The Medicine Girl by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Author:Deidra Whitt Lovegren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Marble Publishing
Published: 2022-09-06T07:10:02+00:00

Both men stopped talking long enough to realize the Medicine Girl had fallen asleep, soundly snoring, right at their feet.

The Medicine Girl and general walked away, side by side, in the snowfall.

Chapter 14

Richmond, Old Virginia

“Wake up, Medicine Girl. Come and see.”

It was too cold and too early to be up, The Medicine Girl thought, rolling over, pretending not to hear the general.

After three weeks on a United Authority transport, she was lethargic and moody. She missed tending the Goatman’s animals, collecting sweetwater from the spring, and sleeping in the privacy of the cozy loft. She missed starting a fire in the potbelly stove, hearing the bleats and tinkling of the goats’ bells, trying to locate all of the eggs the chickens hid from her—a daily treasure hunt! She missed learning how to grow a winter garden and watching the roosters fight. She missed the quiet, serenity of a tiny town in Tennessee, forgotten by most. She missed the Goatman.

The cold metal of the tractor trailer chilled her blood even further, yet her goat wool tunic provided a great respite from the frigid air. Still, she felt trapped in a box on an endless highway, one she’d been traveling on for far too long.

She had grown to hate transports.

As this particular transport was a Senate Express, a score of Nonessentials were harnessed to pull the rig north on the Eight One and East on the Six Four. When the Medicine Girl went to complain to the general, he turned his world-weary eyes towards her. The senators had summoned the general to give testimony regarding the tense situation in the southern states. There was nothing he could do about the Nonessentials.

She brooded, guilty at her relative comfort in the trailer, while the doomed men labored under the lash.

***

After leaving the Goatman’s home, the Medicine Girl and the general walked to the United Authority checkpoint in Bulls Gap. A very relieved attendant welcomed them. The general had been classified as missing in action, few believing he had survived the Order of the Snake Handler’s attack. The checkpoint attendant was keen on collecting the reward for locating him, even if the general did walk up to the station on his own accord. After tending to their needs, the attendant sent out dispatch runners to Richmond, informing the Senate about Lieutenant General Chapman’s resurrection.

The United Authority’s dispatch runners had distinctive facial tattoos. they always ran in pairs. They each carried a high level universal pass, backed by the full protection of the Senate and United Authority, and a loaded weapon. As dispatch runners carried the United Authority’s intelligence between officials, two bullets in their weapons were always reserved for worst case scenarios. At a minimum, they were expected to destroy sensitive information—including themselves—should insurgents capture them.

In a few days, the transport had been arranged, as well as other United Authority officials, anxious to brief the general on the continuing instability in the region, burying him in reports and gossip and bad news.

The Medicine Girl

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