Psychicians

by Laurence Dahners

  With a smile, she said, “We should be able to do that. Are you ready to come upstairs?”

  He nodded. As they started up the stairs, he said, “I looked up that dye you asked about. Rubiazol or prontosil rubrum?”

  She gave him an excited look, “And?”

  “Our notes say that it’s broken down in the body to become sulfanilamide, an antibiotic.”

  “That’s what the book said! Can you make it?”

  “Well…” he said, dragging it out. “It’s a big molecule…” This time he dragged the pause out so long she thought surely he was about to say it was impossible. Then he said, “Would it be okay if we just made the sulfanilamide? It’s a much smaller molecule.”

  She laughed delightedly. Then glared, “You were teasing me!”

  He grinned at her and shrugged, “That’s what old men do to pretty young girls.”

  ~~~

  Daussie swapped out the cataract in his left eye for a significantly more convex lens than they’d put in the right. They were hoping he’d be able to read with that eye without needing glasses. Since Kazy had him dozing for the procedure, Daussie swapped out the lens they’d put in his right eye the first time. This time she put in a slightly less-convex lens in hopes he’d have perfect distance vision in the right eye without needing spectacles.

  When Kazy let him awaken, his eyes widened in astonishment. He sat up and looked around, then shook his head as he said, “I’d truly forgotten what it was like to be able to see, and now to see so well.” He wiped at tearful eyes, “Seeing with one eye these past weeks has been a miracle, but seeing with both…” His voice had cracked and he evidently couldn’t continue. After swallowing several times, he looked around at them and hoarsely said, “Thank you so much.”

  Eva insisted on testing his vision again, this time in both eyes. He could indeed see perfectly with his right eye at a distance. With the left eye, Daussie’d been lucky enough to put in a lens that was focused at a comfortable reading distance. Eva said, “We could give you spectacles to help your left eye see at a distance and another set so your right eye could see for reading. Then you wouldn’t be bothered by blurriness in the other eye.”

  Geller waved dismissively, “I notice the blurriness in the eye that’s seeing at the wrong distance, but it doesn’t bother me very much. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.” He snorted, “In fact, I think it’ll be easier to tolerate than the irritation of wearing spectacles. If I don’t get used to it, then I’ll come back to be fitted for lenses.” He reached in a pocket and fished out a handful of gold coins, “These can’t possibly compensate you for what you’ve done…” he began.

  Daussie turned to her mother, “Mom! He says he can make sulfanilamide! I think that’ll be worth more than gold, don’t you?”

  They made him keep the golds.

  Chapter Six

  It was almost time for the dinner rush so Daussie went downstairs to tell any patients still waiting to see the healers that they’d have to come back the next afternoon. Stepping into the dining area, she called out, “Anyone else waiting to see the healers?”

  She felt greatly relieved when no one responded. She hated sending people away, or, even worse having to decide whether their condition was severe enough that they actually did need to be seen now. That often caused significant friction with other patients who didn’t understand why they had to wait.

  Daussie was just turning to go upstairs when the double doors from the outside both swung open. Two young guardsmen in their dress uniforms stepped through the door and came to attention.

  A beady-eyed young man with a wispy goatee swaggered through the door behind the guardsmen. Daussie took an immediate dislike to him despite reminding herself that she shouldn’t judge him on his appearance. Maybe I’m judging him on that swagger, she thought hopefully.

  People in the dining area turned to look, then began rising to their feet. “The baron …” someone whispered.

  Daussie’d been about to go upstairs but decided that might be interpreted as being rude. She stayed to see what happened.

  The young man swept the room with his eyes. That sweep stopped when his eyes came to Daussie. They widened slightly. To her dismay, he started toward her.

  Oh geez, she thought, why’d I comb my hair?! She slouched and squinted her left eye, drooping the right side of her mouth. What else can I do to appear asymmetrical, she wondered. Remembering how she’d worn uneven shoes in Walterston in order to give her a limp, she bent her right knee a little, dropping that side of her pelvis. He probably won’t notice the legs in these saggy pants, she realized. She dropped her right shoulder slightly.

  The man threaded his way between a couple of tables and stopped in front of her. He looked her up and down as if he were inspecting a horse, then frowned, “Why are you standing like that? Stop slouching.”

  Daussie barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at how badly her strategy had failed. She straightened a little.

  “Come on! Stand up straight! Stop squinting! What’s your name?”

  Restraining a sigh, Daussie straightened a little more. Not giving up on her strategy completely, she kept the droop in her mouth and, though she widened her eye, maintained a slight squint. “I’m Daussie Hyllis.”

  “Oh. I’d imagine you’re the beautiful daughter I’ve heard so much about. Whoever was talking about you must not’ve cared about your posture.” He was close enough to be inside what she considered her personal space. He actually started walking around her, looking up and down as if she were a horse for sale. When he was beside her, he put one hand on her upper back and the other under her chin, “Come on! Stand up straight. That’s a good girl.”

  Infuriated, Daussie sent her ghirit into her amulet to make sure it had a good load of cayenne extract.

  The man had her standing almost all the way straight. He let go and continued his circuit around her. Arriving before her, he lifted a hand to stroke his goatee. “Much better. Much better. You should work on maintaining better posture, it works wonders for your appearance.” As if of its own accord, his hand lifted and moved toward her breast. Then he glanced around as if just realizing he was out in public. His hand dropped back to his side.

  Daussie retracted her ghirit from his nasal passage, keeping her eyes focused on a point on the far wall.

  “Well,” the baron said, looking around cheerfully, “I’m here to try a mug of your beer, a slice of your pizza, and some of your eye lenses. I assume you know how to make that happen?”

  Daussie kept her eye focused on the same spot, but raised her voice. “Farlin,” she said, knowing he was behind the bar, “a mug of beer and a slice of pizza for the baron please.” She turned her eyes to the baron’s, “We stop seeing patients for the day in anticipation of the dinner rush. We healers need to help in the kitchen.”

  The baron smiled in a fashion he seemed to think was pleasant. “Well, I’m sure my subjects won’t mind waiting a few minutes for their dinner. Let’s get me fitted with the lenses first, shall we?”

  “Yes, Baron,” Daussie said, trying not to grit her teeth.

