Chapter 18: Deep in Arthur’s Heart
WHEN Lara got back from shopping and saw Dale, she immediately shrieked, “Kitty!” and tried to pull him into a hug.
Scary, scary! thought Dale as he scurried away.
“Lara, Dale seems scared. Try to be quieter around him,” said Olivia.
“Sorry. I’ve just always dreamed of having a cat. His name is Dale? Ooh, I’m so happy! A kitty!”
Scary. Loud. Loud and scary.
Dale seemed frightened by loud people.
Lara tried to stroke Dale’s back as he walked, but his back arched away from her hand, and he moved away. It seemed unlikely he’d let her pet him easily. He moved over to Olivia and rubbed up against her legs.
“Oh, Dale, don’t leave me the only one you’re cold towards,” said Lara, her shoulders slumping as she took notes on everything Olivia was doing as she cooked.
Olivia’s grandmother always insisted diving in and tasting things yourself was better than taking notes, since the weather, the season, and the ingredients’ condition could all change flavor, but Olivia was letting Lara do things how she wanted to.
As the two were cooking, Peep, the sparrow, came to the window.
“Peep, I haven’t seen you in a while,” said Olivia. “I’m glad you’re doing all right.”
Rain! Lots of rain! Rain lots!
“Oh, if it’s going to rain a lot, you best stay inside. You can go into the horse or goat barn, if you like. And feel free to bring your friends.”
Peep flew away without responding.
“Olivia? What do you mean it’s going to rain a lot?” asked Lara.
“I raised that little bird, and I can kind of get a feel for whether it’s going to rain or not depending on how it’s acting. I have a feeling we’re going to get a lot of rain.”
The air was heavy and damp. Olivia worried about whether or not Arthur would make it home before it started coming down. She went around to all the customers who came in for lunch, letting them know it was likely to rain quite a bit.
“Thanks, Olivia.”
“Guess I’ll harvest both today and tomorrow’s vegetables today, just in case.”
“I’ll wait until the rain stops to go out.”
With that variety of responses, they finished eating and went home earlier than usual.
The rain came in the evening. It wasn’t coming down too heavy just yet, but the pitch-black clouds were thick and menacing.
Once you really got into autumn, the rain was cold. Olivia gazed out through the window, wondering if the wild animals and birds had a place they could wait the rain off without getting soaked.
As time passed, the rain pounded more strongly on the roof and overhangs. Arthur wasn’t back yet. Olivia looked out the window again, and Dale rubbed himself against her legs.
Mate no come.
“No, he hasn’t come home. Thank you for worrying, Dale.”
Hate rain.
“It is horrible getting soaked like that. Wait, didn’t you promise you wouldn’t come into the restaurant?”
No humans here.
“Hmm. I suppose you’re right. Fine. You can come in here at night after all the customers have left. But don’t you dare do any ‘scritch scritching’ in here.”
That “scritch scritching” was when he used his claws to scratch at his fur. Olivia made the motion with her hand, and Lara, who was in the corner of the restaurant studying, was impressed by how good she was at imitating a cat.
The rain grew stronger, and everything outside looked shrouded in a white mist. Just as Olivia was really starting to worry, Arthur finally came home riding on Annie.
“Oh no, you’re soaked,” she said. “You must be freezing.”
“Yeah, I ran into someone on the road who didn’t seem to be feeling too well, so I took them home,” Arthur explained.
“Well, good work, it must’ve been tough. Change out of those clothes right now, though, I’ll dry Annie off.”
“Olivia, I’ll take care of Annie,” said Lara. “You look after Arthur!”
“If you insist, Lara. Thank you.”
“I feel kind of cold,” said Arthur. “And my head hurts.”
Olivia listened without saying anything. She remembered how Arthur had been even more reticent that morning than usual. Perhaps he was already feeling unwell back then.
Arthur said he wasn’t feeling hungry so he was going to pass on dinner, then went upstairs. She watched him go, thinking he looked nowhere near as lively as normal.
This seems like a cold, she thought, then she flipped the card on the door to Closed.
“Lara, I’m sorry, can you do your apothecary study in the restaurant tonight? It’s unlikely, but if anyone passes by seeking shelter from the rain, let them in. I’m going to look after Arthur. Just give me a shout if anyone does come.”
“All right. How does he seem?”
“I think it’s a cold. I just hope it goes away on its own without getting worse.”
Dale was sleeping in Rob’s bed in the corner of the kitchen. Rob was used to this and carefully climbed into bed, trying not to step on Dale. Lara started studying, filled with warm fuzzies from seeing the cat and dog curled up together sleeping.
Upstairs in their room, Arthur’s temperature was starting to rise, getting hotter the deeper into the night it went. His face was red, and his breathing labored.
Olivia’s grandmother had taught her that a fever was the body’s way of fighting off illness, so you should always keep an eye on the patient’s condition as you try to lower their fever.
She put a damp towel on his chest to help alleviate inflammation and made a ginger broth to warm his body. Once warm, she took that upstairs along with a cup of medicinal tea.
When she went into the room, Arthur looked at her with eyes misty from the fever and said, “Olivia…”
“Yeah? Do you want something? Want me to do anything?”
“Something for the headache, maybe? It feels like my head’s ’bout to split.”
“Of course. It must hurt.”
“Olivia?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I want to say, and I’m only going to have the courage now…”
“What is it?”
“If anything ever happens to me, and I die…”
“Arthur? What are you talking about? It’s just a cold.”
“Just listen. If I go before you, I don’t want you to just keep on grieving me forever. I want you to find a nice man and remarry, live a happy life.”
When a fever sweeps someone away, it often shakes up their spirit. Their true feelings were normally shrouded in several layers of logic and reasoning, but when that reasoning loosened, their true feelings slipped out. Arthur would never say these sorts of things when he was well, and hearing them made Olivia think of Arthur’s days as a mercenary, where he lived side by side with death.
Was Arthur always thinking this, deep inside? she wondered.
He’d had to become a mercenary in order to survive, and every fiber of Olivia’s being wanted to help him heal from that.
“All right, Arthur,” she said. “If that’s what you want. But unless I find a man with gray hair, who’s good with a sword, crafty around the house, loves my homemade bacon and cherry tea, and is loved by Rob, the goats, Dale, and Annie, I’m not sure I can ever remarry.”
Arthur let out a huff of laughter despite his painful-sounding breathing. “Might be hard to find someone like that,” he said.
“I agree. So, don’t go dying on me, all right?”
“All right, I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Now sleep. Illness leaves while you’re asleep.”
The rain was still falling at dawn. Olivia crept downstairs so as not to wake Arthur where she found Lara, up before Olivia for once. She rushed over to Olivia, her eyes wide.
“Olivia, Olivia!”
“What is it, Lara?”
“I went to feed the horses and found something terrible in the barn!”
“What? Something terrible?”
“There are all sorts of wild birds in there sheltering from the rain. They’re packed in there all over the beams!”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m sure they’ll leave when the rain lets up. Are the horses all right?”
“They don’t seem to care about the birds.”
“Even better. Thank you for letting me know, though.”
“Oh. Right.”
Olivia started making breakfast without even going to look at the barn.
The rain finally stopped around noon, and customers started coming into the restaurant.
Olivia bowed her head to Lara and asked, “I’m really sorry to ask this, but could you go to Freddy’s Pharmacy in Marlowe? I’d like you to let Freddy know Arthur will be taking a few days off because he has a cold.”
“Sure! You don’t have to bow for that. I’ll go right now.”
“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.”
“It’s nothing!”
Lara smiled, hopped in her carriage, and went to Marlowe.