Raveners

was cold and the wind smelt of rain. " Please let it rain." Jenna
prayed. The rains hadn't come last year and the crops had withered in
the fields. Everything stopped if the rain didn't come but now she
hoped it was on its way. Dust devils kept her company as she sat in the
field waiting. Only if it rained would she move.
Splat, the dry soil jumped as the drop fell on it. Splat, splat, splat.
Jenna waited; she wouldn't sound the signal until she was sure. The
single isolated drops finally became a real fall of rain, beautiful wet
stuff teeming down from a heavily laden sky. Jenna walked over to the
bell and pulled the rope. The village came to life, people swarmed all
over it opening the water storage facilities and putting out as many
containers as possible. Her job done Jenna ran back to her shack where
Ned would be lying waiting for her. She opened the door and dragged out
an old metal bath; and opened the catchall's cover. The drainpipes on
the shack were already gushing water into the catchall. Then Jenna went
back into the shack and lifted Ned into a crude wheeled chair and
pushed him outside. She took out a washing bowl and a piece of soap,
then stripped off all of her clothes and washed herself. Ned had taken
off his T-shirt and Jenna helped him to wash. She knelt down and using
the soap she washed their clothes in the rain. Everyone in the village
was doing the same, they all were laughing and washing and calling out
to one another until they heard the sound of hooves rapidly coming
towards the village. The shouts of joy became screams of fear.

Quickly gathering their clothes the villagers ran inside. Jenna tried
to manoeuvre the wheeled chair inside the shack but it stuck. She tried
to lift Ned but he shook his head.
"Go in" he whispered
"I'll not leave you"
"Go inside Jenna. They can't hurt me anymore"
"They won't hurt me"
" Not physically but they will still take me. Please go in."
Reluctantly she went inside and stood with her back against the door.
She knew that she was safe it was in the Rules. She heard the squeak of
the wheeled chair then the sound of hoof beats leaving the village.
Shaking, but not with fear, she risked a look. By the light of the full
moon she saw four hooded figures mounted on midnight black horses, one
of then had Ned across the saddle. She watched until they were out of
sight then slumped to the floor weeping.

Two days later on her doorstep she found the gift. The Rules dictated
that for everyone taken a gift must be given. A large basket containing
eggs, herbs and plants for medicines and decorated with hothouse
flowers was her gift. Every gift was different, each one tailored for
the person it was meant for. Jenna was a healer and kept a few hens.
These eggs would hatch and revitalise her stock, of this she had no
doubt. She took the eggs and put them under her broody hen. She was
carefully putting the herbs and other plants in a safe place when there
was a knock at he door. Jenna was startled; people in the village
didn't usually knock. They would call out for her rather than approach
too closely.

Opening the door Jenna saw a young man. She had never seen him before
and she knew all of the people locally, she had helped with the
delivery of a lot of them.
"Excuse me Mistress, but I was wondering, well would you help me
please? I'd heard that there was a witc.. a wise woman here, a healer.
Could you tell me where to find her?"
"I'm the healer, how can I help you?"
"It's my father. He's ill and our local healer is away. I think she has
gone to see her sick mother. Please mistress."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He has a high fever and coughs most of the time."
"Wait there, I'll get my things" Jenna found her leather pouch and the
herbs and potions she would need. Putting on her cloak she went out to
join the youth. He had an old horse pulling an even older cart. He
lifted Jenna into the cart and drove off whistling tunelessly.

They travelled all of the day and as it was getting dark Jenna
said,
"We must find shelter, it's dangerous out here in the dark"
Wat, for that was the young man's name, continued whistling as the
horse plodded onwards. As darkness fell Jenna could vaguely make out
the outlines of a building. It was the castle.
" Wat, is your father in the castle?"
"Yes, Mistress"
"Won't the Lord mind me coming here?"
"No Mistress, it was the Lord who told me to find you."
They arrived at the castle and Wat led Jenna into a large cold bedroom
and there on a bed was her patient.
"Is it possible to have the fire lit and perhaps another one brought in
as well? And can we have something at the window to cover it?
Wat shouted out orders and soon the room became warmer. Jenna held a
candle near the patient so that she could examine him better. Wat had
been right; he did have a fever.
" Could I have a cup of water and a cup of wine please? Fresh clean
water if that's possible"

