Page 26 of The Demon's Delight
Hailon’s head tilted to the side as Widow Callahan spooned a decadent berry jam onto a steaming biscuit.
“Forgive me for asking, but do your joints ache?”
The widow laughed openly. “Only always. Nothing much helps for long, especially when there’s weather coming. Another blessing of getting older, I suppose.”
Hailon finished her food and carried her plate to the sink, washing whatever she could despite weak protests from our host.
After drying her hands on a towel, she pulled out the freshly baked batch of biscuits and set the pan on the stovetop.
“Shit!” Hailon hissed, cradling her hand to her chest as she turned to the faucet.
“Are you alright?” I asked, already on my feet.
“I bumped the pan is all, just a little burn. I’m clumsy in the kitchen, always have been.”
“Here.” The widow got to her feet, retrieving a pot of ointment from one of the cabinets. “I burn myself all the time. This one will help.”
“Thank you.” Hailon applied the salve, turning back to our host. “I’m sorry, I seem to have taken too much.” The widow scooped the ointment back from Hailon, rubbing it into her hands.
“No problem at all dear. My hands are rather dry, this will fix them right up.”
“Can I ask what kind of ointment that is?”
“Just a concoction my granny swore by. Beeswax and calendula with a little arnica mixed in. Not often we get a healer ’round these parts, so we make do ourselves. Heard tell ofsomeone over in Olinbourg, but that fella who comes to peddle her ability isn’t the good kind.” Her mouth pinched. “I worry about that healer.”
If she only knew how right she was.Satisfied that the crisis was managed, I sat back down and helped myself to another serving of breakfast, unsure where our journey might lead us after we left this place.
“Do you know where we could get some better boots for her? I’m afraid the ones she’s got aren’t suited for long days of traveling.”
“They’re fine really.” Hailon frowned. “With the extra socks, I don’t slide as much.”
The older woman watched us with amusement. “Afraid those kinds of things are scarce until you get up to the Valley. Plenty once you do, though. I make a couple of trips a year to keep myself well stocked on everything I can’t get between here and Olinbourg.” She scanned Hailon head to toe. “You could always check with the girls at the bawdy house, but I’m guessing spare boots are not a likely find in their closets. I’d offer you some of my own to get you by, but I’m betting they’d be far too small.”
“That’s alright. Thank you anyway,” Hailon rushed to say, cheeks pink.
She nodded, then flexed her fingers several times, a perplexed expression on her face. “Funny. My hands don’t hurt near as much now. Perhaps I should use that ointment more often.”
Hailon offered a gentle smile, and I wondered if she’d done something neither the widow nor I could see.
We helped clean up, and the kind woman put together a whole separate pack of food for us, along with more blankets and odds and ends for camping that she claimed were taking up space in her cupboards. We were well outfitted thanks to her generosity.
“Better used by you folks than rotting away here. Hope they serve you well.”
Unable to stop myself, I threw my arms around them both. “This is so nice!”
The woman’s laugh started as a rumble but turned into a full-bodied cackle. She had tears leaking from her eyes she was laughing so hard by the time we all let go of the hug. “I don’t think I’ll forget this visit of ours. I’ll have to thank Scarlet for sending you my way. She’s always keen on a batch of my cobbler.”
She never did take any of the coin we offered, but she’d find a little stack of coins in one of her tool drawers one day soon, and the silver candlestick in the pail of grain for the chickens when she went out to feed them their dinner.
I hoped it made her laugh.
Chapter 12
Hailon
With yet a third pair of socks, a mismatched set borrowed from the widow’s pile of mending, my boots were nearly a perfect fit. My feet were snug inside the leather as we made our way down the dirt road toward the Emankor Valley. I was grateful, because the blisters had burst, and I now had rudimentary bandages over the raw skin on both heels. At least I had the ointment.
Seir mumbled to himself, his thumbs laced through the straps of his pack, and his normally jovial expression pulled tight in concentration.
