That had all three children giggling.
Bianca looked up from the book of historical plagues Winnie had brought her. “Historically, geese have shown authoritarian tendencies.”
Interesting sentence from a nine-year-old.
Winnie made the goose peck aggressively at the dragon.
Billie laughed so hard, but it quickly turned into a groan as she clutched her stomach. “Ow. Happiness is painful.”
“That’s why we pace ourselves,” Winnie informed her.
I saw it all through a fever haze, strangely disconnected from reality. In my defense, I was deathly ill and surrounded by sick children, all while a beautiful woman dressed entirely in black performed shadow theater against the wall of my bedroom.
I should’ve been wondering how my life had become so absurd. Instead, I found myself thinking that if I had to be sick, I couldn’t imagine anyone I’d rather have taking care of us. I smiled sheepishly at her. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was all so ridiculous, and somehow it all felt bizarrely normal.
Winnie disappeared downstairs periodically and always returned carrying something new. At one point, she handed me a steaming mug that smelled earthy and slightly bitter.
“What’s this?”
“Willow bark tea.”
I stared suspiciously into it. “That sounds medieval.”
“It’s excellent for fever.”
I snarled at the smell, not sure how my stomach would respond. “Did medieval people tell you that personally?”
“Books,” she said smoothly. “I have read hundreds of books and love to learn about alternative healing methods.”
“Mm.”
Even though the smell didn’t sit well with me, I drank it anyway. Honestly, I would’ve consumed swamp water if she handed it to me with enough confidence. I wanted to feel better.
“Willow bark contains salicin,” Bianca said. “It’s chemically related to aspirin.”
Winnie grinned, and I found myself staring at her lips. “Very good,” she said.
Billie blinked slowly beneath her blanket nest. “I thought aspirin came from factories.”
“It does now,” Bianca said.
Winnie settled into the armchair beside the bed and picked up her own mug of tea. “Many medicines began as plant remediesfirst. Humans simply learned how to isolate the most useful compounds over time.”
Despite looking half-dead, Bianca’s curious nature had her leaning forward. “What other medicines?”
“Foxglove became digitalis, which is found in heart medicine. Mold eventually led to penicillin. Clove oil is still used for toothache.”
CJ frowned weakly. “People just… chewed random plants until science happened?”
“More or less.”
“Seems reckless.”
“It was often fatal,” Winnie explained.
Billie’s eyes widened. “Old-time people were so adventurous. I’d like to go back in time. Perhaps I’ll build a time machine.”
Thunder cracked loudly overhead, making the lights flicker again.