The wine and water were brought to her; she opened her leather pouch
and removed three bottles. Into the wine she put three drops of an
amber liquid and into the water five drops of a colourless fluid. From
the remaining bottle she put one drop of a green liquid onto a pillow.
She lifted the man's head and gave him the water to drink, then she
gave him the wine. Gently she lowered him onto the pillow and sat back
to wait.
After administering the medicines several times during the night she
dozed in the bedside chair only to be woken by a voice shouting,
"Wat, Wat, who is this woman?"
"I'm Jenna, the healer, Lord"
He paused, confused and then said,
"Ah, yes. I seem to remember getting my son to go and fetch you. Thank
you Mistress Jenna. Thank you for coming."
Wat came running into the room
"What's wrong father?"
"Nothing. I had forgotten that I'd asked for a healer. But as you can
see I'm well now, so you can take her back"
"Lord you feel well because of my medicines but it will take longer for
you to be well."
"Rubbish woman. I'm as fit as a flea." He sprang out of bed and
collapsed onto the cold stone floor. Wat and Jenna lifted him back into
bed.
"Perhaps I should rest for a bit longer," he conceded "Wat find
Mistress Jenna a room. This old place is big enough, there should be
one near this one."
The room was as cold and draughty as the other one had been and Jenna
asked for fires. She needed one for a brew she would make for her
patient, one that would make him rest.

She took the steaming cup to him and he looked at it in
suspicion.
"How do I know that you're not going to poison me?"
" Lord, if I wished to poison you I would have done it last night, when
everyone expected you to die."
"Ha, well answered Mistress Jenna" he drank the potion and settled down
in his bed. Jenna stayed until he was asleep and went out to find
Wat.
"Where's the kitchen please?"
"I'm not sure why?"
"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten for nearly a day" she didn't tell him that
all she had eaten then was a handful of oats made into gruel with
water.
Wat blushed," Well, it's a bit awkward really"
Jenna looked at him then said,
"I know that you're different but don't you have anything to eat here?
Leaves, chickens, eggs? Your father should sleep for hours. I could go
into the woods and find some mushrooms."
" Miss, sorry mistress Jenna? If you come with me I'll give you some
food" said a tall man that Jenna thought she recognised. Waving Wat
away he led her to a small room where several dishes of food were on a
table.
"I thought you'd like some roast pork for your diner" he simpered
"Thank you, but I don't eat meat"
He looked away from her and then left the room. Jenna ate the
vegetables that she recognised but refrained from eating the meat and
refused the gravy. She had just finished and was about to leave the
table when the man returned carrying a covered tray. He put the tray
down in front of her.

"I thought that you might like dessert."
Jenna knew that this man was evil, that he was trying to do something
to her. This much she could read from him but he cloaked his thoughts
so well that she didn't know what he intended to do. She looked at the
tray and moved her hands towards it as if she was moving the cover but
then she left the table and moved towards the door saying,
" No thank you. I must get back to my patient"
"He still sleeps"
"I must get ready for when he wakes"
Wat opened the door
"Please mistress my father needs you"
She left the room with Wat who looked at her
"Was Lord Sleego annoying you Mistress?"
"No, I rather think that I was annoying him. I wouldn't play any of his
games."
Wat's father was in his bed sleeping peacefully.
"Why did you come for me Wat?"
"I knew what Lord Sleego was trying to do. You know what we do; don't
you?"
"I know that Lord Sleego is one of the four horsemen that I saw leaving
my village carrying my invalid brother with them. I know that we call
them the Raveners and that they have rules which they must obey."
" He was your brother? I'm sorry. I don't go with them, much to my
father's disgust and I won't eat with them after the kill."
"I knew that. When did your father take the fever?"
"The same night he took your brother. You're not frightened are
you?"
"No, the Raveners have never tried to take me, they leave the healers
alone. I'm a guest here by your father's invitation so I must presume
that I'm safe."
"I swear that no one will touch you Jenna."
She went into her room and mixed a potion. Taking it into her patient's
room she saw that the curtains had been pulled wide open and that the
fire was not in the grate, neither was her patient in his bed.
"I must thank you Mistress. I am greatly recovered. How can I repay
you?"
"Give me safe passage back to my home lord, and let Wat stay awhile
with me. You took my brother and I will sorely miss him."

