Patient #307, “Healer,” continues his tale. - Parce
I spent all afternoon telling Swifter and Gobb that they could leave early if they wanted and I’d clean everything up. Swifter took me up on it. I had the time, because I only had one patient. And I was glad to have quiet in the gym for her session. Like the older ewe in the commercial, there was no information about how she got her injuries, but it was obvious to me.
Her name was Whisper. She was a Quarry sheep. Just a little girl. When she came in, she was covered in cuts. And she wouldn’t speak a word. Her mother told me she hadn’t said anything at all since the attack. I closed up the cuts, but the girl still wouldn’t talk.
I promised her mother I would keep working on the case and find a way to get little Whisper to speak again. She was thankful that the injuries were gone, but still perturbed about how closed up her little girl was about the whole thing. So was I.
While I was seeing them off at the porch, the pig psychiatrist came up to me.
“Healer,” said Gobb, “that one seems to be a prime candidate for medication. A treatment cycle of Dopemol would cure her anxiety. Will you be making a referral?”
“We’ll see.”
Gobb gave a snippy little piggy snort and walked down the steps. I watched him until he was at the gate.
As soon as I had closed the door, I got to work. I shut off the lights, put everything away, and scrubbed the floors.
Once all the routine stuff was done, I deployed a few features I had added to the clinic myself without informing the Chugg Corporation. I pulled rolling metal shutters down to seal every window and then barred the back door. Almost all the sunlight was shut out. I paced around in the dark until after sunset. I was expecting the doorbell to ring, but I still jumped when I heard it.
I opened the door. Caper stood on the porch. He was holding an envelope in his claws and tucking it under his wing.
“Hey,” I said. “Glad you came.”
“You said it was important,” he said.
I stepped back and gestured for him to come inside. “Have you seen Tenber?” I asked.
“I’m here,” said a voice in the darkness. Then a puddle of pure black fluid slithered out of the shadows and in through the door. Once they were both inside, I shut the door and threw the bolt.
Caper looked me up and down. “Why have you shaved off your coat? The weather is already beginning to cool.”
“I’m working on something,” I said. “Well, this is it. Whole Hogs.”
“Very impressive,” said Tenber.
“Feel free to look around, make yourselves comfortable.” I pointed to an open door next to the office. “Kitchen’s in there, I have food and drinks if you want.” I let them wander around while I busied myself double-checking all the shutters and locks. I went upstairs to get the letter. When I came back down, they were both waiting for me in the middle of the gym area. I joined them.
“This is a fine facility, Healer,” Caper said. “You have proven you don’t need a University education to accomplish great things. However, should you decide to finish a degree, or if you find you need more credentials to do your work here, you know that my door is always open to you.”
“Thanks. It’s good to see you, old man.”
Tenber’s dark liquid body shifted and warped and then expelled a leather collar with a silver medal. He flowed into it and then took the shape of the black dog I had seen on TV, where he had gone by Umber.
“You’ve been doing great,” I said. “It can’t be easy being that close to Pincher all day.”
“Well, I’ve come around to your way of thinking,” Tenber said. “I’d love to kill him, but he’s no good to us dead. The more I can get him to trust me, the more likely he is to spill something we can use against Chugg.”
Caper whistled. “You’ve gone deep undercover. Both of you, it seems. I’m almost glad I’ve been kept out of the loop.”
“Until now,” I said. “There’s something you need to know.” I handed him the letter that the birds had brought me. He opened it up and read it silently.
“It’s from Ponder,” I said to Tenber.
“Oh. Did he tell you?”
“He sure did.”
Tenber nodded. “Yeah. That wasn’t a good day.”
“How are they doing?” I asked.
“They’re being molded into perfect warriors,” Tenber said. “Just like me. Their bodies are being made into weapons. Ponder’s grafted his ropes to himself, and the pigs gave Mauler metal claws to replace the real ones they cut off. It’s what they wanted, but at the same time it’s tough to watch. Especially because we have to pretend not to know each other.”
Caper finished reading the letter and handed it back to me. “The Chugg Corporation has broken their word. The sacrifices continue.”
