Ravenwood (31 page)

“Mum? I don’t think that’s wise.”

Tanyth smiled. “I’m not sure either, but if I lay here much longer I’m not going to be able to get up again so please help me.” She gave an apologetic shrug. “Besides, I need to use the privy.”

Megan looked horrified. “Mum, you can’t be walking all that way.”

Tanyth gave a small laugh. “Well, then I’m gonna wet myself trying, my dear, so if you’d give me a hand? We’ll see how far I get before I go, shall we?”

Megan held out her hands and Tanyth used them to pull herself upright. She swayed a bit as the blood that had been in her head rushed to her feet. For a moment or two she wasn’t too sure she’d made the right decision after all. She gripped Megan’s shoulder and held on until the dizziness passed. Her legs were weak, but they held her and she took a tentative step. Her hips groaned at her but soon were moving smoothly and she had Megan turn around and walk toward the back door and the privy beyond. If the steps were slow and sometimes halting, they were steps and she grew more certain as she walked along.

Megan made it to the back door and pulled a warm shawl down from a peg beside the door. “Here, mum. Don’t get chilled.”

Tanyth allowed the woman to fuss over her a bit and drape the shawl around her. The longer she stood the less certain she was that she’d make it all the way to the privy and back.

Megan must have seen the uncertainty in her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this, mum? We’ve got the pot here for you.”

Tanyth’s mouth twisted into a sideways grin. “No, I’m not sure, but I’d much rather try this than use that pot again.”

Megan grinned and turned so Tanyth could grab her shoulder once more. They shuffled out into the daylight.

The sudden sun stabbed Tanyth’s eyes and she nearly stumbled, but she half closed them and lowered her head against the midday glare. Her feet scuffled her forward over the cold grass and damp soil.

“Oh, mum. We should have put some shoes on you!” Megan was horrified when she realized that Tanyth walked barefoot.

Tanyth patted Megan’s shoulder lightly. “Hush, child, we’re almost there and it feels quite pleasant.” The icy fingers of grass stroked her feet and the soft soil beneath cushioned her steps, and each step she took seemed to be stronger, as if pulling strength from the very ground upon which she walked. She whispered a small prayer of thanks to the All-Mother and kept moving.

In less time than Megan feared and in much more time than Tanyth expected, they came to the door of the privy. Megan swung it open and led Tanyth inside. It took some maneuvering, but after two days of using the pot with the requisite attendances, Tanyth’s sense of modesty had been shredded. Megan saw her charge safely enthroned and stepped out, discreetly closing the door behind her.

In a moment, Tanyth called Megan back and they retraced their steps back into the workroom. At the cot, Tanyth balked at laying back down.

“Mum? You need to lay down and sleep.” Megan’s voice was firm.

“Megan? I need to sit up and get something to eat. Is there any rabbit in that stew?” She nodded at the pot over the fire.

Megan nodded. “Yes, mum, there is.”

“Good. Help me get a seat where I can lean back on the hearth and I’ll eat something solid and then, I promise, I’ll be a good girl and go back to bed.” She smiled. She knew she was being impatient but also knew the danger of lying down for too long.

With the ground rules established, Tanyth and Megan had a pleasant meal of rabbit stew and more fresh bread and even a nice cup of tea. Tanyth began to feel much more human, even as the exertion took its toll on her. With the meal over, Megan helped her stand once more and, as she had promised, went back to bed.

“Oh, that’s lovely, my dear. Thank you.” Tanyth was already feeling the tug of sleep but struggled against it to speak. “When I wake, do you think we could have some hot water for washin’ up? We should really change the dressin’s, too.”

“Of course, mum. We were talking about it among ourselves and thought we probably should have done it yesterday.” She looked chagrined.

Tanyth smiled and reached out to pat her arm. “When I wake. That’ll be soon enough, I think.” Almost against her will, her eyes closed and sleep claimed her once more.

