Theodore (9 page)

Anna showed off her new bells at lunch back at the house. 
There was a general agreement from the house that she had chosen well.  The
only expressed concern was teaching her to dance by next weekend.  Anna bolted
up to her room to fetch her money and repay Emily.  Theodore grinned as he
noticed Emily radically undercharged Anna for her bells.  Well, that left her
more money for other silly things...

Theodore left Anna with Emily for the afternoon as he
journeyed with his father on a quick hunting trip to the low edges of the
falls.  His father had spotted a large elk earlier and made a study of it.  Now
was time for fresh meat!  Theodore knew his father could easily fell the animal
without him, but if it was a full sized elk, it would take both of them to get
it back to the butcher shop at the town.

After only a half hour in his father's lookout point, the
elk approached, just as predicted.  His father offered to let him take the
shot, and after some hesitation Theodore agreed.  Time away from practice at
school was going to add risk, but there is no way to get better without
trying. 

Theodore invoked a Live Steel longbow, almost ironic in the
terms as the bow and arrows had no steel to them save for the arrowheads
themselves.  He readied one arrow in front of him and nocked the second.  The
plan was to put two arrows in flight at once.  Good thing he did too, as the
first arrow struck, but back in the flank.  The second arrow struck true and
soon the animal was down.  Good, no running.  There was nothing more depressing
than having to chase an animal in the woods as it slowly bled out.  Much of his
father's teaching was on when not to take a shot for that very reason.  Any
idiot can fling arrows into the air...

“Sorry, Father,” grimaced Theodore.  “The first shot was a
bust.”

“But you got two in the air and got the job done,” beamed
his father back.  “It was a good
set
even if it wasn't a perfect first
shot!  Come on, let's get it stripped and back into town.”

It was all but supper time as Theodore and his father
finally made it back from the butcher shop with fresh steaks in hand.  They
passed the meat off to Emily and both of the males
quickly
made for the
showers: they were a mess!

With his hair still damp, but at least a fresh shirt on,
Theodore smiled as he entered the kitchen to find Anna helping with dinner.  “I
think you have a rough idea how my afternoon went.  How did yours go?”

“Oh, it was a blast,” grinned Anna.  “Spent most of it down
at Rebecca Silverfox's place.  She's a really nice lady.  Really, really hyper
lady, I might add!”

“Oh, crap,” laughed Theodore.  “You get sucked into a dance
class?”

“Yes!  It was wonderful.  I was terrible at first, but she
is really patient and good at explaining things.   I think I made it all the
way up to 'merely bad!'” she laughed.

“For the first time out, you did wonderful,” grinned Emily. 
“If we can squeeze in one more run before the dance, I think you will have a
lot of fun.”

“Notice she didn't say anything about being good,” grinned
Anna.  “But it was fun.  Even the practice was fun.  I had never done any
dancing before, even back home.”

“A girl like you...
never
done any dancing?” asked a
thoroughly flabbergasted Emily.  “I figure that should qualify for child
abuse!”

Anna just shook her head and grinned, “Nope, never had the
time.”

Emily looked like someone had just run over her puppy; she
hugged Anna warmly, “That is terrible!  You
have
to stop and make time
for dance!”

Anna just smiled softly as she returned the warm embrace, “Sorry,
just never could find the time.  I was doing good to get mom or dad to eat
dinner with me much less both of them at the same time.”

Emily was aghast, “Your mother and father... dinner...”  She
let out a small shriek before regaining her composure.  “The girl is
staying!
”
pronounced Emily to Theodore.  “I can't in good conscience send her back to
that... that
world!
”

For the first time in his life, Theodore couldn't tell if
Second Mother was kidding or not, “Um, mom, it's a different world, a different
culture.”

“She
needs
a family!  Second mother or otherwise! 
How do your siblings cope, Anna?”

“I'm an only child...”

That did it, Emily lost it.  She bolted from the room only
to run upstairs and scream.

Theodore sighed, “I'm sorry about Second Mother.  She
doesn't understand other cultures that well.  She's a product of the Highlands
through and through.  Not very progressive.”

