Chapter 7: Noodles and Moccasins

After a year of watching me care for people, Tressie became proficient enough to take over from me. I left town a year later, with her handling the local medical problems. Tressie had enough customers to make a decent living.

I did leave Avebanna with a baby. I took off my ring for the last six months every time I made love to her. Upon request, I left some other babies in Retishville.

To move on, I had to buy a horse. I had sold the two I owned soon after arriving here. The horses were eating hay, and I was not using them.

I arranged with the stable to buy a small wagon and two large donkeys, both of which are geldings. I got a burlap bag full of donkey mix. It’s a mixture of grains with some chopped hay; it’s formulated just for donkeys, or so the stable owner said.

They got a cup of donkey mix every morning while I put the smaller and lighter yokes and running gear on them. At night, they got brushed down. If I stopped where there was no grass at night, they got more donkey mix.

I rode in the wagon and had a leather-padded seat. I also had a holder for my staff. I rode along with the Sardius Stone lit, but my hood down so I could see and hear better. The staff being lit saved more than a few robbers from losing their lives. I went from town to village, and city, just looking for a place I liked.

I eventually alighted in Xyrisso. Its title didn’t say whether it was a town or a city; it’s just called Xyrisso. It has over 2,000 homes, by my best estimate. My bet was on my staying here in Xyrisso for a good while.

One of the reasons I decided to stop here was that there were no good medical women here. It is also a big town that offers more amenities. They had two midwives who only did basic midwifery, and they did that poorly. There would be no competition.

I rented a business building that has a house immediately behind it. I had a table made and got a pad that fit on it. I outfitted the office. The house behind it started as a bare-bones shell. It needed everything.

Xyrisso was situated on a shallow river. It has three businesses there that dig clay and make ceramics of different types. These were not fine china items. Fine china does not exist here.

No, these were more like stoneware plates, cups, glasses, and bowls, in all sizes and shapes. There were no unemployed youth in the area. They all worked making stoneware items. Most adults worked in mining and refining clay. Some ran the kilns and turntables on which items were made.

The teen boys scavenged wood for the fires. Girls made smaller cups, bowls, and spoons from clay.

I was slow about setting up my business. I was not in much of a hurry. I was holding out to make sure I liked the place. I found out the people here in Xyrisso were friendly.

We have a group of men who make up the ‘Coterie.’ The coterie got together when someone needed to leave town. Xyrisso has a reputation for not being kind to unwanted characters.

One of the coterie came by to say hello. I asked the man if he wanted a cup of bitter. He did. I started the little charcoal stove by spelling it and sparking the fire. I soon was handing him his bitter. I almost laughed at his shaking hand. Until now, I had been keeping my magic ability a secret. I told him I was thinking of settling here. It’s a nice town, it just needs a better Medico; in essence, me.

He agreed. A hand of days later, after putting up my sign, I started getting customers. Signs here are more like cartoons or icons. Written words mean nothing to the unwashed masses. My sign only showed a man’s arm with a bandage on it.

One day, a woman came in with a crying 6 or 7-year-old boy. He had fallen out of a tree. I could tell nothing was going to happen with the upset kid. He and his mom were feeding each other raw emotions. On the exam bed, I drew the sigil in the air with the accompanying magic word to put him asleep. The kid immediately went to sleep.

I turned to her. “He is asleep. If you don’t calm down, I will have to put you to sleep, too. I can NOT examine a screaming boy, and you are not helping him. You are as upset as he was. What will it be? I started drawing my Earth ABCs in the air toward her. She’s seen her kid conk right out. Her eyes got big, and she got dizzy.

She did not reply, so I put her to sleep and laid her out on a chair. I checked her heart and breathing. She is OK. I mean, she is seriously fine. Her breasts are awesome. I inadvertently cupped them in my hands as I helped her to the chair. I almost forgot what I was doing; she’s that nice feeling up top. I reluctantly let them go to continue the boy’s examination.

I went to the boy and started palpating his left arm. That was the one he was holding as he cried. It seemed he had broken his Ulna. That happens a lot here. Boys will climb trees. One slip and oops, they have a broken arm or leg. Lucky for him, I could sense the break and set it properly.

He was also lucky because I would set it properly. Many childhood breaks end in a distorted arm or leg because they were not set properly.

I took off one moccasin and placed my foot in his armpit. I took his hand and started pulling his arm with my foot to keep pressure on the break. I eased it into place, and it was back where ir shpuld be.

It was not secure yet. He’s a boy and really needs a cast. An active kid will be back in a day if I send him home without a cast. A sling will not do for an active boy.

I had come up with the materials a while ago to make casts. This was my own concoction, and it worked. I used a mixture of dried clay and pulverized quick lime.

First, I wrapped the boy’s arm tightly with a cloth. That’s to buffer the heat and keep the quick lime off his skin. It heats up and is acidic too.

I then began wrapping several soaked linen strips around his arm. I made sure the concoction didn’t come into direct contact with his skin. Quick lime will burn the hell out of you.

I added three layers of the gooey linen strips.

This kid was probably a little pistol. So I added a couple of thin wood strips and another layer of soaked linen strips on top for good measure. The quicklime heats up the clay and sets the layer of strips so it’s as solid as a rock. I would cut it off several months from now.

I made two cups of bitter and woke his mother. I told her to please stay quiet and let him continue to sleep. I showed her the cast and explained it. It took her some serious thinking before she came around and understood it.