Day 4

"Medicine in the Dreamlands reflects the dichotomy typically found. Modern ideas, such as the germ theory of disease, go hand-in-hand with more primitive practices, such as medicinal leeches. However, many viable ancient concepts that have been forgotten in later ages can be rediscovered, and physicians who are Dreamers can reintroduce these to their own times."

-- The Dreamlands for Dummies, Aislinn Síle

In the morning, after she washed up and dressed, Eile looked in on Differel. Sunny was with her, wringing out a washcloth and placing it over her forehead. Differel appeared quiet, and Eile hoped that was a good sign.

The morning after they returned home, Bettie arrived bright and early, even before Eile was up. She had changed out of her usual costume and makeup, and wore her own hair and some normal clothes. She started the fire in the water heaters in the attic, made breakfast, and started water boiling for the antibiotic tea, then moved into the spare bedroom. Eile helped Sunny change the dressing and apply fresh medication to Differel's wound, and afterwards Sunny had a cold breakfast and went to bed. Meanwhile, Bettie watched Differel as Eile took a long bath, after which she threw on a smock and a gown and had her own breakfast before taking over. Bettie went out to purchase dressings, bandages, and gauze, and take Differel's lenses to the spectacle maker. Upon her return, she burned the soiled items in the fire pit, chopped more wood and kindling, and settled into a routine of brewing tea and fixing meals, while performing light general cleaning. As much as Eile didn't like just sitting around while Bettie did all the work, she was grateful she was willing to do it, because it made it possible for her to devote all of her time to taking care of Differel. Besides which, Bettie dismissed her concerns with a disdainful wave of the hand the couple of times she broached the subject.

"I'm happy to do it," she said both times, adding the second time, "now shut up and take care of your friend!"

Also that morning, Ahjidamoh came by to inform her and Sunny that the feline guard was in place, having assembled during the night, and sure enough, when they looked they saw a couple of dozen cats lazing on the fence, and on neighboring rooftops and window sills, and sauntering down the alleys and through the square and street. A little later, as Sunny ate her breakfast, a group of priests and acolytes from the Temple arrived. After taking a few minutes to put on vestments and go through an opening ritual, all but one priest and half the acolytes proceeded to circle the house seven times, chanting, swinging censers on the ends of long chains, and waving colorful streamers attached to poles, as the rest of the acolytes painted mystical signs on the door, walls, and fence while the priest blessed them. After the seventh circuit, they departed back to the Temple, still chanting, swinging, and waving, until they passed out of sight. In the Waking World, Eile dismissed such blessing and exorcism ceremonies as useless, but in the Dreamlands, where magic was part of the fabric of reality, she felt as safe knowing the wards were in place as she did having the cats and the militia guards around.

Later still, after Sunny went to bed, a cart laden with straw stopped by, and workmen spread it over the nearby road and the area of the square in front of their house, to deaden the noise of the moving traffic. Eile felt surprised, but also grateful; they hadn't requested it, but Kranon must have felt obligated to go further than just provide protection.

After lunch, the rest of the day followed the routine established in the late morning. While Bettie cooked and cleaned, Eile gave Differel the tea and water, and tried to cool her face with wet cloths. Sunny awoke in the early evening and took her own bath, dressing in a chemise, chausses, and a tunic. They had dinner together as Bettie ate while watching Differel, then Sunny sat with the aristocrat for the night as Eile helped Bettie clean up before they went to bed. That general pattern repeated itself the next day, broken only by Bettie going out to pick up Differel's new glasses, and visits from Laoise, Burgomaster Kranon, and Atal. That last was a surprise, since the ancient priest virtually never left the Temple. He prayed over Differel and cast a blessing, and as with the wards, Eile felt better for his having done so.

In any event, there was no reason for her to expect the fourth day to precede any differently.

"How's she doing?"

Sunny turned her head, and she was unnerved by the haggard, stressed look on her face.

"Terrible! Her fever's as bad as ever."

She felt her heart sink. "I was hopin' she was asleep."