"A son for a brother? Take him, he's a milksop; like his mother. I
should never have sired a child with her. And you will always be safe;
a healer is always safe. I hear that Lord Sleego tried to give you his
favourite dessert? I will punish him for that."
Wat placed his bag of clothes into the cart and after hitching the
horse to it lifted Jenna so that she sat alongside of him. Then they
made their way back to the village.
The next few weeks were busy ones for Jenna as she cured the ailments
of her villagers and gathered herbs and simples for her potions. Wat
was kept busy by building an extension to the shack.
The night of the full moon soon came and Jenna was in the fields again.
This time small green shoots were showing above the dark earth. She was
watching for rain and for the Raveners, she was the only one safe
during the full moon. The four horsemen appeared but before Jenna could
ring the alarm bell one came over to her. It was Lord Sleego. He tossed
a bundle at her feet and rode back to join the others.

Jenna crouched down and opened the bundle and tried not to recoil in
horror. For in the bundle was her brother's head, the top had been
sliced off and the brains scooped out. She stood up and raising her
voice said,
"Thank you my lords for the return of my brother. I will give him a
burial away from the ravening dogs. I'm surprised to see you and to see
that you are still well after he poisoned you. Your healer must be a
powerful woman."
Turning her back on them she covered her brother's head and walked back
to her shack.
Wat saw the bundle.
"Is it your brother's head?"
"Yes, Lord Sleego kindly returned it to me."
"His favourite dessert is to mix the brains with eggs and eat them out
of the head, he says it adds piquancy." He stopped and realised what he
was saying.
"I'm sorry Jenna, I didn't think"
"I guessed that he was offering me something like that. I suppose that
the roast meat was my brother as well?"
Wat nodded.
"Take care of this please. I'll bury it tomorrow" she said as she
handed him the bundle.
"Surely you're not going out again?"
"I have to, we can't afford to miss the rain."
But that night it didn't rain and the Raveners took their victim from
another village.
Jenna buried her brother's head where no one would find it, then went
back to Wat who was proving to be an able deputy for her. He couldn't
read the villagers like she could but he was rapidly learning which
remedy cured which illness.
"Wat, do you want to go back to the castle?"
" Not while they are there."
"I don't think that they will be there for much longer"
"Why not? Did they say anything?"
" No. But I'd told them that my brother had poisoned them."
"How?"
"I didn't tell them how. I just said that he did. I expect that they
will send for me soon."
" They will send for another healer"
" I think that they will find that all the others are not
available."
Jenna refused to say any more so Wat had to remain confused. It was
three days after the full moon that the castle sent a groom to
Jenna.
"Please Mistress Jenna, my masters ask that you come to the castle.
They fear that they are ill."
"Tell them that I will not walk there. I'm old and frail."
"I have a horse for you, Mistress, it waits at the village edge."

