This short story takes place during You Changed Too. You can read the first chapter here!
“How did it happen this time, Frances?”
Daisy was standing over a familiar slightkin girl of ten in the clinic. Frances, her sandy blond hair matted and dirty, laid down on a bed near the entrance after limping in, her knee bleeding.
“I was trying to climb the gates out of town,” replied Frances.
“The open gates?” asked Daisy.
Frances giggled. “Yeah. So?”
Daisy made a show of sighing and shaking her head. “What am I gonna do with you?”
Frances giggled some more. “Heal me?”
Daisy laughed. “Well, yeah, I’m gonna heal you. Gimme a sec.” She recited the Chant over Frances’s knee, and as it always did, the white and pink light poured from her hands and into Fraces’s body. The wound on her knee closed up, and Candace wiped the blood away to make sure there was nothing else wrong with the girl. “What I mean is,” continued Daisy, “what am I gonna have to do to get you to stop being such a wild woman?”
Frances giggled once again. “You can’t,” she said defiantly. “It’s just the way I am.”
Daisy laughed and stared Frances in the eyes. “I understand. I was the same way when I was your age.”
“You always say that,” cackled Frances.
“And it’s true,” replied Daisy. “I was always getting into trouble–”
“And you were a little terror,” finished Frances. “I know.”
Candace chuckled. “What she’s saying is, she learned better. She figured out how to take care of herself. And we both think you should too.”
Frances pouted, her lip quivering. “Don’t you like seeing me here?”
Daisy shook her head. “Not like that. We’re saying constantly getting hurt is a bad thing.”
Frances shrugged. “I have you two to take care of me. It’s okay if I get hurt sometimes.”
“But what happens when you get hurt really bad?” asked Candace. “What if you get hurt so bad you can’t come back for help?”
“I’m smart,” said Frances. “I won’t get hurt that bad.”
“So smart you climbed the city gates?” asked Daisy. “Those are about thirty feet tall and don’t really have any handholds or footholds.”
Frances grinned mischievously. “So you’ve thought about doing it too.”
Daisy moaned as if in pain. “Frances, you’re not hearing me. I care about you. I want you to be well.”
Frances scowled but nodded. “Fine. I’ll try to be more careful.”
“Good,” said Daisy. “Now you have a good day, and please make good choices.”
Frances frowned. “Okay.” She hopped off the bed and ran out of the clinic.
Candace chuckled as Frances disappeared from sight. “She’s a real chaos gremlin, isn’t she?”
Daisy laughed, but her eyes were worried. “She is. I dunno. She’s been in here every few days for months. She’s here more often than anyone else. I do worry about her.”
Candace nodded. “Of course you do. Your heart is the size of the moon.”
Daisy smiled. “Thanks, Candy. But what I mean is she’s living a dangerous life, it seems. LIke you said, what if something worse happens? We have the whole city to take care of–we can’t just worry about her.”
“You mean like she’s distracting us from being able to help other people?” asked Candace.
Daisy shook her head. “Not exactly. I mean, there was that one day she broke a rib, and I had to heal her twice, and at the end of the day, there was that guy with the fractured wrist I just didn’t have the energy to help. If she hadn’t gotten hurt doing whatever ridiculous thing she’d gotten up to that time–”
“Falling from a rooftop, I think she said,” added Candace.
“Sure,” said Daisy. “If she hadn’t been running around on a rooftop, I could have healed that guy’s wrist. But that’s not even what I’m worried about. What I mean is I do worry about her. On the days she doesn’t come to us who knows what new damage, I worry she’s gotten up to something that I can’t fix.”
Candace smiled sadly. “Your heart really is the size of the moon.”
Daisy laughed, but it came out bitter. “She’s really just the way I was as a kid. A little braver and prone to getting hurt, but that same reckless spirit, that same ‘who cares?’ attitude, that same ‘where are this kid’s parents?’ vibe. I just–I worry about her.”
Candace nodded. “You think there’s a bigger problem.”
Daisy sighed. “I kinda do, yeah. I mean, what was she doing before we set up shop? We’ve been running the clinic for five months. She showed up around the first month in, when people started hearing about us. And she’s been visiting us damn near every day.” She thought about it, and her jaw fell. She turned to Candace, eyes wide. “Candy, what if she’s intentionally getting hurt?”
Candace narrowed her eyes. “Why would she do that?”
Daisy sighed. “A lonely kid gets hurt. She goes to a clinic. The women running the clinic joke with her, listen to her, make her feel better. They help her without expecting anything in return. She’s got no one else, and she’s lonely. So what does she do? She gets hurt so she has an excuse to go back.”
