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Chapter Seven
Heroine Blood
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Will had been sitting in his blacksmith's shop, listening to the winds, glaring at the boards that made the shop seem like a prison. He had already set out four pans to catch drips from leaks in the ceiling, and he was cold and bored. Working on the sword had been an option for a little while, but then Will realized that he didn't have the focus that moment to work on anything and do a good job, so he had stayed away from all the projects that he had committed himself to. He went into his room and threw himself on the hammock, folding his arms behind his head. The hammock rocked him gently for a minute before it stopped, and he didn't have the energy to rock himself.
Barnaby was asleep, as usual, in his favorite chair in the middle of the forge. Restless, Will picked himself up out of the hammock and began to wander aimlessly around the shop. However, something caught his eye.
They had left the window in Barnaby's bedroom un-boarded- a stupid mistake, but an understandable on, as Barnaby never touched his bedroom. Will reached out to grab the knob and shut the door when his gaze moved to the window and he saw something unusual. Someone was struggling to make their way down the street, a heavy load in their arms. Through the rain, Will could see that it was a woman because of the voluminous skirts that they wore, and he could see that the woman was having trouble. He hurried through the shop and out the door, grateful for something to do.
He waded through the water until he reached the woman, who had fallen to her knees. She was carrying a boy in her arms. Will snaked his arms around the woman's shoulders and under her knees, and as she was still holding the boy, he picked them up together.
He paused for a moment to look at the woman's face, which was leaning on his shoulder. Serenity looked up at him for a moment, and then her body went limp. Will hurried back into the shop and slammed the door behind him with his foot.
As soon as the door was shut he could hear that the boy was crying, his face covered in bloody scratches and glass. Will could guess what had happened but he didn't have time. They had probably been headed towards the doctor when they stopped in front of the shop. As he drew his hand away from the back of Serenity's hand, he saw that it was covered in blood.
"Barnaby!" Will shouted, the franticness in his voice waking his teacher at once.
"Wha?" asked Barnaby, frightened.
"I have to get these two to the doctor, help me."
Barnaby waddled over and was handed the little boy, who had stopped crying but was still making horrible, heartbreaking noises in his throat. Will picked up Serenity, handling her with a care that even Barnaby could see in his drunken stupor. "Follow me," he said, heading once more out into the hurricane. Will kept his eyes open for flying objects, knowing that a storm of this class could rip shingles clean off of roofs and branches off of trees. A plank spun through the air towards him, and he ducked wildly to avoid getting hit in the head with it. Serenity's hand instinctively grasped a handful of material from his shirt, searching for protection even in her unconscious state. He held her closer to him as he finally scrambled onto the porch of the doctor's house and pounded on the door with his foot, Barnaby close behind.
A moment later the door opened, revealing a frazzled looking old woman and a busy home behind her. It seemed that they weren't the only ones to seek assistance at the Hinton home. Various other wounded were sitting around the fire, some waiting to be treated, others wrapped in bandages. The doctor and his assistant were hurrying around, trying to treat wounds as fast as they could.
"Take a seat, Will," said Mrs. Hinton, who had treated many of Will's minor injuries before. "What have we here?" she asked, looking from the boy to Serenity.
"The boy got hit with glass in the face," said Will, seeing the sparkle of the jagged glass pieces. "Maybe it was a window, I don't know, but Serenity's bleeding too." He hoisted her head up so that Mrs. Hinton could see the wound. "Not glass. Something bigger." Mrs. Hinton sighed.
"That glass will have to be removed, and the girl might need stitches," she said, her voice tired. "I'll tell the doctor, but he still has many patients waiting." Serenity stirred in Will's arms as she walked away, and Will held her closer to him. She must be freezing in that wet dress, thought Will, glancing at the boy. Him too, they're soaked through. He curled his arms tighter around her shivering body, trying to lend her some of his warmth through two layers of soaked clothing. Her head leaned against his chest and he absentmindedly stroked her hair as they waited for the doctor to come.
It was many hours later that the doctor became free for them. One other had fought his way to the doctor's house through the storm, and once this first wave passed more would come during the silence that followed.
The doctor came over to them, seeing them both unconscious. "Come with me," he said shortly, leading them into a back room. "Lay them there," he pointed to a bloody cot. Will hesitantly laid Serenity down on the dirty sheets and then stepped back to let the doctor look at their wounds. "Glass," he said, looking at the boy's face first. He took some tweezers out of his pocket and began the painstaking removal of the many shards that had pierced the little boy's skin.
As the doctor was doing this, Serenity stirred again and opened her eyes slightly. "Kieran," she said- the little boy's name. Will crouched down beside her, so that they were at eye level. Serenity moved her hand to touch Will's hair. "Will."
"I'm here, Serenity," he whispered.
"Kieran," she said.
"He's here too, right next to you. But don't turn, the doctor is treating him."
"I," Serenity said, her voice hoarse, "I shouldn't have come here," she whispered.
"No, no," Will said, taking her hand, "no, you did the right thing, Serenity."
