The Fuller's Apprentice (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 1) (11 page)

Josiah wanted to point her out to Elkan, but the wizard stayed busy, occasionally dancing, but more often talking to the villagers who sought him out. Once when Josiah started to approach him he was listening with every sign of deep concern while a man described his digestive symptoms in graphic detail. Another time it was a woman pressing for suggestions on how to overcome her difficulty conceiving. Josiah decided he’d wait and talk to Elkan later. The wizard would probably find out about her anyway when he started asking about the bandits.

The dancing went on late into the night. Before Josiah was quite ready to be done the villagers began drifting away to their homes. Eventually the harp player laughingly refused requests for one more song, waving his tired hands as an excuse. The musicians put away their instruments, and one by one Josiah’s new acquaintances bid him good night and trailed off toward their homes.

Elkan’s hand fell on Josiah’s shoulder. “We’d better get to bed. The late night won’t stop anyone from clamoring for us to get started first thing in the morning.”

* * *

Josiah groaned and rubbed bleary eyes when Elkan roused him shortly after sunrise. But a splash of cold water from the washbasin revived him, and a hearty breakfast of scrambled goose eggs and sweet brown bread fortified him. When he followed Elkan and Sar to the Mother’s Hall, he was eager to finally begin the work Elkan had brought him along to do.

A few villagers were already waiting outside the hall. Elkan addressed them. “We need a little time to get set up. We’ll let you know when we’re ready.” He led Josiah inside and closed the door behind them, though disappointed grumbles protested the wait.

Elkan surveyed the space critically and set about rearranging things the way he wanted them. He had Josiah take one end of a long table, and together they moved it just inside the doorway. Elkan dug in his pack and produced pen, ink, and the large leather-bound book he’d used at Korisan’s Mother’s Hall. “Josiah, I’m going to want you up here, keeping records. As people come in, write down their names and what they need. I’m going to concentrate on healing today, so if they have a dispute that needs judging, ask them to come back on Firstday. Also anything else, unless it’s an emergency. Those here for healing, sign in the first handful or so and send the most serious cases to me first.”

Josiah nodded his understanding. He rifled through the book. The first few dozen pages were covered in Elkan’s neat handwriting. At the first blank sheet, he pressed the book open.

“Please try to be legible. These records will be turned in as part of my masterwork, so it’s important they’re accurate and complete. I’ll add the details of my work this evening, but if you can get the basic information down for me, that will be a great help.”

Josiah nodded. He’d often helped with the accounts at the fulling mill, and before that in his parents’ shop. All parents taught their children the basics of reading, writing, and figuring, along with the principles of record-keeping needed to run a business. Masters were responsible for instructing their apprentices further in these arts, so by the time they became journeymen they would be capable of managing their own accounts.

Elkan and Josiah spent a few more minutes arranging chairs and benches into a waiting area and a workspace for Elkan and Sar in the back. When all was ready, they threw the doors open. Josiah sat down behind the table, uncorked the ink bottle, dipped the pen, and inscribed the date at the top of the page. He looked up at the first waiting patient. “Could you tell me your name, please, and what service you seek from Wizard Elkan?” Good, his voice sounded mature and professional, not the squeak he’d half feared.

The man was of middle years, lean and weatherbeaten. He removed his broad-brimmed straw hat and twisted it in his hands. “Name’s Zon Farmerkin Farmer. Three weeks back I wrenched my arm, hauling a sack of feed, and it’s not healed up yet.” He extended his arm with a grimace by way of example.

Josiah put down the name and complaint with careful strokes. Was this serious enough to warrant Elkan’s immediate attention? Josiah looked at the long line of people, then glanced to where Elkan and Sar waited. “Go on back. Wizard Elkan will see you now.” No need to make the man wait while Elkan sat idle. While the wizard dealt with this one, hopefully Josiah would have time to sort the others out.

In rapid succession, he checked in a young girl with a persistent cough, an old woman with pain in her feet, a young man with an arm broken only a few days ago, a middle-aged woman with a toothache, a boy with a rash, and a man with an aching head Josiah suspected was the result of too much beer the night before. When Elkan finished with Zon he called for Josiah to send someone else back. Josiah dithered for a moment, and then gestured for the broken arm to go next, followed by the toothache.

