Chapter Thirteen
Kellan watched in shock as their Uncle Stefan stood and shot the power at that boy—instantly incinerating him. She had never seen such power before. His eyes had radiated disbelief—and then fury. Kellan suddenly felt Vevila's shock shudder through the link. Kellan grabbed her up and ran out of the room. She didn't stop until she was in the room they were sharing. She sat on the bed holding her.
Kellan tended to forget how young Vevila really was. Her vibrant personality and tender spirit often surpassed her youth. Vevila seemed so little to Kellan as she held her tight. She was crying uncontrollably, clinging to Kellan's arms, her face buried into Kellan's chest. The rest of her sisters ran into the room. Dara quickly approached Vevila and touched her head.
"She's in shock," Dara whispered to them. "We need something that will give her a little distance from what just happened."
"We can do that with the link," Rhoswen told them.
They found themselves linked. They could see Vevila fully caught in the grip of the memory. Alana interrupted Vevila's thoughts, using herself as a distraction from what had just occurred.
:Vevila,: Alana called. :Come play with us.:
:What?: Vevila said confused. :The boy, he…:
:Yes,: Kane interrupted her. :you never did show Alana the merbabies. Remember how cute and colorful they are.:
:Yes,: Alana reached out to her. :Show me the merbabies.:
:I'd like to see them, too,: Kellan told her inserting her own blocks into the link. :The merfolk let you see more of their world because of your beautiful song. Can you show us how you do that? I've always wanted to hear you sing the way that they do.:
:Oh, okay,: Vevila answered timidly, and then led them into the song she typically sang to the merfolk. They really did want to know what that was all about, and was soon enchanted by her song—the boy forgotten by all of them.
Celeste walked into the room. She was so tired, and so concerned for Vevila. She found the sisters in a very strong link, and gently touched its surface. What she found astounded her. She could hear a song. A song that was so powerful that she had to withdraw quickly, or be pulled deeply into it. Vevila was singing the song.
Curiously, she touched Kellan, hiding behind Kellan's personal shielding. She saw Vevila singing to the merfolk in the lake of the forest. No wonder they kept sneaking her away whenever the girls went into the forest. The song was so beautiful—and so soulful. Celeste was enchanted.
Kellan felt Celeste touch her shield. She watched as Celeste shyly listened to Vevila's song. Celeste was so tired. Kellan nudged her other sisters, and unknowing to Celeste, they connected her into their own core, replenishing her magical energies. They let her drift into a sleep with Vevila's song haunting her dreams.
Celeste didn't notice when they removed her shoes and unbound her clothes. They left Vevila sleeping next to her, lost in her own special place.
"Ugh!" Dara murmured with disgust. "There's ash on her dress."
"I'll get rid of it," Kellan said instantly. "It's just one more thing that would remind her of this atrocity."
Dara gently remove Vevila's dress and handed it to Kellan. Kellan walked with it to the outside fire pit and used the oil lamp to light it on fire. She also wanted to check on Uncle Stefan. She paused as she considered what she had witnessed. When he had struck out at the boy, she had felt something inside herself vibrate to his magic. She now knew that he wasn't an O'Byrne, and so wondered what the vibration meant, and wondered why he was able to do such powerful magic.
The dining room had cleared pretty rapidly. Molly had some of the workers from the house carry Stefan to a room. They were very careful to not step into the pile of ash. Molly frowned at the ash. She swept it up with an old broom, and carried it far from the manor. At the wall of the ocean, she threw the ash—and the broom out to sea. She knew that boy had been bad—bad to the core. They were well rid of him. She found herself shivering and hurried back to the manor.
She saw Kellan by the fire pit and went over to join her. She recognized Vevila's dress burning in the pit and shivered.
"How is the lass?" Molly said with concern.
"We have her," Kellan said. "How is Uncle Stefan?"
"We have him," Molly said with a twinkle in her eye.
"Vevila is sleeping soundly with my other sisters," Kellan rolled her eyes at her.
"The Chinese man is with your uncle," Molly told her. "He seems to understand what your uncle did."
"That's more than I can say for myself," Kellan told her. "I've never seen that kind of thing before."
"I have," Molly confided with her, "not as intense, but the same never the less. Surprisingly, it's not an O'Byrne thing, or even a Druantia thing. There are other types of power and magic in our universe. There's a performer who stops by now and then. He could do that kind of magic."
"What happened?" Kellan asked interested.
