Chapter 6 – The Mysterious Book

There were many books on scent in Ladyship's Library. Nutt read them avidly, as he read all books. It seemed that the blacksmith was correct, and that animals such as horses often had very keen senses, could in some cases smell an odour that humans would be unable to detect. Horses, and other animals, were also apparently sometimes able to scent fear and nervousness.

Nutt spent some more time with the blacksmith, which confirmed what he had read – all of the horses in Ladyship's stables often acted nervously when there were strange and unfamiliar scents in the immediate vicinity. Despite this, he quite enjoyed spending time with the blacksmith, watching him make horseshoes, and then shoeing the horses. But Nutt knew that all he was really doing was just distracting himself – he kept thinking about the book that was locked away within the cupboard, wondering about it, and the more he tried to avoid thinking about it, the more it seemed that thoughts about it tended to intrude upon whatever else he was doing.

Still, he had promised Ladyship that he would not read that book. To distract himself, he spent much of his time reading in the library, this time dedicating his studies to reading books on animal behaviour. There were some interesting pieces about aggression in male adolescent rats, which he found to be quite fascinating. But, soon, he started to think about the chained book once more. Frowning slightly, he walked slowly along the corridor of the library, occasionally reading books on geography, history, art, literature, politics…but, no matter how hard he tried, he could not stop himself from thinking about the chained book for very long.

After a while, he found a book on Leonard of Quirm, who seemed to have been a very interesting individual, the sort of person who was interested in pretty much everything, from art and nature to technology and science. But, while everything about Leonard of Quirm fascinated Nutt, even this was not enough to distract him from thinking about the chained book within the cupboard.

And now, almost without his conscious will, he was making his way towards that cupboard. It was right in front of him. He had his lockpicks in his hands and he reached towards the lock, then pulled back, frowning to himself – he had promised Ladyship – but it couldn't hurt, could it, just to check the lockpicks? He told himself that he would not read the book, but would simply pick the lock, then lock it again. No harm would be done.

He found that he was already picking the lock. His conscious twinged, as he reminded himself that he had promised Ladyship that he would not do this. But, he reassured himself, I'm just checking my handiwork, just checking that the lockpicks work – there's no harm in doing that.

The lock was surprisingly easy to pick. Nutt removed the padlock and the chains, in a kind of trance. Then he heard someone else entering the library. He quickly put the chains back and locked the padlock, and made his way, at a fast-walking pace, back to where he had left the book on Leonard of Quirm, which was still open, on one of the many tables within the main section of the library.

He then saw that the newcomer was Mrs Healstether. She was making her way towards him now, and giving him a slightly questioning look. He smiled at her, hoping that she could not see the guilt and anxiety that he was now feeling. He asked her about Leonard of Quirm, and held up the book for her to examine as he did so.

She seemed to relax a bit when he did that. They spent the next hour or so discussing the work of Leonard of Quirm. Then, they spent the next hour talking about poetry and its uses, as well as the poetic techniques that were commonly used by professional poets. All of this information was very fascinating – however, the whole time, Nutt could not stop himself from thinking about the mysterious chained book in the cupboard. He had locked the padlock, hadn't he? He was sure that he had. It would not hurt, though, just to go back and check, just to make sure. It was not as if he intended to read the book, after all. So, when Mrs Healstether left, to catalogue some new books that had apparently arrived recently, he decided to go back and check.

The lockpicks were in his hands once more, as he made his way back to the cupboard. He checked – good, it was locked, just as he thought it would be. He stared at the book for a moment. There was a longing, and a deep curiosity in his mind – but he had promised Ladyship, and, he told himself, he was not the sort of person who broke promises.

Instead, he returned to the blacksmiths once more. The blacksmith watched, with satisfaction, as Nutt made horseshoes. As he worked, Nutt told him that he had been learning about scent, and then showed him how he was able to disguise his own scent, using herbs and oils.

Feeling suddenly uncertain, Nutt asked him if he could try to shoe a horse once more, now that his scent had been disguised, now that it would be unlikely to spook the horses. The blacksmith frowned slightly, as though trying to make up his mind. Then he shrugged, handed Nutt a horseshoe, and said that it could not hurt for him to give it another try.

A moment later, Nutt was carefully examining the horse – it was a tall stallion, and was a dark brown colour. As Nutt carefully watched the horse, so the blacksmith was carefully watching him. The horse did not seem to be very happy as Nutt shoed him – the horse did not try to bite him - but did whinny slightly in an agitated sort of way.

Nutt was as gentle and careful as he knew how to be. Be kind, he told himself – it is important to be kind. The horse is finding this scary, and he is unsure of himself – so be as kind to this dumb animal as you possibly can be. He finished his work. The blacksmith was still watching him, but was now nodding appreciatively, "That was a good job you did there," he said approvingly.

"Do I have worth?" asked Nutt.

"Yeah, I'd say so," the blacksmith replied, smiling at him.

"Thank you," Nutt bowed, ever so slightly, and then left the blacksmith and the horse.

He returned to the library. He wandered aimlessly amongst the shelves for a while, occasionally picking up a book, only to realise that he had already read it. But, of course, there was one book, at least, that he had not read. Almost without his own conscious awareness, he found himself making his way back along that one corridor, to that one cupboard, that one lock, that one book.

I promised Ladyship that I wouldn't read it, he reminded himself. But, he reasoned, it can't hurt just to look at it. No harm in that at all.

And then he was back by the cupboard, the lockpicks in his hands once more. Picking the lock was laughably easy, since he had done this once before. The lock and the chains fell away from the book. Nutt reached for it, removing it from the shelf within the cupboard. I'm just looking at it, Nutt told himself, I'm not going to read it, since I promised Ladyship that I wouldn't. But it cannot hurt just to look at it, just for a moment. He looked down at the book. On the front, in large silver letters on the cover, was a single word: ORC.