Chapter 6

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(Pictured above: young Emmeline, young Gideon, Eleanor, and their garden)

"Matricaria chamomila, perfect for settling the mind and stomach, works best when dried and brewed as a tea. Get a whiff of this Emmy, doesn't it smell divine?" Emmeline smelled the flower and nodded at her mother. "You should always have a lot of this around. It works wonders on people that think they're ill all the time. Now Sambucus nigra is another good thing to have handy," Eleanor says, gesturing to an elderberry vine, "once you pluck all the berries you must mash them up with a bit of honey. It's a great remedy for lagrippe."

"How Mama?" The young Emmeline asked.

"Well when the berries get mashed they turn this bright pink color and when it's mixed with the honey it makes the body happy because of the color, see?" Eleanor shows Emmeline the mashed berry, "Our bodies get so excited by the color that it wants to see more of it so it fights off the infection."

"Papa doesn't like pink, will it still work on him?"

"Of course it will my dear. Papa may not like the color on the outside of his body but he knows it will help his inside."

"So even though I don't like the green plants they will still help me because my insides like it?"

"Exactly! Your insides get excited when new colors come in." Eleanor says, taking a seat on the garden bench.

"Are plants the only way colors come in Mama?"

"No, of course not my darling."

"How else can they then?"

"Come here and I shall explain it to you." Emmeline sits down next to her mother.

"You know how Papa and I give people medicine to help heal them?"

"Yes."

"And how that's giving them their colors because it makes them feel better?" Emmeline nods, "well we also give colors with our words. In fact sometimes our words work better than the medicine."

"But you can't swallow a word Mama."

"You're right," Eleanor says, giving a bit of serious thought to Emmeline's statement, "but don't you sleep better when Papa tells you a bedtime story?"

"Yes."

"So then he's giving you your colors because you are able to sleep."

"But I would still fall asleep Mama, even if he didn't tell me the story."

"Okay, let's try another example. What does Papa do whenever you scrape your knee?"

"He puts special cream on it."

"But what does he say while he's applying it?"

"He tells me a funny story."

"And does your scrape hurt after that?"

"No."

"See! The words and the medicine work together to make a beautiful color that helps you feel better."

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