Healers (26 page)

As she set down her equipment on the table next to her patient, she said, “What was your crime?”

He grunted in pain, then spat, “Loving the same girl as a rich man’s son, then fighting back when he tried to have me beaten for it.”

Eva reflected she had no way of knowing the truth of the man’s answer, however, having seen Realth’s justice being dispensed in the courtroom, she was inclined to believe the man’s story. There wasn’t much she could do about the lack of justice in Realth, but she
could
treat this man to the best of her ability.

She sent her ghost in to explore his wound, finding a ragged cut through the skin, underlying fat, fascia, and some of the muscle. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have injured any significant nerves. She’d already known it hadn’t cut a major vessel or the bleeding would have been worse.

Placing her right hand over the sciatic nerve in back and her left hand over the femoral nerve in front, she said, “I’m going to press on these nerves for a while to make your leg go to sleep so it doesn’t hurt so much.” She moved the index finger of her left hand to put it over the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. She tapped the finger on it a couple of times, then heard Tarc’s whisper in her ear, “Yes, I’ll do that little nerve too.”

Eva spoke to the prisoner, “Does your leg feel like it’s going to sleep yet?”

“It feels… really funny…”

“Good,” Eva said, uncapping the bottle of saline. “I’m going to wash your wound out now. She poured saline into the gash and her ghost felt it swirling around under Tarc’s influence. Tarc splashed it up out of the wound and Eva poured in some more. She unwrapped the rest of her instruments, placing them all on the big sterile cloth her needle grabber had been in. She uncapped the moonshine and poured alcohol over one of the wrappers, soaking it.

She thoroughly wiped her own hands again, then wiped down the side of the patient’s leg, carefully avoiding getting any of the alcohol in his wound.

After having the patient turn a little so the morning sunshine lit the inside of his wound, Eva picked up the needle grabber and used it to grasp one of the curved needles. They were already pre-threaded with suture before they were sterilized so she wouldn’t have to touch them. Starting with the fascia, she began the tedious process of suturing the wound closed, layer by layer.

When it was done, Eva put on a bandage, then straightened. She put her hands on her hips and arched her back to stretch the kinks out of it. Turning to the king, she said, “It’s done. Even though I washed it, it might still get infected. If that happens we’ll need to take out the sutures, drain, and wash it.”

The king got up from his table and wandered over to look at the man’s leg. This time he kept his hands behind his back and avoided touching anything. “That’s a pretty bunch of stitches, but not even as nice as the ones my seamstress makes on my clothes.”

“Cloth’s much easier to sew than tissue, Sir King.”

“Why’d you put the stitches so far apart?”

“So any pus that forms can come out between the stitches.”

“How’d you get him to hold still while you were sticking all those needles in him?”

Eva lied, “I put pressure on his nerves before I started so his leg would go to sleep. You’ve probably wakened in the night with an arm or leg asleep before? They don’t feel much pain when they’re in that condition, so they can be sutured without so much discomfort.”

The king grunted dubiously, then turned to the patient, “It didn’t hurt?”

An angry look in his eyes, the man said, “It hurt when your men cut me!”

Unperturbed, the king lifted his chin a bit and said, “How about while she was sewing you up?”

The prisoner shrugged sullenly, “Only a little bit.”

The king rubbed his chin for a moment, then spoke, “Keep her locked up. Keep the prisoners close to her and let her check on them whenever she likes. We’ll see how they’re doing in a couple of days.” He turned to Eva and lifted an eyebrow, “
You’d
better hope they’re doing well.” He turned on his heel and walked back across the courtyard to speak to one of his other men.

Eva glared after him, then wondered if they were talking about her and her prospects for the future. She sent her ghost after them.

The other man was speaking when she first started hearing them, apparently responding to a question from the king. “…certainly acts like she knows what she’s doing. And, according to the judge, there are a
lot
of people who really think she made them better.” He shrugged, “Maybe she
is
the real deal.”

The king turned and glanced back at Eva, “Yeah, maybe. But she’s certainly got a mind of her own. What if she doesn’t want to work for us?”

The man shrugged, “Money will probably change her mind, but if it doesn’t, just threaten her. Or…” The man glanced at Eva, “Probably she’s got family in that caravan. If I were you, I’d arrest them before I started any negotiations with her.”

