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The Witch and the Alchemist (closed)

From the womanâ??s reaction she could tell that this tradition was not practiced around here. She had yet to find another place where this was practiced... it could be because it was started by her kind father but it was such a wonderful tradition that she thought that it should be practiced in many places if not everywhere. There might be less fights if this tradition was practices but with the greed of people today it might be a bad idea. It was not a far stretch to thin that someone might want to start a fight with someone just so that they could make up and get a gift or to think that someone would simply give away something that they donâ??t want anymore. The point of this was to give away something that was dear in some way, whether it is dear to you or dear to the other person. Since she could not bring herself to give away the little that she had she decided that Landon would love this.

There was a lot more to this tradition then she told Abigail but she decided that explaining it now would be silly. She was sure that she could have easily gotten the people here to just give the items to her but there had to be some kind of sacrifice when giving. Regiving a gift that was given to you was seriously frowned upon unless it was truly desired by the person that you got into a fight with. This was why she couldnâ??t give him something that was given to her., that and she thought that it would be very rude to just take something form someone just to keep going a small tradition. Even if the woman didnâ??t fully understand the tradition she supported it and that was all that mattered to her.

Now she had to listen carefully to what the woman said. She didnâ??t know these people and she didnâ??t know who would have what she would need and getting what she needed would be very important if she decided to continue to practice in this town. She hoped that she could. If things went well then one day she may be able to come out as a witch and maybe even force the father to leave this town. Maybe then she could settle down and meet someone nice that would be willing to have her as a wife.

Landonâ??s face flashed through her mind and she winced slightly. "I would never take a woman so untrusting of me and my motives and so anxiously prudish--when all I want to do is help--as my wife. Especially not you." The words played back in her head and she began to wonder if one more move might be necessary to find a good place and a good man. She was not big on the heat and she felt best next to a forest, or, even better, in it. She hadnâ??t really had the best experience with the desert so far so she wasnâ??t so fond of the idea of staying in one... but the people here were so kind to her, she never got this kind of welcome anywhere else and she found it hard to imagine getting this kind of welcome again.

She listened to what the woman said about the jobs that they had here she would need some way to make money if she was going to live here. At least until she could find herself a husband and she didnâ??t believe in marrying because you were of age or for money like she knew that some other people did. â??So... I will go from person to person and learn their professions... or will some one person teach me all that I need to know?â? she asked the woman as she tried to think of what she would be doing now that she was all better. At least she hoped that nothing else would happen.

â??Well.... if it makes any difference I can sew.â? She said with a smile. â??I like to make clothing, I used to make my own clothing after my mother died. Our family didnâ??t have much and my father liked to give back to the community, he wasnâ??t a greedy man by any measure. I got to make our clothing with wool from our sheep but I think it would be too how for any sheep here...â? she observed. â??I think I would be best in making fabric. Then hopefully I can make the fabric and the clothing... I donâ??t know if people trade their clothing around here but I would like to make some new clothing for some of the people around here and for myself if I can.â? She told the woman with a smile. It seemed that sewing would be one skill that she would not have to learn.

She smiled, happy that there was something that she could do right, â??You just stay up here and I will be back with whatever I have okay?â? she said before she left and went off to the room that Abigail had given here. There was a reason why she didnâ??t want the woman to come with her. Se didnâ??t want her to see all that she had. Over time Dorelia had managed to gather up a lot of things form a lot of places. Tea readings had gotten her a lot of money, even if they got her kicked out of a lot of places and into a lot of trouble for being a witch. People paid for even a hint of the future but she knew that if she suddenly showed that she had all that she did they would wonder why it had not been stolen and how she had managed to get it all. Prostitution was an easy excuse but she really didnâ??t want to do that.

She pulled out all that she had to get a better look at it. She had a few necklaces and rings, as well as bracelets. They were things that people had traded for the readings, but it seemed that coins would be the safest to use, the easier to explain and simply all around easier. She had several different coins form several different places. She decided to pick up a few coins form a few places that she had been and she took them with her, hiding a couple on her person but taking about five in hand. They were gold coins and they should cover anything that she needed to get since the items were so cheap.

When she came back she showed the woman the five golden coins. â??Do you think that this will be enough to get the bowl and some tea leaves?â? she paused and thought for a bit, â??Who grows tea plants?â? she asked the woman, hoping that maybe she could get a plant along with some dried leaves. She looked down then back at the woman. â??Um... Abigail... would you mind? I donâ??t know who has the items that I need.... would you mind going with me?â? she asked the woman, hoping that she would show her the way to the people who she could buy the items form.
 
"Shit!" Landon cursed under his breath as yet again, the liquid in the beaker changed color after being mixed with another and he'd missed it because his mind had been wandering. He'd done this experiment 3 times before already, and every time had zoned out during the crucial part. He was at a point where he didn't even remember the color of the original liquid. There was suppose to be a reaction and he kept missing it! Ever since he'd figured out how he felt about Dorelia it was like he couldn't get her off of his mind. Even when she wasn't there she was distracting him from his work. Lan groaned aloud and scrubbed both hands through his short hair, frustratedly.

Mostly, he kept thinking about the baby she was carrying. He had to tell her about it, of course, but then he also thought how she would need a man to take care of her. Not himself; he'd already told her how he didn't want her as a wife, but every time he thought about one of the other bachelors in town stepping up to the plate, a surge of emotion filled him--what was it? Jealousy? Why would he be jealous? But still, he couldn't help but criticize everything about each man who could possibly become her husband. Even though he'd already decided he would not be worthy, it still was hard to let go and offer the chance to someone else who might not do it well.

Stop it! he thought to himself, massaging his neck with both hands and touching his forehead to his work table with another groan. Quit acting like a love sick puppy! You've got work to do so cut it out! But even so, she plagued his thoughts and he couldn't concentrate on the work before him. Lan let out a sigh as he stood up straight and started to try the experiment over again. He would not be overcome. He would be in control.

-----------------------

Abigail got a considering look on her face before she answered. "Well," she said thoughtfully. "If you wanted to learn women's skills, then you could go to any woman in town and learn everything you need to know. But for professional skills, then yes, you would have to go to certain individuals." She whole-heartedly supported Dorelia in her decision to find a job and was very proud of the girl's goal to stand on her own two feet. Abigail herself had never needed to depend on a man, and had dedicated her life to her job as a nurse and midwife. Even though those in town talked about her behind her back and used words like 'spinster' to refer to her, it didn't bother all that much. She'd had a life full of her own experiences and gained a lot of knowledge for herself. It would have been nice to have developed relationships and gotten a family along the way, but she was on her own and didn't need for anyone else to take care of her.

That Dorelia was setting her sights on that instead of looking for a man right away, made her very proud. It would help her in the long run if she ever eventually did find a man and if something were to happen to him--God forbid--she wouldn't be left helpless and needing another husband right away. It was the way things should be, in Abigail's opinion, but some women were just as fulfilled being supported by someone else all their lives.

Hearing about Dorelia's ability to make clothing, Abigail got a delighted look in her eyes. "Oh my dear, that'll be wonderful!" she said, folding her hands in front of herself. "Beatrice, the seamstress, makes all of the clothing for everyone in town. She's very good but like I told you before, she's getting older and the work is hard for her. An 80 year old woman can only take so much sewing in one day and it tends to go slow for her." At the mention of sheep, Abigail briefly gave her a description of a long necked, wooly hoofed animal that they herded for their fleece called the guanaco. "That's where Beatrice gets most of the fibers she needs for the clothes she makes. I'm sure she'd welcome your talents and any help you could provide." Not wanting Dorelia to think she HAD to work with Beatrice, she quickly added, "But if you wanted to work from home, that would be fine too. I'm still sure it would be a lot of help for her with two people working at the same task."

She nodded politely when Dorelia excused herself away for a moment, glad not to follow her and pry into her business. Abigail couldn't help but be curious though and wondered what the girl had with her from the lands she'd lived in. Such an odd custom, this gift giving thing. When people had an argument in Altara, they usually used their words to say they were sorry. Everybody shared everything with everybody here and there was so little that was actually valuable that someone had, they wouldn't give it away unless to get something in return. But, Abigail didn't judge; if this gift giving custom made Dorelia feel better about apologizing, then she supported her. And besides, Lan would probably be kinder towards her if she brought him something to show for it. Afterall, who didn't feel better when they got a present?

When Dorelia came back into the room and showed her the gold in her hands, Abigail blinked in surprise. "Yes, dear," she said, nodding her head and giving a reassuring smile. "That'll be more than enough." It wasn't the most money she'd ever seen, but it was still a large amount for this town. Most of the shop owners would be giving her most of the money they had to provide change for whatever she bought from them.

"The herbalist, would most definitely have tea leaves," she said, a warm smile spreading on her face. "And I will gladly take you to her and anywhere else you need to go, dear." She couldn't be happier that despite being a grown-up, Dorelia was still willing to allow Abby to be involved and help her.

--------------------

Susanne stood in the main room of her house, washing her somewhat dirty hands in the sink. She'd just spent the morning out collecting different herbs and tending to her garden...in her house. Every surface in the room had a potted plant on it--windowsills, tables, shelves and some even sticking out from the cupboards. And even more dried herbs, tied together in bands were hanging on hooks around every surface. On first appearances it seemed her house was a jungle, until you looked closer and saw the wood underneath where the plants rested.

Susanne, known lovingly by her friends and neighbors as Susy, was the town herbalist. Just a young woman of 25, she had dark, auburn hair with feathered bangs and a long braid hanging down the middle of her back. Rosy cheeks and green eyes, with pretty pink lips--she was probably one of the most beautiful girls in town, if not THE prettiest. And she was lovable and sweet and kind to everyone, always wanting to help and she adored plants of any kind. That she could combine her desire to help people and her love of plants in the form of raising herbs, was her life's calling.

She'd started just a few years ago, after her mother's death and had taken up the craft her mother had chosen for herself. Susy hadn't really known anything about herbs before then, and was mostly working based on an old notebook her mother had kept. But still, it was mostly through trial and error and trying to decipher the old notes, but she was still learning and had gained a lot of experience since she'd first started. People didn't often come to her for their needs, unless they wanted to restock on cooking cpices, but that was mostly because Landon was the healer in town. But he got most of his supplies for medicines from her anyways, so indirectly she was still helping people. Mostly, people avoided her unless contact was absolutely necessary, but that was the fault of Father Justin. When she'd first started out, she'd been working close with Landon in the hospital and often came to administer the remedies needed. When they miraculously worked consistently enough, the priest had jumped on her case and started calling her a witch. Lan eventually got everyone quieted down about it, but it was one of those things that nobody wanted anything to do with her after that. It was like, 'yes, you were proven innocent but from a biased source...'

Their hesitance to completely discount things came from the relationship she'd had with Lan at the time, especially with the rumors that the two were going to be married. The townspeople believed Landon when he explained she wasn't a witch and they listened to him when he told them not to bug her about it. But it never sat right because of how close they had been at the time the charges had come about. And apparently, Lan didn't want anything to do with her after that either. He'd been so receptive before, flirting with her in her shop, or showing her things in his lab--glorious wonderful things that the magic of science allowed him to do. But after the thing with Father Justin accusing her, he'd just stopped showing interest, grown cold and distant, always busy with work and never laughing with her again. He still came by when he needed ingredients for his experiments and medicines, but the affection he used to have in his eyes was gone and he never stayed to chat with her.

It made her mad at him, especially when she'd been sure he had intended to ask her to marry him, but now she found solace in her own work. She didn't need anybody so long as she had her plants and although she still liked to help people when they gave her a chance, it wasn't like the naive idealistic desire she'd once had. But she never let any of it get her down and the women in town accepted her at least--they just didn't want anything to do with her herbs is all, if it meant she'd try and 'heal' people with them. Susy understood and accepted her place with humble grace, content to be alone in her garden and trying to reach her mother through the notes she'd kept.

She stood at the counter, tying up some old roots she'd found--not really sure what they were--either ginger or galanga; when Abigail walked in with Dorelia. She heard the little bell above the door ring and turned to look and smiled when she saw the two women, her face brightening with a soft glow with the expression. Abigail smiled back at her and glanced at Dorelia before speaking.

"Good afternoon, Susy," she said in her soft, matronly voice. "I would like you to meet Dorelia. She needed some things and I thought it best if she got them from you. I hope we're not interrupting anything."

"No, not at all," she said, smiling that cheerful happy grin. She wiped her hands on her apron as she came towards them, her gaze friendly and open as she looked at Dorelia. "No, come on in. Have a seat," she indicated some chairs at the table and briskly moved a few potted plants sitting on the seats, putting them precariously on the edge of the crowded table. She gave a small upbeat grimace and laughed a little. "Sorry. It's a mess in here. Been meaning to organize things but, there's just so many..." She shook her head with a small sigh and giggled again. "What can I do for you both?"
 
She thought over what Abigail said and she smiled, she didnâ??t need to be a professional at everything. If she got too good at everything then they would surely call her a witch and if she spread herself too thin then she would not get good enough to be a professional at anything. The woman seemed to support her and that was very important. She wasnâ??t sure what she was going to do if this woman didnâ??t support her. This woman was all that she had here. Especially with Landon mad at her. If Abigail was one of those women that encouraged girls to get married at a young age then she would be in trouble because she would have to get married to appease this woman or stay at the hospital and she liked it much better here.

She was so happy when the woman seemed excited over her abilities. She listened to what she said about the seamstress and she smiled, thinking she might be able to work some magic into the clothing that she made. It was much easier to make things when magic was involved and she could have things so much faster. She listened to what the woman said that they used for fleece and she looked at her confused. â??Quanaco?â? she asked the woman curiously. â??Whatâ??s a Quanaco?â? she asked the woman confused. â??Is it some strange kind of sheep? Of Donkey? Of fluffy dog or something?â? she asked the woman confused. â??Are they herded? Or are they not pack animals?â? she asked the woman, completely clueless as to what these things where. She had never heard of them in her life.

She heard what the woman said about working from home and she just smiled at Abigail. â??As lovely as working from home would be I think that might make for competing busyness and it would be just horrible if some new girl were to show up from nowhere and steal all of Beatriceâ??s busyness after she spent her whole life doing this. I wouldnâ??t dare do that to anyone. Iâ??d imagine that this is her livelihood and to live to such an ageâ?¦ I havenâ??t known many to make it past sixty years old. To live past eighty is quite a feat.â? She told Abigail smiling as she spoke. She wondered curiously if there was any magic involved in her long life or if it was just a very good life and she was taking care of herself very well.

Abigail seemed slightly surprised by the amount of money that she had. She wondered how poor this town was. It seemed like they shared everything so while they might have great collective wealth she doubted that they each had much individually. She was glad that she had not showed the woman all that she had. Surely the woman would have been asking questions then and those were questions that she was not sure that this woman would be ready to hear the answer to. For now it would be best if she kept things quiet until everything settled down. Though she doubted that the father would ever cool.

His reaction to her worried her on some level. She was reminded of her motherâ??s reaction and all of the things that she had tried to do to try and get rid of her. She remembered her mother â??accidentlyâ?? pushing her down the stairs, beating her, leaving her out during storms, no doubt hoping that she would get ill. She had tried to starve her and would have poisoned her if her father had been any less of a man then he was. He noticed what his wife was doing and worried that she might try to poison Dorelia so he went to the town apothecary to warm him not to sell Doreliaâ??s mother any poison, not for rats or anything. Sure enough the next day the woman tried to buy some poison but the man did not sell her any. She remembered her motherâ??s slow descend into madness, it must have been so hard for her father to watch, the woman he loved turning on the child he loved.

She brushed those thoughts from her mind, convincing herself that the preacher of this town was much too strong minded to descend into madness like her mother had. She was able to distract herself form things as she was lead to where the herbalist lived. Despite the heat the town seemed so lively. There were always people out and about, there were the woman hanging things out to dry and some men building new things. She noticed one man that caught her attention easily. He was tall and muscled, with tan skin, blue eyes and midnight black hair. He noticed Dorelia looking his way and he smiled and winked at her. Dorelia blushed and looked away, realizing that she had slowed when passing him she hurried along to catch up with Abigail, she would ask who he was later.

When they entered the womanâ??s home Dorelia gasped in shock at the place. She looked around at all of the wonderful plants that this woman kept in her home. It looked like one of the lush forests that she grew up in she for a few moments she was very homesick for Babaâ??s little cabin in the middle of the woods. If only she could see this, itâ??s like a little paradise in the middle of the desertâ?¦ she thought to herself, only barely hearing what the woman said. It was a few moments after the woman finished speaking that the girl even realized that they had moved from their space and were now sitting at the table.

