46. The Lake (3 Preparations)

Novum and Rurik worked together to drag the huge turtle back towards the house. They had flipped it over so that the top was down and luckily the spines on the shell were angled in a way that did not hinder their progress. The old man running the fields saw the turtle and gash that it was leaving in the ground and moved as quick as his old body would move. "Baron could you angle this directions and then follow behind me? I know that it will be harder to do but it will be of great help to the fields when you are done."

Novum nodded his head in that direction but Rurik was already going that way. He knew that Novum would not mind making it a little harder how for something better in the future. He was a man that was more than willing to work for what he wanted. The man lined up his eyes on the edge of the field and waited for them. He knew that the rip that the shell made would be a great boundary and starting point for the bigger fields that were needed. The man waved at his nephew and the young man ran over, "go and get that big ball of twine."

The young man sprinted away and came back just as the turtle was getting there. The man held the roll on his cane. "Go and tie the other end on the second stick to the left down there and then get out of the way." The boy did not run but walked quickly. "Baron give me a moment and he will have it tied. I thought it would be easier for you to follow the string rather than walking behind this old man. I am to slow for that."

"Okay I see. You want to use the cut of the shell to form the boundary of the field so that you have a strong starting point for the future. This should be deep enough to be a great base but also shallow enough that if it gets a little out of line you can make adjustments a lot easier. You got some great eyes to see that from way back here."

"I may be old and maybe I can't hear the best but I can see like a hawk, especially when it has to do with the dirt." The man looked up. "You are tied off Baron. Thank you for this." They pulled the turtle the length of the field and then made a few adjustments. They were close enough to the house that they did not want the turtle to tear up the ground and also they seriously doubted that the soft ground would hurt the turtles belly.

As they go to the center of the area the people that were left in the area were staring at the turtle as hard as they were staring at the bears before. Novum saw the hunter that liked to fish as well. "I need you to keep and eye on the lake. No one is to go near it until I get what is going on there sorted out. This might be like the bears and there may be several of them."

"Of course sir. I will head out soon."

"Thank you. You and only you can fish in the lake for now but stay alert. I have a feeling that a few fish might have been affected as well."

"I will cut the line the first time something does not feel right."

"Better safe than sorry. Dan where are you?"

"Just got here Baron."

"Well hate to say it but I need you to run into town for me." Dan smiled at him. He knew that was the case as soon as he called from him. "I need a few things. First talk to the mayor and the manager of the general store and tell them that I will be heading to the capitol tomorrow. If they want to make the trip with me they can and my wagons will be available. If they want to wait I will only be taking Noctis. Then head over and talk with Richard and see if he has anything to use on a turtle shell. Thinking about turning it into a boat."

"I will be back in a while." Dan mounted up on the horse that Novum had been letting him use for a while and headed back to the village.

Novum and the hunter rigged up a way to hang the turtle by the belly to clean everything up and the ladies grabbed the pots and got ready. Fang was sitting a ways away just watching. He was not hiding and he was not going to take anything he just wanted to make sure the Novum saw him and that he was being good. He was hoping to get some treats out of the turtle. Novum smiled as he worked. Finally he got the bottom of the turtle off after breaking one of his carving knives. He would have to pick up a few more good knives in the capitol tomorrow.

Once the bottom was off he started to work. He pulled the heart and one of the kidneys and tossed them to Fang with a grin and then he put the intestines in a wheelbarrow and had one of the guys take them over to where the farmer had started his compost point. They would be good for that since the turtles diet was different. It would help balance the nutrients in the soil. He made sure and toss the lungs into the fire. He was worried that since it appeared that a gas was responsible for the changes the lungs would be where the mutation was collected. He explained out loud to the ladies not to do anything with the lungs of any of the animals in the area for now. He also took the opportunity to slip about half of one of the lungs into his bag. He was going to go ahead and feed it to Fang.

