Healers and Charlatans

Alannah blinked the sleep out of her eyes, awoken by the sounds of frantic knocking on the cottage door. She slipped out of bed, throwing her robe about her shoulders, and headed for the front door. Stayne stirred in his sleep, and then settled back down.

Alannah opened the door, staring into the white, terrified face of a young man of about twenty-two. He had a black cap in his hands, and he kept twisting it. "May I help you?"

The man gulped. "Lady Stayne?" At Alannah's nod, the man breathed a huge sigh of relief and began babbling. "You have to help us, My Lady! We…it's our little girl, our Emily! You have to help us! Please!" The man gave a choked sob, and then continued. "She…she's going to die if you don't help us!"

Alannah gently placed her hands on his shoulders. "Where is Emily?"

The man gulped. "Just outside in the trap with my wife. I wanted to…make sure we weren't imposing on you."

Alannah smiled. "There's no imposition. Tell your wife to bring Emily inside."

A young woman with blonde hair and green eyes came down the drive and stepped into the cottage. In her arms was a little girl of about four, with brown/blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Her face was pale, and she was trembling. The young mother gave Alannah a pleading glance. "Please, My Lady, help my baby!"

Alannah gently steered them to the couch. "Wait here, I'll be right back." She ran into the kitchen, yanking open her Potions Cupboard and selecting a large green bottle filled with a dark purple liquid. She went back into the living room. Emily's mother was rocking her, singing softly. Alannah sat next to her, and then gently shook Emily. "Emily? Sweetie, can you hear me?"

Emily whimpered. "I hurt bad."

Alannah smiled. "I know, darling, and I've got something here that will make you feel all better."

Emily wailed. "NO! Don't want any!"

Alannah gently stroked her arm. "It's alright, Emily. I would never give you anything that would hurt you, I promise. I used to give this to my children when they were sick."

"That's true, she did." Victoria came into the living room and knelt in front of Emily. "You can trust my Mum, she would never hurt you. It's alright."

Emily sniffled, and then looked at Victoria. "Pwomise?"

"I promise."

Emily looked over at Alannah. "Does it taste yucky?"

"No, darling, it tastes good."

Emily frowned, still skeptical. "Alright, I'll try it. But it better not be icky!"

Alannah laughed. "Noted." She opened the vial, handing it to Emily. "Take one big sip."

Emily obeyed, and then grinned. "It tastes like strawberries!" She yawned, looking up at her momma. "I'm sleepy, Momma."

"Go on to sleep, little one."

"Victoria, take her into your room so she can get some sleep. I need to have a talk with her parents."

"Yes Mum."

After the girls had left, Alannah turned to Emily's parents, her face grave. "Tell me everything. Now."

The father gulped. "Emily got sick a few days ago-it was just a simple fever, and this morning my Josette decided to go see the apothecary in town and get some medicine. She came back with a bottle, and gave it to her, and Emily got worse."

Josette picked up the tale. "She could barely breathe, and she was so pale. Her fever was gone, but she was shaking and trembling like a leaf. She couldn't keep any food down, and she was so cold. What is the matter with my baby?"

Alannah frowned. "I have a pretty good idea. Do you have the medicine you bought from the apothecary?"

Josette turned to her husband. "Donald, did you bring it with you?"

Donald nodded and handed Alannah a small vial filled with a clear liquid. She uncorked it, took one whiff of the contents, and gasped. "The apothecary gave you this? !"

Josette nodded, and Alannah growled in anger. "Why that no good, murderous, evil, charlatan! How many doses did you give Emily?"

"Just the one," Josette answered. "Why?"

"Because two would have been fatal. The apothecary sold you Rowan's Bane. It's a rather powerful poison. This leads me to think that either the man is incompetent or he has a grudge against you."

Donald gulped. "Who would have a grudge against us? I'm a smith, and Josette's a baker. We don't have much money, and we get on well with the neighbors."

Alannah bit her lip. "Then it means that your apothecary is incompetent, and that's even worse. Where does he have his shop?"

Josette answered. "Tramalin. It's just south of Witzend."

Alannah nodded. "I'm familiar with it. Now, Emily is probably going to be asleep for a few hours, but by the time she wakes up, she'll be good as new."

Josette and Donald smiled at her in relief. "Thank you, Lady Stayne."

"You're welcome. Excuse me a moment."

Alannah went into the bedroom, gently shaking Stayne awake. "Ilosovic, I need you to do me a favor."

"Of course."

Alannah informed him what was happening. "So what I want is for you to keep them company while I go to Tramalin and have a…discussion with the charlatan that sold them Rowan's Bane."

Stayne nodded. "Alright. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, but he's not here." Stayne blinked at her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I should be back in a few hours at the most."