Candace considered this and shook her head. “The injuries she’s getting aren’t consistent with self-harm. She’s breaking bones, honey. You realize how hard it is to break your own bone on purpose? Your mind isn’t built to handle stuff like that. And a kid? Almost every day?” She shook her head again. “I don’t think Frances is intentionally hurting herself. She’d have to be pretty damn messed up in the head.”
Daisy looked down. “Maybe she is.”
Candace kept shaking her head. “Daisy, listen to me. You said she’s like you as a kid. You were lonely, right?”
Daisy nodded.
“Would you have jumped off a rooftop with the express intention of shattering your ribcage just for ten minutes talking to someone?”
Daisy raised her eyebrows. “I mean–”
Candace cut her off. “You wouldn’t have. Don’t even go there. You know you wouldn’t have. You’re letting your worry get the rest of you.”
Daisy sighed. “You’re right. I don’t think she’s hurting herself. But I do think something is up. She’s a smart kid. She’s tough, but not ‘just accept breaking every bone in your skeleton over the course of a month’ tough. I’m just worried.”
Candace nodded. “Because you care. And she knows you care. It’s obvious. I had a patient come in last week who saw you with her, and they thought she was your daughter. She’s a good kid, and you’re a good person, and you like being around each other. It’s okay.”
Daisy smiled. “Thanks, Candy. I just wish I could see her without her body being damaged.”
Candace smiled. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re the smartest person I know.”
Daisy stuck out her tongue. “Then you must be surrounded by dummies.”
Candace returned the stuck-out tongue. “Just take the compliment.”
“Help,” croaked an old woman who was hobbling into the clinic. “I can barely breathe.”
“I’ll get her sat down and give her some healing,” Daisy said to Candace. “You get your tools and supplies.” She hurried to the old woman and began to heal her, Candace joining her soon after.
Within a few minutes, the woman could breathe again without issue, and she happily walked off into the city, but Daisy’s mind was still on Frances. What’s going on with that kid?
—
“I’m gonna have you stay for about an hour and make sure the rash doesn’t come back,” Daisy explained to the guard, a tall human man with an oiled beard. “I’m reasonably sure you’re fine, but a stubborn rash will show signs of returning pretty quick when you deal with it with magic.”
“Why not alchemy then?” asked the guard. “I need to get back out there, and if alchemy treats it quicker–”
“It doesn’t,” interrupted Candace. “She’s saying that the sign the rash is coming back comes sooner with magic. I’ve got salves for this kind of thing, but they take longer, and the rash could hide out for a couple of days and return. Her magic means we can completely treat you in the space of an hour, not a week.”
The guard nodded appreciatively. “Gotcha. Sorry–I just want to get back to work.”
“I’m grateful,” said Daisy. “Living in a city where guards actually want to help people is a nice change of pace.”
The guard raised an eyebrow. “Are the guards not good in Eunax?”
Daisy laughed bitterly. “Oh, they’re fine. In fact, they execute guards who aren’t enforcing the laws.” She thought of Zenna, the corrupt guard who had helped her as a child, the guard she had later seen hanged after being found out, and found back difficult emotions. “In Strey, they’ll either kill you or ask for a bribe. In Despair, they’re just looking to use their power over you. And in Afira, even a nice place like Lo’Torrin, those bastards kidnap kids. It seems like power makes you complacent, then greedy, then nasty. I’m glad that the guards here are different.”
The guard pursed his lips and nodded. “Didn’t realize you’d lived so many places. Sounds like just about everywhere.”
Daisy chuckled. “Everywhere but where my goddess’s people are.”
The guard laughed with her. “Okay. I’ll stay here to make sure the rash is gone. You understand, if it hadn’t prevented me from doing my work, I wouldn’t have come.”
Candace rolled her eyes. “But of course, tough guy. Why should the servants of our government have comfort?”
The guard smiled sheepishly and laid down on his bed. “Lemme know when I can go.”
“We’ll tell you, I promise,” replied Candace with an assumed seriousness.
Daisy and Candace walked out to the front of the shop, where they often waited for new patients while unoccupied.
“That’s the third guard this week,” said Candace. “You think they’re deliberately sending them our way?”
Daisy shrugged. “Maybe. I dunno.”
Candace bit her lip. “I thought they had a contract with the Rectifiers.”
Daisy shrugged again. “So? I mean, if they need help, that’s what we’re here for.”
Candace chuckled. “Daisy, that’s not what I mean. I’m saying, if the guards are gonna keep coming to us, we should be reimbursed by the city. Like, the city has money. They could help us stay open.”
Daisy shrugged a third time. “We’re a free clinic. People need help, we help them. If the guards are hurt or sick, they’re part of the city too.”
