by Candace Sams
He moved very close to her. “When it comes to this baby, I do."
"I'm not you're property, and this baby is just as much mine as it is yours. If I need an exam to make sure this pregnancy progresses successfully, I'll do it at my convenience."
"I told you I'd be there,” he angrily responded.
She sighed in frustration. “There may be times when you can't. Something might come up. And I guess you never stopped to consider that I might not want you there. Those kinds of exams can be very personal."
He ran a hand through his hair. “I can't think of too many personal things we haven't already shared. I'd have thought you'd want me there. You shouldn't be alone when undergoing something that's, as you say, very personal."
She slowly shook her head. “Not if you think this baby won't survive or if you're going to start a fight with the only doctor within hundreds of miles. Cairna can go with me."
"My patience will go a damn bit farther if you'll just relent on this. Besides, Goblin men are taught how to treat their women at times like these. We know what has to be done, and that includes any gynecological exams. Cairna couldn't do anything to actually help you."
"Fine.” Kathy put up her hands in resignation and took a deep, calming breath. “If you really want to help, change your attitude. I don't want to go through the next few months with a man who's waiting for death and fighting everyone around him. I can't handle that and everything else I'll be going through."
Tearach watched her stalk toward a group of nearby Elves. By the time she got to their circle of fire, her beautiful smile was back. It seemed she had more patience for total strangers than him. But he really couldn't blame her. She didn't understand what was going to happen. She hadn't seen what he had. All the hope and determination in the world wasn't going to change the situation. She wasn't any different than the other women who believed their child would survive. As the Goblin Leader, he'd been called to watch as, one by one, their dead babies were placed in their arms. If his attitude was bad, it was the result of years of sorrow. That lovely smile would leave her face and never return. Her outlook would become as bitter as his. What would happen to her then? The Sorceress wouldn't let her go back to her own world, knowing what she did. He'd be with his dead daughter. What would become of Kathy? For her sake and that of his unborn child's, Tearach vowed to try and keep his misery to himself. In the near future, there would be more than enough sorrow to go around.
* * * *
Long days followed Tearach's vow. He watched the child growing within Kathy, who had blossomed. If she'd been lovely before, she became as brilliant and radiant as any flower in the garden. She and Cairna busied themselves with preparations for the baby. They decorated the nursery he'd constructed, but he always found some excuse not to enter it and look at their work.
To his surprise, Timmon came by often. Each time, the little boy wanted to know if the baby was there yet. Kathy laughed, snuggled him close and told him he must wait a little longer. Other children stopped by as well, and she sat with them, told them stories, and played games until she became very popular with the toddlers. He watched with his heart in his throat. Sweet dreams could so easily turn into nightmares. There was nothing on Earth more heartbreaking than a mother whose child dies. He'd seen so many of them. Those memories haunted his every waking moment. There were times when he believed he'd go insane before the baby came.
Still, he held Kathy close at night. There was no question about the sleeping arrangements. He had to be with her, including those times when Owen stopped by. His examinations pronounced her and the baby continuously healthy. But instead of placating Tearach, it only added to his concern. Kathy seemed to grow more settled and happy.
One day, after the doctor left, Kathy came to him and asked, “Could you take me to the Dolmen? I want to see it."
"Do you feel up to a long walk?"
She nodded. “I think some exercise would do me good. I haven't had all that much lately."
Cairna packed them a lunch and they set off. Several times he attempted to make her rest, but she insisted on going on. By midday, they entered the clearing that circled the structure.
Kathy stared in amazement. “It's much larger than I thought it would be. And the flowers here are lovely."
"It's meant to calm the mother and the baby,” he explained. “We try to keep it aesthetically pleasing. And the size of the structure shelters the new family if the Druids can't control the elements."
"They have that kind of power?"
"To some extent. Shayla's the most powerful when it comes to such things, but even she can't control it all."
Kathy sat on a rock and arranged her blue Druid robe around her. She closed her eyes, and a great sense of peace and joy came over her. It was as if the place held many happy memories and evoked those same feelings. “It's so quiet here."
"Yes,” he murmured. “All of us were born here. My parents, grandparents ... all the way back for hundreds of generations."
"I want my baby born here, too,” she said and smiled.
"You're really not afraid, are you?” He took a seat beside her.
"No. Well ... that's not exactly true. I guess I'm as afraid of the pain as much as any woman would be. But since women have been doing this for centuries, I'll get through it."
"You'll feel less pain here than anywhere else. And there are chores I'll do to help."
"Such as?"
"Brew special teas for you to drink. I can even take a certain amount of the pain into myself by holding you. It's not much, but it will help."
"Can I ask something of you?"
He took one of her hands in his. “Of course."
"Promise me that no matter what you believe the outcome will be, you will never let anyone take the baby away from me."
He was stunned. “Why would you think anyone here would do such a thing?"
"I heard what Mabb said. I'm not Goblin. There may be those who think a baby with Goblin blood should be raised away from an outsider. Maybe even Shayla."
Tearach dropped to his knees. “Kathy, I won't let anyone take the baby away from you or me. Not so long as it lives."
"You swear?"
