Sisters

by Laurence Dahners

  “First cousins. Your dad and my dad were brothers.”

  “Oh! That means you’re an even closer relation than Daum.” She paused, looking thoughtful, “So, your last name’s probably Hyllis. Why didn’t you say something?”

  Seri shrugged, “Didn’t seem to be a good time to say it. Besides, I didn’t want to presume on my name.”

  Kazy grinned, “Speaking of your name. I still don’t know your first one.”

  “Oh. Seri.”

  Kazy got a contemplative look, “This is really weird. The chances that we’d have two relatives among the five of you…” She gazed off into space for a second, then asked slowly, “How many people live in Cooperstown?”

  Seri stared at her, “I have no idea.”

  “Oh, but you’re not from Cooperstown, right? You’re from Colesville?”

  Seri nodded slowly.

  “Do you know how many people live there?”

  Shaking her head, Seri asked, “Why would you want to know?”

  Kazy shrugged, “It’s not important. I like math and couldn’t help trying to calculate the odds of there being two relatives in a group of five. Of course, then I’d have to know how many Hyllises there were in Colesville and how many Gaynors there were in Cooperstown.” She shook her head, “There’d be too many guesstimates by the time I got done.” She smiled brightly, “I’ll just have to settle for saying, ‘It seems highly unlikely.’”

  Trying not to gape, Seri thought, Dad says the Hyllises throw off a math genius every so often. I guess I’ve found one. If she’s that smart, maybe that’s how she’s going to be able to teach us medicine. Seri asked, “Are you some kind of whiz kid?”

  “Oh, no!” She waved a dismissive hand. “I’m pretty good at math, but that’s just because I really like it. I’m dumb as a post about most stuff.”

  “Um, Daum says you’re going to be teaching us medicine?”

  Kazy’s eyes widened, “Oh, no, Eva’s going to be the one teaching you.” Admiration bloomed in Kazy’s voice, “She is a genius about medicine. Well, cooking too.”

  Seri waggled her head, “Yeah, but… you know, while Eva’s gone. He said you and Vyrda would be teaching us.”

  “Well,” Kazy said thoughtfully, “Vyrda’s going to be trying to take care of all the patients while the others are gone and I’ll be helping her…” She chewed her lip, “I’d imagine that any of you who stay on as students will be helping too and I’ll be teaching you in the sense that I’ll be showing you how we do things and where stuff’s kept. Mostly you’ll be teaching yourself by reading…” Kazy’s eyes flashed over to Seri’s, “um, stuff Eva’s written down. It’s, um. A pretty good education by itself.” Kazy looked her in the eye, “Will that be too weird? Having a kid as young as me showing you stuff?”

  Flustered, Seri said, “Oh, no! Not at all.” When a moment of silence stretched she found herself saying, “Though, you know, some might find it…” she ran down, wishing she hadn’t felt compelled to continue.

  Kazy was grinning. “Argun might find it really irritating,” she said.

  Seri shrugged.

  Kazy said, “Well, I think I know everything I need to know about you. I’m going to make a few notes. Can you send in whoever’s out there?” She snorted, “Well, except Argun. I’ve already talked to him and once was more than enough.”

  ~~~

  After sending Rrica up to talk to Kazy, Seri found herself waiting a minute or so with Jadyn before she got called again. Jadyn leaned close to speak quietly, “Mr. Hyllis asked me where the sun was! Did he ask you that?”

  Seri nodded, realizing that, like Rrica, Jadyn had no idea what the question meant.

  “Do you know what that’s all about? I mean, that room we were in doesn’t have a window! The best he could’ve expected is that we’d point up and to the east.”

  “Is that what you did?”

  “Well… no. I was suddenly struck by this bizarre conviction that I did know exactly where it was, so I pointed that direction.” She looked out the window to the east as if judging the angle of the shadows, “And, I think I was pretty close to right.” She turned to stare at Seri, “And I still think I know exactly where it is, even though I can’t see it. Do you think he did something to me? Did you feel that way?”

  She’s a witch too! Seri thought. Aloud, she said, “Um, I kind of felt the same way.” And I’m not going to say anything about how I’ve known where it was for years.

  Jadyn was frowning. “How could he have done that? I mean, he did shake my hand, but it’s not like I felt a spark or some weird sensation.”

  “Um,” Seri said, not sure how to respond. She didn’t want Jadyn thinking Daum had done something to her though. Eventually, she said, “Maybe we’ve always known where the sun was, but just never thought about it until he asked.”

  Jadyn turned wide eyes on her, “I do feel like I’ve always known where it was, but… That can’t be, can it? Why wouldn’t I have noticed it, or thought about it?”

  Seri didn’t want to continue on this line of conversation. She derailed it by saying, “Kazy says she won’t really be teaching us, just showing us how things are done in the clinic while Vyrda’s taking care of patients.”

  Jadyn opened her mouth to ask another question, but then she got called in to talk to Tarc.

  Seri got called in to talk to Daussie.

