He had no idea what to do, but he knew from long observation that strong emotions usually caused the flame to flare. Calm down, he told himself.
The flame stabilized, and the burning receded, becoming merely an annoying itch once more. He needed to figure out a way to keep the flame from growing. Maybe if I burn off some energy. In the past he had noticed that heavy exercise tended to deplete his turyn a little. Without waiting to think about it, he began to run.
He ran all the way to Barrowden. It would have taken almost an hour if he had walked, but he covered the distance in half that, dashing through the trees with reckless abandon. By the time he arrived, his face was red and he was covered in sweat, but the itching had faded. The cold autumn wind was a relief for his overheated body, but he worried what would happen once his sweat-drenched clothes began to leach away his warmth.
Walking down the one street that went through Barrowden, he was surprised when a familiar voice called to him. “Will!” Turning around, he saw Annabelle Withy step into the lane, two large wooden buckets in her hands.
“Anna,” he responded, surprised. His friend had changed in the year and a half since he had last seen her. She was slightly taller than him now, and her figure had changed in interesting ways. He had always liked her, since she seemed friendlier and more practical than most of the other girls in the village. “How have you been?”
“I’m well,” she answered. “Where have you been? Nobody’s seen you in forever.”
Good question, he thought. After a second, he replied, “I took an apprenticeship. I’m living with my teacher.”
“Teacher?” said Annabelle, her face growing curious.
Master, Will chided himself. I should have said ‘master.’ Apprentices didn’t refer to their masters as ‘teachers.’ “It was Mom’s idea,” he added.
“Where does your master live? Is he in Branscombe? What trade are you learning?”
All perfectly reasonable questions. None of which he wanted to answer. How could he tell her he was living in the forest with a crazy old hermit? Once the word got out, his friends would laugh themselves sick. It was a miracle they hadn’t heard about it already. I suppose I should thank Eric and Sammy for not telling everyone.
Thinking of his grandfather, Will almost replied with ‘none of your damn business,’ but he caught himself before the words came out of his mouth. I’m learning bad habits from the ornery old bastard. He didn’t want to lie, so he kept his answer vague. “Yeah, he lives near Branscombe. I’m learning medicine.”
Arrogan did live in the direction of Branscombe, though his home was much closer to Barrowden, and Will was supposed to be learning herbalism, so his answer wasn’t really a lie. It just wasn’t exactly the truth, either.
Annabelle’s brown eyes widened, and he found himself marveling at how pretty she was. “You’re going to be a doctor?” she asked.
Her assumption wasn’t a bad one for Will. Being a doctor would command some respect, although many people treated them with suspicion. “Mom said it would be silly for me to become a midwife,” he joked, letting her keep the assumption without actually confirming it. Then he glanced at the buckets in her hands. “Are you hauling water?”
She nodded.
“Let me help you then,” he suggested. His scalp was beginning to itch again, so it wouldn’t hurt to burn off some energy. Plus, he’d get to spend more time with Annabelle.
The well was located in the center of the village, so he walked there with her and then, after she had filled them, he took both the buckets. They were heavy, but holding one in each hand improved his balance and made it easier to walk.
“You don’t have to carry both,” said Annabelle. “We can share the load.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “I need the exercise.”
Tracy Tanner spotted him and called out to him as they walked back to Annabelle’s house. “Come by after you finish!” she said loudly. “We have a gift for you.”
Will nodded, and then noticed Annabelle looking at him from the side of her eyes. “What?” he asked.
“She’s been talking about you for months,” said the girl. “She tells everyone how you saved Joey.”
“That’s crazy,” said Will, feeling uncomfortable. “I just made a poultice for him.”
“She thinks you used magic to heal him,” said Annabelle. “You’ll probably make a great doctor.”
“Doctors don’t use magic,” argued Will.
“You don’t have