Candace sighed. “I mean, you’re right. But at the same time, my supplies aren’t cheap. And if we’re gonna have whole platoons of guards coming in, we’re gonna be losing out on common folk we could be helping. We should be able to offset that.”
Daisy nodded. “You’re not wrong. Let’s give it more time. If we keep getting guards, we can talk to Maela. We can work something out. But for now, we don’t know if it’s an organized thing. Having a few random guards come our way for help might just be because we’re breaking through. Maybe we’re known outside this neighborhood, and we’re actually a place that people know about now.”
“I’ll talk to the guard when we check him out here in a bit,” said Candace. “See if I can’t figure out what’s going on.”
“Good idea,” replied Daisy. “You gonna be direct or indirect?”
Candace chuckled. “You know I only do direct.”
Daisy smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Oh Daisy!” cried a small voice. “Candace!”
Daisy and Candace turned to the source of the voice. Frances was walking toward them, pain on her face, holding the side of her neck.
Daisy walked out to meet her and shepherded her into the clinic. “What is it this time?” she asked.
Frances winced as she sat down. “I was throwing rocks up in the air and trying to catch them behind my back,” she explained. She moved her hand to show a massive bruise on the bottom side of her neck.
Daisy sucked through her teeth. “That looks rough. Did you catch any?”
“Plenty,” said Frances. “So I moved to bigger rocks.”
“How big was the one that did this?” asked Candace.
“About the size of my head,” replied Frances.
“Of course it was,” said Daisy. “Okay, I’m gonna heal you real quick. Breathe in.”
Frances took a deep breath, and Daisy sped through the Chant. Pink and white light streamed from her hands into Frances’s chest, and the bruise faded.
“I’m gonna check and see if anything’s still messed up,” explained Candace. She began to squeeze and prod at Frances’s neck.
“All good,” said Frances. “Doesn’t hurt a bit.”
Daisy nodded. “Good.” She sighed. “You know what I’m gonna say.”
“Be more careful,” said Frances in a mocking tone. “Stop living dangerously.”
Daisy chuckled. “I’ve given you the same advice for months now. I’m starting to think it’s not getting through. Why do you keep doing stuff that’s gonna get you hurt?”
Frances smiled derisively. “Life is so boring when you’re playing it safe.”
Good gods, thought Daisy. She’s so much like me it hurts. “Would it be so boring to not be in terrible pain on a daily basis?”
Frances grinned. “It’s not every day. Just most days.”
“Fine,” said Daisy. “Would it be so boring to not be in pain on a most days basis?”
Frances chuckled. “Kinda.”
Candace shook her head, laughin. “Frances, sometimes I think you were sent to us so Daisy could get a sense of what things were like for the people who knew her as a kid.”
Frances stuck out her tongue. “You both keep saying you were like me,” she told Daisy. “Were you really always getting hurt?”
Daisy smiled. “Not hurt so much. More like in trouble with the law.”
Frances’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Daisy chuckled. “I was hungry. My parents weren’t really around. I was lonely. I didn’t really know any better yet.”
Frances rolled her eyes. “Do you have more fun now that you just sit around healing people all day?”
Daisy playfully narrowed her eyes. “I do, actually. Helping people is fun once you figure it out.”
Frances’s face went blank. “Okay. Can I go now?”
Candace nodded. “You seem to be fine. Now please, be careful.”
Frances hopped off the bed and nodded. “Blah blah be careful, blah blah stop getting hurt, blah blah. I heard you.”
Daisy and Candace chuckled.
“See you soon, then,” said Daisy.
Frances ran off into the city, and Daisy and Candace returned to the guard. Candace inspected his skin for signs of the rash.
“Looks like you’re all good,” she said.
“Thanks,” said the guard. “You ever need anything, I patrol the north part of the city. Just come find me.”
“Thanks,” said Daisy. “I hope we don’t have to.”
The guard chuckled. “See you round.”
He stalked off into the city, and Candace put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “Two more guards, and I say we talk to Maela.”
“Agreed,” said Daisy. “Til then, business as usual. How are we doing on tonics?”
“Good,” replied Candace. “We haven’t needed many lately.”
Daisy nodded. “Okay. I’m gonna check in on the shrine. Call for me if anyone comes.”
“I will,” said Candace.
Daisy walked over to the shrine of Idunna she had built and blessed and began to pray, asking that Frances be okay, whatever was going on with her.
—
“It hurts whenever I walk,” explained the elven woman who had hobbled into the clinic. She stretched her legs out in front of her and winced. “And whenever I stretch my legs.”
“Relax, then,” instructed Daisy. She turned to Candace. “What do you think?”
Candace rubbed her chin. “Could be early arthritis.”