"It wasn't much," Molly told her, "but it surprised us, coming from a stranger and all. The man was quite fond of the ladies, even as old as he was. One of the husbands took exception to his flirting and rose to complain—with his fists. The husband suddenly found himself sitting on the ceiling. The performer told him that he would be staying there until he wasn't so angry. Charley was real fast in admitting that he wasn't angry at all. We couldn't help but laugh. He looked so addled up there with all the blood rushing to his face. No one ever bothered the entertainer again. This little village seems to be one of his frequent stops. He still drops in now and then—although—not for a while."
"Why do you think that was the same as what Uncle Stefan did?" Kellan asked. "He killed that boy."
"For sure," Molly agreed, "there was nothing else that could have saved Vevila. I couldn't even get to her fast enough, and I was only a few feet away. I should have been paying more attention to the boy. I knew he had anger brewing about his cut face."
"The magic?" Kellan prodded her.
"It had the same feel," Molly frowned in thought, "as if you could feel it riding along your skin."
"That's it!" Kellan told her, "an elemental power. I heard mama and Aunt Caryn talking about that kind of magic a long time ago. That's why papa is a knight. He was a nature knight while his brother was a fire knight. But if it isn't an O'Byrne thing, where does it come from?"
"Magic calls to magic," Molly shrugged. "Your mama had always been attracted to your papa, but when he came into his own magically—she was smitten with him. The professors go on about survival of the fittest. Magic power is fit indeed. I would imagine magical folk would either want each other badly, and be swept away—or want to kill each other."
"Pardon miss," a young man interrupted their conversation.
Kellan remembered him from the village. He had grown up! She remembered him slinging mud at his brothers, now he was all polished up, and had a hat in his hand. Gone was the muddy, raggedy, country boy with the dirty, tousled brown hair.
"What is it, Chet?" Molly asked.
"It's Katherine's family," he hesitated, "my betrothed. They were supposed to bring in their cloth yesterday. They work with wool and hemp—finest weavers around. They never showed up. They rent some acreage on the other side of the wall up in the northern section, and I'm concerned."
Kellan could see that Chet was more than just concerned—he was frantic. She was surprised he hadn't already jumped the wall.
"I can see that the land is still there," he turned to Kellan. "But I don't know how to get to it. I tried climbing down the cliff and got soaked for my efforts."
"We haven't checked out all of the barrier yet," Kellan told him. "But from here, through Celeste's barn is the closest pathway to the other side."
"That might be a good distraction for Vevila," Molly mentioned. "For you and the sisters to head on out there," she sighed. "Take Chet, too. I don't want him up on the roof while he's mooning about his sweet little Katherine."
Chet blushed, but nodded determinedly.
&nb
sp; "Dara might still be needed here," Molly reminded her. "There will be times when you can't all stay together."
"We know," Kellan said simply, and then looked at Chet. "We will be leaving just after daybreak. Wear comfortable clothing, and bring a blanket. There is always the chance that we will spend the night out. Be on time, we won't wait for you. Sleep fast," she told him and walked away.
"Wow," Chet told Molly, "is she always so intense?"
"Mostly," Molly nodded. "You might want to sleep on the couch over there, morning will be here fast."
Kellan walked to the kitchen and started putting a basket together for the trip. She sighed, putting in extra cheese. She knew how to feed her sisters, but didn't have a clue how to feed a young man. She just hoped Katherine's family was okay, and that they could leave Chet in their care.
Katherine should be thrilled at seeing how much her betrothed cared. Talking about climbing mountains, climbing down magical cliffs should count for something. Kellan sympathized with how frantic he must have felt. They would all rest easier once they knew the extent of mama's and papa's spells.
Kellan ended up packing two baskets. She was sure they wouldn't need all that food, but they could always leave the extra with Katherine's family, or bring it back. The strawberries should be flush up there at this time of the year. She grabbed a bucket of sweet cream and added it to the basket.
Kellan set the clock to alarm at five. She glanced around the room. They had three beds and a settee. The beds were all occupied so she stole Kane's blanket and curled up on the settee. Kane always slept hot and usually tossed her blankets on the floor anyway. Kellan tossed and turned on the Settee. They just weren't as comfortable as they used to be. Next time, instead of stealing Kane's blanket, she'd toss her onto the settee, the older and bigger sister's right.
