Powdered Nose

chapter ten

Mary

"Son of a fletcher!"

Stubbing my toe on an errant box of medical tools, I coiled my foot inward and yelped. Aware of my profane reaction, I blushed. Gods, why am I like this? Flustered, I snatched the box I was looking for, lifting it faster than I should've. The containers were highly functional, village-made, wooden boxes. I didn't see the need to spend more money on lids when I bought them, so for the most part, they laid open around the living room floor.

This particular container held a heap of arnica flower I had meticulously crushed into fine powder. So, upon lifting the box too quickly, the powder flew into the air and turned my living room into a honeybee's daydream. A yellow haze filled the room, so much so that I could barely see past my own arms.

"Shi-*cough*! Pch!" Spitting a mouthful of the yellow funk from my mouth, I stormed through the room, with the box in hand, and kicked the front door open, making myself quite the spectacle for a handful of double-taking villagers on their way to Market.

Too relieved to care about my appearance, I sucked in clean air with a fervor. "Oh my gods!" I burst. "I love air!"

Among the chuckling spectators, a kindly old woman weaved through the crowd and approached me with a teasing grin and an eye-roll. "Mary, whataya doin' girl?"

Despite my throbbing toe, I couldn't help but smile. "Sorry about the mess Phyllis" I laughed. Phyllis was a kind old lady who'd helped Jax and I when we first moved here. She was kind enough to act as our impromptu tour guide, and oh my gods, she made an apple pie to die for.

"Enough with the apologies girl, just keep ya'self clean for gods' sake, could ya'." Patting the arnica powder from my white shirt with her frail fingers, she lectured, "Ya' too respected 'round here for all the mess girl. The only mage in town, ya' are, so hold ya'self respectably young lady."

Helping her with the cleaning process, I ran a hand through my brown hair and gave my head a shake. Then, sticking my finger in my ear, I twirled it around to remove some dust tha-

'What'd I jus' tell ya' girl!" Phyliss yelled with a thump to my head.

"What? I'm just getting some dust out of my ear." What did I do this time?

Phyllis bore her eyes into my soul. "A proper lady doesn't dig her fingers in her damn ears!" She rebuked to the amusement of several lingering spectators.

Blushing a deep shade of red, I dipped my unfairly treated head in embarrassment. Damned old lady. She's lucky her pies are so damn good. "I'm sorry ma'am." I wasn't really. Who the hell has time for all these rules? Was I supposed to have some utensil on hand whenever I needed to clean out my ears? Even then she'd probably scold me for not doing so in private.

"As long as ya' know, girl." Deeming my appearance barely acceptable, she turned back to the crowd. "Whataya lookin' at, huh?" She tested. Still chortling, the masses trickled in streams to their destinations.

That was something I'd come to love about the people here; not only were they courteous and kind, but they all had amazing senses of humor: two qualities you'd be hard pressed to find in the city. A public disturbance, that would've been met with cockeyed displeasure there, received nothing but smiles here. On their way out, several men even asked me if I was alright.

Ohh, the love was heartwarming...reminded of love, my mood dipped and it must have shown, because Phyllis gave me an encouraging smile and a pat on the back. "It'll be alright girly. Jax'll be back in a jiffy." She comforted.

I gave a weak nod in response. How long's he going to be out? How long does it take to dot some dots on a map? Damn that idiot. He's been gone for nearly two weeks.

Attempting to lighten my mood, Phyllis asked about the box. "So what's got ya' all in a tizzy," she asked.

Remembering why I needed the box in the first place, I jerked up and repositioned the container in my arms. It was gonna be a long haul. "I needed some arnica powder for one of the individuals the men found on the Hunt a few days ago," I explained.

Nodding her head in sage understanding, she sensed my urgency and let me go with one last lecture on how a lady of my standing should behave in public, and eager to escape, when she finally finished her tirade I dashed to the infirmary. Gods, that woman can talk. I'll have to check on her husband's ear at some point. They must be going through hell.

Trekking through the living quarters, I once again marveled at the architecture of it all. Beneath my feet, an elegant cobblestone road led me along the main path, that spidered out into dozens of smaller pathways, guarded with wooden fencing that led to numerous elaboratively structured homes and shops. Set atop strong stone foundations and built with redwood timber and topped with white thatch, the houses were made strong, yet beautiful.

The villagers prided themselves in art, so every street-facing wall was decorated with stunning murals of fantastic monsters and exquisite imagery. I sighed in admiration. No matter how many times I saw it, the scenery took my breath away.

Reaching the end of our part of the living quarters, I plodded into Market. Pleading ignorant to the hawking waresmen, I snaked through the crowd, trying my best to keep a firm grip on the box. The flower was hard to find and time-consuming to crush. Maybe I should buy some tops from the craftsman.

I say 'I snaked through', but most people made way for me as soon they saw who I was. At least my notoriety provided something more useful than lectures. Several men even stopped to thank me for my help, and I'd respond with a 'thanks as well'.

Basically serving as the village doctor, I had helped more of these people than I could recognize. Coming back from the Hunt, many men and women would line up around the infirmary building to receive my services, and I'd offer them for free. But, too prideful to accept one-sided help, the villagers would repay me with sizeable portions of whatever they brought back. Most offered me meats and furs, some rendered me favors, like helping to build my house, and others provided all sorts of other knick-knacks and services.

Market was the term coined for the circular shopping district that was made up of small mom-and-pop stalls, offering trinkets and home-grown foods, coupled with several larger buildings that served to more popular demands, such as hunting equipment, clothes, and major food distributors - who were usually also the best hunters.

Today, a lot of adults were out on the Hunt, so their stalls were manned by their children or pulled from the non-combative workforce. A few of the young men blushed as I walked past. Too cute.