The elven woman narrowed her eyes. “Arth-what?”
Candace chuckled. “Joint pain. Normally, old folks get it, but anyone can.”
The elven woman scowled. “I only just turned a hundred and one last month.”
Daisy laughed. “For me, that would be old folks territory. But of course, for you, you’re more a young adult. It could be arthritis, though. Especially if you do a lot of bending with your knees.”
The elven woman bit her lip. “I’m a schoolteacher. I bend down to talk to the kids a lot.”
Daisy nodded. “Candace, why don’t you give her one of your tonics? We’ll see if that helps, and if it doesn’t, I’ll give her some healing.”
Candace nodded and grabbed a small bottle with thick yellowy fluid inside. She uncorked it and began to rub the tonic into the woman’s knees.
“It tingles,” said the woman.
“That means it’s working,” replied Candace. “Which probably means it is joint pain.”
The woman sighed. “Is the tonic gonna make it go away?”
Candace smiled and nodded. “Probably for several months. Maybe more. I’ve been getting better at making them last longer. But without serious healing, it will always come back.”
The woman furrowed her brow. “Why not just heal me then?”
Daisy gestured to the rest of the clinic. All but a few beds were full. “Plague. We’ve treated just about everybody in town in the last week or so. I can only heal so much in a given day. I need to conserve what I have for life-threatening conditions until further notice.”
“Besides,” added Candace, “this tonic will serve you well for months, like I said. When you get achy again, just apply a little bit like I just did, and the pain will go away again. I’m gonna send you home with this bottle, and it will last you a very long time. Probably the rest of your life. And if it gets worse, come back once the plague is over. Daisy will heal you, and I’ll take back the tonic for someone else.”
The elven woman nodded. “I see. Yeah, my neighbors all had it. They said you saved them. That’s how I knew to come here, actually.”
Daisy smiled. “I’m glad you did, and I’m sorry I can’t just take care of it with some healing. But I’m grateful you understand.”
The woman smiled, flexing her leg back and forth. “Honestly, given how good my knees feel now, I think the tonic will be fine.”
“Good,” said Candace. “If you don’t mind, we’re gonna need this bed, and you’re free to go.”
“Thanks,” said the elven woman. “You two take care. And good luck with the plague.”
“Thank you,” replied Daisy. “See you round.”
The elven woman got up and strode out of the clinic. Before she had left sight, Frances dragged herself in, clutching her hand.
Daisy smiled and approached the slightkin girl. “What is it this time?”
Frances looked scared. Normally, when she came in, she wore an expression of defiance and mirth, but her face was instead shocked and vulnerable. “I broke some fingers.”
Daisy immediately grew serious and ushered the child to an empty bed. “Lemme see.”
Frances removed her hand from the other, and Daisy could see that all of the fingers on her right hand, even her thumb, were pointing in the wrong direction. Frances’s fingers were badly bruised, bearing signs of internal bleeding. Even her hand was misshapen, more broken bones lurking within.
“Good gods,” breathed Daisy. “What happened?”
Frances looked back at her in fright. “Uh, stepped on by a horse.”
Daisy cocked an eyebrow. “This wasn’t a horse, Frances. The fingers wouldn’t be pointing the wrong way if a horse had trampled you. She went through the Chant, and the pink and white light that had gone into Frances’s body a hundred times made the journey again. Frances cringed as the bones reconnected and bent into the right shape. Her skin cleared up, and she stopped clutching her hand. “Tell me what actually happened.”
Frances no longer looked pained, but she still wore an expression of fright. “It was a horse, like I said.”
Daisy shook her head sternly. “Frances, I have treated a dozen horse tramplings. They don’t look like this. Talk to me.”
Frances began to look panicked. “It was a horse. It trampled on my hand. I was reaching under it to pick up a coin, and–and–” She burst into tears.
“Oh, Frances,” cooed Daisy. “It’s okay. Are you still hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Frances said through her tears. “I just–I can’t do this anymore.”
Daisy patted her on the shoulder. “Do what, sweetie?”
Frances wiped her tears and tried to regain normal breathing. “It’s my dad. He hurts me when he’s angry.”
A realization hit Daisy like a hurricane. The months and months of healing. The silly stories about the injuries. Frances continuing to get hurt no matter how smart the kid seemed. An abusive father. He’s broken her bones, he’s struck her with heavy things, he’s scared her out of telling anyone. All this time, she’s been hiding it. She’s been lying to cover for him. Oh, how did I not see it? How did I not figure this out? An anger rose in Daisy, and she breathed deeply. She looked closely at Frances. “Frances, I need you to help me. Okay? Can you do that?”