Dan rode back into town and the guards gave him a funny look. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah just so happened that as soon as I got there Novum drug this enormous turtle to the house and sent me here to get some stuff to treat its shell. And he needed me to deliver a message to the mayor."

"Okay then. Have fun."

Dan came to the general store first headed in to the store. "What does Novum need this time?"

"He wanted me to pass along a message that he is headed to the Capitol tomorrow and his wagons are available to you. If you do not have the time he will just go himself with Noctis."

"Oh, then tell him I will be joining him. I will also rent out of the wagons to make sure and spread out the load. Three wagons should be enough."

"I will let him know." Dan gave the man a short bow of his head and quickly went on his way. The city hall was the next building that he came to. As he walked in he saw a couple of kids that were not quite old enough to work but a little old for the basic school here as a table taking instructions from Peter.

"Good morning Dan. What can I help you with?"

"Morning Peter. Novum wanted me to pass a message along to the mayor and sent me since he is dealing with the huge turtle."

"Huge turtle? What huge turtle? Like the bears huge?" All three questions came out before Dan could even answer the first one.

"Yeah he found a turtle in the lake that was about ten or eleven feet across. He it thinking about turning the shell into a boat and he needs me to talk to Richard about the materials."

"That is huge. Has he figured out what is making that animals like this?"

"He is headed to the Capitol tomorrow and wanted me to let the mayor know. And to let him that if he wanted to come with him he could bring the wagons and if not he was only going he would only take Noctis. But also tell him that Tom is going to be going and taking another wagon. But if he wants to go they are leaving in the morning."

"I will let him know." Peter headed to the back office and Dan headed towards the tanner's place. He figured the man would still be in the back dealing with the bears but he got lucky and the front door was unlocked. There was a sign on the counter telling him to head to the back if he needed something. He stuck his head in the door. "Richard it is Dan. I need a few things from you, starting with advice."

"What did Novum kill this time?"

"Turtle, wanted to see about treating the shell. Maybe even using it as a boat."

"Treating a turtle shell can be a pain in the ass, wait did you say turning it into a boat? How big was this turtle?"

"I would say over ten feet across. I mean it will be a fancy boat. But more than big enough for a couple of people."

"Let me look." Richard went into his storage room and after a while came back out with his arms clear full of stuff. "This should be just enough to do the shell. I will have to get some more at the Capitol since this is everything that I have in stock."

"Leave a list with Tom and Novum could pick it up when he heads to the Capitol tomorrow."

"He is headed up tomorrow. I will leave a list then and add a few things that I am going to need to finish up the bears. These things are on a different level of huge and for some reason their skin seems to take more resources for treatment than a normal mounting. But it will all be worth it when I trade it in for fame and fortune. And maybe sell the second one. But thanks for the heads up about his trip."

Dan waved at his friend and headed back out to the farm to get everything ready for tomorrow. He was not sure if he would be going or not so he wanted to get back as soon as possible in order to make sure his name was on the list. As he was riding back through the village the Mayor was outside and waved him over.

"Tell Novum that I will be coming with him. Since Tom rented one wagon I will rest a second wagon to go with his two. That way we should be covered for anything and everything."

"I will let him know." After he had talked to everyone he kicked the horse's speed up a little higher and headed back towards the house. Novum was looking over the cleaned shell when he rode up. "Richard said to use these." He passed the stuff over to Novum.

"Thank you Dan. What about the mayor and Tom?"

"They are each renting one wagon to go with your two and headed out with you. Richard is also going to be leaving a list of stuff to replace this stuff since apparently this was all he had in stock for this kind of treatment."

"Well then I do not want to waste any of it." Novum read over the quick instructions that Richard sent with the stuff and with the help of a few of the others he got things in motion and worked quickly and efficiently to treat the shell. According to this if everything went right he would have a new boat by the time that he go back from the Capitol but if he did something wrong it would crumble under his grip if he did something wrong. Well time to take a chance.