Jenna gathered some herbs and potions together and put them into her
pouch. Taking her cloak from its peg she turned to Wat.
"You are in charge here, don't let the villagers bully you. You know
the dosages to give them."
"I'll come with you, to protect you."
"There's no need. I'm not in danger. If I need you I'll send for
you."
The horse was one of the midnight black ones ridden by men of evil
intent. She walked to its head and blew into its nostrils. Then knowing
that the beast would be docile she mounted it and rode to the
castle.
She was taken to Wat's father who lay in his bed looking grey and
frail.
"What ails you my Lord?"
"Your brother seeks his revenge on me. He has poisoned me."
" Have you been drinking the potion I left for you?"
"A little every day. It made me feel stronger, I've taken some purges
to rid myself of the poisons but they didn't work."
" I think I can mix a potion that will help."
Turning to the groom she said,
"Take me to Lord Sleego and wait for me."
Lord Sleego was in his room, his face a pale green
"Help me Mistress Jenna"
"Did you help my helpless brother? Did you heed his cries of woe? Did
you care when you offered me his brains to be eaten out of his skull?
You didn't notice me put the poison into his brains did you? You will
die a slow and increasingly painful death Lord Sleego."
She turned away from him but he pulled her around to face him.
"Witch, give me the antidote or I'll kill you."
"If you kill me you won't get the antidote to the poison. I'll give you
a potion that will help."
It was cold and the wind smelt of rain. " Please let it rain." Jenna
prayed. The rains hadn't come last year and the crops had withered in
the fields. Everything stopped if the rain didn't come but now she
hoped it was on its way. Dust devils kept her company as she sat in the
field waiting. Only if it rained would she move.
Splat, the dry soil jumped as the drop fell on it. Splat, splat, splat.
Jenna waited; she wouldn't sound the signal until she was sure. The
single isolated drops finally became a real fall of rain, beautiful wet
stuff teeming down from a heavily laden sky. Jenna walked over to the
bell and pulled the rope. The village came to life, people swarmed all
over it opening the water storage facilities and putting out as many
containers as possible. Her job done Jenna ran back to her shack where
Ned would be lying waiting for her. She opened the door and dragged out
an old metal bath; and opened the catchall's cover. The drainpipes on
the shack were already gushing water into the catchall. Then Jenna went
back into the shack and lifted Ned into a crude wheeled chair and
pushed him outside. She took out a washing bowl and a piece of soap,
then stripped off all of her clothes and washed herself. Ned had taken
off his T-shirt and Jenna helped him to wash. She knelt down and using
the soap she washed their clothes in the rain. Everyone in the village
was doing the same, they all were laughing and washing and calling out
to one another until they heard the sound of hooves rapidly coming
towards the village. The shouts of joy became screams of fear. Quickly
gathering their clothes the villagers ran inside. Jenna tried to
manoeuvre the wheeled chair inside the shack but it stuck. She tried to
lift Ned but he shook his head.
"Go in" he whispered
"I'll not leave you"
"Go inside Jenna. They can't hurt me anymore"
"They won't hurt me"
" Not physically but they will still take me. Please go in."
Reluctantly she went inside and stood with her back against the door.
She knew that she was safe it was in the Rules. She heard the squeak of
the wheeled chair then the sound of hoof beats leaving the village.
Shaking, but not with fear, she risked a look. By the light of the full
moon she saw four hooded figures mounted on midnight black horses, one
of then had Ned across the saddle. She watched until they were out of
sight then slumped to the floor weeping.
Two days later on her doorstep she found the gift. The Rules dictated
that for everyone taken a gift must be given. A large basket containing
eggs, herbs and plants for medicines and decorated with hothouse
flowers was her gift. Every gift was different, each one tailored for
the person it was meant for. Jenna was a healer and kept a few hens.
These eggs would hatch and revitalise her stock, of this she had no
doubt. She took the eggs and put them under her broody hen. She was
carefully putting the herbs and other plants in a safe place when there
was a knock at he door. Jenna was startled; people in the village
didn't usually knock. They would call out for her rather than approach
too closely.
Opening the door Jenna saw a young man. She had never seen him before
and she knew all of the people locally, she had helped with the
delivery of a lot of them.
"Excuse me Mistress, but I was wondering, well would you help me
please? I'd heard that there was a witc.. a wise woman here, a healer.
Could you tell me where to find her?"
"I'm the healer, how can I help you?"
"It's my father. He's ill, our local healer is away. I think she has
gone to see her sick mother. Please mistress."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He has a high fever and coughs most of the time."
"Wait there, I'll get my things" Jenna found her leather pouch and the
herbs and potions she would need. Putting on her cloak she went out to
join the youth. He had an old horse pulling an even older cart. He
lifted Jenna into the cart and drove off whistling tunelessly.
They travelled all of the day and as it was getting dark Jenna
said,
"We must find shelter, it's dangerous out here in the dark"