He quickly pulled a knife from his boot and sliced it across his palm.
Kathy gasped as she saw him draw blood.
"On my blood oath, Kathy. As long as the baby lives, I'll never let anyone take it away from either of us."
Kathy covered his slashed palm with her own. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He pulled her to him and held her for a very long time. He silently cursed Mabb for her tactlessness. “A baby belongs with its parents. With people who'll love it always. For whatever time it has, it's ours. Yours and mine."
The rest of the day was better than any Tearach could remember. Kathy asked him about his family and spoke of hers. They were about to leave when she gasped and placed her hands over her rounded stomach.
"The baby can really kick!” She grabbed his hands and placed them where hers had been.
Tearach gazed into the blue depths of her eyes, straight into her soul, when he felt the tiny life move. “She's so strong,” he whispered.
Kathy nodded and smiled. She placed her hands on his cheeks. “Just you wait and see. She's stronger than you know. And Cairna tells me she heard that Goblin babies are supposed to develop certain motor skills much faster than human children. Of course, since ours has both ancestries, the baby's powers might be different. But it doesn't matter to me if she has none at all."
He closed his eyes and leaned against her shoulder. No matter what happened, Kathy had to survive this. She must. She was the strong one. His physical force paled in comparison to the strength in her heart. She deserved more than what she was being given. So much more.
* * * *
A week later, Tearach was standing in the garden. Kathy sat upon a bench embroidering a tiny white gown for the baby. He was left to his own thoughts, and he was the first to see Clo
ve racing across the meadow, a still form lying in her arms.
He bolted over the fence and met her halfway. “What's happened?"
"It's Timmon,” she said, weeping. “He was climbing a tree and fell. Yours was the closest cottage so I...” She broke down, unable to speak more.
Tearach saw the boy's arm dangling at an awkward angle. He carefully took the child from her and turned in the direction of the castle. If Owen wasn't present, the Sorceress would know what to do.
"No!” Kathy loudly commanded. “Bring him into the cottage; he shouldn't be carried around if he fell."
Remembering Kathy's experience in emergency medicine, he did as she asked. It might be better to bring help back. He could travel faster without the boy anyway, and she was right about not jostling him about.
"I'll get help. Do what you can,” he told her as he laid the boy on the living room sofa.
Kathy and Clove knelt beside Timmon as Tearach tore out of the cottage.
"How far did he fall?” Kathy asked.
"Perhaps ten feet, but he hit his head hard. I saw the whole thing.” She began to sob uncontrollably.
Kathy felt for a pulse and found it to be strong and steady. Timmon moaned slightly and opened his eyes.
"Mummy,” he murmured and began to cry.
Kathy asked him simple questions which he was able to answer, and that was a good sign. Timmon had a dark spot over his left eye and his left arm was definitely broken. “How long was he unconscious before you got to us?"
"Perhaps five minutes. No longer."
Clove began to gain more control, as most parents did, when their child began to show signs of responding. Kathy checked for other breaks or more serious injuries, but she couldn't feel anything else wrong. Without x-rays, it was impossible to tell for sure. She calmly began to talk to the boy, reassuring him. He was able to move his other limbs and seemed to show more signs of awareness as the moments passed.
Using a medical kit she found in the upstairs bathroom, Kathy immobilized his injured arm. The head injury concerned her the most, but that wasn't what worried the little boy.
Timmon took one look over his shoulder and began to cry in earnest. “They're all torn up, Mummy!"
"Your wings are the least of my worries right now, little man. We'll talk about them later. For now, just let Kathy look at you. All right, darling?"
It wasn't long before Tearach arrived with Owen and several other men, including Lore. Though they had no wings showing, Kathy surmised they were Fairies. One of them, a tall blond man, rushed toward Clove.
"What happened, sweetheart?” He pulled her to him with one hand, and he began to stroke Timmon's hair with the other.
"Look at my wings, Daddy? They're all torn,” Timmon cried again.
"Don't worry, Timmon. We'll take you to the castle and let Owen look at you in the infirmary,” his father told him.
Owen looked Timmon over and praised Kathy's efforts to stabilize the boy's injuries. Then Timmon's father gently lifted him and the entire group headed toward the castle. Word quickly spread that Timmon had been injured and a crowd was already gathering when they arrived. The Sorceress led them inside and toward the emergency room. Kathy began to understand how serious an injury could be when a patient was so far away from a hospital. Realizing Owen or one of the other physicians might not always be available, a plan began to form in her mind.
She accompanied Owen into the emergency room. A portable x-ray machine showed no other breaks or serious problems other than the broken arm.
Away from Timmon's hearing, Owen spoke to the parents and the others. There was little point in patient confidentiality since the entire woods seemed to know what had happened and would ask questions about the little boy's accident. It seemed their culture was a great deal more close-knit than anything Kathy was accustomed to. She listened to Owen's assessment.
"He'll be right as rain in no time. His wings, however, are another matter. As you've seen, they're badly torn, and I don't know of any way to repair such damage. I'm sorry."
"It will have to be enough,” Timmon's father responded. “He's lucky he wasn't killed. I'm afraid Timmon will be quite upset about it, though."