  ~~~

  Daussie opened the door into the clinic room. Eva looked up and asked, “We have a patient that can’t wait until tomorrow?”

  Daussie didn’t answer that question. Instead, she said, “Baron Vail’s here. He’d like to be fitted for lenses.”

  Eva saw the fury in her daughter’s eyes but tried not to react. Why’s she slouching? Eva wondered. By the time the man appeared in the doorway, she’d already risen to her feet. She didn’t bow, but did incline her head, “Baron Vail.”

  “Yes, let’s get me fitted with some of these lenses I’ve heard so much about.” He spoke cheerfully, though it had a brittle edge that made Eva think he intended to make her regret it if she tried to send him away.

  The two guardsmen who came through the door behind him didn’t look like they were happy to be there. Eva thought, I suppose Daussie could kill him, b
ut that seems a little extreme for a self-important man who merely expects precedence. Besides, then I’d expect she’d have to kill the guards and they’re probably innocent. Then that’d probably bring a whole lot more guardia down here. She smiled as pleasantly as she could and indicated the little table where they did their lens fitting. “Certainly. If you’d take a seat over here.” She turned to Daussie, “Could you please get the testing lenses?”

  The baron proved to be moderately nearsighted. To see well he needed one of their -5 lenses for his right eye and a -7 for his left. He was quite excited by how much better he could see through the test lenses. Looking out the window, he said, “The mountain’s just as sharp as my hand is!”

  Without comment, Daussie stepped back into the alcove to make the lenses.

  Eva sat with the baron waiting for Daussie and finding herself unable to engage in the kind of pleasant chitchat she had with most of her patients. When an inordinate amount of time had passed, she rose to her feet, giving the baron a cool smile and saying, “Let me check on my daughter. Perhaps she’s having a hard time finding the correct lenses for you.”