  ~~~

  Later Seri would think about how sweet Daussie was. Not at all stuck up like other pretty girls. In fact, Seri had the strong impression she actively played down her looks.

  Seri’d spend a lot more time thinking about how much she regretted the fact that the tall, slender, broad-shouldered Tarc—he of the pale, blue-grey eyes—was a relative. And pondering the fact that some people thought it was okay to marry your second cousin.

  Vyrda was nice and seemed competent, but Seri thought she seemed worried about being left alone without Eva. Even though she was older than Eva and had been working as a healer for years, she confided to Seri that Eva was far beyond her skills and had taught her an incredible amount in the few months she’d been in Clancy Vail.

  Seri thought that, however Vyrda’s skills compared to Eva’s, she’d certainly have a lot to teach Seri.

  The charismatic Eva was an entirely different experience. Seri found herself hanging on every word and praying she’d be allowed to stay, whether Eva taught her about medicine or not. Maybe I could take up cooking if I fail at the medical stuff?

  Chapter Two

  That afternoon the Hyllises got together with Vyrda to talk over the possible students. Daum began, “Hareh, Seri, and Jadyn all knew where the sun was. Rrica and Argun didn’t.” He gave Eva an odd look, “I got the impression Jadyn had no idea she had that ability. She says she’s nineteen and it seems pretty weird to me that she could get to that age without noticing it.”

  Eva nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve often wondered how many people out there have the… mutation or whatever it is that lets us do this. Obviously, it’s more people than let on. It might also be that a lot more people have talents than realize they do. Perhaps we only know about our talents because the sun test was passed down to us from our families?” She shrugged, “Though, I still think it’s got to be far less than three out of five people.”

  Kazy said, “It’s bizarre enough that two people in such a small group are related to us. However, once you accept that coincidence, then realize they’re related to people with talents, it makes it much more likely that they’d have talents.”

  Eva grinned, “Whatever the statistical probability, and the penetrance of the mutation in the population, we’ve got three. I thought those three were all good people. Do we keep them and send the others on their way?”

  Tarc said, “No! Rrica’s a genius!”

  Daum snorted, “I’m sure you haven’t been swayed by how cute she is.”

  “No!” Tarc said, blushing. “She’s pretty, I’ll give you that. But I’ve got a girlfriend alr
eady. And,” he shook his head, “Rrica just knows so much already. I assume you know she’s already worked as an apprentice for another healer. From the stuff she says he taught her, I suspect he either had some books or copies of books. However she learned it, she knows her anatomy cold. She knows about the germ theory of—”

  Daussie broke in, “I was really impressed too. She said the healer she worked for was really focused on cleanliness and sterile technique. He didn’t have a pressure cooker, but he boiled things for really long periods and used alcohol to prep for procedures.” Daussie glanced around at the others, “She didn’t say it, but I had the impression she talked him into a lot of that stuff from… from what she’d read.”

  “The rest of you get the same impression?” Eva asked.

  She got nods all around. Kazy said, “She really wants to make a difference in the world.”

  Eva said, “That reminds me, you were going to skim their minds to be sure we weren’t about to take on any sociopaths?”

