Here is my next chapter in the developing saga of the Books of Drachma. As before, if you have any comments, either constructive or otherwise, I'd be delighted to hear them!
After walking all day through the mountainous forestland, tied together with his companions, and with nothing to eat and drink, the thought of actually stopping for the night seemed to Bob Gilsen a forgotten dream. So, when he heard the voice of Gregorio telling them that the shelter ahead was going to be their destination, he breathed a prayer of thanks. The prisoners were led into an abandoned stone building, and they were untied. They were informed that they might converse, and they were free to wander within the building, but that there would be guards set about, and they could not wander out of their enclosure without permission.
Looking about the pathetic hovel they were thrust into, the prisoners seemed too tired to make any complaint. Seeing no furniture of any kind, Bob eased his aching frame down to the mud floor of the shack, next to Judy.
“How are you holding up, dear?” he asked.
“A sight better than you, by the looks of things. Here, let me hold you.” Judy noted that Bob was looking rather peaked. He visibly relaxed in her arms, as he closed his eyes, and let his mind give in to her touch. “Maybe Hermes could, at the very least, ask for some water from the guards.”
“M’lady, of course. Eustace and I shall see what we may get to drink and to eat… for all here.”
As Hermes and Eustace made their way to the door of the enclosure, the remainder of the prisoners clustered around Bob and Judy. There was so much that they all needed to talk about, but with Kevin still held outside, they were limited in what they could plan.
Stoneheft looked at the diverse group of prisoners, and, in a hushed voice addressed them.
“Now, as ye were walkin’ and ridin’ earlier today,” he said, “some of ye may have heard what appeared to be the call o’ the whippoorwill coming out of the forest.”
Judy’s face lit up in response.
“To us, of the Forest Guard, that was signal – from others of our brotherhood – that we have been seen, and that we should not try to escape, nor to make our captors in any way wary. So, what I ask of all ye is that ye just do just that until the rescue attempt is made.”
“When shall it be?” asked Diane. “Is there any way of knowing?”
“Nay. There be no way of knowin’, though I tell ye be as natural as your condition allows. And believe me when I tell ye, it shall be a right bloody mess outside these walls. But now, I would hush, and not let on that ye’ve heard these things from me – and believe me, Kevin also heard the signal, and knows of its import.”
Chauncey and Gilbert looked at one another, then they got up, and went over to Stoneheft, and the three of them quietly conferred. Meanwhile, Diane went to Judy and asked quietly how she was feeling. She felt with her hands, and laid her head on Judy’s abdomen, and listened intently, and she looked down at Judy’s ankles, noticing the puffiness.
“Thus far the child does appear to be havin’ a healthy heartbeat. But mind ye, lady, to be takin’ care and rest as ye may. I do fear that your babe has dropped, and ye may be getting’ somewhat uncomfortable.”
“Well, you’re right about the baby dropping, Diane. I felt that on the ride. But I don’t feel any contractions yet. But the fact that she dropped could mean that I could go into labor at any time.”
Diane sat back up, then said, “aye, m’lady that it does… I fear that it is out of our hands. Ye couldst labor at any time, but I would guess that ye’ll be deliverin’ within a fortnight at the most, and it could even happen within a day.”
As Diane was saying this, Bob was starting to get pale. As the most educated physician in the realm, he nevertheless felt acutely out of his element. All his obstetrical training stopped in medical school, and he recalled that he had delivered perhaps twenty babies in that time – years (or centuries) ago. And now here he was with his spouse, who was truly about to deliver at any time, and whose own obstetrical experience was even more current than his. Yet he was now here, and completely unable to procure the services of anyone except this midwife, with no formal training, but who had assisted with the birth of who knew how many babies?
Judy had sensed his acute anxiety, and she turned to him, and laid her hand on his shoulder, then said, “Now, Bob, I know that you’re worried. But believe me that your worry isn’t going to change a thing. This child is going to come into this world regardless of whether you’ve got an obstetrician here or not. And so, you’ve just got to trust Diane. Even though you’ve studied for all those years, Diane has also had years of practical experience in helping women in labor. And besides that, I need you more as my coach and companion than as my doctor.”
Somehow, what Judy said did not ease his discomfort. He realized full well what a pickle he had gotten them in, and knowing that all this was going to happen, regardless of what they decided, seemed to make his discomfort even more acute. He began to second-guess the decisions that had been made. He thought of his home within the castle, and he thought about the book he had been writing, and he thought of Melchior and his newest discovery.
Then his thoughts came back to Judy, and her circumstances, and how her pregnancy had at first been such a surprise. After all, it was he who was apparently sterile, according to the fertility expert “back home.” That episode of mumps as a young child had left him unable to produce sperm, and so he had resigned himself to the fact that he could never have children of his own. So, when Judy missed a couple of periods, the thought of her being pregnant was the farthest thing from his mind, though not hers. As the months went along, and it became obvious that she was, in fact, pregnant with his child, Judy blossomed with unexpected energy. For a while they told no one but Jeanne and Melchior of her condition, and how their dinners together became their weekly celebration of new life. And now, with Judy and Jeanne able to share the secret joys of motherhood and impending motherhood together, he looked back on those months as the happiest of his time so far in Shepperton.