Frances sniveled and stared back at Daisy. “Me? Help you?”
Daisy smiled, but there was a keen edge to it. “I’m going to help you. But I need you to help me for that to happen. Do you understand?”
Frances shook her head, her eyes wide. “No, you can’t! You can’t talk to him! He’ll hurt me if he knows I told anyone.”
Daisy licked her lips. “Frances, I’m gonna tell you what’s about to happen, okay? And when I do, I need you to believe me. Because I mean it, and I’m not gonna let you get hurt anymore. So I’m gonna tell you this plan, and you have to follow it. Because if you don’t, you’re gonna get hurt every day for the rest of your life. Do you want that?”
Frances stared back blankly.
“Do you want that?” repeated Daisy firmly.
Frances weakly shook her head.
“Good,” said Daisy. “Now, I’m gonna have Candace watch over the clinic. And you’re gonna take me to your house. And I’m gonna go in, and I’m gonna talk to your dad, and I’m gonna make sure that he doesn’t hurt you anymore. And then, just to be safe, you’re gonna come stay with me and Candace here at the clinic for a while because I can’t have him hurting you again. So we’re gonna stop your dad from hurting you, and you’re gonna come stay with us for a little while, at least until you’re comfortable going back home. Do you understand?”
Frances whimpered.
“Frances, I need you to answer me,” said Daisy. “Do you understand the plan?”
Frances nodded, her face still scared.
Daisy exhaled sharply. “Good. The plan starts now. Let’s go.”
“Daisy,” began Candace.
“Don’t try to stop me,” replied Daisy. “I have to do this.”
Candace shook her head. “No. I’ve got the clinic. Make him scared for me.”
Daisy nodded. “I will.” She turned to Frances. “Let’s go.”
Frances meekly left the shop and led Daisy through the city. Daisy tried to think clearly through her anger, and she began to develop a strategy for talking to Frances’s father.
—
Frances stopped before a small house at the outskirts of Capital City. She reached for the knob.
“No,” said Daisy heavily. “You have to stay outside.”
Frances frowned. “But–”
“No buts,” said Daisy. “I don’t know exactly how this will go, but I’m sure he’s gonna be mad as a hornet, and I can’t have you around for that again. You stay here, and you don’t move until I come out to get you, no matter what.”
Frances nodded tentatively.
“I need to know that you understand me,” said Daisy. “No matter what you hear through that door, and I highly recommend you not listen if you can help it, you stay out here. Got it?”
Frances swallowed hard and nodded.
Daisy assumed a cheery smile. “Good. I’ll be back soon. Think about what you want for dinner. Anything we can find in Capital City is an option. The sky’s the limit. Think hard about it.”
Frances smiled slightly and turned away from the door, her newly-mended fingers in her ears.
Daisy looked on the child for a moment. Poor kid. It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna fix this. She placed a hand on the knob, turned it, and entered the house.
Inside was a dirty space. All manner of trash and household items littered the floor into the dish-stacked kitchen and the dingy living room beyond. A middle-aged halfling man sat sprawled on the couch within, apparently not noticing Daisy enter quietly. She went to the doorway and stood before him.
“Is anyone else home?” she asked politely.
“What?” said the man, turning to face her. “Who the fuck are you? How’d you get in here?”
Daisy smiled warmly and took a few steps forward into the messy room. “The door was unlocked. I’m a friend of Frances. I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“Get outta my fuckin’ house,” slurred the man.
He’s drunk. She smiled even more sharply. “I like to know who I’m talking to. What’s your name? I’m Daisy.”
The man scowled. “Well, Daisy, I’m Marcus, and you’re in my fuckin’ house, and you need to leave.”
Daisy took a few more steps forward. She was perhaps five feet from Marcus. She smiled even more intensely. “Well, Marcus, I think we have business to discuss before I leave your fuckin’ house. As I said, I’m a friend of Frances, and I think we need to talk about your daughter.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “What has she done now?”
Daisy’s eyes narrowed. “Oh no, she’s not in trouble. Not with me, anyway. No, it’s actually something between the two of you. See, I don’t like to get involved in family drama–I had plenty of my own–but some people just need a little help sorting through theirs. And my oh my, you seem to have a nasty bit of drama we need to discuss.”
Marcus glared back at her. “What are you talkin’ about?”
Daisy allowed her smile to become menacing. “I run a little clinic toward the other side of town. We’re a free clinic, see, and we get all kinds of people in. Sick folks, injured folks, anyone who’s hurting. We patch them up, we look over them, and we send them on their way. Most people, we see once. Maybe if someone leads a really dangerous life, we see them every couple months. But we have one patient who comes back almost every single day. Frances.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “Get to your point.”
