Page 121 of Moon Chosen

“Yeah,” Mari heard herself admitting the surprising truth. “I guess it is a good thing you’re here after all.”

34

Sora poked Nik’s shoulder hard with the tip of her finger—once, twice, three times. The man didn’t stir. She looked up to meet Mari’s gaze. “He’s gone. Completely.”

Mari nodded grimly. “Okay, then we need to work fast. Help me turn him on his side so that we can slide the mat under him.” Together Sora and Mari took one of Leda’s woven mats that she’d used for everything from something to sit on when they picnicked to protection from the rain and wind when they had to hunt and gather during bad weather. “Let’s roll him onto his belly, and I think it would be a good idea to tie his arms and legs down. If he wakes up while I’m cauterizing the wound he could cause a lot of damage to himself if he doesn’t hold still.”

“Tying him up sounds good to me,” Sora said.

“You do that and I’ll start washing my hands. You need to join me as soon as he’s secured.” Mari went to the bowl filled with the hot goldenseal water, took the irons out and put then carefully in the fire, and then she began to wash her hands, remembering what her mother had told her over and over—Sweet girl, wash your hands until you think they’re clean, and then double it and wash them again. Don’t forget under your fingernails.

Sora joined her, and Mari poured some of the hot water into another bowl, telling her, “Wash them a lot longer than you imagine you’d need to, and don’t forget under your fingernails.” Mari smiled secretly to herself. Hearing the echo of Leda in her words had begun to reassure her more than make her sad. It was as if her mama was still there, in the burrow, watching and loving her.

“All washed. Now what?” Sora said, hands on hips looking at Nik.

Mari had already laid out the needles, gut thread, her mother’s smallest, sharpest knife, and bandages. While she’d placed them near the pallet, Mari had named them for Sora and explained what they were used for. The girl had listened to her attentively, which had helped calm Mari’s nerves, though she felt as if she should have waited on eating the stew as her stomach was rumbling dangerously already.

“Now you’re going to sit at his head and hold his shoulders. When I ask for something give it to me as quickly as you can.”

“What if he starts moving? Do I let him go to get something for you, or keep ahold of him?”

“That depends on what I’m doing. If I have a knife, hot rod, or a needle in his flesh—hold him. Anything else you can let him go.”

“Got it.”

“Are you ready?” Mari asked.

“Are you?”

“Absolutely. Couldn’t be more ready. I’m going to start now,” Mari said, standing by Nik and staring down at him.

“You can do this.”

Mari blinked in surprise, and met Sora’s gaze. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure,” Sora said with no hesitation. “You’re a Moon Woman, daughter of generations of Moon Women. I don’t think there is anything you can’t do.”

“Thank you, Sora.” Mari blinked away unexpected tears, and then, buoyed by Sora’s belief in her, she sat beside Nik on the pallet and began unpacking his wound.

“That looks bad,” Sora said when the moss and yarrow were cleaned from the area.

“That’s why we needed to hurry. It’s already so swollen that I may have to cut him to get the spearhead out of there.” Mari drew a deep breath, reminding herself that he wasn’t going to feel a thing—until afterward—if she hurried. So Mari hurried.

At first she was tentative, but the spearhead was lodged in there around a lot of swollen, bloody flesh, and being gentle was getting her nowhere except in a mess of more swollen, bloody flesh.

“Give me the knife!”

Sora handed it to her. Mari cut around one side of the piece of iron, slid her fingers down the bleeding skin, and managed to hook them around the spearhead. With a grunt she pulled, and the nasty, triple-pointed thing came free with a sickeningly wet sound.

“Goldenseal water and bandages, quick!”

Sora handed her one, and then the other. Mari rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the wound, being careful to watch from where the worst of the bleeding was seeping. Her mother’s notes had been clear on that. She had to know where the bleeders were to burn them closed.

“Okay, now I need the medium-sized rod. Be sure you wrap the end in cloth before you grab it. Those things get really hot.”

Sora nodded, and rushed to the hearth, coming back holding the glowing rod gingerly through a swatch of what Mari thought might be one of her clean shirts.

“Now I need you to wash the wound out one more time, press a bandage to it, hard, and when I tell you take it off and grab his shoulders. If he’s going to wake up, it’ll probably be now.”