She blushed, â??Oh, Iâ??m sorryâ?¦ I was justâ?¦. Surprised.â? She as she sat down with the woman. â??I have to admitâ?¦ after seeing nothing for so long I was beginning to think that this place had no life. Well, other than the peopleâ?¦. But to see all thisâ?¦ well itâ??s almost like being home againâ?¦â? she said with a smile as she looked at the woman. If she had to work anywhere she decided that she would love to work right here with this woman but she knew at that instant that it was a bad idea. If she worked here she would be brewing potions and that was the last thing that she needed to do right now, especially for work and pay with a man like Father Justin around. She wondered how this woman had managed not to be burned for witchcraft yet. The woman didnâ??t smell of magic so she knew that she couldnâ??t be a witch but some witch must have left this behind for all of this to be here.

â??Iâ??m sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Doreliaâ?¦ Iâ??m form out of townâ?¦ sort of.â? She said with an awkward smile, not really sure how else to put it. Then she rolled her eyes, â??Just in case you havenâ??t heard the horrible gossip that went around when I arrived, Father Justin thinks Iâ??m a witch. He even had me dragged from my bed and through town in my nightgown to take me to trial!â? she seemed aggravated about it and she was though she felt that she had right to be. â??But enough about that. I need a tea leaf and a wooden bowl. Do you think that I could buy that from you? Um, this is what I have, will this be enough?â? she asked, opening up her hand to show the five gold pieces. â??And I donâ??t suppose I have enough to get a tea plant do it?â? she asked the woman hopefully. She really wanted the tea plant. Tea leaves were important in many of her spells and potions and without them she wouldnâ??t be able to do much while she was here.
 
Susy smiled understandingly when the other girl apologized. It was understandable. Many people were caught off guard when they first came into her shop, after the barrenness of the desert. The state of things in the house both delighted and shamed her. It was so beautiful being surrounded by green but there was no order to any of it and she often got lost when looking for things. Her bedroom was even worse, but only because there weren't any tables or shelves in there, so most of the pots were sitting on the floor, crowding around the bed and the dresser, with small pathways between. She remembered her mother having order to things, but she couldn't seem to do so herself. Progressively things had gotten out of hand..

When Dorelia introduced herself and told about what had happened to her, Susy nodded gravely, giving her a sympathetic look. "I know, I heard," her eyes were a bit wide as she looked at Dorelia, curious and yet polite still. "Catherine told me what happened with the trial and about how Dag Coplin dragged you into the courtroom like a wild animal with your back all hurt." She shook her head in disgust at the man's actions. "Man never did know how to treat women right. And that priest is..." she shook her head again, sighing heavily, her mouth a tight grim line. She had learned from experience that most people did not think kindly of her speaking ill of the man, even though they knew she'd been falsely accused and her reputation torn to pieces by him. And he never apologized! EVER! She didn't think Dorelia would mind, since she'd been in the same boat as herself only worse and she knew Abigail did not like him either, but still she guarded her words out of habit.

"He's accused me of being a witch too," she said in a slightly bitter tone. "He thinks every woman is easily swayed to perform evil acts and be the bride of Satan. And I know for a fact, that almost every woman in town has had his finger pointed at her for something and yet they all act like I've got the plague still!" She shook her head and took a calming breath. This still bothered her somewhat; Father Justin was a touchy subject. "Hopefully, you'll have a better time of recovering than I have. Accusations like that can ruin a person's life." Susy's tone was soft and sympathetic. She really did hope Dorelia escaped the scorn of the town. She had a small circle of friends, but nobody ever got close and although she dealt with it in grace and optimism, it still hurt. But from what she'd heard of Dorelia, it seemed the girl was already doing much better acceptance-wise than she.

When Dorelia changed subjects, Susy nodded her head politely. Yes, enough of that foolishly upsetting topic. When she asked her for what she needed, she listened aptly, nodding her head while thinking, Now where did I put my tea plants? Two possibilities popped into mind: either they were on the shelf by the back door or they were somewhere in the bedroom. She'd tried to organize things before but finally had given up when she couldn't really tell the plants apart. Some she could, but a lot of them she was still trying to learn to recognize.

When Dorelia offered her the money, she started to wonder to herself what she would charge for just a leaf and a bowl before her mind came to a crashing halt at sight of the coins in the other girl's hand. Susy's eyes were wide as she stared at the money. The most she'd ever gotten was a few silver pennies or things in trade--after all, most people came to her for spices and weren't willing to spend a whole lot. She'd had to give in a lot as far as prices went. Lan usually gave her good money for medicines, but he was the only one who paid her coin.

Even just one of the coins in Dorelia's hand would be the most money she'd ever seen in her life and there were FIVE of them. Wildly, her mind started to think of what she could do with that money--namely have the carpenter build her a greenhouse and then she could have room in her home again. She was shaken from her awed stupor when Dorelia asked for something else and Susy instantly stood up from the table, eager to get the girl what she needed and start the building on her very own greenhouse.

"Um, yes!" she said, her mind racing as she looked frantically around the room. "I have a few tea plants...!" She turned this way and that, her eyes glancing over the plants on the table and kitchen counters, then over all the ones on the shelves. Oh GOD! Where are they? Soon, all of the plants started to blend together and she couldn't tell what was what, even ones that were normally familiar to her.

"Susy, calm down dear," Abigail said, standing by the table looking at the worried girl, with a concerned frown. Apparently, she was having trouble locating the plants needed. "Would you like me to help you look?"

Susy, didn't look at the old woman, even though she'd heard her, and put both hands on her head as she looked over everything green in the room again not seeing anything but the color really. She needed to get that money! Even just one of the coins would have her set up. It was slightly stressful having her very first serious customer and looking like an idiot who didn't know her wares. Then an idea popped into her head and she started to calm somewhat.

"No. No..." she said distractedly, still not looking at Abigail but now looking around for something else. When she spied the leather bound papers, she instantly picked it up from the counter and started to flip through it. Some of the words she could read but a lot of it was mixed with stuff she didn't understand, and the pictures that were drawn on the pages, replicas of the plants her mother had written about--they were ambiguous depictions at best. At least they were to Susy. She found the pages marked about Tea plants and her face cleared and she took a calming breath. "No, it's okay. I think I've got it." Then she bit her lip, her brow scrunched as she tried to make out the drawing on the page and looked around at the plants before her.
 
Dorelia winced slightly when the woman said that she had heard about what happened. Though she doubted that there was a soul in this town that hadnâ??t heard of her and all of the things that have been going on with her she could not help but be a bit embarrassed. A small part of her had been hoping that somehow this place had kept the woman isolated enough for her to not have heard about what happened it would be nice if there was at least someone here that didnâ??t already know of her. Here she truly was infamous and she truly didnâ??t like it, not one bit. But at the moment there was truly nothing that she could do about it and she was really hoping that things would die down as time passed or that someone else would cause enough attention to be drawn to take her form the lime light at least for a little while, though she had no clue what event might happen that would be so big and not involve her. It was almost a curse. When big things happened she seemed to be at the center of them.

She heard what the woman said about the man that dragged her there and he smiled. Then she whispered to the two of them. â??You know when he was dragging me he snuck a feel of my chest. Had I not been so frightened I would have yelled at him on the spot and had I not been held I would have slapped the man.â? She said sternly. She was not happy about the way that things had been taken care of but she did find some peace in knowing that she was not the only one accused. She had been worried that the man really did know that she was a witch but hearing that this girl had been accused as well made her feel better. Dorelia could tell that she was not a witch so to hear that non witches have been accused means that he is more likely accusing everyone strange rather than finding real witches. To really find a witch it takes magic but then again that would mean that person was a witch... Things didnâ??t work out either way and so now she was feeling a lot better about being accused.

Everything was going wonderfully until she saw the look in the womanâ??s eyes when she showed her the coins. The town must have been poorer then she thought. She wondered how much money this town had seen because form this girlâ??s reaction she could tell that this girl had never seen this much money before and it was beginning to concern her. People did things when they were consumed with greed, things that they would regret later and she didnâ??t want to be the one to cause this poor woman to fall to greed.

Abigail even tried to calm her but it didnâ??t work. She looked at Abigail very concerned, wishing that the woman had warned her that this would be too much so she could have only shown the girl one gold piece and maybe the two of them could have avoided doing this to the poor woman but going back in time to redo this was not an option. Even with magic messing with time was much too dangerous a thing. She never liked to mess with it even when she felt like she was strong enough to complete the spell. Spells for time have killed many witches, people wishing to go back in time and change the past, fortune tellers were the closest thing that people ever got to the future but the future was too fickle and to easily changeable to be sure of.

When Dorelia could not sit back any longer she stood up quickly and walked to the woman. She had more if she needed it, she would tell Abigail about the pocket in the hat and confess that she made it. Possibly make up a story of faking fortune telling or better yet, selling clothing in the towns that she stopped in. Yes, that would work out just fine. The woman would surely take it well but right now she needed to stop this woman. Now in front of her she quickly took the book form the womanâ??s handâ??s and dropped the five gold pieces in its place. After that she closed the girlâ??s handâ??s around them and put her hands on either side of the girlâ??s face.

â??Shhâ?¦. Susyâ?¦ calm downâ?¦.â? She spoke, her voice was calm and quiet, laced with a small hint of magic for calming effects. Usually she wouldnâ??t use magic for things like this but she was frightened that the money would make her mad and nothing scared her more then driving people to madness. After what happened with her mother she swore to herself to never allow anyone else to fall to madness because of her.

â??Susy, listen. Itâ??s yours okay? Its yours.â? And with those assuring words she left the magic out of her voice and let her handâ??s fall to the womanâ??s shoulders. â??Just relax, okay? You can use it to get more shelves or a green house, though these plants thrive best in environments like this home.â? She said with a kind smile. â??My fatherâ??s friend was an herbalist. She taught me many things about plants. I love them and I will be coming to you a lot to buy things. Take the five pieces now and I will buy things with that over time, okay?â? she said kindly. Once she was sure that the woman had calmed down enough she released her and she took a step back.

She opened up the journal and she was shocked by what she saw. The girl may have had lots of trouble reading this but it was clear to Dorelia. A lot of this book was written in the language of magic. Dorelia had been right with her earlier thoughts. Susyâ??s mother had been a witch. Though her father wasnâ??t. Baba had taught her that when both parents are not of magic it often skips a generation. If this woman had a child then the child would be a witch but this woman had avoided that gene. After scanning a few lines on a few pages she smiled and handed the woman the journal. The plants had previously been sorted by what they were magically good for, it was no wonder this girl didnâ??t get it.

â??How about this,â? she began, putting a comforting hand on the girlâ??s shoulder â??Why donâ??t you take me for a walk around your lovely home. You home reminds me so much of mine I find myself feeling a bit homesick. I would love to get a better look around and see what other plants you have. Perhaps I can come by and help you put labels on your lovely plants. Like this one.â? She said, walking over to a shelf and picking up a plant, â??A green tea plant. And a healthy one too. If I may take this one home that would be just lovely. Perhaps tomorrow we can go find some paints and pain labels on and organize this, though I must admit I like things this way it would probably be easier for your if they were organized.â? She said with a smile. The plant that she held was in a small pot and about a foot tall. The leaves were a healthy shade of green and there was only one stalk. â??I can assure you that this is not your only green tea plant, you shouldnâ??t miss it.â? She said with a smile. â??Now, if you have a wooden bowl that would be lovely and you can got onto doing what you want with that money. Just remember, what I do not spend today I will spend another day so keep track.â? She told the woman kindly. After getting the bowl she wanted to go. The woman would need some time with her new found wealthy and Dorelia didnâ??t want to be there as she decided what to do with it.
 
Abigail frowned again, wondering what to do. She knew the young woman fairly well back when she'd used to help out in the hospital a lot, but hadn't spoken to her much in months. In fact, it occurred to her that Susy probably hadn't talked to ANYONE very much for a few years. It made her sad that this young woman she'd used to known was being deliberately isolated, but there was a big gap in age between them and Abigail couldn't cater to her social needs. She'd take her under her wing and have her help in the hospital but she knew that Lan would not stand for that...stubborn oaf.

Also, they didn't have that much in common. She knew little to nothing about gardening and absolutely nothing about herbs before they were converted into medicinal uses. Abiagil stood there helpless, looking around at the green things just as lost as Susy, wondering if maybe if she stepped forward and touched her, she'd be able to calm her down better. But then Dorelia was there switching out the notebook and putting the money in the frantic girl's hands. Her eyes widened at what Dorelia said next, but she said nothing and would remain silent on the issue. Sure it was a lot of money, but it was hers to do with what she wanted. And it was probably best with the way Susy was acting. Still she thought it a good arrangement to have her spend it over time, but put all of it in Susy's hands now. She was very good at controlling situations and Abigail smiled a little at the thought that she reminded her of someone else she knew...

Susy was on the verge of crying in frustration. Why couldn't she find the plants? She was severely embarrassing herself and Dorelia would leave with the money, thinking Susy was incompetent. But the picture of the plant was small and the words in the book didn't help give a full description. So she was just standing there staring at the pages willing it to make sense, her green eyes getting shiny with wetness and her nose and cheeks turning red. She needed that greenhouse so bad! Her mother would think she was a fool if she saw her right now!

Inside her head, she berated herself for all she was doing to screw up and knowing that this opportunity would fly away and leave her empty-handed. Then the book was no longer in her hands and she watched in shock as the money was placed there instead. The gold coins felt good in her palms and she looked up just as Dorelia put her hands around her face. Then her eyes were filled with the face of the other young woman and her voice filled her head. Susy's heart that had been pounding frantically started to slow and ease up and her racing mind was halted and her thoughts were quieted. She looked at Dorelia, her green eyes shining and wide, listening to every word she said as if she were a child being instructed with something important.


“Susy, listen. It’s yours okay? Its yours.”

With those words, Susy really did want to cry. What had she been thinking? This woman had come to her for help and all she'd thought about was getting the money. She felt better that she had it of course, the money locked in her fists clasped in front of her, but still she felt so foolish for letting the promise of it get away with her. At Dorelia's suggestions Susy nodded and muttered a small, "Yes," and "Okay," giving her meek smiles.

Susy hesitated about giving Dorelia a tour of the house, still somewhat embarrassed by the state of things and the crowded bedroom. But then she stood awestruck as the young woman walked over to a shelf and picked up a plant, identifying it as the one she needed. Looking at it, she started to see it for what it was, but mostly she focused on Dorelia. Suddenly she was excited by the prospect of the other woman visiting her again, and she was knocked out of her greedy stupor finally, discreetly putting the coins into a small purse at her belt.

"Yes!" she said excitedly, smiling openly. "Oh, would you? I would really appreciate some help. In case you couldn't tell, I'm really drowning in plants and I have no idea what I'm doing. Mother had her own system with it all, but she didn't leave me much of a guide..." She was actually really genuinely excited. This girl knew what she desired to learn and if she was ever going to make more money then she'd need that knowledge to start being more professional. Maybe then people would start giving her the respect she deserved.

She nodded at Dorelia's request for a bowl and hurried to fetch one for her. She didn't mind the stipulation of spending the money at her shop over time--it WAS a lot of money after all. Under one of the cupboard, Susy moved some plants out of the way, fishing for a medium sized wooden carved bowl, plain and sturdy. "Here you go," she said, handing the bowl to the young woman with a smile. As soon as she did it seemed they were going to go and she gladly ushered them out with polite mutters for them to return soon. As soon as the door shut behind them, she leaned against it and smiled widely. Her hand strayed down to the purse at her belt and she shook it, biting her lips around a smile at the delightfully pretty sound it made with the coins inside. Looking around the room of chaotic plantlife everywhere, for the first time she wasn't just content to stay in the present and tolerate the day-to-day; the future was looking decidedly bright....

As they made their way back to Abigail's house, the older woman wore a thoughtful expression the whole way, but remained silent, thinking to herself. As soon as they came through her door, she closed it behind them with a sigh and turned to Dorelia. "I would like to apologize deeply, Dorelia," she said, with a somber look. "I did not realize Susy would react that way, AT ALL. Things must be going rough for her lately, financially. Ever since Father Justin accused her of being a witch the townspeople have never really forgotten and they don't ever talk to her or spend time with her. Ever since her mother died, she's been basically on her own... And no man has expressed any interest. Not since Lan--"

She stopped abruptly, looking at Dorelia and clearing her facial expression. No, she didn't want to tell her about that. Abigail's face brightened as she shook herself a little and took a deep breath. "So, now that we have the things we need, what will you do? Is there anything more I can do to help?"
 
