Chapter 17

No telling how much longer we would have stayed with the cyclops if I hadn't gotten one of my "feelings." Something was going on, and we were needed on one of the islands. That night, I spoke to my mentor and he told me about a problem on the Island of the Lotus Eaters, whatever that was. It seems that some humans had shown up and were playing hell with the ecology. It was our job to investigate and put a stop to it if we could.

Ugly and Serene helped us get our stuff moved to the flatter ground where our carts would work well enough for the horses to pull them. It was a very tearful goodbye on both sides, and we promised to return if we could. We made our way to the coast, and I called for Are'le'roo. He showed up and took us to the island we needed to visit. While on his back, I asked Are'le'roo if we were imposing on him by asking him to transport us around and about. He assured me that it was no imposition, and he enjoyed the chance to go places he normally didn't visit. He said that he would be glad to pick us up when we were ready to leave.

Aklag and I warned our people to be vary careful what we ate, since there was a fruit growing on the island which was a powerful sleeping drug and mild narcotic. I told them that the information I had was very vague, but we were supposed to see if anyone was being harmed and to look for possible ecological damage. It seems that heavy consumption of the lotus fruit would keep a person from noticing that the world around him was going to wrack and ruin.

We naturally arrived on the island at night, so we sat around dozing and killing time until the sun came up and we could find some locals. We spread out in our wolf form because we could travel farther and faster that way. We were looking for anyone who could give us some information on local conditions and indicate how concerned we should be.

Big Noise was the first to spot a native who was awake and walking around. He used his mental communication to call for Aklag and me to join him. We met and shifted to humans. We had stayed hidden until we had changed in order not to alarm the person we wanted to talk to. The other two stayed concealed while I made contact.

"Good morning, Sir. May I have a little bit of your time? I am a stranger and I would like some information."

The native seemed a bit blurry-eyed, but I attributed that to the early hour. He said, "Certainly, how may I help you?"

"My small clan has been traveling around the sea looking for items we might trade for. Is there some major town that would have a market day where we could see local products and display what we have for trade?"

"Oh, I am sure that we must have a town like that, but I can't remember where it is. By the way, what day is it?"

"It's Thursday by my calendar. Sir, are you ill that you cannot remember the day?"

"No, that's not my problem. Last night I attended a wedding reception and I had a bit too much of the lotus wine to drink. It has messed up my memory somewhat, but it will clear up by this evening. Perhaps you should find someone else to answer you questions—someone who has not been to a party, recently."

I thanked him for his courtesy and rejoined Aklag and Big Noise. "This guy has had too much lotus wine, and it has messed up his thinking processes. He suggested that we find someone else to question." I then broadcast to our people, "Keep looking, folks. The first person was a dud. Call me when you find somebody else."

We had a little better luck once the sun got a bit higher in the sky. People appeared on the roads, and we were able to learn that there was a town named Minetos a few miles away. It had a market day scheduled for Friday, so our timing was pretty good.

Minetos was a port town, so it was a bit more cosmopolitan than it otherwise would have been. We found a place just outside of town where we could set up camp, and Aklag and I went in to a small tavern to learn what we could.

All-in-all, Minetos was no place to brag about. The streets were dirty and the houses and shops were poorly maintained. Over half of the population wandered around with that blurry-eyed look of the first person I talked to. A large number of those people were staggering as if they were so drunk that their sense of balance had left for parts unknown. And these were not just men, a significant number of them were women and children.

We went in the tavern and ordered a small glass of the local wine. The bartender asked, "Do you want lotus wine or grape wine?" We both chose grape wine and sat at a long table, the only one in the tavern. I noticed that there were two distinct groups of people in the tavern: locals who were drinking lotus wine and off-islanders who were drinking grape wine. It was easy to tell the difference between the two groups because of the difference in the clothing styles. Also, virtually every one of the locals who were drinking the lotus wine had that blurry-eyed look.

I spoke to one of the off-islanders, "What is this lotus wine that the locals drink by the gallon?"

"I'm not quite sure, but I tried it once and had a hangover that lasted for three days. Never again will I let any of that stuff passed my lips! Supposedly, it's made from a local fruit that grows nowhere else in the world. I think that the rest of us are lucky for that fact."

"Thanks for the information. I'll stay away from it, too.

"I am a trader looking for unusual items that I can make a profit with. I wonder if this lotus wine would be a profitable item for me?"

"You may as well forget that, my friend. Some traders from Athens have tied up the trade for the small amount of the wine the natives will allow off the island. I hear that they sell to the Athenians two shiploads a month, but are trying to produce more, since the Athenians pay so much for it.

"If you want to try to get some, that man sitting over there is the head of the wine producing guild on the island, and he is the one you will have to negotiate with. Good luck, I certainly have not had any."

I thanked the helpful stranger and took Aklag with me to talk to the head of the guild. This man was not blurry-eyed, even though he was drinking Lotus wine; he had a very hard glint in his eye. I introduced Aklag and myself and asked if we might talk to him. He waved at us to be seated and asked what we wanted.

I said, "I was told that you were the man that I should talk to about buying large quantities of lotus wine for shipment off-island."

"Your information is correct, but you are too late for business this year. Lotus wine has already been contracted for, this year. However, come back next year and we can probably make a deal. We have converted a large quantity of land into lotus vineyards and expect to have much more wine for sale next year."

I asked, "Won't that cut way back on the amount of land you have available for food production?"

"It certainly will, but we can import food with all of the money we can make off our special wine."

"What would happen if you had some sort of disaster that prevented you from producing the quantity of lotus wine you expect. How would you buy your food, then?"

"Oh, we'll worry about that when it happens. Next year, we plan to cut down all of our forests and fill in our swamps to make more space for growing the lotus grapes. Soon, we will be the major suppliers of wine to the entire world, or, at least, that part of it that surrounds our sea."

I asked, "What will happen to all of those people who now produce and sell wine. Won't they starve when you take all of their business?"

"That's their problem! I really don't care what happens to other people as long as I make my profit. Now, go away. I'm tired of talking to you."