A Dinner Of Herbs by Yelena Kopylova Read Free Book Online Page A

went once again into the wash house and cleaned
    herself.
    Returning to the kitchen, she bent over the boy. He had not moved or made any sign of
    life since the pit
    men had lain him down there.
    Although her herbs were a cure for most things, they had to be drunk or chewed, and so, with some
    reluctance, she had followed the advice of Bill Lee and he had passed on the word to the carter going
    into Haydon Bridge to tell the doctor there that he was wanted this end, and soon.
    She washed the boy’s body, as she had washed the father’s, and put ointment on his
    bruises. Although
    his face had been covered with blood there was no open wound on him to signify that he had bled, which
    was another strange thing. She was still troubled by one other feelings, different from the premonition of
    last night, but nevertheless strong, which caused her to ask herself why there should have been such a
    distance between where the boy was hanging and where his father was found, all of
    twenty-five feet.
    Surely they would have been walking together hand in hand. Even if they hadn’t and the boy had been
    running ahead, one or the other would have been warned by the fall.
    And too, there was the fact that the obvious fall in the top of the quarry measured only about five paces.
    One of the pit men had pointed this out and his explanation was, the full force had taken the father with it,
    and the boy had tumbled to the side. But she couldn’t see it like that, the distance was too great.
    Though what other explanation was there? She didn’t know, only that she had this
    strange feeling on
    her. Yet again, if there had been evil deeds, and most evil deeds meant robbery, they
    would not have left
    him with his belt;
    most people knew what a sailor carried in his belt, little or much. She was troubled.
    The boy stirred and she quickly took his hand and said softly, “There now. There now.”
    She felt his
    brow. It was hot and sweating as if he were in a fever. Well, exposed to the night air like that he would
    be in a fever, and if she could get some medicine down him she would soon cure that. He groaned and
    opened his eyes and stared at her, then closed them again and seemed to sleep.
    The boy slept on and off for three days. On the third day, whilst awake, he looked at the men lifting a
    box from the table and carrying it away, but he showed no interest. This was caused, the doctor said, by
    something called concussion it meant that it would take time for him to come round and he had told Kate
    that none of her potions would quicken his recovery. She was just to let him lie quiet, and feed him milk
    and eggs, beaten up raw for preference, for the white of the egg would help tone his
    muscles and get him
    on his feet quicker.
    She had never heard that before, but nevertheless she did it, beating up the raw eggs and spooning it into
    the boy.
    Two things happened on the fourth day: the boy sat up, and Kate realized with a kind of horror that he
    had forgotten his past life.
    When he had sat straight up for the first time and looked about the room, she had said,
    “There, there,
    me laddie, you’re feeling better.”
    And his lips had moved a number of times before he said, “What?” then “Where?” And
    she answered
    softly, “Well now, you remember me, Kate?
    That’s what your da called me, but he made you call me Mrs. Makepeace, you
    remember? “ He made
    a slight movement with his head and his eyes blinked hard before he again looked round the room. And
    then she asked quietly.
    “Don’t you remember what happened when the quarry edge gave way and you fell?”
    “Fell?” he repeated. Again the slight shake of his head.
    Then straightening her back, Kate pulled her chin into her wrinkled neck and, narrowing her eyes, she
    said.
    “What’s your name?”
    “Name?” He looked down on to the quilt. Then his fingers moving slowly to a loose
    thread, he pulled
    at it before lifting his eyes to hers once again, and his mouth