Sacred Water, Book 2, The Time Before

by Charles Kaluza

  ***

  On the ice field the explosion was felt and those of the Forest perceived it as a positive sign. Those of the Red could know not what it meant, but had to assume the worst. They began sending out scouts to find alternative ways across the crevices. Jeremy and his group of hunters followed these scouts. Those who went to the north were eliminated as Heather had ordered. Those who headed in the direction of the great gorge were allowed to continue. Whenever it appeared they were attempting to build a new crossing with rope, a message was sent back across the crevices to those of the Forest. Some of the Forest were always positioned and waiting. If a line was successfully secured, they waited until those of the Red tried to cross, and then the line would be cut, sending the explorer to a frozen death.

  To those of the Red it seemed as if the enemy simply arose from the ice itself. They knew not that those of the Forest were tracking their movements so closely. The uncertainty itself was a major morale factor. They could not fight an enemy they could not see, and the ice itself seemed to be against them. The ever-present cold numbed their spirits as well as their hands and feet. The daily winds roared in their minds and robbed their bodies of even more heat. Supplies were getting short and time seemed to lose all meaning. A minor blizzard blew through that was of little consequence to those of the Forest, but to those of the Red who were not prepared, the cost was significant. Sentries began to suffer from hypothermia and severe frostbite.

  The scouts of the Red returned from the South with reports of the alternate route off of the ice through the great gorge. The decision by the commander of those of the Red came quickly. He wanted off of the ice as much as his men. His orders were to proceed to the spring of the sacred water and secure it before moving towards the Southern Kingdom. First they had to survive, and that meant getting off of the ice. Once off of the ice he would seek another route, but survival of his army came first. At morning light they broke camp and headed south towards the great gorge.

  Jeremy left several of his group to follow those of the Red and he and others of the Forest made their way back across the crevices at their previously arranged crossing sites. They dug out the concealed line and used an arrow to send it across the ice. The one waiting on the opposite side secured the light line to the heavy line which they then pulled across the crevice. After the line was secure they used a simple harness for safety and crawled across the line, which was then retrieved. They met up with Heather on her side of the destroyed snow bridge, who had returned just the night before.

  Heather received their report and could not help but join in the spontaneous celebration that was going on around her. Only after Jeremy asked where Daniel was did Heather tell him of Edna's injury. The gaiety immediately left him and he said, "I would have your permission to leave now to check on Edna."

  Heather replied, "I would you delay for just a short time and allow me to finish my planning. I would travel with you. Our work here maybe finished but we must plan in case the Red change again."

  Jeremy said nothing but simply nodded his head in agreement. Heather then began giving orders to those of the Forest to maintain vigilance until those of the Red had descended into the great gorge. After that, only groups of scouts would remain to stand watch. All others were to return to the Forest. With that, she and Jeremy departed the ice field, accompanied by only a small group of others from the Forest and the few of the Northern Kingdom.

  They traveled lightly and made good time, but were not able to reach the ice cliff before darkness fell. Everyone wanted off the ice, but Jeremy seemed the most anxious of all. Left to himself, he would have proceeded but stopped as darkness set in and made camp. His anxiousness was contagious and the party celebrated not their apparent victory with stories, but instead sought the solitude of their sleeping robes. Before dawn they were again on the move and by midday were descending the ice cliff. They found Daniel in the larger ice house caring for Edna and other wounded. Jeremy, without greeting his friend, asked, "How is she?"

  "She awakens not and her right eye is beginning to dilate."

  Hearing Daniel speak these words without emotion hit Jeremy hard, and as tears formed in his eyes he asked in a soft voice, "What does that mean?"

  Daniel turned to his friend and replied in a voice that was barely audible, "She may not live."

  Heather spoke up asking, "Is there not hope?"

  Daniel responded, "There is always hope, for only the God of the Sacred Water knows what will be. I am afraid she is developing a blood clot on her brain, which if it continues will cause great damage."

