Doctor Abbott

Doctor Abbott Part 3

Chapter 3

As weeks passed, it became a regular chore for Ben to follow Lúta through the square tugging a travois style cart, while she shopped for goods. He enjoyed these outings in part to get a break from the slave labor at the cottage and also to learn more about where he was. There was no opportunity lost on him to try and get his bearings.

Trolling one vender cart, he noticed several human goods and the vendor was talking in a language he had heard a few times already. The language was like nothing he had ever heard before . Not even derived from something he knew, no Latin, no French. Norse and Gaelic were both common in Iceland. He knew nothing of Norse but grew up with enough Gaelic to at least detect it in a conversation. What he was listening to was far removed from any morden language.

The vendor paused in his discussion, almost annoyed over Ben's lingering presence over his wares. Wanting to linger and learn as much as he could Ben opted to pick up an item of interest on the cart, a flashlight. He held it up, "Do you know what it is?"

The vendor sneered. "It is not your concern, human."

Ben held it up and pushed the button on the handle just to see if it had any juice in it. To his amazement, the battery was good. He smiled at the blank expression the vendor now held, "You did not know it did that, did you?" The vendor stomped over and picked it up, looking into the bright light and then turning it to try it on his hand and see if it burned.

Ben then picked up another item on the pile of wares, "This is a cork screw, it is used to open bottles and this one is if a coffee maker. You could use it to steep tea or medicine if you needed to." He pointed to a glass cylinder with a metal pole in the center.

The creature snapped up the cylinder and let off a growl, sending a clear message that Ben was not welcome at this cart. He followed Lúta to the next and marvled over the assortment of goods there. Discarded soda bottles and other waste had been turned into everything from jewelry to funnels. Another cart held hand blown glass that clearly had been made here on the island.

A few minutes later he watched as Lúta paid for some fresh caught fish. She used a couple of arrow heads that had been made by her brothers. When they reached a table containing soaps and oils she paid with a jar of apple sauce from her own stock. Everything here was paid for in trade. This was a culture built on necessity. It seamed as though everything had a value, and if it was not something you valued, yourself, then someone else would be glad to make use of it.

Ben stopped short when he noticed a life vest from his boat hanging from one of the carts. He held is breath as he walked by just unable to let out air at the thought of all the friends and colleagues he had seen perish. It was heart breaking, just seeing the various items left over from his crew spread about for the assessment of local shoppers; much like the valueless rubbish he had just passed by.

Some of the carts sported goods that could not have been made on the island and were in too good of condition to have simply washed ashore. Someone was trading with humans. But who? Who would trade with these creatures and not have them plastered all over the nightly news? How did this place exist in a modern world with all the technology there is?

As the day went on Ben found the cart getting heavier and heavier. He scolded himself for not being used to the thing by now. It was not that he was out of shape. As a doctor, he took pride in a good diet and exercise, but with everything on the island having to be done by hand; he would have thought his entire upbringing was on chips and cola.

He had fashioned a strap for his cart to more evenly distribute the weight but after a few yards that even became cumbersome. He stopped to rest and Lúta looked back at him.