“That’s only part of it,” I said. “I first became suspicious a year ago. Slog, the pig at the bank, demanded I make concessions before he would sign off on the loan for this clinic. I had to go on television and apologize for my father’s actions and my own. Then I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. I’m violating the contract by even telling you about this. But it’s to make sure I can’t talk about the wounds coming from the Quarry.”
“What kinds of wounds?”
“Dog bites. Malnourishment. And cuts from a blade, like what was done to Dreamer before we met.”
“A knife,” Tenber said. “A weapon from a world like mine.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I didn’t want to lose my train of thought. “That tells me Scurvert and his dogs are still at it. We got some of the things we bargained for—Caper’s freedom, my record being cleared, Dreamer being left alone—but the rest of my people are still suffering.”
“And I am certain you did not agree to medication being dispensed from this facility,” Caper said.
“They’re rubbing my face in it,” I said. “And they’re already making threats. As if I’d forget that they have all the power.”
“Speaking of threats and troubling letters,” Caper said, “I was hoping to get your opinion on this.” He pulled the envelope from under his wing and held it out. I took it and unfolded the paper inside. Tenber looked over my shoulder.
It was just a jumble of overlapping shapes and arrows on graph paper. A small drawing in the bottom corner was the only part of the image that made sense to me—it was a hasty, ink-splattered sketch of a pig with an X over each eye.
“I have no idea what I’m looking at,” I said. “Some kind of schematic?”
“That’s a bomb,” Tenber said. He picked up the envelope and checked both sides. Nothing was written on it at all.
Caper sighed. “That was my fear. I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with explosives, as I was not on the battlefield for long after the pigs made their appearance in the great war. There are a few birds who do, but none I would trust with this. Tenber, do you think my school is being threatened?”
“I’m not sure,” Tenber said. He traced along one side of the drawing with his paw. “There isn’t a self-contained power source, like a battery. This here shows that this device is meant to be wired, or even for more than one to be connected in sequence. There aren’t many places to do that in University, and even if there were, what would be the point? University is an asset to them.”
“Wait a second,” I said. I set the drawing on the floor and pointed at some scratchy writing with my hoof. Then I grabbed my letter and put them together. “That’s Ponder’s handwriting.”
Caper looked closely. “It could be. Why would he send it to me? Is he asking me to build this?”
“Maybe he’s suggesting we blow up the tunnel,” I said, mostly joking.
“Or he wanted to hide it,” Tenber said. “He might have thought it was too risky to send it to Healer.”
“Well, I certainly won’t be sharing it, but I will try to avoid having to destroy it.” Caper put the schematic back in its envelope and hid it under his wing again. “Do you think this explosive is part of the ‘last resort’ Ponder mentioned in his letter?”
“Probably,” I said. “I’m going to write him back, that’s for sure.”
“I need to get going,” Tenber said. “Pincher never leaves me alone for long. I’m still being vetted. Anything you need me to do?”
“Just keep an eye on Ponder whenever you can.”
“You got it.” Tenber took off the collar and melted back into a puddle of darkness. He slithered toward the door. I headed over there to open it for him, but he just slipped through the crack at the bottom and vanished.
Caper stared after him for a minute. “We are in a precarious position, Healer.”
“I know. You ever get that dread in the pit of your stomach? Like something big is coming for us?”
“All the time.” Caper finally looked at me. “Even so, I am blessed. My enemies are powerful, but so are my friends.”
“Powerful,” I said, “but liable to mess everything up.”
“You won’t mess this up. You’ve put a tremendous amount of work into this clinic. It may not feel like it now, Healer, but you’re well on your way to putting yourself above suspicion.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” I said. “It’s them. I’ve put a lot on Tenber and Ponder’s shoulders. The more the Chugg Corporation turns up the pressure, the more likely one of them will snap.”
“You still seem to carry much of that burden yourself,” said Caper. “There is another person who will bear it with you, if you will let her.”
I had a sudden lump in my throat. “I promised I wouldn’t involve her.”
“Don’t involve her. But you should speak with her and share your concerns. It’s all she wants in the world.”
I sighed. “Have you heard from her lately?”
“I spoke with her recently in town. She greatly admires what you’ve done here, as do I.” Caper looked away. “And…” His eyes welled up.
