The Chronicles of Harold the Healer

Harold The Healer, Chapter 15: A Trip to The Capital, Part 2

The coach route from Magwitch to Havisham begins at the yard of Webber Transportation, turns right onto Magwitch's Main Street, and progresses over the gently rolling pastoral landscape of farmland and small forests. After about eight miles, it arrives at the unimaginatively named Kingdom Highway 1, makes a left turn and arrives in Havisham's Coach Terminal about fifteen minutes later. Although the suspension of the coach was state of the art, such as it is, its six passengers, its driver and her assistant were already looking forward to the transition from the bumpy country road to the paved Highway about ten minutes after they had passed Harold and Leila's house in the northern part of the town.

"I am Healer Harold Moser," Harold said, according to the long-standing tradition of the newest passengers on a coach introducing themselves first. "I have been a wanderer for much of my life and have only recently settled in Magwitch. My wife Leila and I are on our way to The Capital to sign the papers that will make me the Headmaster or whatever of the soon to be inaugurated Magwitch School for Magical Veterinary Sciences." This generated interest from the other four passengers.

"I am Healer Leila Parsons," said Leila. "I am Magwitch's Town Healer and accompanying my husband Harold to The Capital for my first visit there since I started my job. I may meet some old friends and will do what I can to keep him out of mischief." His usual look of innocence got the usual smiles and chuckles rather than belief. Harold was seated in the middle of the forward-facing bench seat with Leila on his left. The woman on his right spoke next.

"I am Wanda Maxim, a tailor and cloth merchant in Provis and am going to Havisham for my quarterly visit to inspect new fabric and clothing from a wholesaler. I've never met you Harold, but heard about you during your visits over the years as one of the St. Thrimble Healers."

"I am Pierre Parker, also from Provis and also on my way to Havisham. There's a tack and harness wholesaler there from which I need to buy supplies for my business. You Healed one of my horses who'd had a bad fall after slipping in mud a couple of years ago. It was a very fortunate coincidence that you had just arrived in town when it happened." He was sitting across from Wanda and they shook hands.

"I've come to believe that the Goddess is behind most of the fortunate coincidences that I encounter," Harold replied dryly. He paused to try to remember the event. "Was it Misty?" He nodded, happy that the Healer had remembered. "How is she doing?"

"Still doing well. You'd never know that she'd wrecked her knee." It had been a bad case and had taken him almost an hour to reattach the tendons that had been torn off their bones.

"I'm Anthony Stark from Green River," said the young man seated across from Leila. "I'm going to Havisham to apply for a patent for a self-inflating whoopee cushion. With that, I can create a line of stuffed animals that fart when you squeeze them," he added earnestly.

"What is it with males and flatulence?" Leila sighed, rolling her eyes.

"If you can pull it off, I can see the market for whoopee cushions exploding," Harold commented, carefully maintaining a neutral expression. "Oof!" Leila had accurately jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow as the others groaned or snickered.

"And I am Gwyn Stark, the mother of this prodigy," sighed the woman who was sitting across from Harold. "He's underage, so he needs a supposedly responsible adult along to sign legal things."

"And to protect me from the Horrors of Havisham." Both Mages pegged him as about fifteen and after exchanging a quick glance, extended their senses a bit to see if he might be a Mage, but they felt nothing, not even a hint of potential.

"We don't want to stifle innovation," said Wanda. "Don't let them give you the blow-off." She ignored the sour looks from the women and barely stifled snickers from the men.

"In the interest of travelers harmony, perhaps you could tell us about this School of Magical Veterinary Sciences, Harold," said Wanda, who had a kind, oval face, deep-set brown eyes under bushy eyebrows and a rather unruly mop of brown, curly hair that was about a quarter gray. Figuring that he was going to be answering variants of this question for some time, especially once the students arrived and the teaching season had begun, he smiled and replied.