Dorelia smiled as she held the girlâ??s head and watched her quiet down. Of course she was under the influence of a spell but it would not affect her judgment. It was a simply calming spell. If Dorelia asked her to do something that made her nervous then it would likely affect that judgment but she didnâ??t. All she was doing was suggesting things and keeping her voice calm to soothe the girl. To anyone it would seem that her voice had soothed her, only magic users would know and there were none around for her to worry about.

She knew that she could not leave with the coinâ??s after showing them to her. From her reaction the promise of the coins was to much and Dorelia didnâ??t want to think of what she would do to herself if that promise of the coins was broken. At that time the woman needed the money so much more then Dorelia did. She truly hated bewitching people like that but she didnâ??t have much of a choice there. Well, there was always a choice but Doreliaâ??s own fear would not allow her to choose the other path. Even if the other path was as harmless as trying to calm the girl down without magic. She wouldnâ??t let herself risk that not working so she went straight to magic. The magic would surely calm her down and once she was calm then everything would be okay. Magic like this would not have worked on her mother, maybe the first time but at that time she was so confused as to why her mother was reacting that way that the idea that her mother needed to calm down didnâ??t come to her mind until the woman had a bloody knife in her hand and by then it was far too late.

She smiled at the woman, â??Yes, yes, I understand. In a forest you donâ??t get the chance to organize everything. God has things organized they way he likes them and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to his organizational skills.â? She said with a smile, making a small joke.

Things seemed to be working. The woman was calm now. She had the plant in hand and the woman found her a beautiful wooden bowl that would do just find for what she had in mind for it. Once they were done Abigail saw it fit that they leave quickly and not sit around and talk for a while. Dorelia was happy to be pulled out of that situation and the woman seemed equally happy to send the two of them off. No doubt she was going to begin planning out her new green house. They walked back to Abigailâ??s house in silence, Dorelia looked but didnâ??t see the man out there building anymore and she frowned, a part of her had been hoping to see him again. She reminded herself that she had to ask Abigail who he was but this did not seem like the right time.

Once they were behind closed doors Abigail saw it fit to break the silence that took over their journey. She was surprised by what the woman said. It seems that even Abigail could not have foreseen the girl reacting in such a way. â??Not since Lan what?â? she asked but then she shook her head. â??Never mind. Just do me a favor and keep an eye on her okay? People like her should not be left alone among plants for so long. Some people handle is surprisingly well but I donâ??t think that she is one of them. God forbid she try and make herself a tea and instead brew up a poison. Forgive me for saying this but while that girl has a green thumb when it comes to plants she has straw for brains. She is a kind woman but I worry, certain plants are dangerous and I believe that she had a few there. Brewed right they can be good medicine but if she confuses themâ?¦ I donâ??t even want to think about it.â? She said with a shake of her head.

Then she looked at Abigail and she smiled, â??Well, it is about time that I went to see the doctor. I have everything that I need so I wonâ??t keep you monopolized anymore today.â? She said with a smile as she gave the woman a hug then hurried off with her things. The hospital wasnâ??t very far. She hurried around the road, the itemâ??s in her hands as she hurried. However she spotted that man again. He just winked again and she blushed deeply and nearly ran right into someone.

â??Iâ??m so sorry!â? She called back, this time not letting herself be distracted by anyone, no matter how attractive they might be. When she finally got to the hospital everything was quiet. She tried calling out for Landon but he didnâ??t seem to hear her and he was nowhere to be found. Then she remembered something and she hurried down the halls. Landon had a study and she remembered that whenever he was not out here being a doctor at home sleeping then he was in there working. She hurried to his study and stopped at the door to catch her breath first. Once she caught her breath and straightened out her hair she knocked on the door. â??Landon? Itâ??s me, Dorelia.â? At first there was just silence the a blast of some kind sliced through it.

â??LANDON!â? she called worriedly as she opened the door and rushed in, looking to see if he was okay. Even before she saw him the scene of the lab hit her and her eyes widened from what she saw.
 
Listening to Dorelia's assessment of Susy, Abigail couldn't help but agree. She didn't know if it was the fact that she had so many plants in her house right now, or if it had been the gold that had overwhelmed her, but there had been a time when Susy had been somewhat better at identifying things. She knew Lan knew plants well, from the way he picked out certain ones for this or that purpose and had Susy prepare them in certain ways so he could use them for medicine. But she knew Dorelia was absolutely correct; Susy could not go on finding things out through trial and error. But when she thought of how to solve the problem, she wondered how open the women in town would be to helping keep an eye on the girl. They wouldn't want Susy to accidently kill herself or someone else, but it would be one more added chore for them to associate with someone they didn't like.

"Yes, I completely understand," she said with a thoughtful look, slightly worried. Thinking that it might be a good idea to talk to one of Susy's neighbors as soon as possible, she was relieved to hear the girl say she wanted to go off on her own. She tried to smile warmly, but her thoughts kept invading. "Good luck, dear," she said, feeling kind of bad that she was being so neglectful in support right now. But she had a lot on her mind and had to help Susy. After Dorelia left, she did wonder and pray that Lan would accept her gift and apology and quit being a blockhead about everything. But then her thoughts turned to usy once more and she left the house as well, to go speak with some women in town. She had to find out exactly what was going on with the young herbalist if she was going to help her at all.

-----------

The laboratory was silent, except for the slight bubbling sound of a liquid over a burner. Landon tood, writing in his notebook, rubbing his mustache as he watched the liquid closely. His full attention was needed for this, or else things would go really bad. It was why he'd decided to start this experiment in the first place. Doing mundane little experiments and tests were not helping occupy his mind enough and thoughts of Dorelia kept invading upon what he was trying to do. He figured if he gave himself more work, he'd be able to forget about her and lose himself in what he was doing.

His theory had been correct; working with more volatile chemicals that needed every bit of his focus DID help him concentrate. But instead of that blissful escape he usually got from working in his lab, it was like a feverish overworking of his mind, so that the ever present thoughts of the woman, in the back of his head, did not rise up and obscure everything else. However he was thankful to leave that all behind, even for a moment, and just immerse himself in the work.

His fingers holding the pen to paper were smudged with ink from inattention and his other hand stayed close to the knob on the burner, ready to lower the heat or increase it for the results in the experiment. He heard a faint noise, like someone calling his name and looked up with a slight frown. But he didn't hear it again and shook his head, shrugging it off, scribbling in his notebook some more.

He scratched his head with the ink smudged hand, getting a few smudges on his temple right by his hair, as he muttered to himself and turned the knob to make the flame just a tad larger under the beaker of liquid. When the knock came at the door, he was roused from his alchemist mode and turned towards it just as he heard her voice come through. Lan just stood there speechless, not realizing that when he'd turned, his hand had turned the knob more and the flame was licking the bottom of the beaker almost completely covering the whole thing.

He was about to utter a response--what was she doing here?--when the beaker exploded with a bang. It wasn't as big as the other one had been, and the other vials of liquid on the table just shuddered violently with a tinkling noise. It also didn't knock him back, but instead just exploded in his face this time with a blast of dark smoke.

Lan backed away from the table, waving his hand to clear the smoke still rising from the beaker in a black cloud, coughing as he did so. Despite a slight gray tinge to his face from the smoke and the smudges of ink at his temple, he didn't look too much a mess as before. Of course, his dark lab coat was on and he merely glanced at the doorway where Dorelia now stood, before taking it off and using it to mother the flames from the burner, now trying to burn a hole through the table. Underneath, he wore a white button up shirt and dark vest, with a small tie at his neck, matching his equally dark pants and shoes. All were clean and fresh albeit slightly wrinkled and getting sooty from this recent lab accident.

He tried to keep his face neutral as he patted down the flames on the table, not looking at the woman in the room with him. He had to figure out quick how he was going to be towards her. So for now, he ignored her presence, putting out the fire and running over to open one of the tall, thin windows. Then taking some metal tongs and picking up the smoking beaker, he brought it over to the window and set it over there, to let it cool.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and went over to the wash basin by the door, to clean himself up. He thought it would be polite if he said something now, so still not looking at her he spoke, scrubbing his hands in the water with soap. "What are you doing here?" he asked in cold tones. It could seem like he was upset about her nearly destroying his lab again or maybe he was still awkward from his argument in the hospital with her--but really, he was trying to act casual and failing miserably.
 
That lab looked like as bomb hit it and form the explosion that she just heard it may have been just that. The whole room reeked of smoke and Landon was grey faced from the blast, she noticed a bit of black right by his hair and wondered if it was a heavier patch of ash and hoped that he would be okay. The beaker that he had been using was still smoking from the reaction. The man was even coughing, she hoped that he had not inhaled too much of it. She was speechless for a bit, trying to figure out what had happened here. There seemed to be smoke and fire just about everywhere and she wondered what could have been so important that he would even attempt an experiment this dangerous.

The table was even on fire! Of all the irresponsible things to do he had to do experiments like this! What if had had really hurt himself or blown up the whole hospital or burned it down just because there was something that he just had to know and couldnâ??t leave be. She frowned. There were some things that people were better off just not knowing but with all of his genius she wondered if Landon was smart enough to know that. She was forced to take a step back from the room and cough a few times. She must have inhaled some smoke when she gasped at the sight of this place. When she finally did come back in she was very happy to see that the so called â??doctorâ?? had enough sense to open up a window to try and let the room air out. She hoped it would hurry, she didnâ??t want to breath in this smokey air any longer then she had to.

But why hadnâ??t he said anything? She had seen his face when he first entered. He had been looking her way; he knew that she was there. Was he going to ignore her now? She knew that he could be childish, even Abigail had said so but she didnâ??t think he would go so low as to ignore her existence like a five year old does when they are mad at someone. She wasnâ??t sure if he was ignoring her or just to busy to think to speak. She reminded herself that sometimes he lacked in people skills and to stay calm and not get too upset with him.

When he finally did speak to her his voice was so cold that she was sure he was and at her. She smiled teasingly towards the soot covered man before speaking. â??So do all of your experiments blow up in your face or am I just the lucky girl that gets to see the oneâ??s that do?â? she teased him. It was light teasing, nothing more. Ever since she arrived it didnâ??t seem like any of the experiments that he was doing had gone smoothly enough not to explode in his face. She stole a glance at the table and noticed that was not the only spot that seemed to have been set aflame. It seemed that things like this had happened before but that didnâ??t comfort her in the least. She knew that being a doctor was dangerous but she always thought that the danger was in catching something form a patient. It seemed like he was in most danger when he was alone.

Then she looked down, blushing slightly as she did so and pausing as she picked the right words to say. When she finally decided what to say she looked back up at him and she smiled. â??Well... This will probably seem silly of me to say but back where I was born we sort of had this custom...â? Then she blushed slightly and looked to the side. â??Itâ??s just a silly little thing but, well I hope you donâ??t mind, I was hoping to bring it here.â? She said with a smile. With that she put the wooden bowl and the green tea plant on the table, though first she felt the spot with her hand to make sure it was cool and not covered in soot. It wasnâ??t.

â??The custom is simply but let me explain. Where I grew up there were a lot of stubborn people. It was just part of the nature of the community. We were such a small town but we were a stop along a trade route so we were either stubborn or swayed by every opinion that hit our ears. In some ways it was good but in other ways it wasnâ??t. People would feud for years over the smallest things so my father came up with a tradition that quickly broke the people of their stubbornness and made the town a better place...â? the blush had yet to leave her cheeks but she looked up at Landon, not minding it at the moment. â??You see, back home when two people got into an argument and neither would admit to being wrong it became a custom to give a gift to end the argument, no matter who was right or wrong.â? She told him.

Then she turned to the plant and looked it over, it seemed healthy enough so it should work just fine for what she had planned for it. â??You probably donâ??t get my gift but you will.â? She said with a smile. Then she went to the door and peaked out of it, checking both halls and then closing it behind her. Once it seemed that they were save and alone and walked up to him and whispered, â??I know a spell that might tell you what you want to know.â? She said, then she returned to the plant and the bowl. â??All we need is some fresh water and some blood and I can show you what it does.â? She told him.

There was excitement in her eyes as she spoke and the smile clung to her face the entire time. It was clear that she was eager to show him what the â??spellâ?? did. â??Do you have animals that you test your medicine on?â? she asked him, knowing that would be best. They could probably provide the blood but she really didnâ??t want to cut herself to get it. She had enough wounds for a while and she wasnâ??t going to intentionally create more after what she went through.
 
He stopped in mid-action to look at her when she said that about his experiments, his hands going still and covered with sooty suds. Then he scowled a little and continued to wash his hands. "That's," he started, pausing to clear his throat and shaking his head, not looking at her. "That's not funny. I have important work to do and I don't have enough money or time to redo everything when people keep distracting me. You're unlucky, if there ever was such a thing..." The last bit he mumbled under his breath, hoping she didn't hear him. He didn't go into the whole thing where she nearly destroyed his lab that one time, and how annoying it was that he'd lost all his notes when it had happened and had to basically restart 3 months worth of work from scratch. She was here for a specific reason and the sooner she completed whatever task she'd come to do, the sooner she would leave.

As she started talking again, Landon splashed water onto his face, cleaning it of the soot and wiping it off with a small hand towel. Anything so he didn't have to look at her. His heart was doing flip-flops in his chest and he internally berated himself for the foolishness of his emotions. When she set the plant on the table, he was wiping his hands with the towel and walked towards the potted plant. He put out a hand and touched a leaf, lowering his face to it and giving it a small sniff, then stood up straight with a small nonchalant frown. "I don't drink tea..." he said in a quiet voice. It wasn't the truth; he DID drink tea, in fact he frigging loved tea. But he didn't want her to think he wanted this.

He listened to what she had to say about the custom her father had developed and his frown deepened at a few points.

â??The custom is simple but let me explain. Where I grew up there were a lot of stubborn people. It was just part of the nature of the community. We were such a small town but we were a stop along a trade route so we were either stubborn or swayed by every opinion that hit our ears. In some ways it was good but in other ways it wasnâ??t."

He wasn't stubborn! Was she trying to say he was? So she was bringing here a custom used for when people were stubborn and singled him out to give a gift to? It seemed clear to him what she was trying to say and he was slightly offended. Who else had she given gifts to? Father Justin? She should be bringing this to the priest, because that psycho was definitely stubborn, not him!

"People would feud for years over the smallest things so my father came up with a tradition that quickly broke the people of their stubbornness and made the town a better place...�

He didn't notice her blush, but silently analyzed everything she said. Oh, he got it. She was trying to say she was sorry for earlier when she wouldn't just let him help her take a bath. He stumbled a bit at that thought, but shrugged it off. No, no, he'd been right and she was trying to say she was sorry for being silly over such a small little thing.

â??You see, back home when two people got into an argument and neither would admit to being wrong it became a custom to give a gift to end the argument, no matter who was right or wrong.â?

No wait, she was trying to make HIM apologize, wasn't she? If this custom was used to smooth out disagreements where neither person was right or wrong, what did it say in this situation? That she wasn't admitting he was right at all! But he had been right! So this was nothing but an attempt to further make him look bad and possibly guilt trip him into admitting something. Well he wouldn't do it!

He fumed inside, but all he said was "Interesting," giving the plant a look that was a mixture of thoughtfulness and impatience. She could go now. Thank you, very much, but whatever. he thought to himself, and was about to utter a small thank you, but watched as she went over to the door. Somehow he knew even before she reached it that she wasn't leaving, and groaned inside when she closed the door and came back over to him.

Landon folded his arms as she approached, steeling himself for whatever more she could possibly have to say, and deciding he wasn't going to retaliate back. Heaven forbid they had another argument and she tried to bring him another gift for being stubborn and wrong! He physically flinched from the word "spell" though and frowned at her in impatience. It was like a little child trying to involve him in her little pretend game and he rolled his eyes at her.

Seeing her excitement and the brightness in her eyes, a thought skittered across his mind, You're pretty... but he shoved it away forcefully. Fanaticism and ignorance were definitely NOT attractive. He gave a haughty sniff at that thought and pursed his lips before answering her question. "Yes, I have a few wild hares in a den out back," then he looked down at the ground with a grim smile before looking up at her, his gaze neutral and nonchalant. "But you won't 'use' them for your little pretend games. I'm sure what you have to show me is fascinating, really but look around you," he said calmly, using an arm to indicate the room, and giving her a look like he was explaining something to a child. "What do you see?"

