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Marcus remained where he was until his innards returned to their natural place It took rather longer than the redheaded healer found acceptable
“Well?” she deed out fro to help me?”
“I’ve never set a broken leg” Marcus felt that honesty was the best policy with Mistress Bishop
“You’ve never killed a ,” Mistress Bishop said tartly “Besides, I’ to hold him dohile I do it”
Marcus stood at the man’s head
“No, not there” Bishop’s patience had been spent “Hold his hip here and his thigh there” She placed Marcus’s hands in the proper position
“You have anything to drink, Sarah?” the man croaked
Marcus thought a drink was a very good idea, based on the angle of the soldier’s ankle relative to his knee It looked as though the tibia had snapped in two
She slapped her flask into Marcus’s palone all green again”
This time, Marcus accepted her offer The liquid burned a path down his throat He held the bottle to the soldier’s lips
“Thank you,” theelse for the pain, Sarah? Anything stronger, I mean?”
A long look passed between the soldier and the healer
Sarah shook her head “Not here, John Proctor”
“It orth asking” Proctor sighed and laid back “The rum will have to do”
“You ready, MacNeil?” Sarah clamped her pipe between her teeth
Before Marcus could respond, or indeed even fully understand the question, Sarah Bishop had pulled the bones back into place, the id with effort
Proctor howled in agony, then passed out from the shock
“There, there All done” Sarah patted Proctor’s leg “Not shy with their feelings, the Proctors”
Marcus thought the patient had been re the seriousness of the injury, but he held his tongue
Sarah pointed to the rum “Have some more of that And the next time you set a bone, remember to do it just like I did: i You’ll do less har so timid with the bones that you shred the muscles to pieces”
“Yes, e’s orders, but Sarah Bishop was another matter
“I’ve got one out, but she kept chewing on it anyway, as though it gave her comfort
“Should I stay and help?” Marcus wondered whether healing some other mother’s son would help him feel more at peace with the fact that he had taken a life
“No Go back to Hadley,” Sarah replied
“But the fighting isn’t over” Marcus looked around at the casualties Men had been killed, et Freedom—”
“There are ways to serve the cause of liberty that don’t involve bloodshed The areons far more than soldiers” Mistress Bishop pointed the end of her pipe at hie Marcus shivered at the sight It must have been the drink and the se
“Your ti to a whisper “Until it does, go ho, Marcus MacNeil Be ready When the future beckons, you’ll know it”
10
Three
15 MAY
Miria on Phoebe’s third day of being a vampire It was black and substantial of build, with a white nose, four white feet, and a white-tipped tail
“It’s ti the carrier next to the bed Inside, the catnoises “I need a break from this relentless motherhood Freyja, Charles, and Françoise are here, but they won’t answer calls for food or drink”
Phoebe’s storowled at Miriaer Where Phoebe now felt the gnawing sensation of as in her veins and in her heart Like her center of gravity, her appetite had moved up from her belly in a way that seey
“Remember, Phoebe It’s best not to talk to your food Don’t dote on it Leave it in the cage until you’re ready to feed,” Miriam instructed in the school for their test tubes and co their Oxford biochemistry lab
Phoebe nodded
“And for God’s sake,” Miriam added as she went out the door, “don’t name it”
Phoebe released the door to the cage immediately after she heard the front door snick closed The terrible tere lingering, and her rebellious streak showed no signs of disappearing
“Come here, kitty,” Phoebe crooned “I don’t want to harm you”
The cat, which knew better, plastered itself against the rear of the carrier and hissed, its back arched and its teeth—sharp, white, pointed—exposed
Impressed by the cat’s display of ferocity, Phoebe drew back to study her first properan opportunity for escape, ran out froed itself behind the wardrobe
Intrigued, Phoebe settled down on the floor and waited
—
TWO HOURS LATER, the cat decided Phoebein front of the closed door to the hallway, as though planning to bolt at the first opportunity
Phoebe had grown bored waiting for the cat toher own teeth in the cracked pane There were only a few hours when this was possible, Phoebe discovered, when the light hit the glass just right Everything else that was shiny had been taken away last night for fear that Phoebe would become mesmerized by her own reflection and, Narcissus-like, find it impossible to break the fascination
Phoebe ached for a ain allass provided some reflection, but she wanted to study her teeth in detail Could they really have becoh fur, skin, fat, and sinew and reach the cat’s life source?
What if my teeth aren’t up to it? Phoebe wondered
What if one breaks? Do vaenerate?
Phoebe’s active va from question to question
Can vampires feed without teeth?
Are they like infants, dependent on others for their sustenance?
Is pulling teeth a death sentence as well as aa thief’s hand so that he can’t steal again?
“Stop” Phoebe said it aloud The cat looked up and blinked at her, uni the plush surface of the carpet before returning to a wary knot
“You still have claws” Of course, Miria her with a defenseless cat Along with the sharp teeth that the cat had already displayed, the claere proof that this cat needed to be taken seriously
“You’re a survivor Likethe tip of one ear, no doubt lost in so in its eyes touched Phoebe’s heart—a weariness that spoke of struggle and a longing for home
Phoebe wondered whether, one day when Freyja and Miriaain, she would see the saed? Would they continue to do so, growing hard and haunted, looking older even though the rest of her did not?
“Stop” Phoebe said it loudly enough this tihtly in the sparsely furnished roo people run to her aid whenever she so hed in disappointment, Phoebe found the lack of response fro
Miriao, that her first atte creature would not be tidy They had also warned that whatever unfortunate being Phoebe fed from the first time would not survive There would be too much trauma—not necessarily physical, but certainly rip and probably frighten itself to death, its system flooded with so much adrenaline that the heart would explode s remained where he was until his innards returned to their natural place It took rather longer than the redheaded healer found acceptable