Kellan hadn't even felt that she had slept at all when the alarm sounded. She shut it off quickly. She preferred to load Vevila up while she was still groggy with sleep, before she had the chance to think about last night. No problem with that idea, none of the girls were stirring. She sighed, and started unwinding herself from the settee. She ended up landing on the floor, tangled up in the one blanket.
"What are you doing?" Rhoswen asked irritably. "It's barely light outside."
"Something's going on with the northern acreage," she whispered. "We've been asked to check it out. Chet, the worried betrothed, will be joining us."
"Can't Celeste take a look?" Rhoswen asked. "I don't sense anything."
"Didn't ask," Kellan told her. "Molly thought it would be a good reason to get Vevila out of here. I'm hoping to get us going before she really wakes up."
"It is a good idea," Rhoswen said worriedly. "Keep her from seeing the dining room for a while."
"Celeste won't want Dara to go," Kane's voice was muffled. "Isn't that my blanket?"
"I stole it," Kellan told her. "Next time you get the little sofa." She heard Kane laugh.
"They might want Alana to stay, too," Rhoswen mentioned. "She was really helpful directing those sailors and keeping everyone orderly."
"It's up to them," Kellan said firmly. "We aren't going to let others direct our gifts—or use us."
"What's up to us?" Alana startled Rhoswen by jumping on her.
"There is an anxious fiancé out there," Rhoswen told her, "worried about his missing betrothed. He tried to climb over the cliff to get to her. I guess we should show him the way."
"How did you know that?" Kellan asked surprised.
"I seem to know a lot of things when people get all excited by something," Rhoswen frowned. "I think they send out ripples."
"Anyway," Kellan continued, giving Rhoswen a curious look, "I want to go out there and take Vevila, too. Who wants to join us?"
"I do," Rhoswen told them. "I feel bored and restless here."
"Me too," Kane agreed.
"I want to go with you too," Alana frowned, "but Molly was saying that she would like me to be on hand when they give the sailors their next dose of black gu—medicine."
"You need to do what you feel you should be doing," Rhoswen frowned at her. "There will always be people who think they know how to use our gifts better than us."
"I agree," Dara said as she quietly joined them. "There is no reason for you to stay just so it's easier for the nurses to give the medicine. The sailors will work with the nurses—or they will die. For me though, I think it's more important to help Celeste. I can learn from her, and can add to her own magic."
"I agree," Alana looked her in the eye. "I don't feel like coddling those sick, grumpy, old, sailors—and I do think it is very important for you to learn all that you can from Celeste as well as give her your help. You helping could make the difference between that man walking again, or being buried."
"Can you see the north section?" Rhoswen asked Dara, "I can't get a sense of it."
"Not really," Dara frowned. "I can see it, but I don't really understand what I'm seeing."
"Is that normal?" Kane asked curiously.
"Sometimes," Dara told her. "The mind plays games when the eyes see something that just doesn't make sense to it. Sometimes, I just can't see what is there."
"I've seen that!" Alana nodded. "Remember the deck of cards that Terah had. The red and the black were switched—black diamonds, red clubs, so on. When she was holding them up quickly one at a time, I couldn't seem to write them down. My mind just wouldn't accept what she had. Not until she set them on the table and I really looked at them. Then I could see how wrong they were, only then could I write them down as she held them up. It was really strange."
"I remember that," Kellan said. "I had the same problem."
"Anyway," Dara told them. "I don't know if it's just because it's far, or because my mind doesn't understand, so I can't quite see. You'll figure it out."
"So I take it you will be joining me today?" Celeste asked softly from the other bed, "If we still have a patient that is. You do realize that Stefan and I had more work to do with him last night?"
They all looked over at her and frowned. She and Stefan had been in no condition to do anything.
"And just what were you planning on doing with that poor man?" Rhoswen asked her. "The state you were in you most probably would have cut off his good leg."
"It may have missed your notice," Kellan added scathingly, "but Stefan had to be carried to bed last night—just like someone else we all know and truly love."
"Ah, little things," Celeste told them nonchalantly.
Kane launched onto her smacking her with a pillow.
"Hey watch it," Kellan yelled out, "don't wake Vevila."
"It's okay," Celeste told them. "I gave her an extra wink last night. She won't wake for another hour or so—game on!" She yelled launching herself at Alana and smacking her in the head with the pillow.
Molly heard the commotion from the other room. She sighed, sometimes these homeless people were so unappreciative of the gifts and efforts people tried to bestow on them. Irritably, she marched into the other room.
