The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

“It sounds sort of fluttery,” observedthe girl.

Elise nodded. “When you don’t haveenough water in you, your blood shrinks, and your heart tries tomake up for it by beating faster. It can be very dangerous. Look ather skin.” She pinched the flesh on the top of Myrtle’s hand. “Seehow it stands up? That’s another sign. Sometimes people get sickand can’t get better simply because they don’t drink enough to lastuntil they get over it.”

Once the tea was ready, Meganattempted to wake her mother up. It took several minutes ofshaking, cajoling and constant nagging, but eventually Myrtleroused herself enough to take a small sip. Her eyes were glazed,and it was obvious that she was mildly delirious. She failed toeven notice the stranger in her home before she closed her eyesagain.

“That won’t do,” said Lady Thornbear,pursing her lips.

“Shouldn’t we let her rest?” askedMegan. “She did drink a little.”

“Not nearly enough,” explained Elise.“She’ll die if you let her keep resting. What do you think areacceptable methods to wake someone up when they’re likethis?”

The girl thought hard for a moment,“Loud noises?”

Elise nodded, “That’s a start, butyou’ve already tried that. If that doesn’t work you could tryslapping or cold water.”

“You aren’t going to slap her areyou?!” said Megan, alarmed.

Lady Thornbear smiled, “No, but whenthe choices are between dying and putting the patient throughsomething uncomfortable, sometimes you have to choose the crueleroption. Luckily I have something here that will probably work moreeasily than resorting to such crude methods.” Reaching into herbasket she removed a small glass vial.

“What’s that?”

“Chemists call it ‘sal ammoniac’, butyou’ve probably heard it called ‘smelling salts’,” replied Elise asshe unstopped the vial and waved it under Myrtle’s nose. Theunconscious woman inhaled sharply, and her eyes flew wide as sheturned her head, seeking to escape the sharp smell ofammonia.

“Who’re you?” asked Myrtle as her eyesfocused.

“Drink this,” ordered Lady Thornbear,ignoring the question.

Myrtle shook her head, refusing thecup. “Did Nikko send you? Why are you here?”

Sighing inwardly Elise glanced atMegan, willing the girl to silence as she lied, “Yes, of course,Nikko sent me to make sure you recover. Now drink this, or I’ll beforced to have him come see you personally.”

That seemed to work. Myrtle took along swallow before pushing the cup away again, but Elise wasn’tdone yet. Shaking the other woman she spoke again, “Finish the cup,dear, or I’ll be forced to harsher measures.”

Myrtle’s eyes opened and this time shefinished the small cup before closing them again. Elise let herrest this time.

“Will that be enough to make herbetter?” asked Megan.

Lady Thornbear smiled kindly, “Ohheavens no, she’ll need much more, but she can’t take it all in atonce. We’ll let her sleep a while and then wake her up again in anhour.”

“Will you stay that long?”

“I’ll have to see to Mr. Cobb firstand take care of a few other things, but I’ll be back after that,”she told the girl.

After leaving the poor dwelling shedid indeed visit Mr. Cobb. Her true purpose was to bribe him,making certain he wouldn’t reveal her lie to the girl if asked. Shealso inquired regarding the whereabouts of Nikko, claiming she hadsome business with him as well.

Mr. Cobb was helpful enough,especially once he had seen the color of her coin, though he didseem concerned whether she meant harm to Megan and her mother.Nikko turned out to be a well-known figure in the local area andMr. Cobb didn’t mind sharing that information at all.

It was several hours before LadyThornbear returned to Myrtle’s tiny home, but she had accomplishedher goals. Megan seemed glad to see her and let her in immediately.“I wasn’t sure if you would really come back,” admitted thechild.

Elise patted her gently on the head.The girl seemed intelligent despite her youth, probably a result oflearning to survive at an early age. “My business took a littlelonger than I anticipated. Did your mother drink the rest of thetea?”

The kettle was nearly empty. Megan hadroused her mother hourly to drink more, using the smelling saltswhen necessary. Myrtle’s fever had improved as well. Lady Thornbearhad the girl fetch more hot water and prepared another batch oftea.

Once that was taken care of, and theyhad given Myrtle another cup she began asking more directquestions. “Did your mother have any unusual visitors before shebecame sick?”

The girl was reluctant to answer thequestion, possibly for fear of revealing her mother’s occupation,but over a period of an hour, she eventually relayed the entirestory, describing their strange visitor from several nights past.Without realizing it, she had gradually come to trust the olderwoman, though she would have been hard pressed to know exactlywhy.

Elise Thornbear stayed several hoursmore before finally packing her things to leave. She had learnedeverything she wanted to know, though the answers had left her withmore questions. She stroked Megan’s hair again before she left.“I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on your mother,” she saidreassuringly.

She returned the next day with acarriage and several of her gentler servants. With a bit ofdiscussion, she convinced Megan and her mother to return with herto her home in the city. The girl was nervous, but Elise gave herlittle opportunity to refuse. Lady Thornbear was extremelypersuasive when she wanted to be.

Myrtle would be given a job among LadyThornbear’s staff once she recovered, and Elise had high hopes forMegan. The girl seemed unusually bright.

Nikko died of an unknown stomachailment the next day.

Chapter 15

We flew to the west, following theMyrtle River as it made its way to the coast. Since we had startedin late afternoon we soon found ourselves flying at night but themoon was up, and Gareth seemed to have little problem seeing in thedark. The weather was clear and the moon bathed the world below usin a fascinating array of white and dark areas. The river itselfappeared black, but in the distance it would glow where themoonlight was reflected toward us.

If I had been a poet, I might havebeen tempted to craft a verse to honor the occasion, but as it was,I just settled for being suitably awed.

Moira Centyr had beensilent since we had left Albamarl behind. I still thought of her bythat