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Judith’s fist was throbbing with pain, and the blood dripped in large plops onto the ground. “The falcon cut me with her talons,” she told the girl. “I must attend to it. ” She whistled for Hecate, who’d finished her reward, then turned to go into the mews. Inside, she kept cloths and a paste for such situations, for one could not be called an experienced falconer if one’s hands had no scars.
“Is it hot?” asked the girl, coming closer.
Judith stopped, holding up her gloved hand for Hecate to light. “Hot? Nay, it stings a bit, but it isn’t hot. ” She gestured with her injured hand, showing the nameless girl where Hecate had gripped her as she went into the mews.
But the girl wasn’t looking at her hand. She touched her wispy curls as she stared at Judith. “Your hair. Is it hot as fire? Does it not burn your head? And your pillow, when you sleep?”
“Ah,” Judith replied with a little laugh. “Nay, ’tis not hot. ” She smiled ruefully at the girl. “I must bandage my hand. Will you watch?”
Inside the structure that included the mews as well as a working room, Judith released Hecate into the coop area, then closed the door. When she turned, she saw that the girl had wandered in and was standing near the entrance, watching silently. It was then that Judith realized the girl wore the same expression and had the same wondrous look in her eyes as the man she’d known as Gentle Ned.
“What is your name, young mistress?” she asked, remembering the man from her youth. Gentle Ned had been the son of one of the house servants, and he would sit for hours weaving baskets or repairing fishing nets near the fire. His thick fingers had been nimble and quick while his mind remained simple and childlike all the days of his life.
“I am Lady Violet,” said the girl, drawing herself straight with a puffed-up chest.
“Very well then, Violet,” Judith replied as she opened the jar with her salve. “I am Lady Judith. ”
“I am Lady Violet,” the girl said with a stamp of her foot. “My poppy says I am a lady. ”
“Indeed,” Judith replied, spreading the paste over her wounds. The blood had begun to coagulate and soon would stop, but the salve would help to keep the bad humors for getting in through the open skin. “Very well, then, Lady Violet. I shan’t forget that,” she said gravely, wondering which of her men-at-arms had fathered such a pretty little girl.
“May I touch it?”
Judith looked at her. “What do you wish to touch?”
“Your…. ” The girl moved her hand over her head, pulling a handful of her own hair.
“My hair?” Judith hesitated, then shrugged. “Very well. Allow me to finish wrapping my hand. ”
“You have ughies,” Violet said, creeping closer with her attention trained on Judith’s hand.
“Ughies?”
“Aye. ” Once again, the girl moved her hand in a gesture in place of words to indicate the talon marks. “My poppy says they are ughies when they bleed. ”
By now, Judith had more than a mild curiosity about Violet’s “poppy,” but she was more intent on the matter at hand. “Aye, but this will make it stop bleeding, God willing,” she said, finishing with a bandage. “It is not the first time Hecate has expressed her irritation with me. ”
“Hec-ty?”
“My falcon. Did you not see her?”
“Oh, aye,” Violet replied, her eyes wide as she looked toward the mews door. “I should like to pet her and hug her. She is nice. ”
Judith gave a little chuckle. “I do not think Hecate would appreciate your hugs. Falcons don’t much like people, and they certainly don’t wish to be hugged. But mayhap some day she will allow you to touch her feathers. If you are very careful and you allow me to help you. ”
“Oh, aye,” said the girl, seeming to have forgotten her desire to touch Judith’s hair.
All at once Judith heard a commotion outside and she went to the door of workroom, opening it to see what was happening in the bailey.
“Violet!” called a strident female voice. “Violet! Where are you?”
“Violet!” came another shout—this one from a man. “Where can you be?”
Judith looked at her new friend. “Someone is looking for you. Mayhap your papa and mama?”
Violet, who’d been nibbling on the side of her forefinger, shook her head. “Nay. Mama is in heaven, and my poppy isn’t here now. ” She looked at the door, as if only mildly interested in the fact that her name was being shouted about.
By now, Judith had gone out into the courtyard, gesturing for the girl to follow her. “Here,” she called when she saw a frantic-looking woman running down the thoroughfare. “Are you looking for Violet?”