The sight meeting her gaze made her pause. Kane and Rhoswen were in a corner with the settee, protected with blankets like a little fort. Alana and Dara were teamed up against Kellan and Celeste, pounding into each other with pillows. One pillow had shattered and there were feathers everywhere. All the while, Vevila slept peacefully in the center of the room. She watched amazed as Celeste launched herself from on top of the bed, toppling Kellan into Dara and Alana. All four landed in a heap of laughing, shrieking girls.
"We do have guests you know," Molly told them indignantly. "You should know better," she scolded Celeste. With a sniff she walked out of the room. Once out, she grinned to herself as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Well," Celeste said laughing, "I guess she told us."
"I'm hungry," Alana said unrepentant.
"Me too," Kellan said, dropping the pillow.
They all left the room and walked directly to the kitchen—avoiding the dining
room.
"Thank you," Celeste said giving Kellan a hug. "I appreciate what you all did for me last night. I was so tired that I hurt all over. Thank you for pulling me into your link. Vevila's song was very beautiful."
"Our pleasure," Kellan told her. "You need to lean on someone now and then. You don't always have to go it alone you know—not anymore!"
"It seems that I always had to," Celeste told her. "Maybe, things will be different now."
"Especially with Uncle Stefan around," Kane announced as she fluttered her eyelids.
"Look, coffee!" Celeste hid her blush behind the bag of coffee beans.
"You can run," Dara said softly.
"But you can't hide," Alana finished.
Rhoswen started a big pan of oat porridge. She knew that the residents would be up soon wanting food. When it was simmering nicely, she removed it from the heat to thicken. Kellan had chopped up the blueberries they had gathered from the forest and folded them into the porridge.
"That smells really good," Molly said as she entered the kitchen. "Early blueberries, I see."
They grinned back at her as they helped themselves to bowls of porridge.
"Think you have enough?" Rhoswen asked Kane.
"You can't have too much honey," Kane argued.
They were surprised to see Meifen come in and also help himself to the porridge.
"I will come with you," he told them.
"Oh," Kellan said surprised, "okay."
"You may take some blankets from my foyer," Celeste told them. "I'd let you borrow the wagon, but I promised to haul Widow Brown to the larger village. Buckley gave her the slip yesterday."
"That's okay," Rhoswen told her. "We appreciate the blankets though, our wagon is rough."
"Aunt Caryn has the bigger, newer one," Kane said moodily.
Rhoswen elbowed her. Kane knew that she had earned the elbow so didn't retaliate. She had been dwelling on Aunt Caryn too much.
A sleepy faced Chet joined them in the kitchen and helped himself to the porridge. He looked up with appreciative surprise on seeing the blue berries.
"This is Chet," Kellan announced. "He will be joining us."
"Thank you," he said sincerely to them all.
"That's okay," Kane told him. "We can use someone to carry all of our stuff down to the stables."
They heard Meifen laugh into his porridge. The sisters looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't that good of a joke.
Chet took Kane at her word and stowed everything away. They squeezed into the wagon to stare at each other.
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Kellan glanced around frowning.
"I don't think so," Alana frowned as she glanced around.
"We don't have Vevila!" Rhoswen laughed.
"I knew this wagon seemed too roomy," Kellan jumped out of the wagon.
"I guess it's a good thing Dara isn't going after all," Alana said sadly. "With Chet and Meifen along for the ride, there just wouldn't be enough room."
"Come Chet! I have a maiden for you to carry." Kellan called to him.
They laughed as Chet blushed and followed her into the manor. A few minutes later he was carrying a still sleeping Vevila out and carefully placing her inside the wagon. Alana had chosen to drive. Meifen climbed up beside her. Chet grinned as he noticed the three sets of female eyes upon him. He had sisters—he could do this.
"Away!" Alana called out to Kingdom.
"AW-EE, Aww-ee," he answered and pulled the wagon down the drive.
They had to make their way out through Celeste's barn. Once they were on the other side, Chet asked if it would be okay to stop for just a minute. He wanted to understand the barn.
"Whoa, Kingdom," Alana called out stopping the wagon.
"Vevila's starting to wake," Kellan told them. "It would be a good time to let her get organized and to get some food."
"You're not going to get it," Kane told Chet. "It's just too strange."
"Hi, little sister of mine," Alana called out to Vevila.
"Where are we?" She asked confused.
