Pure

Maigred pulled the last loaf of bread out of the oven and set it on the wooden work table to cool with the others, before sliding four trays of full muffin tins into the now empty oven. She began turning the loaves of bread out on cooling racks, her mind going around and around the conversation she’d had with Cathal last night.

She had expected him to be concerned and upset when he heard that that she had proposed courtship to Finten, but he didn’t even seem very surprised. In fact he seemed to be in favor of her pursuing the tarasque. Cathal’s whole attitude towards Finten was puzzling to her. How her brother could hold no anger towards the tarasque after everything that had happened to him, was beyond her understanding.

A horrible, choked, half scream interrupted her thoughts.

She let out a sigh and glanced behind her at the donkey which was laying in a miserable heap near the fire place. She had a large pot of water boiling over the fire, waiting for Eoghan to bring back the herbs she needed for the donkey, if he could find them. The donkey had some sort of respiratory sickness and could hardly breath. It kept trying trying to bray. Maigred wasn’t sure if it was because the donkey was afraid, or because it was suffering. It was so weak, they hadn’t even needed to tie the donkey to keep it from wandering around the kitchen.

She didn’t have much hope that Eoghan would be able to track down the herb she needed in time, it was hard to obtain at this time of the year. As a last resort, she had told him, he should try to buy it from Alvie. She hated buying from Alvie, but the donkey belonged to one of the local farmers and if she lost the donkey it would be a hardship to her and her family. It was their main work animal.

The poorer people often came to Maigred with their sick or injured, because even though she hadn’t trained with Caevah for long, she was one of the only people left in their territory who knew anything about using herbs to to treat sicknesses or injuries. Alvie probably knew more than Maigred, and had nearly everything on hand to treat patients, but she charged too much. Also, sometimes Hadeaon refused to let her help people or animals that he considered expendable.

He would certainly consider the donkey expendable. The farmer that owned it was too poor to be important to him.

Maigred was sure that that if her customers know there was a donkey in the kitchen, they wouldn’t exactly be pleased, but she was not going to let it choke to death outside, waiting for help that might never come. With it inside the kitchen, at least it wouldn’t be alone and the steam from the boiling water might help loosen the mucus in its lungs. It wasn’t as if the donkey could pass its sickness to humans.

She turned out the last loaf of bread and then went over to the Donkey. She knelt next to it and petted its neck, murmuring gentle words of nonsense to try and calm it. It pressed its head against her arm and quieted again, its breathing still labored. She reached down and put her hand against its chest, she could feel the breath struggling to get through the mucus there.

She remembered feeling the tiny bit of life draining out of the leaf she’d torn off the plant the other night. She closed her eyes and reached for her hearth magic. She grasped the edges of it easier this time. There wasn’t much power there, but it was better than nothing. She gently infused the power into the donkey’s immune system. The power she shared was so little, it could have easily gone into a little finch without overloading its system, but the donkey’s breathing did ease a little.

Maigred’s face split into a wide grin.

Her confusion over how she could still be a conduit for the earth sister’s hearth magic hadn’t lessened at all, but she wasn’t ready to question it too much yet. She was still riding the wave of excitement over the fact that she hadn’t lost her powers.

She could hear the rowdy voices of children approaching the back door. She smiled and got back to her feet. Soon there were several little fists pounding on the door. She pulled the door open to fifteen or so children that greeted her with large smiles and loud voices. They varied in age from around three to eight years old. Some of the children were clearly siblings. Some of them were dressed clothes that were little better than rags, others were wearing second hand clothes, worn, but clean.

She held up a hand and gave the children a look, they quieted - a little. “Did you wash your hands?” She asked. Some of them held up their hands as proof that they were clean, others ran back to the pump to wash up.

She directed the children with clean hands through the kitchen into the dinning room, where Aoibh was just finished setting out the breakfast things at one of the tables. The rest of the children soon joined them, and silence reigned while they stuffed their little mouths, eating as quickly as they could, the same way they did every morning.

Aoibh took the opportunity to give them a reading lesson as they ate, while Maigred divided her time between the preparations in the kitchen and making sure the children got as much food as they wanted. Most of the older children paid attention to the reading lesson, and answered Aoibh’s questions, some of the younger children didn’t seem to be paying attention at all, but they weren’t too disruptive. After eating breakfast, the children helped clean up their table and reset the dining room for opening. Then Maigred had them help her in the kitchen with putting together the bundles of food she would hand out during the day to anyone who needed it, while Aoibh opened the dining room and served their early morning customers.

The donkey was a distraction to the children, so it took a bit longer to finish than usual, but eventually they finished putting the bundles of food together, and Maigred sent each of the children off with a bundle of food for themselves for later.

Finally she had the kitchen back to herself and the donkey. She put together a tray of food for Cara and Cathal. She went upstairs and dropped Cara’s tray off to her.

Cara was almost finished knitting the blanket she was working on and was thinking about what colors she wanted to use for her next blanket. Maigred made a mental note to send Eoghan to the market later to check out what colors were available for purchase. Then she went down the hall to Cathal’s door. She bit her lip before knocking softly. There was an immediate tap in reply.

She let out a breath of relief, dug the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. It opened a crack revealing only the dark interior.

“Is everything okay? I heard some awful noises from downstairs,” Cathal asked.

Maigred giggled. “There’s a sick donkey downstairs, but other than that, everything is fine.”

“A…donkey?”

“Yes. Do you want to come see it?”

Cathal hesitated. “No. I’m not ready.”

“That’s fine. Can I leave breakfast with you?”

There was a long silence before Cathal said, “Yes, thank you.” The door opened enough to admit the tray and Cathal reached out for it. “You…you can leave the key too.”

Maigred smiled. She put the key on the tray and passed it to her brother.

The tray disappeared into the dark room and the door shut.

Maigred stood there for a moment, her hand pressed to the wall beside the door. Come down soon, Cathal, she thought before turning to go back downstairs.

Eoghan still hadn’t returned.

Maigred checked on the donkey. It didn’t seem to be doing worse than before. It was resting quietly, its breathing was still raspy, but a bit better than it had been when it had arrived. She added more water to the boiling pot and then helped Aoibh with the breakfast rush.