Serenity Valley (41 page)

Everyone started laughing at the
pathetic bundle with flashing eyes. Gamel was laughing along with
everyone else. He said, “All right, just for a little bit, but
don’t think I won’t bundle you just the way you look
now!”

Basilea pulled open the blankets
around her mouth and said, “I knew you still loved your old holey,
beat-up Basilea.”

Everyone laughed again. Gamel bent
down and gently kissed her on the forehead. He said, “Oh, beautiful
lady, do you not know? You are the reason I still walk among the
living.” The laughter quickly died away. Wide smiles remained, but
everyone in the house realized that the statement was more fact
than could be comfortable. Gamel opened Basilea’s blankets and
arranged her arms in her lap. Cocooning was performed until only
Basilea’s eyes were visible. When Gamel was satisfied, he carefully
picked her up and walked through the door opened by Fulk. With the
entire house empty, the guards’ curiosity prompted them to
accompany the group.

Devin approached Gamel and said,
“Excuse me, but can I assume the mummy is Lady Basilea?”

“Indeed,” Gamel said, “this be the
fair and beautiful lady herself.”

“Can she speak like that?” Devin
asked.

“For heaven’s sake, Basilea, just
blink once for yes and twice for no,” Fulk said.

Devin addressed the mummy. “Good lady,
can I assume that you are feeling better?” The mummy blinked once.
“I am glad to hear that, my lady. Are they taking good care of
you?” Basilea blinked once again. “Is there anything you need?
Anything I can get for you?” Basilea blinked twice. The group had
clustered around Basilea at the turnout fence. Everyone wanted to
hear and see the strange conversation between Devin and the
mummified Basilea. Devin said, “My lady, I have been asked to give
you a message from all De Ferrier men-at-arms. With the sole
exception of our Lady Bella, the men had never witnessed such skill
in close quarters combat! If not for the cowardice of snipers,
there is no telling how many of the mongrels you would have ended.
The men are proud to have shared the field of battle with you and
wish for your speedy and complete recovery!” Tears were running out
of Basilea’s eyes by the time he had finished, and Devin patted a
part of the mummy that should be a shoulder. He said, “God speed,
my lady.” Basilea managed a slight nod within the confines of her
wrappings.

A smiling Goodwin said, “Basilea, the
men honor you. This is the highest degree of respect a soldier can
confer upon someone. By the way, Master Ox has titled you Master of
Sword.”

Everyone gathered closer to the fence
as the horses finished their meal. Mildred walked over to the
turnout fence to greet everyone while Demon made a dash for his
hidden treasure. He cautiously circled the secret tree while
everyone pretended not to be looking at him. At full alert, Demon
looked in all directions, rotating his ears constantly, trying to
detect anything out of the ordinary. He took one more good look
around, then reached up into the branches for his arm. He jerked
his head back and jumped to the side. He started nickering wildly,
looking here and there for some sort of intruder.

Gamel said, “He knows it’s different.
He just can’t figure out how it happened.” Everyone was enjoying
the show. Gamel could feel Basilea giggling through the blankets. A
confused Demon reached up and pulled the wooden arm to the ground.
Looking in all directions, it was obvious he was trying to
understand how the arm had been changed. Gamel said, “Now he will
see if his precious ring is still there.” Demon put his nose to the
wooden arm and sniffed it thoroughly. He put his head high in the
air and curled his lips back to take a better sampling. Returning
his nose to the new arm, he circled while sniffing and snorting
great volumes of air. As horses cannot see directly in front of
their nose, he backed up and turned his head to take a good look at
his changed prize. Soon he realized the ring was still present, and
he lowered his head to feel the ring with his lips. Gamel said, “If
he’s satisfied with the ring, everything should fall into place.”
Demon circled the strange arm once more. He lipped the leather
strap attached to the blunt end, then he picked up the arm with the
leather strap and immediately dropped it. Picking it up again, he
shook his head from side to side playfully. With the new arm
secured in his mouth by the strap, Demon strutted over to the group
holding his most regal stance. Everyone praised Demon’s new arm
with the pretty ring. He pridefully held out the wooden arm for
everyone’s examination. When he came to Gamel and Basilea, he
stared at the mummified person Gamel held in his arms. Gamel said,
“It’s Basilea, Demon. I’m just keeping her warm.” Demon whinnied
softly and placed his arm on the ground by his feet. Reaching over
the fence, he started tugging at the blankets covering Basilea’s
face.

