@@@@@"Wrap her in linen then in wool while I wash
@@@@@"Wrap her in linen then in wool while I wash the babe," she
saidHer knife slashed through the ropes binding ScarlettFitzpatrick were finished, the woman returned with
Scarlett's baby swaddled in a soft white blanket"The midwife forgot
this," the coilleach saidHer chuckle brought an answering throaty
sound from the baby, and the infant girl opened her eyesThe blue
irises looked like pale tinted rings around the black, unfocused
pupils
She had long black lashes and two tiny lines for eyebrowsShe was
not
red and misshapen like most newborns because she had not passed
through
the birth canalHer tiny nose and ears and mouth and soft pulsing
skull were perfectHer olive skin was very dark against the white
blanketScarlett struggled towards the voices and the light her
sedated mind vaguely perceived
something important Firm hands held her head,
gentle
fingers parted her lips, a cooling sweet liquid bathed her tongue,
trickled down her throat, and she slept againThe next time she
fought for consciousness she remembered what the question was, the
vital, the all-important questionWas it dead?
Her hands fumbled to her abdomen, and burning pain leapt at her
touch
Her teeth bruised her lips, her hands pressed harder, fell awayThere
was no kicking, no firm rounded lumpiness that was a questing footScarlett uttered a weak cry of misery, no louder
than a mew, and the releasing sweet draught poured into her mouth
Throughout her drugged sleep slow weak tears seeped from her closed
eyesSemiconscious for the third time, she tried to hold on to the
darkness, to stay asleep, to push the world awayBut the pain grew,
tore at her, made her move to flee it, and the moving gave it such
strength that she whimpered helplesslyThe cool glass vial tipped,
and she was freedLater, when she floated again to the edges of
consciousness, she opened her mouth in readiness, eager for the
dreamless darknessInstead there was a cold wet cloth wiping her
lips, and a voice she knew but couldn't rememberKatie Scarlett O'H