Lunamae (4 page)

Logan waved us on and we continued towards
the bridge. We passed our house and a few more before we were
between the keep and the bridge.

“Are you ready?” Talfrin asked. I was as
ready as I’d ever be.

“Lunamae, do you want to recite the alphabet
with me as we skip over the bridge?” I asked. The girl puffed up
her lips and cheeks in protest but saw the shocked look on my face
and then nodded sweetly. “I’m ready.”

Distracting Lunamae with recitation wasn’t
hard at all and I quickly realized the bridge was not as
intimidating as it had been when I was younger. We were able to
quickly cross over with no problems, and the bridge didn’t
disappear when we were over it.

“Good job you two,” Talfrin said. “Now let’s
go look for some plants. There is a wooly looking plant, with
leaves similar to mint, I am in need of. It’s called merubiam. I
can use it to treat coughs and ailments of the lungs as well as
colds. I make it into a juice that is quite bitter but effective.
It might be flowering this time of year if we are lucky.” We walked
a few meeleys away from the keep. We didn’t go much farther because
we would be out of sight of the watchmen who kept guard of the
lands. It wasn’t safe to be out of their sight, especially if a
warring clan were to find us. With Lunamae in our custody there was
easily a good ransom to be had in her capture and with my being a
close relative it wouldn’t bode well for me either.

“Found it Tawfurn!” Lunamae said, skipping
towards Talfrin, the basket in her right hand swaying along with
her arms. In other hand was a clump of the merubiam, roots and
all.

“I don’t need quite so much of the plant,
little one,” Talfrin said, carefully removing the leaves and shoots
and putting them into Lunamae’s basket.

“What else is there we could look for today?”
I wondered aloud. Talfrin thought to himself and replied,

“Yarrow would be good for this time of year.
With the planting season I can see some of the farmers getting
injured. You never know when an ox or horse wants go their own way
while plowing.” He explained the plant is easy to spot because the
bright white flowering buds it produces are quite tall. “The herb
is good for flesh wounds and other skin abrasions as it encourages
clotting although I hear the monks at Bexweth use them in the
flavoring of their beer. You could also cook it like you would with
spinach or use it in a soup, but the taste is bitter which is why I
think it’s preferred as an ingredient for beer.”

Talfrin went one way and I took Lunamae with
me in the direction of the village. I knew I had seen the plant
before so I directed the little girl with me to a fencepost. Sure
enough, the yarrow was there as described. I remembered I hadn’t
asked what part of the plant was to be used so I did as Lunamae had
done earlier and took the whole plant, root and all, in hand. I
took Lunamae’s hand with my free one and we set back to look for
Talfrin.

We found the apothecary on the ground; his
arm had an arrow, fletching and all, protruding from it. Though
there was a lot of blood loss from the wound, he appeared to be
fine otherwise. At his age a wound as he had could be
life-threatening. It was good he was an herbalist.

“Mistah Tawfurn, what happened?” Lunamae
inquired cautiously. Talfrin held his arm and tried to get up on
his own but it was hard. I helped him.

“We must head back to the village quickly. I
was attacked by bandits. They shot me from a distance first and
then tried to rob me. The only thing I had of any value was Logan’s
leather pouches. They took those and ran. I am too old to be of any
bother, especially since I hadn’t a weapon with me. I see you have
gathered the yarrow. I will be fine. How well are your
needleworking skills Muirenn?”

“N-n-needleworking?” I said hesitantly. I was
sixteen and
should
be more than capable but I hadn’t had
time to do much in womanly arts having Lunamae as my charge. I had
been dedicating most of my time teaching her as was promised in the
altram ceremony.