“Hey, don't apologize,” replied Anna with a single tear in
her eye.  “I kinda like her ideals.  I'd trade 'progressive' as you would have
it for 'warm and loving' any day.  Just because it is different doesn't mean
it's good...”

He didn't know what to say, really, so he just gave up and
hugged Anna warmly.  They both needed that.  He softly nuzzled the top of her
head.  It was a little forward of him, but it just seemed right.

Emily returned and
tried
to apologize but Anna would
have none of it, and after several minutes of them both blubbering they both
just gave up and hugged each other again.

“Am I interrupting something?” asked his father as he cautiously
entered the kitchen.

“Nope,” replied Emily as she dried her face.  “We were just
discussing family role models and the like.  She can visit next summer too,
right?”

Aidden smiled and nodded, “Shouldn't be a problem at all. 
She's already fitting in well with the town from what I've heard.  It's all up
to her parents, really.”

Theodore cringed as he watched Emily twitch, but Second
Mother managed to put it behind her and hugged Aidden with an honest smile. 

“Okay, enough of all of that, we need to be careful or we'll
burn supper!  If you could tell the others, we should probably be done before
you get back with Rose,” Emily had
mostly
recovered her form.

Anna sat with Theodore after dinner on the back porch and
they both just enjoyed watching the fireflies in the distance.

“If your family...” began Anna hesitantly.  “If your family
was any more perfect, flowers would sprout where they walked.”

Theodore laughed heartily at the echo from months past. 
“That sounds so familiar!  Hey, my family isn't perfect.  Far,
far
from
it!  But Second Mother wasn't kidding.  If you want to come back next summer or
whenever, there will be a spot in the attic with a soft bed and a place at the
table with a sharp knife.”

“My parents seemed to be helping everyone else in the
world...”

“Hey, just talk with them...”

“Talk with them?  And expect them to give up all the good
things they are doing?”

“Most definitely.  You are their
daughter
.  Your
mother loves you very much and she is very proud of you.  You just need to talk.”

“But it's not fair that either of them should give up
anything for me!  They help so many people every day!  I'm just one person!”

“But one very,
very
important person.”

Anna snuggled up close to him, and for once, he didn't feel
embarrassed to put an arm around her.

“Mr. Foxdale, Mr. Foxdale!”  bellowed a young girl of around
eight as she ran up to the open front door of the house. 

“Hi, little Bridget!  What's the problem?” asked Aidden with
a fresh smile as he quickly stepped away from lunch with the family.

Bridget fought to catch her breath, “My Mothers need you...
there was an accident...  Mr. Winterdale had his leg horribly smashed!”

Suddenly serious, Aidden nodded, “I'll head there right
now!  You take a rest and get yourself something to drink before you head back
out.”  Aidden made quick kissing noises toward the rest of the family before
bolting.

Fiona looked across the tables to the others with some
concern, “It must have been pretty bad if they needed Aidden, too!”

Emily just frowned nervously.

“So, did you want to see emergency medicine, Highland
style?” asked Theodore to Anna.

“Would I?” her eyes went wide.

Fiona nodded to the pair, “Go ahead and take her.  We'll put
your food in the warmer.  Just one requirement: do
not
describe what
happened when you get back!”

The others at the table nodded squeamishly.

Theodore grinned and kissed his mothers on the forehead as
he took Anna's hand and the pair of them bolted after his father and into
town.  They soon caught up with Aidden who added a simple “What kept you?”
laugh to the pair.

In a matter of minutes they were back to the short broad
house that was the Firemeadow's residence.  Carl Firemeadow, father of the
house, met them at the door and immediately Aidden looked worried.

“I figured they called me because there were multiple
injuries and you'd be handling the other.  Tarl Winterdale die?”

Carl shook his head, “No, just the one, and Tarl is still
breathing
fine.  His leg, wow!  I took one look at that and knew I was going to need a
second or someone to play primary and I play second.   It's going to take a few
hours easily!”

Aidden mewed softly, “What happened?”

“He and Gretchen were dropping a few trees to take over to
the mill.  Halfway through a cut, the tree popped and caught him in the leg.  A
half second later the rest of the tree came down on the same leg.  It looks
like sausage...”

