“Oh dear.” I see Agatha’s face return to normal. “I will get some bandages. Go rinse that off in the sink.”
Moving to the sink I find that I had actually left a trail into the house of large blood drops and smeared them along the way. Putting my arm in the sink, Ami turns the water on for me and gently starts rubbing the wound to clean it. The more she rubs it, the more blood oozes out and I find myself feeling nauseous. Agatha returns with supplies and pulls my arm out to place closure bandages on the gash, followed by pads to soak up the blood and likely the same elastic bandage that held my abdomen pads on. Feeling a little dizzy, I stumble and lean against the sink counter while my whole arm throbs with pain.
“Come on, sit down at the table.” Ami helps me over while Agatha cleans up.
I sit in my chair and close my eyes, trying not to focus on the pain and instead pay close attention to Ami and Agatha’s sounds. One of them finds their way over to me and I open my eyes to see who it is.
“Here, take this.” Agatha hands me a little white round item and a glass of water.
“What is it?”
“It’s a potent pill that takes away pain. One of the things we used to keep you comfortable the last time you were wounded.” She smiles.
“Do I chew it?”
“No!” Ami says excitedly. “That would taste awful. Just drop it under your tongue, take a drink of water and swallow it whole.”
Following instructions, I stick the little pill under my tongue, take a drink of water. But when the pill hits the back of my tongue I gag and throw my good hand over my mouth and nose, fighting not to spew my water all over the table. I try again and force it down successfully, but it leaves a lingering pain in my sinuses. After clearing my mouth of all the water I begin to hack and cough violently.
“Are you okay?” Ami asks.
“I’m…fine…” my answer is labored.
“Okay. Just relax there as much as you can and the pain should go away soon. It’s going to make you loopy though, so when you’re ready for bed I’ll help you up to your room,” Ami informs me.
Agatha sits down next to me while Ami cleans up my mess with the turkey and it is not long before I feel a significant difference. The pain in my arms subsides and my head begins to spin. My thoughts become cloudy and I find myself obsessing over apologizing.
I should have said no to Ami’s little adventure. If I wasn’t here she probably wouldn’t have ventured out that far, not gotten caught and wouldn’t have been put to work as a servant.
“I…put you two through so much trouble. I…I should have pro…protected her better. Aggy,” I try to stop, but my mouth has grown a mind of its own. “Aggy, I’m sorry. I will keep her home from now on. Keep her safe, and warm, with me.”
Aggy? Where did I get that name? I’ve heard it before right?
“Okay!” Ami says while rushing over to me. “Looks like the medicine has kicked in quickly! Time for you to go to bed!”
“But, I’m not done ‘pologizing yet!” I slur my words as if I have become drunk with spirits and realize my eyelids feel like someone attached weights to them. “What’s the fun in that?”
“What’s the fun in what?” Ami grabs me under the arm that is not injured.
“Being drunk without drinking!”
I see Aggy smiling caringly at me and I’m not sure why. I look at Ami and then at Aggy, and then back at Ami. “I can see where you get your good looks from.”
Ami’s face turns as red as a delicious red apple and Aggy begins to laugh hysterically while I’m assisted out of the kitchen through the door to the living room. It swings closed behind us with a soft whoosh and we climb the stairs one by one.
“One…two…three…” I count.
“What are you doing?” She asks.
“Counting stairs.” I smile at her, but realize it’s dark and she can’t see me. “Aww, you made me lose count.”
“You can count them tomorrow when you’re feeling better.” I can hear her voice that she’s smiling.
That makes me happy. This pill makes me happy too. Hey look, my door!
Ami opens my door, flips on the light and brings me inside. But before we get to the bed I begin stripping off my clothes, sand pouring from them onto my already sandy floor.
“What are you doing?” she protests.
“I can’t go to bed with sand all over me,” I tell her.
She ducks out of the room and I continue to disrobe, throwing my dirty clothes unsuccessfully into the dirty laundry basket. I wobble and collapse into my dresser while trying to brush the sand off of me.
Ami calls out to me. “Rain? Are you okay? Is it safe for me to come in?” she asks.
“I’m naked!”
“Get dressed already!”
Wiping off as much sand as I can, I pull out new undershorts and some baggy pants to wear to bed. With a great struggle, I am able to get them on without falling on my face. I sit down on the bed and realize that it feels so good.
“I am…I’m done,” I tell her and she reenters the room.
She’s so nice. I can’t let anything bad happen to her. I wouldn’t be happy if something did. I would make someone pay.
“All right Rain.” She sits down next to me and lays me on my pillow. “I will see you in the morning.”
“Okay. Night-night gorgeous.”
Her face turns red again and it’s cute. She jumps up and heads out of the room, flipping off the light and closing my door. Sinking into the bed I find that I can’t focus on anything.
Sleep time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The light from outside permeates my eyelids and I am brought up from a dreamless slumber. I pull the covers up over my head and try to go back to sleep, but as my brain becomes fully functional I realize I have a pounding headache and it’s now impossible for me to do so.
I let out a moan when I try to move my wounded arm in a way that causes my body to protest. With a heavy sigh, I realize there is no choice now but to get out of bed.