If she looked around the room, she would see the tables covered with books, papers, and hundreds of thousands of vials and beakers, liquids of different colors filling each one. Book shelves were against almost every wall, stuffed full of books and there were curiosa and artifacts gathered from his travels afar on different shelves. "This is MY LAB," he said the words slowly, emphasizing them. "This is not a playground. I do important experiments here and work on theories and test them. This is a place of science, not 'magic'.

"So, as grand as I'm sure whatever the hell you've got to show me is, I think I'll pass," his tone was not impolite, but he didn't hide how much he didn't care about her "magic" from his face or his posture. "Thank you for the gift. Even though I don't drink tea, I'm sure I could use it for something..." He nodded his head and shrugged at her, his body language basically saying, 'You can go now.'
 
She had noticed the way he flinched when she said the word spell but she didnâ??t pay it any mind. She just thought that he was worried that someone might hear her say it. It was a risky word around here. Even though the people trusted her if someone caught her talking about magic it might be just that easy to sway their opinion. She didnâ??t want to take the chance and she was sure that he didnâ??t want to take it either. Then she noticed him rolling his eyes at her and she realized that was not the case. He still didnâ??t believe her. Her gaze narrowed as she glared at him. Whether he believed it or not what she had to show him would surely be useful. Sheâ??ll let him try and find a scientific explanation for it later.

When he mentioned the hares he kept in the back she smiled. â??Those will do ju-â? but he cut her off. She looked at him confused but then that confusion soon turned to anger. Games? He thought they were games? Nothing about this was a game! He was acting like she was a joke, just some harmless lunatic; The kind where it was safer to ignore their madness then try and provide proof that when against their own version of reality. Did he really think that she would go through all of this because of some form of madness? Did he think that she was playing games? With everything that she went through for being a witch he was standing there and calling it all a joke. Just a lie. Like it was part of some made up fantasy that a child would indulge in.

Despite her anger she could not help but look around when he told her to. His lab really was an interesting place. The tables were covered with all kinds of books and journals, most of them were likely to be his but she doubted that all of them were. After all, just like she had her book he had to be learning this from something. Besides that there were all sorts of interesting artifacts. She couldnâ??t tell if any were magic from this distance, if she got a closer look she might be able to tell but she seriously doubted he would let her handle them for such a purpose with his opinion of magic. All of this was plenty interesting, especially with all the vials and different colors. It was as if they were strewn around the lab for decoration but knowing Landon she highly doubted that. He would be more likely to let her handle his artifacts then decorate his lab with these liquids.

She glared at him as he spoke. She knew that he wanted her to leave but she wasnâ??t about to give him anything that he wanted right now, not after those lines of insults he threw her way. She knew that it had been rhetorical when it was asked but now she decided to answer. â??So doctor,â? she hissed the word as though it were an insult, â??You want to know what I see?â? she then walked up to him, closing the space between them. â??Iâ??ll tell you exactly what I see. I see a man so set in his own ways that he wonâ??t even let anyone try and help him!â? she yelled at him, now just two feet from the man before her. â??I canâ??t believe youâ??re treating me like such.... such a child!â? she yelled at him. Then she reached up and grabbed his neck tie and pulled him down so she could look him straight in the eyes.

â??I was right wasnâ??t I?â? she asked him, knowing it to be true, â??When you first denied magic I said that you thought that I was just some lunatic. You still think Iâ??m crazy donâ??t you?â? She asked him. She wasnâ??t yelling anymore. Now she was whispering and her words were ice cold. â??You think it is just some big game of make believe? That Iâ??m just pretending to be a witch pretending sheâ??s not a witch? Itâ??s not a game and itâ??s not a joke and I. Am. Not. Crazy.â? She said those last words slow and deliberately. After that she released his neck tie and she pushed him back. â??You canâ??t diagnose everything doctor. Not everything has an easy answer! If you keep doing things this way all youâ??ll find is a whole lot of nothing! Is that what you want DOCTOR?!â? She yelled at him. If he thought that she was mad when he tried to bathe her earlier then he was in for a surprise because now she was furious.
 
On the contrary, she didn't leave, she stayed right where she was and glared at him--which really, he understood, but didn't care. So, he was just about to tell her 'Please, leave,' hoping if he were more direct with her, she'd get the hint that he didn't want her here. But then she was speaking again and he let out an impatient breath. Listening to her, he tried to interject, "It wasn't a real question--" and was going to tell her to go away but she kept right on talking and he closed his mouth, listening in displeasure. He wasn't going to get mad about this, he WASN'T. He had control over himself and she wasn't going to provoke him. He wasn't necessarily insulted by what she said--other than it implied he was stubborn--and waved his hand and rolled his eyes, nodding his head impatiently, wishing she'd hurry up and say her piece, then storm from the room and leave him in peace. But she wanted to get mad about this apparently.

"If you didn't act--" he started to say to the 'child' comment, merely pointing out that if she wanted to be treated like an adult that she should act like one, but was cut off when she grabbed his tie and pulled him close. For one, it made him uncomfortable being this close to her, but for another, he didn't like the display of aggression that the gesture illustrated, and drew his head back a little and squirmed in place. He listened to everything she said though and by the time she'd let him go, his face was red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger. At first he just stood looking at her, letting the anger fill him like water pouring into a jug. Finally he decided to say something; he couldn't just let her walk out of here, thinking she could get away with slapping him or grabbing his ties...

Landon cleared his throat and stood up straight, fixing his tie before looking at her soberly, the fire within burning and ready to burst. "I don't think you're crazy," he said in a calm tone, the anger inside barely restrained from his voice. "Like I told you before, I think you're just confused. I've had a lot of experience with superstitious people and believe me when I say most of the time they see exactly what they want to see and the rest of the time, they don't even know what it is they saw. So they make up stories! Natural phenomenon get explained away by fanciful tales and people get blamed for things they didn't do!" As he spoke, the heat came through in his voice and his eyes were hard as he looked at her.

"It IS a game and it IS a joke!" he said angrily. "You're just as bad as that fucking priest, maybe even worse! It's people like you that are the reason he is the way he is! Because you do all this secretive crap, playing with herbs and waving your hands and saying words that don't mean anything and getting people hyped up over the wind blowing! And the worse part of it all is that you fucking believe it yourself! Wake up, Dorelia!" He grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her a little, yelling at her. "I know you must be a fantastic witch in your wonderful little fantasy world, but in the real world, things like that just don't happen!"

From her last comments, Lan wondered how much Abigail had told her about his past. She'd said that shit about him fighting with God, right in front of the girl, so he assumed she'd talked about him behind his back and he took what she said as an added jab to hurt him. He let go of her, and turned away, breathing hard through his nose, standing by the table where the plant was. "Do not," he said quietly, his voice quivering with anger. "Pretend that you know anything about me. I do the best that I can. I know I'm not fucking God..."

He turned back to her, his eyes blazing with fury. "I just want to understand the world. And you, just seem to want chaos..." He took a deep breath. "Look, maybe it's best if you not stay here. Not this town. If you want to keep believing you're a witch and going around thinking that, then you're going to be in constant danger. That shit that went down at the trial was REAL, okay??? I know it seems easy to sway these people, but seriously, we were this close to getting our asses handed to us." He held up his hand, his forefinger and thumb barely an inch apart to illustrate. "I have done so much here, I can't risk losing that. But if you're going to play this game you're playing then one of us has to go. I don't mean to kick you out or anything, but you haven't been here long enough to make any real connections. You threaten the sanity of this town with your make-believe stories. We've already got one resident psycho spouting that shit."

His mind was whirling and his lips kept moving; he didn't know what he was saying, but then again he did. What she said frigging scared him, but not for the people of this town--for her. If anyone heard her speaking like that, there would be no convincing them again that she was innocent and they would hurt her and then kill her. He had to save her from herself. He had to chase her away.

"If you keep doing this and saying you're a witch," he paused and licked his lips. "Then, I'm going to have to tell someone. I-I'll tell the people and...Father Justin." He kept his face straight and tried to hold a neutral expression. NEVER in a million years would he ever reveal her, but he was out of options. If he threatened her with that, maybe she would leave. He turned to the table and dug into his lab coat pocket for the papers there. Looking at the journal entry soberly, he turned back to her and held the pages out to her. Basically saying 'You can leave NOW' with the gesture.
 
Nothing he was saying or doing was making her fee even the slightest bit better. In fact, with every wave of his hand and rolling of his eyes she only got madder. It was as if he was waiting for her to be finished so that way she would leave. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that was exactly what he was doing! Well, when she grabbed his neck tie and pulled him close that seemed to grab his attention enough. They tried separating to calm, Dorelia even tried to bring him a present and that didnâ??t work. They were going to stay here now and solve this.

â??Confused?â? she asked him, â??You think Iâ??m confused?â? Then she laughed, â??I am not the confused one here. I know what I am. Iâ??m not the one who locks himself up all day and blows things up for fun claiming they are some sort of science experiment!â? She yelled at him, deciding to get personal and insult his alchemy skills. â??Confused is what they call gay children while trying to turn them straight again. Iâ??m not gay or twisted in any way! I know what I am!â? She yelled at him, had she any less self control she would have yelled that she was a witch but she knew better then to do that.

She glared at him angrily. How dare he! She was nothing like that man! That man twisted the words on the lord to fit his own selfish needs. That man had her dragged from her home in a nightgown and wanted to burn her alive! She had nothing to do with why he was that way. It was his own twisted nature that made him that way, if anyone was confused then it would be that man. Not her. She wanted to say all of these things but when he shook her it was as if he had shaken the words from her mouth. â??I am not the one living in a fantasy world!â? she yelled at the man. â??You are! You think that if it doesnâ??t fit into your fancy little equations then it canâ??t be true but it is Landon! It is!â?

â??Donâ??t you think I know Iâ??m in danger?â? She asked him, both angry and upset with him by now. â??You call me confused and you call me a child but even a confused child would know how dangerous it is! You donâ??t have to tell me that it was real! I know it was! It nearly killed me! Dragged from my sleep and from my bed, through the streets in my nightgown while that bastard cops a feel at my breasts whenever he gets the bloody chance; I know it was real!â? She yelled at him. â??You think the trial was hard but you have no idea what it was like for me! It was my life on the line! MY LIFE! Not yours or Abigailâ??s or anyone elses!â?

She was taken aback by what he said next. Was he trying to drive her out of town now? Where was she supposed to go? How did he even expect her to get out of the desert let alone to a new town to stay in? However even that was nothing compared to the shock of what he said next. Her mouth gaped opened as she tried to think of what to say, of some kind of response to that. It seemed that he was trying to give her an ultimatum. Leave town or stop claiming to be a witch and if she did neither he would tell father Justin and the man would surely have her burned alive for that. Someone had tried to before. She remembered the pain and the fear and she didnâ??t want to ever have to go through that again. Finally something came to mind, even if it wasnâ??t a very good argument she still had to say it. â??You son of a-â? but she didnâ??t get to finish.

She interrupted herself with a cry of pain. In an instant all hints of sadness or rage were gone from her face as it twisted to match the sound. She was in pain and she didnâ??t know why. Her hand quickly reached out and grabbed onto the table, she used it to support her as she stood there, her face twisted in pain. While her one hand held the table her other hand was on her stomach. The lower part of her stomach to be exact. In fact it was right over her uterus. After a few moments she carefully lowered herself to the floor. When it passed she caught her breath and cursed loudly. â??God damned cramps!â? only there was something wrong with her statement. Pregnant woman didnâ??t get period cramps like she thought that she was having. â??Donâ??t think this means Iâ??m done with you!â? she said loudly, determined not to let her womanly parts get in the way of this argument and not realizing the gravity of the situation.
 
From her body language and the way she stood, he knew she wasn't ever going to leave. But she came to his solace, his place to get away, so it was unlikely he'd have anywhere to go if he were to storm off this time. So he was stuck here with her until she gave up on the argument or admitted he was right(yes, those were the only two options, in his mind). Even though he itched to seperate from her--either one of them leaving at this point would have suited him--his pride would not let him be the one to do it. It was HIS lab afterall. SHE was the guest. So he stood there, just as stuck in place as she was, willing to stay put longer than she did, no matter what she threw his way.

But then she brought up his lab accidents and that hurt. "Oh, yeah?" Lan asked, in an irritated voice. "Well whose fault was that?" Making it clear that he blamed those explosions on her. He'd had lab accidents before, but never so many in just one week, and yes, she was the one who kept causing them. Then she was talking about gay children and he shook his head and looked at her like she was crazy. "What the fuck does that have to do with anything--?"

He listened to her, stony faced and grinding his teeth, but looked at her sharply with what she'd said about the trial. Wait--What? One of the men who had brought her to the trial had...touched her? Blushing, he stood up straighter, and his breathing deepened as he imagined Dag Coplin putting his hands on Dorelia. A flash of anger warped his features for a moment as he imagined several ways he'd kill that man. Not only did he hate Dag and his cousins, who did nothing but go around and spread discontent as Father Justin directed them, but also it was the fact that they had laid hands on her in the first place. Dag was a scraggly, unkempt man who had a farm that he never worked on and his house was falling apart from neglect. The man was a lazy gossipmonger who stirred things up for the hell of it. And seeing in his mind, Dag groping Dorelia, really made Lan see red. It wouldn't have been much different if it were any other man, but the fact that it had been that man, made it 10 times worse.

Hearing her go on about the trial made him feel a little bad, but then he reasserted in his mind, that if she knew it was dangerous then she'd just drop the act and shut up about witches. Landon knew he'd gotten her attention with the last comments he made and he felt a small stab of guilt that he was hurting her by saying that. But he reasoned that it had to be done. He wasn't going to let her kill herself by keeping up this witch charade, even if it meant sending her away forever. It was better that way anyways. That way he couldn't hurt her either...

His eyes widened and he frowned worriedly when all of a sudden she was crying out in pain, her hand to her stomach and stooped over. What--? Oh no! he thought to himself. His fears were especially reinforced when she called what she was having 'cramps'. He knew pregnant women didn't have cramps, so it could only mean one thing--she was going into premature labor! Quickly, he kneeled down over her anxiously and felt at her stomach brushing her hand away as he did so. Then he gave her a level look at her last comment. Oh, very good. It was nice to know that after he helped her, they could pick up right where they'd left off. Great.

Still somewhat mad, but slipping easily into doctor mode, he rose and walked past her to a medicine cabinet by the window. "Shut up and just stay still," he said to her, not impolitely, but more in a distractedly commanding way. He knew he had to calm her down, but he wasn't exactly in a soothing mood right now. But most importantly, he had to stop her from having contractions. Reaching the medicine cabinet he pulled out a vial of clear liquid, the small label on it identifying it as Epsom Salt. Taking a syringe from a drawer, he opened the lid of the bottle and filled the needle with it, his mind racing outside of the cool void he put himself in. Before he walked back over to her, he brought out an odd tube like contraption from one of the other drawers. It had 2 cups attached to two thin tubes that connected in the middle and went down in one longer tube that was connected to another suction-like cup on the end.

Kneeling back down beside her, he set the contraption down and felt at her stomach again. Not hesitating in the least bit, he started to lift her dress to get at her stomach. He rolled up her sleeve then, and picked up the syringe, finding a vein and sticking it into her, slowly pushing the plunger down, the liquid going inside of her arm. After that, he took it away and set it off to the side, picking up the tube like contraption and putting the two suction like cups on the one end up on his ears. He held the other cup in his hand and without even hesitating started to reach under her dress with it. She struggled and he looked at her sharply, his brow furrowed. He coughed once and said in a curt tone, "Doctor!" referring to himself of course and the fact that she should respect him. She settled down and didn't seem happy, but he put his hand under her dress anyways, not looking down as his hand made it's way to her stomach under her clothes. Resting the suction cup there, he listened quietly at different spots before finally being satisfied and pulling his hand away. The contractions were just starting to slow down, now all he needed to do was wait and keep her calm.

He hesitated over speaking to her, but he had to tell her what was going on. Now was as good a time as any, and it didn't occur to him that the news might make her more upset. "They're not cramps, Dorelia," he said looking at her calmly. "They're...contractions..." He waited a beat to see how she would react, before continuing. "You're pregnant and I think you almost lost the baby right then... You need to stay calm right now, okay?" His tone was professional and somewhat kind. Now that the crisis had passed, he was starting to come out of doctor mode and was realizing...it had been his fault. All the things he'd said and yelling at her... He'd almost killed her baby....
 
