Page 38 of Tiger's Trek
Chapter11
ALL WHO POSSESS A KNIFE ARE NOT COOKS
“What—what just happened?” Veru asked as she got to her feet and limped over to the table.
“Told you, didn’t I?” the old woman replied. “The house settled when your minds did. It’s funny that way. Now, what’s wrong with your feet? You didn’t say anything about an injury. I won’t have you starting off injured. Makes any victory hollow, in my opinion.”
“Victory?” Danik asked.
“Never you mind that just now. What you need to do is focus. Don’t let that mind of yours wander. You’ll get yourself lost if you do. And I won’t be having none of that on my conscience. You hear that?” Yuga used a knobby cane to wrench her body up from her chair and hobbled over to her hearth. Then proceeded to knock the stump of her cane against the stone chimney. “If his mind wanders him off track, t’wont be my fault.”
Danik frowned. As he wrapped Veru’s arm through his, supporting her weight, he tried to see what or who the strange woman was talking to. Perhaps it was another cat or a mouse. For all he knew, it was a dust ball. Whatever it was, it didn’t answer back, so she nodded and grunted, then turned her attention to the fire.
First, she poked the embers and added her last log, then picked up a ladle and stirred whatever was boiling in the large cauldron hanging on a hook over the hot coals. Then, when she was satisfied with that, she pulled several items from her shelf, opened various bags and small boxes, sniffing the contents, then discarded some and removed pinches and dashes of others, placing her concoction in a very large stone bowl.
After adding a shiny liquid, she began pounding her ingredients with a large stone club. She was so enthusiastic that it reminded Veru of the way Stacia beat her wooden dummies on the practice field. Veru didn’t know if the woman was making medicine, tea, or preparing a sauce to baste the two of them in before roasting their flesh over the now crackling fire that seemed to be growing larger by the minute.
Veru found the knife she’d hidden in a skirt pocket and ran her finger over the catch to release the blade from its sheath. Her eyes roamed the little cottage, searching for other weapons or items she might possibly use as shields. She damned the flimsy material that served as her clothing but was surprised to be thankful for the corset. That at least felt a little like armor, and she knew the pinching metal would give her a bit of protection.
The dress hid her stance, which was nice. She bounced a bit on her toes in the soft shoes, wincing at the pain but biting her lip as she shifted her weight back and forth, back and forth, ready to spring like the cat she had been for the past several months. Meanwhile, Danik, who she’d disengaged her arm from so she’d be better able to defend him in a fight, stood nearby, his eyes transfixed on the process of pounding and mixing that seemed to be endlessly steady.
Suddenly, the banging stopped.
Yuga dipped a finger into her concoction, lifted it to her nose, and sniffed, then darted her tongue to it and grunted. “That should do it,” she announced, not glancing in their direction at all.
Veru had managed to get a small end table between herself and the old woman. She figured she could pick it up and use it to trap her against a wall.
“Now, bring your young wife over to my chair, and I’ll see to her feet,” Yuga said.
“Yes, Babushka,” Danik said, automatically reaching for Veru’s arm and startling in surprise to find her several feet away from him.
When he stepped over and took hold of her elbow, an irritated Veru wrenched her arm away with a hiss. “I can walk on my own, Danik. Besides, I don’t think I trust her. Doyou?”
Danik looked at her, then at Yuga, who waited with thick eyebrows raised and a gleeful grin of expectancy on her mouth as she “watched” their exchange with her strange, too-seeing eyes. Veru noticed there was a large mole above her lip, with a curly black hair protruding from it. Her own lip quivered. Was she imagining it, or was the hut shrinking? She shouldn’t be able to see such details in the dim light of the fire.
Shrugging, Danik replied, “I don’tnottrust her,” he said. “She hasn’t done anything but help us so far.”
“Yeah. That’s the thing,” Veru replied quietly, though she was certain the old woman’s ears were burning, and she could hear everything. “People don’t help others out of the kindness of their hearts. There’s always a purpose, and it’s usually not a good one.”
Considering, Danik took a moment, then said, “I think most people try to do the right thing. Even when they do wrong, they usually have a reason behind it if you look hard enough. You’re smarter than I am. Look for her reasons.”
Veru pursed her lips and finally blew out a breath, feeling herself relax. Danik was giving her permission to trust or not trust, to use her mind to figure things out on her own. Her experience in being dismissed as just a pretty face, while Stacia was hailed as the one with the mental ability to keep up with their father, made her touchy when it came to discussions of strategy. It was nice for a change to have someone else notice her brain, even if his own mental capacity was in question.
After taking a moment to think through her options, Veru clasped Danik’s hand, hobbled over to the chair, and sat. “What is it?” she asked, before allowing Yuga to doctor her feet.
“There’s nothing magic about it, if that’s what’s worrying you, dear,” Yuga replied.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Veru stated. “If you want access to my feet, you’ll give me a direct answer.”
Yuga’s eyes narrowed. “Who says I want access to your feet? I was doing you a good turn. It’s no skin off my long nose if you’re in pain or not. If you don’t want the medicine, then don’t use it.” Yuga turned around on the little stool she’d pulled up in front of the chair and made as if to leave.
“Now, Babushka, she never said,” Danik began, holding up his hands.
“Hold on,” Veru interrupted, tapping him on the arm. “Babushka,” she said, addressing the old woman directly. “Do you promise that this medicine will do me no harm whatsoever? That it will heal my feet, and that you don’t mean to do any mischief to my husband or I during our stay?”
Yuga paused and turned back around. Her lips pursed as if she had just sucked on something sour, but there was a gleam in her eye as if she’d met an opponent she was very, very interested in playing a game against.
“I’ll tell you what,” she said, rubbing her lip and making the little hair that poked out of her mole stand straight up. “The medicine I made is a true medicine indeed. It will heal your feet, for certain. And I guarantee you, on the head of my beloved cat, Maxsim, that I plan absolutely no mischief between any married couple staying under my roof this evening. Will that do, young lady? Will you now let an old woman touch your preciousstupni?”