  “Yeah, they’re all great,” Kazy said. “Well, except Argun. Even he isn’t really the kind of psychopath who’s likely to hurt people for fun. But he’s hoping to become a famous healer who gets really rich taking care of the wealthy. He also has an ego bigger than this building and doesn’t give a damn about little people.” She pursed her lips, “Even though he wouldn’t hurt people for fun, he’s going to take being rejected very badly. He might cause some trouble over that.”

  Eva said, “Sounds like you don’t think we’re going to take him?”

  Kazy’s eyes widened as she shook her head, “You’d have to be crazy. He’d violate almost every principle you teach us about caring for those in need.”

  Daum said musingly, “What if he asked to be adjusted? You know, if he understood what you could do and asked to have his personality fixed?”

  Kazy’d been staring down at the floor. She didn’t lift her head as she resignedly said, “He wouldn’t. He thinks he’s fine… It’s everyone else that’s screwed up.”

  Daum persisted, “Could you do it?”

  “I think so. It’s just a matter of making him care more about other people and less about himself.”

  “It’s interesting to contemplate,” Eva said, “but not something we should really waste much time thinking about. It’s against our ethics.”

  “So,” Vyrda said thoughtfully, “it sounds like you’d like to teach four of them, but that one of the four couldn’t do many of the things we’ve learned to do using our talents. How’re you going to tell…” She paused for a moment’s thought, “How’re you going to tell Rrica that you have a lot to teach her but that she can’t really be the kind of healer she probably wants to be… And tell Argun you refuse to teach him at all?”

  Eva gave Vyrda a tired-looking smile, “I’m leaving town in the morning. I’ll tell Hareh the good news on the trip. You can talk to the other four.”

  “What?!” Vyrda said, looking aghast. “No! You wouldn’t… Would you?”

  “No,” Eva said, looking sad. “They came to have me teach them. I’m the one that has to talk to them about it.” She looked around at the others, “Anyone have any other comments, or,” she snorted, “anyone want to volunteer to talk to Rrica and Argun?”

  No one stepped up.

  Kazy said, “Before you talk to them, you should know that Jadyn and Argun are boyfriend-girlfriend. It might be that when you deny Argun, she’ll leave with him. It’s also likely he’ll demand she leave with him, whether she wants to or not.”

  Daussie gave Kazy an astonished look, “Is she happy with him?!”

  Kazy rolled her eyes, “No! But she’s the kind of person who takes her commitments very seriously.”

  Eva said, “I’d better talk to her before the others.” She looked at Tarc and Daussie, “Before I start with that, let me give you guys the lists of stuff I’ve come up with. Things we need to take on the trip with us. I’m hoping you’ll collect them and start figuring out how to fit all of them on the little wagon. You’ll have to buy a tent.” She focused on Daussie, “You were able to get three horses?”

  Daussie nodded, “Yes. Pretty good ones too. Like you feared, no one wanted to rent them for a trip to Cooperstown, so I had to buy.”

  Eva sighed and turned to Tarc, “Were you able to get good enough directions for us to get there?”

  “If you count instructions to ‘ask along the way,’ then yes. Mostly what I got told was that taking the road to Cooperstown was insane. If you went with a well-guarded caravan it’s merely dangerous.”

  “And it’s insane because?”

  “Because there’re several groups of vicious highwaymen along that route.”

  “So big you can’t handle them?”

  “Not if we shoot first.” He gave her a look, “I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about that?”

  Eva’s eyes had widened, “How do you shoot first?! How do we know that the people we see with our ghirits are actually outlaws, not other travelers?”

  “Well, first of all,” he laughed, “to be travelers, they’d have to be insane, right?” He shrugged, “Besides, our ghirits’ll detect them a long way away. If they’re lying in wait along the side of the road, or riding up behind us, I think we can be pretty sure we know who they are.”

  “And you’d just start shooting?”

  He nodded.

  “Not even a warning shot?”

  “A warning shot would scatter them and make it a lot harder to take them out. Besides, I have to point out that, even if they were innocents, they’d scatter just the same.”