They had been fighting. That much she was sure of and at this second it was the only thing that she was sure of because suddenly Landon was acting very strange. His mood seemed to change so suddenly when she cried out in pain and even though she was still angry confusion was slowly overpowering it. Suddenly he was by her side, kneeling. He pushed her hand away from her stomach and replaced it with his. Had she not used her second hand to hold onto the table and keep her up she would have used it to slap his hand off her. She was not happy to be touched and especially not now, like this, or by him. Even if he was the doctor she was mad at him.

Then he got up and walked away. She didnâ??t turn her head to see where he was going until she heard what he said. She shot him a pained glare, in the process of doing that she noticed him pulling some vial or clear liquid from the cabinet and she wondered what it was for. Then she saw him fill a needle with it and her eyes widened. Why was he filling the needle? Was he planning to inject her? What was that stuff anyways? She was too far away to read the label but she didnâ??t like the idea of having anything put into her body. The syringe was not the only thing that he was getting, he also got some tubes and cups and she couldnâ??t even begin to imagine what he had in mind for them and she really didnâ??t want to. All she wanted was for the pain to pass and for Landon to stop being such a stubborn person but it didnâ??t seem like she was going to get either.

When he came back to her side with these strange things he felt her stomach again. She really didnâ??t like all of this. Why did he have to keep touching her? What were those things? What was going on? She was going to ask him when he began to lift her skirt. This, needless to say, quickly distracted her form those questions and for a moment they even seemed to vanish from her mind. â??What the hell do you think youâ??re doing?â? she demanded. She went to push him away but another cramp took her and she was forced to grab the table once more to avoid falling. She winced when he injected her but held her tongue. She didnâ??t want to cry form a little shot no matter how much she hated needles.

Much to her displeasure, it was back under her skirt with Landon after the shot. She tried to push him away but, like every other time he did something indecent, he yelled â??doctorâ?? as if it excused him from anything and everything he did. It didnâ??t but right now was not the time to get back into the argument and while she did her best not to show it she was truly frightened to have him this close.

â??I swear to god,â? Dorelia began, her words were slow and deliberate to make herself very clear. â??If your hand go any lower then Iâ??m going to hurt you. I donâ??t know how yet but I will.â? She told him. Had her voice held the same power it had on previous occasions that would very been very frightening but the power in her voice just seemed to be missing. Right now she just felt too powerless to have any in her voice. She had wanted to sound strong and confident but she didnâ??t. She sounded angry but it was a strange kind of anger. It just wasnâ??t genuine. The anger was there to block up another emotion. Fear. And it did a poor job.

The fear in her voice was evident. It came through all too clearly and made her look away. She hadnâ??t wanted to allow herself to sound as frightened as she felt but it seemed that the fear she was trying so hard to hide snuck out anyways. At least she didnâ??t have to follow through with the threat. She knew Landon would never take advantage of her or any woman but that had not quelled her fear. It didnâ??t matter if Landon was the pope himself, she still would have been frightened. Dorelia had been raped and he was far too close to the site of that horrible act for her to be anywhere near comfortable. When he finally pulled his hand away she was relieved. Having his hand out from under her skirt really improved her mood. Too bad it was not going to stay like that for long.

Landon was quick to spoil her mood. â??P-pregnant?â? she asked him. She shook her head then let herself sink to the floor. â??I-I canâ??t.... no I-.... Landon I just-.....Oh God....â? And that was when it finally hit her. She brought her hands to her face to cover it as she found herself with the uncontrollable need to cry. â??I-I canâ??t be! Oh God! Landon I canâ??t be pregnant. I canâ??t be pregnant!â? she looked up at him, tears falling from her eyes, â??Youâ??re wrong!â? she yelled at him, â??Youâ??re lying! Landon stop lying to me! Just because youâ??re mad doesnâ??t give you the right to do this to me!â? She yelled at him. Landon wouldnâ??t lie about something like this and while inside of her she knew that she just couldnâ??t believe this to be true. This had to be a lie. She needed it to be one. But, sadly, it wasnâ??t.

Deep down inside of her she knew it to be true and she realized that why way she had heard the crying when she died. It was the child inside of her. It was too young to have a body so she could not see it but it did have a soul and that soul was crying out for her. That was why the babyâ??s crying motivated her. This had to be what her father meant when he said that she had so much to live for now. He had known she was pregnant but didnâ??t tell her and somewhere inside of herself she could understand why. â??This....this can be... this canâ??t be happening...â? she sobbed the words. â??Oh god! Itâ??s his child! That horrible monsterâ??s child!â? she cried as she shook her head. â??Oh God! Why?â? she sobbed the words.

Not only had that man kidnapped, tortured and raped her but now he left her with child. This was more than upsetting, this was just downright terrifying. â??I canâ??t.... I canâ??t... I canâ??t do this!â? she sobbed, then she looked up at Landon, tears spilling down her cheeks. â??I canâ??t do this Landon!â? she cried out. â??I-I canâ??t carry his child.... I want to be done with him!â? she cried, â??Even from a distance that bastard has found a way to torture me!â? she sobbed the words. â??I canâ??t take this... I canâ??t do this... I donâ??t know how to do this...â? she looked down, burying her face into her hands. â??I donâ??t know how to do any of this! I canâ??t carry a child... care for a child... I donâ??t know how to be a mother! Girls are supposed to be like their motherâ??s but mine tried to murder me!â? she sobbed, a new fear surfacing. Now she was terrified that she would hurt her own child... Her own child... her child.

This baby was hers, it was her family. At least it would be.. And she almost lost it! As much as she hated to learn she was pregnant and as much as she would have done anything to prevent this now that she had the baby growing in her she couldnâ??t let anything happen to it. This was all so strange, so terrifying, so new that she just didnâ??t know what to do. There was little consolation to be had here in the fact that the child would be her family. There was too much negative right now. How would she care for it? How would she raise it? Who would want her now? Sure she couldnâ??t raise it on her own... that is if she even lived through the birth. Too many woman died in child birth... And what was to say that the baby would live? She already lost it once and she couldnâ??t be more than just two weeks pregnant.

At this rate she might lose it. Landon had told her to stay calm and she was doing the exact opposite. Not only was she panicking but she was on her knees on the floor crying. She knew it was bad but she couldnâ??t seem to make herself stop. Every time she tried to calm one fear three more seemed to pop up. She just didnâ??t know what to do. There was too much confusion, too much fear and uncertainty. The worst part was that if she kept like this she would lose the child for sure.
 
He listened to her protests about him touching her with an irritated calm. There was that mistrust again. What was so intimidating about him? Did doctors normally take advantage of their patients where she came from? Or was there just something about him that was particularly threatening? When had he EVER shown himself to be less than professional when dealing with her as a doctor? That made him think of his fight with Abigail and he remembered what she'd said...

Oh! His eyes opened wide as understanding bloomed inside him. Oh, dear! That's right...she was-- Even in his mind he couldn't finish the sentence. But then he winced as he realized what a fool he'd been. The woman had been violated and here he was touching her as if he owned her body and shouting "doctor!' at her as if that was somehow suppose to erase the memories of what that man had done to her. That added on to the guilt of arguing with her and causing her pain, was enough to make him feel like a total jackass. For once he was forcefully humbled and stood there looking solemn and tightlipped.

But then his revealing the news to her backfired in his face as she started to cry. She wasn't listening to him--he'd told her to stay calm! Landon looked at her with sad eyes, standing there awkwardly, wanting to say something to comfort her, but not knowing what. Abigail usually handled this type of thing--she always knew exactly what to say and had a calm soothing demeanor that people clung to. Like an idiot he looked around for the old woman, fruitlessly, before turning back to the crying woman before him.

"It'll--it'll be okay..." he said, the words sounding unfamiliar to him and his tone awkward, like his tongue wasn't used to saying such things. "It isn't all bad... Something good will come out of this..." Frantically, he wracked his brain for positive things to say. She needed to calm down or the medicine he'd given her wouldn't work. On a whim, he knelt down beside her again and put his arms around her hesitantly. Was it...okay to touch her like this? Did she even want to be touched right now? God! What the fuck was he doing??? It did feel good though, her soft body close to his, and he felt his face heat at the thought.

He held her close, searching his mind for something he could say, anything to make her feel better. "You'll be a great mother..." he said softly, blushing as he did so. "You'll have everyone here to help you and support you... You're not alone..." Basically trying to take back what he'd said about her leaving. He looked up, searchingly, trying to think of something more he could say and then his eyes drifted to the tea plant on the table above them and it clicked. A distraction! Yes! She'd wanted to show him a silly magic trick before. Maybe if he let her show him, it would get her mind off of this and she would calm down?

So Landon sat back a little, holding her shoulders and looking at her calmly. "You know," he started and paused to lick his lips. God, he really hated himself right now! "If you wanted to show me the...spell thing," he said the word hesitantly and tried not to sneer as it rolled off his tongue, keeping his face clear and positive. "I'd really like to see it...Maybe it would help me a lot?" He nodded at her reassuringly, hoping this would work to get her calm again. Then he remembered, she needed some animal for it and he got up abruptly, mostly eager to have something to do, but also wanting to show her he was serious about wanting to see what she wanted to show him...even though he wasn't...not really.

So, he smiled at her reassuringly and headed towards the back door to the lab, taking out a long, thin, dark colored key and unlocking it. Outside, in a few dozen crates set up against the wall, there were large brown rabbits, most with long ears and powerful back legs, each with enough room in it's cage to move around freely. A teenage boy from town, the miller's son, helped Lan tend to them, feeding and watering them every day, and Lan cleaned out the straw in them when they got too dirty. He didn't know which one Dorelia would need, or how big it should be, but he got one that was a good size that he could control still, unfastening the latch on the front of the cage and opening the wire meshg door. The animal retreated from him, but he made soothing noises as he reached in and picked it up. He sniffed before standing with the thing in his arms, and walked back into the lab.

Seeing Dorelia, he smiled and closed the door behind him with his hip and brought the hare over to the table, the little things beady eyes wide and it's nose bouncing frantically. "Alright," he said with a grim smile. "Here it is. Now, show me your magic trick." And he smiled again, trying to be light hearted about this whole thing but really kind of cringing inside. But if this was what it took to assuage his guilt and make her happy, then he'd do it...
 
She heard what he said and she shook her head. She didnâ??t believe him. How could it all be okay? There were just far too many things that could go wrong for everything to be okay. She could lose the child and prove that she is so horrible a mother that God wonâ??t even let her have a child or keep it and it could accidently starve or she could end up hurting it like her mother had done to her. She didnâ??t know what she would do with it. Surely she couldnâ??t stay with Abigail forever and how was she supposed to work with a little baby? The people of the two might support her but she didnâ??t want to have to rely on them for her childâ??s life. And Father Justin... he was a horrible man, she didnâ??t want her baby to be anywhere near him.

New thoughts swirled around her mind as she tried to make sense of old ones. Sure there was good but for every good thing that she thought of there were about ten bad things to be had and they just kept piling up until.... until Landon hugged her. She looked at him confused; she could feel his hesitation and knew he was trying. Tears welled in her eyes and she returned his embrace, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. He smelt like soot and pseudo-magic. It was so close to being magic but it was missing something. Then again what Landon did with medicine in saving peopleâ??s lives was almost magical. She liked his scent, his embrace, she heard his words and managed a weak smile but she was still far from calm.

Her heart was still racing inside of her chest and her mind was in complete chaos. Then suddenly Landon wasnâ??t holding her anymore and she was confused and upset again. Now he was holding her shoulders and talking about the spell thing. She couldnâ??t remember what spell thing he was talking about. Surely he didnâ??t know a spell otherwise he would smell like real magic and not the pseudo kind. Then he mentioned it helping him and she remembered what he was talking about. She looked up at the table and she smiled at him very weakly. â??I canâ??t do magic when Iâ??m panicked, things can go wrong, I have to be....â? then she stopped. She had to be calm to do magic and he had told her to stay calm earlier. Her smile grew, Landon truly was a genius.

She got to her feet when he left and wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. While he was away she decided to get things ready. She looked around and found some fresh water. One word of a spell told her that it had not been contaminated and that it would work for what she had planned. After that she took some deep breaths to calm herself down. This would not have worked before because the child was the most pressing thing on her mind. With this spell to distract her form it she was able to calm herself down and push the thoughts of the child that she was carrying to the back of her mind and lock them away, at least for now.

When he came back with the creature in his arms she just could not help but smile. She had always thought that rabbits were adorable and hares were no different. They just looked like elongated rabbits. Watching Landon carry the creature she could not help but smile. He was actually being gentle with something. Besides, the creature was something he couldnâ??t control with wit or by yelling â??doctorâ?? at it. He held the hare close to her supplies and she smiled, he knew better then to let it go. Theyâ??d never catch it again without magic.

â??Alright, let me enchant him first so he doesnâ??t cause a fuss.â? She said as she walked over to Landon and gently took the creatures head in her hands. She then began to whisper softly to the creature but they werenâ??t the kind of words that she had just spoken to Landon. No, this was magic. She slowly calmed the animal with her magic much like she had calmed Susy earlier that day. Once the animal was calm she picked it up and held it in her arms. She looked down at it and her thoughts flashed back to the reminder of her pregnancy and she shook her head to shake those thoughts away. She couldnâ??t get distracted now or else she might really mess things up and end up killing the rabbit and if that happened ti would take a lot more then magic to make her calm down. Dorelia hated to kill things, she didnâ??t like having to do this but she had to show him.

â??Remember when you gave me blood? I donâ??t think our blood would have worked together had it not been for the magic, it might have but Iâ??m not sure. Anyways, I donâ??t know if you tried it before but sometimes people have different blood them other people. Youâ??ve heard of a blood line right? Well I think that relatives have the same blood, but there canâ??t be a different kind of blood for every family. I remember a witch in one of the villages I passed through was trying to figure out what made one blood different from another and I donâ??t know if she ever got it but I think her town chased her out before she did. Anyways,â? she got back to her point. â??As a doctor you know this, sometimes bodies reject blood form other bodies but I think I have a way for you to tell which blood will work in which body. We can practice this with more hares but for now we just need one.â? She told him. Then she whispered a few more magic words and the rabbit fell asleep in her arms.

â??One enchanted bunny ready for magic.â? She said with a smile as she took the limp animal and began to walk around his lab. When she found what she was looking for she went back to Landon with a smile on her face. She found a knife. She took the knife and made a very shallow cut on the creatureâ??s leg. The creature didnâ??t move. It was out cold. After that she held the rabbit over the water until a drop fell into the water. She had been careful to make the cut very shallow so that it would be not much more than a paper cut. It would heal on its own easily enough. She cradled the creature in her arms for a bit longer before laying it on the table. It still didnâ??t move but it was breathing so Landon could be sure it was still alive.

â??Now you need a green tea leaf. I got you a plant so you could do it more than once. It also makes good tea, itâ??s a shame you donâ??t like tea...â? then she shook her head disappointed that he didnâ??t like eta but went on with things. She held the leaf just an inch from her lips and whispered three magic words, then she kissed the leaf and put it into the middle of the wooden bowl. The leaf spun around once and then stopped with its point pointing to the hare.

â??See? It matches the blood in the water to its closest match. Since we have the original it points to the original.â? She said with a smile. Then she picked up the hare and moved him to a different part of the table. The leaf continued to point at the creature no matter where she put the animal. â??You can move the hare and see if the leave follows if you want. No matter where you put it the leave will follow. You can put the animal back and bring out a few more, see which one matches this oneâ??s blood. Then test by taking blood from each animal and putting them in the other. It will work. I promise it will.â? She said with a smile as she turned to Landon, hoping that he liked her gift.
 
Landon sighed impatiently at the first thing she said when he got back into the room, but he tried to cover it up by nodding and looking interested. He was glad to see her up and calm again, but really? Enchantment??? He just couldn't help the urge to scoff when she mentioned that sort of thing--and she talked about it as if it were real--but he did try and hide it as best he could. No need to offend her and get her upset again...

He hesitated in letting her take the animal from his arms, and although with his hand cradling it's chest he could feel it's thundering heart beat slow drastically, he still didn't think she'd done anything to it. But, he continued to humor her and let her take the animal from him. Hopefully this wouldn't involve killing the thing--he would be so pissed--That's not magic! he would say. Even I can kill things! You sick freak! He almost made himself laugh but then she was talking again and he listened attentively.

He discreetly rolled his eyes again when she mentioned the blood working from magic, but he kept it minimal and listened to what she said. Truth was, he didn't really know why the blood had worked this time and not others, but he was sure that if he studied it more he would figure it out. He was intrigued by what she said nonetheless and despite himself couldn't help get a little excited. It was probably not real what she had to show him, but if she had solved this problem...

