"Your wife?" I asked, remembering how everyone in the laundry area had been too quiet around her. "Does she have experience?"
"Someone would!" Mr. Morgan insisted.
"Good," Mrs. Worthington said. "Then that's solved. We will no longer treat anyone in the infirmary."
"You can't do that," Mr. Carter insisted. "The hunters..."
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned a bit, waiting for him to finish that. "What about the hunters, sir?"
"Women have always healed!" Mr. Morgan snapped.
"Women have always been fed equally," I countered. "It seems things have been changing lately. We are trying to be accommodating, sir. If God expects us to serve our husbands and not to care for our community, then we can do that."
"We never said that!" Mr. Becker insisted.
"Are women not a part of our community?" I asked, looking at Mrs. Worthington as if confused.
"Apparently not," she said. "But if we aren't, then there's no need for us to give to something we're not a part of, is there?"
"No," I agreed, "there's clearly not. I mean, unless this was all just a misunderstanding?"
"You..." Mr. Becker stormed right into my face and pointed like it was a threat. "Mrs. Warren, you'd best believe I will be talking to your husband about this. You are too proud and need to be put in your place."
"Yes, Mr. Becker," I agreed.
Not about the place, though. No, I was agreeing that I was too proud, and watching the four elders try to untangle the knot of words we'd just wrapped them in? It felt good. It felt powerful even.
It felt right.
But Mr. Myers was a sensible man. He waved his companions down. "I think this has all become a big misunderstanding. The women were hysterical because Mrs. Hinton had been injured. We were led to believe something underhanded was happening - which it clearly is not. Ladies, you aremorethan welcome to continue serving our entire community, and we appreciate the service all our healers provide."
Then he looked at the others pointedly. There were a few grumbles, but the other three men eventually made their way out. Begrudgingly, or so it seemed, but they still did. The women, on the other hand, waited silently. And when one leaned into the hall and signaled it was clear, all of us breathed a sigh of relief.
"That worked?" Felicity asked.
"That," I said, looking at all of them, "is what happens when we stick together. Any one of us is weak on our own, but together?"
"Together," Mrs. Hinton said around her now-bandaged chin, "we aren't helpless."
Seventy-Two
Ayla
Rymar was back, and he'd brought tents with him. I'd never seen anything like them before, but every campsite got two, with the promise of more if we needed them. I wasn't sure we would, though. Our camp was only the four of us, plus Lansin, Xav, and a reaper woman named Chlo, who was responsible for the horse and cart for our camp. She didn't own a dog, but the rest of us did.
Even better, our campsite was the closest to Lorsa. Supposedly, that made sense to everyone else. With both Zasen and Rymar here, there might be a need for them to head back at times. The shorter distance would make that easier. Apparently, Eriska was in the campsite closest to the Reaper's summer home.
For me, the difference between these camps, the normal camps the Reapers lived in, and the sorts where we'd stopped when traveling got very confusing. They all had the same name, and everyone else seemed to understand the difference. I didn't! Some required us to sleep on the ground, others had structures that could be used, and these had buildings made of fabric.
But after putting everything up and digging out a place for a fire, I was too tired to care. My arms ached in a way I hadn'texpected. So did my back from all the bending over. I'd gotten used to drawing a bow or running through the forest, but digging and lifting so much was still hard on me.
"So," Zasen said as he lit the fire between the pair of tents, "we have three shifts. Since Rymar got plenty of sleep yesterday, he and I can take this one. Lansin, you take the dawn shift, if you're good with that?"
"Who's with him?" Xav asked.
Lansin looked over at the other Reaper. "Chlo, you good with an early morning?"
"I'm a farmer, so yes," she assured him.
