The Hollowed Tree by R. K. Johnstone

Author:R. K. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: mysticism, satire fiction, fable
Published: 2014-10-02T04:26:32.925495+00:00

26. The Magistrate's Intrigue is Launched--The Incarceration

Inside the jail, the group came to a halt in the vestibule and stood before the precinct clerks whose job it was to process into the jail apprehended suspects. These clerks were constabularies themselves. They perched behind an imposing counter which rose high above those who stood before and below them. Our band stood submerged in the putrid muck and looked about them in amazement at the curious and appalling conditions of the institution.

Percy moved to the side and somewhat behind the group, to maintain an appropriately detached and supervisory attitude of unstated authority over the proceedings. The Sergeant Major brought up the criminals. Jupe, upon whose back he stood, had only his nose and the top of his snout and eyes above the overflow. The armadillos of necessity had to keep their mouths clamped tightly shut in order to avoid swallowing some of the vile stuff. The resultant restricting to their snouts of all of their breathing caused these members to assume the swishing aspect of noisy bellows.

"Phew," gasped the Sergeant Major. "I caint stand much more of this!" Though the olfactory nerves of the animals had long ago become somewhat numbed by the overpowering stench common to Hawg City in general, the noxious vapors from this overflow now had become so strong and overpowering in the enclosed vestibule of the jail that the group experienced a sudden and sharp revival of this sense. "This is worse 'en breathin all thet warthog dust!"

"Sergeant Major!" Honorashious barked. "You will maintain your bearing, please! You are well acquainted--haarumph--with the conditions endemic to Hawg City, and your current lack of demeanor--haarumph--is most unbecoming in an officer of the court! Haarumph--haarumph!"

"Aye Jedge," mumbled the chastened sparrow, but he continued to express an unrepentant and belligerent attitude in his general mien, nevertheless.

"Haarumph--bailiff! Proceed, please!"

The great owl hopped from the back of Agamemnon and sloshed awkwardly over to stand beside the lion.

One of the warthogs behind the counter reviewed the warrant, prepared earlier by the Sergeant Major, and wrinkled his brow.

"Assault?" he looked with puzzlement at Madame DeKooncey, who stood off to the side of the group a bit. The Matron nodded her head slightly.

"Ye can read caint tche?" the Sergeant Major growled.

"Non-consensual, I assume?" the warthog said doubtfully.

"Haarumph! Must we stumble and fumble once again through this painful and mind-numbing process, Madame?" the owl bristled and dug his claws with such strength into Agamemnon's back that the armadillo flinched. "The issue of the unauthorized legislation of Hawg City is well known to us all--haarumph--from previous rulings to the contrary by the Seventh Juridical. Get on with the business at hand!"

"The warrant was issued by a higher court, Bailiff," Madame DeKooncey spoke up in diplomatic tones, "and it is, therefore, indeed valid. Technically, we have no choice but to lock up these young boars. In consideration of their youth, however--not to mention the high probability of their innocence of having committed any discernable crime whatsoever--ensure that they are placed apart from the most hard core criminals, as well as out of the ground floor overflow.

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