"We were roused early by a distraught betrothed to seek out his lady fair," Rhoswen smiled at her. "We decided to let you slumber whilst we worked."
"Oh, how very kind of you," Vevila smiled back and then frowned.
"Yes, it was all true," Kane told her. "But we are all okay now."
"The boy?" she asked.
"Gone," Kane told her.
"Uncle Stefan?" she asked.
"Fainted," Kellan answered.
"Oh," Vevila continued to frown. "I need to use the tree's."
"I'll go with you," Kane told her. "I could use a tree myself."
"Or you can just walk back a little and borrow Celeste's water-closet," Kellan suggested.
"A good idea," Vevila agreed.
Chet had not been in the manor at the time when the boy had attacked Vevila, but Molly told him what had happened. He was totally sympathetic to the confused little girl. He was stunned that the boy was dead, but better he—than her.
"There is something here," Meifen pointed out.
"But what is it?" Kellan asked.
Chet walked over to where they were standing, and looked up with surprise. From this side it just looked like something had undercut the barn.
"I know what that is," Rhoswen told them. Meifen's eyebrows rose with surprise. "It's an inscription, written to make all this happen, more than what we would see with a ward. It was written by papa, and then activated with passion."
"Passion?" Kellan frowned at her.
"Papa and mama doing the deed!" Rhoswen told her.
"Oh!" She looked at the inscriptions, and then saw the burn marks. They must have had great passion! She grabbed her drawing pad and drew out a copy.
"It is best to create a blockage," Meifen told her studying her drawing, "so it cannot be accidently brought to life."
"How?" Kellan asked handing him the pencil.
"You can separate it by space," he rubbed out a space to create a void through the drawing. "That is better."
"I like that," Kellan told him. "I can still understand the drawing. I can study it later."
As soon as Vevila and Kane were on the other side of the barn, Vevila started crying. Kane held her friend and sister close. Except when the merpeople interrupted, Vevila was her best friend. They were closest to the same age. They always played together—got into trouble together—whatever. Seeing her irritatingly cheerful sister so agonized made Kane feel angry.
"I'm glad the boy is dead," Kane told her. "Molly said he was trying to hurt Cally-cat, which was why he marked him so."
"I know," Vevila said, her tears slowing. "I was just so scared. No one has ever looked at me with such hate before. I don't know what I did to cause that. Was that just because I told him he couldn't be in the Ladies room?"
"It wouldn't have mattered," Kane told her. "Do you remember Old Man Beckard?"
"Yes," Vevila answered. "His wife's very existence was enough reason for him to beat on her. She thought it was her own fault for this or that, but it wasn't. He'd hit her for spending too much, and hit her again for getting a bargain from the baker. She couldn't win."
"He ended up killing her," Kane reminded her. "That Jeremy boy had fun being cruel. He needed to be put down like a mad dog. At least it was fast."
"That was him?" Vevila questioned, "the ash—I mean?"
"Yes," Kane told her. "In a flash—he was ash, and poor Uncle Stefan fainting away in his own stew, and then Molly threw the ash away into the sea where the tuna ate the ash, and we ate the tuna, so the ash is with us again."
"I'm not eating anymore tuna," Vevila said feeling better with Kane's silliness. "How did he do that?"
"I don't know," Kane told her. "I hope he will do it again. It happened so fast, I didn't get to see it."
"Maybe we can find something that needs incinerating," Vevila suggested.
"That would be fun," Kane agreed. "Now, do you need the closet?" br />
"Do you think the wards will let us in?" Vevila grinned.
"Only one way to find out," Kane grinned back.
They walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door. They waited a minute and then tried the knob. It was locked.
"Oh well," Vevila said disappointedly, "a tree will be fine."
Celeste felt the ward on her door and looked to see who was at her house. She spied Vevila and Kane. She released the ward that held the door, and the door swung open.
Vevila looked with surprise at the open door. Kane didn't even hesitate, but just walked in.
"Aren't you afraid to go in," Vevila hissed.
"Of course not," Kane told her frowning. "Celeste can see us. Who else would have unlocked the door?"
"Oh!" Vevila blinked and wandered on through the door. "Thank you, Celeste."
Celeste nodded to herself and continued working with Stefan.
Kane and Vevila paused to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.
"Oh wow!" Kane said with surprise looking around Celeste's front room.
There were cats!—everywhere!
"Kitties!" Vevila ran out to meet them.