Alannah reined Grey Star to a halt in front of a low brick building. A shingle on the front read 'Doctor Mirakle, Healer Extraordinaire.' She snorted, then dismounted and walked into the building.

A fat, balding man in his late sixties with piggy eyes and a greasy smile was seated on a stool behind a dirty counter. He looked up as the bell over the door tingled, and grinned at Alannah. "Good morning to you, Miss. How can I help you?"

"You're Doctor Mirakle?"

"That's me, Miss. Cures for coughs, colds, and croup. If you've got a sickness, I've got the potion that can cure it. What are you looking for?"

Alannah gave him a sardonic smile. "You know potions?"

"Like the back of my hand."

"What do you get if you mix rowan berries with feathers of a JubJub?"

Mirakle blinked. "I've never heard of such a potion!"

Alannah chuckled. "Really? Because that's one of the most basic of all. Rowan berries mixed with JubJub feathers gives you a paste that you then mix with water to make Veritas Tea. Alright, what does mixing blue feathers of a tove with the tears of the Mock Turtle make?"

"How should I know?"

Alannah sighed. "Really, I'm surprised you don't. That gives you a nice sleeping draught. Alright, something simpler this time. What happens if you mix water with rowanberry juice?"

"The juice gets watered down, of course!"

Alannah grinned. "Good. Now for the serious question. Why did you sell Rowan's Bane as a curing potion?"

Mirakle blustered. "I do not know what you are talking about, Miss! And I do not appreciate this subtle slandering of my skills! Just who do you think you are?"

Alannah's grin grew wolfish. "Lady Alannah Stayne, Potions Mistress and Royal Court Physician at Marmoreal, at your service. Now, how many people have you sold Rowan's Bane to?"

Mirakle went white. "Ummm….I…."

"How many?"

"Jus…just the one. Josette Walkers."

Alannah nodded. "Good. Now, why did you make it?"

Mirakle gulped, trying to keep his knees from knocking together. "I didn't know what it was! I found it in an old book and mixed it up!"

Alannah growled, then leaned over the counter and stared at him, her eyes dark red. "I dinnae suppose that the bit about it being named BANE gave ye any sort o hint? ! Ye're jes bloody lucky tha' I was able to counteract the effect on Walker's little girl! Because if she had died as a result of yer blatant idiocy, then I would 'ave forced the rest of the potion down yer fat throat! Ye listen to me, Mirakle, and listen good. I'll give you until tomorrow to leave this shop."

Mirakle glared at her. "And if I refuse?"

"Then my husband will arrest you for the attempted murder of a child. Mirana is a fair ruler, but there are some crimes that even she will not forgive. Harming an innocent child ranks up there. That is one crime that still carries the sentence of execution. So you have a choice. Leave, and never, ever attempt to open an apothecary ever again, or persist in your charade. But I warn you, if you choose the latter, I will hound you every step of the way. You will become disgraced, a known quack and charlatan. So, what's your decision?"

Mirakle gulped. "You wouldn't disgrace a fellow healer like that, would you?"

Alannah snorted in derisive laughter. "You are not a healer. You are a charlatan passing out rubbish. You think you can just throw things together and they make medicine, and in the mean time you end up nearly killing a little girl! Oh, and by the way-none of the potions you have in this shop are the least bit useful. At most, they can be added to tea for flavor. They won't cure a damn thing. Lucky for you, the majority are also not poisonous. You're a quack, Mirakle, and the last thing these people need is a rubbish healer. So, one more time-will you leave without incident, or do I expose you for the fraud you are?"

Mirakle looked at her, and then gulped. "Fine. I'll leave. But who is going to replace me?"

"I'll worry about that when I have to. Right now, I'm more interested in you clearing off as quick as you can."

Mirakle nodded. "Yes, of course! I'll be out by tomorrow morning!"

"Good, because I'll send Ilosovic by to make sure you've left. Have a nice day."

When she arrived back at the cottage, Stayne was sitting on the couch alone. "Where are our guests?"

He smiled. "The little girl woke up about twenty minutes ago. They've gone home. Did you take care of things?"

Alannah nodded and sat next to him. "Yes. Lucky for the quack, he had only sold Rowan's Bane to Josette. I checked his stores-he made a lot of tea flavorings, but no medicine. He's going to be leaving the business tomorrow. I can't run the risk of him killing someone."

Stayne sighed. "True. What will happen to his shop?"

"Tramalin isn't that far. I could run it, with Vicki's help. Once she got old enough, it would be hers. It would bring some money into the house."

"That seems reasonable. Would the owner be willing to sell?"

"I'm sure he would."

One week later, Alannah took possession of the shop, and promptly threw away every single potion that 'Mirakle' had concocted.

Three days after that, the shop was clean, and ready for customers.

Mirakle kept his promise and never opened up another apothecary's shop again.