The four of them quickly entered a back room and found Tarl
on an elevated bed with Siân and Mary Firemeadow standing by waiting.   The
pair of ladies flashed Anna a quick smile and directed her over to the side for
a better view while Aidden approached Tarl apprehensively. 

“You know what to expect, right?” asked Aidden softly to
Tarl.

He softly nodded, “Just get on with it...”

Aidden invoked his Live Steel and produced three small
knives in rapid succession leaving them on the edge of the bed in front of the
ladies.

“They’re going to cut open his leg while he is still awake?”
whispered Anna to Theodore more than a little nervous at the show in front of
her.

Theodore shook his head softly, “No.  They'll put him into
stasis and then address the leg.  Stasis from a Live Steel weapon is kinda like
a practice blade, but it pushes the person over into the half realm as well. 
It doesn't hurt, but it is incredibly unpleasant none the less.  Mr. Winterdale
will probably spend at least half hour after this is over just throwing up...”

Anna cocked an eyebrow nervously and then bit her lip with
fright as she watched Aidden in action.  He moved to the far end of the table,
and invoked a Live Steel sword.  With a quick nod from Siân, he thrust the
blade into the top of Tarl's head.

Theodore felt Anna flinch horribly, almost crushing his
hand.  But he understood, it was a bizarre and scary sight to behold.  If he
had more time he might have been able to prepare her better.

Tarl Winterdale's entire body suddenly took on a dusty blue
glow.  Not the sparkling glow like a Live Steel blade coming and going, just a
solid steady hue.  Siân picked up one of the blades that Aidden had previously
produced and quickly started to investigate the leg injury.

Anna's face went from scared and confused to utter shock and
amazement in one breath.  As the small blade intersected the glowing body, the
cross section of the inside of Tarl's leg could be seen as a reflection on the
blade.  Siân expertly looked up and down the leg, inspecting the shattered
bones as well as ruptured blood vessels.

“Real time viewing...” gasped Anna.

“Just wait, it's getting ready to get
really
wild.”

Anna started to turn and ask what he meant by that, but Siân
and Mary were already in motion:  Mary brought a second small blade into play
and suddenly they had a projection that spanned from one blade to the other. 
There floating in space was the grisly shattered inside of Tarl's leg.  The
pair worked together flawlessly; Mothers of the same House, that was obvious. 
By twisting and arcing one blade relative to the other they were able to deftly
control how deep inside or which sections they were looking at.  The pair of
ladies nodded to each other and then to Aidden.  Aidden looked like he was
under a lot of stress as he stood there but he nodded sharply to the ladies and
they began the real work.    

Siân brought the third small blade out to play and soon she
was using its tip to
move
things inside the leg.  Carefully and
delicately moving the bones back to their proper place.  She frowned a few
times and moved tiny slivers of bone, too small to play well in the healing
process, off to the side until they exited the glowing form of Tarl.  Once
outside the stasis zone, the tiny slivers solidified and fell to the sheets on
the table.  Over and over again the practiced team sorted out the wreck that
was Tarl's leg. 

“Okay, a cut is a cut is a cut... but that is just fantastic,”
murmured Anna with eyes still wide.  “Can they do soft tissue, blood vessels,
or just bones?”

“It is harder and slower but they can do it... fuse them
too...”

Three long and tense hours later, they were done for the
day.  There would be follow ups the next day for certain, but things had
settled to a more traditional arena: applying a temporary cast and helping Tarl
deal with the extreme nausea from the ordeal.

Theodore sat in the front room with wide eyed Anna as
smiling Bridget brought them something to drink.  Moments later, Aidden joined
them and all but melted into a chair.  Exhaustion on his part was complete.

“Carl, that was monstrous!” gasped Aidden as Carl entered
with a large drink for Aidden.

“Yeah,” he sighed.  “Sorry about that.  But that is why I
wanted you.  If I had done it, I would have had to have broken that into three
or four sessions at least, and poor Tarl... oh, it would not have been good on
him.”

Aidden just sat in the chair trying to enjoy the provided
drink.  He was both physically and mentally drained.

