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Chapter 4

  • Nerin sighed as he sifted through crates of cabbages, peppers and tomatoes. “Half of these aren't good enough to feed a cow, let alone people, Davit," he said, dropping a crate of wrinkled peppers to the floor. “How many times have I told you to check them before leaving the farm? A million, I’m sure. What’s gotten into you?” He hated leaving the responsibility to Davit but he also knew he had no choice, not with Nethermine looking for him.
  • “Nothing's gotten into me, Pa. It’s the farms. They’re all off and nobody can figure out why. The farmers are all complaining. The cattle are riddled with horseflies. The chickens have mites and fowl pox. The fruit crops are filled with maggots and those that aren’t don’t seem to last two days and to top it off, we haven’t sold a bean in a week. The shop is struggling, Pa.”
  • Stifling a yawn, Nerin slumped into the ladder back chair behind the counter. He was tired. He hadn’t set foot in the shop for months and if Hilda knew he had ventured out while she was visiting friends, she would have his hide for a handbag. He hated to admit that he was getting old, but old he was and although he knew Hilda only wanted to keep him safe after his recent ramblings, he resented being kept in the house. He missed the store and wished he could be back at work, helping Davit, but when Hilda wanted you home, you were home. She’s always ruled the roost, my Hilda he chuckled to himself as he stood. “What's put that smile on your face all of a sudden, Pa? A second ago you looked like a bull chewing wasps and now you’re giggling like a schoolboy.”
  • ‘Come on, Davit. Let’s get home before the rooster finds out that the hen left the nest. We can worry about the shop, later.” Nerin thumped Davit's back as he opened the door, chuckling all the more at the confused look on Davit’s face. “I was thinking of your ma, that’s all” he said, locking the door and handing the key to Davit. “After all these years she can still put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.”
  • Thinking of Hilda always raised his spirits, even when he was having one of his ‘moments' as Hilda liked to call them. He never remembered his ramblings. None of what he said or did, but Hilda always told him after he had woken. He knew he was the talk of the ward, especially after the Nethernine episode and he knew everyone thought he had gone insane.
  • He knew Nethernine hadn’t been around for two hundred years or so, but he also knew that they were coming. He couldn’t explain how he knew, other than to say one of his episodes had told him, but he could feel something was different. He knew this town like the back of his hand and he knew something in Dellmead had changed in the last year.
  • “Nerin? Is that really you? It is! It’s been months since I saw you out of the house. Are you okay? John and I thought you were for the heap.” Nerin turned to find Jacinda, the healer, walking towards him. “For the heap? Nah, I’ve still got time yet before I lose my marbles and end up on the heap. You of all people should know that, Jacinda.”
  • Jacinda, with her round chubby face, smiled. Nerin beamed back and danced a little jig, right there, in the street. Some of the people passing by laughed and shook their heads and Nerin laughed at their confused faces. No doubt they’re now convinced that I’m insane. The thought made him laugh even more.
  • “See, there’s life in this old dog yet, my dear. The world’s not getting rid of me for a while, I can assure you.”
  • The three of them walked along Marybrow, making idle chatter - Jacinda told how John was laid up with a broken leg after falling from the ladder while fixing a gutter and Davit told of Dylan taking his first steps. It was nice to listen to, but Nerin couldn’t help thinking of Hilda and how she would take the news of the shop not doing so well. “I swear I thought he was going to be gone today and buried by tomorrow” Jacinda said as they stopped to let a car pass. “I would have bet my life on it and you know yourself, I’m never wrong. After all these years I know when the time has come and his time was up last night, I swear it. Then this morning, in the early hours, Kali comes braying on the door like a mad woman, shouting her pa was awake and to come quick. Well, I got there and he was awake alright. Standing there singing and dancing like a newly married man, he was.”
  • Nerin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jacinda had been wrong, which was something he thought he would never hear, but as well as that, Theodore Thomas, singing and dancing? Surely not, especially since his heart had been packing in for the last year.
  • “Singing?” Nerin asked. “He hasn’t sung since Kalina was a nipper.” Jacinda nodded in agreement as Nerin continued “His heart just picked back up and he was right as rain?” Jacinda nodded again.
  • “If I didn’t know any better, Nerin, I’d say it was a miracle, but in all my sixty-eight years, not one miracle have I seen. I can’t explain it. Fit as a fiddle he is today, when he should be on his deathbed.” Nerin was astounded. Miracles didn’t happen in Dellmead, he knew that, but whatever had happened to Theo sure sounded like one. “Pa, I have to stop by the bakers for bread, I’ll catch you up. If Ma gets back before you, there will be hell to pay so don’t dither. Elsbeth will string me up if she finds out I’ve taken you out again. She’s already told me she will go back to her ma if I don’t keep you away from the shop.”
  • Nerin sighed. I’m no blasted child. It’s not like I can help these, these things. I don’t even know what to call the blasted things. Am I losing my mind after all? Theodore having a miraculous recovery, well, if he can then maybe I can too. “I think you just need to relax more and worry less. You’ve raised Davit well and he manages the shop well, too. Rest will sort you out, it will. I’ll speak to Hilda and recommend hot milk before sleep and less caffeine.” Nerin hadn't realised he had spoken aloud and he stumbled on his feet. Jacinda placed her hand on his elbow to steady him. Her face was creased with concern and she opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind as Nerin said “Just caught my foot on a stone, that’s all.”
  • Nerin felt his heart beating faster as he noticed Kalina walking out of the butchers. He could hear the steady thud in his ears, drowning out every other sound. He watched as Kalina came towards them. He saw her mouth moving but couldn’t hear any sound coming from her. He glanced at Jacinda, who was clearly talking to Kalina, but again, no sound from her either. His vision began to waver, causing the people on the street, the buildings and the road to merge into one another. Nerin tried to grab hold of Jacinda for support. He knew what was coming and knew there was no way to stop it.
  • No matter how hard he tried, he had never been able to stop an episode once it had started, but try, he did. He concentrated on his breathing, slow, deep and steady. His throat felt tight and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t steady his breath. Ignoring the throb of his racing heart, he breathed through his nose. He tried for slow, deep breaths again but only got slow and labored panting. Trying not to panic, he focused on a long, deep breath. It didn’t come. He could feel himself sweating in the heat of the day, but his skin was tingling with cold. He thought of Hilda and how beautiful she was and tried to smile in the hope Jacinda and Kalina would think everything was normal.
  • He knew he was losing to whatever was coming. Not here. Not in the street with all these people around. Why did I have to go to the blasted store today? Why didn’t I just stay home? Hilda. Hilda. My sweet, beautiful Hilda, please forgive me. Nerin tried to take a step, tried his hardest to continue walking, to get home, to get anywhere as long as it was away from Jacinda and Kalina. It's just a few streets more, just a little further. They can’t see this. Please, don’t do this here. Not in the street, please, not in the street he pleaded to himself as the road came to meet his face.