Chromosome Quest by Nathan Gregory

Author:Nathan Gregory [Gregory, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781521499771
Published: 2015-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

Healing

Our new hosts eagerly welcomed our arrival. Once again, the castle mother had my afternoon's work laid out, in the form of a bevy of eager recipients of my boon. More or less the same events of our previous afternoon repeated themselves as I spread my wisdom amongst the eager padawans. Like the evening before, I gave them a boisterous after-dinner rendition of both Clementine and Barnacle Bill to rousing applause.

It soon became clear that we were going to stay another day which delighted our hosts but worried me. The prospect of resting another day was welcome, but the reason was decidedly not. Teena was limping, not severely, but enough to be worrisome. As near as we could tell, she did not have a material injury, just overstressed tendons, but a strenuous run on an abused and tender foot seemed ill-advised. We talked it over and agreed that another day's rest was in order.

We feared that resuming the trek too soon might result in even longer delays. We hoped that if Teena kept off of her feet, and kept her foot elevated for a day, she might recover sufficiently to resume our trip. I had initially suggested she soak it in cold water, at which point she sharply reminded me that in this climate, this culture had little concept of cold. The best they could do was 'not heated.' Room temperature was a long way from 'cold' here. I suggested trying hot water then, and she did for a while, but it didn't seem to help. We settled for elevation and massage, with some healing crème the fur-people claimed to be effective.

While massaging and wrapping her foot, I recognized faint scaring, perhaps indicative of a long-ago surgery. I examined her other foot and noted similar scars. The scars suggested corrective surgery, I speculated about what procedure she might have once undergone. I wanted to ask, but decided it was none of my business; I opted to ignore it, pretend I had not noticed.

With an unplanned day of idleness, I resumed my professional duties, seeding the next generation. A not entirely unpleasant way to pass an extra day and I am confident our host appreciated my efforts. But oh! My aching loins!

The following morning Teena seemed limp free, so after due consideration, we set out for the next castle. This one was a more extended run, a grueling forty miles. The length of this leg was precisely why we had opted to give Teena's foot another day of rest, and even so, I worried that she would have difficulty.

For this day's outing, we carried only a minimal burden. We each sported a small pack with water and food, fritters colloquially referred to as 'Journey Cake,' and nothing else save our weapons. We needed to make fast time, not even stopping for lunch, just slow and eat on a jog, then resume the pace. We only need average above four miles per hour, hardly a run, more like a brisk walk. However, that slow pace would mean ten hours on the road, stretching the limits of the safe daylight hours.

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