Doctor Abbott Page 11

  “Looks as though your village gossip just saved your hide, Mâvis. Now your secret will stay as such.” Her defiance excited him and he meant to collect on his debt, but Lúta was finished with her bath and clearing her throat as she peered out of the curtain to the wash room.

  She was still wrapped in the bath sheet and hesitant to emerge, with Mâvis still in the room. She would spend all night bare if she did not. “Genie, I have nothing the wear. My gown was destroyed in the mud.

  Her friend had no problem shoving her husband off. He knew he would be kicked out shortly, and took a long last fixation on his wife’s hind quarters before she turned back to scold him, “Do you not have some duties to tend to, husband?” He thought twice on taking his pleasure tonight. A house full of angry Joutone women would make for a long night.

  ~~~~~~

  The next day Mâvis returned to the palace for duty. He took his food after the rest of the guards left and ate in silence as he waited for the king to arrive. He was nearly finished when Freyr finally made his way in, grabbing a plate for himself.

  “Good to see you in one piece, my friend. I heard about the battle with Bjorn last night. Why was he here, did you get a chance to question him?” Freyr sat at the table and waited for a reply.

  The interrogation was expected, and Mâvis was well prepared for it. “He was here for Lúta. I did not need to question him. I found him beating her across from the square and I killed him.” Mâvis chewed through a last bite of food.

  “Did you know that Bjorn killed the healer after he denounced me in front of our enemy?”

  “So, two traitors are dead and I have a new servant. What is our next order of business?” Mâvis drank his tea.

  “Was she not property of the palace?” Freyr put down his fork and eyed Mâvis.

  “She was married, was she not? That would make her property of her husband. Upon his death she goes back to her family. Or did you forget I enforced contracts long before you hired me?” Mâvis straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest, almost daring Freyr to question his motives, “I challenged Bjorn and won, she is mine.”

  “You cannot have two wives.”

  “Tell you what, anyone wants to challenge me for one or both, is welcome to try.” Mâvis grinned as he finished his tea and put his mug on the table. “Now, I had come to discuss our plans for Ormr, but I will simply take to my post until you have some actual plans made.”

  As the guard left Freyr sat at the table cursing the situation, Mâvis may be loyal but he was also powerful and well respected. There wasn’t a warrior in the village that would take on a challenge from the general even if they could. Should Mâvis ever challenge for position there would be no contest. There would be no escaping him. His only chance for survival would be to do away with the beast and it would take some truly underhanded work to see that happen.

  As evening fell Mâvis made it home to find the women in somewhat of a good spirit. At least until he walked in through the door. Lúta immediately silenced and went over to the sink basin to knead bread and Genevieve was brushing Jocelyn’s teeth.

  Mâvis kissed Genie and Jocelyn before he made his way to the stew pot over the fireplace looking for dinner. He leaned on the counter, dunking his bread into his stew before eating it while he silently watched Lúta.

  She kneaded the bread a few more minutes and then stopped and glared up at him. “Enjoying yourself Mâvis?”

  He replied, “Do not flatter yourself, woman. You do not even compare to my wife, I just want to see how your wounds look.” He licked his thumb clean and went to reach for her cheek when she swatted his hand off violently and growled at him.

  Lúta turned Genevieve, “How long do I have to put up with this?”

  Mâvis rumbled angrily, “I already told you, Lúta, till you find another mate. I will not throw you to the wolves, even if it is what you want.” He put his food on the table and sat to offer some of it to Jocelyn.

  Genevieve went over to fold laundry, “Honestly, Lúta, Mâvis does not really care for other women. You are safe and he is right. Do you really want to be out there at risk of some fool dragging you into the lysthus, or Avery selling you off to the highest bidder?”

  “No, I guess that is now for Mâvis to do.”

  Lúta’s reply got a retort from him, “Do you really think I want for anything? My wife and daughter have the best clothes and this is a fine cottage.”

  “Really, Mâvis? Who ever heard of a general with a one-room cottage? Even my brother lived better than you.”

  Mâvis stood and leaned over the table glaring down at her, “You know what, you are right. Perhaps I should go challenge Avery for his position. Then I can take the cottage too.”

  Lúta gasped and covered her mouth as her eyes welled up.

  “MVIS!” Genevieve scolded and swatted at him with a towel, “That was cruel, apologize to her this instant!”

  He sat right back down and lowered his gaze as he took another bite of his food, “Sorry, that was wrong of me. Of course I will not seek out a challenge from him. I have no interest in selling you and I certainly have no interest in touching you.”

  He sat quietly tooling through his food for a moment. Then he started to grin. The grin turned into a chuckle as Genevieve stood narrowing her eyes on him, warning him not to even say it. She readied the towel anyway because she knew it was coming out of his mouth. “If you two ever want to touch each other, however, you will get no protest from me.” Not a split second after the last word came out of his mouth both the women were wielding towels and swatting him out the door.

  Chapter 14

  Ben woke to an Asian man singing to himself while flipping fish on a wood-stove. The room was dark with the exception of a lantern that lit only the small space surrounding the stove. The light would not do much good in the cramped space due to the shadows cast by piles upon piles of junk. The fish did little to mask the attic style odor of the room.

