Free Open by Ashley Fox Page A

wanted to learn how to heal, not kill,
Cerid replied;
    “ Whether ye
use it or na ’ is your
choice, child. Ye need to know either way, ye
wouldn ’ t want to mix up a
poison by mistake now, would ye? And ye never know when such lore
may be of use to ye, the path of fate is a twisted one,
child. ”
    Each night she lingered by guttering candle
light, writing up her notes or making detailed diagrams of the
plants. Her hand was becoming quite neat and her skill at water
colour improving.
    Mera wiped
the last piece of bread around her empty bowl, spoon forgotten,
then quickly began to eat her salad, picking out the pieces of
beetroot. Once more she uncovered her dessert, leaning over and
giving it an appreciative sniff. The first mouthful melted in her
mouth and she let her worries ease away for a moment. When faced
with the empty bowl she sighed. She supposed she ought to cut back
on her sweets, of late she had put on a lot of weight. When she had
mentioned it to Tansy, she had laughed it off, saying her body was
changing, she was becoming a woman. That she herself had gone
through the same thing, as does every other woman. Mera
wasn ’ t sure how she felt
about that, so she chose to ignore it.
    Some part of
her wished that it was her mother she had had that conversation
with, but since her mama had remarried Mera
didn ’ t see much of her. Even
less since she was with child. Mera
didn ’ t begrudge her, well
not too much, she knew she was in love and was glad she had finally
found some happiness. She just wished her mother would remember she
existed every now and then.
    So thinking she went to the bathing room, all
smooth tile and marble in blues and greens like being on the
surface of the sea just after sunset, to wash her hands before
removing the items Cerid had given her from her satchel. It was too
late in the season to gather and prepare most of what she needed.
The few times she had been to see her mother she had been very
swollen, complaining of aches and pains that came with being near
her birthing time. So Mera had asked Cerid to teach her of those
herbs which helped with such things.
    She got out
her little set of weights, a lovely plain brass with some minute
scrolling, that she had bought in the market and was quite fond of.
As she measured each quantity into the bowl she ran through the
properties in her mind, her lips moving in an almost cant. First a
small amount of root of Snakeweed, the form she was using was
dried. Fresh it was short and thick, with black knobbled skin,
smaller roots like tufts of hair sprouted all over it, inside it
was a reddish colour. “ Snakeweed strengthens the womb in firm prevention of
miscarriage. ” Next a large
dose of powdered root of Avens. Cerid had said this was a very good
all round herb. “ eases
headaches and a myriad of stomach complaints including
obstructions, digressing digestion, and
rupturings. ”
    Added to the
mixture a generous dose of Motherwort, the name itself giving away
its properties. Meredith knew that the Healers were already giving
this to her mother but Cerid had reassured her that if she followed
this recipe exactly each herb would work to compliment the other,
improving the effects of all. And finally dried flowers and leaves
of Camomile for calm. Cerid claimed that this also brought peace to
the spirit, helping to give the body strength. She poured the
mixture in an earthen jar and mixed it liberally with nourishing
raspberry leaf, tightly corking it and setting it next to the pot
of honey she had purchased. That should be plenty enough to last
till after her mother ’ s
birthing. She carefully put the remainder of the herbs into
individual jars, checking the stoppers were in tight and labelling
each. Cerid had cautioned her to always have her herbs and
equipment cared for and organized.
    Meredith
rose, going to one of the numerous cupboards and removing a good
red wine, still dusty from the cellar she had stolen it from. She
knew it was of