"That was grosser than when Matilde cuts off a chicken head." Sofi announced. "It was even more grosser than when Robin cut the guts out of the fishes for cook."

Gwyn was not certain if she should be relieved that the child was not screaming in terror, or appalled that the child was not shrieking in terror. Gwyn remembered Matilde saying that Sofi's parents were both killed when Sofi was three...

Or was it four? Was Sofi present when her parents met their end?...

Dropping the skillet, Gwyn pushed off the cart, intending to climb up and comfort Sofi. As she stood to her full height and took the first step, her stomach rolled and she closed her eyes. The ground tipped beneath her feet and she opened her eyes to see Rin coming toward her, with a concerned look upon his face.

She tried to take a step forward, intending to tell him all was well but her bones were suddenly made of paper and her legs folded beneath her.

---

"What happened?" Gil asked. "Does she still breathe?"

"Sofi..." Gwyn murmured, struggling to open her eyes. They were talking about Sofi. "What...?"

"What happened I know not. I was wrestling with that fellow," Rin jerked his thumb toward the wine lover, "and dispatched him in time to see her facing off that fellow," Rin jerked his thumb toward the lithe man, "with our skillet. I intervened and dispatched the fellow, but when I saw Mary, she was white as the pope's robes. She took one step and crumbled to the ground."

Gwyn tried to say something but everything was fuzzy and her words came out in a moan.

"Let me take her." Gil said. "You round up those horses and ride one to the farm. Get Elsbet and tell her to bring anything that might help us with these wounds."

She felt Gil's arms and then heard his voice low in her ear.

"Love, you need to let go of Rin. I have you now."

Leaning toward the warmth and the sound of his voice, she felt safe.

All would be well.

With that thought, she let the darkness claim her again.

---

When next she woke, she was lying on the ground. Blinking she took a moment to clear her mind before she realized the darkness was night, and not due to her aching head. Reaching her hand toward her head, she moaned as she felt the aches and bruises of her abuse at the hand of those men.

"Sofi!" She tried to call out but it came out a mumble.

"Sofi is safe." Gil was at her side, speaking softly as he gently pressed her shoulder to keep her from rising. "Be still."

"My head hurts." She complained as she reached for her head.

"Do not touch it." Gil caught her wrist. "I stopped the bleeding but could do little else. Rin brough Elsbet. She had to cut a little of your hair away to stitch it but—"

"She cut my hair!" her other hand flew to the wound and met a bandage. She winced.

It was a large bandage.

"My hair." She lamented.

"Elsbet did not cut much. Just a little around the cut so she could stitch it. She knew you were a healer so she made me remember all that she did in order to tell you. She wanted you to know that you were well treated."

Gwyn blinked and licked her dried lips. She could not summon her voice and nodding was impossible. Thankfully, Gil seemed to take that as a cue to continue.

"First she cut away the hair closest to the cut and just a little around it. Then she cleaned it with boiled rags dipped in vinegar. When she deemed it clean, she stitched it with catgut and poured more vinegar over it. Next she spread egg white over the stitches and covered that with a compress of moldy bread scraping and spiderwebs."

Gil shook his head. Gwyn blinked again and Gil smiled this time.

"Cat gut got your tongue?"

Gwyn groaned but could not hide her smile. Gil chuckled and finished his recitation.

"I have never seen the like. A bit of clean fleece went over the moldy web compress and over that, several layers of boiled cloths before she wrapped your head with longer strips and tied it in place. You look rather fetching with that big white bow on top of your head."

Gwyn tried to frown at him, but he winked and she smiled instead. With a sigh she resigned herself to being a patient.

Albeit a terrible one...

"I approve, save that I prefer sealing a wound with honey instead of egg white. And if the wound is still oozing, I will add yarrow to the moldy web compress as it helps the wound to scab over."

"Well, you surely bled plenty. There was blood all matted in your hair, down the back and front of your dress and you even had blood smeared on your hands and face. You scared poor Rin near to death. He saved you from your attacker then turned around and saw you with blood dripping onto your shoulders. He started toward you but you passed out on him."

"I did no such thing." Her brow furrowed and she hissed as it tugged on her tender scalp.

"You did." Gil assured her. "The poor man was more frightened of your injuries than he was of the two men who were trying to kill him. By the time I dispatched with the other fellow, Rin was so much a fuddle that I had him round up the horses and sent him for Elsbet with Sofi."

"Sofi!"

"She is fine. The brave little princess was still hiding in her bed when I checked on her. I had to send her with Rin. She was nearly hysterical when you fainted, though I tried to comfort her. Rin had to forcibly take her. He said she bellowed like a banshee the entire way. Elsbet mixed a few drops of laudanum in some warm milk and sweetened it with honey."

"That was probably wise. But she was not hiding the entire time. I do not know how much she saw, but she was the one who handed me the skillet. I know she saw Rin kill that last man, because she said EW! I looked up and was going to try to climb up and comfort her but I guess that must be when I fainted." Gwyn paused and looked at Gil with half a smile.

"She will be furious with you for sending her away. I am afraid we shall have to smooth the way when we go back."

"Where is Elsbet?" Gwyn suddenly wondered that the woman had not appeared to check on her patient.

"She could not stay. When you were as well as she could make you, she left a basket," he jabbed toward the cart, "and rode back to the farm with Rin. Once again, my dearest, you are stuck with me."

"But we need to..." Gwyn tried to sit up but she cringed as pain lanced through her bruised ribs and the ground began to spin beneath her. Of her own accord, she lay back down before Gil could insist.

"We need to stay here until morning. And then you shall lie down in the cart and I shall drive you to see our daughter. I am quite certain she will put out with the both of us when we arrive."

