Chương 31: Lessons Begin

I had been so excited to see which house in town was Mr. Briar's, and that was why I was surprised when he turned off of the road and started to walk directly toward the woods at the edge of our little village.

"Uhm, Mr., I mean, B..Briar, where are we going?" I didn't know what to expect as I followed after him, but I wasn't afraid of him or of going with him. I knew that he was a good guy and my dad trusted him. That was enough for me.

"I don't actually live in the village with the others."

Mr. Briar turned to speak to me over his shoulder as he walked. I wouldn't have done that while walking into the trees, I would have been worried about hitting something or tripping on a root and falling to my death as I got impaled by a branch. Even now, I had to look away from him to watch the ground so that I didn't fall down.

"If you don't live in the village, then where do you live?" I had never thought of where anyone other than the people inside this village lived. Even back in my Adelaide days I never wondered where anyone lived, other than a book character, so it never occurred to me to even think about where it was that Mr. Briar lived.

"I live in the woods, it's quiet and I can make my medicines without disturbing people."

"Disturbing them?" I scrunched my face up as I thought about this. "Why would it disturb them?" I saw a smile on his face then, just before he turned to look toward the trees and the ground as he walked.

"Well, let's just say that some of them are not that pleasant to smell while they're brewing."

Brewing? His medicines sounded more like potion making. Is he a village doctor or a sorcerer? Perhaps he is an alchemist or something. I simply don't know yet, so I couldn't answer that for myself.

"Well, I won't be bothered by the smell. I promise." I smiled and thumped my fist against my chest as I made this declaration. I had a strong stomach and a nose of steel; they wouldn't bother me at all.

After a few more minutes of walking in silence through trees so thick that the sun barely made it through to light the way, I could see a clearing up ahead. The clearing was filled with bright light, and I could just barely see the outline of a house through the leaves and branches that were still in front of us.

"Is that it? Are we almost there?" The excitement in my voice was thick and over the top that it made Mr. Briar laugh when he heard me.

"Yeah, just beyond the branches."

With a smile, Mr. Briar parted the branches and made room for me to pass through into the brightly lit clearing.

"Oh wow! This place is beautiful." I wasn't lying either. The stream that was near my house made its way through this area as well, slowly trickling along with a slightly audible bubbling sound. There were herbs, flowers and fruits growing here that I had never seen before, but it made the entire place smell beautiful.

The trees that ringed the clearing looked like they were perfectly formed into a neat circle and none of the trees reached too far in or encroached on the living space. It literally looked perfect.

The house that was sitting nestled in the very center of the clearing was small but immaculate. It was a small wooden cottage, it literally looked like it had been made from perfectly cleaned logs that were probably taken from this very clearing. There was a small window on each side of the front door and the side wall that I could see from here.

"This place is beautiful." I smiled and looked at Mr. Briar who seemed to be waiting for my reaction.

"I am glad that you approve. Shall I show you inside? After that, I can show you around the garden."

"That sounds great, thank you."

Just like he said that he was going to, Mr. Briar led the way into the house. He showed me his combination kitchen and working space. In my house the large room was used for everything that we did together as a family. But here, Mr. Briar prioritized work above all else. I could also tell that he lived here alone. There was no sign at all that anyone other than Mr. Briar ever lived in this house.

I was given a thorough tour of the small house, including seeing where the one and only bedroom was. It didn't look like it was used all that often. I had a feeling that Mr. Briar fell asleep while working a lot. In a way, I felt like he was really lonely and just needed someone to keep him company.

After that depressing thought, and the tour, it was time to explore the garden. This took a lot longer than the tour of the house. There were rows upon rows of different herbs, flowers, bushes, everything that you could think of growing.

I recognized a few things here and there, but there were so many that I had never seen before. When I saw them I was so curious that I just wanted to know everything about them. I looked at every part of them, touched them, and smelled them. They were so unique that they just made me smile seeing them and knowing that they were going to be a part of my everyday life soon.

"Are you ready to begin your first lesson?" I could tell how excited Mr. Briar was as well.

"Definitely." I nodded at him.

"Good."

From there, the lesson started. It seemed that the whole lesson was going to be learning what each plant in the garden was. This mostly consisted of Mr. Briar just giving me a botany lesson.

"This here is echinacea. It is used to help treat colds and even wounds." The echinacea was very similar to that of my memories. There were purplish flowers that were slightly cone shaped. "These ones here are the chamomile. They have a calming effect, and they help with many different ailments."

As he spoke, I looked at the flower that he had indicated. This plant was both similar and different. There was still a slight apple scent coming from the flowers on the chamomile plant which helped me to know what it really was. However, this one was not the white that I would have expected. The petals on these flowers were a soft pale green and their stems were yellow. The center of the flower, instead of yellow, was bright pink. It may have looked different, but I knew that it was the same plant. And I could tell it was related to the more potent chamomile from earth since there was just one flower per stem.

Mr. Briar continued from there. He described and pointed out the rest of the things that were growing in his garden. He told me about feverfew, garlic, ginger, ginseng, goldenseal, thistle, valerian, stinging nettles, burdock, yarrow, tart cherries, kiwi, granolem, hunter berries, arancia, sour nomel, and several others.

There were some that I knew and could recognize either by name or sight. However, there were several that I had never heard of before, but they looked a little like things that I had known from back on earth. It was exciting and I was enjoying learning so much.

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