“Why yes,
someone
is going to have to
stitch this up. I hope you have been practicing. I will need this
wound to stop bleeding and be cleaned with ointment on it first.
Don’t worry, the yarrow gathered will both ease my pain and help
clot the area so I wouldn’t feel it as much and will be helpful in
getting rid of any foul substances cause by the arrowhead,” Talfrin
stated. I winced at the thought of stitching up real flesh. I
couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would feel like penetrating
skin with the needle and the flesh becoming taut with the pull of
the thread. I just gulped down the thought and walked beside
Talfrin. Lunamae and I led him back to the keep.

The journey took about an hour and as we
approached we heard the sound of the watchmen who apparently had
caught sight of Talfrin’s arm, arrow still attached. Someone blew a
horn three times and I could see Angharad and my mother running out
of the keep, both holding their skirts high enough to travel
properly. It was easy enough for them to cross the bridge as they
certainly weren’t thinking about themselves. The horn being blown
three times meant Lunamae was in danger. They
never
blew the
horn even once before.

“What happened?” Angharad firmly asked the
apothecary. The man winced in pain, still holding the hurt arm.

“Bandits, although I am not sure it was all
they were,” he replied. The chief dame looked at the fletching on
the arrow and raised an eyebrow as she inspected it (making sure
not to actually touch the injured Talfrin).

“It is quite odd that the Wuriven would come
this far to the south. I thought they were a pleasant and otherwise
peaceful clan. This may not have been organized. A few rebels can
ruin the name of the whole clan. Remember Ulric?” Angharad and
Talfrin exchanged looks. I had heard about the story of Ulric. He
had been from our village when we were first becoming a sizeable
clan and had stolen an insurmountable amount of goods from local
merchants. He would meet traders at the King’s Pass and offer them
at a very low cost. He was later caught and strapped to the Humble
Bridge. I was told he was used to test the Humble Bridge on whether
or not the spell worked when they magicked it. In every village
there was to be expected a few rotten pieces of wood. Luckily Ulric
was found out.

“Perhaps, my lady, it would be a good idea to
meet with the Wuriven clan,” my mother offered.

The chief dame replied, “Perhaps, Adelle.”
She looked down at Lunamae who was wide-eyed and beaming at the
sight of her. “Lunamae, how are you?”

“Good mommy!” The child dropped her basket
and offered her hands up to her mother. Angharad didn’t hesitate
and lifted her offspring into her arms. Lunamae put her head on her
mother’s shoulder and asked, “What’s gonna happen to Mistah
Tawfurn?”

“We’ll make sure he is cared for well,”
Angharad replied softly, brushing her hand over the girl’s face.
“Let us talk about something else, like what you want us to do for
your birthday.”

I left the two for a moment and followed
Talfrin up to the keep after retrieving Lunamae’s basket. Because
he was the best person to go to in case of injuries or sickness
within the keep, he had a room there and supplies.

“None of the other ladies can do this?” I
asked, referring to the stitching of his wound once the arrowhead
was removed.

“You are strong Muirenn. While you haven’t
seen battle, you have seen hardship. The ladies of the keep would
not be able to stomach it as you would. I have faith in you,”
Talfrin said. His words gave me confidence and hope. With the help
of a few guards supporting the apothecary who was weak from the
blood loss, I wandered into the keep and took a left upon entering
to go up the stairs. He had all his supplies on the level of the
living quarters (for obvious reasons). I followed the guards and
Talfrin from a distance until we were led into the room. It was
very similar to his shop actually, with shelves of labeled bottled
herbs and some pre-made poultices on wooden shelves. The room had
no windows so it was rather dark. The guards used the sconces on
the walls outside the room to light the many candles in the
room.

“Do you require anything?” One of the guards
asked.

“Some boiling water to start,” Talfrin
answered. When the guards left he addressed me. “I have a mortar
and pestle on one of the shelves on the far wall. I need you to
take the leaves and flowering parts of the yarrow plant and crush
them in the mortar. You will probably need to add some water to get
a good consistency. That is one of the reasons why I asked the
guards for boiling water. I want to make sure it is free of
impurities. The other need is to clean the wound out. You will have
to be brave Muirenn. I will not be able to remove the arrowhead by
myself the way it is. I will want you to put a little of the mixed
yarrow on the wound to ease the pain and then you are going to have
to pull the arrow out and be mindful of the shaft that you don’t
break it low. I would hate to have it dug out.”