The king looked at Eva one more time. “Yeah, good idea. If these two she worked on today look like they’re doing okay in a couple of days, we’ll pick up her family before we start negotiating with her. Make sure the guards don’t let her talk to anyone from the caravan between now and then.”

The king left the courtyard and the other man started toward the guards. Eva sent her ghost through the wall to see if Tarc was still there. He was, so, as she bent over her table of supplies, she reached up between her shoulder blades as if she were scratching.

A moment later she heard Tarc’s whisper in her ear, “Do you need something?”

Eva whispered as she re-stacked her materials, “I just listened in on the conversation between the king and that man who’s talking to the guards now. Did you listen to them?”

“No.”

“Apparently the king’s looking for a healer who can actually do some good. If they decide I really can heal people, they plan to hire me, but if I refuse…”

“What?!”

“They… plan to force me to work for them, possibly by arresting you guys and threatening to hurt you if I don’t.”

“Jeez,” Tarc said, sounding disgusted, “aren’t there
any
decent people in this world?!”

“Yeah,” Eva sighed, “but we’ve been running into our share of the worst recently. You guys need to get out of here. They’re apparently going to decide whether I’m any good as a healer in two days or so, depending on how these two patients are doing.”

Tarc responded, “I’ve been giving this some thought. What we
need
is to get the wagon out of here. Daussie and I’ll stay here to break you out if they decide to keep you. I’ll talk to Dad, he and Kazy can take the wagon on to the next town.”

“No! You and Daussie have to get beyond their reach as well! I can just cooperate with them for a while, then sneak out once their suspicions are down.”

“Their suspicions aren’t going to go down once they find out your family fled the town before they even tried to arrest them. I’ll go talk to Dad, see what he says. You need me to do anything else while I’m here?”

“No, but
you
get out of here
with
the rest of my family! Understand?!”

Tarc whispered a small laugh in her ear, then said, “We’ll see about that, just remember
we
all love
you
… Just like you love us.”

Before she could argue further, Eva’s ghost showed Tarc standing. He walked away, leaving Eva with a desolate, lonely feeling. She turned and started bossing the soldiers to help put her supplies away.

With a tightening in his stomach, Norton looked up and saw Daum Hyllis coming his way. “Hey Daum,” he ventured.

“Hey Norton, when are you thinking to have the caravan move on?”

Norton shook his head, “Quite a few of the merchants have started to ask about it. Sales are starting to drop off. I know you’re wanting to stay until they let Eva out, but we’ll probably have to hit the road in the next few days. I
told
you guys not do any healing here!”

Hyllis held up a placating hand, “I know. People have to do business to survive. Where will the caravan go from here?”

Norton nodded toward the northeast road, “Be heading toward Clancy Vail, then Murchison’s and after that to Asheville. In case you haven’t caught up to us by then, I’ll leave you a message with Randall Smith, the farrier who shoes our horses in Asheville. He’ll know where we’re going from there.”

“Okay, thanks. Hopefully they’ll let Eva out before we leave, but if it doesn’t happen, we’ll know where to go.”

Norton shook his head as Daum walked away. He wouldn’t want to take a lone wagon on the road.

Back at their wagon, Daum found a lot of their stuff had been packed up, even though they were trying to keep their preparations from showing. He looked over the booth, making sure it was ready to take down as soon as darkness came.

He turned to Tarc, “Okay, I think we’re as ready as we can be. How about if you walk us in to say goodbye to Eva?”

As they headed into town, Daum spoke to Henry Roper, asking him to tell anyone looking for dinner that they’d gone into town for their own dinner and wouldn’t be cooking that evening.

They did eat at a tavern in Realth, then dropped by to mill around outside the wall of the palace. Tarc passed messages to and from Eva for Daum. Doing so was both amusing and troubling as they tried to argue through their son. Eva wanted the family far away, leaving her to deal with the king without worrying about them. Daum would have none of that. Tarc also passed messages to Eva for Daussie, though Daussie could listen to Eva’s responses herself. The only tricky part lay in taking turns keeping Kazy occupied with different conversations about how they
wished
they could talk to Eva. That kept Kazy from realizing it was actually happening right under her nose.

Arriving back at the caravan just as full dark fell; they started packing the rest of their things. The sky was heavily overcast so it was very dark. That made it hard to pack, but on the plus side, people were less likely to tumble to what the Hyllises were doing.

In an additional bit of fortune, the musicians played that night, so most of the caravaners were over there, listening.