I’d never seen the old owl cry. Even when my father died. I took a step closer. “What is it?”
He composed himself. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He let himself out through the front door and closed it behind him. I opened it again and followed him out onto the porch, but he was already in flight.
Ponder,
You’re right. I’m upset. But we share responsibility, you and I. All this was my plan, and you did what you had to do to stick to it. While I hate that it had to happen, I understand and I appreciate your honesty.
All the same, I’m going to give you the same admonition my father gave to Boxer when they met on the battlefield: I’m going to let this one slide, but you will never spill the blood of another sheep. I hope we are clear on that.
Keep training. Keep your cool. Learn everything you can. Sooner or later, you will find something we can use against the pigs and then we will strike. I’ll be here practicing my healing craft all day, every day, so that I’ll be ready when the time comes.
I destroyed your letter after reading it and I suggest you do the same. We won’t speak of this again.
Healer
The evenings were getting chilly. The wind went right through my shorn coat and bit my skin. Well, that’s the lie I was telling myself, anyway. I was just nervous.
Dreamer sat across from me at an outdoor café in the Fleece City square. She sipped from a cup of hot tea and looked at me through the steam it gave off. I glanced at the ice water glass I hadn’t touched yet.
“Thanks for meeting me,” I said.
“Of course.” She set her cup down. “What’s on your mind?” She kept a straight face, looking neutral and guarded, like she was prepared to be disappointed by whatever I said.
“You have a way of already knowing.”
“I might,” she said, “but I want to hear it from you anyway.”
I finally took a drink. “Ponder wrote me a letter.”
“Oh, good. How are they doing?”
“They’re doing exactly what I asked of them,” I answered. “Which is the problem. They had to do something terrible to keep from blowing their cover.”
“I think we both knew that would happen sooner or later.”
I nodded. “I was in denial.”
She sipped her tea. “I’m sorry. I can tell it bothers you. But that’s not what you really want to tell me.”
“It’s… not something I can say out loud.” I gestured toward the front of the café with my head. There was a Chugg camera hanging from the eave, not to mention the guard dog standing at the corner.
“Oh.” Dreamer set down her cup. “I see. You want to show me.”
“Right. Can we do that here?”
“It can’t hurt.” She leaned forward, eyes already glowing with eagerness. “Are you ready to do it now?”
“Yeah. The sooner the better.” I focused my attention on her violet eyes as she invoked her power and opened up my mind. In the span of a few seconds, she saw what I’d been doing since I left her at Boxer’s funeral. Training with her father. Haggling with Swifter and the bank. Building and opening the clinic. She saw the dog bite and my secret meeting with Caper and Tenber. She read what I remembered of Ponder’s letter.
She broke the mental connection and we were back at the café. She was quiet for a long time.
“At the Quarry,” she said, “they’ve been saying it’s ‘mining accidents’ that are giving sheep these wounds and making little kids disappear. Scurvert hasn’t stopped. I’d say he’s even more cruel these days since we made that deal.”
I nodded. “The pigs are building up to something. They’re acting like they don’t need us anymore.”
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels doom in the air,” said Dreamer. “I just wanted to get on with living and forget about all this.”
“They won’t let us,” I said. Then I stopped myself. I was doing what I promised her father I wouldn’t do. It was time to wrap this up. I finished my water glass. “Anyway, I thought you would want to know. But I should have guessed you would figure it out on your own.”
“Look,” she said. “I know you want to keep me out of it. I appreciate it. But Caper’s right. We shouldn’t be trying to do this alone.”
I set my jaw and said nothing.
“Let me in,” she said. “Please.”
I wanted to be strong, Doc, but when it came to her, there was no such thing. I sighed. “You should come visit the clinic this weekend. We can talk then.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled and sipped her tea. “I saw that Caper didn’t do what I asked him to.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I talked to him, he said you would never stop fighting the pigs because of what they did to your father. He was hurt by the pigs too, you know. He showed me the memory of it. I thought it was important for him to tell you about it, but I guess it was too hard for him to talk about.” Her eyes flashed again. “You need to see this.”
I leaned forward and stared into her eyes. “Show me.”