Kane laughed as the room erupted with purrs, meows, and yawns. There were heads bobbing from those that wanted treats, and tails switching from those annoyed. Cats came at them from every direction. Kane and Vevila stopped to play kitties.
It was when Vevila reached out to pet the shy kitty that she noticed the ash on her arm. She started screaming. The cats ran frantically from the room.
"Stop it," Kane ran at her. "Stop it!"
"The boys on my arm," she cried incoherently rubbing her arm frantically, "now it's on my hands."
Her face grew pale, her stomach revolted, she kept screaming. It was then that Kane saw the ash.
"Stop it!" She grabbed Vevila and shook her hard. "We'll use the tub and get that off you—now come!"
Kane grabbed Vevila's arm and forced her to stand, dragging her to the bathroom.
:What's going on?: Alana called out.
:Vevila just found boy ash on her arm and went into a fit,: Kane sent. :We're getting into the tub now, then we'll have to find her more clothes. She can't put these on again—ever.:
:Do you need help?: Kellan sent concerned.
:No,: Kane sent back.
"What's going on?" Chet asked Rhoswen.
"Vevila found some ash on herself and berserked," Rhoswen told him. "Kane's taking care of it, but we'll be here a while."
"Oh," he said disappointed. He understood about the need to get Vevila squared away, but was disappointed that they weren't on their way to see Katherine.
"Vevila just found ash on her arm," Celeste told Stefan.
"Damn!" He threw the bloodied cloth on the floor.
Dara looked from one to the other, afraid for the first time. They were having trouble getting the blood to clot. Celeste and Stefan weren't confident that they could save this sailor. Their uncertainty had astounded and shaken Dara. She had never thought about not saving someone before. The new concept aggrieved her terribly.
They had taken care of the gangrene, that looked good, but the typhoid was taking its toll on the rest of his body. He was continuously racked with fever shivers, and didn't have the nutrition to maintain himself, much less have some to spare to build on his leg.
"We're going to have to stop on his leg," Celeste told them, "and focus on the typhoid. We need to get some nutrition into him. He's totally depleted."
"Did we cause this," Dara asked feeling guilty, "because we didn't get Celeste back to him?"
"No!" Stefan stared into her eyes. "Neither I or Celeste could have prevented this last night. He simply doesn't have it in him. The typhoid has caused him to lose whatever he managed to eat last night."
Dara nodded. She remembered the fouled bed sheets.
"If only we could get food into him," Celeste said staring at the emaciated man.
"Is there a spell that could take the food from someone else's stomach and put it into his?" Dara asked. "Mama was rather good at inventing spells for whatever she needed."
Celeste paused to think about what Dara had just said. They had been able to give him energy, but not mass.
"There is a joining spell I once heard of," Celeste threw out for thought, frowning. "What if we do a joining from someone else's stomach, to his?"
"After the stomach would be better," Stefan said thoughtfully, "faster."
:I think we can,: Celeste sent them a diagram of what would be needed. :The donator would need to be absolutely still. We should paralyze him.:
:We don't have much time,: Stefan urged.
:Let's get Nick,: Dara suggested. :He's always eating hemp seeds, very balanced and there should be some ready to donate.:
Stefan left the ladies to keep the man steady. He approached Nick, who indeed was eating hemp seeds. He grinned to himself.
"Would you like to save a life this day?" Stefan asked.
Nicks eyes got big. His wife Molly, dealt with the O'Byrne—never him.
"I guess so," he said uncertainly.
"Then just step this way," Stefan escorted him to the infirmary.
Nick was terrified as they washed him down and suited him up. Stefan explained to him and Molly what they needed.
"I'm so proud of you," Molly told him. She was secretly laughing at his terror. Teach him for belittling her involvement with the O'Byrne.
"When we are done," Celeste told him, "you will feel nothing different, but be very hungry."
"But I'm always hungry," Nick whined.
"Then there's nothing to worry about is there?" She said pushing the trolley into the surgery. He took one look at the damaged man and fainted.
"You will still need to immobilize him," Stefan smiled.
"I'd like Dara to do that," Celeste told them.
"Me?" Dara said surprised and terrified.
"No big deal," Celeste told her. "We will just go into the brain and pinch off a nerve."
Dara swallowed nervously. Just go into the brain and pinch off a nerve—simple. Celeste linked them together.
