Weathering Storms

by Taborri Walker

  “T’will be sufficient, shalt see thee and the other assistants in the Dining Hall for breaking of fast.” He smiled at Sesha who looked back with some fear, then Beulah came in with the clothing. As they dressed her, she understood what was going to happen and got a bit excited, which of course aggravated her back and spinal injury enough that Shni chided her when the women did.

  But elation turned to fear when she saw Monitors outside the door. Beulah was shutting the door when one spoke up.

  “There be three strong lads here to carry the lady and her chair down. Tell her be not affrighted, all will be well.” Then they left and soon Sesha was settled in a reclining, padded chair with wheels.

  “Miss Sesha, I be Robert an’ this be Michael an’ Steven. We shalt bear thee down an’ pray thou wilt trust us to not let harm come.”

  Still not up to par on language, Sesha looked to the women.

  “Carry, go down, good, good!” motions helped, and as the boys prepared to lift, the one named Michael muttered something.

  “If she look the least afeared, we shall be soundly jaded,” and Sesha knew the stress they were under. So she leaned back, closed her eyes and let the young human males do their work with no sounds of distress. When they reached the bottom, the door open with people watching, she smiled.

  “Dank ‘oo,” she chirped. “Good, good!” flapping a hand, she cried “puss, puss!” so out they went. The Monitors, at a distance all nodded approval, Allway even smiled and dismissed the boys to breakfast, with the women and Sesha following.

  Now was the real beginning of her making changes and fomenting rebellion, starting that day.

  The bonnet was constantly pulled off, her neckline pulled down some too. Even talking to her carefully didn’t do much. Sesha would lift the bonnet to her neck when passing too close to a man but otherwise sat on it.

  A boy of what Sesha estimated to be 10 Alliance years was sitting beside a building in the shade, a board and something to write on, studiously working. Sesha pointed that direction but just as they got close enough, a Monitor did too.

  “What be this haviour?” he snarled, grabbing the boy’s collar and yanking him up. “Thou art ‘posed to be with Teacher!”

  “No!” Sesha cried and snagged the boy’s sleeve, yanking him away. “No lenna!”

  “Child,” the man struggled to be polite as ordered, “go thy way, this be not thy business.”

  Sesha took the slate the boy was about to drop and looked. “Wun, ‘oo, fee, foh?” she asked. They’d been teaching her the words and counting on her fingers but nothing past that.

  “Aye, Miss Sesha, numbers.” Trembling, he raised the writing tool – it looked like a form of chalk – and touched a few, saying their names. “Lord Monitor Jacob, the Teacher put me out as the peats be reciting tables an’ I know them. My father dids’t give me this to do, an’ he is Master ShipBuilder an’ I his ‘prentice I must learn this.”

  “Have not a lying tongue, for the scripture sayeth ‘the lip of truth shall be established forever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”

  “Prithee thou shalt ask my father, then,” phrasing as a question, having Sesha’s hand on his arm gave him a bit of daring, then she frowned at the Monitor and tugged the boy’s sleeve.

  “Wun, wun, wun?” she pointed to the straight lines, then lifted her hand in query.

  “Yes… one. This,” he pointed “is two.”

  Now Sesha looked around and saw one of the shady areas and pointed. “Go, dere… talk’a me,”

  Monitor Jacob tried again. “Thou shalt bring thy father to answer, lad Andrew, and if thou art lying, thy punishment shall be great.”

  The boy started to go, to be pulled back by Sesha. “No!” she snapped. “Dere… talk’a me wun ‘oo fee foh!” And he hesitated.

  Sesha, Andrew and the lad pushing her around could see the Monitor struggling. His Power was being subverted, by a woman, no less! If she hadn’t been a foreigner, cast into their city…. “I wilt, then. Be thou in prayer that I not find thee guilty, Imp.” And strode off.

  For a moment Andrew leaned against Sesha and fought for control, then the three walked to the shade. There they both helped, a bit clumsily, to lower Sesha to the grass on her side, the blanket she was wrapped in now spread out. It hurt, and she sobbed for a moment, then found the boy was weeping as well.