As if to prove her wrong, Differel rolled her head and muttered, but in a very languid manner. Her fever had not broken by the end of the second day, nor had it lessened as Mephitis had promised, and while her condition didn't get worse during the third day, neither did it improve.

"No, she's just so weak! It's been three days now, on top of however long before we found her. She's had no rest, no relief, and it's getting harder to make her take water. She won't last another day like this!"

"The antibiotics haven't kicked in yet?"

Sunny stared down at the semiconscious woman. "They may be all that's keeping her alive, but if we can't break this fever soon, she's a goner."

"There's gotta be some source of infection still in her." She leaned over and felt for her pulse on her neck; it was weak and thready.

"Aescalypses cleaned the wound and there's no other injury. He says there's nothing else wrong with her."

Eile lifted the sheets to examine the aristocrat's side. "There's been fresh discharge each day now." She cut away the wrapping and removed the medication-soaked dressing. Pus mixed with blood ran from the puncture wound, and the dressing had a large, pink-tinged greenish-yellow stain. She wrinkled her nose as she smelled a foul, rotten odor, though not a strong one thankfully. "I think there's still something in there."

"But Aescalypses probed the wound."

"You know his aversion ta surgery. If he didn't feel anything, he wouldn't go digging around." She sighed. "I think we need ta take matters into our own hands."

Sunny continued to stare at Differel for a few seconds, but then she nodded her head. "If that's what we gotta do. But we're gonna need some things. Is Bettie up yet?"

The Fear Dearg appeared, sitting on the bed's headboard. "She's in the kitchen, fixing breakfast, now."

"Would you fetch her, please?"

"Sure and it would be my pleasure, Lassie." He leapt off the board over the bed and vanished into thin air.

"What've you got in mind?"

"First, we need to clean the wound real good. Then we gotta find and remove whatever's still in there. Finally, we have to remove all the dead tissue and disinfect the wound."

"Tall order."

Sunny crinkled her eyes and smiled. "Not necessarily."

Bettie came into the room before she could ask what she meant.

"Yeah, Sunny? What's up?"

"We're gonna perform some surgery."

Bettie jerked and gave her a wide-eyed look of astonishment. "Surgery?!"

"Yeah, but nothing major. I need you to boil some water. Use the big kettle. While that's going, collect all the towels you can find and the shampoo, and bring them here. When the water's ready, bring it up with a basin and the turkey baster. You got it?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm on it." And she sprinted down the hall to the stairs.

Sunny looked around the room. "Where's the Fear Dearg?"

"Right here, Lassie." He popped into view on top of the desk.

"I need you to get something for me. Can you do that?"

He tipped his hat and winked. "It'll be my pleasure, to be sure."

"Then go to Kyafus the Leech and ask for a fresh jar of maggots."

"Maggots?!" His eyes bulged out. "Faith and Begorrah!"

"Make sure he gives you his most recently hatched. They've gotta last a full two days."

"Now, what would a fine Lassie such as yourself be wanting with a jar of maggots, tell me that?"

"There's no time for explanations! Get going!"

"Yerra, I am so!" He danced a quick jig and disappeared.

"Care ta explain it to me?"

"Maggots will debride the wound of dead tissue and disinfect it by eating all the bacteria. They'll also stimulate the wound to heal."

She felt sick, but she trusted Sunny. "If you say so."

Sunny smiled and giggled. "I know it sounds weird, but it really works! Now, go fetch that moonshine Grunge gave us. It's 190 proof and will make a good disinfectant. I've gotta concentrate on something."

"Gotcha." And she went out the room.

She met Bettie as she came up the stairs carrying towels and a shampoo bottle. "Is Sunny serious about doing surgery?"

"Kinda sorta. Differel's pretty bad. We think there's something still stuck inside her, and she's gonna try ta get it out."

"Bummer. But what's with the shampoo?"

"We don't have any liquid soap, and that's essentially what shampoo is, even if it's got other stuff in it. You'd better take that on up, but don't bother her, she's concentrating."