  Jeremy asked in a somewhat stronger voice, "Can you not drain this blood clot and prevent the damage? You are a healer."

  Now Daniel had tears in his eyes as he looked at his friend and replied, "I have not the skill to do what you ask. I have only read of, but never seen, such a procedure performed. It is called the Mayan technique and they open the skull by scraping the bone and then drain the blood. Done improperly, the procedure would likely kill."

  Silence permeated the ice house as everyone stood and looked at the unconscious Edna. The silence was broken by the small voice of Betty saying, "You fix her. I hear her way far away. She want you try."

  Daniel responded, "But I have not the skill and she could die from my hands."

  Betty said only, "You fix her now before she get too far away."

  Daniel looked at Jeremy, whose attitude seemed to have changed with Betty's words and he told Daniel, "I have hope. All I ask is that you do your best."

  Daniel looked at Heather and she nodded her head in the affirmative saying only, "Only the God of the Sacred Water knows what will be, all we can do is our best."

  Daniel stood in silence looking at Edna, struggling with his own fears and trying to come up with a vision of the surgery. His mind visualized the scroll he had read many years ago. This memory was not complete, but the drawings showing the opening on the side of the skull with a dilated pupil were clear. How he wished for the memory of the young priest. He remembered that the opening of the skull would either show blood immediately or beneath the brain covering. Opening of the brain covering was much more dangerous. He said a silent prayer to the God of the Sacred Water and turned towards his friend and said, "I will try."

  Jeremy asked, "What do you need?"

  Daniel responded, "I need more space, the other wounded need to be moved. I need the sharpest flint you can find about the size of two fingers. We will most certainly need the cautery rod and pot. But mostly I need your prayers to the God of the Sacred Water that my skills are enough." He then added, "Edna must stay warm and I worry my hands will get too cold. We had better set up the small cook stove and oil lantern. We need to warm the ice house up enough to work, but not so much that it begins to melt."

  While others completed the preparations, Daniel contemplated the surgery and tried to visualize the skull itself. He began by first cutting and then shaving Edna's hair. He positioned her in the heavy sleeping robe such that he could sit comfortably on a large pack without bending over too badly. The filtered light within the ice house allowed pretty good visualization but distorted the colors somewhat. His hands were already cold just from preparing for the surgery and he needed to put on his heavy fur mittens just to warm his hands. When the coldness departed, his hands and his sense of feeling returned, and Daniel washed Edna's scalp with the sacred water and covered it with clean linens, trying to preserve her body warmth. Nothing was as clean as he would've liked, but it was all he had.

  When the preparations were done, Daniel turned to his friends and said, "I will need one of you to help but you must stay focused."

  Everyone seemed to back away just a little except for Elrod who said, "I am not trained but will do my best to help. You helped my wife Martha and I trust in you."

  Daniel nodded his acceptance and said, "Your job will be to hold back the scalp and hand me the instruments I need. I'm af
raid your position will be uncomfortable and your hands will chill. If you need a rest, you must speak up."

  Daniel helped arrange a pack for Elrod to sit on, but he would need to lean forward in order to assist. When everything seemed in order and the lamp positioned Daniel washed his hands and Elrod's hands in the sacred water and dried them with a clean cloth. He examined the flint that Jeremy had provided and was satisfied. Placing it and his obsidian knife in the sacred water, he stretched one last time and said, "I pray to the God of the Sacred Water that my skills are adequate."

  Picking up the knife, he made in incision vertically in front of Edna's ear, extending from the top of the ear to the top of her head. The obsidian knife cut cleanly down to the bone in one stroke. Daniel then began using the cautery rod to seal off the bleeding vessels. Elrod would use some of the cloth to mop up any blood. Several of the larger vessels needed to be secured with thread. When the bleeding had been controlled, Daniel placed large suture threads in both sides of the incision and had Elrod pull back on these, exposing the cream-colored bone of the skull. By now everyone else had left the ice house, being unable to watch and unable to tolerate the stench of the burning flesh from the cautery rod. Edna stirred not from the pain, but did groan ever so slightly.

