She took a gulp of the hot tea, her expression never showing signs of any pain as it burned her tongue. Her eyes wandered to the trees that were filled with red and yellow leaves. She sighed upon hearing the rustle of leaves, thankful to have the hot tea and a sweater on.
It never ceases to amaze me how nice is out here, Joseph signed from across the table.
"Yes, it is very beautiful and peaceful out here," Raven replied.
Joseph took a long sip of his chamomile tea before reaching for his guitar from behind. Closing his eyes, his deft fingers danced across the guitar strings as a soft, harmonious tune came into fruition.
"Ah, so you feel the same way here too, do you not?"
With closed eyes, he nodded as he continued his song. The two young lovers were too lost in the melody and did not notice someone standing near them. It wasn't until the song ended that they heard clapping.
"Wow that was really good. I play guitar too, but I'm nowhere near as good as you are," she flashed them a smile and waved. "I came here to tell you that breakfast is nearly ready. I'm Julianne, by the way."
While getting up, Raven glanced over at Joseph's smiling face. "He'll be happy to help you practice, if you'd like."
"Really? That's so nice of you. Thanks! I have to go into town with Sally to pick up a few things, but afterwards I'm free."
The three walked into the dining room where nearly a dozen women were seated and enjoying light conversations with one another. Upon seeing the trio walk in, a woman with dark, curly hair stood up and called them over to the end of the long table.
"Raven, since the last time you've been here, there've been a few new girls. This is Mary Anne, Rebecca, and Sam. Girls, this is my daughter and her friend, Joe."
Greetings were exchanged along with a wave before it was announced that breakfast would be served. Raven helped carry the food over to the table. Today's menu consisted of scrambled eggs, pancakes and fresh apples. Joseph and Mary Anne brought over the plates and silverware, while two other women set tumblers for everyone; someone had placed pitchers of lemonade on the table beforehand.
Light chatter filled the room, creating a warm atmosphere as everyone ate. Many of the girls used this time catch up with each other, as they all had schedules to keep. Breakfast usually did not take more than thirty minutes, so soon, dishes were being cleared away.
After all the dishes were cleared away and washed, the daily healing session began. Arella sat with a group of five women ranging from the ages of late teens to mid-twenties. Raven sat with a woman named Diane while Joseph provided some mood music that flowed throughout the living room.
"I've been here for six months now and yet I feel like a completely different person." Diane stated soberly.
I spent two years working the streets and hated every minute of it. To think that a man could make his own wife do that. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore so one day I got the courage to hitchhike away.
Raven listened attentively as Diane continued on, "Somehow I ended up here, I thank every god out there that this place exists, and I hope that there are others like it somewhere. After I came here, I received healthcare and the boss found me a good lawyer, so now I'm in the middle of a divorce."
"I am glad that are safe now. If there is anything else that you need, I will do my best to help you. I can alleviate most pains if you so need me to," Raven acknowledged.
"That's nice of you to do so. One of the younger girls burned herself a little while back. She's sitting over by the bookshelf."
Raven followed Diane over to where a teenage redhead sat on a loveseat. Joseph, concerned for Raven's well-being, also went over. Diane brought the teenager out of her reading exercise, "Annie, Raven is here to take a look at your arm." Annie looked up from her book.
"I ran it under water for about fifteen minutes the other day. Then Diane got some aloe and rubbed it on afterwards. I'm sure the aloe helped it a lot already."
"I am an empath. I can take others' pain and make them my own," Raven explained at the sign of Annie's confusion. Although Raven no longer sensed any confusion from the younger girl, there were hints of worriment. Raven sent some calming energies into the girl's mind and within seconds, she was completely relaxed.
"Shall we get started?" Annie nodded and extended her arm out to Raven, who then carefully removed the bandages to reveal a several red blistering masses varying from half and inch to two inches long. "This will only hurt for a short while," Raven assured as she placed her hands over Annie's. Soon enough, the blisters started shrinking on the teenager's arm while Raven's face showed clear signs of pain.
"Your hand," yelped Annie when she noticed that her burns were appearing on Raven's hand in the same location. "I thought you just heal, not physically take pain!"
"Do not worry about me," Raven assured the girl. Moments later, the blisters slowly faded from Raven's own hand.
When all traces of the burn disappeared, Raven pulled up her left sleeve to reveal the same blister that just moments ago, on Annie. It was all she could do before her head started spinning; she leaned back against the sofa to wait out the dizzy spell.
Joseph didn't need to raise a hand, nor did either of the women speak. "I am fine," the empath assured them.
"Wow, thank you so much, Raven! My arm is good as new! Say, do you always get like that after you've healed someone?" Annie asked.
"Yes, but depending on the severity of the pain, I can get really weak or faint."
"You mentioned that you can heal most pains. What can't you heal?" it was Diane who spoke up this time.
