"How did you know they wanted to dress?" MaryAnn asked.
"They told me." I said matter-of-factly.
"Oh?" She blushed.
Councilwoman Anna went straight to Aunt Bess. "How are you after your fall?"
"How did you know I fell?" She asked amazed.
"Kylie found the spot where you fell." Councilwoman Anna told her.
"That is simply amazing. I am fine by the way. Just a scraped knee."
"It is still bleeding Miss Bess." I told her.
"How do you know that? Never mind you can smell it. I do forget what you are, you know?"
"That is all right." I said smiling.
"Let me take a look." Councilwoman Anna said. Her knee was wrapped up in a piece of petticoat. Councilwoman Anna removed it gently. It was full of blood and dirt. Her knee looked red, swollen and full of pine needles. "It looks bad Miss Bess."
Councilwoman Anna signed to me 'Kylie are you able to put some of your blood on here? She will lose her leg from the infection otherwise.' I nodded that it was all right.
"Miss Bess, Kylie is going to put some of her blood on your knee to help it heal."
"Is it safe?" She asked with great concern.
"The alternative is losing your leg." Councilwoman Anna said seriously.
"All right go ahead."
I pulled my sword out and sliced open my hand I let the blood drip into her wound.
"That kind of tickles." She said amazed.
"It will be painful as Kylie's blood goes in deeper."
Aunt Bess groaned. "I see what you mean." She hissed in pain.
They watched in amazement as my blood pushed out all the dirt and pine needles from her knee. Once all the dirt was out I added a little more blood to push the rest of the infection out. This caused her the most pain.
"Oh my dear heavens. Agh!" The pus was running down her leg. "My word. Your blood is amazing."
"Thank you Miss Bess."
Councilwoman Cassie had gone down to the river and rinsed out the bloody petticoat. She came back and cleaned the pus off of Aunt Bess' leg.
"My heavens, there is not a mark on your leg, Aunt Bess." Martha said.
"It is as good as new. Thank you again Kylie."
"You are welcome." I bowed to her.
Shaun, Paddy, Colleen and Cory came walking up the riverbank.
"Are you ready to come back to the cave?" Shaun asked.
"Yes we are. Thank you Paddy." Martha said.
"I am Shaun. This is Paddy." Shaun pointed to Paddy.
"My! You look so alike." Martha said slightly embarrassed.
"Yes we do." Shaun smiled.
We were only an hour's walk from the cave at a mortal's pace. Toby was carrying a large trunk.
"What is in the trunk Ladies?" Paddy asked.
"Just some personal items we needed." Martha told him.
Shaun was walking in the lead. He had gone through a narrow opening in between two trees. Toby become stuck.
"Here let me help you Toby." Paddy offered. He reached up to help. Martha yelled. "You know better Tobias."
"Yes Ma'am." He nodded to her. "Its all right Master Paddy Sir. I will get it out."
"It is no trouble at all Toby."
"No Sir. It is my job to carry it."
He backed up slowly and pulled it out of the branches. "There Sir. She stuck no more."
"Very good Toby." Paddy said.
Shaun kept to the trees that were far apart. As we entered the cave Aunt Bess touched the trunk for a brief moment.
"Welcome Ladies and Toby." Councilman Klaus said.
"Well thank you Mr. Klaus. That is very kind of you."
"We have made a suite of rooms available to you and your manservant. Gen will show you where they are."
"Thank you again Mr. Klaus Sir."
The Councilman nodded to them. He waited until they were in their quarters before he spoke again. "Where did you find them?" He whispered.
"In a small shelter along the river Sir." Councilwoman Anna said. "There is something suspicious about their trunk. They would not let Paddy help Toby to carry it or even touch it."
"We will keep an eye on their trunk." Councilman Klaus said.
Gen came back onto the training square. "They are very protective of that trunk of theirs. Toby tripped on something. I caught him. They caught the trunk."
"I guess they have some very valuable personal items in that trunk." Paddy said.
"Is that what they called it 'personal items'?" Councilman Klaus commented.
"Yes sir they did."
"We shall see how personal these items are."
We nodded.
Shaun and Paddy made sure someone was always nearby in case they needed something. They were not prisoners but they needed to be watched.
Dennis, James and Philip were always around when it was time for a meal. They would escort them down to Katey's kitchen then who ever escorted them would go and eat with some of their friends.
"Hello Ladies and Toby what would you like for lunch today?" Victoria May asked them one day while I was helping Katey with the trading post list. We both stayed quiet to listen to the answer.
"What does Katey have cooking?" Aunt Bess asked.
"Well today it is lamb stew and vegetable soup with bread." Victoria May told them.
"That sounds wonderful we will have a bowl of each with bread of course."
Katey brought me into the culling room. "They order the same way every time." Katey was upset.
"What is wrong with that?" I was confused.
"They will all eat the same thing either the stew or the soup never both. It is a waste of food, Kylie I am not used to it." Katey complained.
"I understand Katey perhaps the next time they come in ask Victoria May to ask them to choose. There is a limited amount."
"That is a very good idea. I will try that." She smiled.
We finished the list. I was leaving when the Mullins and Toby were preparing to leave the kitchen. "Good day Martha, MaryAnn, Miss Bess and Toby." I said to them in greeting.
"Ma'am." Toby said politely.
"What are you up to Kylie?" Martha asked noticing the papers in my hand.
"Making a list of the supplies we need. We are running low on some things."
"Perhaps we can help. We have a large supply of spices and herbs at our house." Martha said.
"That is most kind but it is mostly meat and vegetables we need."
"Oh?" Martha said embarrassed. They had glanced at their table with all the leftover food sitting there.
"What are you up to today?" I asked.
"We were wondering if we could make arrangements to go to our house and pick up some things?" Aunt Bess asked.