  Daniel now picked up the flint and began scraping the bone. He needed to press firmly for the flint to work, but not so hard as to break the underlying bone. It was tedious work and progressed very slowly. The sound of the scraping was not unlike that of woodworking, but somewhat harsher. About every ten minutes he needed to stop and warm his hands to return the circulation to his fingers so he could feel. As the bone thinned it developed a more reddish color but he saw not the blue color he remembered reading about. Without penetrating through the final thin layer of bone he enlarged the area of opening, scraping further back. This did reveal a darker color and he continued scraping until the bone was thinner than the paper in his journal.

  He now had an area the size of a small child's hand exposed, which had the dark blue color visible. He took another rest and warmed his hands before carefully using the obsidian knife to break through and pick away the remaining thin layer of bone. Underneath was the lining of the brain and below that was the blood clot that was compressing Edna's brain. Daniel closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before again proceeding. He warmed his hands and then using the obsidian knife, he ever so gently sliced through the covering of the brain. Immediately, the old blood began oozing out, along with the fluid that the brain floated in.

  When the majority of the blood had been removed, Daniel was looking at a living brain. He stared at the thing in front of him for a full minute, in wonder, before resuming his work. Using his instruments, he removed the remaining blood clot and searched for the vessel that was bleeding. He found it at the top. It was a small vessel and torn not quite completely apart. Daniel's hands were again going numb from the cold and he needed to warm them again before proceeding. Only after the stiffness had gone out of them did he attempt to place a suture around the bleeding vessel above and below the point of tear. His hands were shaking slightly from the effort of being so gentle and he needed to pause and force himself to relax. On the second try he was able to secure the vessel and the bleeding stopped.

  Elrod spoke up for the first time saying, "I apologize but I must rest. My hands can no longer hold."

  Daniel replied, "You have done well and I also need to rest. Warm your hands and stretch your back. We need some time now to make sure all bleeding has stopped, so it is a good time to rest."

  While they were yet resting, Heather came back into the ice house, and seeing them rest spoke, "Betty says she hears Edna better now. How is the operation going?"

  Daniel replied, "We have stopped the bleeding, so there is hope. When our hands are warm we will soon finish up. I have seen the living brain."

  Heather could not help but shudder slightly from the thought but said nothing other than, "I will tell the others."

  When their hands had again warmed, Daniel and Elrod returned to work. He again inspected the area of bleeding and no new blood was visible. He began to sew the brain covering together, placing his stitches very close together, trying to create a watertight seal. When this was completed, he again used the hot cautery rod to seal a few more vessels that were bleeding along the edge of the scalp and the scraped skull bone. This produced a more significant groaning from Edna and he said to Elrod, "She responds more to pain. I have more hope." He then closed the scalp with multiple sutures. He used a large amount of linen to dress the wound after he had again cleansed it with the sacred water. When Elrod asked why he used so much cloth, Daniel explained, "The dressing is as much for warmth as it is to protect the wound. Incisions that are very cold do not heal well. We need to keep her warm."

  Only after they had finished did Daniel realize how tired he was. He stretched and again thanked Elrod for his help. He said, "You deserve a rest and some fresh air. Have one of the others come in and take the watch while I clean my instruments.

  Elrod said, "It has been an honor to assist you, but it was the most difficult watch I have ever taken. I envy not your work. It is good that the God of the Sacred Water has provided us with people such as you that can do the work of a healer. Some fresh air would be good."

  Elrod was soon replaced by Jeremy who asked, "Is there hope?"

  Daniel replied, "There is hope. She is strong and if it is the will of the God of the Sacred Water she will recover. We need now to keep her warm and hope infection does not set in."