Joe reached the farm as the sun was just about to reach the horizon. Konren Dellham was by the barn finishing up his work. He gave Joe a wave and signaled for him to head into the house. Joe knew he probably could have just walked in, but it felt rude, so he stepped onto the porch and knocked.
From inside, Buck’s loud voice made sure anyone who hadn’t heard the knock would know there was someone on the porch. A moment later, Nella opened the door for Joe. She gave him a small, shy smile and moved out of the way.
“Hi, Nella. How is your mom doing?”
“Much better, Joe. I used the salts you left and soaked the hand one more time. I wasn’t sure what to wrap it in afterward. The bandages were soiled, so I used a clean handkerchief.”
“Good idea. Don’t worry, I have more bandages. I’ll rewrap it,” he remarked as he entered the house.
The smells in the room were amazing, and Joe’s stomach took that moment to remind him he had been active all day without much more of a meal than an apple, as well as a bite of bread and cheese that Rhiley had scrounged up later in the afternoon. A loud gurgle caused Joe to blush, which had the opposite effect on Nella. For the first time, she dropped her youthful uncertainty and became the host of the home, showing the signs of the woman she was growing into becoming.
“You must be starving,” she stated with a bright smile. “I haven’t heard a grumble that loud in a long time.”
“I am, and it smells incredible in here. What can I do to help?”
“Go wash up and call in my father. The wash barrel is on the edge of the porch. Rhiley and I will get the table set. We can wake Mother when everything is ready.”
After scrubbing his hands, face, and arms, he relinquished the barrel to Konren and went in to check on Sarsa before the meal. Now able to see her aura, Joe had a much better idea about her state. While there was a bit of red on her palm, the more disturbing color to her health aura was a miasma of black shadows coiling away from the wound. If red was wounds or damage, black felt to him like sickness, toxins, or corruption.
If the infection had been closer to the surface, Joe might have considered trying to lance it and push the gunk out. This was not a simple abscess anymore. The black tendrils seem to reach all the way up to her armpit. The best he could do right now was to keep bolstering her health until he leveled enough to get a curative spell.
You have restored 5 points of Sarsa Dellham’s health. Her current health is at 63%. The underlying cause of damage is preventing any additional healing of this type.
Sixty-three percent maximum health could not be good. The infection must also be deep in her bloodstream.
After dinner, the family and Joe talked for a while. Joe found he could layer a [Heartfire] inside an actual fire so everyone was able to shed the aches and pains of a working day on their farm.
He knew they had questions for him, and he had a whole book of things he wanted to ask as well. Even so, try as he might, Joe could not stop yawning. Konren took charge and told Joe to take Rhiley's room. The boy was happy to sleep by the fire with Buckle.
Joe thanked them for the meal and hospitality. He climbed up the stairs to the small room in the eaves and kicked off his boots. The moment after he pulled the covers over his shoulder, the newly minted healer was sound asleep.
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Joe’s dreams were not restful.
Filled with binding tubes and masked physicians, he was being shackled into a hospital bed. He kept trying to tell the faceless hospital workers he did not need them anymore, that he was healthy, and that he could heal on his own now. Maybe better than they could.
No matter how loud he screamed at them, the shadowy clinicians either could not or would not hear him. They kept coming with needles and IV bags full of poison. He would shrug one off, only to have three more take their place. He pushed them off and tried to run, but the hospital blankets entwined his ankles, tripping him.
Suddenly, in his dream, one of the medical specters balled up a fist and punched him in the face. The pain and incongruous action were so jarring that they snapped him awake.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He was in a dark room. So dark he could not see his hand in front of his face. There was no ambient light coming from street lamps or illuminated business signs. Joe had never seen such complete darkness before. He grasped the covers tightly. In his hands were not industrially woven hospital blankets; instead, he could feel a hand-stitched quilt.
At that moment, it all came back to him. He remembered dying and Hawking, Rhiley and Buck, the Dellhams and Crowfield. He knew where he was.
He let out a sigh that chased the last of the nightmare away. When he reached up to rub away the phantom pain in his nose, he winced when his fingers found an actual tender spot.
Becoming aware of his body, he felt something beside his neck. He reached and found a hard round object. Realizing he had the ability to create light, Joe picked a spot on the floor and cast [Heartfire]. He then looked at the object, which turned out to be a small pebble.