The raven watched the men tear down the house. They’d been
working at it for two passages of the All-Mother through the sky.
Some of the wood they saved. Some of it they stacked in a big pile.
The logs were taken apart and laid out side by side. She eyed their
activities and soaked up the warmth of the sun, but her belly was
empty. She needed food. She took wing and soared over the men’s
heads unnoticed and out over the open space of the long path. She
remembered a fruit tree and flew to it. The ground was littered
with fallen fruit, some already soft and some crawling with
stinging insects. The insects gave a lovely tang to the fruit, and
their stings had no effect on the horny plates of her bill. She
gorged herself and had to hop twice to get enough spring to
get off the ground. Once aloft, she sailed between the trunks
and flapped heavily upwards, looking for a perch high in the
fir where she could watch the men and drowse in the warm
sun.

As the afternoon wore down toward night, Tanyth fought her way back to consciousness. The meal had helped and the exercise had, too, but the new levels of awareness were making her impatient. As she blinked herself awake, she saw that Megan had been joined by Sadie and the pair of them smiled happily to see her stirring.

“Are you ready to see what’s under the bandages, mum?” Sadie was smiling gently.

“I am, indeed.” Tanyth was afraid of what she’d find but determined to see it through.

The two women had a large tub set up beside the hearth and a substantial collection of kettles heating on the fire. They helped her rise and walked her out to the privy and back before beginning. She was already stronger and the round trip took much less time and effort. The workroom felt almost stifling after being out in the cool, fall air.

They took her to the tub and had her stand in it while they peeled her clothing away. They got her down to bandages and small clothes in almost no time and then had her sit on the edge of the tub while they used sewing sheers to clip carefully up her spine. The cold steel of the sheers gave her shivers as the narrow blade slid under the wrappings and against her skin. With each layer of wrapping released, they carefully peeled it back and dropped it into a pile on the floor beside the tub. The first few layers revealed nothing to Tanyth’s eager gaze but as the subsequent layers were removed, the extent of her injury became more evident. By the time the were up to her navel, the bandage was stuck securely to her and they used a clean cloth soaked in hot water to moisten and loosen it before pulling it gently away.

It took almost half an hour to get the bandages off her. They gave her a warm shawl to put over her shoulders and hot water in the tub for her feet while they cleaned the long wound up her torso. As Sadie had said, the lower part of the cut, the most vulnerable and softest part of her body was sliced, but it was quite shallow. As the blade drove up the length of her body, it had bit more cruelly. Seeing the scabbing cut in her belly was shocking enough, but when the bandages pulled free of her chest, the neat row of x-shaped stitches in the flesh between her breasts was almost incomprehensible. Age, gravity, and a reduction in her body fat over the years had left her breasts sagging flat against the ribcage with only the slightest sway and the incongruousness of the stitches running up between them left her slightly disoriented.

The younger women seemed more shocked by the sight of her flattened, bare breasts than by the stitching in her skin. She smiled. “This is what happens if you live long enough.” She waved a hand at them. “There are worse things.” She paused and put a tentative finger to one of the stitches and eyed the redness along the edges of the wound. She looked up into the staring eyes of the two younger women. “Well? What do you see? Infected?”

Megan squinted her eyes a little and moved in for a closer look. Her nose was almost against the flesh and she sniffed delicately. “It doesn’t smell bad, mum, but it’s a bit redder than I’d like to see.”

Sadie eyed her companion with an odd look, but then turned her attention to the cut. She reached out a tentative finger to touch the older woman’s flesh, but stopped. “May I, mum?”

Tanyth nodded. “Of course, my dear. Tell me what you think and then I’ll tell you what I think.”

The two examined the cut and the stitching with critical eyes and a few tentative touches. They stepped back and shared a look.

Tanyth prompted them. “Well? I’m getting chilly here wavin’ my dugs in the breeze. What do you think?” She had an amused grin on her face. “We might wanna figure it out before any of the children wander in and we scare them silly.”

The two giggled a little, but Sadie’s serious expression didn’t go away. “That’s not looking as good as I’d have hoped, mum.”

Megan sighed and nodded her agreement. “It’s awful red and puffy lookin’, mum.”

Tanyth nodded. “I agree. I don’t think it’s infected yet, but I’m not likin’ the way it’s lookin’ and not just because it’s me.” She smiled and looked down at herself. “What do we do about it?”

Megan shook her head. “I’d try a poultice of feverfew if there were any around here.”