  When she stepped back into the alcove, Daussie was holding out a pair of lenses. Placing them in Eva’s palm, she leaned close and whispered, “Can you give them to him? I can’t stand being around him.”

  I feel much the same, Eva thought, surprised at how intense her own reaction was after so few words with the man. She nodded at her daughter and took the lenses back out to him. “Here, hold these up to your eyes.”

  The man did, then frowned and shook his head, “These aren’t right. Things are still blurry.”

  “Try switching them to the other eyes.”

  The man switched, said, “That’s much better.” He looked irritated, “Why didn’t you give them to me that way?”

  Eva bit her tongue, then waved at the lenses, “They’re hard to tell apart, aren’t they? It’s easy for your eyes to do so though.”

  The man rolled his eyes, then turned them toward the alcove. “Well, I’ll be on my way then.” He started toward the alcove, “I’ll just say goodbye to your daughter.”

  Wanting to give warning, Eva spoke loudly, “Daussie. The baron would like to say goodbye to you.”

  By the time she’d been finished speaking the baron was rounding the corner to look into the alcove. “Ah, there you are.” He looked her up and down. “And your posture’s much better. I think if you take care to maintain it you’ll find people are much more impressed with you.” He bobbed a nod, “I hope to see you again in the future.” He turned away from the alcove, winked at Eva and motioned his guardsmen toward the door.

  Eva thought disgustedly, Of course, he doesn’t think he needs to pay. She heard one of the three men sneeze explosively when they were part way down the stairs. Eva frowned in surprise, then her eyes widened as she turned to look suspiciously at Daussie. “Did you…?”

  Daussie shrugged, then nodded. “I wanted to do something much worse than cayenne his nose,” she said quietly. “It was only a tiny, tiny drop.”

  Eva shook her head, “I can believe the man deserved it, but you’re playing with fire.”

  Daussie slumped, “I know. If I were to really fight him, I’d have to kill a lot of men in his guardia. Probably good men.”

  Eva gathered her daughter into a hug, then spoke quietly in her ear. “Your abilities… they’re amazing. And I know they’re astonishingly lethal. They probably make you almost invincible against a few men, but it might be another thing altogether if a large group of trained soldiers were to attack.”

  “Yeah,” Daussie sighed. “I think in some sick fashion he’s gotten focused on me. If he ever comes back I’m going to have to do my best to stay out of his way.”

  Wondering once again whether her daughter’s beauty was more of a curse than a blessing, Eva said, “That’s a good idea. Now, let’s get down there and help get ready for the evening rush.” She started to turn Daussie toward the door.

  Eva felt her daughter go rigid in her arms, “No! He said he was going to have a beer and a slice of pizza.” Daussie stepped away to look her mother in the eye, “Please! Don’t make me go down there until he’s already gone.”

  “Oh! Yes, sorry I didn’t know. Why don’t you hide in your room…? Just in case he decides to come back up here to the clinic and look for you.”

  “Thanks!” practically erupted out of Daussie. She insisted on waiting in the clinic until Eva had made sure the baron wasn’t coming back up the stairs, then she darted across to her own room.

  Eva heard her set the latch.

  ***

  Vyrda Soh was walking up the street to Hyllis Tavern to participate in the afternoon clinic when she noticed someone oddly familiar walking in front of her. Suddenly she realized it was Brendan Geller. She hadn’t recognized him, not because he didn’t look like himself, rather because she hadn’t seen him walking without a guide for a couple of years. “Mr. Geller!” she called out, stepping out briskly to catch up to him.

  He stopped and turned, breaking into a big smile, “Ms. Soh. How are you doing?”

  “Fine!” she said, reaching him and enthusiastically embracing him. “I almost didn’t recognize you without Rachel guiding you down the street!”

  “You’re not the only one to have that problem,” he said with a laugh. “It’s been so wonderful to be able to see again. I’m actually back working in the chemistry.”