"I have no idea why Magwitch was chosen for its location, when I'm sure that there are plenty of places much closer to The Capital that would have been perfectly suitable. I suspect Deity involvement, and their motives are inscrutable." The others nodded. It was general knowledge that Gods and Goddesses worked in the background, guiding events according to some plan that they kept to themselves. Because of who they were, Mages tended to interact with them more often than regular folks and Harold was definitely no exception. "There's a farm house just south of the town that's being renovated and expanded as we speak and will be ready for its first bunch of students in early September. As far as I know, I'll be the only Professor, at least for now, and the courses that I'll be teaching will be primarily on the livestock that are much less accessible in the city than they are here. The local farrier, who happens to be the grandfather-in-law of my son, will offer instruction on the application and maintenance of horseshoes. Leila has graciously agreed to assist me in instruction on the use of the quarterstaff and with the practicum requirements of Healer training."

"Meaning that one of them will be a helper and observer during some of my regular appointments during the week," she clarified, "which will no doubt include some interesting moments," she added dryly.

"There is no better test of one's knowledge than trying to pass it on to someone else," Pierre said, scratching his bushy moustache and grinning ruefully. "Most people who don't work with horses have no idea how complicated it is to harness one up and hook it to a wagon, let along getting four to work together with a stagecoach. The folks at Webber's are great to do business with. They know exactly what they're doing and what to ask for."

"They'll be providing practical training for the students as well in just that sort of thing," Harold replied with a grin. "I'm competent with it of course, but they're the true experts and a great bunch of people to boot. Just knowing that I'll have a lot of help available reduces the stress I feel about the whole thing. It's much more responsibility than I'm used to," he added soberly.

"Speaking of which, you'll be needing an office manager of some sort, at least part-time," Leila grunted after recovering from a more spectacular lurch than usual from the coach as it hit a pothole. "You will discover that there's a hell of a lot more work involved in keeping something running smoothly than you will have time for."

"Office expenses and accounting, human resources, mail, reception, appointments, inventory, and on and on," said Gwyn. "I'm the office manager for the Green River Hardware Store. I got my assistant to fill in for me for the week or so that Anthony and I will be in Havisham. There are a lot of moving parts that have to be kept well-greased." Harold nodded thoughtfully.

"Once we get back, I will have a lot of work to do."

"Rest stop coming up," Carol Danvers, the driver, announced. She knew that they'd hear her because the coach windows were open in an attempt to keep the interior comfortable. Somehow, the halfway point of the trip had been reached already. "Everyone get out and stretch your legs." Stage coaches can make ten to twelve-mile runs on the Highway in about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, but on the country roads they have to go slower and require more energy from the horses. The rest stop on the Magwitch Road was at the halfway point in a shady, sheltered spot at the base of a hill on their side of the road. Carol expertly guided the team of four horses to a stop between two sets of two parallel troughs. The coach was not between the troughs so the passengers were able to open the doors and get out into the dappled shade, stretching and bending with almost audible popping of joints. Although the vertical walls in the interior of the coach were slightly contoured for better comfort and had ample padding in the seats and back, the confined space didn't allow for much movement and riders still got stiff.

"Oh, dear Goddess, I now remember why I don't travel much," muttered Leila, looking around and spying the three-seat privy that was tastefully painted in green, white, and blue. It was located under a towering poplar whose leaves whispered and rustled in the afternoon breeze.

"I think that we can pretend to be gentlemen and allow the ladies first crack at the privy," Harold remarked. Not that they had much of a choice, as the ladies were already well on their way.

"Nothing fills the bladder more than a coach ride," Pierre noted as they and Anthony took up positions a respectful distance from the doors. They watched Carol pump water into the inner troughs from a pump over each of them, while the assistant driver Wade Wilson unlocked a decent-sized storage shed, also painted green, white, and blue, hauled out a large canvas sack of oats, and scooped generous helpings into each of the outer troughs. Both sets of troughs were at a convenient distance from the ground to allow the horses easy access to them while still hooked up to the coach. It was a warm summer day, the horses were thirsty, and they greedily took advantage of the offered food and drink.

"For all the time that I was walking around my route as a St. Thrimble Healer, I always wanted to ride on the coach, especially when the weather was bad," Harold mused as he and Leila walked around the perimeter of the grassy area with their arms around each other's waists after the men had taken their turns in the privy. "After that ride, I now realize that I was probably better off on foot. It's a good thing that the roof is padded as well."

