Once she’d counted to sixty, Lucy let Gerald exhale, then with great care, she dabbed a bit of the ointment onto his gum.
“There now, that should ease your pain,” she said.
“Thank you, kindly, my lady,” Gerald said. “My tooth is much better already.”
It would be nice to have a healer again so Lucy could focus on other things. Catherine was doing well, but she was only fifteen and still had much to learn.
She made mental notes of a few roots and tinctures that would need restocking soon.
Gerald rose slowly, stretching. “I best get back to the stables.” The stableman nodded to her on his way out.
Alone in the room, Lucy tidied up, ensuring everything was in order. Satisfied, she made her way up the stairs, and back out into the passageway, then out into the fresh air of the courtyard to clear her head.
After the dim interior of the healer’s room, Lucy needed the sun and to stretch her legs a bit. She strolled slowly across the courtyard, lifting her face to the blue October sky.
As she rounded the corner, Lucy heard high-pitched laughter as two dogs ran past her, Jason toddling after them along with another boy. They both had their wooden swords strapped to their hips.
One of the older boys nodded to Lucy as he followed, keeping an eye on her son and his friend.
Ever since Jason had learned to walk, he loved following the dogs and playing at sword fighting. The hounds indulged him gleefully, gamboling around, barking and wagging their tails as Jason climbed all over them.
Spotting her, he changed direction, charging over to her asthe dogs flopped down, tongues lolling. “Mama, we chase bandits.” The boys jumped up and down, babbling away.
Lucy swept him up into a fierce hug.
“You are so brave to vanquish the bandits.” She tickled him, making him shriek before she did the same to the cook’s son. Lucy smiled over at the older boy.
“Thank you for watching him for a while,” she said.
The boy nodded. “Cook said I could have a meat pie if I watched over them.”
The nanny had been up all night with Peter, so Lucy told her to take a nap this afternoon and let one of the boys watch Jason for a while.
With a yell, Jason called to the dogs, and they continued on, playing and laughing as he vanquished the imagined foes.
Lucy turned and passed through a stone archway out of the courtyard into the castle’s sprawling kitchen gardens. The air here smelled of freshly turned earth and drifting wood smoke from the kitchen fires.
Two boys from the kitchens knelt, weeding and preparing the beds for winter. They greeted Lucy warmly but did not pause in their task. Moving slowly along the dirt paths, Lucy decided she would expand the medicine garden next year. She would have the beds dug before the ground froze, so they would be ready for planting in the spring.
More fruit trees would be nice as well. The apple cider and apple pies had been delicious.
The fields had been sown with winter barley and oats. The grapes harvested to make wine, and the pigs let out to forage in the forest for acorns.
She sat on a low stone bench, enjoying the sun, closing her eyes and turning her face upward.
A while later, the sound of someone clearing their voice had her opening her eyes.
Awaiting her was the castle steward, who bowed respectfully. “My lady, the household accounts need reviewing when you have a moment, at your earliest convenience.”
Lucy nodded. “Of course. I will come shortly and look them over.”
The steward thanked her and withdrew. Lucy sat a moment longer, watching a pair of swallows swoop and dart after insects in the golden afternoon light. Then she drew a deep, centering breath and turned her steps towards the hall and her waiting responsibilities. Her work here was never done, but it certainly made the days pass quickly.
William should be almost finished helping to repair the garrison wall, and they could go up to the nursery to be there when Peter woke from his nap. Tonight they would eat in the solar, just the four of them, so she could spend as much time as possible with her husband before he left for York.
After the children went to bed, Lucy would talk to William to see what he thought about having a Halloween celebration with fun activities for the children.
CHAPTER 6
