Chapter 35 - Reward and Punishment

The helicopter landed on the roof of the police station and the two passengers were let out and down the stairs.

The Mayor and his wife embraced their chubby son who appeared to have lost a few grams overnight. Gammelnok was kept in his loose handcuffs and accused of kidnapping.

After a lot of sobbing on the Mayor's son's part, he finally managed to explain how Gammelnok actually had saved his life by untying his hands before they were swept away and later dragging him to safety once the waters were subsiding.

The two girls also confirmed that Gammelnok's only part in the kidnapping was to be gullible enough to be led on by the gang leader. There was no mention of him having to write the ransom note.

Judgment was passed swiftly: The gang leader was to be sent to a juvenile correction centre. The two lieutenants and their market friend were reprimanded and sent home to their parents for further punishment.

The two girls were asked to attend band practice in order to determine if they had talent, and if so, which instrument would suit them the best.

As for Gammelnok, he was ordered to be at the town hall the following day at noon to be told his fate.

Dismissed, he stood on the street outside the police station with nowhere to go. The only shelter he knew of was the storm drain outside of town, so that is where he headed, hoping for a good night's sleep.

Sleep did not come easy; he went to the downhill opening and stared at the ravine he had been hurtled down the day before.

He felt alone, abandoned in a strange country and far away from his desired retirement place by the garden pond.

Sitting there, elbows resting on his knees and his head supported by his hands, he felt very miserable, missing all the companions he had met since his village was overrun by marauders so many years ago: Sámis, Santa and his helpers, sailors, the wood carver, the tulip salesman and a Channel smuggler plus a great crowd of gypsies. 

Not knowing what the morning meeting at the town hall would bring, it was left to his imagination to conjure all sorts of bad and horrible outcomes.

Daylight found him slumped on the ground just inside the storm drain. As the early morning sun started to warm him up, he stretched, rubbed his face and got ready to face his punishment.

When he reached the town hall square, all the bars were busy serving breakfast. Gammelnok found a quiet doorway and settled down with his Haversack on his lab, absent-mindedly searching its content for something to eat and drink. There wasn't much, but enough to sustain him until midday and the time of sentencing.

As midday approached, things got busy. A podium was erected and an object covered in cloth placed on it. The municipal band members began assembling, carrying their instruments. The breakfast crowd started to drift towards the town hall, forming a semicircle close to the band. As is customary in southern Spain, the Mayor stepped out into the square a good twenty minutes late. He stepped up to the microphone and loudly called: "Gammelnok, where are you? Show yourself."

From his doorway, Gammelnok slowly and reluctantly approached the Town Hall entrance.

The assembled crowd let out a loud cheer and the band began to play. Gammelnok looked around, confused.

Then the Mayor made his speech. Gammelnok was being made an honourable citizen and was thanked for saving the Mayor's son the day before. In his honour a statue had been created to commemorate the occasion. The cloth covering the object on the podium was ceremoniously removed, revealing a bronze sculpture of an old bearded person walking.

Lots of applause followed. Gammelnok looked at it, wondering if that was how he looked to others. Looking like that was punishment enough he thought for being part of the kidnap plot.

Finally the Mayor asked if they could do anything else for him. Gammelnok asked that they help him on the way to Granada and the Sierra Nevada which he had to reach no later than November, to meet up with friends. He did not elaborate, sure they would not understand.

The two girls from the kidnap plot were assigned to help him to a crossroad where he could hitch a ride on one of the caravans returning home after the April fair or Easter festivities.