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chapter four has been revised. (only slight changes) but it still must be posted.
Four: O Brother Where Art Thou?
Shard recognized the town she was in after she regained her composure. that was right! sprig lived here. now if she could just remember where. shard asked the woman who'd asked what they wanted to eat.
"um...do you know of a man named Sprig? he's a scientist...sort of."
"Sprig? that devil? why would a young girl be seekin him?"
"he's my brother."
"do you know how old he is? it's pretty unlikely he's your brother. he's old enough to be your father."
"but he is! just tell me where he lives."
"why doncha know where your own brother lives?"
"i haven't vistited in a while."
the woman didn't tell shard where Sprig lived. neither did a few other people she'd asked. that's when she saw foxglove.
"Foxglove! Foxglove! hey! it's me--Shard!"
the timid-looking woman turned. her hair, which had once been beautiful auburn was dulled, looking sort-of gray. her eyes were watery, the area around the pupil and the iris almost yellow.
"hello, dear." foxglove said, her voice shaky.
"what...what happened to you?"
"sickness is spreading throughout cities. it struck our family very hard. sprig is the only one who wasn't affected. seems he's immune. but, those silly people think he's a wizard or some other magick folk." foxglove sighed.
"well, can i see him?"
"you shouldn't, dear. he's been acting as a doctor to the unfortunate families who can't afford a real doctor. he's practically breathing out the sickness now. it wouldn't suit to expose you to it. why are you here, dear?"
shard explained about nigel and then tratto and Ashuri and then how tratto had abandoned her here. Foxglove made all the right facial expressions and gasped in the right places.
"oh darling, i'm so sorry. that Ashuri fellow has been robbing all sorts of people around these parts. what did he take?"
it occured to shard that she'd never looked. her food was gone. her best dress her knife. and the wonderfully warm and big cloak had been replaced with a small thin weather-worn one. what grieved shard most was the knife. it had an emerald pommel stone and it was the most expensive thing shard owned. she'd gotten it for her fifteenth birthday and no matter how much it was used it stayed sharp. shard cried out in frustration and she swore revenge on ashuri.
"well, we can't go through life not being robbed at least once. be thankful he was kind and didn't take your life. i'll get you some food so you can go back home or some other place." foxglove led shard to the place she and sprig and their offspring called home. one of the younger children peered out the window when their mother went inside. his skin was pulled taut over his skull and he had deep hollows under his eyes. this child had been touched by the sickness. he smiled and waved at his aunt shard. his teeth were black and rotted. no doubt this little boy was dying. shard held strong and didn't cry in front of him.
"hello gregan." she said getting close to the window so he could hear.
"hi auntie shard."
"you know i don't like you calling me 'auntie' Greggie"
"mama say it's a-portant to call people by their proper titles. have you come to visitie auntie?"
"no, i've just come for a brief visit with your mama. i'm in a hurry so i can't come inside."
"come back and visitie some other time?"
" yes, greggie. i'll visit some other time."
the boy smiled and his four other siblings came to the window and waved to shard. she waved back, her heart breaking as she saw every child had been touched by the sickness. it seemed as though all of them would die. and sprig had been untouched. he must feel awful.
foxglove emerged and handed shard a good bit of money and another cloak along with a drawing of a flower.
she smiled. "emie said to give you that."
shard looked back at the window.
"thank you very much, emie."
shard said a few parting words to foxglove and told her to tell sprig she'd said hello. then she had to leave before the fate of the children made her cry.
shard left the city, thinking the next time she was here it would probably be for a funeral. sobered, shard travelled onward, not knowing what she would do except for find ashuri.
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being outside of the sickness stricken city made shard feel as though she could finally breathe. the city had felt stifling and the air seemed stale. she took a deep breath and felt at peace, the children had saddened her but it seemed as though she was the only one in the world out here in the open. shard had bought food that would keep for awhile, an actual pack for travelling, a small simple dagger, some rope, fire-making materials, and some warmer more practical clothing.
shard rested and ate some bread and honey. she still had no idea what she would do or where she would go. well, she'd never seen the ocean. she decided she would do that. and along the way she'd look for ashuri and try to get her knife back and her cloak.
she awoke and was none the worse for wear. she hadn't been robbed again. she wondered about tratto. where he'd gone and was going.
she'd never really know. so she ate some breakfast and got up to walk. her feet really hurt. the past days she'd been travelling she'd been barefoot. she got out her worn boots and put them on. her feet still hurt but it wasn't as bad.
shard walked a little more that day then stopped, built a fire and stayed awake as long as she could. the fire went out before she'd fallen asleep and she couldn't keep her eyes open any more.
 Prince Ripoff · Wed Apr 11, 2007 @ 11:07pm · 0 Comments |
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