I gently push the covers off and rotate my body so that my feet hang over the edge of the bed. When I sit up I see a sandy heap of clothing I apparently left in a pile last night and I can’t remember doing it. Searching my thoughts I can barely remember what happened last night after having my wound treated. I recall being given a medicine that made me light-headed, but everything beyond becomes hazy. Raising my good hand, I rub my face, wipe the sleep gunk from my eyes and rub my cheeks.
With my desert top lost and the pants filled with sand I try to pick from my wardrobe something light and simple. I find a white t-shirt and tan cotton pants that look like they should keep me fairly cool today. Once I have changed I make my way downstairs to the living room. The shades are closed and it’s fairly dark in here, but I can tell that no one is around. In fact I can’t hear anyone at all. Peeking in the kitchen I notice that everything is cleaned up, but no one is there either.
Could they still be sleeping? They were probably up later than I was. I should make them breakfast to show my appreciation for the care they give me.
Heading into the kitchen I open the refrigerator and find that Agatha has definitely been using food sparingly. A half-dozen eggs lie on the top shelf and in the door I find a small amount of cheese. Setting them both out on the counter I look in the pantry for some bread but find none.
Perhaps in the storage room below?
Propping the door open, I find the light switch on my right and illuminate my way down. Before me lies a large room underneath the house with many racks lining the walls with food, most of them canned or jarred and I understand our food situation is not as dire as I had been thinking. A wall runs across in front of the stairs and about the middle, where I think the hallway runs, is a door to a second area. Peeking in reveals a multitude of tools, some of them even familiar, but I resolve not to let my curiosity distract me and return to looking for bread. Luckily I don’t have to search long to locate a
loaf of bread and head back up turning out the light behind me.
With the eggs, cheese and bread on the island counter I begin to prepare. Breaking several eggs into a bowl I begin to whip them with a fork, adding some salt and pepper sparingly. Setting it aside for a moment I remove the thin plastic sheet from around the cheese and cut off a few slices. Returning the cold items to the refrigerator and tossing the eggshells in the waste bin under the sink I find that I am ready to start cooking. Following what I had seen Agatha and Ami do several times, I turn the front left burner on by setting the dial to ‘medium’.
Putting the eggs into the pan they start cooking and I grab a spatula from the large utensil drawer in the island counter and return to start stirring it. When the eggs start to solidify and clump I throw the cheese in too and continue mixing vigorously. Working away at not burning the eggs, a noise from behind makes me jump. Turning around I find Ami in a light blue button up shirt and some loose pants, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
“Rain, what are you doing?” she asks while scratching her head.
“I am…I’m cooking breakfast,” I correct myself.
“You shouldn’t be doing that with your hurt arm,” she halfway scolds me.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt right now and you two deserve to be taken care of, instead of having to take care of me all the time.”
“That’s sweet of you Rain, but…” She tries to stop me but I cut her off.
“Shush. I will rest after I finish this. Now sit,” I smile at her.
She does as instructed by taking her normal seat and I’m able to focus on cooking. The eggs and cheese have mingled together nicely and stirring them a bit more I find that they are done. Turning off the stove and setting the pan on a cool burner I get out three plates and dish them up equally. Moving quickly I slather some butter on bread, one slice for each of us, and then move to set the plates on the table.
Just as I set it down, Agatha walks through the kitchen door fully awake and dressed in one of her brightly colored sundresses.
“Ami, you let him cook?” She almost looks stern when she says it.
“Let him? He shushed me when I tried to stop him,” she protests.
“Rain, you have to…” Agatha tries to mother me but I cut her off too.
“I know Agatha, I need to give my arm some rest.” I wink and smile at her. “It’ll be all right. Now do like your daughter and let me take care of you a little bit.”
Agatha hesitantly sits down across the table from Ami and I provide all three of us with forks. Sitting down together I take my place at the table and grin from ear to ear. Finally back to having a nice meal together, I realize I enjoy their company and the comforts of civilized life, like I picture a family might.
Though I’m not sure what I am to the two of them, I know that they are everything to me and to be with them both makes me happy. Making eye contact with Ami causes her to blush a little and I feel my face respond in kind. She notices and a bashful smile crosses her lips.
What are we to each other? I feel like we’re becoming really close, more than friends. Could she be feeling the same way? Would it really complicate things so much if something did happen between us? We are together by force, but how can one not grow to like the people who they’re constantly with?
Finished with her food, Ami stands up with her plate in hand and before I know what is happening, she leans over and kisses me on the cheek, as if she had been reading my thoughts.
“Thank you for breakfast Rain,” she says and then puts her plate in the sink.
My face, if it was not already completely red from before, likely turns three shades darker. My heart skips a beat or two and my hand has stopped moving food to my mouth. Agatha has a delighted look on her face as she titters silently and as soon as she has finished breakfast and does the same thing as her daughter. Embarrassed completely now, my face is so hot and my eyes water so much that I’m forced to hide my face by keeping it pointed away from them.