"Nay." Gwyn smiled. "She will be quite put out with . Do you not remember her wish to be a healer like her mama? For shame, Papa. You kept her from both her mama and the chance to help the healer."

"She was so upset...I thought..."

"I probably would have done the same, if I were you. But she is braver than either of us think. She and Robin used to help me in the healer's rooms sometimes. I am quite sure that if Elsbet needed her help, she would be brave enough to give what help she could."

"I am sure you are right. Perhaps if you allow her to assist you ...No?"

"No. She will have to assist you. I can hardly clean and bandage a wound on the back of my own head. I can scarce reach it and I certainly cannot see to tell if it shows signs of irritation or festering."

"You mean..."

"Yes, Physic Gil, will be healer until I...but I see you also have wounds?" Gwyn suddenly noticed the bandages on his forearm and a bruise or two on his face and neck.

"Nothing a few stitches could not repair. I shall mend fine. It is not the first that I have been cut, but you...your head...were you hit very hard? There is a large lump there, the size of a chicken's egg. It was very hard for Elsbet to clean."

"I was hit rather hard, in a manner of speaking." Gwyn was growing tired, but she gave half a smile. "As I recall, the fellow had a hold on me and I could not use my arms and he kept my feet off the ground. With little other recourse, I tucked my chin and slammed my head back into his face. I suppose it was his teeth that cut me."

"That would explain why his nose was broken. Rin thought mayhap you landed a blow with the skillet."

Gwyn yawned.

"Nay, that was how I broke his hand." She yawned again. "I wish to go to Sofi. I can sleep in that cart as easily as I can sleep here upon the ground. Please..."

Gil frowned, but at her pleading look, he nodded.

"Very well. Let me get the cart ready. It is our cart, so there is just enough room. Elsbet had Arthur and Rin pad it with fresh hay and blankets before she came. They took their cart and the supplies back with them. I shall do this thing for you, but you must promise to stay there in the cart, , whilst I clean up our camp here."

"As you wish, Physic Gil." Gwyn tried to smile but yawned instead.

Rolling his eyes, Gil shook his head as he rose to make a place ready for her.

---

Together they decided not to risk trying to go over the pass roads with Gwyn's injuries in case Neron's men were watching for an injured woman. Instead, Rin and Pim followed with their cart and her purchases to the coast where they could arrange boat passage north to Port Castle. It would take a fortnight longer to travel that route, but they could obtain supplies along the way.

"We need to stop." Gwyn touched Gil's arm as they approached a crossroads three days later.

Gil stopped the cart and turned to wave. As agreed upon before departure, Rin left the reins with Pim and leapt down to speak with them.

"Does not that road go north?" Gwyn asked of them.

"Aye." Rin answered. It goes north to Elkirk Keep and a few villages there about until it turns north by east to the monastery."

"If it goes to the monastery, then it bypasses the mountains entirely. Surely there is no reason for Neron's men to monitor the roads so far west when they were concentrating on Kingspass and the eastern roads to Greenwood."

"She has a point." Rin agreed. "It will shorten the trip by six or seven days."

"Then we go north. We can get provisions at Elkirk or one of the villages there about."

"Let us part ways here then." Rin smiled. "Gil, do you want to take my cart or would you prefer to help me move everything over?"

"We shall not take your cart." Gwyn smiled. "The three of us women shall help you men move things over. It will mean that we sleep here this night, but your cart is much too large to fit in our...erm..."

"Our livery arrangements are much too small to accommodate such a large cart, good sir." Gil finished with a grin.

"Right." Gwyn nodded slowly with a chuckle. Her head still ached if she stayed awake too long, but she no longer wore the bandages, choosing to cover her head loosely with a scarf instead.

"As you wish, my lady." Rin gave an elegant bow and laughed as he turned back to tell Pim the plan.

"Stay!" Gil put a hand on her shoulder as she turned to climb down. "Let me lift you down. I do not wish for you to jar your head by jumping to the ground."

"Me too, Papa?" Sofi piped up from behind them.

"Aye. I shall lift you down also, my sweeting."

---

They said their goodbyes in the morning and the rest of the trip, thankfully, was uneventful. At Elkirk Keep they said they were from Middleport taking the fineries to Lady Brecken by way of the Monastery to leave a tribute from Lord Brecken. At the Monastery, they repeated their story and left a bag of coin behind them. By midday on the third day, they were at the crossroad.

South led back to Kingspass. North led to Brecken Moors Hall. They were far enough from the pass, that Gil deemed it safe to continue west. They pressed on into the night to reach the edge of the wood where the old road to the Abbey turned south by east. Gil managed to get the cart far enough into the wood that it would not be seen from the road.

"Sofi has the right idea." Gwyn yawned at the child, burrowed into the pile of fabrics and sleeping soundly.

"Aye. We are safe enough here, I think. Let me unharness the mule and rub him down with some dried grass. It is not a warm barn but he deserves a rest also. We can sleep later into the morn if you like. It is little more than half a day to..."

"Home." Gwyn sighed.

"Home." Gil agreed with a tired smile. "You can climb up there with Sofi if you like. I shall sleep near Rufus. He will let me know if we have any visitors."

"I would rather not disturb her. If she wakes, neither of us will sleep as she will be well rested..."

"I had forgotten." Gil frowned. "Can you manage to sneak off a blanket without waking her?"

"Aye. I can manage that much, I think. There is not much light, but I will see about gathering up some of these pine boughs to make a bed for us while you tend to Rufus."

"That would be preferrable to sleeping upon the cold ground with naught but a blanket beneath us."