Daisy’s smile was almost inhuman. She could feel her face ache, and she saw the apprehension on Marcus’s face which told her the smile was having its intended effect.
“Well, for a long time, and I mean a long time, she’d come in with these horrible cuts and scrapes and bruises and even broken bones. She told us they were from playing. She seemed to love danger. But today, she came in with something pretty horrific. Every bone in her hand was broken. Every single one. Bent back the wrong way. She told us it was from a horse trampling her. But I’ve seen horse tramplings, Marcus. They don’t look like that. What it looked like was someone deliberately snapped every single bone in her hand. Took her little fingers one at a time and cracked them back the wrong way, even smashed her hand for good measure.”
Marcus’s eyes bore into her. “She’s clumsy.”
Daisy shook her head and let her smile fade, replaced by a look of fury. “No, Marcus, I’m afraid not. What is it you do?”
Marcus grinned malevolently. “I’m a priest. Shanna Hearthmother.”
Daisy chuckled ruefully. “Look at this house. Not just a mess–an absolute disaster zone. You represent the home and hearth, and you live like this?”
Marcus spat on the ground, and his spittle landed just before Daisy. “It’s Frances’s job to clean.”
Daisy shook her head. “And Shanna Hearthmother is a goddess of family. You treat your family like that? Where’s her mother?”
Marcus snorted. “She ran off years ago. The bitch went back to Eunax.”
Daisy nodded. “See the thing is, Marcus, there are very few things I hate more than a hypocrite. Very few. And one of them is child abusers.”
Marcus scowled. “I didn’t touch her.”
“That I don’t believe. I’m going to do you a favor, Marcus. I’ll let you keep being a priest. But you’re never gonna hurt Frances again. Do you understand?”
“You can’t make me do anything,” he said bitterly.
Daisy smiled again, a hateful smile. “I can’t make you do anything, you’re right. But I can take away your ability to hurt her. Looking back, all of Frances’s injuries have one thing in common. You beat her, you clobber her, you break her bones. That ends now.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck are you on about?”
Daisy closed her eyes. Idunna, I hate to ask for violence. But this man cannot hurt Frances again. Please take his hands from him. I love you.
By the time she opened her eyes, Marcus was screaming in agony. She watched as a deep pink light shot from both of his hands. The light inched along from fingertip to wrist, turning his flesh to ash, which drifted upward and the floated to the dirty floor. Marcus’s wailing persisted after his hands were gone. He screamed and screamed, holding the stumps at the end of his arms before his face.
“What the fuck?” he shouted.
Daisy smiled wickedly at him. “Carry on your services,” she said. “Perhaps with a new appreciation of life, given I didn’t kill you like you deserve. But you will never see Frances again. Never. And you will never hurt anyone again.” She turned and walked toward the front door, pausing at the entry to the dirty living room. “Goodbye, Marcus.”
Over his shouts and threats, Daisy went to the front door and stepped outside. Frances was still there, her fingers pressed hard into her ears, tears in her eyes. Daisy took her by the elbow and began walking back towards the clinic.
She pulled on Frances’s arm, gesturing to remove her fingers from her ears. “It’s okay now,” she said gently. “You’re safe. He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”
Frances swallowed hard. “What did you do?”
Daisy smiled calmly. “I made it so he can’t hurt anyone again. I’m sure it wasn’t just you he was hurting.”
Frances bit her lip. “Did you hurt him?”
Daisy stopped and knelt before Frances, getting on her eye level. “I need you to understand something, Frances, something someone told me a long time ago. Life, and right and wrong, are a balance. Good deeds do not change bad deeds. They cannot erase them. But with enough work to be good, we can try to balance the scales, to make up for what we have done. I did a lot of bad things in the past. Not like your dad, but not entirely unlike him either. I hurt people. I like to think I didn’t hurt anyone the way he hurt you. But hurt is hurt. I decided a while ago now to start doing better. And violence is bad. It doesn’t set the balance. But I didn’t hurt your dad to hurt him. I hurt him in a way that won’t give him a choice anymore. It’s gonna be a lot harder for him to hurt people now. In a very twisted way, I did him a favor. And it did some good, too. He can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let him. And he can’t hurt other people anymore, either. So just like I said, we’re gonna go back to the clinic, and you’re gonna stay with me and Candace. Your dad told me your mom went back to Eunax. Is that true?”
Frances nodded.
“Do you like your mom?”
Frances nodded again. “I miss her.”
Daisy smiled. “We’re gonna track her down. We’re gonna send you to live with her. And you’re gonna go have a better life with her. But until then, you’re gonna be at the clinic with us. You can just stay upstairs if you want, or you can help us with patients, or you can do whatever you want as long as it’s safe. How does that sound?”
