Éire’s Captive Moon by Sandi Layne Read Free Book Online Page B

each other, eyes wide with fear.
    “You are brave, my children,” Charis assured them with a nod. She took the youngest in reach into her arms and nuzzled downy black curls. The gesture set off several sniffles among the pale faces and tousled heads. “You know what to do?”
    Aislinn, a girl of ten summers, nodded. “We go to the tunnels, Healer, until you or the others come for us.”
    “ Isea , my girl. You do.”
    Thinking it would be a simple matter to just lead them to the tunnel’s entrance at the blacksmith’s other fire pit, she beckoned to them and started walking, still carrying the infant in her arms. But what had been a rehearsed, orderly sequence of events turned into noisy chaos as parents came to hug their little ones, and children darted away, bawling, to beg to stay with Ma or Da .
    Charis’s heart twisted inside her breast, but there was no help for it; the children had to be hidden, for their safety and that of their families. With hidden exasperation, she called them, gestured, and even dashed off over muddy, sticky ground to gather them back again.
    “Come! Your safety is important! Your parents cannot concentrate if you’re not safe!” She darted a fierce look at Devlin, who had helped with a couple of recalcitrant boys. He met her glance with a lifted brow, but that was all. Finally the children were in order, paired with a sibling, cousin, or friend, and they straggled in a rough line toward the smith’s fire.
    Once there, Charis gave the curly-haired boy into Aislinn’s care. She was a leader among the children, showing promise as a warrior and a healer both, even at her age. “You go first to reassure the little ones,” Charis said gently.
    The blue-eyed girl’s lips were pinched as she tossed a longing look over her shoulder to where her brothers were arming themselves. After a silent moment, she nodded. “I will go.” To those behind her, she offered a thin excuse for a smile. “Come! Those Northmen are too stupid to find us here!”
    Some of the older ones tried to smile bravely as they followed Aislinn into the dark, slanting throat of their tunnel of refuge. Charis counted them as they passed her.
    She kept a reassuring smile on her face, wishing to erase the fear that flashed in their eyes, if nowhere else. These children knew her; she was their healer. She fought pain and death. Often she won, sometimes she lost. Will you make it not hurt? Huge, frightened eyes begged her. Will you fight this, too?
    I will , she promised with a nod. Not for her to hide here, though. She would fight!
    “In you go now, Eithne. You, too, Aidan. That’s the way.”
    Charis filed in last, carefully wedging a stone in the low opening so that she could see the small fire that burned a child’s pace away. Low, edgy voices were just ahead, and Charis mentally approved of the flickering candlelight. It was so dark that the children would be afraid to be there any longer than necessary.
    “Healer! What do we do when the babies cry?” Boy or girl, Charis couldn’t tell from where she was, but the speaker was low to the ground, several paces ahead.
    The healer tried to infuse her voice with strength and security, much as she would make an infusion for healing purposes. “Give them something sweet to suck on, or allow them to suckle on your finger. Bounce them gently. Sing quiet songs. You will find ways, I know. You have seen your mothers quiet the wee ones all your lives.”
    After a few more questions, Charis told the children to take care of each other. “We will come for you when we’ve defeated the Northmen,” she concluded. Before leaving, she touched Aislinn on the shoulder and pulled her a pace away, around dirty legs and small bags of provisions the children were already passing around.
    “Yes, Healer?” the girl whispered.
    “You know how to open the door from within, right?”
    The girl nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Charis’s face. “Yes . . . do you think I’ll