  “Bee-lah,” she whispered, and her helper dashed off. That let Sesha put a comforting hand on the boy. “Bah-duh man?” was her soft question and he nodded, then wiped his nose on the underside of his shirt sleeve. He sat up and by the time Beulah came over to tend her needs, they were deep in the odd puzzle. Pebbles, leaves and inedible berries were in groups of all sizes and Sesha had a better grasp on how to say the names.

  “P’eese? Wah-ter, bwed,” she gestured to her and Andrew, then to her back with a grimace. Beulah sent the designated chair-pusher for the day off and sat, watching while the boy kept slowly talking about the puzzle and together he and Sesha solved it. When the group looked up, his father was standing there, a touch of pride on his face.

  “Hath done well, son,” he praised, and at Beulah’s request, lifted Sesha carefully back into the chair. Then he turned to the Monitor and just looked at him, anger stewing. “As we hath spoken,” he said quietly. “Andrew doth perform higher mathematics which be most important in ship-building. I use my books to teach him as thy assigned Teacher doth not comprehend. The boy shalt be left to his work, an’ if sent out, so be it.” Putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, they left.

  Monitor Jacob was turning away, Beulah went to aim Sesha towards the dining hall as the evening meal was about to be served when there was a cracking noise and a scream. From the guard tower near the ocean a piece of wood fell; the Soldier fell partly through, one leg and side of his hips, then the wood caved the rest of the way. Despite his partner trying to hold onto him the shirt tore and he plunged down. Grabbing for spars made his angle worse; he hit the sand on one leg, the other on a rock and the sound of bones snapping reached all ears even over the scream of pain.

  “Jacob, fetch Physician Florence, quickly! Others, the stretcher, strips of cloth and a thin plank of 2 feet! Steven, take Miss Sesha to the Infirmary, thou and a woman bed her in the woman’s room then fetch whatever be asked.”

  “Aye, Righteous Lady,” and he ran, pushing the chair with Sesha gripping tightly, to the long house. It was a few minutes after she was settled as carefully as possible that the injured man was brought in. Anna came in and sat with Sesha while they listened to the screams, moans, and raised voices in the other room. When silence fell, they both knew.

  “Hashowa,” Sesha said and Anna nodded.

  “He did perish… die, Miss Sesha.” Getting up a bit unsteadily, the girl tottered out and brought back Sesha’s nighttime meal, helping her feed herself. Sesha tried to get her to share but she ate only a couple bites and shook her head. “Not hungry anymore,” which concerned the Nestram woman.

  Beulah hurried in, rumpled, her face wet and bent, giving Sesha a kiss. “Shall sleep here tonight, sweet Sesha. Florence will come soon, thy things are being fetched.” Motions were still used as learning the language seemed slow to them, but Sesha nodded, understanding well enough. She was truly glad of Florence’s rubbing her back and legs while the woman cursed the incident.

  “Leg shattered, innards pulped! Died in fearful pain for the Reverend would not allow morphine, nor willow bark nor opium even! I did not like that man; he ever wert a bully, but did not deserve this!” When she tucked the blanket about Sesha’s shoulders, the girl reached up her best arm, the Gem arm, and gave her a long hug.

  14

  The funeral for the man was long and onerous, but Sesha managed to interrupt it, the first time by accident. Leftover supper, kept warm all night had been served and though she avoided the meat, enough had seeped into the vegetables to make her sick. When she whooped, it was right into her lap. Beulah, thinking fast, pulled the shawl off her own sho
ulders and dropped it over the mess, then had young Anna and Grace back her out of the crowd. At the infirmary they changed and mopped her up but she was weeping now, from humiliation and pain. Grace slipped back and told Beulah.

  Monitor Hosea was leading the Congregation in a hymn about death.

  Ten thousand to their endless home this solemn moment fly,

  And we are to the margin come, and we expect to die.

  His militant embodied host, with wishful looks we stand,

  And long to see that happy coast, and reach the heavenly land.

  Beulah stopped singing and patted her husband’s hand. With a frown he lowered his head so his wife could whisper. They spoke back and forth a few moments in which the song ended and all fell silent, waiting.

  “Go then,” was the barely-there snarl. “Shalt be preached to later.”

  “Aye, m’lord,” she whispered back and taking Grace, she motioned for Sarah to come as well.

