replied firmly, "Ye'llnot get it!"
Taffy stepped forward. "Ma'am, I'm Welsh, not English. 81
Some of our Welsh are healers as you are, but they are unfamiliar with the plants and herbs that grow in these parts. Could you tell the medicine men the properties of some of the local plants?"
"I could, but I won't."
When James spotted Jane, he turned from Megotta in frustrated fury. "Jane, will ye come?"
With an apprehensive glance in Taffy's direction, Jane nodded her head and ran to get her medicinal box.
On the way to the forge Taffy said, "Lord de Warenne will be most grateful to you, lady."
Jane saw relief and gratitude writ plain on the squire's face and saw something else there too. The well-muscled youth had a blush upon his cheek when he spoke to her, and Jane was discomfitted to realize that the young man found her attractive.
When they reached the forge, a circle of men were gatheredabout a young knight sitting upon a stool. Another knight, obviously a concerned friend, knelt before him. As well as Jane's brother Alex, Lord de Warenne's squire Thomas stood by looking helpless, while two dark Welsh archers conversed in Celtic.
At the sight of the men Jane hesitated, but felt James's hand at the small of her back urging her forward. She was met by the heat of the braziers and immediately realized the hot air would add to the knight's misery.
"Please," Jane appealed to her brother Alex, "bring him outside where it's cool and sit him on the grass."
The young knight's tunic had been removed and Jane saw that his burn extended from his left elbow all the way up his arm and across his shoulder. She also saw that he was in agony. As she knelt before him to examine the injury, seven men crowded about her, all talking at once.
A furious Thomas told her the two brainless young knights had been wrestling and that there would be hell to pay when Lord de Warenne returned. The injured man's friend, Sir Harry, the knight with whom he'd been wrestling, proclaimed it had all been his fault and SirGiles must not be blamed. The two dark 82
Welshmen began to question Jane about the contents of her medicinal box, pressing her to tell them what herbs she used to heal burns.
Filled with dismay at the men crowding about her, Jane turned beseeching eyes upon her brother.
"James, please, make them step back."
When he realized Jane was agitated simply by being among strange men, he urged the men to give her some space. "Ma sister is very shy of men. If ye want her to help, ye'll have to stand back an' keep yer tongues from clatterin'. "
"Alex, I need a bucket of cold water," Jane directed, and watched three men run to do her bidding. Jane took a clean linen cloth from her box and looked into her patient's eyes. "Sir Giles?" When he nodded in response, she said softly, "This will take the fire from the burn."
Jane noticed how bloodless his face was and that his eyes welled with tears that he stubbornly refused to shed. She dipped the linen into the cold water and wrung it out over the man's shoulder and arm, over and over again. Her repeated action fell into a deliberate rhythm and seemed to have a hypnotic effect on the wounded knight. She never actually touched the cloth to the burn, but squeezed cold water over it like a waterfall.
When two buckets had been emptied, she knelt before Sir Giles, patiently waiting for the breeze to dry the arm and shoulder. From her box Jane took a pot of aromatic green unguent and spread it thickly, coating the entire area, which had already begun to blister.
When the air no longer touched his skin, Giles closed his eyes, a tear running down his cheek.
"You have the gentlest touch I've ever known, demoiselle," he whispered hoarsely.
His friend, Sir Harry Eltham, drew close. "Do you need bandages, demoiselle?"
Jane looked up into his face with alarm, but when she saw how young he was and how concerned he was for his friend, some
83
of her apprehension melted away. "No, it is better not to bind
Taffy stepped forward. "Ma'am, I'm Welsh, not English. 81
Some of our Welsh are healers as you are, but they are unfamiliar with the plants and herbs that grow in these parts. Could you tell the medicine men the properties of some of the local plants?"
"I could, but I won't."
When James spotted Jane, he turned from Megotta in frustrated fury. "Jane, will ye come?"
With an apprehensive glance in Taffy's direction, Jane nodded her head and ran to get her medicinal box.
On the way to the forge Taffy said, "Lord de Warenne will be most grateful to you, lady."
Jane saw relief and gratitude writ plain on the squire's face and saw something else there too. The well-muscled youth had a blush upon his cheek when he spoke to her, and Jane was discomfitted to realize that the young man found her attractive.
When they reached the forge, a circle of men were gatheredabout a young knight sitting upon a stool. Another knight, obviously a concerned friend, knelt before him. As well as Jane's brother Alex, Lord de Warenne's squire Thomas stood by looking helpless, while two dark Welsh archers conversed in Celtic.
At the sight of the men Jane hesitated, but felt James's hand at the small of her back urging her forward. She was met by the heat of the braziers and immediately realized the hot air would add to the knight's misery.
"Please," Jane appealed to her brother Alex, "bring him outside where it's cool and sit him on the grass."
The young knight's tunic had been removed and Jane saw that his burn extended from his left elbow all the way up his arm and across his shoulder. She also saw that he was in agony. As she knelt before him to examine the injury, seven men crowded about her, all talking at once.
A furious Thomas told her the two brainless young knights had been wrestling and that there would be hell to pay when Lord de Warenne returned. The injured man's friend, Sir Harry, the knight with whom he'd been wrestling, proclaimed it had all been his fault and SirGiles must not be blamed. The two dark 82
Welshmen began to question Jane about the contents of her medicinal box, pressing her to tell them what herbs she used to heal burns.
Filled with dismay at the men crowding about her, Jane turned beseeching eyes upon her brother.
"James, please, make them step back."
When he realized Jane was agitated simply by being among strange men, he urged the men to give her some space. "Ma sister is very shy of men. If ye want her to help, ye'll have to stand back an' keep yer tongues from clatterin'. "
"Alex, I need a bucket of cold water," Jane directed, and watched three men run to do her bidding. Jane took a clean linen cloth from her box and looked into her patient's eyes. "Sir Giles?" When he nodded in response, she said softly, "This will take the fire from the burn."
Jane noticed how bloodless his face was and that his eyes welled with tears that he stubbornly refused to shed. She dipped the linen into the cold water and wrung it out over the man's shoulder and arm, over and over again. Her repeated action fell into a deliberate rhythm and seemed to have a hypnotic effect on the wounded knight. She never actually touched the cloth to the burn, but squeezed cold water over it like a waterfall.
When two buckets had been emptied, she knelt before Sir Giles, patiently waiting for the breeze to dry the arm and shoulder. From her box Jane took a pot of aromatic green unguent and spread it thickly, coating the entire area, which had already begun to blister.
When the air no longer touched his skin, Giles closed his eyes, a tear running down his cheek.
"You have the gentlest touch I've ever known, demoiselle," he whispered hoarsely.
His friend, Sir Harry Eltham, drew close. "Do you need bandages, demoiselle?"
Jane looked up into his face with alarm, but when she saw how young he was and how concerned he was for his friend, some
83
of her apprehension melted away. "No, it is better not to bind
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