Serenity Valley (33 page)

Bells asked, “Master Warin, do you
think she will live?”

Warin just sat there, with everyone
waiting to hear what they didn’t want to hear. He finally spoke
with tears in his eyes. “I cannot save her, my lady. I do not
possess the knowledge to save her.”

Everyone’s heart sank to the deepest
depths possible. Everyone around Basilea, including the soldiers,
held their words. Fulk finally spoke. “Thank you, Master Warin, for
trying. How long?”

Warin looked at Fulk. “We can see to
her comforts and make her passing easier. She has one, maybe two
hours.”

Again, silence shrouded the group like
the black of night. While everyone contemplated the loss of
Basilea’s bright spirit, Demon arrived with something in his
mouth.

He went straight to Gamel, nickered,
and yanked the thing in his mouth up and down. Gamel didn’t
respond, so he dropped the object in Gamel’s lap and nickered
louder this time.

“Wonder what Demon’s been doing all
this time,” Fulk said. “The battle’s been over for some
time.”

“Looks like he been looting the dead,
I believes,” Ox answered.

Fina looked at Trina. “Trina, go over
there an' see what that thing is.” Trina quietly crept over to
where Demon and Gamel were and peeked at the thing Demon had
dropped in Gamel’s lap. She couldn’t quite make it out, so she
slowly crept closer. Demon bent down, picked up the object, and
trotted over to Trina so she could admire his prize. Her eyes grew
huge in disbelief. She gagged, screamed, and ran back to the group.
Demon nickered and shot his head up and down proudly.

With huge eyes, Fina grabbed a shaking
Trina by the shoulders and asked, “What did you see?”

Trina’s lips trembled. “It’s a human
arm.”

The women all gasped in horror, and
the men were stunned to silence. Even Ox needed to think about
this. Fina said, “Someone has to go over there and take that thing
away from him.”

“I handle meat all day,” Eva said. “It
don’t bother me. I’ll get it.” Eva went to Demon, who was proud to
show her his prize, until she tried to take it. They tugged back
and forth for it. Eva demanded, “Demon, gives me that disgusting
thing right now.” Demon pulled it out of Eva’s hands and raised his
head high so she couldn’t reach it. Every time she tried to grab
it, he squealed and stretched his head up higher so it was out of
reach. Although they didn’t want to, the group started chuckling,
watching the comedy between Eva and Demon. Finally, Eva gave up and
returned to the group, saying, “I give up!” Demon went back to
Gamel and tried to get his attention by flinging his severed arm
around. The vibration of heavy hoofbeats announced Mildred’s
arrival with the Gypsy couple. Mildred knelt to allow her
passengers to dismount, and then walked about twenty feet away to
graze on rich grass. She had spent abnormal amounts of energy this
day and needed to restock with nutrients.

The Gypsy couple walked to the group,
where Fulk explained to them Basilea’s injuries and prognosis.
Giselia asked, “Can see to help? I look Basilea?”

Bells replied, “Yes, please examine
Basilea.”

Ivan interpreted for her. She moved to
where Basilea lay next to the fire. Giselia examined Basilea much
like Warin had done, listening and tapping on her back and chest.
Giselia spoke to Ivan in their tongue a few moments. Ivan spoke to
the others. “She want me blow air in Basilea lungs why she
listening.” Warin was very interested and moved in closer to
observe. Ivan carefully bent her head back. Giselia put her ear to
the chest; she then held one finger up to tell Ivan to blow. Ivan
opened her mouth, pinched her nose, and blew steadily. Giselia held
up a finger once more, and Ivan blew again.

Warin asked, “Can I listen
also?”

Giselia said, “Yes, yes, you
listening.”

Warin put his ear on Basilea’s chest,
and Ivan repeated his blowing twice as he had before. Then he
gently lowered her head back down. Giselia said, “Not bubble much,
no bleed, air fill, no work get air out.”

“Wife say chest not fill with blood,
not bubble much from air, air around lungs, lungs no work.” Giselia
spoke to her husband in their native tongue. For several minutes,
they talked back and forth, then Ivan translated for the others
once again. “There is thing to do release air, like bloated cow.
Put small hole, let air out, lung work for air being
gone.”

