Page 42 of Highlander's Wild Lass
Jacob nodded sheepishly. “Well, with how poorly I maintained things in yer faither’s absence.”
“None of that’s yer fault. We never once thought about gettin’ rid of ye. We wouldnae have been able to carry on without ye. Before I decided to take overandnow!”
“Ye do me a great kindness,” Jacob said, lowering his eyes to the work before him.
She dipped her quill into the nearly empty inkpot and flashed him a grin. “I’m sure they are.”
Celestia and Jacob returned to their work, writing letters, and tallying the weekly revenue when, at the end of the hallway, Brannan started coughing.
They glanced at one another: Jacob with a look of concern, and Celestia just giving a shake of her head, letting him know it was a regular occurrence. Brannan’s coughing fits were more frequent lately. The village healer was unsure if it was due to the season’s changing or if Brannan’s condition was getting worse. Celestia knew her brothers and sister were holding out hope that it was just the seasons. And she had to admit, a little part of her was holding onto that hope too.
As their quills scratched against the parchment, the coughing fit continued. It grew into sputtering, painful-sounding coughs, and soon it was quiet, wheezing sounds that filtered into the kitchen.
Celestia’s heart calmed, and she relaxed her shoulders, sensing it was over.
“Celestia!” Auralia screamed, loud and panicked.
Celestia’s heart nearly stopped, her eyes meeting Jacob’s. He was already looking at her, the fear mirroring her own.
“Celestia!” Auralia shouted again, sprinting out of their father’s bedroom. “Come, he’s nae breathin’! He cannae breathe!”
Celestia stood abruptly from her chair and Jacob followed suit, rushing down the hallway with her. All three bounded into the bedroom to see Brannan, lips tinged a slight blue and hand on his chest, struggling to inhale.
“Auralia,” Celestia said, her voice quieter and calmer than she expected it to come out, “tell the boys to run to the village at once to get the healer. Tell them to make haste.”
Auralia stared from her to their struggling father, eyes wide and trembling. She didn’t move from the spot she stood.
“Now!” Celestia shouted firmly.
Auralia nodded and ran from the room. Celestia looked at Jacob, and she knew he didn’t know what they should do at this moment either.
“I sent them; they’re already gone,” Auralia said as she came back into the bedroom.
Brannan was looking at her, eyes wide, pleading as he grasped at his chest and his throat. Celestia didn’t know what to do, she was no healer. But if she did nothing, her father would die from lack of air.
“I daenae ken what to do, Da,” she pleaded, feeling that she was near tears.
Brannan’s hand flung out to the small chest beside the bed. “He...re...” he managed to strangle out. “This.”
Jacob wrestled the chest open, handing it to Celestia. Inside was only a smoking pipe and a small, translucent muslin bag stuffed with dried leaves. It didn’t smell like tobacco though.
“Ye cannae be smokin’ at a time like this,” Celestia said to her father. “How can this be helpful?”
“Ye—smo...ke it,” Brannan choked and covered his nose and mouth with a very pale hand. “Me.”
Celestia stared at him, still unsure how smoking anything would fix what was happening.
“Hurry, Celestia,” Jacob said, “pack the pipe!”
With shaky hands, Celestia withdrew the pipe and untied the bag to stuff the dried leaves into the chamber until it was full.
“Here,” Jacob said. He had gone to the fireplace and grabbed a piece of kindling that was on fire. “Light it, quick!”
Celestia put the end of the pipe in her mouth and held it to the flame Jacob was holding. She inhaled and inhaled again until the leaves began to burn. She took a deep inhale and blew it into Brannan’s face. The smoke hit him in a furl of light gray, and they watched him inhale some of it.
“Again!” Jacob said when they both noticed Brannan take a shuttering deep breath.
She inhaled and once again blew the smoke into her father’s face. Another few seconds passed, and Brannan’s breathing relaxed. The color was returning to his face once more. Brannan inhaled easier this time and she could see every muscle relaxing. Whatever she just did for him, worked.
