The Dark Days

Chapter Six

 I didn't tell Mama about Eliza, not when I returned home to find her and Nana weaving baskets. Their skills were mediocre but their baskets were the sturdiest in Wrights. And that helped them sell it.

I handed the bags to Mama, took the fish cage and made my way to the river. I prayed today would be as fruitful as yesterday had been. Not that it gave me an excuse to relax but it meant that we might get some clothes for the wedding. Nana wanted us to go. If we participated in village activities, they'll be less likely to run us out of the village.

Then I reached the river, and my heart leapt at the site of Druig again. He sat against the same tree he'd spent sitting against yesterday. I put the cage and my satchel down, the one containing my banana leaves and the berries I packed for lunch and headed to the river.

"You came back." I put my hands on my hips, "Did you feel like expressing more gratitude to me for saving Daniel's leg?"

"Nope." He shrugged, "I just wanted to see you again."

"Oh," I looked away quickly, hoping my hammering heart wouldn't give away the butterflies I felt. Druig stood up, almost leaping into the water to get the cage from me whe I leaned over to pick it up, "Allow me, my lady."

I paused, not quite handing the cage to him yet, "What about your legs?"

He reached out, insistent, "Women are tougher, you endure more. But men are stronger, we withstand more. Both shining in our own lights but this one, of the very few things, is where I can handle it a little better."

I conceded, shaking my head and handed him the cage, thinking of how he had complimented women without showing any signs of feeling emasculated. He placed the cage in the same spot as he had the day before.

"I have a salve I think you should use anyway, strong man." I dug into my bag for the tin salve and tossed it over the river to him. "It's a combination of burdock, aloe, chamomile and lavender. You should massage it over your calves every time you get out of the river. It'll help with circulation and warmth."

Druig caught it effortlessly, and pulled his pant legs up to his knees. I hadn't noticed that he'd been barefoot until this moment. His legs were pale, as pale as his face was, and muscular. He rubbed the salve on his calves and massaged it. "If I didn't believe you about the herbs before, I do now."

I could see him flexing his calf muscles, smiling at the cold pain I knew was fading. "Yeah, well, don't speak too loudly about it but I'm fairly certain that I've mastered the art of herbs."

"Just for healing?" He asked and wriggled his brows, "I'm sure a master of herbs could figure out more uses."

"There's a lot more that you can do with plants. You can make people ill, satiate hunger pangs, rehydrate and even affect fertility."

"Make someone happy? Kill them?" Druig's handsome face was plain. I couldn't see why he would ask but with the world we lived in, I'm sure he had his reasons.

I nodded, "There are a few. The milder ones, like the ones I use on the fish, are easy to find and make on. But they wouldn't kill anything bigger than a domestic cat. The stronger ones are rare but I know they exist and they can kill a man, or waoman."

"How do you know it exists if you've never seen it?" He sealed the salve tin, rolled down his pant legs and put the tin down beside him.

I believe in God and I've never met Him, I wanted to say but that was for me. If Druig didn't believe in things he couldn't see, it was not my place to convince him otherwise. Instead, I said, "Nature creates everything without my knowledge or permission. All of this existed before I knew it did. It exists and thrives whether I know of its existence or not and will continue to do so long after I am dead."