Bettie laughed. "Yeah, I know better than that."

Eile made her way into the cellar and retrieved a glass jug. She held it up to the overhead lamp to examine its contents. It was still four-fifths full of a clear liquid. White lightening was a bit too strong for their taste; they usually cut it with water or juice, so they hadn't drunk much of it yet. She headed back upstairs and met Bettie as she came out of the kitchen with the steaming kettle, a basin, and the baster. Eile let her go first up the stairs.

"What's with the baster?"

"You know a better way ta squirt liquid inside a puncture wound?"

"Ask a silly question, I guess." She quickened her pace.

Sunny turned around as they came in. "Ah, good! Put your stuff over there." She pointed at the desk.

After they complied, Sunny said, "Now, turn Differel around so her head's at the foot of the bed." Eile figured she knew why. The left side of the bed was against the wall, and Sunny needed easy access to the aristocrat's left side.

Once they were done, Sunny pushed the sheets to one side, leaving Differel covered but exposing her left hip, and placed a couple of towels under her buttocks and back.

"Move the desk over here." Sunny pointed to her right side. "Place one end against the bed."

As she picked up one side, Eile saw a long, thin metal wand, which she took to be a probe, lying next to forceps with long, thin blades and small calipers at the end. She figured those were what Sunny had been concentrating on, to create them with her Dreaming magic.

Once the desk was in place, Sunny arranged the towels. "Eile, put the instruments into the basin and pour some of the alcohol over them."

She did so, but asked, "Shouldn't we sterilize them?"

"I don't wanna let them outta my sight, or they might disappear. The alcohol should do the trick. Besides, the wound already has a massive infection. Any germs left on those wouldn't make much difference."

She figured she was right, but didn't think some extra precautions would hurt.

"Bettie, get the chamber pot and bring it over here."

She went to the privy cabinet to retrieve a ceramic bowl with a handle from under the seat, and she brought it back to Sunny.

"Put it down there." She pointed at her feet and Bettie did so.

"Now, get the kettle." As Bettie retrieved it, Sunny dropped a dollop of shampoo on her hands from the bottle and scrubbed them together.

"Rinse me off." She held her hands over the chamber pot. Bettie poured some of the steaming water over them.

"Ahhhh! That smarts!" She flicked her hands to discard as much water as possible, then knelt down in front of the bed.

"Eile, bring me the basin. Okay, girls, this could get messy. If either of you feel like you can't stomach it, use one of the side windows. Just be careful no one's below you! Eile, set the basin down here." She pointed to the floor on her left.

When she complied, Sunny took the baster and dipped its tip into the alcohol, squeezing the bulb a few times to wash out the inside. Finally, she filled it and held it up over the wound.

"Differel probably won't feel a thing, but if she does and starts to squirm too much or try to move away, hold her down. I'll be as quick as possible here." She then took a deep breath. "You guys ready?"

"Go for it," Eile said.

Sunny lifted the chamber pot and held it under the wound. She then shot the contents of the baster into the puncture and tried to catch the outflow. Differel moaned and moved her head and limbs, but had no strength to resist.

The discharge came out thick and gooey, with a pale, putrescent greenish color and a pungent smell. It turned her stomach and Sunny made a yuck face as she turned pale.

"Oh, god," Bettie moaned. She clamped one hand over her mouth and gripped her stomach with the other as she rushed for an open window.

Sunny quickly refilled the baster and squirted the fresh alcohol into the wound. This time the discharge was thinner, with a pink tinge. She repeated the process two more times; the third time the outflow looked cloudy and pale red, while the fourth it appeared virtually clear except for some blood.

"I think that's got it." She sounded nauseous as she placed the baster in the basin and retrieved a towel to wipe off Differel's skin and the outside of the pot. She then set the pot down under the desk and threw the towel towards the door.

She picked up the probe. "Go see if Bettie's all right."

"I'm okay," she said as Eile looked up. She leaned against the sill looking haggard. "I'm just queasy."

Sunny carefully inserted the probe into the puncture and began to gently poke around.