Then he stared for a moment as the rabbit fell instantly asleep in her arms. Okay...That was weird. Maybe...she touched it a certain way, on a pressure point or something to render it unconscious... Yes, that was it... Even though he hadn't seen her do such a thing. He rolled his eyes again when she called the thing enchanted, but covered it up with an insincere smile. When she got the knife, Lan felt a protest rise in his throat and he looked on with trepidation as she cut the animal but he could see it wasn't that bad of a wound, so he stayed silent. He watched with furrowed brow as she held it over the bowl of water and let a drop fall into it. He merely glanced at the rabbit when she set it aside, his eyes focused on what she was doing, trying to analyze every movement so that she wouldn't trick him...like some witches could with their slight of hand.

When she said that about tea, he stumbled a bit and said, "Well, actually..." but his voice faded as he watched what she did with the leaf. Really, it wasn't that remarkable. She had dropped it into the water and that had caused the movement and then it had stopped. Great. Wonderful. It floats? He was about to say something about it, that it would probably still float no matter what she put in the water, and his not understanding what this had to do with blood but she answered all questions as she continued to speak. He nodded his head resignedly. Of course. The leaf...was pointing to the rabbit... Internally he ground his teeth. He just wanted to shout at her that this didn't make a lick of sense and it was stupid, but his mind stammered to a halt as he watched her move the rabbit and the leaf in the bowl moved with it.

Lan's eyes stared intently at it, his eyebrows arched downward in concentration and he smoothed his mustache with his fingers as he thought it over. There was something... No! It couldn't be! But the movement of the leaf was too direct...How was she making it do that? He glanced at the open window and knew there was a breeze flowing into the room and that would have accounted for the leaf moving erratically...but it wasn't. It was staying perfectly still in the water and the leaf point was pointing at the rabbit.

He didn't want to get suckered into this and he struggled against it for several moments, standing there silently, rubbing his mustache. But then his curiosity overwhelmed him. Even if it was just a trick, he had to know. So, glancing at Dorelia and then staring back at the leaf for a moment longer, before speaking. "How does it work?" He wasn't admitting anything, he just wanted to know, and he was tempted to go and get another rabbit or a few and try a blood transfusion with them, but first he wanted to know how to recreate it. "If...If I brought another rabbit in here, with the same blood type, would the leaf point to it, or would it still point to the original?"--Gah! what was he saying? But that logical part of him, that reasoning part of him, was shoved away as he let his inquisitive side take over. He wasn't ready to take any action yet to test this, but he was on the verge.
 
She knew that he wanted to protest at just about everything that she did but she willed herself to ignore it. If he could hold his tongue then she would not get mad at him over what he was feeling. Some people just could not control what they felt or thought and she didnâ??t think it would be right to be mad at someone about something they couldnâ??t control. She could sense his hesitation on letting her have the animal and she smiled at him. â??I donâ??t kill animals. I donâ??t even eat them. Well, that last part is mostly because I canâ??t cook them but I believe that unless we need to we shouldnâ??t hurt them. Thatâ??s why I had to do what I did to the Hare. If he was awake he would have felt the pain and panicked. Now he can just dream while we work.â? She said with a kind smile.

Once the leaf began to move she watched Landon carefully. She could see that he was not impressed when the leaf settled on the hare so she picked it up. His expression changed when the leaf focused on the moving creature. She watched him stare at the leaf. It was as though he was looking for some sort of wire that would be moving it to make sure that it pointed at the creature, still, there was nothing but the bowl, water, leaf and blood. It was a simple spell, it barely took even a pinch of energy so she could do it thousands of times a day before growing tired. Even if it did take lots of energy she wouldnâ??t mind. It would have been worth it to see this look on his face. She could not help but smile as she watched him rub his mustache in thought. The thoughts of the child were gone from her mind, she was taking too much pleasure in seeing his reaction to this to worry about that.

She heard what he said and she could not help but laugh. â??I told you.â? She said, giggling slightly. She approached him slowly while he focused back on the leaf, hoping to possibly startle him. â??Magic.â? She whispered directly into his ear once she was close enough. She could not help but smile at his questions. Even if he didnâ??t believe in magic he could not deny that it worked. â??It will always point to the creature with the closest match to the blood in the bowl. However, as you know, the body rejects bad blood so the leaf wonâ??t point to anyone if there is not good blood for the original.â? She said with a smile, then she got an idea, â??In fact, watch the leaf.â? And with that she picked up the creature in her arms and muttered a word in her magic language.

A small sphere formed around the hare for an instant then the sphere was gone. Landon might think it a trick of the light but the leaf was reacting. After the sphere vanished the leaf began to spin, first slowly then it got faster until it finally stopped. What happened after that was possibly the strangest thing Landon had ever seen. Inside of the bowl right before their eyes the leaf shriveled up and died, sinking to the bottom of the bowl. She smiled as she put down the hare and picked up the bowl. â??I cut the hare off from the bowl and neither of us are a good match for the hare so rather than point at us the leaf dies trying to find a match. If course this is why you need so many.â? She said with a smile as she took the bowl over to the tea plant and watered the plant with it.

â??Even with the drop of blood it is still goods for the plant. As long as the blood is not spilled in hatred then it doesnâ??t affect plants.â? She explained. Then she filled the bowl with some fresh water and she plucked another leaf. The wound had stopped bleeding but there was still a little bit of blood outside of it so she touched the wound to the water to get the blood that she needed. â??Why donâ??t you go get a few more. Here, you can put this one back in his cage. Be gentle with him, he is sleeping. If anyone asks then you can say that you were testing a sleeping medicine on him. When he wakes up he should be good as new.â? She said with a smile. Now all she had to do was wait for Landon to bring more rabbits to find a match to this one. Then again he might want to put this one in a separate cage to keep it separated from the others so he could test the blood transfusion after they found a match.
 
His eyes were still on the leaf as he listened to her so when she was all of a sudden right there by his ear, he jerked back a little, looking at her, startled. There was that word again and he frowned a little but it didn't seem to bother him. "Yes, yes," he said impatiently, glancing at the leaf. "But...how does it work?" Of course he was looking for a scientific explanation, basically saying indirectly, 'Quit playing games and tell me the secret to the trick'. He probably would never admit that what she was doing was supernatural in any way. That is until he saw what she did next.

Landon's eyes narrowed when the sphere appeared and then vanished, but of course he thought it was just a trick of the eye--someone must have walked by the windows with a piece of metal or a reflective surface or something and it shined into the room, yes that's it--but his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open at the behavior of the leaf in the bowl. First, the thing started spinning and then it was dying and sinking to the bottom of the bowl--what the hell??? His mind fumbled frantically, clawing at some semblance of reason, but it was like a bead inside of a rattle trying to hang onto it, the logical thinking part of him just flittering about his head. His breathing increased rapidly and he tried to pay attention to what she said, but he felt himself overwhelmed by the possibilities.

He stood there, his mind frying, gasping and staring, on the verge of panic, as she prepared the bowl again. No! How did it happen? How. Did. It. Happen??? There had to be a logical explanation, but the more he thought, the more he couldn't find one. Then he looked at her and heard what she said about the rabbits and he snapped back to reality somewhat.

Still breathing hard and his eyes a bit wider than normal and sweat beading on his brow, he kept his eyes on her as he stepped forward and picked up the sleeping rabbit. "I think..." he said in a weak voice, trying not to stare at her, but couldn't keep his gaze away. "I think I...need some air..." He nodded as if that made any sense in response to what she'd said and hurried from the room, with the rabbit in his arms. Out back, he paced in front of the crates, back and forth, breathing in deeply and exhaling slowly, trying to calm himself. What the hell had happened? It was just a leaf, sure, but it defied all scientific explanation what had happened to it. She hadn't been touching it at all! She'd just said some gobbly-gook and then things had started happening! And then the leaf had...died...

Once he opened the door of doubt for this one thing, everything else came flooding with it: in Abigail's house when she'd gotten mad at him and he'd fallen back from an invisible force--he HADN'T tripped!!! Oh God!--and then in the hospital when she'd first awoken and grabbed his arms--she'd DONE something to him!!! Oh, fucking Christ!--and then the rabbit and the-the leaf!!! He was on the verge of a mental breakdown the more his thoughts went down that road, so he did what he had to do to regain his sanity--he ignored it. He wasn't going to admit it was real, he couldn't, but they could pretend, it wasn't what it was. So long as she didn't force him to confront it, he'd be alright.

So, Lan continued to breath heavily, as he put the sleeping rabbit away and set himself to the task of gathering a few others. He got a fold-up wire cage from the shed behind his house, which was right next door to the lab, and opened it up and started putting a few rabbits inside. It occupied his mind, so he didn't even think about that thing and by the time he was finished and toting the cage into the lab, he had composed himself somewhat. Seeing her again, made him almost jump out of his skin and he wanted to high-tail it out of there, but he regained control and gave her a sober look. Setting the cage down on the ground a little ways from the table, he went over to the medicine cabinet and went through the drawers, finally pulling out the blood tubes, and coming back over to the table with them. It was very hard to look at her without trembling and jerking away, but he coughed a few times and put on a show of normalcy.

"Alright, let's see how this works," he took a deep breath and slipped into the safety of alchemist mode. All of his worries and panicky thoughts melted away as the intellectual part took over and his features smoothed to neutral. It was like light and dark, night and day the way he was acting now compared to before. The jittery, anxiousness was completely gone and nothing but the cool professional was left. It was almost like he could put himself into a trance when he went into the different modes, all unnecessary thoughts going away so he could do his work and it was an effective tool to keep him focused.

Going over to the cage, Landon, picked up one of the rabbits and brought it over to the table, ignoring Dorelia as he focused on the leaf in the bowl. It would look somewhat funny to see him so intent on what he was doing, mustache drooping as he frowned and moved from side to side, with the rabbit in his arms. But the leaf didn't do anything and he looked at Dorelia with a small irritated frown. Was he doing it wrong, or was this rabbit just not compatible with the other one? She was the expert here and the only one who really knew how it worked fully, so he looked to her to lead and direct him. It wasn't something he was comfortable with, mostly because it was his lab and all, but also because she was a woman--but for now, in pursuit of THIS knowledge, he was willing to do anything. If he could find a way to match blood, then the transfusion tubes would work and he'd have the answers that no one else had!
 
Magic just didnâ??t seem to be a good enough answer for him but she smiled at him anyways. She didnâ??t think that magic would be a good enough answer for a man of science but it was the only answer that she had. She could try explaining the details of it, how her energy combined with the blood turned the leaf into a diviner that would point in which ever direction was what she needed to find. She could explain that the leaf had to be in blood for the magic to work. She could try to explain that the whole bowl was filled with blood when this experiment was first conducted and went on that way until Baba discovered that you just needed a drop of blood but enough of a pure liquid to make the leaf float. Of course none of that would be of any interest to Landon, he wanted some scientific explanation only she didnâ??t have one to offer.

She giggled slightly when his mouth dropped open after watching the leaf shrivel up and drop to the bottom of the bowl. She thought it was funny and she wanted to see him try to find some kind of explanation for this kind of thing but she doubted that he could find some lie to explain this. From the look on his face he couldnâ??t but she didnâ??t like the way that he seemed to be taking it. She thought he would be shocked and say something like So you really are a witch, and then maybe question her on magic. That wasnâ??t what happened. He looked like eh was going to start panicking and she was beginning to get really worried. Was this man not meant to encounter magic? Would accepting magic as being real drive him mad? He looked him he was on the verge of madness and it deeply frightened her. Why did madness seem to have to follow her wherever she went?

â??Landon.... a-are you...â? she began but the man stood and declared that he needed to get some air. She watched him practically flee from the room and after he was gone from sight she was left staring at the doorway he disappeared through. After a few moments of just staring she sat down on the stool and put her elbows on the table, resting her head in her hands. Why did bad things always have to happen? Even when she used magic with the purest intentions, there always seemed to be someone who just could not accept that magic was really and it either drove them to madness or half way there. Sometimes she couldnâ??t stop them. She shuttered as she remember her motherâ??s trip to madness and her actions once she arrived there. Her mother had been such a kind and gentle woman and everyone in the town always loved her but even they could tell that something was wrong during the year that she spent slipping.

If people could just accept it then she believed that this world would be a much better place. She had heard of ways to give non magical people magic so if magic was accepted there would be more witches around to give non magical people magic and more people having witch children and soon everyone would be magical. She truly believed that if everyone believed in the things that witches did, in the things that Baba had taught her, then the world would be a much better place. But that was not the case. Witches were murdered and raped and even tortured. They were treated like lepers, as if they carried the plague and no one wanetd to get involved with them. Only the most desperate ever came to a witch for help and they always received it but sometimes they screwed things up and then those around them blamed the witch for the personâ??s mistakes. If anything bad happened then they always blamed witches, Dorelia herself had been blamed a few times when people misinterpreted her advice and done something terrible.

It seemed like forever passed before she heard Landon finally came back but this time when he did he brought a lot of hares with him. She looked up at him just in time to see the look he had on his face when he saw her. She looked away sadly. He was scared of her now. One of the only two people she truly befriended was now terrified of her. It was at times like this when she wished that she could just stop being a witch and be a normal girl like everyone else but she knew that even if she tried it wouldnâ??t work. There was always a reason for a witch to be somewhere and always something that made her use her powers so it was best to use them freely then have something come along and for the witch to use her powers. When those somethings came along they were hardly ever discrete.

Had had the blood tubes for later but it was what he was doing now that had her attention. By now he had completely calmed himself down and she was happy to see that. She wasnâ??t sure what she would do if she had drove the townâ??s doctor mad. Surely then they would try and kill her for being a witch and she still didnâ??t know a way out of there. She watched him as he picked up at hare and brought it over, he seemed to be trying to make the spell work and he was just looking at the leaf so intently... she burst out laughing. She just couldnâ??t help herself, he was being too funny.

â??I havenâ??t said the words yet Landon, besides, you canâ??t test the animals one by one. Youâ??d waste water and leaves and it would likely just point at the container where most of them are and that would tell you nothing. â? She told him as she managed to stop laughing. She walked up to the rabbit he was holding and touched itâ??s head, whispering a word the creature fell asleep in his arms. â??This will be much easier with them asleep.â? She told him as she went over to the others and began to whisper. One by one the hares laid themselves down and fell asleep. After that she went over to the window and she closed it, then she drew the blinds so no one could see in. Enough light peaked through to make the room dim and still allow them to see. There were five rabbits. One by one she set them on the table in a circle around the bowl, holding on in her arms and letting Landon hold the one in his. After that she whispered two more words and a circle like the one that appeared around the hare appeared around Landon and herself.

â??I cut us off so we wonâ??t register. It would make problems if we were holding a match.â? She told him then she whispered and the leaf began to spin. It spun around five times, slowly pointing to each rabbit then settling on the one that Landon was holding. She smiled. â??That one is the closest match to the first rabbit. Try your blood thingy now, it should work.â? She said as she collected the other rabbits and put them back in the cage then she whispered the words that woke the four up but kept the last hare in his arms asleep. â??I think it would be easier for you in the rabbits were sleeping.â? She told him, then she looked down. â??Would you like me to leave?â? she asked him. She meant leave the lab but she remembered their argument earlier.

â??Do you really want me to leave town?â? she asked him. She sounded hurt, saddened by the fact that Landon wanted her to go away. Did he really dislike her that much that he wanted her to leave town. Would he really tell the priest on her? She couldnâ??t be sure but she did know that traveling through the desert would be hard, she didnâ??t even know where the nearest town was. How did he expect her to make it through the desert, pregnant and alone?
 
Landon's frown cleared a bit when she laughed at him, and suddenly, even if he was in alchemist mode...he wasn't scared anymore. The way her eyes twinkled in merriment and the way her smile brightened her face...she was beautiful. And just like that he realized, she wasn't some supernatural monster that threatened his perfect world with chaos...she was Dorelia. Just Dorelia. It set him at ease, and he was able to lose a bit of distance emotionally. He still held onto the professionalism, but his face was a bit more open and friendly now. It was like she'd broken the spell over him, just from her laughter alone.