Wat, for that was the young man's name, continued whistling as the
horse plodded onwards. As darkness fell Jenna could vaguely make out
the outlines of a building. It was the castle.
" Wat, is your father in the castle?"
"Yes, Mistress"
"Won't the Lord mind me coming here?"
"No Mistress, it was the Lord who told me to find you."
They arrived at the castle and Wat led Jenna into a large cold bedroom
and there on a bed was her patient.
"Is it possible to have the fire lit and perhaps another one brought in
as well? And can we have something at the window to cover it?
Wat shouted out orders and soon the room became warmer. Jenna held a
candle near the patient so that she could examine him better. Wat had
been right; he did have a fever.
" Could I have a cup of water and a cup of wine please? Fresh clean
water if that's possible"
The wine and water were brought to her; she opened her leather pouch
and removed three bottles. Into the wine she put three drops of an
amber liquid and into the water five drops of a colourless fluid. From
the remaining bottle she put one drop of a green liquid onto a pillow.
She lifted the man's head and gave him the water to drink, then she
gave him the wine. Gently she lowered him onto the pillow and sat back
to wait.
After administering the medicines several times during the night she
dozed in the bedside chair only to be woken by a voice shouting,
"Wat, Wat, who is this woman?"
"I'm Jenna, the healer, Lord"
He paused, confused and then said,
"Ah, yes. I seem to remember getting my son to go and fetch you. Thank
you Mistress Jenna. Thank you for coming."
Wat came running into the room
"What's wrong father?"
"Nothing. I had forgotten that I'd asked for a healer. But as you can
see I'm well now, so you can take her back"
"Lord you feel well because of my medicines but it will take longer for
you to be well."
"Rubbish woman. I'm as fit as a flea." He sprang out of bed and
collapsed onto the cold stone floor. Wat and Jenna lifted him back into
bed.
"Perhaps I should rest for a bit longer," he conceded "Wat find
Mistress Jenna a room. This old place is big enough, there should be
one near this one."
The room was as cold and draughty as the other one had been and Jenna
asked for fires. She needed one for a brew she would make for her
patient, one that would make him rest.
She took the steaming cup to him and he looked at it in
suspicion.
"How do I know that you're not going to poison me?"
" Lord, if I wished to poison you I would have done it last night, when
everyone expected you to die."
"Ha, well answered Mistress Jenna" he drank the potion and settled down
in his bed. Jenna stayed until he was asleep and went out to find
Wat.
"Where's the kitchen please?"
"I'm not sure why?"
"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten for nearly a day" she didn't tell him that
all she had eaten then was a handful of oats made into gruel with
water.
Wat blushed," Well, it's a bit awkward really"
Jenna looked at him then said,
"I know that you're different but don't you have anything to eat here?
Leaves, chickens, eggs? Your father should sleep for hours. I could go
into the woods and find some mushrooms."
" Miss, sorry mistress Jenna? If you come with me I'll give you some
food" said a tall man that Jenna thought she recognised. Waving Wat
away he led her to a small room where several dishes of food were on a
table.
"I thought you'd like some roast pork for your diner" he simpered
"Thank you, but I don't eat meat"
He looked away from her and then left the room. Jenna ate the
vegetables that she recognised but refrained from eating the meat and
refused the gravy. She had just finished and was about to leave the
table when the man returned carrying a covered tray. He put the tray
down in front of her.
"I thought that you might like dessert."
Jenna knew that this man was evil, that he was trying to do something
to her. This much she could read from him but he cloaked his thoughts
so well that she didn't know what he intended to do. She looked at he
tray and moved her hands towards it as if she was moving the cover but
then she left the table and moved towards the door saying,
" No thank you. I must get back to my patient"
"He still sleeps"
"I must get ready for when he wakes"
Wat opened the door
"Please mistress my father needs you"
She left the room with Wat who looked at her
"Was Lord Sleego annoying you Mistress?"
"No, I rather think that I was annoying him. I wouldn't play any of his
games."
Wat's father was in his bed sleeping peacefully.
"Why did you come for me Wat?"
"I knew what Lord Sleego was trying to do. You know what we do; don't
you?"
"I know that Lord Sleego is one of the four horsemen that I saw leaving
my village carrying my invalid brother with them. I know that we call
them the Raveners and that they have rules which they must obey."
" He was your brother? I'm sorry. I don't go with them, much to my
father's disgust and I won't eat with them after the kill."
"I knew that. When did your father take the fever?"
"The same night he took your brother. You're not frightened are
you?"
"No, the Raveners have never tried to take me, they leave the healers
alone. I'm a guest here by your father's invitation so I must presume
that I'm safe."
"I swear that no one will touch you Jenna."
She went into her room and mixed a potion. Taking it into her patient's
room she saw that the curtains had been pulled wide open and that the
fire was not in the grate, neither was her patient in his bed.
"I must thank you Mistress. I am greatly recovered. How can I repay
you?"
"Give me safe passage back to my home lord, and let Wat stay awhile