Bells looked at Warin and asked,
“Master Warin, what do you think?”

Warin answered, “Everything she has
said makes sense. I detect few bubbles, and that means little
bleeding is present. There could be trapped air pressing on the
lungs.”

“Ivan, can Giselia do the procedure?”
Fulk asked. “Yes, she can do, but need some thin pipe for smoking,
long stem, need stem.” Several riders left to go to their packs.
Ivan continued, “Need sharp-tip dagger.”

Ox pulled his dagger and a stone from
his belt and started on the blade. Three riders returned with
smoking pipes and handed them to Giselia, who examined each one.
She selected one with a long stem attached to a corn cob. Ivan
said, “Need wine and cooking pot.” The riders rummaged in their
packs and returned, placing three pots on the ground next to
Giselia, who chose one. Two bottles of wine were handed to her,
which she set on the ground. Ivan stated, “Need bigger fire for
boil wine.” Several men set out to gather wood.

While all preparations were being
made, Demon went to Mildred to show off his arm. He waved it around
in front of her. She raised her head and stopped eating. She
examined the arm and sniffed it. She whinnied and shook her head
from side to side. Demon was not satisfied. He started bumping it
against Mildred’s neck. Fed up with his antics, Mildred let out a
high-pitched screech and stomped her front foot on the ground.
Demon jumped back and stared at her.

Trina stood next to Fina, watching the
exchange. “She reminds me of you!” she said.

A smiling Fina replied, “Oh,
hush.”

Everyone was watching the horses.
Demon nickered again, bobbing his head. Shaking his head from side
to side, he trotted back to Gamel and tried to get his attention.
One of the ladies said, “I wonder if Gamel can ever be
reached?”

Fulk replied, “If anything can bring
him back, it’s that horse. He was talking to him on the field
today.”

“What did Gamel say to Demon?” Bells
asked.

Fulk answered, “He told Demon, 'let’s
kill them all!'” The group started rumbling about Fulk’s statement.
Bells immediately regretted she had asked the question.

The fire had been enlarged, and a
cooking pot with wine had been set to boil. Giselia took the pipe
and showed Ivan where to cut the stem. Ivan pulled his curved
dagger and started to cut off the required piece of stem. After he
had the piece, he began to sharpen one end of it until it came to a
tapered point. He blew through it to make sure it was clear. It
went into the pot. Ox handed Giselia the dagger, and after trying
the tip against her palm, she placed it next to the
fire.

Ira, who had remained mounted on Whip
spoke up now. “My lady, thirty minutes have passed.”

“Goodwin will be at Sirates House.”
Before Bells could finish her words, Ira and Whip had
vanished.

Ox had been watching Demon try to
interact with Gamel for some time. Fulk said, “He hears Demon.
Demon will bring him back.”

“I hope so, son; his mind wents
farther away than I ever sees before.”

Unable to get a response from Gamel,
Demon walked around behind him. He bent his head down and rested
his chin on Gamel’s shoulder. This allowed the arm to rest on
Gamel’s chest. Demon gave low continuous whinnies, demanding a
response. Ox and Fulk heard a low and faint voice a moment later.
“What you got there, young man? Oh, that’s a pretty, isn’t it? You
killed all the bad things and got you a prize, didn’t you?” Demon
got excited. He started prancing around, shaking his treasure back
and forth like a dog shaking a rag. He came back to Gamel and
dropped the arm in his lap. “You want me to have your prize, don’t
you, Demon?” Demon nickered and nodded his head up and down in
agreement. Gamel whispered, “No, you keep your pretty; you found
it. It’s yours to keep, Demon.” Demon pranced around in front of
Gamel, flagging with head held high. Demon went up on his hind legs
and gave a stallion scream while striking the air with his hooves.
He was answered by Mildred’s thunderous bellow.

Fulk started to go to Gamel, but Ox
stopped him. “No, lad, let them be. Damn beastie is bringing him
back, he is!” The exchange between Demon and Gamel did not go
unnoticed. Smiles were the order of the day within the small,
diverse group.