Listening to what she said, he looked at the leaf and the rabbits uncertainly. "Oh," he said, looking down at the rabbit in his arms, blushing a little. Of course, there were words. He watched as she made the rabbit in his arms fall asleep but looked away nervously when she made the others fall asleep. It wasn't necessarily making him feel panicky again, so much as it just made him uncomfortable. All she had to do was whisper a few words and the animals went to sleep--it was a little strange and he didn't want to think about it to try and explain it right now. He watched her interestedly as she closed the blinds and wondered if it had to be dark for this...thing to work. It didn't occur to him that people might see because 1. people rarely went by his lab on that side and 2. it was his lab and people knew generally not to disturb him when he was working, so gave the building a wide berth anyways.

He watched alertly as she set the rabbits around the bowl, holding the one in his arms almost like he was clinging to it. Then he jumped a little when the circle appeared around them both and his mind screamed at him, 'It's not real!It's not real!It's not real!' His hair was practically standing on end and he was a bit wide eyed and shivering but he did a pretty good job of holding himself together. He was able to focus on the leaf when she whispered some words again, and looked down at the rabbit in his arms when she referred to it. Hearing that it was a match, he stared wide-eyed at the creature in his arms. Despite the magic and all of that weirdness, he was excited. This was it! He had to test it and if it was true, then... His heart beat fast in his chest as it did when he neared the answer to a great problem he'd been working on.

He smiled a bit, bright eyed and excited as she put the rabbits away, silent up to this point. He set the rabbit on the table and was going to go get the other one they'd used before but stopped at what she said. "Hm?" he said, the smile he'd had fading to a concerned look. When he spoke his voice was in a friendly and excited tone. "No, no! Stay! I might need you. I wanna test this and see if it's true. If you've found the key...the answer...!" He was speechless and ran his hands through his hair with a wide smile. "You don't know how great this is if you've found the key...! The blood tubes...I've tried them before and they..." His face saddened as he looked off into memory for a moment, but then he brightened again and looked at her. "But you! If you've found a way to fix it...!" He gasped a little, smiling brightly not needing to finish his sentence but doing so anyway. "You'll be my most favorite person in the world..."

Then Landon's smile faded and he got a sober look at what she asked next. For a long time, he stood there looking down at the ground and back at her, trying to find words. When he finally found them, he looked at her steadily and his voice was quiet. "Where...would you go?" He shrugged, basically saying he was sorry. "Sometimes, I get angry and...my mouth is not my own..." He grimaced and looked down at the ground, putting his hands in his pockets. Then his eyes widened briefly when he felt the journal entry crinkle in one of them. He looked back up and gave her a grim, sorrowful look then stepped forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, holding her shoulders as he drew away. "I am a stubborn fool," he said the words deliberately and seriously, looking in her eyes and then drew back fully and handed her the pieces of paper in his hand.

"I accept this wonderful gift you gave me and I want you to stay..." He decided there was nothing more he could say now, and to leave the decision up to her, so he took the rabbits in their cage back outside and put them away, all the while muttering excitedly to himself. He got regular scientific journals and memos about the latest discoveries other scientists, doctors and alchemists were making in the mail system and read them all, so he knew no one had discovered this yet. He would be the first to understand about different blood types and could write his own thesis about it! He was going over titles and figuring out what sounded good as he put the last rabbit away, but stopped as he realized: The way Dorelia had showed him had been through...magic... He couldn't put that in a medical journal to show his peers... Well, he could, but it would make him lose all credibility. There were several alchemists who were on the cusp of the occult, but mostly it was about scientific theory. He'd lose respect within their community, not that he had made a big name for himself, but people would continue to look at him cross-eyed from that point onward if he detailed how the experiment worked, using what Dorelia had done... He had to find a way to recreate it scientifically... It was a minor problem, but the fact that he had possibly found an answer was enough to keep his spirits up.

Taking the first rabbit, which was still asleep back inside the lab, he set it on the table next to the other one, then went about finding veins in each and hooking them together with the blood tubes, the blood from the first rabbit going into the second one that was suppose to be a match. He rubbed his mustache repeatedly and watched intently as the blood flowed between the tubes. Now, it was just a matter of waiting to see what happened. Lan fussed over the second rabbit, monitoring it's condition and breathing pattern, making sure it was still living as the other's blood went into it. Please let this work!

Then he just stood watching, holding his chin in one hand, when he turned to see Dorelia for the first time since re-entering the room. Landon gave her a small smile, and remembered the journal entry he'd given her. God! That was a dangerous move! She would be destroyed if anyone saw that, but he resisted the urge to take it back from her(like she'd give it to him anyways). It was hers and he'd had no right to take it from her in the first place, but still..all he wanted to do was protect her. Thinking about the entry made him think of what was actually written on it and then made him think of what was not written on it--the missing memories that she'd gotten back while in the hospital with a fever--and that brought to mind something that had been bugging him every since then. His brow furrowed as he thought over how to best ask about it, the memory being a terrible one and not wanting to upset her...AGAIN--God! He was doing that a lot lately...

"Dorelia," he said in a sober tone, as he looked at her interestedly. "You...in the hospital, when you woke up from the fever...you mentioned the man--er, the men who..." He didn't need to say the rest, did he? "You mentioned that they said the one man's name... What was it?" He continued to gaze at her in a considering way, wondering if he'd offended her again and hoping she didn't mind the question.

---------------------------

Alright, so maybe she didn't need a greenhouse, but Susy still wanted one. She'd had it in her thoughts for the longest time and now that she had the means to get one, she wasn't going to give up on her dream. Besides that, she wanted to show off her new-found wealth, not being a particularly bright girl, but not being materialistic when it came to money either--she had her plants and all, and maybe would get some nice pots and maybe an irrigation system made, but other than that, the green house was all she wanted. So, it wasn't long after the two women left that she left herself, after getting into an old trunk under her bed and pulling out a few rough sketches she'd done. They weren't blueprints but she figured Paitr, the town architect, could make something based on her drawings.

She walked through town, with her head held high and a content grin on her face, her shawl draped around her shoulders and her skirt without an apron. She nodded to anyone who was about and uttered a simple greeting and got a few small smiles and waves back. That's right. None of them wanted to talk to her or even admit she was a part of their town. But that would all change because she was richer than anyone else! They would be clamoring to be her friend now! And plus, as soon as the greenhouse was done, there would be no way anyone could miss it sitting behind her house, both those in town and those passing through. It would bring in business as well as interest.

Coming to his house she knocked on the door and was admitted inside by his wife, Isendre. The plain faced blonde woman barely said anything to her, but gave her a discreet look--yes, Susy knew she was one of the ones who didn't like her--but Susanne ignored her and kept her smile as the other woman went to fetch her husband. Paitr seemed a bit surprised to see Susy and welcomed her into the kitchen where she showed him her sketches and explained her idea. He listened patiently to every word, scratching his bearded chin in thought occasionally as he looked over the scribbles on the pieces of paper. Finally when she was done explaining what she wanted, he took a deep breath and looked at her.

"And...how are you going to pay for this?" he asked in a chary voice, his facial expression and posture saying that he didn't believe she could pay for it at all. "I won't accept payment in flowers." Now THAT was really insulting! And Susy gave him a level look before reaching into her money pouch.

She pulled out one gold coin and set it on the table, not wanting to show him all that she had, but being sure to shake the purse a bit, so it clinked ambiguously to show she had more. Then she smiled haughtily and looked at Paitr and his wife as if to say, 'So there!' The architect just stood there staring at the gold piece, wide eyed and disbelieving for a few moments before picking it up and looking closer at it, feeling it in his fingers. Isendre who had been standing off to the side this whole time was staring too, her mouth hanging open. "Where did you get that?" she demanded hotly. "Nobody in this town has that kind of money! Who gave it to you--?"

"Isendre," Paitr said in his deep voice, cutting through the woman's rant. "Money is money. No need to know where it came from." He looked at Susy and nodded his head. He didn't much care for the girl but business was business and he didn't get much work that paid well these days. Besides, his wife was a gossiper and he didn't care for that either.

Isendre gave him a hard look and turned back at Susy. "Well, I'd still like to know," and she folded her arms under her breasts giving the young woman a penetrating look. It was too bad that Susanne wasn't a very bright girl, because without any hesitation, she told the woman where the money had come from and of course the information didn't stay in that room...
 
Landon finally seemed to relax. For a second she was worried that he would have been mad at her for laughing at him but he seemed to relax a bit after that. It made her smile, reassuring her that for now at least, he would be okay. He was really bad at this magic thing most people could guess that there would be magic words but most people would just say â??abra cadabraâ?? and hope that works. So far she had yet to find a magic trick that worked with those magic words but that was not form lack of trying. If she ever found out what those words did then she might be able to do a traveling show as a magician. Of course she would need a man to be with her and to do it in a town that wouldnâ??t come after them for being magical. The man didnâ??t have to be magical as long as he knew how to take direction.

Her thoughts were jerked back to the present when she noticed him getting nervous over the way thatâ??s she put the animals to sleep. She smiled at him reassuringly. â??Landon donâ??t worry, they are rabbits. Besides, the sleep spell does not work so well on people because anyone with a strong will can resist its effects.â? She explained to him. â??Magic can do anything but magic needs a body to use it and I canâ??t do everything.â? She explained to him, hoping it would make him feel better. She noticed him jump a little at the bubble but she went on. He didnâ??t get a chance to will away magic that didnâ??t affect him directly. The bubble just kept him from showing up in this spell, if he was magic he could have chosen to undo it but there would be no point in that so a small part of her was happy that Landon was not magical. Being magical could cause a lot of problems; this was why she closed the windows. She didnâ??t want anyone to chance coming in and seeing this. The last time it could come across as a coincidence but this looked too â??ritualâ?? to be passed off under that umbrella.

The look on his face changed so quickly when the leaf pointed to the rabbit in his arms that it made her smile. Still, with what had been said earlier she wasnâ??t sure if she should stay. People often said cruel things under to influence of rage but often times the things were true statements that the person had not yet had the courage to say. She had learned this a few times over in other towns that she had been to. Strong emotions always forced a person to act but whether they regretted it later depended on the situation and what they had done. She blushed slightly from what he said would happen if it worked. She didnâ??t think she had ever been anyoneâ??s favorite person, except for maybe one of the children she crossed in her travels. The thought of being his favorite person made her smile. But you still would not want to marry me. The thought forced its way into her brain. It was such an alien thought that she could not believe that she had even thought it.

She looked down as she waited for his answer to her last question. Did he want her to leave town? For ever second that he hesitated in answering it felt like her an eternity in itself. If he wanted her to leave town then he could easily tell the father and he would take care of the rest. She wouldnâ??t have put it past him to have spent the entire time that she was ill trying to soil her reputation. It was too new, to impressionable and she didnâ??t want that man to have any effect on it. She heard what he said and she was surprised. â??I donâ??t know...â? she answered. â??People like me donâ??t often have destinations. We go where ever we can find food, shelter, if we are lucky then we get the travel with another of our kind. Though it is rare and there is a superstition that says that if there are two witches in one town things are bound to go wrong.â? She explained to him as her eyes turned towards the floor.

All of that was true. Bad luck seemed to follow Dorelia personally but she had heard stories from other witches and she was sure that she had some stories from other witches in that book of hers. She knew that Babaâ??s stories were in there but she could not bring herself to read them yet. Landon went on to say that his mouth had gotten away from him but she wondered if that was true or if he really would tell the father if she kept this up. She hoped that he would not tell that man about her or else it might be impossible to continue living here. What he did next seemed to confirm that he didnâ??t mind her sticking around.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. She blushed; briefly feeling his fuzzy mustache and warm lips against her soft skin. She looked at him when he pulled away, completely confused. He had his hands on her shoulder. Despite her confusion his words made her smile. â??Iâ??ll quote you on that.â? She promised. She knew he would act like a stubborn fool again, it was his nature, and now she could quote him against himself. When she saw the pieces of her journal in his hand she could not help but smile. They were wrinkled and ripped but she could easily fix that with a touch of magic, she was just happy to have them back. He even wanted her to stay! She was so happy and so excited. She watched him leave and was left to think about things. Once she was alone she was so happy that she began to dance.

Her movements were soft and fluid as if there was some beautiful melody that only she could hear. Her movements were slow, flowing but so sure. She smiled to herself as she remembered where she learned the dance and she allowed that memory to sweep her away.

â??Baba, where are you taking me?â? a little girl asked. She was small but healthy looking, something rare for those times and that area of the world. She had long blonde hair that covered her back and big brown eyes. The child was possibly nine years old at the oldest. It was a younger Dorelia.

â??Calm down Dor,â? said the older woman walking with her. It was impossible to tell the age of this woman. Her white hair seemed to flow down her neck like a crystal waterfall, reaching down past the womanâ??s knees. She wore a black dress with black gloves to cover her hands. A strange assortment of rings always seemed to be covering her fingers. She looked young but there was a certain presence about her that told you that she was far older then you were, no matter what age you were. Her storm colored eyes just seemed so wise, like she had done all this many times before. Despite her age her steps were sure, as if she traveled this way since birth. She was skilled and the child following struggled to keep up.

â??Baba slow down!â? the child cried to the older woman just a second before she got her foot caught on a root and tripped, dirtying her strange cloths. The girl was wearing white bloomers that only went down to her knees and a white shirt with no sleeves. Such clothing in a city during this time would not be tolerated but they got away with it because they were so far from civilization. With the large golden cross she wore around her neck and the white outfit she almost looked like a little angel of the lord chasing a witch through the forest.

The woman say that the child had tripped and hurried to her side, lifting the child up and brushing the outfit clean with her hand. She looked over the child to check for any injuring and noticed the girl getting teary eyed. â??Itâ??s okay my little Dorel. You will get used to the forest.â? The woman promised the child.

â??The forest hates me!â? Young Dorelia said as she began to cry.

The older woman just smiled as she brought the child into her arms. She looked up at a tree and as if on cue a squirrel came down from one of the trees and climbed up the girl until it rested on her shoulder. She looked at the creature confused and the creature licked her cheek. The child smiled, giggled and stopped crying.

â??The forest does not hate you.â? The woman sad as she picked the child up and began to carry her as one would a baby. â??But the forest must get used to you and you must get used to the forest.â? The woman said. Her words seemed so wise to the small child.

â??But the forest is used to you.â? The child protested.

The woman just smiled. â??The forest has known me since I first breathed child.â? The woman said kindly as she carried the child through the woods, neither slowed or encumbered by the girl in her arms.

â??How long ago was that?â? the child asked innocently.

The woman smiled once more down at the girl. â??Iâ??ll give you a hint,â? she said quietly, then she whispered, â??I am older then the trees.â? Then she left the child to try and figure out how old the trees were.

After some time of walking the woman stopped and laid down the child in her arms, rousing her from the sleep she had fallen into. When she looked where she was her mouth went wide and all of her words were suddenly gone. The sight took her breath away. There was a huge waterfall thundering down from the rocks, at least twice as big as Baba. The ledge was covered in all kinds of plant life as was the forest around them. The waterfall poured into a pool at the bottom which spilled out into a river so clear and smooth that one could mistake the rushing water for glass. The sides of the river were lined in some places with rocks polished by the water to almost shine. There were flowered everywhere and the river went on for as far as the child could see. As she looked up she noticed that a sunset had exploded across the sky giving it a rainbow of colors. There was nothing else like it.

The woman allowed the child to take all of this in before she spoke. â??So Dorelia, what do you think.â? She asked, watching the child be completely awestruck. She didnâ??t even look away form the environment when she was spoken to. This made the woman smile. â??I thought so.â? She said softly as she stepped forward and put her hands on Doreliaâ??s shoulders. â??Listen to me. Do you know why we are here?â? she asked.

The child turned to look at the woman quickly, as if snapped out of some kind of trance. â??No.â? the child answered plainly.

â??We are here to dance in thanks of water.â? The woman said, secretly enjoying the confusion on the little girlâ??s face.

â??Dance in thanks of water? But Baba, why do we dance in thanks? Why not just pray? And why to water?â? the girl asked, suddenly filed with questions.

The woman looked out at the water as she spoke, â??Well we could just pray but God listens to so many prayers that his ears must get tired. We dance so we can thank him without words. Besides, we thank the river spirits as well.â?

â??River spirits?â? the child asked, reaching out a small hand to hold the womanâ??s dress. She looked around nervously, frightened by the idea of there being spirits around there.

â??They are like small angels. It is their job to help the water stay clean so that we may drink it. That is why we thank them for the water and for doing their job because without clean water we would get sick. Water is very important, never forget that.â? She told the girl. â??Now letâ??s begin.â?

â??But there is no music!â? The child protested quickly. The woman knelt down and put her finger over the childâ??s lips. â??Listen.â? She whispered. And the child just did that.

