Her name was Raven

Chapter 11

Raven rapidly regained her strength. Each day she felt stronger and after a week she could walk around. She was walking down the narrow corridor of what she now knew was the second story of a townhouse when she heard coughing from a room. She slowed and listened to Katherine's soothing voice within.

"Sh, hush my darling. You'll be well soon. Hush now,"

There was a rustled and Katherine came out of the room, face drawn, lines of worry etching their way across her face. She turned down the hallway and Raven glanced into the room. It was nearly identical to hers, and a small child lay in the bed. As she walked away she heard more vicious coughing.

Katherine grew distracted and it became obvious she was overrun. Raven offered to help in any way she could and when Katherine gratefully accepted Raven knew the woman was being ground down. Robert had left again, Raven knew now that he frequently travelled and that put even more strain on Katherine.

As she did household chores and worked alongside Katherine Raven gathered more scraps of information. The family was rather well-off, and Katherine had only one daughter. She'd had two miscarriages and a son who had died in infancy. Her daughter was the sick one with the cough. It soon became apparent to Raven that it wasn't just the cough, though, and Katherine looked grey and worried every time she emerged from the room.

When Katherine was out picking up the garments she mended regularly Raven snuck into the room. It was dark and the stench of sickness filled the air. As Raven drew closer she could see spots on the sheets from where the child had begun coughing up blood.

"Don't fear, close your eyes," Raven whispered to the girl. She weakly nodded and laid her head back against the pillow, eyes shut in resignation. Raven perched on the edge of the bed and gently laid a hand on the girl's chest, feeling for a heartbeat. It was faint and faltering. There seemed to be a blackness around the child.

She'd never attempted anything quite like this before. Death was a simple thing, but this, this was a seeping illness that soaked every bone. Raven closed her own eyes and counted the heartbeats, felt the breaths. She knew what she would do. She gently pressed her lips against the girl's and breathed out deeply, passing some of her own life to the child. It was the least she could do, for the kind people who had taken her in.

She sat up and felt dizzy. The girl opened her eyes and Raven could already see a glint of strength in them.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Live well," Raven said softly, rising unsteadily from the bed. She held the bedpost until she regained her balance and slipped quietly out of the room.

Katherine watched the girl tiptoe to her own room and shut the door. She set down the basket of mending and checked on her baby. To her shock her Clara sat up. She had colour in her cheeks and barely coughed at all. Katherine felt her forehead and pressed a kiss to it.

"My baby, it's a miracle."

***

Raven was getting itchy feet being inside all day.

"Could I return some of the mending?" she asked Katherine in the kitchen.

"I don't think so, sorry Raven, but people with wealth in Lancastershire don't deal with children. I know you're not a child, and without your help I won't have gotten by recently, but you still look very young."

"Not that young. Isn't there something I could do? I don't want you to feel you have to care for me. I can earn my own."

Katherine looked at Raven as she sighed. "I admire your work ethic. Perhaps there is work at the tavern for someone quick on their feet. Billy threw out his last waitress."

Raven didn't like the sound of that, but it was work.

"Why?" she asked.

"A man complained of lack of service and when Billy went looking for her he found her in the back room, skirts up. He found out she'd been collecting some money on the side and threw her out. He didn't want folks getting the wrong idea about his place. It's a good establishment, Billy's. I warned him about taking on that woman."

"Thank you so much," Raven said.

"Don't thank me yet, I haven't said anything to him."

"Thank you for trying anyway."

Katherine shook her head.

"A strange one, you are," she remarked. Raven laughed, and it felt so good that she laughed some more.

"Say now," Katherine said, eyes sharpening as they landed on Raven's locket. "Isn't that pretty?" Raven flushed.

"It's a family heirloom," Raven answered hastily.

"Family heirlooms don't make one blush red as an apple in my experience," Katherine muttered, but said nothing more.

Raven turned as Clara padded into the kitchen. The girl walked more silently than death. She was becoming livelier constantly and looked more like a little girl should. Katherine hadn't said anything about her miraculous recovery.

Clara beamed at Raven.

"Can I help?" she asked hopefully.

"Well now, someone's got to set the table, don't they?" Katherine said, sounding more like herself than when Clara had been at her sickest. Smiling Raven handed Clara the plates and the girl bounced away to lay them out.

They sat around the table and ate a hearty meal, and Katherine told stories about the people whose clothes she'd mended. Raven felt a warmth in her heart and realised it was belonging. She'd felt it with Duran, but it was something stronger now... the sense of belonging to a family.