  “Tired of your forced retirement?”

  He chuckled, “Retired from my retirement.” He shook his head, “I never dreamed it’d be so good to feel useful again.” He leaned a little closer and spoke quietly while lifting a glass bottle nearly full of powder, “I made some sulfanilamide!” He leaned back and lifted a questioning eyebrow at her.

  She looked at the bottle for a moment. Uncertainly, she said, “What’s sulfanilamide?”

  “Aha! You need to keep up. Eva asked me for it. It was the first good antibiotic the ancients synthesized. Something easy enough for even an old man like myself to make.”

  They climbed the steps into the tavern and made for the stairs in the corner. She had a twinkle in her eye, as she said, “From your reputation, I’ll bet you’re the only one who can make it.”

  He grinned at her, “That might’ve been true yesterday. Now I’ve taught the rest of the people in our chemistry and they all think they can make it.”

  When they entered the clinic room, Eva was just as excited as Vyrda to hear the news. Taking the bottle, she said, “This’ll make a huge difference for so many people!” She paused, frowning at the powder. “To my embarrassment, I realize I’m going to have to figure out how much of this to give a patient.” She looked up at Geller, “Is it pure, or does it have some filler in it?”

  He shrugged, “Ninety-eight percent pure. That’s as good as I could do. No filler.” He gave her a considering look, “It’s sterile in this jar. Will you be able to get it out of the jar without contaminating it?”

  Eva nodded, obviously thinking of something else. “Daussie can…” She suddenly looked up at Geller. She had a guilty look on her face that Vyrda interpreted to mean she’d been about to say Daussie could teleport it out of the jar. She started again, “Daussie can get it out with a sterile spoon. We’ll have to figure out what size spoon holds an appropriate dose.” She crossed the room and picked up some sheets of paper. Bringing it back to Geller she said, “We copied these pages from your book on pharmaceutical compounds. I’m hoping you can make at least one of these molecules? They’re relatively early antibiotics of the ancients called chloramphenicol and doxycycline. Either one would be very helpful for some of the germs that aren’t affected by the sulfa drugs.”

  “I accept the challenge,” Geller said with a smile. He lifted an eyebrow, “But I’ll need something in return.”

  “Such as?”

  “When I went blind, I got to be friends with a number of other people in town who’re blind. They helped me figure out
how to live with my blindness. Since then, I’ve helped others live with blindness myself. Can I bring some of them in so you can see if you can help them as well?”

  Eva frowned, “I know we can help those with cataracts. You probably saw the cloudiness in your left eye in the mirror once your right eye was treated?”

  Geller nodded.

  “If any of your friends have that kind of cloudiness we should be able to make them better. I don’t know if we’ll be able to help any of the others, so…”

  “So don’t build unreasonable expectations, eh?”

  Eva nodded.

  ***

  Turned out in his best uniform and wearing his new spectacles, Baron Vail climbed the stairs to the Hyllis Tavern late in the morning. Since he’d left the tavern the other day he hadn’t been able to get Daussie Hyllis out of his mind. He wondered if she’d look as good as he’d thought once he saw her with his spectacles on.

  When he’d looked her over, circling her in the tavern from up close so he could see her sharply, he’d found her face extraordinarily beautiful in spite of the fact that she’d been squinting with one eye and holding her mouth oddly. When he’d startled her in the alcove just before he left, he’d thought her face was symmetrical, but he’d been far enough away she’d been blurry.

  His men opened the doors and he strode through, looking around for the girl he’d been fantasizing about.

  He’d even started thinking about her when he was in bed with his other wives.

  The people were getting up out of their chairs and thus blocking his view. He said, “Relax. Take your seats.” As they complied, he looked around again. The only person he saw who looked like they worked there was a man behind the bar. He looked like he might be doing his accounts. Vail strode that way, “I’m looking for Daussie Hyllis.”

  The man closed a lid over his papers, muscles bunching in his jaw as if he weren’t happy. When he spoke, he sounded grim, “She’s my daughter.”