"You feel anything?"

Sunny closed her eyes. "Yeah, there's definitely something in there."

"You sure it's not bone?"

She opened her eyes. "Yeah, it's not deep enough, and it's in the wound, not exposed by it." She sloshed the index finger of her free hand in the alcohol, then withdrew the probe and stuck her finger inside. "No wonder Aescalypses didn't feel it, it's too far back." She dropped the probe back in the alcohol.

"Can you remove it?"

"I think so." She washed off her finger and picking up the forceps. "I could move it with the probe. The question is, whether it's lodged in her hip bone. If it is, we're in big trouble. That kinda damage may not heal without better medical attention."

"We've got no choice. Go for it."

"Okay." Sunny took a deep breath. "Hold on to your butts." And she stuck the forceps into the wound. It looked almost too big to fit.

"Careful!" She felt her heart thumping against her sternum.

"Quiet." Sunny kept pushing; then: "Made contact." She opened the blades and maneuvered the forceps around in the wound as she tried to grip the object. Though her movements were slow and cautious, she looked as if she was straining to lift some heavy weight, with her brow furrowed, her face tense, her skin sweating, and the tip of her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth.

All the while she muttered to herself. "Okay...easy, easy now...got it! Alright...let's go...you don't belong in there...come on, you stubborn son of a--oh, poo! It slipped. There, got'cha! Come on...that's it, you're doing fine...just a little further...there!" And she pulled out a long, thin, narrow object hardly smaller than the wound itself.

Sunny washed it off in the basin and held it up to examine. To Eile it looked like a tiny flint spearhead, about an inch long, maybe a quarter wide, but no more than a sixteenth thick. Sunny screwed her face into a puzzled look, but then shrugged and placed it on the desk, along with the probe and forceps.

"Eile, take the basin and toss out the alcohol, then refill it." She removed the baster before Eile picked it up.

She did as instructed, throwing the contents out a back window into their backyard, and put it back down beside her. Sunny retrieved the chamber pot and washed out the wound three more times with the alcohol. There was a small amount of pus in the first wash, but none in the last two, just a little blood.

"Okay, now pour the alcohol into the pot, put some shampoo in the basin, and fill it with water." As she complied, Sunny used a fresh towel to wipe off the wound and pot, which she also threw next to the door.

As soon as she placed the basin on the floor, Sunny used the baster to make sure the shampoo was thoroughly mixed. Then she filled it and irrigated the wound. She did so five more times, carefully checking the wash each time.

"Good, now, dump the soapy water in the pot, rinse out the basin, and fill it with water."

Sunny again wiped Differel's hip with a towel and discarded it as Eile did as she asked. Sunny removed the rubber bulb from the baster and held it over the pot.

"Pour some water into it." Eile filled it as Sunny let it run out the tip. She figured she was washing out the excess soap.

As before, Sunny used the baster to irrigate the wound several times with the hot water to remove all the soap. Finally, she leaned back on her haunches, tossed the baster into the basin as she set the pot down, and wiped her brow. "I think that does it. Now all we need are the maggots."

The Fear Dearg appeared in the doorway, holding a masonry jar. "Sure, I have them here, Lassie."

Bettie stepped away from the window. "I'm not going to want to watch this." She sounded ill. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Yeah," Sunny said, "take the basin, kettle, and baster down to the kitchen, then boil up some more water and wash the basin and baster out thoroughly, understand?"

"Okay, I'm on it." She collected the items and took them out of the room.

Eile retrieved the jar from the Fear Dearg. She examined its contents as she brought it over to Sunny. There were half a dozen maggots inside, crawling over the glass surface.

Sunny wiped off Differel's skin with a fresh towel and tossed it with the others. "I need you to get me some cotton," she said when Eile handed her the jar. She passed her the pot. "Take and dump this in the cellar, then bring back a fist-sized ball."

Eile took the pot. "Sure, but how's this gonna work?"