  The vomiting session had twisted Sesha’s lower back and the computer informed Gem that the problem with her spine was worse now, because of that. Shni told Gem but they both were at a loss; where to get the specialized care she needed? Florence was fetched from the Single Women’s building; she was not allowed to attend any services, having given her soul to Satan years ago.

  Sesha was stretched out, Florence’s fingers moving gently up and down her back and shook her head. “Does not feel quite right, there is swelling in the lower region of her spine.”

  “Sesha,” Beulah wiped the girl’s face, “legs… what do you feel?”

  “Poke feen-gah, needle. One, t’oo, fwee needle, moe, moe.”

  “Like being poked with lots of needles?” Sesha nodded. She truly did, it really hurt where Florence’s fingers probed and what she wanted just wasn’t around!

  Sarah took Beulah to the side, whispering in her ear and she nodded, so Sarah put on her bonnet and shawl, slipping out.

  “Anna, be thou a model for me?” Florence asked, and a cot was brought over upon which the girl lay down. Her dress was unbuttoned and back uncovered from the layers they had to wear even in hot times. “I will be pressing on your backbone, yours and Sesha’s at the same time.”

  Shit, Sesh… what if there are visible differences? Your cover could be blown here and now! Shni’s voice was as panicked as Sesha’s mind was.

  Then I tell these women the truth here and now or have you shock them into unconsciousness and wipe their memories of the last few minutes. But I can’t run… can’t even walk! How in Haxiun’s hell would I escape?

  And then fingers were feeling their way down, starting at her neck. One piece at a time and Florence stayed quiet the whole time. When she reached the swollen area on Sesha’s back she whimpered, couldn’t help it, it hurt! Fingers prodded deeper and Sesha dug her fingers into the blanket and cried for real.

  “Beulah, now you,” and the women changed places. A couple minutes later they buttoned Anna up, then moved just outside the door, but Sesha still heard while Anna gently rubbed the herb-laced fat into her back.

  “The bones be thinner and move easier… I counted ten more than Anna has.”

  “Here too, Florence. I noted also that her spine seems wider. Could it be with the skin and hair that she be from some heretofore island we do not know of, who do not eat, maybe not have four-legged animals?”

  “I would say chances of that are great, Beulah dear. Here comes Sarah,” there were soft steps heard outside the window. “What if her idea makes Sesha worse, for the differences we found?”

  “We just have to pray t’will not.”

  Beulah sat on the floor by Sesha’s head and brushed her hair back. “Darling girl, we have a man here,” when her eyes opened, alarmed, she comforted, “not a Monitor. He is Sarah’s husband, a blacksmith by trade and had traveled the world as a young man. He wishes to try bending you,” Beulah bent her fingers back, then side to side, “to see if it makes your back better.”

  “Ye-ess,” Sesha nodded slowly. “do to me day, day, day back,”

  “A long time ago?” again the nod, and then the man came in. He was well-muscled, large hands and short-cut hair and beard, but a kind face.

  “Miss Sesha,” he went down on his knees by the bed. “Sarah tells me thy back be twisted and bollen. Might I touch thee and feel what be not right?”

  She looked at Beulah, who nodded, so Sesha nodded. His hands were warm and gentle but it still hurt.

  “Miss Sesha,” he had to keep it to an extremely soft whisper, “I wish to twist thee,” he turned his body both ways, “and bend thee backwards. T’will hurt greatly but if thou wilt keep thyself limp, will be o’er soon.”

  Anna limped out of the room and was back in a moment with a cloth doll children slept with. “Limp,” she shook it and it flopped about. Seeing Sesha’s eyes light up told them she understood.

  “Darren,” Sarah touched her husband’s shoulder, “use the doll to show what you wish to do.” And recognizing his wife’s wisdom, did. Sesha nodded, ready to do it, so he began. Laying the young woman on her side, arms crossed, he held her by shoulder and hip, gave a little shake to ensure she was limp, then wrenched hard. The sounds of her bones moving was loud and Sesha couldn’t help it, she gasped.

  All hands helped turn her to the other side and she was twisted the other way, making her yelp again. His fingers prodded, Darren nodded and put one foot down, leg up, bent at the knee.

  “Pid-dow,” Sesha sobbed and when handed one, put it over her face as the man lifted her off the bed.