  The man stopped what he was doing and turned around to offer Ben a ladle full of water from a pot on the floor. His accent was thick and his voice was very deep. “Oh, you are wake. Good. How you get here?”

  “Do you mean in general or today?” Ben replied but speaking was incredibly painful and he had to strain to get the words out.

  “When gom kill their enemy they make example of them. Not you. Two tribe leave you to die. Why?”

  “I wish I knew. So far life on this island is a complete mystery to me.”

  The Asian man handed Ben a plate with the fish on it. He was tall and thin with a dark complexion. His long black hair and beard had Ben thinking he resembled a wizard of some sort. “Hmm. I think you need new island. You have no friend here. You get well and we find you new island.”

  Ben accepted the plate and ate most of the food within a few bites before asking, “Is there any way home?”

  “Mmmm, no way home from here. I been here many year.” The man pulled a ladder over from the other side of the room and climbed it. As he peeled the curtain back to retrieve what he was after, there appeared to be stacks of jugs up in the eaves of the cottage.

  “You make the vodka. Do you supply both villages?”

  “No, I supply all villages. Gom like to eat and drink. I make potato vodka, they like it.” He smiled as he poured some for the doctor, “Here you drink. Will stop pain.”

  He accepted the liquor and took a small sip to avoid being rude. However, he feared the consequences of it thinning the blood too much to make a hearty go of it. “You said ‘gom’ this means bear, you’re Korean?”

  “Yes, Korean Rock Solja.” He pounded on his chest to display his aggression. “I come here and open liquor store.” He followed with a wink and laughed at his own joke for a few minutes. “You know Korean?”

  “That’s cute, I was stationed there for a year as a civilian army medic. What’s your name? I am Doctor Benjamin Abbott.”

  The Korean man took a swig of the jug, “My name is Young, I am fore
va Young.” He got himself chuckling again on his own pun. “Rest but be careful, you are not on ground. This tree house.” With that, the man pointed at the door and turned to wash out the bowl. As soon as he finished he climbed into a hammock above the sink basin to sleep.

  Within a few days, Ben was moving about a bit. Working his leg and cleaning the cabin to repay the man for his kindness. Each day the hermit would descend from the tree house and fill a travois with goods. He strapped it to a wolf who eagerly awaited a treat before journeying with him, and Ben would marvel at the pack of animals that followed him. He would be gone most of the day and return at night with items from the different villages.

  A few times he returned with items that could have only been obtained by contact with humans and Ben now found himself beyond curious. The tradesman had secrets, well-guarded ones.

  Each night Young would perch himself on the porch of the well-crafted tree house and drop meat to the many wolves that would show up. Some he clearly had trained and others were not from his pack judging by their cautiousness when approaching.

  By the second week Ben had been assisting him in the evenings to offer the food to the animals. A few times Young motioned to Ben to climb down the tree and join him in hand feeding the wild dogs. “You don’t find this a bit daring?”

  Young smirked, “No, they worry for their enemy more than for me. You gain their trust and then their enemy will respect you too.” He then took his two fingers and ushered Ben’s attention to his eyes, “Same is true of gom. You must gain their trust.”

  A sense of shame took over as this strategy had failed him miserably so far, “Well, all that has gotten me is nearly killed and my wife held hostage if she’s even still alive.”

  Young walked over to Ben and popped him right in the forehead, “You have stronger mind than that Abbott! Use it. You won’t defeat your enemy on their terms. They are too big to see the ground. The ground is where you must work then. If you want respect, EARN IT! Like the wolf, gom will kill what they don’t respect. Wolf respect me so gom respect me.”

  “That is just it though, I don’t want respect, I want to go home. I have been to the most God forsaken places on earth and not one compares to the savagery I have endured here. The most fascinating part is that these creatures are probably the last of their species and they will most likely be the cause of their own extinction.” Ben pulled apart a few strips of meat and offered them to the few wolves that were relaxing in front of him then he chucked a piece to one that was pacing back and forth behind them. “You trade with humans don’t you?”

  The comment got a stubborn glare from Young, he didn’t even answer, he just stomped off and climbed his tree. Ben finished passing out the meat to the eager animals and followed him up. He found a plate of fish and greens waiting for him inside but Young was already up in his hammock with his animal skin cap pulled over his face. The message was clear that this was not a discussion he wanted to have. Ben ate the food and washed it down with a hearty amount of the potato vodka before passing out.

  Chapter 15

  It took several weeks for Ben to heal. He took on as many chores in the cottage as he could to help build his strength back and even made some badly needed repairs to the place. He learned quickly that when people showed up he had to hide being that this island held two villages and both wanted him dead.

  A few times warriors came from different villages on other islands and Young would spend extra time talking to them. Once even bringing someone up to introduce himself and enjoy a meal.

