Capítulo 35: Surprise Visitor

I have been studying with Briar for about six months now. I have been learning a lot every day. I have even been making my own medicines and cures that we can store away and use at a later date. They would come in handy if my family ever gets sick in the future.

The medicines that I was making were nothing compared to the ones that Briar was capable of making. Somehow, his were just a better quality than mine, even when we used the same ingredients. It made absolutely no sense to me, but he promised me that one day I would be making them just like he did. I hoped that was the truth.

Besides making medicines and tending to the plants, I was quizzed weekly on the runes that I had been learning. Briar said that I would never get anywhere as a healer if I didn't know those runes. He also said that, when used properly, runes can be useful to humans as well. I was determined to make sure that I was a useful healer that was able to keep anyone from dying from anything other than old age.

Today's lesson was particularly fun. I had gotten all my rune questions right. I made a potion that was able to help people who were suffering from exhaustion. And to top it all off, Briar was coming to dinner again.

Briar had become like a member of our family. We all loved it when he came for a visit and ate dinner with us. We were all treating him like he was part of the family, and I think that he liked that above all else. He wasn't alone all the time anymore since he had me with him almost every day, but he had been so lonely before he took me on as an apprentice. I know he would never admit it, but he truly had been miserable.

"Addie!" Catherine came running down the steps when she saw me coming up the walkway. "Mr. Briar! I am so glad that you're back. Mom and I have been working hard on dinner." She seemed to be in a good mood, and I knew that she was proud of having helped with dinner. She was a good kid that took after mom so much.

"Thanks, Charlotte, I am so hungry." I rubbed my belly and smiled at her.

"Who is Charlotte?" Catherine tilted her head in confusion while she looked at me.

"What? I didn't say Charlotte." I laughed awkwardly. I can't believe that I messed up like that. "I clearly remember saying Catherine. That's your name after all."

"Okaaay." She didn't sound convinced at all as she made the word drag on a little bit.

"Shall we go inside for dinner then? I am sure that we all want to try the lovely dinner that Catherine made." Briar was smiling as he started to usher us inside. "Come on now, girls, let's go-."

"Hello there, Addie." I heard a vaguely familiar voice behind me; it sounded like it was coming from the trees that were on the opposite of the house by the road. It was a voice that I had heard but I didn't know well enough to place it with the person behind it.

"Yes? Hello?" I turned and started to look for the person.

I found the man who had spoken right away. He had a shaved head, similar to Briar's, only this man's eyes were brown and lifeless.

"Oh, h..hello Mr. Boberre." I stuttered a little. I didn't know what he was doing here. He said that he wouldn't be back for five years. "T..to what do we owe this wonderful surprise?"

"I came to check on you." He grinned before speaking again. "I came to check on your family. I wanted to make sure that you all hadn't run off. I am due my payment, after all."

"O..o..oh, y..y..yes, we remember. I..I..I thought you weren't g..g..go..going to come back for five years?" Had I heard him wrong? Had I been confused?

"I am not going to collect until the five years are up. However, I am going to make sure that you are all doing well and not running away before I collect my payment."

"O..oh, y..y..you don't n..n..nee..need to worry. None of us are going to run away. We plan to pay whatever sum of money it is that you come up for us. I am all too happy to pay since you saved my life."

My praise and flattery were working. That was good. I didn't need Mr. Boberre getting mad at me because of something stupid that I just happened to say.

"That is good." He grinned at me as he took a few more steps toward me.

"Addie? Catherine? It's time for dinner girls." Dad came out of the house and called for us as he walked. "Come on now, you too Briar. Oh?" He seemed to just now see that Mr. Boberre was here.

"Hello Mercer." Mr. Boberre smirked at Dad. "I came to make sure that none of you ran away. I can't get my payment in another four and a half years if you all ended up running away before then."

"We will pay. Don't worry, Mr. Boberre. We will pay whatever it is that you ask of us, we will pay it gladly. We're so grateful to you."

This continued for another few moments. Dad assured the werewolf that we would pay for the medicine that he got for me. Dad had even invited the man to dinner, but I was happy that he declined.

I don't know what it was, but something scared me about Mr. Boberre. He had never been anything other than helpful and nice, but I was still very nervous around him. I hope he doesn't come to 'check' on us all that often. I didn't want to see him at all. I just wanted to move on with my life and become a healer that would make Briar proud.

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