Chapter 8

Finn woke to a throbbing pain in his left arm and to children laughing. In addition he smelled food cooking. He was hungry and he had to pee. With a groan he sat up in his bed and for a moment he felt dizzy. It passed quickly.

"It's about time you woke up," Kol said from nearby. The large room was dark except for the warm light cast around by the central fire.

"Did you find that cow?"

"I didn't lose it! Niklaus did."

"No, I didn't," the older boy said. "It ran off while I was trying to stop the bear. And the cow is with the others now."

"She's alright?" Finn asked the middle brother.

"I think she enjoyed her run in the woods," Niklaus said with a slight smile. Then his smile faded. "Does your arm hurt?"

"Very much. Niklaus, come with me." Finn slowly got off the bed.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"Outside. I have to relieve myself and I feel groggy and unsteady. Let me put a hand on your shoulder to steady myself." He kept the left forearm close to his chest. If he let it hang down, it really throbbed.

"Oh. Alright. I don't have to help you with…?"

"No. I can do that myself," Finn said with a chuckle.

"How come you're groggy?" the boy asked as they made their way out the door.

"I guess I had more mead than I thought." The truth was that his mother had drugged him so he would sleep for a while.

While Finn used his right hand to do what he needed to do, Niklaus held onto the upper part of Finn's left arm. But as the older brother turned to go back to the front of the house, he passed out cold and fell to the ground. The smaller boy could not prevent the fall, so he ran around to the front of the house and yelled, "Mother, Finn fell down!"

"Can he get up?" Esther asked as she hurried to round the corner of the house.

"No. He passed out."

She came to her fallen son, but she couldn't see much because the night was dark. "Niklaus, go get Bennett's Wife and a torch." She was able to roll Finn over onto his right side, and she noted that he was breathing, but not at all awake. She wondered if the drug she had given him was the cause of his passing out, although he had not seemed faint when he had come out of the house.

The rest of her children, plus three Bennett children and their mother came to the spot. Niklaus carried one of the lit touches.

"Finn! Finn, wake up!" Esther called, shaking his shoulder a bit.

Finn did wake suddenly and he looked around in confusion. "What happened?" he managed to ask.

"You passed out," his mother explained. "Were you dizzy?"

"No. I don't think so," Finn said. He was embarrassed to be lying on the ground with everyone staring down at him. "I can get up." He thought himself lucky not to have passed out while in the middle of emptying his bladder.

"First, sit up," his mother ordered. She held out a hand and he took it so she could pull him up into a sitting position. She then noticed that his left arm was bleeding through the bandage. "We'll have to take a look at this again."

"I can get up, Mother. I'll walk to where you can see better." Nevertheless, Esther took hold of his right arm, while Bennett's Wife took a grip on the upper part of his left arm. They did get him on his feet, although he swayed for a moment. The rough outdoor table was set for dinner, but he took a seat there. Room was made for the care of his arm.

It was some time before the meal could resume and by that time Finn was really hungry. They had the roasted lamb along with some vegetables and cornbread. He didn't drink any more mead, although the pain in his arm made him want to do so. Maybe before he went to bed he would take a good swallow.

The village folk also had roast bear meat. It turned out that the meat tasted satisfactory, due to the fact that the animal had been feasting on vegetation rather than any rank carcasses.

Before bedtime for the children, Rika came over to visit Finn as he and his family sat outside. He chose not to mention what had happened, because it embarrassed him. He was glad his father was not there.

Little Rebekah piped up, "Finn went to make peepee and he fell down and he went to sleep and Mama woke him up and his arm was bleeding."

Esther, Niklaus, Kol and Rika looked at the child and then at Finn. He knew he was blushing with embarrassment in the light of the fire.

"Come on, Rebekah," Niklaus said and he held out his hand to her. "Time for bed."

"Will you tell me a story?" Rebekah took his hand and they went toward the door.

"Of course. Don't I usually tell you a story?"

"You tell good stories."

"You come too, Kol," Niklaus added.

"I'm not ready for bed," the boy said.

"Yes, you are," his mother said firmly.

Kol hung his head and pouted as he followed Niklaus and Rebekah.

Rika eyed her betrothed and asked, "What really happened?"

"Pretty much what little blabber-mouth said. I was coming back to the front of the house when I suddenly passed out. I don't even remember feeling dizzy." He shook his head in wonder. "Mother had to re-dress this wound." He held up his left arm.

"You were so brave today," Rika said, her arms around his shoulders. She kissed his cheek.

He turned his head and kissed her lips, even though his mother was right there. He didn't feel any pain in his arm while he was kissing his love. He wanted her to stay a while, but she said she had to get back home. In a few minutes, she kissed him again and said goodnight both to him and to Esther.

He would have slept poorly that night, except that his mother made him drink something that tasted bitter. She told him it would help him feel better and it did so. The next thing he knew was that a rooster was crowing loudly near the house. There were many chickens in the village—roosters and many hens that laid eggs for the citizens.

There was only a hint of dawn as Mikael's family faced a new day. Finn added to his mother's firewood pile and Niklaus brought two pails of water from the town well. The latter had been dug at a small spring because it was much closer than a trip down to the river for water.

As Finn gathered the wood in his arms a girl of about sixteen came to stand by him. It was Celesta, the younger of Bennett's daughters. At one time Finn had been attracted to her older sister Grace, but that girl was often in a snippy mood. The oldest Bennett son was now twenty years old, had married and had moved into his in-laws' longhouse. Finn wondered if Grace would ever marry.

"Good morning, Celesta," he said to the girl watching him. They lived in the same house, but each family kept somewhat separate.

"Why are you going to marry Rika? You know she's a werewolf." There was a tone of disapproval in her voice.

"I want to marry Rika because I love her and she loves me. We may be lucky and no son of ours will turn."

"I don't think you should take the chance, Finn. I know your father will be angry when he comes back."

"Probably," Finn growled. He was sure Mikael would be angry. He might even kick Finn and his bride out of the longhouse. That was why Finn wanted a small house right away.

"Absolutely," the girl said firmly.

"I appreciate your concern, but really, Celesta, it's none of your business." He saw her scowl at him and he knew why. She had a crush on him and probably hoped he would choose her instead of Rika. "The goddess of love Freyja has shown me that Rika is the one."

Celesta snorted and turned away, stomping back to the house ahead of Finn with his armload of wood. He had a smaller load than usual because of his wounded left arm. It crossed his mind that perhaps his brother Elijah might take an interest in the girl.

Knowing that Celesta was likely a budding witch, Finn told his mother about the situation.

"I see. That girl could be a problem," Esther said, nodding. "I'll speak with her mother about it. You don't need someone like Celesta causing trouble with spells."

A/N Could the girl cast any spells? At sixteen, she likely can. Will her mother be able to convince her to leave Finn and Rika alone?