A Place for Healing

It was harder than I expected to get to know the newcomers who had chosen to settle in our new little town. Karen was the best at meeting and getting to know people. I left it up to her to greet the new settlers for now. Meanwhile, I had things to accomplish. We had a town meeting and decided that we mostly wanted the town to stay on the humble side. We wanted everyone to be equals. Karen mentioned that having a place to treat the sick or wounded might be nice. Jennifer thought it would be nice to have a place for the animals she was caring for. Christopher was already so swamped with building new houses for the new settlers and planning where future businesses and homes would be that he could not handle more projects for the moment. In fact, he wouldn't be able to look into new building plans for months. Karen and Jennifer both seemed a little disappointed, but they understood that housing and certain businesses had to come first for a new town.

I was still trying to find my place in this small community, and I had received training for many jobs. We created a temporary mine until we could attract a miner to our town, and I was decently talented in mining. Our iron, silver and coal supplies grew a little fatter, and everyone seemed happier. I took to making windows for the houses to help with defense, privacy and the overall appeal of the homes Christopher had already built. I planted additional wheat alongside Steven to increase our food stores. I helped harvest the wheat , and I kept Steven supplied with shovels and hoes for his work. I took the wheat and made life-giving bread. We had a small feast for the first bread. It wasn't the best, but it meant that we could sustain a life here. Maybe a baker would turn up, and then we would have a real feast. In the meantime, I continued with my personal projects.

Karen seemed so sad that she didn't have anywhere but town hall or her home to treat those in need. I knew that the wait for the building she needed was too long. Our town would benefit from having a healer house. I consulted Christopher and Jennifer, and I asked for permission to clear and use a plot of land near the wheat fields and the lake. I explained that I wanted to surprise Karen with her healer's house. Christopher had much advice. He explained what type of wood I would need to create the house and about how big it needed to be. Jennifer was happy with the plan, and I had never seen her so excited. I started that day. I cleared the land, marked out the area, and collected the wood I needed from the lumberjack. He was a newcomer, and I only remembered his name because it was easy: William Willams.

I started building the next day. Everyone was a little curious as to what I was creating. I was not as good a builder as Christopher. I tried to follow his advice as exactly as I could. I made the structure a little too large, but I figured that if our town kept growing, the extra room would be good. The roof was the hardest part for me. I just didn't have the knack for roofs that Christopher did. I fell off several times. Karen, who assumed I was building what would be my house, came to my aid each time. While she did her healer's work, she admonished me. Karen told me to be more careful and watch where I was putting my clumsy feet. She said, "When you are shifting out on a ledge, make sure you are crouching with your feet planted firmly. If you go slow, you shouldn't fall." I tried to follow her advice, but it was hard to find a way up to the roof that didn't cause me to immediately fall down again. Finally, I just made a dirt tower that was easy to construct and tear down. I finished the structure without further damage to myself.

I then decided that I needed to make some sort of sign or symbol to mark this visibly as the healer house. We were already deconstructing our ship to make smaller ships for short journeys. I took one of the sails for my purposes. I also collected extra bedding and beds that were not being used. I made a cauldron, a chest and a crafting table for anything Karen might need to do. I constructed bedside tables and put railings on some of the beds. These would be for the people who needed more intensive care. I made a place upstairs for Karen or whoever was watching the sick to rest during the night. Jennifer came by several times to see how it was going. She suggested a few things, but she was impressed with the inside. I made sure to include several windows for extra natural light. I knew Karen was skilled at making curtains if one of her patients needed rest without too much light as well. Karen tried to come by several times, but I always managed to shoo her out the door without her becoming too suspicious.

After much thought, I decided that a white cross on a red background was the perfect symbol for the healer's house. It was easily recognizable, and it was easy to make for one as unskilled at knitting as I was. I put up the sign at night, and in the morning, Karen was completely surprised and thrilled.

Karen inspected everything. She loved the windows and the place upstairs I had created for her especially. Karen felt like she could really make a difference now that she had the space and the tools to help people. She didn't think it was too big.
She came out to thank me.

The inside was my favorite part.

I did add a few more windows, another cauldron upstairs and some more torches after I revealed the building to Karen. She laughed and said now she had somewhere to treat her clumsy sister. I just smiled and blushed. Everyone in town was impressed with what I had accomplished. I felt closer to them and to knowing myself somehow. Maybe I was on the right track to finding my own place in this community. The next thing on my project list was to design and build kennels and other structures for animals. I just wanted to make everyone's lives a little easier.

~Fiona