All The Dark Places

32. Underhanded Things

    Thessaly Yearling tended to her husband with delicate care and more compassion than her rather cold exterior would make anyone think she was capable. We have so much in common; Rosalind thought. We are both considered ice-bitches, perhaps in different ways. Tess Yearling was the kind of woman people assumed was frigid and unyielding, though while the unyielding part was true, seeing her like this erased any thought that she might be cold when it came to her family. She soaked bandages in boiling water and sat by her husband's bedside, holding his hand as she read stories from Grimm's fairy tales to Felicia. She had not expected any of this when she softly knocked on the Yearling's door just before bedtime. She held a flashlight to light her way and turned it off when she heard Tess's soft whisper,

"Come in Rosalind."

"How did you know it was me?" she smiled.

"Who else would it be. Father Gareth has a particular walk and no one else has anything to do with us."

It pained her to hear Tess say that, but it was true. The Yearlings were not looked upon with much kindness lately. They had been back from the hospital less than a week, and it was clear that they were seen as outsiders and as a burden on the local supply. Three mouths to feed; a city girl, a child, and a cripple. Tess came out during the day and worked. In fact, she worked as hard or even harder than most of the others in the village, but they sneered at her and the only person who would chat with her was Diane Tillydaff, who seemed to chat with everyone when she made rounds at the work sites. Deka spoke with Tess every day briefly while passing out paper cups of watery lemonade she was kind enough to make out of lemons from the tree that grew in her little orchard at the back of the cottage she shared with Ramona. She had successfully grown apple, plum, apricot and lemon trees, despite the Northern climate. However, conversation was met with glares from the public, and both Diane and Deka had no interest in being outcasted with her. It was hard to blame them.

"How is his leg?" she asked. Martin was sleeping.

"Doing much better. He is in so much pain, and it itches something terrible, but it is clearly healing. Father Gareth comes every morning and every evening. You just missed him. He spends an hour with Martin, laying hands on him. It drains him, you know. That power he has just drains him and makes him go blind. He is healing him each day. We think that at this rate, Martin might be up and running around in three or four more days. He is just exhausted now."

"Then he will be able to walk?"

Tess shook her head.

"Never normally. He will always be bent with a limp, but he will walk in some way."

She held out a small cardboard box she brought and set it on a desk next to Martin's glimmering gold watch.

"I brought something for you. For all three of you."

"Oh?" Tess reached in and opened the box, revealing a sealed plastic bag full of cured and salted venison jerky. The rest of the box was filled with fruit that Deka had given her. "This is incredibly generous, Roz, I couldn't possibly..." Tess looked at her daughter and then said, "Thank you."

"Is that Rosalind?" Martin's groggy voice piped up. "Pretty Rosalind... helllllooooo."

Tess looked embarrassed but no longer jealous. She smiled and waved him off.

"We have maybe a week's supply of morphine left." She said. "He's high as a kite right now and clearly he has a crush on you."

"Oh, Tess, I would never though. Never. And he wouldn't either," she immediately defended.

"I know that. I didn't always know that, but I do now. He falls in love with creative people. I know that about him, and I married him anyway. I'm not a creative person. Not by any means, but Martin, he can envision a story and make it come to life. I would like to have seen your story come to life, Roz. Really, I would. I know you must not think much of me, the way I treated you at first."