Chapter 2

2.1 Doctor Peter pondered the latest developments as he was brewed a herbal extract for his strange new patient. A woman of middle years, Helen by name, was recovering well. In a few more days, she would be quite cured, her well-built body full of vigor despite the deprivations she had endured. As he placed a cup of steaming brew by her bedside, Helen’s peaceful sleeping face reminded him of Olga.

Ah Olga, she was dead and buried for two years now. Her nagging and haughty demeanor bothered him for most of their short marriage, but in the end, she slept so peacefully. He just wanted a few days of rest, a few days for her to be silent, but alas, she was never to wake up.

Old confusion and guilt bubbling up inside his chest, Peter gently caressed Helen’s hair. “Wake up, it’s time for your medicine”. He would not repeat the mistakes of the past, neither with dangerous dosages nor with letting а woman to boss him around.

Days later, as per their agreement, Peter put the mostly recovered Helen to work. There were many things to do in a winter hut – keeping the big stove fueled, cooking, and other manual tasks. To his pleasure, Helen turned out to be a dexterous and efficient homemaker.

Soon he trusted her with grinding dry roots and herbs with a mortar and pestle as well. The God he didn’t believe in seemed to really reward the merciful. Now he had much more time to study his medical books and other tomes of more obscure, but also more exciting lore – lore he planned to soon put to use.