"I can only heal minor aches and pains. I cannot cure diseases nor can I heal fatal wounds," explained Raven.
"We divide up all the chores and take turns doing them in pairs. Three days ago, Margret and I were in charge of cooking. I haven't cooked before and she was really just teaching me. I was stupid. She told me to go slow and do it in the pot. I was eager to show off. That's when I threw the potatoes into the boiling pot. Naturally I got hurt. Margret heard and when she came over, I expected her to start yelling at me. Instead she just walked me over to the sink and ran the water over my arm and told me to keep it there for twenty minutes," Annie didn't show a hint of embarrassment telling her tale.
It seems that Margret seems to know a bit about medical treatments. Joseph signed and Raven soon translated.
"Oh she knows how to stitch and fix broken noses too. Probably knows other things too. She had an abusive childhood and married to get away. But it turned out that her husband was the same as her parents. Most everybody here had it rough. We can't all be like you, pretty boy," Diane confessed.
Raven and Joseph both chose to ignore her last comment. There was no need for these women to know their pasts or who they really are and it was in their best interests to shield the ranch from enemies. Arella, too, spared few details about her daughter and her blonde friend.
The afternoon went by uneventful. The two lovers were resting in their room. Raven was lazily flipping through a book with Joseph lying in her lap. One hand was also busy drawing spirals on his chiselled chest. He caught her gazing out the window a few times, and at the sixth time he sat up.
"I want to show you the main reason why this place means so much to me," she announced.
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the barn. Raven was busy demonstrating how to properly saddle a chestnut gelding named Mahogany.
"Thought I'd save you some trouble. She's all ready to go," the stable hand walked out from an adjacent stall with a Pinto mare named Rain.
"Thank you," Raven beamed, but Thomas would have none of that.
"It's what I'm here for," he assured her. "Since you're done with saddling Mahogany, why don't we help him up," he gestured to Joseph.
The mute didn't know what to expect from his first time, but according to the sable hand, he was a natural. "Been around these majestic creatures my whole life, can't think what'd I do without them," he admitted. "Course there was a time when I didn't have them near me, but then I found work here. But enough of that, let's get you ready. So in order to steer, gently pull the rein with your right hand to turn right. Left hand to turn left. Also be sure to remember to use your legs to get the horse to move. Gently squeeze your leg to get him to change direction."
Soon the pair were off, riding towards the large lake near the middle of the property. They stopped at the lake and let the horses drink their fill. Meanwhile the two were seated under a large sycamore tree taking in the expanse of the area. No words were spoken, instead the air was filled with the sound of birds chirping and the slight rustle of branches and leaves whenever the breeze picked up. Raven was lost in her musings and it wasn't until she felt her partner pull at her mind that she turned towards him.
It sure is a change of pace, a lot quieter for one. Joseph stared off into the distance before continuing, Good thing I don't have agoraphobia. I like what your mother does here, better than what mine does... and those girls really seem to her too.
"Yes, she is trying to return the favour. If no one had helped her, she would have died that night, if not, then another night. She works with a few social workers to help these women find jobs nearby. Some choose to stay here, others have moved on. Some have sent letters back telling how well they're doing. Mother told me of a woman named Allison who recently opened a sort of establishment like this one down in Texas. As for your mother, I don't agree with her methods either, but she has a different background and her viewpoints are different from yours. I don't hold it against her."
Both had taken out some material to work on while enjoying the great outdoors – a sketchbook and pencils for Joseph and a book on philosophy for Raven. Curiosity got the best of her and she couldn't hold back any longer. Glancing up from her paperback, her eyes trailed over to the artist's sketchpad where she saw a hand sketched in smooth lines. But it wasn't just a hand she came to realise, on the hand was a ring. A beautifully crafted ring that if were real, must be splendid.
Noticing he was being watched, Joseph explained his latest work, I was wanting to see how this ring would look on your hand. He pulled out an antique ring from his pocket. It was a platinum ring with a thin, smooth band. A fishtail prong held a diamond onto the ring. On either side there were eight smaller diamonds embedded into the band itself. It was my grandmother's engagement ring, and now I want you to have it. Raven, will you marry me?
Raven choked back a sob. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. The young sorceress felt a flood of emotions hit her at full force. "Yes!" she cried. She leaned in and hugged him while he gently kissed her on cheek. He still didn't want to make her uncomfortable in any way, but to his surprise, she turned her face and he felt her lips on his. He didn't know how long she stayed that way. When she finally relented, they sat against the tree trunk with her head pressed against his shoulder. Both were enjoying each other's company and the open field around them. As much as they both loved New York, they had no problems with the stillness of Wyoming. They had journeyed to Grand Teton many times before, but wanted a simple trip at her mother's this time.
"It's almost noon, we should head back" Raven declared, noticing where the tree's shadow stood. "After all, Julianne will be awaiting her lesson when she gets back. We should also talk to Mother when we get back as well."