"I'll put the maggots in the wound, then cover it with the cotton. They need air, but they should be able to get plenty through the cotton. Then we can wrap gauze around it to hold it in place. We can't let them get out, though. They should stay in the wound where it's warm, moist, and dark, and the cotton should help contain them, but we'll need to check it periodically to make sure they're not getting out. Also, when they've finished cleaning the wound, they'll leave it on their own, but that shouldn't happen for a coupla days."

"Okay, I'll be right back." She hurried out of the room and sprinted down the stairs as fast as she dared, and once she reached the cellar she poured the contents of the pot down the drain, trying not to gag in the process. She tore off a fist-sized wad from a bale they kept on hand before heading upstairs. When she arrived, she saw Sunny had moved the desk out of the way and discarded the towels placed under Differel.

"The little buggers didn't need any encouragement," she said as she took the cotton. "As soon as I placed them at the mouth of the puncture, they crawled right in. I guess they know a smorgasbord when they sense one." She kneaded and teased the cotton into a fluffy mass, then placed it over the wound. With Eile's help, she wrapped gauze around Differel's body to secure it in place.

She took a few moments to check that the bandage was snug and then stepped back. "Well, that's all we can do for now. We'll just hafta wait and see."

"You look exhausted. You should get some sleep."

Sunny stifled a yawn. "Yeah, I just wanna get cleaned up first and have a bite to eat. You gonna be okay?"

"Sure, piece of cake."

"Have Bettie burn the towels."

"Not wash them?"

"There's no sense to it. Without bleach we can't get them clean again, and we can always buy new ones. We'll hafta burn the linen and mattresses as well, just to be safe, but we can wait until after we remove the maggots."

Eile nodded. "Got'cha."

"Tell me this," the Fear Dearg said. He stood on the desk, holding the spearhead. "Wherever did you find this yoke, now?"

She turned with Sunny and went up to him. "We pulled that outta Differel," Sunny said. "That's what made her wound."

"You know what it is?" Eile asked, a feeling of trepidation creeping over her.

"Aye, Lassie, to be sure, that I do. It's a béim sídh."

"A what?" From the Fear Dearg's somber attitude, so different from his normal character, she had expected something monstrous. His actual revelation seemed anticlimactical.

"A faerie stroke, the weapon of choice of the Aes Sídhe."

Sunny shot her a wide-eyes look of shock. "Faeries!"

"Aye, your friend's very lucky."

"She's not exactly our friend."

"Of course she is!" Sunny squeaked. Then she addressed the Fear Dearg. "Will she be all right now that it's outta her?"

"'Tis hard to say, Lassie, it depends upon how long it was inside her, now. But if her fever breaks, she'll be fine, so she will."

"But why would Faeries be trying ta kill her?" Eile asked.

"Sure, I don't know, but I could ask around."

She smiled. The Fear Dearg was a good source of information from his Faerie contacts, despite his pranks and troublemaking. "Go for it."

"I hear and obey, me fine girl!" He placed the stroke back on the table, then leapt straight up into the air and vanished.

"What did you mean, she isn't our friend?!" Sunny scolded her.

"Hey! I only meant we don't know her very well, ya butthead! We've only seen her twice before this."

"But I thought we got to know her pretty well!"

"We're acquainted, but that's it."

"She made us family retainers and special agents for the Order, that's gotta say something."

"Only because we're useful ta her."

"Eile, we can't turn our back on her!"

"Did I say that? I wanna help her as much as you do. I'm just sayin' we don't know enough about her ta say we're friends."

Sunny sighed. "Yeah, you're right partner. Sorry I blew my stack, I guess I'm just tired."

She smiled. "Forget it, you can't help being a butthead. Besides, sleep'll cure that."

Sunny gave her a wink with a coquettish smile. "I'd rather do something else."

"We can't leave Differel alone."

"Come on, Bettie can watch her. Just for a coupla hours? I really miss you, partner."

She grinned. "Heh, yeah, I miss you, too. Aw, what the hell. Let's go talk ta Bettie."