Fulk said, “Guess he wants to make
sure it’s her in there.”

Soon, Demon had pulled the blankets
away from Basilea’s mouth. Basilea said, “It’s me, Demon. I’m okay,
just a little wrapped up at the moment.” Before anyone noticed,
Mildred had crept up on Demon and stolen his arm off the ground.
She was trotting away before Demon realized he had been robbed. He
squealed as he turned to chase her. Mildred was nickering and
throwing the arm back and forth, taunting Demon as she trotted
away. He ran after her, squealing in anguish. Everyone started
laughing at the comical scene as the horses raced out of
sight.

They all went back into the house to
have the evening meal. Within minutes, both horses appeared at the
rear windows that opened to the covered turnout. Demon had
reclaimed his pretty, and Mildred seemed to be in an unusually good
mood. Fina, Roesia, and Trina joined the group for dinner. Roast
turkey, tubers, black bread, and cider appeased everyone’s
appetite. As usual, a huge jug of tea and ten loaves of black bread
were taken out to the guardhouse.

After cleaning up the dinner mess,
Nesta said, “Mama, I need to go to the house to get some clothes
and a few things.”

“I be stoppin' at ta kitchen ta make
sure there be stew at da dining hall hearth. I be seein' you at da
house after.”

“Okay, I’ll walk back to the main
house with you, then on to our quarters.” Fina, Roesia, Trina, and
Nesta left by the rear door. Gamel put Basilea back in bed and took
his usual position in the chair by her side.

Giselia came in to clean and dress
Basilea’s wounds. She listened to Basilea’s chest and said, “More
one day, tube can take out.”

“Good,” Basilea said. “One less hole
in me when that’s gone.”

Giselia replied, “Wounds other close,
stitching no need, good look. No fester.”

Gamel said, “Thank you so much,
Giselia. You have taken very good care of Basilea.”

Giselia just smiled and said,
“Welcome; good friends welcome.”

She finished with Basilea and moved on
to Goodwin in the other sleeping quarters. The large gash in
Goodwin's shoulder was healing well, without sign of festering.
Giselia said, “Wound stitch now. Clean, no fester, close now.”
Bells lit all the oil lamps and candles in the bedroom while
Giselia retrieved her bag of supplies. Giselia put a small curved
needle in the bottom of a kettle. She added some heavy thread and a
tiny hollow straw. She poured some wine over it and gave the kettle
to Ivan, who went to the hearth to boil the wine. Bells came out to
see what she could do to help. Giselia gave her an ointment and
said, “Put on wound, pain not feeling much for
stitching.”

Fulk was the only one with nothing to
do, so he went to the writing desk and pulled out a few scrolls to
study. Two scrolls were star charts that he rolled out on the
dining table. The third scroll was a map of all hold held lands.
Fulk busied himself with study while the others tended to
Goodwin.

When the wine had boiled, Ivan brought
the kettle into the bedroom where the women waited with Goodwin.
When the wine had cooled a bit, Giselia put her hands into the
kettle and purified them. She dipped a fresh white bandage in the
wine and cleaned the open wound. She then retrieved the needle and
thread from the wine and threaded the needle. She said, “Few
stitches we put now.” Ivan dipped his thin dagger into the wine and
washed the blade. With the speed of a seamstress, Giselia sewed and
tied her first stitch. Three more followed in rapid succession.
Giselia reached into the kettle and withdrew the fine hollow straw.
She said, “Put for drain no puss come.” She gently inserted the
straw into the wound. Picking up her needle and thread, she quickly
placed and tied off eight more stitches, closing the wound around
the straw. Ivan handed her his dagger, which she used to cut the
thread close to her last stitch. She said, “Few days be taking
drain out, no problem being.” Giselia and Bells put a drawing
poultice over the wound and re-dressed it.

Goodwin said, “Giselia, you are the
best healer I have ever seen. Where did you learn your
skills?”

“From old ones, healers of my
peoples.”

Ivan added, “Wife study many years
with old healers, learning much to make good healer.”