And Judy came to realize as well that this pregnancy was truly special. And she became so convinced that it was a girl she was carrying, that she wouldn’t even consider boys’ names. And she had it so firmly wrapped in her mind that she and Jeanne would often speak of her little angel. And so, it was decided that the girl would be named either Maggie or Angelica. And the final decision would be made when they saw her.
But now, here – in this old stone building, out in the forest of nowhere – it seemed too much like a heavy dose of reality was weighing down on Bob and Judy.
“I know what you’re saying is true, Judy. And I would be a fool to not admit that I’m worried, very worried. Out here, away from even what the castle could provide in the way of security, we’re just the two of us with our little group of friends. And we’re now prisoners, in the hands of some tyrant with an agenda that he only knows.”
“If you think about it, my dear,” answered Judy, “how is that any different from what we have already been through? We have, since we first got here, always been at the mercy of someone more powerful. And in reality, it’s been us two together, who have been buffeted. You see, it’s not that we’re especially adept or strong. Rather, it’s been the knowledge that we brought with us which makes us stand out. And yet our knowledge from our own time has not made us powerful. Not in this realm.”
“Ironic isn’t it, Judy? If anything, it has made us less powerful, or so we think. In our world, back in the twentieth century, we thought nothing of traveling, nothing of leaving our homes behind. We could, it seems, always go back. And when I first got here, that was my assumption, too, that I would be able to just go back. It took me quite some time to realize that I was not in charge of where I was, how I got here or why. And in reality, it was the knowledge that I brought with me which kept me here.”
“And so it has been,” said Judy, “with me as well…”
“Master Robert! Come hence.” It was Hermes’ voice coming from the door. “It be Eustace… he’s havin’ a fit!”
Bob leapt up and ran to the doorway. There, on the ground was Eustace, in the throes of a seizure. The men standing guard were looking down on the scene but stood back in fear. Bob immediately went down on his knees and checked to make sure that the young man had not injured himself. Next, he reached down and made certain that his airway was open, and that if he had bitten his tongue, that blood was not filling his mouth. Seeing his mother coming toward them, Bob said to her, “He’s having another seizure, Diane. It looks as if he’ll be all right, though. Could you get me a clean rag?”
Diane reached into her bodice and pulled out a handkerchief, which she quickly handed to Bob. Bob took the small cloth and gently wiped the sides of the youth’s mouth, and next he took it and fit it inside his cheek, where the mix of blood and spittle collected on the cloth. The young man’s seizing began to ease up, and his breathing became more regular. Diane took his head in her lap, and then began caressing his face with her hands.
Meanwhile, their guards began to recover their wits, and closed ranks about the small scene in the doorway. One of them spoke to Bob, saying, “What happened? Why this boy do this?”
Bob thought about it for just a second, then with sudden intuition, turned to the guard and said, “What this young fellow had is called a seizure. It is, in his case caused by being forced to walk for hours with nothing to drink or to eat.”
The guard peered down at the scene with a puzzled look upon his face. But somehow, he recognized Bob’s authority in this matter. He quickly spoke something to another guard in a language not understood by anyone there. The other man ran off, and soon came back with a jug of water, and another sack, which he handed to Bob. Bob took the sack of food, and the jug of water, and stood up. As he walked back into the hut, he noticed the sickly sweet smell of the water. He brought it up to his nose – there was no doubt about that smell. The Creek of the Dead! With a groan, he handed the sack of food to Hermes. He next took the jug of water and poured it out onto the ground, and then he turned on his heels and headed back to the door.
By the door he turned to one of the guards, and asked, “This water, where did you get it? And who has drunk of it? This water is poisoned!”
Looking startled, the guard answered, “We have all drunk of that water. Whence it came – I know not.” Then he took Bob by the arm and led him toward Count Gregorio. Hermes followed close behind.
On board his newly outfitted ship, which he had named the Tremaine, after his former ill-fated three-master from his first voyage to Shepperton, the earl of Derrymoor stood at the railing with Titus and looked toward the northwest. The sun was just rising in the east.
“I believe that be Shepperton, Titus. And I do believe that we shall make landfall by this evening. I cannot help but believe that much may have happened since we got the letters.”
“Oh, aye, that be Shepperton, without a doubt. And with this fair wind we should easily make land by evening. Would ye want me to send our pigeon? At least to let them know that we arrive?”
“Aye, that be me thinking, precisely. The fewer surprises at this time, the better.” The earl went quickly below, and, while Titus procured the pigeon, fetched a small piece of paper, and on it he wrote:
Craycroft,
We come, this evening. Have everything prepared.
I come with fifty men, all seasoned warriors.
Much to tell, and to hear.
Your friend,
Derrymoor
Next, he rolled the paper into a tiny roll, and slipped it into the small container attached to the pigeon’s left foot. Then the two men ascended the stairs to the deck. With a word of encouragement, the earl of Derrymoor then let the bird loose, and they watched as the pigeon flew about the ship for a couple of turns, then headed toward Shepperton Island.
Satisfied that they had done what they could, the earl turned toward Titus and said, “Well, I’ll tell ye, me man. If my prior experience counts for something, I do believe that we should be prepared for anything. And that nothing shall turn out the way we could expect.”
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