Willow swept the floor after cleaning up the breakfast dishes. She grabbed her satchel and basket and slipped out, leaving Granny Mill with her patient. Old Widow Fortray would gab at her all morning and Granny Mill humored the poor dear, what with having buried not only her husband but seven of her nine children too. She needed a listening ear and Granny Mill knew how to work while she listened and even managed to get the widow to be productive grinding herbs while she talked. Old Widow Fortray was always so full of just such news and gossip as any village healer needed to keep abreast of.
Willow positively skipped down the forest path. She loved gathering herbs. She had an eye for leaf patterns and an excellent memory for locales and peak seasons for harvesting. She even fertilized a few of the more useful herb patches, like Feverfew and Heal All, to ensure a steady supply readily available. The weather was beautiful, so she slipped over to the waterfall for a quick clean up. It had been a few days and she liked to keep fresh. She found a bit of Soap Wort and went to work. After that, she strolled to the patch of Wild Geranium that was just coming into bloom and began to harvest them with efficiency.
Her basket was only a third full when she heard a noise. She glanced up expecting it to be a wood mouse or a red squirrel or some such thing and was surprised to see a man approaching. She glanced all-around to check for escape routes. A girl could not be too cautious in these wild times. Violent and lustful men prowled the forests. Willow spotted a nice wide tree to hide behind. She moved cautiously to it, not wanting to attract the man's attention, for if she could see him, most likely he could see her. Moving slowly whenever the man was looking in her direction and quickly when he looked away she made it to the tree before he got too close. She was unsure whether he'd seen her or not, but she might be yet undetected.
From her vantage point hidden behind both split trunk and foliage, she spied on the approaching man. He was young. He carried no weapon, but a basket, instead. He was headed straight for her patch of Wild Geranium. Dang! She would have to wait until he finished or risk discovery. He whistled as he walked. Willow smiled. He was a comely lad, slight of frame with short dark hair and a scarf about his no doubt scrawny neck. He didn't look threatening. Looks could be deceiving when it came to violent men though.
He smiled when he reached the Wild Geranium patch and began harvesting her flowers. Willow stewed. Why should he get all the best flowers just because he was a man? Moving around to see better and getting irritated made her careless. The stick she stepped on cracked loudly in the quiet woods.
"Who there?" the young man called. When Willow didn't answer, he said, "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."
She heard him coming closer. She wasn't about to be discovered hiding like a mouse from a cat. She stepped out from behind the tree as boldly as she could to try and not look like she had been hiding. She tripped over the stick she had stepped on and broken a moment ago and stumbled out from behind the tree. "Hi." She sounded stupid even to her own ears.
The young man, a boy really, smiled a big goofy smile. "Hi. I didn't mean to frighten you." His eyes rested on her basket. "Sorry. I didn't mean to take your herbs. You were clearly here first. I can come back another time after you're done." He turned to leave.
"No, no. It's okay. There's plenty of herbs for both of us." She said quickly before her possessiveness could kick in. The boy turned back around. Willow smiled at him. "And they're at their peak now. I wouldn't want to be the cause of you gathering lesser herbs." Willow smiled as sweetly as she could and gathered more Wild Geranium.
He gathered, too. "Thank you for sharing." After a few moments, he added, "This is a nice patch of flowers. Is it yours?"
Willow smiled. "Oh, yes. I always garden wildflowers miles from the village. It makes them more convenient that way. Don't you think?" Then she kicked herself internally. Granny Mill was always telling her to watch her tongue. Boys had such fragile egos. They were easily wounded. And Willow liked this boy's smile. She didn't want to drive a possible new friend away with a sharp tongue like she did all the others.
He looked up and grinned. "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. Fair enough. I'm Merlin. What's your name?"
Willow relaxed. This boy at least didn't seem to fear a little wit. "My name's Willow. It's nice to meet you, Merlin."
"So, a pretty girl," he smiled wider, "out gathering Wild Geranium. Let me guess. You sell them to the village healer?"
Oh ho. He's a flirt. Time to proceed cautiously. Willow had no interest in wasting her time in romance or stars forbid, marriage. "Almost right. I'm the healer's apprentice. She doesn't pay me a cent. And the work is far from finished for me once the herbs are gathered. What about you? Do you sell your herbs?"
"An apprentice healer? Impressive. Me, too." He looked down a little smugly. "But a woman healer with a girl apprentice. You don't see that every day."
"Willow tutted in disapproval of his superiority as she gathered. "It's more common than you think. Who is your master?"
Merlin shrugged. "I work for Gaius at the castle."
"Oh. The king's physician." That's a lucrative position, one never open to a woman healer. King's only deferred to men when it came to the knowledge of illness and injury regardless of how much knowledge a healer had. "Impressive." She was sure she used sufficient sarcasm to make it clear she was anything but impressed.
Merlin laughed. "You've high standards for a village healer. Who do you work for?"
"I work for Millicent of Crab Tree," Willow said with gravity. Millicent was well known to be the oldest and best healer around. She had forgotten twice as much as most healers will ever know. Whenever a healer had a stubborn illness or severe injury they felt unable to treat successfully, they always came to Millicent of Crab Tree for answers. She had the best collection of herb lore and treatment books around. Most of them she penned herself. And for those who were safe with the knowledge she also had the use of magic. But in these times, with this king, that was knowledge held with great discretion.
Merlin scrunched up his chin. "Never heard of her."
Willow almost stamped her foot his answer vexed her so. Maybe he wasn't so easy on the eyes as all that. She frowned. "Are you new to the area?"
He half shrugged, "A little."
"Ask your master about her. I'm sure he's heard of her." Willow tried to keep the superiority out of her voice, but he was so annoying.
Merlin shrugged. "I'll ask him, but I doubt he'll know her."
Willow never wanted to hit someone so much.
Merlin continued, "He's so old, I doubt he remembers his own mother at this point."
Willow laughed. She could forgive much with a little levity. "My mistress has definitely got your master beat there. She's positively ancient." Willow pictured her mistress. She stooped with age and barely walked with the aid of a staff. She asked Willow to read this or that for her so often that all she had to do was hold out the page and point.
Merlin beamed at her. Willow realized both her satchel and basket were stuffed with Wild Geranium and she couldn't fit another leaf in. "Well, Merlin. It was nice meeting you, but I must get back and rescue my mistress from the endless babble of an old widow woman."
Merlin waved. "Perhaps I'll see you around the forest gathering herbs again some time."
Willow smiled. The unlikeliness of that was well known to both of them, but it was a nice thought. "Perhaps. I'd like that." That was enough flirting for one day, especially for a self-avowed spinster. She turned and headed back toward Crab Tree. She looked over her shoulder to see him watching her leave. She waved and gave him a little smile. He waved back with a wide grin. It's a shame the castle was so far away from Crab Tree. Oh, stop it, Willow. You know you've no time for such trifles. Then again, a daydream or two couldn't hurt and she had plenty of time on her long walk home. She decided to stop in and check on the progress of a few patients along the way.