Goodwin said, “She is a fantastic
healer, much more advanced in skill and technique than our
healers.”

Ivan spoke to Giselia in their
language, then Giselia said, “Welcome, kind are you, good friends
being. Make home good for family.” Everyone smiled as Ivan and
Giselia cleaned up the various materials and left the
room.

Nesta had parted company with her
mother at the kitchen and continued on to their small cottage on
the road outside the main gate. Upon entering the house, she
noticed her father asleep in a chair by the fire, no doubt drunk
again. Nesta crept to her tiny bedroom area off the kitchen and
started collecting some clothes and items she wanted with her. She
got an empty flour sack from the small kitchen to carry her things.
With all her things stored in the sack, she turned to leave. A
massive fist caught her just under her eye, knocking her off of her
feet. When she regained her vision, she rose to her knees to
receive a second fist to the side of her head. Barely coherent, she
was pulled to her feet. Her father bellowed at her, “Where is it,
you little bitch! Where is the mirror set?”

Nesta looked at her father with
blurred vision. Her speech slurred, she said, “It’s mine, and you
will never get your hands on it.”

“Hell, I’ll beat it out of ya! Godless
whore! Yer just like yer bitch mother!” Her father grabbed her by
the hair and threw her onto her bed. He yelled, “You be tellin' me
soon enough; too bad yer face won’t be so pretty anymore!” A fist
slammed into her cheekbone, causing her to temporarily lose
consciousness. She braced herself for the next blow, but it never
came. When she was able to focus, she could see her mother pushing
her father off of her. A cooking pan was in one of her
hands.

Trina dropped the pan and raised Nesta
off the bed. With tears in her eyes, Trina asked, “Darlin', can ya
sees me? Come into da light.” Trina inspected Nesta’s face, asking
her questions to see if she was fully awake. She wiped her bloody
face with a clean cloth dipped in water. Satisfied that Nesta had
no permanent damage, Trina took her swollen face in her two hands.
With tears streaming from her eyes, Trina cried, “I’m so sorry,
Nesta, my baby girl. I nevers thought he would come after
ya!”

Nesta said, “Don’t cry, Mama. I’m
okay. I’ll be all right!”

Trina hugged her girl to her, putting
one arm around her back and another supporting her head as you
would a baby. She whispered, “I promise you he never be touchin' ya
again, on me life I promises ya!”

Crying in her mother’s arms, Nesta
said, “It’s okay, Mama; please don’t cry. I’m all
right.”

Trina said, “It breaks me heart ta
send ya away rights now, but you need ta go back ta Fulk, baby
girl.”

Nesta protested, “No, Mama. I can’t
leave you here with him, not like this!”

Trina reached down and picked up the
packed flour sack. Handing it to Nesta, she said, “Go back ta
Sirates, darlin'. I’ll come see ya in da morning. Say goodbye ta
yer father; he’s not comin' back after tonight!”

From the bedroom area, they heard,
“Not comin back me ass! Ya bitches! I be teachin' ya ta hit yer old
man.”

Trina took Nesta by the arm and guided
her to the door. She said, “Go now, baby girl, I’ll just be a bit
sending this lout down da road—go now!”

Nesta pleaded, “No, Mama, don’t make
me leave you, please?”

“Nesta, trust me, ya have ta trust me;
go now! Stop by Eva’s place and ask her ta come see me, please.”
Trina pushed Nesta out the door. With a reassuring smile, she said
again, “Trust me, darlin', send Eva dis way; trust me.”

With that, Trina quietly closed the
door in front of a heartbroken, worried Nesta. She could hear her
father yelling, “Come here, ya bitch! Been easy on ya till now! Now
ya gettin' a good lesson! Get over here, Bitch!” Nesta could hear
her mother’s confident voice as she responded with, “Me name ain’t
bitch! Ya should be careful what ya ask fer!” There were several
loud rings, as if a metal object struck something solid.

A trembling, crying Nesta stood
outside the door, afraid to open it to find her mother dead. Nesta
turned and ran as fast as she could for Eva’s cottage down the
road. Banging on Eva’s door as hard as she could, she yelled, “Eva,
come quick, it's Mama! Hurry, Eva! Hurry!”