  The man was not as tall as other Joutone, and his fur was a solid grey that reminded Ben of a Russian blue cat. His eyes were very black and almond shaped, Ben could not tell where the pupil ended and iris began. He seemed to watch every move Ben made as they ate. Only pausing now and then to take a drink and watch as Young retrieved various goods and presented them for approval or rejection. The predator would be right back to assessing Ben and his movements right away.

  Despite the seemingly friendly demeanor the warrior was trying to pass off, Ben could not help but feel uncomfortable in his presence. He finished his food and made his way to the ground to start on his evening chores. The stranger descended the ladder shortly after and gestured to his guards who immediately closed in on the human. Ben’s jaw dropped open at the realization of what was happening and he yelled up at Young, “Are you kidding me? You sold me, you son of a bitch!”

  Young chuckled as he waved goodbye, “I send you with two bottle of liquor. Is parting gift, enjoy.” Then he ducked back into his tree house. The guards laughed as they wrestled Ben to the ground and tied him up.

  Ben lay strapped to the travois for hours. The war party finally came to a stop to adjust their trade goods, and add some fresh hunted meats to the carts. There was but one merchant in the group and he was there merely to assess value. The rest of the warriors were there to hunt The beast that had purchased Ben was nowhere to be seen most of the journey, yet as soon as the party stopped he waltzed into camp with a sword half sheathed.

  The weapon sung as it completed its journey into the holster. He leaned on a bolder, taking a water skin that was offered to him and removing the cap before taking a drink. The creature was mid conversation with a warrior and spoke in the tongue of their people rather than English. He meant to take that drink he was after and instead he caught Ben’s bound form squirming in his ties. “Release him.” This time the words were meant for Ben’s ears

  The warrior relaxed against the rock and waited for his prize to right himself. The human stumbled as he tried to rub the feeling back into his wrists. Then desperation had him clutching at his own crotch, nearly doubling him over in pain. “Do you mind if I relieve myself? It’s been a rather rough ride.” He hoped the hint of sarcasm in his tone was not noticeable.

  His new master’s dark eyes lit with amusement, as he chuckled into his drink. “You are funny, human. By all means, take your relief.” The warrior gestured to a nearby tree as he finally indulged in the water in his hand. The warrior cleared his throat as Ben finished up. “So Doctor Abbott, we finally make acquaintance. I am Ormr.” Closing the water sack he tossed it to Ben’s feet and took note of Ben’s pause in reaching for it “I see you have heard of me. I hear we have a common enemy. The traders says it was Mâvis who shot you, although I highly doubt it.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Mâvis does not leave survivors. If it was his arrow he would have stayed to enjoy the life draining from your eyes.”

  “It was Bjorn that shot me. Mâvis retrieved the arrows and left me to die.” Ben swallowed his pain over the glimpse that day brought back. He needed to stay focused, as he was not really sure what Ormr wanted with him just yet.

  “Ah, now it makes sense to me. However, Mâvis killed Bjorn nearly two months ago. I wonder what drove that?” Ormr expected Ben to have an answer and when the news appeared to be new information for the human, Ormr took to his feet and signaled his guards that it was time to move.

  Before Ben could say a word he was pinned in the snow and bound again. The party had no intentions on staying on this island long. Instead trekking clean through the night and into the next day.

  His ties finally released on the beach. It took him a few minutes to get his strength back in his extremities. He was weak from lack of food and water, and his limbs were in pain from being bound for so long. One of the guards meant to help him off his knees and into the long boat, but he was already taking to his feet. He held up and hand to ward off the assistance but the moment he stumbled from the pain, the patience of his charge wore out.

  He was hauled off his feet and bowled into the boat. Although Ben had healed considerably since he had been shot, it still pained him to move at times and the last two days of being dragged through the woods were wearing on him.

  As the boats left shore he could feel his exhaustion taking over, and almost preferred staying on his back in the bottom of the boat. He quickly learned that wou
ld not be an option. Ormr opened his water skin and poured its contents over Ben’s head until the human righted himself. The water-skin was then offered directly to him and he was hesitant in taking it, not sure if Ormr was toying with him or not.

  A warning growl resonated from his master enough to vibrate Ben’s chest and he obediently snatched up the water and popped the top. The beast gloated over the human’s reaction, “Finally a human that knows his place in our world, that is rare, indeed. I thought you were a healer though, how is it you do not heal yourself?”

  “I’m not practicing magic. I’m just educated in medicine.” It was clear his reference was lost on the fool. “You are a strapping young warrior. I assume you spent most of your life training for combat?” His query won a nod, in anticipation of where this was going. Ben produced his hands palms up for inspection. “I have spent my entire life training my hands to correct damage and manage illness. I have no powers…I’m just educated.”

  A spark lit in the beast’s eyes. “Could you train someone else to do what you do?”

  The remark took Ben by surprise, perhaps this Ormr was not so bad after all. “Of course I could, is it something you would want to learn, yourself?”

  His master grinned and sucked on one of his fangs, “My father could heal people. When he was king he mended my leg after a sea god took me beneath the ice. It was painful. He twisted and snapped my bones, but I healed and quickly.”

  Ben was not really sure how to answer that. “I am sure that if he was capable of doing it, that you could as well.”