Story part 11 – The Doctor on Call

Botany was just a stone’s throw away from medicine. Quite so, one could say that the modern medical practice was heavily influenced by its older sister. Did a blacksmith accidentally lean on the stove? That’s aloe vera treatment for him. Did a boy eat something when he was specifically told not to, and now a demon was raging inside his belly? Some chamomile for his stomach ache. Was a mother lamenting to no end over her clumsy husband and disobedient son? Only tranquility could help, preferably in liquid form, therefore a lemon balm infusion. Indeed, plants could soothe many pains, if one knew their properties of course.

No wonder that today’s rounds were carried out by both a doctor and a botanist.

“I’m not saying that you haven’t experienced what you’re describing,” Cooper said as they left the blacksmith’s house. “I’m just saying that it’s medically improbable if you, as you claim, haven’t ingested any suspicious substances beforehand.”

Benjamin shook his head.

“Well, in that particular field of study I’m keeping to theory. Nevertheless, I still don’t have a good explanation. I wasn’t daydreaming, I don’t think I was hallucinating either, and I heard everything as clearly as I hear you right now. The experience was too complex, too rich in detail for me to have thought it up myself. I learned completely new information. How would those stories about this forgotten custom of visiting the woods just appear in my head?”

“Hmm. As you may remember, when I’m off duty, I happen to be a great fancier of the arts. Theater, masks, playing the part. Perhaps you have become an unwitting hero in someone’s comedy? Maybe someone was at that deceased man’s hut, having fun at your expense, but managed to flee when you entered the stage yourself?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Then again, why would anyone go through all this trouble? Why would it come to me, of all people?”

Cooper mused, but had no prescription for Benjamin’s worries at the time.

A week had passed since the fateful expedition which was supposed to be an ambitious step forward in Benjamin’s research, yet turned out to be a most unsettling experience, to say the least. ‘The harvest is near’ the message claimed. It didn’t make the slightest sense, because even in a place as bizarre as Slickhaven, no harvesting was being done in such late autumn. He discussed it with Salina just yesterday, as it turned out they both believed in the same dinner time, but she only said that the farm was on the edge of the forest and that the Thornwood had its own rules. She mentioned the wildman tribes living there, but that led to more unanswered questions.

That was why he agreed to help Cooper with the house calls. A change of scenery could often bring a fresh perspective, and as much as he adored his still-imperfect lab, he had spent the last few days at the desk compiling his first research report for the Association. He elected that a walk would do him good, and since the company of the local physician allowed him to legally enter people’s houses and spy on what they were growing, he couldn’t pass up such an opportunity.

“Mrs. Maria, but I told you,” Cooper said kindly to the middle-aged widow. “Such corns go away, but firstly you have to apply ointment every day, and secondly you have to take a break. And I saw more chopped wood in the yard than last time. I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me that it all chopped itself?”

“Oh, it’s because what you gave me was so stinky, doctor, I didn’t like it,” the woman frowned, reluctantly showing her swollen hand. “I’m still young, don’t you dare think otherwise, and winter is coming, so I have chores to do. I could have chopped even more wood if I wanted, but it wouldn’t be right. But I could!”

“Fine, fine, then how about I’ll give you a different ointment. A better one. Benjamin, could you come over?”

“Hm? What?” Benjamin turned around, quickly hiding behind his back a cutter and a stalk of a certain slender cottongrass, which was found in cold climates and, what was becoming a rule recently, also in Slickhaven, Fortunately, the plant standing on the mantelpiece was developed enough that one stem given or taken away made no difference.

Cooper threw him a meaningful look, waved a rolled-up bandage, and Benjamin immediately sprang into action. After a few visits, they had it pretty well rehearsed: while the doctor was cutting or applying bandages, Benjamin was making sure the patients were kept busy. Well, such were the challenges of medicine. At least plants never tried to be clever during their procedures.

“Why wouldn’t it be right to chop more, Mrs. Maria?” he asked, diverting the woman’s attention. “You have a grand forest here, after all.”

“It wouldn’t, because if I had, the forest spirits would take offense at me. And my grandmother, may she rest in peace, always told me to live in harmony with them. I remember her going to the forest every harvest festival, while I waited in the hallway for her to return. When she came back, I would ask her if the spirits were content. When she said they were, we always had a celebration.”

Benjamin froze. The host from beyond the walls, whose existence he couldn’t yet prove, also spoke highly of the Thornwood and the old days. However, he didn’t say a word about any forest spirits, so the woman was either getting cranky in her age, or something was indeed up.