The Untouchables

Chapter Eight: Lynn

Jayden and I walked through the front door to an absolutely delicious smell.

Mother must've gotten to keep some of the fish she caught down at the docks today!

I was ecstatic.

Since it was almost the end of the month, we didn't have much of our food rations from the start of the month, so we had to make due with what we had.

But it did smell really, really good. As much as I hate to give my mother any sort of praise, she could cook.

"Mmm!" Jayden sniffed. "It smells really good, Momma!"

"Cod and rice." She said excitedly. "It's ready, so wash up, and come sit down."

We both raced upstairs to get to the bathroom in our bedroom to wash up, and back downstairs to the table, playfully pushing each other to get there as fast as possible.

Soon after we sat down, Mother put down three steaming plates of delicious food.

Everyone immediately started to eat. I'd almost made it to the end of the day, and soon I'd have the entire night to figure out what I'm going to do about the two wings I have on my back.

"How's your back feeling?" Mother asked me, without skipping a beat.

She caught me so off-guard with her question, I almost choked on a mouthful of rice.

"It's better." I managed to get out between coughs. "I wanted to protect the bruising a little more so it would heal, so I put some extra padding on it."

"Good decision." She nodded approvingly.

We were all so hungry and exhausted, we barely noticed when somebody knocked on our door.

"Be right with you!" My Mother shouted to whoever was at the door. Jayden and I heard the door open, but we didn't bother looking up from our food, because we thought they'd just leave, like everyone else usually did, but Mother told them to come in.

"How can I help you sirs?" Mother asked kindly.

"Does a Lynnette King live here?" I heard a gruff Ranger's voice ask.

"Yes?" She answered slowly. "But why do you need her?"

"We just want to speak with her."

I felt all of the blood drain from my face. Jayden looked up at me from his plate. I slowly got up from my chair, and peaked around the corner, with Jayden glued to my hand behind me.

Standing in the foyer with my Mother, were two burly Rangers and a Healer dressed in long, all-black robes. I'd read about doctors from the Old World from the books in the bedroom, they were about doctors dressed in heavy black robes, and the mask of a bird.

Our Healers don't wear bird masks, but everything else was just about the same, with their concealing black robes, lined with white pearls, and an odd necklace.

"Here." I said raising my hand, barely audible.

"Why do you need my daughter?" Mother asked suspiciously.

The Healer held up his medical bag. "She was flagged by our system this morning at check-in." He explained. "So we just decided to come by for a routine check up."

I walked forward, with Jayden still clinging to my hand, and he gave me a check up on our dining room table. He did everything that would occur in a normal, annual visit. Checking my temperature, checking my reflexes, my ears, nose, and throat.

"I need to listen to your heart, Miss." The Healer informs me. "Please remove your sweater."

Thankfully, before I could refuse, my Mother came to my rescue. "You've never asked her to remove clothing when measuring her heart rate. Why now?"