The roar of the water fall filled her ears but slowly other sounds came into being. She began to hear the birds as they sang their songs, the crickets as they announced the approach of night fall. She heard bull frogsâ?? bellow and the occasional forest creature. She had never realized that there were so many different sounds in the forest and the longer she listened the more like music they seemed. Then she watched the woman begin to move. At first she didnâ??t understand it but as she watched the woman move she realized that this was what she had meant. She tried to imitate but her movements were fast, short and jerky. They were sharp and unrefined while the older womanâ??s dance seemed to gracefully move from one position to another, constantly flowing, constantly moving, constantly changing.

â??Flow like the river.â? Baba told the child.

Dorelia stopped and began to watch the water. She looked up and down the river, watching the way it moved and flowed constantly. She reached down and put her hand into it, watching the water part around her fingers then seamlessly flow back into place as though there had never been any disruption. Slowly the child began to understand and she began to dance again, this time not trying to imitate Baba but trying to imitate the river. Her movements were still rough but as the child continued her movements became smoother and began to flow. Baba began to sing a song in the strange language that Dorelia had come to call â??magic.â?? Her voice was soft but strong and gentle at the same time. She loved the hear Baba sing to the river, it was such a beautiful song.

But something happened that she did not expect. As the stars began to fill the sky and it slowly got darker fireflies began to emerge from their hiding places and dance with the two witches. Dorelia could not help but smile, they were just too beautiful. Then something strange happened. The dragonflies began to get bigger and they grew legs and arms, their bodies got bigger and she could see that they were not fire flies but the fairies that Baba had told her about ad they had come to dance with the two of them. Baba smiled and Dorelia laughed happily as they all danced together. They must have danced for hours because the moon was high in the sky before Baba stopped dancing and Dorelia had to bid the fairies good bye.

By this time Dorelia was so tired that Baba carried her home. As she made her way back through the dark forest the child spoke of her wonder. â??I didnâ??t know that the fireflies were really fairies.... It was so beautiful... so wonderful... so... so...â?

â??Magical?â? The woman said, smiling down at the girl.

The child nodded. â??I didnâ??t know that there was music in the forest.â? The girl said s she yawned, slowly drifting.

â??There is music everywhere.â? Baba told the girl, â??All you have to do is listen.â? And she smiled down at the girl as she watched her fall asleep.

She was jerked form her memories when he spoke and she blushed deeply, realizing that he had seen her dancing. She looked around the lab for some clue as to how long he had been watching and she noticed that the rabbits were already hooked up and Landon was standing there looking at her. The tone that he had spoken to her in was very serious, she wondered if something was wrong or if something had happened while she had not been paying attention.

Then he mentioned the man and her mood changed drastically. It went form a very light and happy mood to something much more serious, almost primal. It was some mix of rage and fear. She clenched her hands into fists. â??To me his name was monster. Because that was what he was. He may have the body of a man but there is no way he is human. Biologically maybe but one needs some humanity to be humanity he has none.â? She explained. Then she looked down, her hands were still clenched as she looked around his lab Then she spotted what he was looking for. One of the notebooks was open with a something to write with close by. She took the corner of one of his pages and wrote there. She could not bring herself to say that manâ??s name allowed. To say it was to acknowledge him as something worth having a name and to her he didnâ??t even deserve to breath.

She handed him the scrap of paper on it. Dwane. That was all the paper said. With that she looked away, her balled hand crushing her journal entry and a shudder took her body. She did not even like to think about this man. He was horrible in more ways then she had ever thought possible for one person to be. He seemed to have no limits, no morals, no kindness. It was as though he had no soul. She had heard whispers of people who sell their souls to get things from the devil but she had never encountered one. This was the reason for her shudder. If he had been one of those, one of those soulless people then she could be very sure that this was not over. People without their soul find no joy in innocent things. If he truly had no soul he would likely come after her again and not leave her be until one of them was dead.
 
Abigail arrived back at Susy's house but after the girl had already left and she groaned a little in frustration. She had a terrible feeling that the young herbalist wouldn't know to be discreet about the money or it's origins. Abigail herself didn't know how Dorelia had acquired the money, but she knew the girl personally and knew it couldn't be from anything bad. But she feared that the townspeople, once they heard about it, would think the worst and come after Dorelia. It made her anxious to think of things going bad again and she hurried to the houses on either side of Susy's home, asking after her to her neighbors. The one was where an old senile woman named Greta lived with her son-in-law and his wife. Her daughter, the son-in-law's first wife, having died but the man took the old woman in as part of the family.

Nobody else was home and the old woman was baking cookies in the kitchen and eager to have a visitor. She invited Abigail in, despite the younger woman's insistence that she couldn't stay and she cringed her teeth and smiled as the older woman tried to give her cookies she'd made for Lan. Then the old graying woman seemed to forget who she was and started calling her by her mother's name, sharing reminiscences that Abigail had no knowledge of. "Greta, Greta, sweetheart," she said practically pleading with the woman to shut up for a minute. "I'm Abigail. Baba's been dead for years, honey. Now, I need to go. I'm sorry to leave you, but I have some important things to tend to right now."

The old woman's eyes opened wide and she seemed anxious that Abigail was leaving. "Bu-but I made Landon some cookies," she said, hurrying over to the oven as fast as her feeble legs would carry her. "Let me give you a batch to give to him."

Abigail sighed heavily. "Greta, sweety, I have the cookies right here!" She almost wanted to laugh at how frustratingly slow the old woman was taking as she finally turned around and saw the basket of cookies in Abby's arms.

With a pleased wrinkled grin, Greta hobbled back over to her, talking in a thin voice as she came. "You be sure to give those to him," she nodded as if satisfied in telling her that. "That lad doesn't take nearly good enough care of himself. He needs a wife to look after him." She paused and looked off into space for a moment. "Baba, when is your daughter going to get married? The pretty one...er, Abigail?" Abby groaned and laughed a little, humorlessly as the cycle began again.

It took her several more minutes before she could finally get away and she looked down at the basket with a tight-lipped smirk. Yes, that man DID need to get married. And that made her wonder how Dorelia was getting on with him. Giving one last look at the house she'd left, she muttered, "I look nothing like my mother..." in a wondering tone, giving a shudder, hoping that she wouldn't get to be like that in her old age. The senile woman wasn't too much older than Abby and that's what made it so scary.

She proceeded to Susy's other neighbor's house on the other side, this time finding better help with the people at home. The two women at home, were Renna Coplin and Else Coplin, the one woman 37 years old and Else merely 15. They were looking after the baby of Maggie, the baker's wife, and her other children while she was at work and a few toddlers were running around underfoot as they talked with Abigail. They told her the last they'd seen of Susy, she'd been walking to Paitr Allwine's house. Else remembered specifically because as she'd seen the herbalist pass by she'd smiled and called after her to ask where she'd been going. Both Renna and Else thought the woman's response and the way she'd smiled had been very stuck-up and full of herself and they agreed that she had no business acting that way. Unless she'd finally found a man to put up with her and they both laughed as if it were some big joke.

Originally, Abigail had meant to speak to Susy's neighbors to get some help to socialize the girl, but now she realized why the young woman was so isolated. It irritated her a little bit that these women she'd known all her life--and Else, she had delivered from her mother's womb--were acting so foolishly callous. Just standing by while a young woman's life was worn away and she slowly disappeared. But, it was no time to get into arguments and she politely thanked the women for their time and help and hurried on her way.

As she walked, she cursed herself for not thinking of the architect in the first place. Of course! Susy had been obsessed about building a greenhouse for her plants. It should have been the first thing that had occurred to her when she saw how Susy had reacted towards the money. The greenhouse seemed like a fine idea, but like Dorelia had told Susy when they'd been in her house: the plants did much better in the setting they were in and they were flourishing wonderfully. But in her heart, she knew that the thing was less about the plants as it was a status symbol, in Susy's attempt to get those around her to notice her. How could they not, with a garden house, full of lush greenery out behind her home in the middle of this desert?

On her way, she stopped when she saw a crowd of women in front of someone's house, all talking like excited hens together. Abigail approached and saw Isendre Allwine in the midst of it all and when the plain faced blonde woman spotted her, she stepped forward with her hands on her hips.

"How long have you known?" Isendre asked in her snooty manner. Abigail's heart jumped a little at the vague, insinuating way the question was phrased. There were so many things she knew--she assumed they were referring to either Susy or Dorelia--that she got a little panicky thinking of what she could mean. What? What did she know?

But then, she realized, there was nothing really, truly bad about the knowledge she possessed and she calmed down immediately. She folded her hands in front of herself, holding the basket by her waist, and placidly replied, "About what?"

The other women gathered were all watching as Isendre reached into her front apron pocket and pulled out a golden coin and put it in Abigail's face. "About this!" she said as if it was the most obvious thing and Abigail should be ashamed for not realizing immediately. "Susy gave this to my husband this afternoon and when asked where it came from, do you know what she said? She said that stranger girl, the one from the trial gave it to her for a tea plant! A TEA PLANT!" Just as she'd suspected. Susy had told everyone that Dorelia had given her the money. She wondered how much Susy had told Isendre, or if she'd shown her just how much Dorelia had given her.

She was about to come up with an explanation to save the situation from possibly growing worse but Isendre wasn't done talking. "There has been a lot of talk," the plain faced woman said, giving Abigail a knowing look as she spoke. "And me and the other women have figured it out. Why didn't you tell us? You had to have known, spending so much time with her." Her face had drastically softened with the last question as if she were concerned and Abigail just stared confused.

"About what?" she asked frustratedly, truly perplexed. Was it about Dorelia's pregnancy--how would they know and how did this relate to the herbalist? Was it about how the young woman was having a fight with Landon and had gone to make up with him? But she didn't see how that related at all either. Had they come to the conclusion that the girl was a witch again? If so, why did they not seem upset about it? In fact the looks on all their faces showed quite the opposite. What was going on?

Isendre gave her a look like she was ignoring the obvious again and Abby struggled against the urge to throttle the woman. "That she's a runaway," she said in a tone that reflected her demeanor. "Spending large amounts of money so frivolously, like she's never had to deal with common prices for things," she said, listing points and tapping a finger with her other hand as she went over each one. "The way she doesn't know how to do any domestic work at all, like her mother hadn't even taught her anything. The way her sensitive body keeps on getting sick all the time--obviously from not spending that much time outdoors or exerting herself in any way. The way she had to travel a long distance to go where no one would know her to 'start over'." She looked at Abigail as if to prompt the woman to reach the same conclusion she had, but Abby just shook her head in question. Isendre sighed heavily before continuing. "She's obviously an heiress who's run away from her life of wealth and position to live a normal life among commoners." The other women gathered in front of the house started talking in agreement at that, both to themselves and addressing Isendre and Abigail. Abby just stood there with her mouth hanging open a little, absolutely floored.

----------------------------------

Landon tried not to stare when after glancing at her, he saw her dancing. She was so beautiful, seemingly completely lost to the movements, pure delight on her face and he asked his questions to cover up any embarrassment he was feeling. He didn't mean to interrupt her in...whatever it was she was doing--she seemed happy and he was sorry to see her grow so embarrassed after he spoke--but he felt awkward just standing there watching her. And she seemed to recover quickly when she focused on what he'd asked. The change in her mood was so sudden, Landon blinked a bit in surprise, watching her face fill with rage, the joy from before fading like a candle being snuffed out. His own face grew concerned as he listened to her, not wanting to have upset her so much and a little scared she might get stressed again.

He watched with interest as she went to a nearby notebook and wrote something down then brought it over and handed him the bit of paper. Not realizing why she'd written it down, he said aloud, "Dwane?" but it was low and muffled while he rubbed his mustache, looking over the word while thinking. He didn't know anybody by that name and he was glad and yet disappointed about that. Glad, because he'd hate to have the guy be here in town the whole time and remain unpunished and heaven forbid it was one of the townspeople he'd begun to feel so close to ever since the trial. That would totally make him lose respect for these people and he'd grow fearful of them again if one of them was a low enough human being to have tortured and raped Dorelia the way this man had. But, on the other hand, for those same reasons, he was disappointed. How convenient it would be to have the culprit right here within his sights and him to be the one to step forward and point the accusing finger for once. He'd bring the man to justice and then...well, then he'd be Dorelia's hero probably...

He coughed nervously at that thought, blushing a little as the fantasy unfolded in his mind, but pushed it away with a small shake of his head. But no, this man was a complete unknown to him, some faceless stranger, out there somewhere... He looked up at Dorelia then and saw her shuddering, with her fists balled up tight and turned slightly away. "Dorelia," he said calmly, in a grave tone. "I know this may be difficult, but I would like to ask you a bit more about him, if that's okay?" Landon knew it was painful for her and he knew the memory haunted her, but that was exactly why he had to know more. This man had to be found and held accountable for what he'd done. It didn't matter if he'd thought she was a witch while he'd raped and tortured her for days. There was no excuse for that kind of monstrous behavior and a man like that would find any justification to do it again. And not to mention, it would be relieving for her to talk about it and get it all out.

He felt like he wanted to touch her, maybe rest his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but he didn't really know how. It had been hard enough trying to comfort her earlier when she'd found out she was pregnant. And plus, he wasn't sure if while talking about this, she would want a man to touch her right now. So he stood where he was and put his hands in his pockets as he spoke, trying to keep his voice as soothing as he could with his professional tone. "Is there anything at all you can remember about him? What he looked like? Did he have an accent or any distinguishing marks?" He rubbed his mustache with the fingers of one hand. "Did you know him?" Granted, he wasn't the best when it came to questioning rape victims, but it was obvious he was trying to make it easy on her.
 
Dorelia flinched noticeable when she said the manâ??s name. â??Do say it!â? she snapped at him. After snapping she looked away. â??Iâ??m sorry.â? She apologized. â??I didnâ??t mean to yell... I just...â? she let it trail off there, hoping that would be enough and she would not have to explain things any further. Landon should be smart enough to know that this was not and easy subject for her so he could understand why she didnâ??t want him to say the manâ??s name. Of course she had another idea for why she didnâ??t want his name to be said but she was not exactly sure if it was true or not. If it was then she would be in deeper trouble then even she could imagine and she doubted that Landon would be able to do anything to help. She could only hope that she was wrong.

Then he began to speak calmly but seriously. He didnâ??t seem angered by her snapping at him but that was just a small relief. She had so many things to worry about right now that it was a good thing that it was just one less thing she needed to keep on her mind. What he said next shocked her. Why did he have to ask about this man? Why did he have to bring him up t all? All she wanted was to wipe her hands with him and be done with him forever. She wanted to forget the horrible things that he had done to her. She had a few memories of the events that occurred and she didnâ??t even want those. She just wanted to some how make it all go away but she knew that could not happen. Not as long as he was still out there and might come after her again.

She wrapped her arms around herself, holding her own arms, trying to keep herself calm. She heard the questions and shot him a heavy glare when he asked if she knew him. â??If I had known him before this happened I would have traveled to the desert on my own if it meant getting away form him.â? she told Landon. â??Have you heard of people who know people so well that they can tell what kind of people they are?â? she asked him, then she smiled weakly. â??It is a witch trait. It was said that a person who helped a witch by knowing a person was no good was gifted with the ability to know peoples personalities before he met them. It passed from generation to generation. Lots of kids spread through the world. Itâ??s that simple.â? She told him.

Then she shuttered. â??It was almost as though he had no soul. When one kills a piece of their soul is ripped form them. The more a person kills the less of a soul they have. Or of course, they can sell their soul.â? She said, then she smiled. â??Not everything the preacher says about witches is a lie. A normal ma can sell his soul to become a witch. I donâ??t know anyone who did so I am not the expert on the subject.â? She explained to him. Then she looked down and began to walked away, putting some distance between them. â??There is one very distinct thing that I remember and if Iâ??m right then this isnâ??t over... What I saw wouldnâ??t matter because it was likely an illusion.â? She told him, keeping her eyes on the ground.

â??When he threw me over his shoulder I could barely move. My face was pressed to him and right before I passed out again I smelt...â? She looked down then back at him. â??I smelt magic... Landon the man reeked of it. He was no ordinary man. Not like the men you are used to. He was magic.â? Then she shuddered. â??Magic people have ways of finding other magic people. The scent was strong, he was strong.... Landon... if he decides to come after me... then there isnâ??t a thing that you can do.â? She told him, shuddering again. She would need to find out what he was using to track her in order to stop it and depending on if he was stronger then she was or by how much it could be very difficult. It could be impossible. She could be rodent in the cage of a cobra. She would stand about the same chance.
 
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