Tree of Life Book III

Part II - Chapter 03

TREE OF LIFE BOOK III – PART II

CHAPTER 03

For many years, we traveled.

We went from place to place, never staying in any one area for long. At first, it was because of the men who would come looking for us. After a while, when our names and what we were became more and more stories for children at bedtime and the stuff of legend, we no longer kept on the move because we had to. We found that we wanted to.

The world was such a big place with so much to see and experience. Besides, there were so many that needed us, that needed our help and would have died otherwise.

In time, we came not to avoid them, but approach them without their knowing and observe them. We saw how they lived, how they laughed, how they loved. How they conducted themselves from day to day, what kept them busy, what they cared about, what it was that they felt gave meaning to their lives. It was enlightening. And strange.

When we felt we had become confident, we learned to make ourselves up to look like them. And then mustering up the courage, we dared even to mingle with them, inserting ourselves into their midst. In the smaller villages first, naturally, getting the hang of things. After that, even the larger cities, at times.

Our guise was always the same. I learned to appear somewhat older. Val kept her age, a young woman, though she did dull the golden colour of her hair. We dressed casually and made ourselves common. Nothing about us caught any attention. I was always the wandering physician, drifting from town to town, trying to earn my keep. Val was my dutiful assistant. And now, we have come to your town. May we be of some assistance? Is anyone sick?

There was always someone sick.

I would go to them. In their hour of need, I was there. But I was careful.

Whenever I extended my hand, I was cautious to hide my powers by the use of some harmless herb or other, an incantation or two. And I was careful not to heal absolutely everyone. No, that would be too obvious. For the lesser ailments, some common cold, I would allow the patient to fight it off on his own and that would seem to take days. For the ones who were near death though he had not realized it, some hard worker, an honest father, someone needed and cherished in the community, I would sprinkle some holy water on his head, and then grant him new life but quietly. Most times, they would not even know enough to thank me. All the better, I thought.

With the work done then, we would leave. We never stayed long. It would have been too easy to slip up, to make a mistake.

Sometimes, while I stayed and worked in one town, Val would go and scout out the way ahead of us, making plans on where we might go next. At first, she would only venture out for a day or two and then come back. As the years went by, the time that she took away from me became longer. Days turned into weeks, and then it was months. I didn't think much of it at the time. I had grown accustomed to it. And she would always return. Why wouldn't she? And when she did, there was always some strange new adventure we would share by the fireside, over a mug of steaming, hot soup.

This time, however, was the longest she ever took. It was a year and a half.

I became worried. I took a leave of absence from my own town and left them, seeking out the surrounding areas and the other cities nearby, searching for her. I was afraid that she might have run into some kind of trouble. Sometimes I would hear news, a woman of that description had been through here once, someone might say, but most of the time, there would be nothing. Or else the usual gossip—someone's baby was born or some royal wedding up the river, but what did I care of such things?