Sadie nodded. “Yep, if we were at home, I’d have the healer round. Witch hazel liniment maybe.”

Tanyth nodded, impressed at Megan’s practical approach and Sadie’s practical knowledge. “Well, I haven’t seen any feverfew yet, but there are some big patches of comfrey along the edge of the woods on the south side of the village. Do you know comfrey? Upright plant with fairly large leaves? Kinda spearhead-shaped?”

Megan nodded. “I know it. How much do we need?”

Tanyth gave a little shrug. “Probably two or three plants. Depends on the size. Break them off close to the ground. Bring them back here and I’ll show you what to do with them.” She looked at Sadie. “The big pine trees out behind the barn here?” She nodded with her head. “The ones with the long green needles?”

Sadie nodded. “Yes, mum? What about them?”

Tanyth nodded at one of the empty pots they’d heated water in. “Take that out and strip enough pine needle to half fill that pot.”

Sadie reached for the pot and Megan was headed for the door when Tanyth stopped them. “If you’d be so good as to get me a shirt or something? I’d just as soon not sit here half naked while I wait?”

They grinned. “Yes, mum.” Megan helped her put on a shift and then wrapped her in a blanket while she paddled her feet in the warm water of the tub.

“We’ll hurry, mum.” Sadie grinned as they scampered off in different directions.

Sadie returned first. She had the shorter distance to go and knew exactly what she was doing. She was back within minutes with a pot of the redolent needles. “Here we go, mum. What do we do with them?”

“Pour enough hot water on them to just float them and set the kettle over the fire to simmer.”

Sadie followed her directions and set the pot to simmer. “I love the smell, mum, but will this help infections?”

Tanyth nodded. “The pine is a good all-around cleaner. Any kind of cut or scrape? Wash it with a little pine needle tea.”

In a few minutes Megan came trotting back with three largish comfrey plants. There were even some seed pods that had not yet dropped. “How’re these, mum?”

Tanyth smiled. “Perfect. Strip the leaves off the stems and put them in another pot. We’ll make a poultice out of those and a bit of the pine needle tea.” She looked down at herself. “Before we do that, can I have a bit of soap and hot water? May as well clean up a bit before we get serious.”

The women eagerly helped her strip down and bathed her in hot water with some of their own soap. It was scented with lavender and Tanyth nodded approvingly. “The lavender will help healing, too.”

They finished rinsing her off with some of the hot water and then dried her in a soft blanket before helping her into fresh small clothes and one of her own comfy pairs of trousers.

“You’re going to have to wrap the poultice and I’ll need to be laying down.” Tanyth crossed to the cot but didn’t lie down.

The two women nodded and Sadie produced a length of cotton to use for a winding. “We were going to tear this into bandages, but this should work, shouldn’t it mum?”

Tanyth nodded approvingly. “Very good. Lay it down, and I’ll lay on it, and then you can pile on the foliage.” She grinned.

When the cotton was settled, they helped Tanyth lie down on it and she had them start with the kettle of pine needles. “One of you pour a bit of the liquid into the comfrey, and then squish it up with your hands. The other one, get a cloth and wash the cut with the pine needle tea.”

They did as she asked. Megan poured a small amount of the pine liquid into the kettle with her leaves and proceeded to make as consistent a paste out of them as she could. The smell of pine saturated the air and even the musky comfrey scent didn’t come near it in redolence.

Sadie took a clean cloth and gently patted the incision with the hot pine tea. The ends of the stitches occasionally caught in the cloth and tugged, but Tanyth was able to ignore the small twinges.

“Alright, now cover the cut with the mushed up comfrey. Make sure it’s moist.”

Megan made a line of warm leaf matter down the center of Tanyth’s body and the three of them giggled at the sight.

Sadie started to pull the cloth over her. “Now wrap you up, mum?”

Tanyth thought for a moment. “Scoop some of the pine needles out and lay them down across the wound, too.”

They built a layer of pine on top of the layer of comfrey and by the time they were done, the liquid was cooling and Tanyth was grateful for the warmth of the cotton being wrapped about her. They were careful to smooth the cloth over her body and then pulled the free end around her two more times. They helped her pull on a shift and smoothed it down over her to hold the loose end in place.