Carl turned and grinned to Anna, “I'm Carl, by the way. 
Mary has spoken well of you!  Did you like our little display of backwater
surgery?”

Anna laughed, “That was amazing!  On all levels!  I take it
that stasis thing is hard to maintain?”

Carl grinned and nodded, “You can drop someone into what we
call 'spot stasis' and that is hard, but not that big of a deal.  A person in
spot stasis will stay that way for about a day and a half unless pulled out
earlier.  Good if someone is bleeding really bad and you need to get them to
some proper help.  Active stasis is what poor Aidden was doing in there.  That
is both mentally and physically draining.  The difference of course was
obvious, you can go in and fix things.  Each blade in the system makes it that
much harder.  You saw them working three blades, anything more than that
becomes an exercise in immediate exhaustion.  Of course, three hours is no
picnic either, eh? Aidden?”

Aidden just let out a soft meow and worked more on his
drink.

Carl let out a short laugh, “What he said!  The next closest
person with his skill level is six plus hours and four gates away, round
trip... if we are lucky.  Aidden is pretty darn impressive.”

“It would be better for all of us,” began Aidden weakly, “if
you
would practice your Live Steel more...”

Carl nodded politely, “Point taken.  I really should...”

Siân came in and fluffed her luxurious jaguar like coat
before sitting next to her husband.   She grinned to Anna, “Next time, if it is
something more sane like a clean break, would you like to try?”

Christmas in July for Anna:  “Would I?  That would be beyond
fantastic!  It was so amazing to watch.  The first thing that struck me,
outside of the patient not feeling a thing, was there was basically no pathway
for infection.  That is... wow!  Let's just go with 'wow!'”

Siân laughed, “Well, the patient makes up for it later.  But
at least it isn't three hours of pain or weird drugs that a person or species
may or may not be allergic to.  And on bad breaks like that, you can't be too
careful about infections!  That much skin and fur, that brutally damaged,
things can sneak by.”

“What do you use for infections?” asked Anna with continued
curiosity.

Siân laughed, “On Taiks, good old fashion penicillin, actually. 
We have an extremely high tolerance to it and various parties have developed an
insanely clever method of producing it.”  

“It's a slightly different strain than you are probably used
to,” commented Theodore.  “And they are able to grow it on left over beer
mash.”

“Beer mash?” grinned Anna.

“Yes,” laughed Siân back.  “We apothecaries get along
splendidly with brewers over that!”

“You consider yourself an apothecary rather than a doctor?”
asked Anna.

Siân pondered her words carefully, “No.  I'm a physician
first.  I guess it is just that we cover so much under our one roof... never
really thought about that.”

“I'm new to your language, so it may be something
I'm
missing,” offered Anna.

Siân brightened, “And you are doing a marvelous job, dear! 
Well!  If you all will pardon me, I'm going to go relieve Mary and then go take
a nap.”  She smiled broadly as she exited the room.

“This was all so cool!” beamed Anna.

“And remember when we get back to the house, don't say a
word,” grinned Theodore.

“Yeah, it was kinda intense...”

“And gross...”

It was another two hours yet before Aidden was feeling well
enough to travel home.  Anna filled the time easily enough asking a million
questions of the ladies of the house.  Nora, Fourth Mother to the house, was
the
actual
apothecary as it were and had great fun pointing out the vast
array of derived medications rather than synthetically manufactured ones. 
Theodore followed along offering help with translations as needed.  By the time
they headed out it was thoroughly obvious that Anna would easily be welcomed as
an apprentice at any station in the house.

Anna was still beaming from the day's events as they helped
Theodore's father home, “Um, can I ask a question?”

Theodore laughed, “As if you hadn't been asking questions
all day... sure!  What's up?”

“I've read that many times the next mother of the house
enters as an apprentice and then stays on as it were.   Um, is that the norm?”

Theodore grinned, “It is common, but not the norm.  Probably
only one in five or less ends up marrying in.  So you don't have to worry about
Carl hitting on you.”

“Whoever said I wanted to apprentice there?” grinned Anna. 
“Besides, I'm still trying to get
you
to hit on me...”

Theodore didn't want his fur to lay flat... no... not at all...