I hurried into the examination room and almost tripped over Brutius. He was lurking by the hallway door, and after the few minutes his mind took to register that the smelly, ugly stranger was his master, he was overjoyed to see me.
“Brutius-what in the bloody hell of Orcus is going on?”
“Oh, Master-so much has happened, and what with three women and a child in the house-”
“What?” My already swollen head nearly exploded. “Who? When? Why?”
“Caelius tried to beat up Draco and steal your lady. She came last night, and brought the child, who keeps disappearing. Oh, and before her another woman, a foreigner from Egypt, I think.”
“Stricta?” I felt dizzy. I leaned against the table.
“I think that’s her name. Master Bilicho invited her, maybe. She’s staying with him, and Coir moved into Draco’s room, and your lady doesn’t like Coir, and Coir has been very unhelpful, and no one can find the child. And just now that other man was here-the vigil?”
“Meditor? Was he the bald one?”
“No, the other. The one that always smells like drink.”
“Mollius. What did he say?”
Brutius leaned closer to me. “That’s what they’re fighting about now, Master. He came to tell us there’s a curfew on the natives in Londinium, and that the soldiers have caught-what was his name-”
“Rhodri?” I sat on the table, and thought about crawling under it.
“Yes, that was it. And as soon as he left, everyone started to argue about what to do next, and then Coir wouldn’t look for the little boy, and it turned into a row.”
I could still hear the voices, though they sounded less like a barnyard.
“Thanks, Brutius. I think I understand.” I didn’t.
Brutius’ brown, honest face fell a little. “I left out the most important thing, Master. The night before last-the night you left. Someone tried to get in the house.”
I grabbed his arm. “What? How?”
“Over the wall. Draco wasn’t here, only Bilicho, and he was sleeping very hard, on account of his head and all.” He cleared his throat. “Pyxis stopped him. She barked, and woke me up, and she must’ve attacked him, but he kicked at her. Hard.”
“Is she-”
“She’s not dead, Master, but she’s not well. You need to look at her.” His face was drawn.
“Let’s go see her. Come help me.”
I hurried as fast as my legs would let me out the front door to the back of the house. Brutius gave me a boost over the wall, and then climbed over himself. The puppies clambered all over me. He’d left the kennel door open.
Pyxis was up, and wagged her tail and smiled, but walked very stiffly, limping, when she came to greet me. I told Brutius to go to the workshop and get the lamp.
I led her inside, and made her lie down on some straw. She looked at me curiously. She knew she wasn’t pregnant, and couldn’t figure out why I was there if not to help deliver babies. Brutius ran up with the lamp, and holding her head with one hand, I checked her gums with the other. No sign of bleeding inside. Her breathing was normal. I stretched her out on the straw, and gently put two fingers behind her hind leg, right at the point where it met her trunk. I waited a moment and counted. Her pulse seemed all right.
“Has she been eating?”
Brutius shook his head. “Not as much as usual.”
I gathered some skin at her nape, and plucked it. It didn’t snap into place as fast as it should.
“She needs water. You’ll have to make her drink it if she refuses.”
He nodded. Brutius would drink it himself if it helped.
She was lying with the sore side facing up. I started with her head, and looked for a cut or puncture. The bastard probably had a knife. I didn’t find anything, but when I got to the leg, she flinched.
I asked Brutius to hold her head, and very carefully felt all the little bones from her hip to her toes. Nothing was broken. But when I laid a flat palm on the muscled area of her flank, it felt like my cheek-hot, swollen and sore.
I patted her head and stood up. She pulled herself up slowly, and was reluctant to put weight on that side, but was still able to do it. She sniffed my clothes, trying to find out why I’d been on a horse for so long.
“She’s all right. It’s a painful muscle strain, maybe even a small tear. She hasn’t been eating and drinking well because of the pain, probably, and we need to make it easier on her. Keep the puppies away from her for a week, and hand feed her chicken with oats. I’ll make her something for the pain, too, something that’ll help her sleep. Put her water bowl up a little higher, so it’s easier for her to reach it without bending. You might have to pour her some from a skin when you feed her. She’ll need a warm compress on her flank every day, too-help keep the swelling down.” I squeezed his hand. “She’ll be all right, Brutius. She’s a good, strong, healthy dog.”
His eyes filled with tears and he said simply: “I was worried.”
My misshapen face tried to smile. “Now what’s this about a disappearing little boy?”
Out of the darkness of the corner of the kennel, something stirred. Brutius’ eyes got big, but I gestured for him to remain still. Something was crawling toward Pyxis, something about ten years old. The lamp sputtered, and when it found its flame again, Hefin was crouched near the dog, staring at me.
“I didn’t disappear. I was watching the dog.”
“You like Pyxis?”
He nodded. “I like animals better than people.”
“I do too, as a rule. But you’re worrying your sister.”
He stuck his lower lip out. “She doesn’t care about me anymore.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. It’s safer here, for both of you. There’s a curfew now.”
“Well-” He looked at me doubtfully. “You look different.”
“I ran into a tree. Now, Hefin-I need your help.”
“You need my help?”
“Yeah. I figure you might make a good healer-you stayed with Pyxis while she was hurt. Brutius here needs an assistant to help look after her. Think you can do it?”
He nodded solemnly. “I’d like to.” He turned his head away and said it to the kennel wall. “It feels better when you’re here.”
I smiled a little.
“All right. Run in to your sister, but don’t tell anyone I’m home yet. It’s our secret.”
He flashed a smile, and ran like a small blond lightning bolt through the kitchen door and into the house.
“One problem solved. Keep an eye on him. He’s in your charge.” Doubt dug into Brutius’ face, as he looked toward the kitchen. I grinned. “Don’t worry. Children are a lot like animals.”
Brutius grinned back. “Thank you, Master. Do you want to go in?”
Rhodri was in a dark hole by now, and the curfew would be causing fights. Everything I’d tried to prevent had happened, anyway, and I was exhausted, sore, hungry and numb. I wished I could sleep in the kennel.
I told him: “Have Venutius make me something to eat-something warm and good. Not pork.”
A loud purr interrupted me. Fera was rubbing against my legs. One of her balls of fluff was mewing loudly at Brutius. I picked it up, and it started licking my hand with a scratchy pink tongue.
“They’re still in the triclinium?”
“If they haven’t gone on about something else.”
“I’d like to eat a little in the kitchen before I see anybody.”
Brutius nodded, and went ahead of me. I made my way through the herb garden, and into the kitchen, where Venutius was already bustling, preparing something for my supper. His expression was as impassive as it always was, and he didn’t even blink at my face, though he eyed the kitten I was still holding with distaste.