a small bundle of envelopes.
"Elphaba!" He bellowed from across the lawn.
Elphaba barely flinched, "Yes?"
"Where's Biff? I need him to make a delivery to town."
"He's cleaning the south wall windows."
"I have some post that needs to be taken in to town, give these to him for me."
"Alright." Elphaba continued to fumble with the pegs in her hands.
"Alright, what?"
"Alright, Father." Elphaba paused from hanging the buskins and took the envelopes from him.
Frex nodded and turned back to the main building. When he reached the doors, Frex glanced back and noticed that Elphaba had dropped the bundle into the washing basket and hadn't stopped fiddling with the pegs. "Now, Elphaba." He commanded sharply, "The laundry can wait."
Elphaba rolled her eyes before retrieving the envelopes from the basket and stalking off to find Biff.
Elphaba walked out onto the southern lawn that rested just above the church vineyard. As she passed Elphaba, could see Mr. Whistles among the vines, where he was preparing for the harvest that would occur in a few weeks time. The wine made from the grapes would be sold and used to fund the church for the following year.
Turning back to the church, Elphaba spotted Biff high up on a ladder with a cloth cleaning the church's elaborate stained glass windows. The pre-teen had been living at the church for three years and still thought Elphaba was a demon in disguise. His uncle had been living in the caretakers cottage since before Elphaba had arrived.
"Biff!" Elphaba called up at the boy, "Frex wants you to-"
Startled, Biff attempted to spin around to see the voice addressing him. Already being a jittery and unstable boy, he overbalanced on his ladder and plummeted with a terrified yell into the garden beneath the window. The cloth and bucket he was using were lost in the rose bushes across from the church.
"Biff!" Elphaba dropped the bundle of envelopes and ran across the lawn to the wall side gardens. She could hear the young man's pained groans from the shrubbery as she got closer. Frantically pulling apart the leaves, Elphaba shoved her way through the foliage until she reached Biff. He was laying on his back, with his hands clutching at his right ankle, his face screwed up in pain.
"Oz, are you alright?" Elphaba's voice conveyed her concern and slight panic.
"No." Biff groaned, "My ankle…"
"Okay," Elphaba knelt beside him, only for him to recoil away the handsbreadth he could in the cramped space.
Sighing Elphaba said, "Can you walk?"
"I-I think s-so." Biff tried to stand by himself, only to fall back with a pained cry.
"Look, you can't stand on your own so I'm going to have to help you stand, and that means I'm going to have to touch you."
Biff's jaw tensed and he looked away into the shrubs.
"Oh grow up. I know I threatened to curse you if you didn't bring me books, but aren't you old enough now to know I was joking?" Elphaba's voice was sharp with annoyance.
Biff still didn't respond. Elphaba offered him a small smile that she hoped made her appear trustworthy, only to huff in frustration when he refused to acknowledge her.
"For the last time it's not contagious!"
Biff looked up at her hesitantly, then down at his ankle, before reluctantly holding out his hand for her to take. Elphaba took his hand in hers and helped Biff to stand. He awkwardly stared at the ground as the two shuffled out from the shrubbery, his arm around Elphaba's shoulders, just as Mr. Whistles came running up from the vineyard.
When his uncle was within reach, Biff quickly untangled himself from Elphaba and grasped his uncle's arm. Surprised, Mr. Whistles glanced apologetically at Elphaba before addressing his nephew.
"That was quite the crash, my boy. Even I heard it out in the field."
As the words left his mouth, Frexspar came storming around the corner of the church, drawn to the disturbance of his peace.
"What is going on out here?"
"It's alright, Father," said Mr. Whistles, "My nephew's just had a bit of a fall an' hurt his ankle."
"I-It's alr-right, F-Father Frexs-spar, sir. I c-can still w-wa-!" Biff attempted to put his weight back onto his ankle only for it to collapse underneath him, forcing his uncle to take his whole weight, causing Biff cry out again.
"I guess it'd be best for you to get inside and rest. Elphaba will cover your duties until you are able to walk again."
Biff sent Elphaba an apologetic look as she gave an irritated sigh.
"Elphaba, you make the delivery." Frexspar picked up the bundle from where Elphaba had dropped it and held it out towards her, "I trust you know where the post office is?"
Elphaba took the bundle wordlessly before setting off down the hundred yard stretch of road that lead into town.
As much as Elphaba enjoyed observing the town from her attic window, being out amongst the people was an entirely different story. Of course she had been into town before, a number of times, but that didn't mean it was an experience she enjoyed.
Elphaba could still remember the driving snow and the sting of rocks against her back.
She shook the memories from her head, as now wasn't the time for reminiscing. She had a job to do and Frexspar would not be pleased if she were away longer than necessary.
As she got closer to the main road, the trees grew sparse and houses took their place. Soon she was amongst the townsfolk of Longstone going about their daily business.
Many of the people recognised the green girl from her previous visits to town, but others... not so much. As she walked the main street, people parted before her, sometimes scrambling to avoid her as if she was the embodiment of the plague. Others who had seen her before were less wary, but still avoided eye contact.
Elphaba's jaw tensed, this was why she hated going into town.
Just ahead the townsfolk were parting for another reason. A trio of soldiers were demanding tax from an old Goat dressed in a tattered red vest with small spectacles perched on his nose.