Josiah stayed busy for the rest of the morning, writing down names and ranking patients by the severity of their difficulties. There was a tense moment when a pair of quarreling women could barely leave off shouting at one another long enough to inform Josiah that one accused the other of stealing from her garden. They sputtered in anger when Josiah told them Elkan would not be judging that day and to bring their dispute back on Firstday. Josiah glanced over his shoulder and saw Elkan deep in the middle of a healing. He turned back to the women, drew himself up to his full height and forced his voice as deep as it would go. “Thank you. Will the next person waiting please come forward?”

For a moment Josiah thought the larger of the two women was going to push past him, but she deflated and turned aside, muttering under her breath, and stalked out of the building. The other woman followed. Josiah held his breath lest the shouting resume outside, but all remained quiet. He sighed and turned thankfully to the next person in line, an older man who winked at Josiah. “Don’t mind those two. They’ve been at odds for twenty years, and likely will be twenty years from now. You watch, come Firstday they’ll have forgotten this argument and have two new ones for the wizard to judge.”

Josiah laughed and sent him back to have the bunion on his foot looked at.

Patients continued to arrive throughout the day. Some had traveled for hours from outlying holdings. Josiah and Elkan stopped for an hour at noon, shared the midday meal with Galia, and continued seeing patients all afternoon. By the time the sun slanted through the western windows, the waiting area was nearly empty.

The last case of the day was a frail old woman whose granddaughter brought her in and described her gradual decline into senility. Elkan nodded gravely, closed his eyes as he assessed his remaining energy, looked at Sar a moment, and agreed to do what they could that day. For a long time he sat, leaning against Sar, left arm around the donkey’s neck, right hand hovering over the old woman’s head where she sat in a chair facing away from him. Josiah began to notice signs that the wizard and familiar were pushing themselves too far. Sweat darkened Sar’s flanks, and Elkan breathed heavily.

“Excuse me.” The soft voice called his attention back to his duty.

The woman with the baby stood before him. Josiah frowned at her. She really shouldn’t have waited until so late in the day if she needed help. And if she wanted to tell Elkan about whatever had happened with the bandits, it could wait until he wasn’t so tired. “I’m sorry, but Wizard Elkan won’t be able to see anyone else this afternoon.”

“I don’t need healing. I have a request to make.”

Josiah scowled. When Elkan finished with this patient, he’d need rest and food, not more bother. “Elkan is only healing today. You can tell me your request, and I’ll pass it along.”

“No. I’ll wait until I can speak directly with the wizard.” The woman sat down in the waiting area, pulled the baby out of his carrying cloth, and bounced him on her knee. The baby smiled and cooed at her, and she responded, all her attention on the child, shutting Josiah out completely.

Taken aback, Josiah gaped for a moment. Trying to reestablish at least a little authority, he asked, “May I ask your name, please?”

“Meira Smithkin Miner,” she answered, not taking her eyes from the baby. Josiah wrote the name down. He busied himself checking over the accounts, making sure they were complete and correcting the few mistakes he found.

He had just drawn a neat line through “Coper,” and was writing “Cooper” in its place when he heard Elkan stirring. He looked back. Elkan removed his arm from around Sar, pulled a folded cloth from his pocket, and wiped his brow. He looked worn, but pleased. He smiled at the anxiously waiting granddaughter, and scooted his chair around to face the old woman. “Master Orna? How do you feel?”

She blinked at him, dark eyes sharp in her seamed face. “Who are you?” She looked around, frowning. “I don’t remember coming here.”

“I’m Elkan Farmerkin Wizard, Master Orna. Your granddaughter brought you for healing.”

Orna glared at the young woman. “Sarea, whatever gave you the notion I needed healing? There’s nothing wrong with me that being twenty years younger wouldn’t cure. Help me up, child. I need to go home and put the evening meal on before it gets any later.”

Sarea threw her arms around Orna, weeping. She turned shining eyes to Elkan. “That’s the first time she’s recognized me since the first snowfall last autumn. She’s been calling me Malka—that’s my mother, her daughter.”