Finally, the Hyllises hitched their team and pulled out, moving slowly and trying to make as little noise as possible. For a little while, they thought they’d gotten away unnoticed. Tarc was casting around widely with his ghost to be sure no one was following them when a voice spoke up from just behind him, “What’s your plan?”

He spun, “Lizeth!”

“What? You thought you could sneak away in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye?!”

“Um, yeah.” Tarc stopped walking and so did Lizeth. The wagon trundled away from them. “We’re planning to rejoin the caravan though, once Eva gets free.”

“So, why
sneak
away?”

“Um, I don’t know if you know this, but the king took Eva out of the prison and has her up at his palace. We think he may want to have his own healer, and we’re worried he might try forcing her to work for him by capturing and threatening the rest of us.”

“Ah, and you don’t want anyone in the caravan to know where you went. Then they won’t be able to tell the soldiers where to look for you.”

“Yeah,” Tarc shrugged, “I know
you
wouldn’t tell them, but other people might, especially if they’re threatened.”

“Okay,” she shrugged, “but don’t tell me either. Who knows what they might do.” She turned her face up toward him, “How’s Eva going to find you when she gets out?”

“Oh… I’m coming back for her.”

Quietly Lizeth said, “What if they don’t let her go?”

“I guess I’ll have to
take
her,” Tarc said sounding grim.

“Hey,” she gave him a gentle poke, “I know you’re awfully good with those knives, but even
you
can’t defeat an entire army.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, I’ll have to be sneaky.”

“Well,” she reached out uncertainly in the pitch dark and placed her hand on his arm, “if you need help, you need only ask.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Tarc started to pull away.

“Wait. You can’t go without giving me a hug.” In the darkness, she reached somewhat clumsily for him.

Excitement shot through Tarc as he turned towards her. His ghost showed him exactly where she was and his arms went unerringly around her lithe form. Tarc gave her a little squeeze, then started to let go.

She reached a hand up around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

A kiss on the lips that lingered.

Warm and wonderful in ways Tarc had never experienced.

Shivers ran over him.

Gently, she pushed him away. She said throatily, “Be careful.” She turned and started walking back toward the dim lights of the caravan before he could answer.

Tarc stood motionless, his ghost following her as she strode away. Finally he swallowed the frog in his throat and turned to trot after the wagon.

***

Kazy had a hard time coming to grips with what was happening. Packing up and leaving in the middle of the night. Leaving without Eva! She couldn’t understand what was going on, but everyone avoided her questions.

Daussie and Tarc took turns leading the mule team in the dark. To Kazy’s amazement, they apparently never strayed off the road, despite the night being as black as the inside of a cow with its eyes shut and its tail down.

Everyone took turns trying to sleep in the jolting wagon while it was rolling. Though sleeping was really difficult, it turned out if you were tired enough, it was possible.

The rising sun found Tarc leading the mule team and wagon off the road on an overgrown, barely-visible trail Kazy could hardly see. Kazy turned to Daussie, “I thought you guys hadn’t been this way before?”

“We haven’t.”

“How does Tarc know where he’s going then?! How does he even know there’s a trail there?!”

“Um, he’s got really good eyesight.”

“And you too? Is that how you could lead the team in the dark last night?!”

“Um, yeah. We both see and hear a lot better than most people.”

After following the overgrown trail for a few minutes, they broke out of the trees onto a farm with fallow fields and a burned out farmhouse. Kazy would have sworn neither Tarc nor Daussie looked surprised at what they found. She would have sworn they
expected
to find an overgrown farm and a ruined house. Daum, on the other hand, did look around like someone who’d never seen the place before.

They pulled the wagon around behind the old farmhouse so it would be hidden even if someone ventured down the trail. Everyone pitched in to unhitch and care for their tired mule team. That done, they all unrolled their sleeping bags underneath the wagon and settled down to get some needed sleep.

For a few minutes, Kazy didn’t think she’d be able to sleep for worrying about what was going on with Eva.

The next thing Kazy knew, she woke up all alone under the wagon. In a panic, she scrambled out and looked around. Daum had set up the smallest of their portable stoves and was crouched beside it cooking something. “Ready for some breakfast?” he asked as if nothing unusual had happened.

Kazy looked around with a rising sense of panic, “Where’s Daussie?!”

Daum spoke calmly to her. “Daussie thought you might be worried. She says you’re pretty attached to her?”