"I was stupid," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
"No, shh," Will said. Serenity closed her eyes over her water-filled eyes; her lips parted and shook as if she were preparing her body for a cry. Will clasped both his hands around her calloused ones, and he was surprised, expecting the soft hands of the other colonial ladies. But Serenity was a worker, and her hands were almost as rough as his own. He clasped both his hands around her small one, looking at her face. Her eyes were still closed, but she had a more serene expression on her face. She was asleep.
The doctor was treating Kieran with some kind of cleaner, and he then covered the boy's face with bandages. Mrs. Hinton then came and dressed the boy as Doctor Hinton moved around the cot to see Serenity. He looked at the back of her head and shook his own.
"She's going to need stitches, boy," he said to Will. "Are you her husband?"
Will looked up at him for a second, and then shook his head. "No," he said quietly, still holding her hand.
"Well, keep holding her hand. I hope she stays asleep…"
The doctor drew out a needle and some medical thread and cleaned off the wound. Then he began to sew it shut. Will could plainly see that Serenity was awake by the way she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Will squeezed her hand. "Does she have any other wounds?" the doctor said, "besides these glass ones in the back of her neck?"
"I don't know," said Will. The doctor finished and ran his hands over Serenity's body, checking for broken bones. He then did the same to Kieran.
"They're going to be okay," he said, "the girl will need some dry clothes, though." His wife appeared with some clothes in her hand and began to dress Serenity as she had done Kieran. Will turned away, not wanting Serenity to think that he had seen her without her clothes on. He knew that that would kill her.
"Alright, boy," said the doctor, "go back during the eye of the hurricane. Go quickly. Leave when the winds die down completely and the rain stops, but you must hurry. Wait in the parlor until it's over."
Will then carried Serenity out and rested her in one of the vacant armchairs, and then he went back and put the boy on the chair next to her. Serenity curled up in a kind of fetal position, her head resting on the armrest, as Will went back and sat on the floor next to his sleeping companion. He stayed awake, however, watching Serenity, making sure that she didn't wake. A bandage was wrapped around her head, and her usually tame hair was curling wildly around her face, which was smooth and innocent- asleep once again. The large nightgown that Mrs. Hinton had lent her was too big for her, and it draped around her body like curtains. Her eyes flickered open as Will watched, darting to Kieran first, and then to himself.
He smiled at her and stood up, walking around to her chair. She smiled back. "Will," she said, looking at the boy, "Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes," said Will, "and so are you."
Serenity sighed, and her eyes clouded over. "His mother, Kieran's mother, she's still back home…she doesn't know that he's okay."
"We're going to go back when this calms down, but we're going to have to hurry." Will looked at Barnaby. "We're going to have to carry you again so that we can bring you back before the storm starts again."
"Alright," she whispered. The rain tapped wildly, the sounds of the wind and the conversation from the others in the room filled their silence. "Thank you for bringing us here, Will," she said quietly.
Will bit his lip, her words and his fatigue both bringing tears to his eyes. "You're welcome," he said, "I'm just glad that I saw you before you both drowned."
Serenity smiled and drew a line down his cheek with the tips of her fingers. "I'm glad too," she said.
~*~
A few hours later, when the storm was starting to slow down, all of the people in the doctor's home save for the doctor and the doctor's wife were asleep. Will was curled up in Serenity's armchair, Serenity on his lap; Kieran was sprawled across his own chair, which Barnaby was leaning on. Various other patients in borrowed clothes were arranged haphazardly around the room.
Outside, the streets were entirely covered in water. Leaves had been torn off branches, branches had been torn of trees, and the trees had been uprooted from the ground if they weren't big enough. Shingles and boards floated on the surface of the water down the road as the wind died down to a strong breeze.
The absence of noise seemed to wake most of the people in the Hinton home. Will awoke and picked up Serenity, and then nudged Barnaby with his foot. "Come on, we have to bring them home." Barnaby grunted and picked up the boy with a surprising gentleness, they bid the doctor thanks and goodbye, and then they waded back out into the street. Clouds gathered around the horizon, great billowing black clouds illuminated by a bright shining sun. The Inn's sign creaked in the breeze as they waded towards it.
Serenity felt silly, being carried when she could just as easily walk. But Will insisted, and Serenity was too tired to argue. Barnaby followed him up to the door of the Inn and knocked on the door, which flew open to reveal a lot of people crowded around, waiting. A woman, obviously the boy's mother, ran out the door and picked Kieran up. "Thank you, thank you!" she sobbed, looking at her bandaged boy. "I was so worried…"
"Serenity," said Mrs. Williams, concerned, "What happened to your head?"
"It's nothing," she answered as Will set her down on her feet.
"I'm glad you're safe," said her mother. "Thank you so much, Will."
"You're welcome," he said, his arm still around Serenity. She hugged him warmly, their cheeks brushing against each other as they slowly pulled apart. Serenity profusely thanked him and then said goodbye, wishing him safety when the storm returned. She then went inside as Barnaby and Will headed back out into the water.