with me. You took my brother and I will sorely miss him."
"A son for a brother" Take him, he's a milksop; like his mother. I
should never have sired a child with her. And you will always be safe;
a healer is always safe. I hear that Lord Sleego tried to give you his
favourite dessert? I will punish him for that."
Wat placed his bag of clothes into the cart and after hitching the
horse to it lifted Jenna so that she sat alongside of him. Then they
made their way back to the village.
The next few weeks were busy ones for Jenna as she cured the ailments
of her villagers and gathered herbs and simples for her potions. Wat
was kept busy by building an extension to the shack.
The night of the full moon soon came and Jenna was in the fields again.
This time small green shoots were showing above the dark earth. She was
watching for rain and for the Raveners, she was the only one safe
during the full moon. The four horsemen appeared but before Jenna could
ring the alarm bell one came over to her. It was Lord Sleego. He tossed
a bundle at her feet and rode back to join the others.
Jenna crouched down and opened the bundle and tried not to recoil in
horror.... For in the bundle was her brother's head, the top had been
sliced off and the brains scooped out. She stood up and raising her
voice said,
"Thank you my lords for the return of my brother. I will give him a
burial away from the ravening dogs. I'm surprised to see you and to see
that you are still well after he poisoned you. Your healer must be a
powerful woman."
Turning her back on them she covered her brother's head and walked back
to her shack.
Wat saw the bundle.
"Is it your brother's head?"
"Yes, Lord Sleego kindly returned it to me."
"His favourite dessert is to mix the brains with eggs and eat them out
of the head, he says it adds piquancy." He stopped and realised what he
was saying.
"I'm sorry Jenna, I didn't think"
"I guessed that he was offering me something like that. I suppose that
the roast meat was my brother as well?"
Wat nodded.
"Take care of this please. I'll bury it tomorrow" she said as she
handed him the bundle.
"Surely you're not going out again?"
"I have to, we can't afford to miss the rain."
But that night it didn't rain and the Raveners took their victim from
another village.
Jenna buried her brother's head where no one would find it, then went
back to Wat who was proving to be an able deputy for her. He couldn't
read the villagers like she could but he was rapidly learning which
remedy cured which illness.
"Wat, do you want to go back to the castle?"
" Not while they are there."
"I don't think that they will be there for much longer"
"Why not? Did they say anything?"
" No. But I'd told them that my brother had poisoned them."
"How?"
"I didn't tell them how. I just said that he did. I expect that they
will send for me soon."
" They will send for another healer"
" I think that they will find that all the others are not
available."
Jenna refused to say any more so Wat had to remain confused. It was
three days after the full moon that the castle sent a groom to
Jenna.
"Please Mistress Jenna, my masters ask that you come to the castle.
They fear that they are ill."
"Tell them that I will not walk there. I'm old and frail."
"I have a horse for you, Mistress, it waits at the village edge."
Jenna gathered some herbs and potions together and put them into her
pouch. Taking her cloak from its peg she turned to Wat.
"You are in charge here, don't let the villagers bully you. You know
the dosages to give them."
"I'll come with you, to protect you."
"There's no need. I'm not in danger. If I need you I'll send for
you."
The horse was one of the midnight black ones ridden by men of evil
intent. She walked to its head and blew into its nostrils. Then knowing
that the beast would be docile she mounted it and rode to the
castle.
She was taken to Wat's father who lay in his bed looking grey and
frail.
"What ails you my Lord?"
"Your brother seeks his revenge on me. He has poisoned me."
" Have you been drinking the potion I left for you?"
"A little every day. It made me feel stronger, I've taken some purges
to rid myself of the poisons but they didn't work."
" I think I can mix a potion that will help."
Turning to the groom she said,
"Take me to Lord Sleego and wait for me."
Lord Sleego was in his room, his face a pale green
"Help me Mistress Jenna"
"Did you help my helpless brother? Did you heed his cries of woe? Did
you care when you offered me his brains to be eaten out of his skull?
You didn't notice me put the poison into his brains did you? You will
die a slow and increasingly painful death Lord Sleego."
She turned away from him but he pulled her around to face him.
"Witch, give me the antidote or I'll kill you."
"If you kill me you won't get the antidote to the poison. I'll give you
a potion that will help."
The two lords who were left, Lord Tomas and Lord Sith both begged for
an antidote to the poison and Jenna promised them the potion.
She went back to the room she had used before and over the fire she
brewed a medicine. She knew that it wouldn't help because there was
nothing to help. Jenna stayed in the castle and the four men grew
weaker. She fed them potions but nothing she gave them could stop their
decline. Within a fortnight they were dead and Jenna sent for
Wat.
"You couldn't stop them from dying?" he asked
"I didn't really try. You see they thought that I had poisoned them but
it was their evil that poisoned them. I gave them simple medicines that
would have cured the villagers but these men were convinced that Ned
and I had poisoned them and so they died."