The attention of the group turned back
to Basilea. The wine had boiled for some time. Giselia talked to
Ivan in their language. Ivan removed the pot from the fire and set
it next to Basilea. Giselia poured some wine on her hands and
rubbed it in. Warin was staying close to Giselia. He was in new
territory now and learning much. Giselia poured wine over Warin’s
hands also. She was showing him the procedure as she had learned it
from the old wise healers of her country. She picked up the knife
and waved it over the flames to heat the blade on both sides. Next,
she poured some of the hot wine on Basilea’s side. She used her
fingertips to probe the rib cage until she found the spot she
wanted. She then took Warin’s hand. “You feel, place that is
right.” She guided Warin’s fingers to the place she had located.
“You feel place for cut?”

Warin replied, “Yes, I feel
it.”

Giselia nodded in agreement and placed
the tip of the dagger to the spot and made a small incision. She
placed Warin’s hand on her own so he could feel the next cut. “You
feel, deep not much; you feel it?”

Warin replied, “Yes, yes, I feel
it.”

Giselia then extracted the sharpened
pipe stem from the hot wine. “You look end, end need point,
yes?”

Warin examined the sharp end of the
stem. “Yes, I see, very sharp.” Giselia took the stem in her right
hand and placed Warin’s right hand over hers. She slowly inserted
the stem in the incision with some force. She stopped when she hit
a highly resistant place. “You feel chest, wall for chest, yes?”
She pulled the stem back and inserted it again, stopping at the
resistant place. “You feel stop, wall of chest be?”

Warin said, “Yes, yes, I feel where
the chest wall is.”

“Keep hand mine, feel break through on
chest, yes?” Warin nodded in agreement. Giselia pressed the sharp
stem hard against the chest wall, and the stem suddenly penetrated
and lost its resistance. “You feel, through is being, feel it
you?”

“Yes, I felt it penetrate the
wall.”

Then, a rush of air and foamy red
bubbles spewed from the open end of the stem. Basilea took two
ragged, short breaths, then a long, deep breath. Pink color
returned to her deathly white face immediately. The long, deep
breath was followed by more normal breathing. Giselia wadded up
some of the bedroll under Basilea’s back and rolled her over part
of the way onto her back. She put her ear to Basilea’s chest. With
a smiling face, she looked at Warin. “You hear now, lung now work,
bad lung fix then work more.”

Warin listened to the chest and got a
big smile on his face. “Yes, the lung works!”

Giselia started squealing with delight
and grabbed Warin in a tight hug. “She live, she live
now!”

Everybody in the group let out a
holler. The soldiers bent their heads back and let a battle cry
loose. Ira and Whip announced their return with a sliding stop from
a full run, leaving deep gouges in the ground. Ira yelled out, “My
lady?” With a huge smile and tears in her eyes, Bells looked at
Ira. “So it’s good news, then?” Bells just nodded yes. Ira let out
a bloodcurdling battle cry that sent Whip straight up on his hind
legs, screaming. When Whip returned to earth, horse and rider sped
away, flinging massive clots of grass and dirt into the air. Demon
let out a stallion scream, and Mildred answered with a deep bellow
of her own.

Giselia was squealing and running to
her husband. When she reached him, she launched herself at him. She
hugged him with her arms while wrapping her legs around him. She
squealed, “She live, Ivan, she live!”

Ivan hugged his wife while grinning,
laughing, and stating in his deep voice, “She hot bloods, this wife
mine, best, most best wife mine!”

Everyone was caught up in the moment,
howling, yelling, and dancing around. Bells grabbed Ox and gave him
a bear hug. “I never told you, Ox, glad you are safe!”

He returned her hug and said, “'Tis a
good day ta be standin' upright, lass, a very good day!”

Bells was holding Basilea’s hand when
Giselia returned from molesting her husband. Giselia stated, “Now
we move, to house we now go.”

“Ox, can you arrange a wagon for
transport?” Bells asked.

Before Ox could answer, though, a
determined low voice spoke. “I will take her!” There, standing
behind Bells, was a gore-covered Gamel. His eyes remained red
except for the dark brown pupils in the center. Bells took a good
look at him and gasped for breath.