"It's a good thing that they've started on paving it," she replied as a breeze gently ruffled her past shoulder-length hair that was half copper and half silver. They had left their hats in the coach. His hair was cut short, thinning at the top, and now mostly gray despite his being almost 56. "There will probably be a delay when we get to where they're working, but it will be worth it."

"From what I hear, they're paving all of the access roads from the Highway to the towns. Finally. I wonder why it's taken them so long to remember that the Westlands needs decent roads too? You can only do so much with people rolling them flat after a rain." He had encountered a man with a horse pulling a modified cart that had had a large metal cylinder instead of rear wheels while on his way to Magwitch on the magical day almost twelve years ago when he and Leila had met and fallen in love. He turned his head to see her bright blue eyes, eyes in which he could lose himself forever, looking into his and suddenly their lips made contact, mouths opened, tongues invaded, and they stood under the rustling trees near the shed eating each other up.

"Damned coach, bouncing me up and down, spanking my ass and pussy in just the right way to get me hot, and with you right next to me," she growled when they finally broke apart for air. "If I could, I'd sit on your lap and have every bounce ram your cock deep into me!"

"And when you weren't bouncing, you'd be squeezing and grinding in the way that you know drives me over the edge," he hissed back, his lips just brushing hers. "I think that we need to go behind this convenient shed for a couple of minutes." They heard a man clearing his throat behind them. They turned to see Wade with the sack of oats.

"Pardon me, but I have to get this back in the shed before the horses try to eat it." The Healers hastily sidestepped away from the open door to the left side of the building. As Wade hauled the heavy sack inside, they heard and saw a rustling in the underbrush that was followed by a kitten suddenly popping out. It gave itself a shake, made a loud, squeaky mew, and ran to Harold's foot.

"You poor little thing," said Leila, lust forgotten, as they knelt to get a look at it. "Where's your mama?" Harold quickly tapped it with kitten-sized Clean and Flea Buster spells that made it look much better. It was a tuxedo cat, but a soft gray instead of black on the top of the body and white underneath and a white tip of the tail. It gave itself another good shake and then leaped onto Harold's outstretched hands, purring loudly. Harold turned it around and said,

"He's a boy, and probably needs some food and water. What are you doing all the way out here?" He stared into the kitten's eyes, which were a blue that was oddly similar to that of his eyes. "We should look around and see if we can find his mother. She's got to be close by." The others drifted over to see what was going on and cooed and gently petted the fuzzball, who soaked up the attention like a sponge. Harold's attempts to hand off the creature around were thwarted when he jumped from his hands to his shirt, dug his tiny, needle-like claws into his shirt, purred and snuggled.

"How old do you think he is?" Anthony asked, stroking the kitten with an index finger.

"Seven or eight weeks," the Healer replied as Leila and Wanda started working their way through the undergrowth around the back of the shed. "He seems reasonably well fed and has been weaned by now. I wonder if Mama cat had set up shop here to hunt rodents that would be going after the oats in the shed," he mused. "Come on, let go of me," he coaxed, gently prying the kitten loose, getting some heart-rending squeaks and mews. "There are all these other lovely people to meet."

"Harold! Over here!" Leila called urgently. "Come quickly!" He passed the kitten to Carol. Even hardened coach drivers weren't immune to his charms and she cuddled him.

"We should get him something to eat and drink," said Pierre and they moved toward the horse troughs as Harold hustled to behind the shed where Leila and Wanda were.

"Oh, boy," he said sadly, surveying the scene. It was clear that there had been a desperate fight, and the broken body of the mother cat showed that she'd lost. There were tufts of russet and white fur, blood, and some shredded leaves and torn-up grass all around, and his attention was drawn to a bush, under which a fox was lying. He lifted the low branches and whistled softly. "Oh, you poor thing." The fox's belly was bloody and shredded, no doubt from the cat's claws, and the animal was panting heavily and moaning softly. The nipples on its belly marked it as a female.