Finally getting through the crowd, I reached the end of the Market and into the stretch of more 'official' buildings toward the entrance of the village. On my way to the infirmary, which was the closest building to the forest so the hunters could get quick treatment, I passed the expansive town hall, the hunter's quarters, the immense training field, the school, and finally found myself, breathless, in front of the infirmary.

We really need to move closer. Still catching my breath, I gave the oblong door a few gentle taps with my foot, wary of any further toe damage. Impatiently clicking my foot against the cobblestone path, I waited for someone to open the damn door. My fingers hurt.

A short moment of strain passed, where I thought my arms would finally give out, before the door was pulled open. "Damn, took you long enough." I rushed inside and immediately ran to a long table of herbs and bottled concoctions on the left side of the room.

Without sounding too apologetic, a young man laughed and apologized, "Sorry Mary, but I came as soon as I heard you knocking. I remember the last time I was too slow," he recalled, "I think I still have a bruise on my arm from the punch." Lightly blushing, I tried to defend myself. "Damnit Barnes, I was carrying a big box of glass bottles, you dic-"

"Alright, ma'am," He cut me off with a chuckle. "I'm sorry." Approaching the medical table, he looked inside the box I'd brought. "Is this the arnica powder you were talking about?"

Nodding, I grabbed a small metal bowl and filled it with three to four handfuls of the dust and gave it to Barnes. "Put some water in this and mash it into a paste, please." Carefully extracting the bowel from my hands, he hurried to the metal crate of water.

Appreciative of his work ethic, I smiled as he grabbed a long spoon from the side of the crate and began scooping water into the bowl. Nice, steady hands. He's really meant for this type of work.

Barnes' father owned a large field in the residential district, where he raised cows, chickens, and pigs. He was a relatively wealthy man in the village. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if he named his son after his husbandry business.

The irony.

Though he grew up a farmhand, Barnes loathed outside work with a passion. Hearing about a new mage coming into town, he squatted the entrance for days of harsh weather, trying to escape the fields and become a mage. I finally gave him a shot one day, and acknowledging both his hard work and his talent in medicine, I made him my assistant. I was way too young to have an apprentice at my age.

A twenty-year-old mage with an apprentice? Psh. I barely knew what I was doing, myself, so teaching him the basics was hard enough. I did my best to explain the theories in our magic practices, but for the most part, we stuck to medicines and the like. It'd been a few years now, and the boy had really come a long way.

While he worked on the arnica salve, I walked to the back. The building was a one-room hospital; the essentials lay scattered around on tables in the front and the back portion of the room was cut off by a layer of strung-up cloth. Grabbing a handful of the thick fabric, I pulled it to the side and walked in.

Lined along one side of the room were four 'sturdy-ish' cots. There wasn't a lot of room for more than that, though we'd need them when the Hunt was finished. I made my way to the back two cots, where a couple of men laid unconscious. Furrowing my brows, I wondered whether to call them unconscious or asleep. Well, I guess since they haven't been roused awake for the last few weeks, it's unconscious. Hmm.

Shifting my focus to the two comatose men, I peeled back the covers of the larger man - a very large man. I had to set a table at the foot of the cot so his feet didn't dangle.

His burns were healing slower than I'd like. The damage was done by some fire magic, so there was a lot of interference when I tried to heal him with my own. I took care of the rest of his injuries, but the magic damage was slow going. The most I could do for him now was apply the salve to his chest burns. He should wake up soon.

Moving to the second cot, I didn't need to move the covers. Reaching for his face, I pried open his eyelids and observed his reactions. Still dilated. Still no movement. The man's body was taken care of but he had suffered some brain trauma. He was concussed and I wasn't too sure what to do about it, if I could even do anything at all. The only thing I could give him now was time.

"What happened to these guys?" Repeating a question I'd rolled over in my head the past few weeks, Barnes shoved the curtain to the side and brought me the paste. While I applied the arnica to the large man's chest, Barnes rattled off. "How many people this far outside of the city know magic anyways?" He wondered aloud.

I shrugged my shoulder. "I don't know of any. The reason we chose this place was because of how secluded it was. If there are mages around I'll have to talk to Jax about it."

Barned agreed, "Yeah, Jax is the strongest guy around. He'll be the only one able to fight a real mage." He furrowed his brows. "Speakin' of Jax, wher-"

Bang!

The door swung open with a shove, and a large group of people swarmed into the front of the room. "What's going on?" Curious, I placed the salve down and stepped through the curtain.

What I saw worried me. Agitated hunters gathered around the entrance, making room for a man holding a large bundle in his arms. "Miss Mary, we found two more people out on the Hunt." He motioned to the bundle in his arms.

More people?

Nearing the hunter, I noticed that the bundle of blankets was covering something. I'm guessing one of the people he was talking about. Slightly hesitant, I removed the first layer and immediately put a hand to my mouth.

My gods. It was a child.

"I know he looks bad, miss, but his back is a lot worse." Slowly turning him over, I nearly balked at the site. Quickly guiding the man to the back, I had him set the boy on one of the two remaining cots. Shit. He needed immediate treatment.

Gently laying the child on his stomach, the man turned to me and worry set in my heart again. His face was that of a man relaying grim news. "There was one other person," he announced solemnly.

The shuffle of feet brought my attention back to the front. I rushed out and there was another string of hunters coming through the door. All solemn-faced, they made a wall in front of me and several men carrying something on top of a wooden plank.

Approaching me from the back, the man continued in a hushed tone.

"We found him a few miles outside the village proper."

The wall of men bowed their heads and opened a way for the carriers to come inside.

Seeing who it was, my heart stopped.

Because being carried inside was a man I recognized.

A man I loved.

It was Jax.