Seven of Wands

Chapter 4:
Seven of Wands

“I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.” -Bob Dylan

      As Kriss ascended slowly through the viscous stuff of fatigue laden sleep her head popped silently through its murky surface and awoke her with a sudden gasp. Her lungs ached as if she had been holding one last breathe all night. She heard voices, most distinctly the deep baritone of Patawpha's, right away. “Careful with that,” he was saying, “I've only got two of those.”

      “Does this hurt?” The second voice was Nora's followed by a deep grunt of pain and then her unsettling, mirthless laughter.

      Patawpha's voice was measured and weighty; it sounded as if he were holding something back. “The last bone you set didn't hurt this much.”

      “We have a long way to travel yet and I cannot waste all my power on you.” There was another grunt of pain that made Kriss wince. “Besides you were a child then. Now...you are a...man.” On the last word Nora's voice dropped menacingly and with a jerk she set the bone. Patawpha's sudden cry of pain had Kriss scrabbling to her feet and in mid charge before she had time to think.

      “Stop! Stop hurting him!” She flung herself at Nora's back but it was Patawpha who stopped her, caught her up in one big arm and whisked her away. “Shhhhhh.....shhhhhhh.....” he whispered, “I'm alright, I'm alright...”

      Nora sat with her back to them, still and unmoving except for the slow stirring of the coals with a long stick. As Patawpha ushered Kriss to the edge of camp she started squirming and kicking wildly, shouting to be put down. Patawpha abruptly obliged and Kriss fell into a cursing, spitting, flailing ball of anger on the forest floor. She was up in a flash, however, startling Patawpha with her speed, hammering blows down on his chest with her fists and screaming at the top of her lungs. Most of what was said was unintelligible but as she began to tire one word rose from deep inside of her and took over until she was only repeating, “why....why....why...” loud and angry at first but soon dropping to a whisper.

      Her lungs heaved once, betraying her, and she fell into Patawpha's chest, crying softly. Patawpha wrapped his muscular arms around her and it felt good to be held in spite of her wild independence. For a time grief washed over her and covered her like an ocean. She found herself alone at the bottom of the sea with nothing but her tears, loss, and the comforting, steady lub-dub of Patawpha's heart.

     It was the long, slow sound of scraping coals that finally found her at the bottom of the sea like an apathetic diving bell. That sound, with all its indifference, brought her back to her senses like a blow across her face.

      None of this was making sense anymore and she felt trapped like an animal in one of her father's snares so she put both hands on Patawpha's chest and shoved violently. This only resulted in her stumbling back a few steps, windmilling her arms wildly while trying to regain balance. She failed miserably at this endeavor and only succeeded in plunking hard again to the earth where she smacked her hands to the ground several times in frustration. The scraping of the coals came to an abrupt stop.

      “Are you quite finished?” Nora asked coldly but Kriss ignored her, staring angrily up at Patawpha instead.

      “What was she doing to you?” she hissed.

      “She was healing me. Fixing my broken arm.” He flexed his arm several times to show that it was alright.

      “Oh...” Kriss's brain whirled. “...but I broke my leg once...it was bad. Father brought a healer from town and he did not hurt me like that.”

      “My choice,” Patawpha extended his once-broken arm and offered Kriss a hand up which she took reluctantly.

      “But...why?” The rest of the camp was stirring behind her now and Kriss noticed Patawpha glance over her head and acknowledge some sort of signal. He looked back at her and sighed.

      “That's something I will try to explain later.” Kriss glared at him. “We must be on our way soon and besides...your sister is up. I think she's feeling better.”

      Kriss whirled around to see Elly rubbing sleep from her eyes. Standing next to her was Kem with a protective hand on her shoulder. Elly looked well enough but it was shocking to see her with no hair. Someone had cleaned her up during the night and every strand of her lovely red hair had come out with the washing. When she smiled at Kriss, however, her heart leaped brightly. She was still as beautiful as ever. Kriss rushed over, grabbed her in her arms, and spun her around. Only when she was good and dizzy did she remember her sister's burns with a start; she gingerly set her down, uttering apologies the whole time.

      Elly just smiled brightly and flexed her arm in much the same way Patawpha had, showing that she felt no pain. They were badly scarred from the fire but completely healed. Patawpha was at her side in an instant before Kriss could ask the question that leaped to her mind. “You have Kem to thank, Kriss. She is second only to Nora when it comes to healing. Always gentle as a lamb.”

      Kem blushed shyly at Kriss's thanks who was overcome with a sudden, inexplicable worry about her appearance. “I must..I must..look..I mean, I haven't even bathed in....” Kriss's voice trailed off as she looked down at her clothes. To her dismay they were burned and torn beyond repair. She looked at Kem whose cheeks reddened further then up to Patawpha who was grinning, clearly at some private joke, then back to Kem who looked away.

      Suddenly Nora's voice spoke from behind her, causing her to jump while bringing her back to her senses. “Here, child. I brought this for you.” Kriss did not like being called 'child' but that was not the reason she snatched the robe angrily from her hands and stomped into the woods to change her clothes. She wasn't even certain why she was angry but she felt embarrassed and vulnerable. To her great relief when she emerged from the woods everyone had begun to eat and no one seemed to notice her. She had, however, taken the time to scrub her face in a stream and tie her hair back with a strip of cloth from her old clothes. Elly waved her over and she broke her fast on a simple breakfast of bread and cheese. Afterward, Nora slice up one of the golden apples, topped it with some sort of spices from a pouch at her belt, and passed them around for everyone to enjoy. It was delicious but Kriss could not taste the spices.

      In what seemed like no time at all the camp was broken down, the fire buried, and the little group of blue-robed Discordians tramped off into the forest. Where once there had been five now there were seven. They fell into formation with the two that were still unknown to Kriss taking the lead, Kem and Elly next, followed by Kriss and Patawpha. Nora took up the rear.

     Kriss did not notice the silence at first because she was lost in her own thoughts. As her thoughts became muddy and distant she tried her best to take in her surroundings but she had to struggle to do so. No one had spoken a word since...never. Her gait was steady, matching Patawpha's stride for stride...matching everyone's stride for stride. She tried to slow down, then speed up, but her limbs were no longer under her control.

      Then she heard it. From behind her came Nora's voice in a low, powerful chant. The words were foreign to Kriss but the cadence matched her footfalls precisely. Kriss began to panic. She hated feeling trapped. As if in response, Nora's voice grew louder and it was if a shade were pulled over Kriss's eyes. Everything went strangely dark like that time Father punched a tiny hole in a leaf so that she could watch the moon gobble up the sun.

      Father...mother....they were gone...gobbled up. Dimly, Kriss's mind struggled to regain control. There was something wrong with Elly. Not her arms...Kriss hadn't heard her speak a word...had she? The shade over her eyes was abruptly ripped away and everything was...

     

      White. Like snow.

      It was snow but yet she wasn't cold. As if in a blizzard, the snow was blowing madly all  around and all she could see as she looked down was a foot. One foot...replaced by another...foot.

     

      ...foot...foot...foot...foot...foot...

      

      How long had she been walking?

      

      There was Nora's sing-song voice again...

       Kriss mustered all her strength. “Wait!-”

      The next thing she knew she was lying face down in a field of lush, green grass. 

      When she lifted her head she saw it.

      The Tower.