"Two mothers, one fighting to defend her kitten, the other trying to get dinner for her kits," said Leila, shaking her head. Wanda quickly backed away, looking very pale.

"Sorry, I'm not very good with blood," she apologized as Harold tried to tie up the bush's branches so that he could get at the fox, which looked up at him and then closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.

"The fox will bleed to death if I don't do something," he said, quickly summoning his Magic and casting the Window spell. "I'm going to put you to sleep so that I can heal you," he said in a soothing voice. He said "Dormi" and tapped the fox's temples with glowing forefingers. He said some more words and made corkscrewing motions with his hands and fingers, creating a ring that glowed in his colours of forest green and turquoise around her neck. It was the Numb spell, and he cast it so that it was to numb everything from the neck down. Leila seldom got to see him at work with animals and watched with interest, holding the branches that refused to be tied up so that he could see better. He quickly found the source of the blood, a lacerated artery that the cat had managed to slice in her desperate bid to stay alive. After Healing it, he Cleaned and Sterilized the other cuts before Healing them, taking about ten minutes.

"What should we do with the cat?" Leila asked as he released the Window, gently lifted the sleep spell, and they backed away. The fox struggled to her feet, looking woozy and the worse for wear, and looked at the two humans who were, strangely for her experiences, glowing and not threatening her.

"Unfortunately, the cat is now going to be food for the fox and whatever kits she may be trying to raise," he said rather sadly. With a few more words and gestures, he cast Worm Buster on the cat's body, making it glow briefly. Leila knew the spell of course, as it worked for people too, and she'd had to use it occasionally to deal with unpleasant internal parasites. "That will give them all a boost. That's your kill," he said to the fox. "Take it home to your family. Good hunting." They backed off and the fox yipped.

"I take it that this little fellow is now an orphan?" Gwyn asked after Harold and Leila had returned. They watched the kitten daintily lapping water from the right horse trough. The two horses on the right side watched the tiny creature with some interest. Harold nodded.

"She died defending her kitten from a fox. We owe it to her to make sure that this little fellow has a good life so that she didn't lose hers in vain." The kitten finished his drink, jumped from the edge of the trough, gave himself a shake, then trotted over to Harold with his tail high and mewed at him. "My master wants me to pick him up," the Healer deduced, bending over and obeying and the kitten snuggled into his arms immediately, purring contentedly.

"Time to get back on the road," said Carol and they all loaded themselves into and onto the coach. The horses reluctantly got moving and soon they were bumping along the road again.

"I thought that feral kittens would be afraid of people," said Anthony, reaching over to tickle the fuzzball under the chin. "This one is right at home with us."

"I've always had a bond with animals," Harold explained. "They can see Mages' auras and they recognize me as a friend somehow. The Professors of the Magic School's Introduction to Veterinary Medicine that the Healers all have to take saw it immediately and the Veterinarians made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, a basket of four kittens like this one that had been rescued from the streets. One look at those little faces and I was hooked." The kitten was happy to accept attention from the others, but he had settled in Harold's lap and his eyes were closing.

"We should call him Stormy," said Leila. "That gray makes me think of the stormy sea." The others nodded, settling back into their seats as the countryside rolled past the windows. "And your eyes when you had that flashback this morning," she murmured into her husband's ear.

"Stormy he is," he replied. "I think that our daughter Marcie will love him." The gentle purring of the now fast-asleep kitten was definitely having a calming effect on him.

"I think that you already do. I can feel it." Mages who are close can feel and recognize the other's emotions, which is why his flashback had had such an impact on her and Lakash, and even though Marcie hadn't started coming into her powers yet, she had clearly felt it as well. Only someone with the sensitivity of a stone could have missed that blast of rage and pain that he'd broadcast as a painful memory from Carcosa had replayed in his mind.

"What happened to those kittens, Healer Harold?" Pierre asked.

"I had to study and record their size, weight, personalities, and behaviour as they grew over the year as a project. Eventually they became part of the resident population of cats and dogs in the School, where they are kept mostly for fuzz therapy for when we got stressed out."