"But thinking you have been poisoned doesn't kill you"
"No, but I knew that they had used purges to try to rid themselves of
whatever they thought it was that had poisoned them. They didn't stop
to think that they had been well for a month after eating him. The
purges poisoned them and I have nothing at all that will reverse the
effect. If they hadn't been evil they would have never believed that a
healer would poison them."
" How did they get the purges?"
" From the stables. The groom told me that he uses them, hugely diluted
when the horses eat something that is bad for them. Your father came
into the stables and demanded the bottles. They simple didn't read the
labels but they each drained a bottle. I'm surprised that they lasted
as long as they did."
"It's for the best. They kept the countryside in thrall to their ways.
I couldn't do it. The thought of eating another human being made me
feel ill."
"So what happens now Wat?"
"I think that I will find people who want to be healers and we could
train them. Teach them how to use the herbs and plants, where to find
them. That's if you'll help me."
Before too long Jenna had trained girls and boys from all over the
country in the skills of healing, then one day saying goodbye to Wat
she went to her brother's grave.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop them hurting you Ned, but they will sin no
more and goodness has now replaced evil in this country. She lay down
on the dry earth and didn't move when the drops of water hit her body,
splat, splat, splat.

The two lords who were left, Lord Tomas and Lord Sith both begged for
an antidote to the poison and Jenna promised them the potion.
She went back to the room she had used before and over the fire she
brewed a medicine. She knew that it wouldn't help because there was
nothing to help. Jenna stayed in the castle and the four men grew
weaker. She fed them potions but nothing she gave them could stop their
decline. Within a fortnight they were dead and Jenna sent for
Wat.
"You couldn't stop them from dying?" he asked
"I didn't really try. You see they thought that I had poisoned them but
it was their evil that poisoned them. I gave them simple medicines that
would have cured the villagers but these men were convinced that Ned
and I had poisoned them and so they died."

"But thinking you have been poisoned doesn't kill you"
"No, but I knew that they had used purges to try to rid themselves of
whatever they thought it was that had poisoned them. They didn't stop
to think that they had been well for a month after eating him. The
purges poisoned them and I have nothing at all that will reverse the
effect. If they hadn't been evil they would have never believed that a
healer would poison them."
" How did they get the purges?"
" From the stables. The groom told me that he uses them, hugely diluted
when the horses eat something that is bad for them. Your father came
into the stables and demanded the bottles. They simple didn't read the
labels but they each drained a bottle. I'm surprised that they lasted
as long as they did."
"It's for the best. They kept the countryside in thrall to their ways.
I couldn't do it. The thought of eating another human being made me
feel ill."
"So what happens now Wat?"
"I think that I will find people who want to be healers and we could
train them. Teach them how to use the herbs and plants, where to find
them. That's if you'll help me."
Before too long Jenna had trained girls and boys from all over the
country in the skills of healing, then one day saying goodbye to Wat
she went to her brother's grave.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop them hurting you Ned, but they will sin no
more and goodness has now replaced evil in this country. She lay down
on the dry earth and didn't move when the drops of water hit her body,
splat, splat, splat.