"Come on Goat, we haven't got all day!"
"Yes, yes, sorry gentlemen."
The Goat sounded upset and irritated as he scurried into his shop, a bookstore, before emerging a moment later with a small coin purse which he meekly handed to the largest soldier who took it and opened it, eyes sparkling with greed.
"Thank you for your faithful citizenship, Goat," The beefy soldier 'accidently' knocked over a small stand of books out the front of the shop.
"Oops, sorry." His tone dripped with fake sincerity.
As the Goat bent to pick up his scattered wares, the soldier kicked the old Goat in the rear, making the Animal bleat in surprise as he sprawled out onto the pavement, losing his small glasses in the fall. As the Goat scrambled for his glasses, the soldier picked up a small book from the storefront stand.
"I'll be taking this as well, my niece likes books, ya see."
The group of soldiers echoed their leader's uproarious laughter as they walked off down the road, slapping each others backs and joking about the Goats pathetic bleating.
When the soldiers had moved a little further down the road, Elphaba ran to the Goat's side, picking up his glasses for him.
"Ah, thank you." He squinted through the lenses for a moment before focusing on Elphaba's face. "Oh," was all he could summon in response to her unique complexion.
Uncomfortable with the Goat's blank stare, Elphaba spoke up to draw his attention elsewhere, "You shouldn't let them bully you like that."
Drawn from his shocked trance, the Goat blinked before replying to her, "Oh, I'm afraid there's no opposing the Gale Force, my dear. Even so, your kindness is most welcome."
"Gale Force," Elphaba frowned in confusion, "The Wizard's soldiers?"
"Yes, I'm afraid the further from the Emerald City you go, the worse they get." The Goat dusted at his vest absently.
"Well then you're welcome Mr-?"
"Dillamond, my dear. You may call me Dillamond." Now sufficiently recovered, he held out a hoof which Elphaba shook, more than a little surprised. It was the first time in years someone had willingly touched her hand.
"And it's very nice to meet you, Miss-?"
"Elphaba."
"Elphab-Ah!" Dillamond smiled in realisation, "You must be Biff's friend that he's always buying books for."
Elphaba smiled, "Yes, that's me."
"Well then, would you like to come inside and I'll show you around?"
Elphaba's smile widened before her smile quickly faded as she remembered the reason she was in town to begin with, "Oh, I need to be heading to the post office."
"I see."
"I suppose I could spare a few minutes." The rare opportunity for Elphaba to wander around in a bookstore was too great a temptation to walk away from.
"Marvelous, come in!" Dillamond shuffled into his small store, collecting a few fallen books from the pavement as he went. "You have a taste for Ozian history if I recall correctly."
Surprised Elphaba eagerly engaged the old Goat in his clever choice of topic. "Yes, it's fascinating to see how our systems have evolved over our documented history."
"Such a focus on our history must mean you have quite the taste for the political climate as well, hmm?"
"Well, not really. Seeing as I don't leave the church grounds very often, any updates I get are few and far between." admitted Elphaba with a small sigh.
"Well, Ozian Politics is very closely interlinked with many of the major events of the past few hundred years, as you may have noticed in the variety of texts you have already read," began Dillamond, happy to be able to teach his guest something new. "The biggest catalyst for the current political climate was-"
"The Wizard taking power." Elphaba finished.
Startled, Dillamond paused before smiling encouragingly, "Yes, indeed! The Wizard has been responsible the enhancement of our culture and the advancement of our technologies for the past thirty years. But…" Dillamond glanced over Elphaba's shoulder, seeing the soldiers lurking on the street outside, "Oh, I've gone and done it again."
"What's wrong?" Turning to follow Dillamond's gaze, her brow furrowed.
Dillamond shuffled his hind-hooves on the rugged floor, "I almost said something I shouldn't. It's dangerous to have an opinion, you know."
The old Goat turned abruptly and hobbled through the shelves of his book store leaving Elphaba to stand just inside the door, at a loss to whether she should follow or not.
"Here." Dillamond's sudden reappearance startled Elphaba out of her reverie. He waved a large book under her nose which she took, curious. "Chapter 5 briefly implies a link between the Wizard and the recent difficulties."
Elphaba flicked through the pages of the book, eager to begin reading. Closing the cover she looked up at the nervous old Goat, "You shouldn't be afraid to speak out against them."
Dillamond gave a nervous chuckle, "How, Miss Elphaba? I'm an old Goat, there's not all that much I can do."
"I don't know, maybe the Wizard can help?"
Dillamond's eyes flickered, "Yes," he said vaguely, "maybe the Wizard could do something."
Something in his tone had Elphaba wondering if the Goat truly believed what he said.
"Well, I'd better get going," said Elphaba, once again remembering her purpose. "I'm already a bit late and Father Frexspar will be waiting."
"Ah, alright. That's fine," Dillamond adjusted his glasses and smiled up at the green girl before him. "I suppose you could visit another time?"
"I don't see why not. With Biff injured I suppose I'll be the one doing all the running about."
"Excellent. I look forward to our next conversation, Miss Elphaba."
"Good-bye, Mr. Dillamond."
Elphaba sent the Goat one last smile before leaving the shop and to deliver the letters to the post office. Her chest felt light as she thought about visiting the clever old Goat again.
Also, I'm using my twitter account to post hints and updates on this story so feel free to check it out :)