Kathy turned to Tearach and quietly asked, “Do his wings matter that much?"
"Once torn, they'll wither away. He simply won't have any one day. It seems like a minor thing compared to his concussion or a broken arm, but he won't exactly be a Fairy anymore. It'll be hard on him. Wings to a Fairy are as important as an arm to you and me."
Kathy swallowed hard. Given what Tearach had told her, maybe trying something unheard of would be an acceptable course of action. She walked back to where Timmon sat crying and pitifully looking over his shoulders at the tattered remains of his green wings. No amount of comfort was able to soften his despair. Kathy decided to offer what help she could. Giving up just wasn't in her nature.
"Please, may I look at his wings?"
Clove and Timmon's father looked at one another.
"I don't see why not. You certainly can't harm them now,” Clove sadly responded.
Kathy adjusted the operating room light so she could see straight through the wings. She studied the torn parts and began to think.
Tearach wondered what was going on in that brilliant brain. They watched Kathy gently unfold the torn, gossamer wings and survey the damage. The next words out of her mouth sounded ridiculous.
"Could someone bring me tweezers, fishing line, some lightweight paper, an embroidery needle, paste and some slabs of very light weight wood?"
"What are you thinking of, Kathy?” Owen shook his head at the incomprehensible list.
"Well, if you can't make a thing worse, then the only course of action is to try. So, I'm going to do something radical. That's if you approve,” Kathy directed this last remark to Timmon's parents.
"Go ahead,” Clove replied. “What will you do?"
She shrugged. “The best I can."
Twenty minutes later, Tearach stood back and watched as Kathy began to work. She took the tweezers and gently unfolded the boy's torn wings. With the light shining through them, she carefully matched each shred with its counterpart. She then threaded the clear fishing line through the embroidery needle, and began to carefully sew the tears back together. At that point, everyone gasped at the progress she'd made. The wings almost looked good as new. Apparently not satisfied, Kathy took the paste and began to gently spread it over the wings. She then glued rice paper on both sides of the two appendages. Over this, she placed square pieces of Balsa wood and tied more fishing line around them to hold them in place. Timmon now looked as if he had two boards on his back. If the wings grew back together, the paper could be easily torn away and the filament cut. Just like stitches. It was a very unique kind of bandaging.
"Well, this might not work, but it's better than letting these lovely wings waste away,” Kathy said with a shrug.
"Kathy, you're brilliant!" Owen remarked. “Nothing in my training allows for such ingenuity. It's nothing short of genius.
When Timmon's parents began to respond in kind, she stopped them. “We have no idea if this will work. Let's just hold the applause until he's better and we can unwrap his wings."
"How long will it take to know?” Timmon's father asked.
"When his cast comes off, we'll check the wings. That should be enough time, don't you think, Owen?"
"If it isn't, then they won't heal at all,” he agreed.
Tearach stood in the corner with some of the other men. The little boy lay sleeping on the operating table. Immense pride filled him. Kathy was amazing. If he'd looked the world over, he couldn't have found a more resourceful, intelligent woman. And he knew he was deeply, hopelessly in love with her. Instead of the realization bringing him joy, it was one more stone around his burdened soul. While she helped someone else's child, she'd be helpless to save her own.
He left the room and walked outside. He needed to be near the forest, to glean what
comfort he could from it.
Kathy saw Tearach's departure and quickly excused herself from the others. She followed him outside. “Tearach, wait!"
He turned and let her catch up with him. “That was a wonderful thing you did, Kathy, whether it works or not. Only a very caring mind could conceive of such an idea."
"He's just a little boy. He shouldn't suffer the rest of his life for climbing a tree. I just wanted to help him."
They walked on in silence. Why couldn't things be different? Why couldn't he have a normal life and raise a family with her? More than anything, he desired that these wishes could come to pass.
He suddenly turned, pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. She responded with equal ardor. They walked back to the cottage with their arms about one another, keeping their thoughts to themselves.
From the edge of the woods, Mabb watched closely. A burning hatred welled within her against the woman Tearach held. The child she carried should have been hers. The Goblin Leader should be her mate, warming her bed and loving her. Tearach had once killed one of his own people so that a human could live. Now, he was lying with an outsider and looking at her as if she could do no wrong. Had he forgotten what they'd done to the Goblin race? Had he forgiven the sins of Exmoor so easily?
Tears clouded her vision and a malevolent idea began to form. “Hold him while you can, human. Hold him while you can,” she viciously muttered.
Chapter Eleven
Each hour that passed, Tearach fell more and more under Kathy's spell. Word of her attempt to save Timmon's wings reached the rest of the Order. People stopped by to speak with her and even show her some of the magic they possessed. She had been accepted. There were even a few more injuries she helped treat, though none so serious as to warrant more than consoling words and bandaging. The fact that she was there for them prompted Owen to suggest she be given more surgical training and medical supplies. Kathy was ecstatic about the idea, saying it was a niche she could fill and be doing a job she loved.
"I feel needed here,” she remarked.
You are, Tearach silently agreed. I need you more than anyone.