  “Not too hard, I think, but firmly,” Darren gauged his distance carefully and in a sudden move, dropped her down. The pillow muffled her scream as her spine spread apart; instantly the man snatched her up, almost folding her in half, face and pillow to her knees, then eased her flat again and held her like a child while she cried.

  It’s almost back in place, Sesh, one more move will do it if you can tell him what to do. All he got was a mental nod.

  When Darren went to lift Sesha onto the bed, she clung harder and shook her head no.

  “Moe,” she gulped. “Foots, foots, puss,”

  “The doll, Anna,” and Darren turned her so she was flat across his knees, head cradled in his arms.

  “Ow,” Sesha draped the doll so it was curved a bit over her leg, touched the lower back spot, then laid her finger across where the arch for the pelvis would be. “Foots, up, foots,” she turned her finger putting it above the ‘ow’ spot. “Up, puss,” alternating fingers she showed how.

  “I be too heavy,” Darren shook his head.

  “As are we,” Beulah was concerned. It was apparent that Sesha knew about manipulation and knew what else she needed, but this was a different maneuver than any here know.

  “Tee-fen,” draped like this on the man’s lap, her legs hanging down felt good on her spine, pulling on it in a way that eased the pain and was actually allowing the misplaced disc to start moving back. She knew the bugs, what few were left, were trying to reduce the swelling so it would move easier; they had been putting hot packs on her back but she needed cold!

  “I shall fetch the lad,” Darren went to lay Sesha on the bed but she signaled the floor so a blanket was whisked down and she was laid on her belly, arms down the side.

  “The spine feels better,” Beulah was gently pressing on it; “perchance after this last bit we should try obtaining permission for some very cold water from the river room. Put it in a heavy ceramic jug wrapped in canvas, wet also, will keep it cold on the way back.”

  “There is cold water in the women’s house,” Florence had a bit of a grin on her face. “When first built, the young ones dug a deep hole, too deep, too close to the house but I utilized it before being imprisoned. ‘Tis lined with straw, covered with what the men believe is sheets of metal unusable for usage. The women and I polished it to a high shine and every night lifted the edge to let the hot air out. The hole is very cold; we keep jugs of water there in.”

  �
��How do you get to it?”

  “We dug an entrance and built a ladder from waste-wood. Just shift one bunk, move the floorboards and go in and out quickly. There’s even been skims of ice in some of the jugs.”

  Beulah almost fell over laughing. “So that’s how you managed to have cold water on the hottest days… I thought you had someone fetch some from one of the wells.”

  “I’ll fetch it,” Anna rose now. “Might I have a cold poultice too? It is still hot where the punishment occurred.”

  “Absolutely,” the two medical women chimed. “Go around the edges; the funeral is still going on,” and the girl slipped out just as Sarah’s husband came back in with the teenage boy.

  Now the issue of explaining it correctly had to be overcome but soon a thick piece of firewood had a blanket padding it to be comfortable and Sesha was draped over, the injury at the pinnacle of her back. Darren held Steven’s hand for stability and the boy planted his bare foot on Sesha’s lower back just over the tailbone and rose, lifting his other foot off the floor. Beulah’s finger was touching the spot and at her nod, he stomped down fairly hard, enough to rock Sesha’s body forward, her spine popped; he lifted his lower foot and stepped it back down enough to rock her backwards. The half-shriek from Sesha was the signal to stop, the men were thanked and rushed out.

  Anna hurried in with a ceramic jug and as a towel was folded onto Sesha’s bare back, she just poured the icy water on. Between the relief of the disc being back in place and the shock of the cold, Sesha passed out. The women were ready, though, and just left her there and tended to Anna. By the time the funeral was over, the body interred, she was sleeping peacefully in the Infirmary bed and everyone else except Beulah and Florence were in the crowd.

  But for some reason the small group kept entirely silent about Sesha’s back manipulation and that her legs were starting to show life. Unsure of what was being thought of or how she was being used, she just went along with it.

  Sesha learned quickly that she got her way from the Reverend almost all the time. Continuing to act innocent and easily frightened got her requests granted. Her attendants would gently propel her to different areas she pointed to, which meant moving the meeting place often, sometimes even in the middle of it. It appeared to all the people there that this sweet but mysterious woman just didn’t understand certain rules, but they were willing – since the Reverend was – to accommodate her whilst trying to teach her.