The Wanderer

Chapter 20--Part 2

Kalysta loved the town of Mirania and had never thought she would have ended up making it her home five years ago when she had come to help Rani, but she realized that God knew what was best for her.  In those five years, she had learned more about love and having joy in the simplest things than she ever thought possible.  She was a better person for what she had come through, even if she had scars from the experience.

In fact, it was the scars from her own burns that night that had led her to learn about healing.  The healing that medicine had brought to her had seemed almost like magic.  It called to her and awakened a passion to help others.  She still remembered her hesitant trip to the healer's hut and her stammered request to learn. The first time she had helped someone really sick recover to return to their normal life, she knew she was hooked.  The joy she brought through something so small was irreplaceable.

Sure it was a lot of hard work and wasn't always full of happy endings and joyful endings, but more often than not filled with sweat, tears, and anger, but helping people work through it the sad and frustrating times was just as addictive as feeling like she had concurred death by healing a gravely injured townsperson.  Her passion for her newfound calling as well as her competence kept people coming to Kalysta for help.  If she wasn't in the market selling poultices, creams, and tinctures, it seemed like there was a never ending line of townsfolk lined up at her door to get her opinion or help with some malady or the other.  It made for a busy life.

But as much as she loved the bustling town life and her loud, silly family, she missed the quiet time to herself.  Her time in the forest picking herbs gave her that alone time to reflect and recharge like nothing else did.  She didn't have much time in her busy schedule with taking care of the kids and Lois, making goods and selling them at the market, working the garden, and taking care of the home.  It had been especially busy the last two years since Rani had left to work at the palace.

Rani was a wonderful cook and a particularly skilled baker.  When she still lived at home, Rani used to make sweet treats that Kalysta would take to market to sell.  Mostly it was small things like meat pies, sweet rolls, pecan buns, and gingerbread cookies.  The townsfolk, especially shopkeepers, loved to buy Rani's treats and most of them were gone before midmorning.  However, sometimes Rani would have some extra time and she liked to make beautiful cakes.  Kalysta would slice the cake and sell it to whoever wanted some.

One day, when Rani had made a particularly beautiful cake, a stranger walking through the market saw it and bought a piece.  After tasting the delicious morsel, he insisted on meeting the woman who had made such a beautiful and delicious creation.  Kalysta took the stranger to meet Rani.  The man shocked them all by telling them that he was the king's chief steward.  He had been traveling through town on his way to escort the king's silversmith back to Lapiers.  He was so impressed by Rani's creation that he wanted her to come back to the capital with him and show the king her impressive creations.  Rani couldn't pass up the opportunity and had gone with him.  It came as no surprise to anyone when she was offered a position at the castle as head baker.

While the whole family could've packed up and moved to the royal city, Rani preferred her children to be raised in the smaller town with the people that had been there for her when she needed them most.  She couldn't bear to think of leaving the town that had become her family.  So, Kalysta had offered to stay with the kids and Mrs. Endicott while Rani was at the castle.  With Rani bringing in so much money, the really didn't need Kalysta to still go to market, but she enjoyed it and the town counted on her to sell herbs and medicines after the previous healer had passed away.

Kalysta smiled to herself, feeling like she could breathe, relax, and be herself out here in the empty forest.  The rustle of leaves above, disturbed by an owl's flight reminded her that she wasn't really alone out here.  That was the wonderful thing about the woods, as empty and vacant as they might seem at any given moment, they were actually full of life.  Birds and woodland creatures going about their way, bigger animals hunting for dinner in the dark, and the  littlest, tiniest creatures busy making empires and helping bring in the seasons through all their hard work.

A light breeze rustled through the trees as Kalysta continued walking, searching the ground for familiar plants.  Coming into a clearing she noted the almost spiky purple flower of wild bergamot.  Sitting her basket beside her, she withdrew a small knife from her kerchief and began slicing pieces of the plant off to place in her basket.  She took care not to crush the leaves as she separated the flower from the stems.  She would find use in the leaves also, so it was important to take care in how she cut the plant.

The darkness deepened as she finished up cutting the bergamot and she stood carefully, shaking off her stiffness from kneeling so long.  Picking up her basket, she continued her quiet walk through the forest.  The night was much quieter now, most of the forest creatures having retired to sleep by now.  She made her way deeper into the thick trees.  She rarely strayed this deep into the forest, but she had exhausted her supply of rarer roots that could only be found on the other side of river.

They took a long time harvest and if you weren't careful, you would ruin the root and it would be unusable.  She disliked gathering these tedious roots, but luckily she only had to do it about twice a year--once in the beginning of spring, gathering the slumbering roots that had survived the winter, and then again right before fall to harvest the summers' bounty.  However, she had missed the early spring harvest this year because she had been ill and she was running low on her supply from last year.  Luckily, the villagers didn't have much need of these roots often.  They were cures for more obscure forms of poison, but she liked to have them on hand just in case someone was poisoned by some unknown agent.

The river was one of the only location these particular roots could be found.  To be honest, she usually ended up selling most of it to servants of higher ranking nobles from the capital city.  With so much intrigue, a noble could never be too safe and if nobleman were anything, it was paranoid.  The roots themselves took too much time to harvest and without the right knowledge on how to extract them, all your hard work would still leave you with nothing.  It was just easier to buy it than to try and harvest it themselves.

As she walked further, the leafy crunch of the ground under her footsteps transformed to a more sandy, soft dirt.  The leaves seemed to disappear as the trees thinned out a bit to make way for bushes and tall grass that grew leading up to the river.  She chewed on her lip, surveying the rushing water as she stepped up onto the banks of the river.  There had been much rain in the recent weeks, which was good for the soil and would make her job of gathering the roots much easier, but it made crossing the river more difficult.

The batch of roots she usually gathered from was located in a clearing just on the other side of the river.  Dipping the toe of her boot in the water she felt the stream try to snatch her under.  It was much too strong to try and cross right here, she could be swept downstream.  She watched the water run swiftly downstream and tapped her damp toes considering her options.  She walked further downstream, trying to find a better place to cross.  She had to walk a for a while before she finally found a place with rocks high enough she could walk on them across without risking slipping and falling into the raging river.

She stepped gingerly over rocks, carefully making her way to the other side of the bank.  The night seemed to grow very dark as the cloud crossed over the moon and she took a moment to get her bearings.  She didn't usually approach the herb clearing from this direction and she wanted to make sure she didn't accidentally miss it.  It was pretty hard to find even when she went the same way every time.  There was very dense foliage around the clearing that kept it hidden.  That was part of the reason the roots grew so well there.  The shrubs created a peaceful area that no one disturbed and it was close enough to the river that it stayed nice and moist.

Kalysta slowly sauntered down the river bank, carefully scanning the trees to her right trying to make out where the path was located.  The trees spaced out leaving a small trail between two large oaks.  Kalysta smiled knowing she found the trail.  Turning she made her way carefully towards the trees.  The night continued to grow darker, especially as she passed under the thick branches of the trees.  She slowed her steps, being careful not to trip over the thick roots.  She could vaguely make out the thick bushes where the pathway appeared to end.

A harsh whisper cut through the night, making Kalysta's heart rampage and her feet still.  Completely still she held her breath, listening in the quiet night.  About the time she started to think she had made it up, she heard it again.  It sounded like it was coming from the clearing ahead.  Pursing her lips and furrowing her brow, she strained her ears, trying to make out what was being said.  As she listened, she couldn't tell exactly what the words were being said, but she could distinguish several different voices.  An inner voice told her to walk away because no good ever comes from whispered meetings in the dark forest, but stubbornness kept her where she was.  However, it was curiosity that finally drew her closer.