:You will do as I say,: Celeste sent to her, :and then we will go over the details after we get Walt feeding.:
:Okay,: Dara sent.
:Use your sight and look into his brain,: Celeste instructed.
Celeste had stopped sending her sight into the link. Dara opened her sight and pulled it into the link. She looked into his head. Celeste pointed to the path that she wanted blocked.
:Use half the energy you use to kill the bugs and twist this pathway,: Celeste told her. :You will unblock it later.:
Dara steadied herself and did as Celeste had said.
:Good job!: Her uncle congratulated her. :That was done very fine!:
They connected the two patients in what looked like a magical feeding tube. As soon as the other patient started taking nutrition, Celeste explained the various parts of the brain, what it controlled, and how to influence it.
"Don't worry about remembering all this," Celeste told her. "We will go over it time and time again—until you are seeing it in your sleep."
"We will take a break now," Stefan told her. "We can't do more until he has fed."
They all de-gowned together. Dara felt a rush of pride due to being able to work with them. She didn't know it, but they felt very proud of her as well. Celeste had never worked with such an apt pupil before. Stefan had trouble remembering that she was only thirteen. In link, she seemed much older.
She settled into the kitchen with another piece of apple pie.
:Guess what?: She sent to her sisters. :I just got to go into Nick's brain and paralyze him.:
Vevila and Kane jumped guiltily at Dara's interruption. They were in the process of going through Celeste's clothes, looking for something Vevila could wear in the wagon. They had gotten distracted when they came to the pretty gowns and were in the process of putting them back.
:Molly's, Nick?: Alana asked.
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:Why on earth would you do that?: Kellan sent back.
Dara sent them a picture of what they were doing. They couldn't help but laugh when seeing Molly's rather smug husband stretched out feeding his fellow man.
:Vevila, Kane, are you ready yet?: Rhoswen sighed. Chet had found the basket and was eating his way out of his nervous boredom.
:Yes, fine,: Vevila sent back.
:Bring more food,: Rhoswen sent.
Vevila had just decided on a pair of boys trousers. If Kane and Rhoswen could wear them, she could too. Unlike Kane's boyish shirt, she grabbed a pretty blouse. Kane rolled her eyes at her.
"It's going to get dirty," Kane told her.
"Then I'll wear this one," Vevila held up a pretty blue shirt. Kane sighed.
Vevila was littler than Kane and they had to rummage through the bin that Celeste had put aside for the village kids. She collected clothing where ever she went.
Kane had come across some shoes. She really liked the shoes, but they were too small for her.
"Look at these," she held them up to Vevila. "Top quality leather. You should take them if they fit. You need some shoes."
Vevila frowned at the shoes. She hated wearing things on her feet! She liked the feel of the grass, or even the dirt. The rocks never hurt her the way they did other people. She had very tough feet.
"I have really tough feet," Vevila told her. "Those should go to someone who really needs them."
"You do really need them!" Kane argued and put her hands on her hips.
"Okay," Vevila hedged, "I'll try them, but if they don't fit, they go back into the bin."
"Of course, silly," Kane handed her the shoes. She also dug some socks out of the bin.
Vevila grudgingly tried on the socks and shoes. They really did fit well.
"Let me see," Kane demanded.
She felt around the toes and found that they fit Vevila's foot perfectly. She smiled satisfied. They looked to be very sturdy with good buckles.
"I don't know," Vevila frowned.
"They are perfect," Kane insisted. "Let's get some food."
Kane headed out of the room. Vevila carefully placed the shoes back into the bin, but kept the socks. Vevila grinned with self satisfaction. Someone, but not her, would someday enjoy those shoes.
Kane was in the kitchen rummaging through the cupboards. Vevila grinned and grabbed down the smallest basket. Kane frowned at her until she saw the magical signatures. It was a pocket basket. It even had a cooling section. They filled it up with everything they could think of knowing that Celeste wouldn't mind.
They couldn't help but play with the kitties again before leaving the house. They locked the house physically and headed down to the barn. Vevila was unusually quiet.
"What's up?" Kane asked.
"You realize that if Uncle Stefan hadn't incinerated that boy," Vevila said thoughtfully. "He'd still be dead due to mama's curse."
"Yes," Kane told her. "I thought about that, but you would be dead, too. He was going for your throat. There wasn't even any hesitation. You would have died first. I'm rather glad uncle got to him first—you?"
"Oh yes," Vevila said squarely. "I'm glad."
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