They clean up after me as I sit and let my bashfulness fade away. When I am done with my breakfast I bring my plate over to the sink where Agatha has filled it with water from a jug. She takes it from me and washes it before I have even moved away from the counter. Contemplating what I should do next I head to the back door to look out and see what work might be done. The grass has begun to wilt and brown in the desert heat so I do not expect to find myself using the push mower any time soon.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ami asks.
“Outside?” I play coy.
“I don’t think so. We are going to do two things today which are studying and sewing.” She crosses her arms.
I sigh, defeated, and relinquish control of my day to Ami’s itinerary. She waves for me to follow and we enter the living room, still dark from the shades being drawn. Rather than open the curtains and allow the sunlight in, she turns on the overhead lighting and grabs a few books from the left bookcase. Sitting down on the floor next to the table, she pats the wood, indicating she wants me to take a seat next to her. As I do I can already feel that the days from here on out until the end of our time here are likely going to be slow and boring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking out the kitchen window, I sit in Ami’s chair and find she has the perfect spot for eating as there is ample lighting and she has a view through the window. Sipping on a cool glass of water I examine the dune as a gentle breeze flows past it, pushing along a drift of sand and I find myself antsy to do something.
Another week closer to leaving here and I have been almost useless! Helping Ami in her sewing endeavors is not satisfying enough to feel like I’m being productive. I can’t even sneak around and do some work because by the time I think of it, they’ve either already done it or are doing it.
I close my eyes and lay my head down on the table, noting that the wood seems to like to absorb this arid heat. With a lot of time to reflect I try to remember who I used to be but have only been able to come up with a few pieces; stone buildings, sharp weapons, sets of armor and Drake. I start back at the woods, remembering the greens and browns of the dense forest and hearing Ami and Agatha talking.
What came before that? The dagger through me. I remember looking down and being shocked at the situation. I can’t remember even feeling pain, just that initial shock. But what came before that? There was nothing but woods out there. Running. I have a vague feeling of running and feeling out of breath.
Come on brain, come on. Just a little more. Where was I running from? The woods. There’s nothing but woods. Why would I be out there with this Drake person? He was in armor but I wasn’t. Could I have been taken out there to be executed?
Struggling against the mental block I want to know what my life was like before, if only to quiet my own mind’s questions but when the door opens I lift my head to see Agatha enter, and I refocus my attention. She dips her hands into a clean sink of water and then dries them on a towel nearby.
“Would you like something to eat Rain?” Agatha asks politely.
“No thanks. I’m not all that hungry right now.”
“If I made you something and set it in front of you, would it get eaten?” she says with a grin appearing on her face.
I smirk back while stretching out my arm and rotating it. A little pain rings through it however it has begun healing up nicely. “Eventually. But you really need not worry about me right now.”
After a few moments of silence while Agatha moves about the kitchen she abruptly asks me a very sensitive question. “What are your intentions with my daughter?”
My face turns red and I drop my arms to the table from my stretch.
“What…what do you mean?” I stammer.
“You know what I mean Rain. She likes you.” She makes her way to the table and sits down across from me, in her spot.
“Wow. I…uh…that’s difficult to answer.” I try to form an on the spot answer. “I like her too, but I’m i
n unfamiliar territory here. I admit that I’d like to think we’re close friends.”
“And if my daughter did end up liking you more than just a close friend?” She leans forward and rests on one of her arms.
“I…why the sudden interest?”
“We’re going to be together for a long time. It’s a precarious situation and I don’t want to see her heart broken.”
“I see your point. I suppose I better be very sure and careful about the situation.”
“I agree, but let me point out it’s not entirely in your hands. Ami has a mind of her own and she could very well want to date you before you’ve come to your decision.”
“Well if something more were to blossom, would I have your permission to court her?”
“Of course. You’ve proven to me that you are more than worthy. You can protect and provide for her in ways that I cannot.” She smiles sweetly.
“Okay. Well, let’s keep this hushed for now. I want to see what might or might not occur naturally.”
“All right Rain.” Agatha reaches over and pats my hand.
Agatha stands up and begins moving to the back door when Ami bursts in from outside.
“Rain! Mother!” Ami yells from outside. “There’s someone in the hills!”
Jumping to my feet I run out of the door and find Ami standing near the clothing lines pointing up and looking back at me. Straining, I see him poke his head up and light from the sun gleams off of his head. Without warning I begin running to the edge of the perimeter and quickly put the sand shoe attachments on my feet. Back out into the desert sand I give it my all and push against the ground to get to the hill. Scaling it on all fours, I dig in and move like the wild dog that had attacked us, leaping and bounding up the dune. But when I get to the top of the hill he is no longer at the edge but now running well ahead of me in the direction that we had originally found Lady Eve’s camp in.
If he gets away we are in serious trouble.
My feet tear at the sand as I move my legs as quickly as I can, but he is faster than I am. I push as hard as I can and my lungs burn as I breathe the dry air deeply, but I find he is still gaining ground away from me, becoming a speck in the distance. His endurance surpasses mine and I become too winded to run any farther, my ribcage protesting with pinching in several spots. I crouch over, placing my hands on my knees and coughing loudly. When I regain my composure, he is gone and I am left to retreat to the house.
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