After she and Sunny had satisfied themselves, Eile got dressed again and relieved Bettie. She gave her a mocking smile as she collected the contaminated towels and used bandages to dispose of, but Eile just ignored her. She then brought her some breakfast before heading down to the kitchen to renew her daily chore of making the antibiotic tea. Eile sat vigil, checking the bandage at frequent intervals to make sure the maggots were still contained, and wetting Differel's face to cool her skin as she offered her the tea. She found that Sunny was right, she wasn't taking liquids, but she discovered that if she wet a cloth and moistened her lips, she licked them out of reflex. She continued doing that for an hour, then offered her a spoonful of tea. Differel took that with only minor resistance and accepted more with none. Eile spoon-fed her for another hour, finally presenting what was left in the cup, and the blueblood swallowed that with some eagerness. From then on, she sipped directly from the cup.

In the early afternoon, their friend Laylina, the serving girl at the Inn of the Quixotic Muse, dropped by. She heard the front door open and close, and when she walked over to the stairwell, she heard Laylina greet Bettie before coming up the stairs. She could see her as she passed the second floor landing, and they waved to each other.

"Hey, girlfriend!"

When Laylina reached the third floor landing, she embraced her and they kissed lightly on each other's cheeks. Though she was tight-lipped about her age, Eile figured she was in her late twenties, but she was a girly-girl like her and Sunny, and she joined them in shopping, pub-crawling, and spa sessions as often as her work at the inn permitted.

"Thanks for stopping by," she said as they went back into the bedroom.

"I can only stay for a few minutes, I just wanted to see how you and Sunny were holding up. I also brought a pot of beavertail stew, a couple of loaves of saimoseed bread, and a bottle of fire-mead."

"Hey, thanks! We appreciate it. It's been a coupla rough days, but I think we're starting ta turn the corner, knock on wood." She held up crossed fingers as an extra sign.

"I'm glad; I'll be sure to tell the others when I get back." Laylina looked down at the bed. "Who is she?"

She blinked in surprise. "You don't know her?"

She shook her head. "No, why?"

"Sunny and I were wonderin' if she was a Dreamer."

"I've never seen her before, but that doesn't really mean anything. Not everyone comes to the inn, or Ulthar. But I can ask around to see if anyone has seen her."

"Great, thanks. Her name's Differel Van Helsing, she's a baronetess who runs a monster hunting organization in the Waking World."

"I've never heard of anyone like that, or that name."

"Huh, well, she may not be a Dreamer at all. But I'm sure we'll get the whole story once she wakes up."

Laylina smiled. "With The Twins protecting her, I have no doubt she'll recover, and soon."

She scowled as Laylina laughed. "Oh, please! You know how I hate that!"

"I have to go now. When your friend is stronger, Eberhard invites you to bring her to the inn one evening, on the house."

"Thanks, we will." They kissed good bye and she saw her to the stairwell.

"Thanks for the vittles, and we'll be by as soon as we can."

Laylina headed down the stairs. "Say hello to Sunny for me."

Eile waited until she heard her say good bye to Bettie before going back into the room. Like Laylina said, the fact that she had never seen or heard of Differel wasn't conclusive, but she figured that, given what she knew of the aristocrat, it wouldn't be possible for her to keep a low profile. Even if she never visited Ulthar, someone would have heard about her and told stories in town. She wondered if maybe Differel hadn't arrived as a Dreamer.

But in that case, she thought, how the freaking hell did she get here?!

Differel's fever final broke in late mid-afternoon. By then, she had drunk six helpings of the tea with Eile's assistance. She had noticed that her fever seemed to subside as the day wore on before disappearing altogether. Differel drifted off into unconscious then, but her pulse felt stronger, if still subdued, and she breathed easier and deeper.

She and Bettie took advantage of her improvement to give her a sponge bath and move her to the other bedroom, while Bettie moved into the second floor sunroom. They then stripped the bed down to the frame and burned everything: sheets, blankets, pillows, and all three mattresses. They covered Differel with a fresh blanket to keep her warm, and she continued to watch her, occasionally wetting her lips to see if she would respond and checking the bandage as Bettie scrubbed the other bedroom's floor and desk. After that, she started on dinner, being as Eile suspended her other duties until Differel awoke.

