Ravenwood Read Online Free PDF Page A

stuff.” She smiled. “But it does help. Thank you for makin’ it.”
    “I’m glad I had some left. It wouldn’t have been very much fun rummaging around in the dark looking for willow trees.” She said it with a grin. “But it does taste pretty bad. A dollop of honey and a few mint leaves help a lot but we were in a hurry last night.”
    Sadie smiled. “Well, don’t tell the kids but there’s a bit of honey comb in that jar up there.” She nodded to an earthen jar on the mantle. “If they knew it was there, they’d be after it all the time.”
    Tanyth looked surprised and reached for the jar. Inside she found a honey comb that had leaked several ounces of the golden sweetener into the bottom of the container. She retrieved Sadie’s mug, tossed the dregs from the previous night’s concoction into the side of the fire and poured a careful measure of honey into the bottom of the cup before adding a generous amount of willow bark tea. She stirred it gently to dissolve the honey in the warmed liquid and could smell the rich aroma of summer flowers wafting up in the moist cloud above the cup. She handed it to Sadie who took a tentative sip, grimaced, and then did her best to drink the cup down without stopping.
    “Gah, that’s still horrible.” She handed the cup back to Tanyth. “But thank you. It helps.” She settled back into the bed and pulled the covers up around her shoulders with a small shiver. She mumbled something else that Tanyth couldn’t hear, and passed the boundary between waking and sleep without a ripple.
    Tanyth rolled up her bedroll and re-tied it to the bottom of her pack. The smell of the honey had stirred the need for her own breakfast and she pulled the bread and cheese from the side pocket of her pack. It was only slightly misshapen from having been confined in the small space over night and she quickly toasted the bread over the coals, melting a bit of the cheese into it and savoring the warmly mingled flavors of toast and cheese. By the time she’d finished her meager meal, one of the other women was at the door. Tanyth recognized the face but couldn’t remember the name that went with it.
    The young woman must have seen her trying to recall and smiled prettily. “I’m Megan, mum. Amber sent me to relieve you. She has tea ready at her cottage, if you’d like to join her.”
    Tanyth smiled warmly. “A cup of tea would go nicely right now.” She picked up her wide hat and started for the door.
    Megan stopped her with a quiet, “What do I do?”
    Tanyth looked at her. She seemed distressed. “Do?”
    Megan nodded. “Yes. What do I do for Sadie?”
    Tanyth shook her head. “Nothing, my dear. Just sit with her and keep her company. She’s had some bark tea and should sleep for a couple of hours if left undisturbed. Make yourself comfy and see if she needs anything when she wakes. If anything else happens, just call me.”
    Tanyth left the young woman standing in the middle of the hut and marveled again how women with children could seem so helpless in the face of common adversity.
    She found Amber sitting outside in a sunny nook behind her cottage with a charming little teapot, a collection of delicate china cups, and the bulky form of her woodcutter husband looking vaguely uncomfortable with the delicate china clasped in his hand. He wore a sleeveless leather vest which left his arms free and showed his shoulders to good advantage as well.
    Amber smiled a greeting and extended a hand to indicate the open stool beside their small table.
    “How’s she doing?” Amber didn’t really appear worried about Sadie but offered the query as a conversational starter while she poured one of the blue flowered cups with a lovely tea of pale green. The scent of mint wafted moistly from the cup.
    “Good morning, mum,” William offered with a grave smile of his own.
    She suddenly decided she liked William, not because of the shape of his shoulders or the attractive curl in his hair, but