Frances’s face was slightly scared, but she nodded again. “Okay.”
Daisy smiled gently. “Did you decide what you want for dinner?”
Frances looked down. “I like shepherd’s pie.”
Daisy grinned. “Shepherd’s pie it is. Now come on. With the plague going, I need to be at the clinic to help people.” She began walking again, Frances’s small healed hand in hers.
“Are the guards gonna come for you now?” asked Frances.
Daisy shrugged. “Maybe. But I’ll just tell them the truth. And then they’ll look into your dad’s shrine. And they’ll find a lot more bad stuff about him. And he knows that. So he probably won’t go to the guards.”
Frances furrowed her brow. “How do you know that?”
Daisy chuckled. “Like I said, I was a criminal a long time ago. When you’ve wronged a lot of people, you can’t really go to the guards without getting in trouble yourself. Your dad will lose everything if he goes to them.”
Frances bit her lip. “He hurt me, but I still love him.”
Daisy looked at Frances. The girl was deeply conflicted. Daisy smiled. “I know. Because you’re a good person. You’ve got a big heart. Which is why you deserve help right now. Everybody deserves help, but good people in bad situations especially deserve help.”
Frances nodded. “I don’t think I’m a good person. My dad said I’m not.”
Daisy shook her head. “Everything he ever said was wrong. You’re a good person. I know it. Candace knows it. I’ll bet everyone who knows you knows it. You gotta trust me. Things are going to get better now, I promise.”
Frances nodded again. “Okay, Daisy. I trust you.”
Daisy smiled. “Good. Now let’s go. I’m gonna make the best shepherd’s pie you ever tasted, or at least, the most spirited shepherd’s pie.”
Frances laughed lightly, and the two returned to the clinic.
—
“More bandages, please,” said Candace.
Frances ran to the storage cabinet and in the corner and dashed back with an armful of cloth bandages, which Candace applied to a patient. Daisy healed them, pink and white light illuminating the clinic for a moment, and the patient, a teenage human boy who’d gashed his lower leg while chopping wood, breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks,” he said.
“No problem!” chirped Frances.
A month had passed. Frances had chosen for the first few days to hide out with the cats upstairs. But as time wore on, she grew restless, and she chose to try helping in the clinic. Candace had taught her the basics of first aid and nursing, and Frances had even tentatively worked on a few simple injuries under Candace’s direction. By the time the month had passed, Frances was an enthusiastic helper, always ready to grab supplies, distract patients in pain, and dress wounds. Many patients complimented Daisy and Candace on their new assistant, and they allowed the public to think that Frances was simply a young trainee–no one knew about how she’d ended up there, and regular patients believed that Frances had decided to help out at the clinic rather than be its most frequent patient. Daisy and Candace let these rumors take hold and prized the fact that they had extra help; Frances had been instrumental in helping with injuries as the plague raged on.
A courier stepped into the shop. “Daisy Bloom?”
Daisy stepped away from the teenage boy and scurried over to the courier. “That’s me.”
“Letter from Eunax,” announced the courier before handing over the letter and hurrying back out into the city.
Daisy tore the letter open and scanned it. “Hey Frances, come here!”
Frances, who had been telling the boy stories about her best friends Candace and Daisy, excused herself and ran over to Daisy. “What is it?”
Daisy smiled. “Your mom finally got back to us. She’s in Thistlewade now.”
Frances grinned. “She is?”
Daisy nodded. “She’s a nurse at a big clinic, turns out. She says she wants you to come out and be with her.”
Frances’s eyes widened. “You think she’ll let me help like you do?”
Daisy chuckled. “I’ll bet if you ask her, she’ll try.”
Frances leapt into the air, cheering. “Yay!”
Daisy knelt before her. “There is one thing, though. Candace and I can’t go with you. And she’s very busy too, and she can’t come to get you. You’ll have to make the journey to Thistlewade on your own.”
Frances’s eyes went wide. “You mean . . . I get to go on an adventure? All by myself?”
Daisy chuckled. “You sure do. Very exciting.”
Frances ran in a circle. “Oh man! That’s so cool!” But then her face grew sad. “I’m gonna miss you two.”
Daisy nodded. “We’ll miss you too. And so will the patients. You’ve been such a huge help.”
Frances smiled. “When am I supposed to leave?”
Daisy smiled back. “Whenever you want, really. We could take you to the wagon tomorrow if you want.”
Frances’s eyes glowed. “Okay!”
“One more dinner together, though,” said Candace, joining them. “A special goodbye dinner.”
“Yeah,” said Daisy. “What do you want?”
Frances thought for a moment. “Shepherd’s pie!”