When Sunny woke up in the early evening, she didn't seem all that pleased with Differel's progress, much to Eile's surprise. Though she was glad the fever was finally gone, she was concerned about her weakness and dehydration.

"If only we could give her a saline IV!"

Nonetheless, she decided the best thing would be to let her sleep for the time being.

"How long are we gonna leave those in her?" Eile asked, referring to the maggots, as Sunny checked the wound. Even she could tell, though, that it looked much improved, far less red and swollen.

"At least through tomorrow evening, but no later than the following morning. I want to make sure they thoroughly clean the wound and give them a chance to come out on their own, but we can flush them out if necessary."

"And what if they just bore deeper inta her body?"

Sunny reapplied the bandage. "They shouldn't if Kyafus gave us the right ones."

"If?"

Sunny stood up and looked at her. "Well, we can always have a talk with that gentleman if we got the wrong kind."

"Fat lot of good that'll do Differel."

"I'm more concerned with how old they are and how clean they were to start with." Then she sighed. "But it's too late now, and they seem to be doing some good."

"I can't argue with that, but they give me the creeps."

Sunny giggled. "Hafta agree with you there, partner!"

After a quick supper, Eile and Bettie cleaned up before Bettie went to bed. She decided to take a walk around the town. She started to get cabin fever and needed some time to herself. Sunny was the one with the wanderlust soul, but despite being a homebody, in the Dreamlands she found herself also getting restless if she stayed in town too long. Besides, it was a cool night and the house tended to get stuffy during the day.

She greeted a number of acquaintances and stopped in at the Hostel of the Laughing Cat across the square from their home to chat with their friend, Eibhlín Chrón the serving girl.

"How's your guest doing?"

"Her fever finally broke."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so glad."

"She's still gotta ways ta go yet, but at least now she's outta danger."

"Then bring her over after she's recovered, I'd like to meet her."

"We sure will. Kinda odd, though, she seems really popular even though no one knows anything about her."

"She's new and interesting, and she's a friend of yours. You two say so little about your Waking lives that people are naturally curious. They probably hope she'll tell them things you won't."

"Heh, in that case, maybe we oughta lock her in the cellar."

Eibhlín smiled. "Do that, and I'll lead the mob that comes to break her out."

She grinned and chuckled. "Can't have that, now, can we?"

"I suppose you two haven't had time to cook."

"Well, actually, Bettie's been helpin' us out; she does the cooking."

"Still, you could probably do with some good, wholesome hostel fare." She picked a basket off a table and presented to Eile. "I was going to run this by later, but since you're here..."

She accepted the basket. "What is it?"

"Venison pot roast, with two bottles each of your favorite ales."

"That's really nice of you guys; thanks."

"Our pleasure. Say hello to Sunny for me." And she turned away to wait on her customers.

As she crossed the square, Shadow-Stalker appeared in her path.

"How does your guest fare?"

"Better, but still not outta the woods. Her fever finally broke, but she's asleep now. We'll know better when she wakes up."

"The Council has been praying to the Great Mother for a speedy recovery."

That surprised her. She knew the cats could be friendly, but she didn't consider them that solicitous. "Thank you, we appreciate that."

"Not at all, we understand your concern. Speaking of which, the Council has asked me to inform you that we have not yet located Mayv Hair-rayn."

"Oh. She's really far away, then."

"Yes, we're not quite sure where she went, but we will find her eventually."

"I don't doubt it. Is that all?"

"Yes, we will let you know if we learn anything else. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The cat dashed off as she went inside. She checked with Sunny to see if she needed anything, then made some warm milk and took it to bed. After drinking it and getting undressed, she lay down and tried to sleep. Their romp in the hay earlier had been as good for her as it had for Sunny. She really did miss having her partner with her, and she hoped it wouldn't be for much longer. Eventually she dozed off, and slept soundly until morning.

Next Chapter: Day 6