“Good. You’re awake,” a hushed voice declared from the window. “You ok? That was one dozy of a nightmare.”
Startled, Joe turned to see the tiny gnome perched wide-eyed on his window sill.
Kaid Ward: Gnome: Juggler 5
“Kaid? What time is it?” Joe replied, also keeping his voice down so as not to wake the Dellhams.
“Not rightly sure, Mister Joe? It’s after nightfall and before dawn.”
“Right. Clocks. Probably not very common here,” Joe speculated as he yawned himself a bit more awake.
“Oh, the town’s got some. I don’t. Neither does Rhy and his family, but there are a bunch in Crowfield,” the small visitor whispered proudly.
Joe didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had come from a place where there was a clock in every room, as well as each person typically had several on them between wristwatches, cell phones, and their medical tablets.
“Ok, Well, thanks for waking me from that nightmare, but I’m a bit confused as to why you used a rock.”
“It was a little, tiny pebble,” the little prowler replied defensively. “Sorry about that, but you were groaning and flailing around. Big people make me nervous when they are acting normally. Full-blown, giant-man, night-horrors are not something someone of my stature should get up close and personal with.”
“That’s fair. Well, thanks for saving me from the dream, even if it required a missile attack,” Joe replied, rubbing his nose one more time. “So, what’s the reason behind the midnight visit, Kaid?”
“I know how you can help Rhy’s mom, but you have to keep it a secret,” the spritely figure hissed.
“Ok, before we get to the ‘how,’ explain the ‘why.’ I’m not a fan of keeping info from good people unless there is a damn good reason.” Joe swung his legs off the side of the bed and stretched, cracking his back.
“The reason we have to keep it quiet is because we have to go see Granny Growlbee. Granny is the Witch of Brandy Mere. Not the evil, haggy, boiling-babies type, either. I like her,” the small gnome rambled in a hushed but speedy voice.
“But, for as long as everyone can recall,” Kaid’s explanation galloped onward, “the Haydalls, Missus Dellham’s kin, and the Growlbees have been feuding. Nobody even seems to know why anymore. They just can’t get past whatever that old grudge is.”
“Ok, but why me? If you get along with her so well, why can’t you get her to make something to heal Sarsha?”
“I tried that. Granny owes me a big favor, and I tried to cash it in for an elixir that would heal Missus Dellham. Granny made one, even though she knew it was for a Haydall, but Rhy’s mom wouldn’t take it. Thankfully, Granny took the potion back and reinstated my favor. See what I mean? She is nice like that.”
Joe’s brain was starting to unfog, but the little man’s avalanching explanation was a bit rough to follow after being snapped awake from a nightmare. “Still a bit lost, Dude. Why me again?”
“Oh, sorry. I figure this time, we trade the favor for a spell. I needed somebody who has people healing magic. I was going to try this with the herbwife, but that lady hates me. I stole one thing from her like four years ago, and she’s still pissed about it.”
“So we go see a witch, get a cure disease type skill for me, and you give up your favor. What are you getting out of this, Kaid?”
“Rhy’s my friend,” Kaid whispered, with a heaviness in his small voice. The little man sighed and looked out the window, speaking to Joe without eye contact. “I just don’t get along with you giants very well. Kids, I get. And Rhiley’s a great kid. He tries to put on a brave face, but I seen him when he thought no one was looking. He is really scared. If we do this, and we keep it quiet about the whole how we got it done part, he won’t be scared no more.”
Joe stopped himself from uttering the autocorrect that tried to escape his mouth. The tiny gnome was being open with him in a way that sounded like it was very out of character for the small ruffian. Joe was pretty sure Kaid's ethics were dubious at best, but he clearly cared about Rhiley.
“Ok. I’m in. Are we leaving now?”
“Don’t be daft. That will either cause an uproar when they hear you leave or worry when they find you gone,” Kaid scoffed. “I’ll be back in the morning. I’ll explain that I have a secret plan to Rhy then. He won't be happy that he can't come, but he can’t. His dad would kill me for bringing him that far out a town before he’s unlocked his first class.”
“Get some rest, Big man,” the sneak added. “Big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Joe was about to retort, “I was resting before you woke me up,” but Kaid was already gone from the window sill.
Sighing, Joe slid back under the covers. This time, it took far longer for him to drift back into sleep.