  “Now you’re saying they could be innocents.”

  “No, I’m just saying that a warning shot won’t differentiate them.”

  Eva was still giving him an intent look, “And you can square shooting first with the moral constraints you’ve given yourself?”

  He nodded, “From what people tell me about the atrocities committed along that route, those highwaymen are all guilty of capital crimes.”

  “What about someone who just joined them. Someone who hasn’t committed such a crime yet?”

  Tarc shrugged, “someone who joined them has intent to commit such a crime.”

  “What if they’re like Farlin? Doing it against their will because of threats against their family?”

  Tarc chewed his lip, “I still don’t think of Farlin as free and clear on that.”

  “You’d kill to protect Daussie.”

  “I’d kill the person who was threatening her, not some other innocent because the person threatening her told me to.”

  Eva hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, “I don’t think you should shoot anyone who runs after a warning shot.”

  “I can do it that way if you want,” Tarc said, looking hard into his mother’s eyes, “But then we’ll be leaving them alive to prey on other travelers.”

  “Oh, God!” Eva said, pressing two fingers to her forehead. “Why can’t things just be clearly right or wrong?”

  ***

  Jadyn glanced surreptitiously around at her friends. They’d all had their interviews and were back sitting at the table in the dining room—on tenterhooks about what was going to happen next. Though it should have been obvious—after all, masters didn’t accept every apprentice who wanted a position—it seemed that none of them had really considered the possibility Eva might not take them on.

  Tarc and Daussie came down the stairs, going out back—where Jadyn thought the stable was. They started making trips in and out carrying stuff, apparently packing for their trip to Cooperstown.

  Kazy and Daum came down the stairs shortly after Tarc and Daussie, but they went into the kitchen instead.

  Shortly after that, a rush of people started coming into the tavern to have lunch. Jadyn recognized that Kazy and Daum had gone into the kitchen to start preparing food for the impending customers. With so much going on at the tavern, she started wondering how much longer they were going to have to wait.

/>   Then Eva appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She didn’t look happy. Her eyes focused on Jadyn. She said, “Ms. Gu, can you come with me?”

  Jadyn’s heart leaped into her throat. She didn’t feel at all certain she could even get up, but Eva’d already turned and started back up the stairs. Jadyn had been looking forward to this moment since Hareh had first told the rest of them about Eva Hyllis nearly a year ago. Now that the moment had arrived, she wished she could have a little more time.

  She looked around at the others as she climbed shakily to her feet. It was as if she could feel their hopes, dreams, fears, and nightmares rising with her. They hoped she’d be accepted—as long as her acceptance didn’t fill the spot they were hoping for.

  Seri said, “Good luck.” The others muttered similar platitudes, but Jadyn couldn’t really sort them out.

  Then she was upstairs in the clinic with Eva and Vyrda.

  They weren’t giving her welcoming smiles, in fact, they looked concerned. Her heart sinking, she said, “What’d I do wrong?”

  They both looked surprised, then Eva said, “Oh, you didn’t do anything wrong. We’d be delighted to have you here as a student.” She tilted her head, “We’re worrying because we understand you’re in a committed relationship.”

  “And you don’t want Argun,” Jadyn said grimly.

  They shook their heads. Eva studied her for a moment, “Assuming you weren’t his girlfriend… Would you want him taking care of you?”

  Jadyn’s eyes widened as she gave thought to the question posed. Suddenly she had a frog in her throat. Unable to speak, she just shook her head.

  Eva’s eyes on her were sympathetic. A minute passed with nothing else said. Then Eva asked, “Would you want to stay on as a student, even though we won’t accept him?”

  Jadyn found herself nodding, wondering whether Argun could find some other kind of job so they could still be together. She’d be a healer and he’d be… She wasn’t sure. He hadn’t had any plans before he’d learned about her ambition to become a healer. Then he declared healing to be his own life’s goal. But, even she could see his temperament was not what you’d want in a healer. She wasn’t sure his temperament was what she wanted in a boyfriend.