“Nonsense, child, why would I do that? You look nothing like your mother. She’s twice as broad as you these days, for one thing. You just take me home.” The old woman blinked, frowning. “I don’t quite remember what I planned to cook…”

“Mother will be so happy.” Sarea clasped Elkan’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough. You don’t know what this will mean to our family.”

“My joy is in the service,” Elkan answered her, the truth of the formal words confirmed by his warm grin. He drew Sarea aside and lowered his voice. “I’m afraid she’ll probably decline again. We can reverse the progress of the disease, but not eliminate it completely. Another wizard will pass through in a few months. Be sure to bring her for another treatment, even if she still seems fine.” He turned back to the old woman. “Come, Master Orna. Sarea can take you home now.” He extended a hand to help her to her feet and escorted the two women to the door.

He watched them go, leaning against the doorframe until they were well down the road. He turned back to Josiah. Spotting the waiting Meira, he frowned. “I’m not able to help anyone else right now, Josiah.” His shoulders sagged. “Unless it’s urgent. I suppose it must be, or you would have sent her off.”

“No, she said she—” Josiah began.

The woman interrupted him. “I just need a few minutes of your time, Master Elkan.”

“I have a year’s worth of work left before I earn that title.” Elkan rubbed his forehead. “Just call me Elkan. What do you want?”

Meira dropped her eyes to her child, fussing with the carrying cloth. “I need to travel home to Shalinthan. My husband and I came here last summer.” Her eyes met Elkan’s, hard and bleak. “He was killed by bandits along the way. Folk from this village rescued me from the same fate. They’ve been kind and welcoming, especially when I bore little Ravid two months ago. But it’s time to leave. I’m fully recovered from the birth, and the weather’s mild. My only concern is that we might run into the bandits again. When I heard that a wizard would be going that way, I knew that would be the best protection possible. Will you escort us?”

Elkan studied her. “Are you sure you’re up to the journey? Your child’s so young; it might be better to wait until next year.”

She shook her head. “Better now, while he’s light and easy to carry. And I don’t want to wait so long. My work is there.” She brushed back a tendril of hair from her eyes. “I’m a journeyman miner, as was my husband Ravid. For our masterwork, we explored the mountains, searching out new ore deposits. We found several very promising sites; I have the reports prepared and ready to turn in to my master. We’d planned to winter in Darilla, then journey back this summer.” She grinned ruefully. “Little Ravid wasn’t in our plans, but when I discovered I was pregnant, it was too late to turn back. It was an easy pregnancy, so we continued. Everything would have worked out fine, if not for…” She trailed off into silence, closing her eyes and turning her head aside.

Elkan sat down in the chair next to hers. “Tell me more about these bandits. The Guildmaster is worried about the reports she’s been getting. She asked me to investigate them. How many were there?”

“At least fifty that I saw. It was about a day’s journey south of here. We found a few gold flakes in a stream, so we traced it back, trying to find the source. We came around a bend and blundered into their camp. They were surprised, but just as we realized they must be the bandits people had been telling us about, a bunch of them surrounded us. Two of them started arguing. One wanted to keep us prisoner and demand a ransom. But their leader said we’d seen their faces, so they could never let us go. We’d be able to lead the wizards right to them.”

Elkan clenched his fists. “That’s just what I want you to do. Can you find the place?”

“I think so.” Meira drew a deep breath. “Ravid understood before I did that they meant to kill us both. He leaned over and whispered to me, ‘Run. Save our baby.’” She pulled her son tight. “Then he yelled and rushed at them, swinging his pick. I would have joined him, but there were so many of them. It was hopeless. So I did what he wanted. I slipped away while they were distracted and fled through the woods. They followed me, but I managed to stay ahead of them. When they got close and I knew they were going to catch me, I started shouting for help. I never expected anyone to hear, but a hunting party from Darilla happened to be nearby. They rushed in as the bandits reached me. They shot several of them, but the rest got away.”

The baby squirmed and whimpered. Meira shifted him to her shoulder and patted his back. “We followed them back to the camp, but by the time we got there all the bandits had fled. We found—” Her voice broke. “They left Ravid where he fell.”

Elkan laid a hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry.”