77 Summer, 515 AV
3rd Bell, Morning
3rd Bell, Morning
It was not unusual for Dravite and Belkaia to wake and find Pearl missing from their bed. Often she was summoned to The River Flower or by another from a nearby pavilion, to treat a wound or illness that had come on suddenly. Though since Dravite’s recent battle for his own life, Pearl had found it increasingly difficult to leave his side. His health had been better now for long enough that she didn’t expect a relapse, but still she remained cautious and attentive to his care. But she had many depending on her to care for them, and she couldn’t ignore their requests for help. Tonight had been no different.
Pearl walked with Clover, the young girl that had summoned her away from her bed this night, and listened as she explained why. “Momma says he won’t sleep. That every time she lays him down, just as she thinks maybe he can rest, that he will kick his little legs and flail his arms about and start to cry. Well, not cry really, but scream, like it hurts really bad.”
Clover couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, Pearl thought, but her words seemed like that of someone much older, or one that had more understanding. “Do you have many younger siblings, Clover?” Pearl asked, trying to get a better understanding of what might be going on with the infant she was being told about.
“Oh yes, there’s Meadow, she’s just a year younger than me. Next is Ash, he’s going to be six in the fall. Momma’s planning a foraging day for us all on his name day. Then comes Dove. She’s only three but she can already ride a goat. I think she’s going to get her strider before me,” joked Clover before she sighed. “Flint’s the baby. He’s the one you’re going to see. I think he’s named right because when he screams like he does, it’s like someone lit a fire beneath you and you jump up to go see what’s wrong with him.”
Pearl cringed when Clover said that about Flint. “Oh dear, that must be awful, for all of you, especially Flint.”
“Yeah, it’s scary sometimes. It can be really quiet and then all of a sudden he lets out a wail that could shake the trees.”
“Did any of your brothers and sisters have this problem when they were little?”
“Nope. I fear what Semele thinks we are doing to him when he cries like he does.”
“Oh no, don’t fear. I’m sure Semele knows and understands that Flint is just hurting. But that’s what we’re going to do our best to try and find out the reasons why and see if we can help him.”
Clover nodded and smiled, taking Pearl’s free hand and leading her into the pavilion.
As Pearl approached, she could see Autumn sitting on a log by the glowing embers of the dying fire. She was hunched over a small bundle that she held protectively against her chest and rocked slowly back and forth as she sat. The small arms and legs of Flint weren’t still, but would flail out and then be drawn back in against his body often as if something prevented him from being comfortable. Pearl took a seat beside Autumn and spoke, “Clover tells me that Flint is unable to lay down to rest, that he cries often.”
“Yes, he does. We sit here most nights just so he can finally fall asleep just before the first light begins,” Autumn explained. “He doesn’t pass his gas like the others. He fights it, and his little belly sometimes feels like there is a rock inside it, it gets so hard.”
“How old is he?”
“Nearly two seasons, now.”
Nodding, Pearl reached for the bag she had brought with her, which was actually just one of the emptied flour sacks that Pearl had cleaned and dried so that she could use it to store a few small emergency medicinal items in and carry with her for occasions such as this. She took out a paper that was folded tightly upon itself. “Does he take milk other than from you?” she asked.
“Yes. He always seems so hungry, so sometimes he has some Zibri’s milk when I don’t have all that he wants.”
“Do you have any goats?”
“Yes.”
“Switch to goat milk. It’s easier on a young ones stomach than milk from the Zibri is; doesn’t cause as much gas,” she explained.
Autumn nodded, finally beginning to smile.
“Clover? Could you bring me some goat milk, for Flint?” Pearl looked to the young girl and smiled, hoping that they had some on hand, and was relieved when Clover headed off with a smile.
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