Sewing up his arm was one thing, burrowing
into flesh to remove an arrowhead was another. I tried to be strong
in order to pull it out. The guards arrived a few minutes later
with a pot of boiling water. I asked for a little bit for my
mixture and once the water was added it was much easier to grind
the plant bits together.

“Muirenn, there are some clean strips of
fabric in the cabinet farthest from the door. You will need those
after you have applied the poultice.” I rummaged through the
cabinet and pulled out several strips of linen. “Now come here and
help with this arrow.”

I walked toward him and realized I would need
a knife or something sharp to cut the fabric. I had carried a knife
in my apron and I took it out. I began to work on the arm fabric on
Talfrin’s shirt. I was careful to not jar the portion around the
arrow shaft. After carefully removing the piece of clothing,
Talfrin breathed a sigh of relief.

“It looks as though it bypassed the bone and
is in a bit of muscle,” he said. The arrow had gone completely
through; the bit of the head could be seen on the other side of his
arm. I explained the situation to him since he couldn’t see the
underside of his arm. “You will have to drive the arrow shaft
forward and then make a clean break on either end. You have to
remove both the fletching and arrowhead ends.”

I did as was instructed. It was very hard to
do without causing Talfrin to wince but I had put the yarrow around
the wounds as he had instructed earlier so the pain was much less.
The wound oozed blood but it wasn’t bleeding as bad as before due
to the healing properties of the yarrow plant. Once the pieces of
the arrow were removed I poured some of the boiling water in the
wound. He groaned in agony but made sure it was all clean before I
could stop. I then put the poultice within either side and wrapped
it in the clean linens.

“You have done very well,” Talfrin said
proudly. “You know, I have been thinking you would have made the
perfect apprentice if you weren’t female. We should continue your
training. You can handle situations like this very well. You could
have Lunamae tag along. She will need some of the knowledge as well
for when she grows up. In a few days I will need you to stitch the
wound together. Right now it needs to heal a bit and I want to make
sure it doesn’t get infected before you stitch it.”

“Yes, Mister Talfrin,” I said.

“I’ll be fine if you leave me here. I think
it best if you get your mind over the events of the day and help
Lunamae with her party.” I did as Talfrin instructed. I walked back
through the upper level corridor, took the stairs in the tower down
to the first floor and then wandered around to find Lunamae who I
assumed was with her mother. I found my own mother while
searching.

“How is Talfrin doing?” she asked me. She was
carrying a basket of sewing equipment and held some bolts of fabric
under her arm. I shrugged.

“I took the arrow out and put a bandage on
it. He wants me to sew it up later.”

“I am sure you can handle it,” my mother
stated, a little too unsurprised. I pretended not to notice.

“Where is Lunamae?” I wondered, diverting the
subject. My mother pointed to outside the keep.

“She is with Angharad in the cook house. They
are discussing what kind of cake to make for the birthday party
tomorrow. I’ll be up in the sewing room if you need me. I have been
given the task of making Lunamae a new dress.” She left to go up
the stairs and I headed to the cook house. I don’t often have a
need to go there since it services just the keep, but everyone in
the village had at one point in time been able to smell the scents
of freshly made foods wafting out into the air. It was particularly
evident in the summer months when fire smoke didn’t pollute the
fragrances. The house was a short walk from the keep as the staff
needed to be able to quickly deliver. It was separate from the keep
because of the risk of fire. The fires of the cook house, it
seemed, never stopped burning. Sure enough, Lunamae was there, in
her mother’s arms no less. After a few more minutes of discussion,
the chief dame said her goodbyes and left Lunamae to my charge. I
took her back to the house and prepared her for the party the next
day.