Candace laughed. “You sure? We’ve had shepherd’s pie every other night since you got here.”
“But it’s so good!” cried Frances. “Daisy makes it so perfectly.”
Daisy chuckled. “I mean, if that’s what you want, we’ll do it.”
“Yay!” cried Frances. She dashed around the clinic, telling recovering patients the good news about her mother, her journey, and the shepherd’s pie.
The three of them worked together to finish the day and close the clinic. Daisy made shepherd’s pie yet again, which she had gotten quite good at, while Candace and Frances played invented games with the cats in which Frances always found an excuse to give the cats more treats. Rose had come to accept Frances quite quickly, and Clover and Posie adored the girl, constantly swarming her with headbutts and licks. Candace set the table as Frances continued the games, and Daisy brought dinner to the table.
“Dinner’s served,” announced Daisy.
“Yay!” shouted Frances, running to the table and taking her regular seat.
“So what are you most looking forward to about your journey?” asked Candace.
Frances grinned. “I’m gonna see the world! Just like you two.”
Daisy laughed. “When you get to Thistlewade, you gotta try the seed bread. It’s delicious.”
Frances nodded. “What else should I do? Candace?”
Candace shrugged. “I’ve never been. Daisy’s your best source of information for Thistlewade.”
“Daisy?” asked Frances.
Daisy smiled. “Hmmm, let’s see. The market is a lot of fun. So many different foods and people to talk to. Uh, the countryside outside of the city is really pretty–make sure you watch when you’re getting close. And the lake–the lake is beautiful. It’s usually a little too cold to swim in, but it’s great for skipping stones.”
Frances grinned. “I’m real good at skipping stones.”
Daisy chuckled. “Well, the thing is, you’re gonna be even better at it there. Here all the rocks are big and lumpy, but all the rocks in Thistlewade are pretty flat. It’ll be easier to get more skips.”
Frances’s eyes widened slightly, and she smiled mischievously. “I’m gonna be a master at it.”
“You’ve gotten so good at nursing,” said Candace. “You’re mom’s gonna be so proud.”
“Really?” asked Frances. “You think?”
“I know,” replied Candace. “I mean, I’m proud of you.”
“Me too,” added Daisy. “You’ve been such a big help.”
Frances blushed. “Awww, thanks.”
“What are you most excited to tell your mom?” asked Candace.
Frances grinned. “I’m gonna tell her all about my Aunt Candace and my Aunt Daisy and how you helped me so much.”
Daisy’s eyes watered. “Aunt Daisy?”
Frances nodded. “I never had any aunts or uncles. My mom and dad are both only children. But you two act like my aunts, so that’s what I’m gonna call you.”
Candace wiped a tear from her eye. “You’re a good kid, Frances.”
Frances beamed. “I never said it, but . . . I love you both.”
Daisy allowed herself to cry. “Oh, Frances . . . I love you too.”
“Me too,” added Candace. “I love you, kid.”
Frances smiled. “Maybe I can stay for one more day.”
Daisy laughed. “I think your mom misses you, and you wanna start your adventure, and even though we miss you already, it’s time.”
Frances nodded. “Okay. I’ll write you letters.”
“You better,” said Daisy playfully. “I want a letter every month, and I wanna know about your adventure and your new life with your mom and your journey becoming whatever you want to be when you grow up.”
Frances smiled. “I promise.”
They finished dinner, and while Daisy washed the dishes, Candace and Frances played more games with the cats. The games went on and on until Frances was too tired to go on, and she curled up on the couch and drifted off to sleep. Daisy and Candace stood for a while, looking at Frances slumber, and held each other close. Their surrogate parenthood was coming rapidly to an end.
“We should get some rest,” whispered Candace. “We have to get her to the wagon depot early tomorrow.”
Daisy nodded. “You’re right. I just can’t believe she’s leaving already. I feel like I was mending broken bones a few days ago.”
Candace smiled. “You saved her.”
Daisy playfully narrowed her eyes at Candace. “We saved her.”
Candace grinned. “I guess we did.”
Daisy looked up at Candace. “You wanna adopt some day?”
A wide, contented smile covered Candace’s face. “Some day, absolutely. I want to get the clinic under control and have a little more time to spend with our kid, though.”
Daisy nodded. “We’ll get the clinic in a good place, and one day, we’ll be more than cat parents.”
Candace grinned. “And neither of us will sell our kids out to the guards.”
Daisy suppressed a laugh so as to not disturb Frances. “Absolutely. We won’t make the mistake our mothers made.”
Candace chuckled. “Nope. We’ll make new mistakes.”
Daisy smiled lovingly at her wife. “To new mistakes.”
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