Kazy nodded, trying to swallow the sudden lump in her throat.

Daum continued, “Recognizing you won’t be able to spend the rest of your life following Daussie around, we’re hoping you can get through a brief period without her?”

Kazy’s eyes darted wildly around and she started breathing hard, “Daussie’s gone?!”

“She and Tarc’ve gone to keep an eye on Eva. They’ll try to get her free and bring her here.” Daum said this evenly, as if it were a perfectly ordinary thing for Tarc and Daussie to be doing.

“You sent your
children
to rescue your wife?!”

Daum turned his gaze on Kazy. His blue eyes calm and considering, he held out a little bowl and said, “Here, have some oatmeal and a bit of bacon. We’ve got some apple I can slice into the oatmeal if you like.”

The smell of food struck Kazy hard.

Daum said, “
Then
we’ll talk. We have plenty of time.”

Suddenly famished, Kazy reluctantly said, “Okay, but first I’ve got to pee.”

“Okay,” he pointed, “I dug a little latrine on the other side of that bush.”

Kazy rushed off to answer nature’s call.

When Kazy returned, Daum handed her the steaming bowl of oatmeal. “You didn’t say, so I went ahead and sliced some apple into it.”

Kazy hunkered down with her bowl. She tried to hit the sweet spot where she would be close enough to Daum to feel safe, yet not so close she would panic because he was a man. She eyed him, “You were going to explain why your children went for Eva, instead of you.” She put a sweet spoonful of oatmeal and apple in her mouth.

Daum nodded, seeming not in the least embarrassed by Kazy’s accusation. “You’re part of
this
family now, agreed?”

Kazy nodded, wondering where he was going.

“Most families have some secrets. The Hyllises, and particularly this branch of the Hyllises, have some life or death secrets. If I explain them to you, will you be able to keep them?”

Kazy drew herself up, feeling both a little insulted he would ask, yet gravely complimented he was about to trust her with something very important. “Yes.”

Daum leaned back, as if settling in for a long story. “There’s a lot more to Tarc and Daussie than meets the eye…”

Daum stopped there, saying nothing for long enough Kazy began to wonder if that might be all he was going to say. Or, whether she was supposed to figure out what “didn’t meet the eye.” Could he be saying that something about Daussie kept Kazy calm? That Daussie could do this for other people? That Kazy’s attachment to Daussie wasn’t
just
because Daussie had been the one to rescue her? Even if that were true, what was it about
Tarc
that didn’t meet the eye?

“Um…” Kazy said, not sure if Daum might be waiting for a response. Or perhaps needed a word from Kazy to stimulate him into continuing whatever he’d been about to say.

Those calm blue eyes returned to Kazy’s face, “Do you remember being rescued from the raiders? That Tarc and Daussie were there?”

Kazy really didn’t want to think about it, but she nodded jerkily to confirm the memory.

“And you remember, from what Mr. Prichard said;
somebody
killed all those raiders.”

Kazy nodded again, this time without so much anxiety. Remembering that the raiders were dead always eased her feelings of apprehension.

“Have you ever wondered who killed all those raiders?”

Kazy gave him a curious look. “Mr. Prichard said the raiders had a falling out amongst themselves. Some of them, who thought what they were doing was evil, they must have killed the others to bring a halt to it.”

Daum tilted his head curiously, “Now you spent quite some time with those men. Did any of them strike you as good men who thought what they were doing was evil? Can you picture any of them trying to bring a halt to what’d been happening?”

A shudder of revulsion ran over Kazy, “No! They were
all
… disgusting. Horrible men… for whom hanging would’ve been too good. However they died, it was too easy!”

Daum suddenly went off on another tack, “You’ve noticed—I think maybe even commented on it—that we let Tarc go off by himself sometimes. Places maybe you thought
I
should have gone instead of Tarc ‘cause they were dangerous?”

Kazy nodded, thinking it had happened a lot, not just “sometimes.”

In another
non sequitur
, Daum said, “Who do
you
think killed all those raiders?”

Kazy drew her head back slightly in surprise, realizing she’d just refuted the accepted explanation, but hadn’t provided an alternative. After some thought, “Um… some… passing group of soldiers? Maybe they heard what was going on and took it on themselves to see justice done?”

Daum looked at her curiously, as if wondering if she could really believe something like that. He took her empty bowl; then passed her a few pieces of bacon. “Really?”