“Yes, sir,” they both called at the same time.
Amelie remembered that the stocky, middle-aged guard driving the wagon was the one whose wife had apparently thrown him out of the house.
But she didn’t have time to think long on this, as without delay, Jaromir nudged his horse forward. “Follow me,” he said.
With little choice, Amelie urged her gelding after Jaromir’s oversized chestnut stallion—named Badger due to his penchant for biting anyone he didn’t like. Amelie’s smaller horse didn’t hesitate, walking right into the water. She glanced back once to see Céline’s gray mare coming after them. The water rose to the level of Amelie’s mount’s stomach and the current rushed swiftly. The bottom of her gown and cloak were soaked, but her horse managed to keep walking at a steady pace, following Jaromir’s lead, and soon, all three horses broke into a trot as they reached the bank on the other side.
Céline was still pale, but she managed a smile. “Not so bad after all.”
Amelie turned to look back and see how the others were faring. The soldiers on horseback were having no trouble, but Bazin was trying to force the harnessed team into the water, and both horses refused. To help, Rurik leaned over and took hold of one bridle while Pavel did the same with the other. Jaromir watched tensely and then seemed to relax a bit as the team finally moved forward, pulling the wagon into the current.
“Well done,” he called.
As Amelie had guessed, the water quickly reached more than halfway up the wheels, and the team snorted as they struggled forward, with white ringing their eyes. Halfway across, it seemed they would make it without incident, but then the harnessed horse on the left side tripped over a rock and started to go down. It screamed out as it fought to right itself. Unfortunately, Pavel had been holding its bridle, and his horse panicked and tried to bolt. It slipped as well . . . going down with him in the saddle.
“Pavel!” Jaromir shouted, kicking his own horse back into the water.
Amelie watched helplessly as Pavel’s horse landed on him and then thrashed to jump back up. Pavel came off the horse, but his foot was still in the stirrup. Amelie heard a cracking sound over the rush of the water, and then he was free of the saddle but caught in the current.
Céline drew in a loud breath as Jaromir reached him and swung off his horse. Catching Pavel under both arms, Jaromir somehow managed to pull him the rest of the way across the river and up onto the bank. Pavel’s horse had managed to reach the bank as well. Céline was already running toward them, and then, finally, spurred from her shock, Amelie dashed after her.
Pavel was crying out in pain, and Céline was already giving orders.
“Jaromir, don’t move him anymore. Just lay him flat. It’s his right leg.”
The next few moments were a blur of confusion as more of the men came running over. Jaromir used a dagger to cut Pavel’s pant leg open, and Amelie put one hand to her mouth. She wasn’t squeamish, but the white bone of his shin was poking through his torn flesh.
“By the gods,” one of the soldiers said, “that cannot be fixed. He’s going to lose that leg.”
Pavel’s eyes went wide. “No!” He tried pulling himself up the bank.
Amelie wanted to punch the soldier who’d spoken.
But Céline was at Pavel’s head, talking to him. “Don’t listen to him. You won’t lose your leg.” She looked around as the wagon came up out of the river onto the bank. “Amelie, run and get my box.” She turned back. “Jaromir, I need flat boards. Can you break one of the apple crates and bring me several of the boards?”
Amelie and Jaromir both ran for the wagon. Amelie’s errand was quicker, as she simply needed to get Céline’s box and run back. She left Jaromir breaking the side off a crate.
“Here!” Amelie called, skidding to a stop.
Pavel was in so much pain, he was panting, and his features were twisted.
The box was large, and Céline opened it carefully. The inside was filled with bottles, jars, powders, and bandages. She took out a bottle filled with a white milky substance. “Amelie, hold his head.”
Amelie knew what to do and moved to cradle Pavel’s head.
“Swallow this,” Céline told him. “It will stop the pain.”
Her words must have gotten through, because he let her put the bottle to his mouth, and he took a drink.
“One more,” she ordered. “A large swallow.”
He obeyed her.
Everyone else just stood watching, but in a few moments, Pavel began to relax in Amelie’s arms. Carefully, she laid him on the bank, and his eyes closed halfway. Jaromir came jogging up with the boards.
“What did you give him?”
“Poppy syrup,” Céline answered. “He’ll be asleep soon. I have to set the leg, and you will not want him awake for that.” Scooting down, she frowned at the broken bone. Pavel’s boots were made of stiff leather and came halfway up his shins. “This boot must have protected his ankle and foot when the horse jumped back up, but then his leg took all the force.” She glanced at Jaromir. “We need to get the boot off without causing any more damage. I’m going to hold the leg, and I need you to slowly, very slowly, inch off the boot.”
For all his strength, Amelie suspected Jaromir was capable of being gentle, and he proved her right in the next few moments as Céline held Pavel’s leg below the broken section and Jaromir took his time inching the boot off bit by small bit.
Céline took a deep breath once it came away from Pavel’s foot in Jaromir’s hand.
“All right,” she said. “Now I need to cut off the rest of this pant leg and then set the bone.”
“Have you done this before?” Jaromir asked, his voice tight.
“Yes, many times. My mother taught me how to set everything from broken bones to dislocated shoulders.”
That seemed good enough for him, because he fell silent and let her work. She glanced up at Pavel to make certain he was out cold; then, with a scraping sound, she set the broken shinbone until the parts lined up perfectly and the leg was straight. After that, she quickly but carefully dabbed the jagged wounds around the bone with a cleansing and healing ointment made from adder’s-tongue. Then she splinted his shin with the narrow boards and began the slow process of wrapping them tightly with strips of bandages.
This took some time.
Wiping her head with the back of her hand, she finally said, “All right. That’s all I can do. The bone is secure, and it should knit. But he cannot travel until he wakes, and even then, we’ll need to make a space for him in the back of the wagon, so he can sit up with the leg straight. He can’t put any weight on it for weeks. Once he’s back home, he should be able to use crutches as long as he keeps his weight off.” Looking up at Jaromir, she hesitated. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to choose another man to remain with us in Ryazan.”
To Amelie’s puzzlement, a flash of relief crossed Jaromir’s face, as if a burden had suddenly been taken from him.
“Yes, of course.” He stood up. “We’ll make camp here and see if he’s fit to travel in the morning.”
Amelie raised an eyebrow. Why would Jaromir be relieved that Pavel couldn’t remain with them in Ryazan?
The following day, at midmorning, Céline pronounced Pavel fit to travel, and she supervised as Rurik, Jaromir, and Bazin lifted her patient into a cleared space in the wagon’s bed.
“Don’t try to help us,” Rurik told Pavel. “Just let us do the work.”
Once they had him settled, they leaned him against a large rolled-up piece of canvas, and he glanced down at his splinted leg. Céline had no idea how he was feeling. His expression was dark, and she guessed he was probably torn between gratitude that his leg had been saved and angry disappointment that he’d lost his place on the mission.