The Noble Heart Part 2

Anna and Claudia meet Roger

Part 2

1588

 

       Anna was surprised that no one had come to visit since the illness had swept over the village.  That is why she did not expect the knock at her door.  The snow had melted and spring was on its way when a visitor changed Anna and Claudia’s life forever.  The stranger knocked upon the door.  The wind blew his long gray-blond hair as the sun shone down on his head.  He waited patiently for someone to answer the door.

        Anna set down the food she was preparing to get the door.  When it swung open, there stood a tall man wearing a grey robe and holding an elegant walking staff.  He appeared as if he were from some other time and place�"perhaps a magical place Anna thought.  

       “Can I help you?” she asked.

       “Yes, if you could give me food and shelter I could help with the illness that troubles your daughter.”   Anna could tell that he felt a sense of empathy toward her plight.  Though still and beautiful her eyes betrayed her soul’s advanced age.   The stranger could sense this and the deep sadness that lived in her heart.  He longed for nothing more than to take away her heart ache and make things better for her and her daughter.

       “If you are willing to risk falling ill yourself then I welcome you.”

       “I will risk it,” he smiled.  “I’ve traveled long and far and survived many things,” he added as she invited him inside.

       “So tell me about your travels…What was your name?”

       “Roger,” he replied.

       “Anna,” she said turning back to her dinner.

       Roger sat down at the table and watched her.  “I am a healer who travels to help those in need,” he said.

        “Where are you from originally?” she asked pouring him a glass of water from pitcher.  She handed it to him and he drank eagerly.

         When he finished drinking, he replied.  “I am from the Black Forrest originally, but I have lived as far away as Kiev and Beijing.”

         “Where are those at?”

         “Kiev is far north and Beijing is far, Far East.  For a long time I lived in the Himalaya Mountains in Tibet.  They call Tibet the top of the world and I can see why.”

         “I bet it is quite different than Deutschland.”

         “Yes, here there is green hills and lush valleys.  There is quite an emptiness up north and the mountains are harsh, but beautiful in their own way. East is tough terrain as well.”

         Anna found this strange man very interesting already.  Just who was he and how did he end up on her door step?  Was this Jeffery’s way of watching over her and Claudia by sending him to her she wondered?  That idea put her soul at ease and there was a ray of light in her darkness.

        “So what brings you here?” Anna asked pouring herself a glass of water.

        “I heard of this darkness and death that was sweeping over the land.  Some call it a plague, others a curse.  I knew I was needed, so I made my way home.”

        “You sound very dutiful.  Very few people feel that strongly about helping others.”

        “It gives my life meaning.  Without it my wanderings would be meaningless.”

        “Have you wandered without direction before? What led you to become a healer?”
        “I left my home at thirteen when my father was killed and my mother was taken away.  I worked for a neighbor to keep a roof over my head.  He drank too much and was often not very generous.  He could actually be quite cruel and violent at times.  So I left and drifted from place to place getting further and further from the place I called home.  I did odd jobs at first�"anything from farming to carpentry to smith work.  For a short time I joined the church.  While I became a more penitent person, I also found the corruption and greed too much to deal with, so I left the order.  I sailed on a ship from Rome to Athens and traveled by horse through the Carpathian Mountains.  I was a mercenary who fought against the Turks. I was captured in battle, but I escape and fled to Tibet.”

        Claudia cried from her bedroom and Anna shook her head.  The story had her spellbound and it took her a moment to come back to the reality of her life.  If only she could have been free to travel as Barret and Roger had.  “I am sorry, excuse me,” she said to Roger.  “I have to see what my daughter wants.”

        Anna went into the bedroom.  Claudia was coughing and vomiting again.  Anna cleaned up and gave her some tea to help her sleep.  She sang her a soft lullaby and sat by her side until she drifted back to sleep.  

        Roger crept in and watched her put her daughter to sleep.  He felt a great sense of awe and warmth toward her natural mothering.  It made him miss his own dear mother.  Anna stood up and turned to him when her daughter was finally fast asleep.  She noticed the smile on his face and smiled back at him.  Silently she led him to other room so they could finish talking.

       “My husband died a few months ago and now my daughter is ill.  It has been a rough year,” Anna explained.  They ate a bite of dinner as the sunset.  Anna told him more of her life and set him up in the small lean-to room they used as a guest room.  Jeffery had built long ago in order for their many guests to have a bit of space to themselves.

 

        The next day Roger asked permission to begin treating Claudia.  “I know certain herbs and rituals that can help Claudia if you give me your permission to use them.”

       “I am willing to try anything,” Anna confessed.  “I cannot take another loss…”

       So Roger went out and gathered the plants and then mixed them with a mortar and pestle. The kitchen looked more like a laboratory or like it belonged to an alchemist, not a farmer’s wife.  Roger ground the plants to powder and mixed them into a tincture.  Anna stood back and watched carefully, fascinated by how Roger knew just the right amount of each plant to give her to make her well.  Roger then gave Claudia a special drink to drink.  He talked with her and even chanted a prayer as she drank.  Meanwhile, Anna found herself laying down and taking much needed rest.  

       Claudia grew stronger with each new day.  Roger kept giving her the medicine that he made up for her.  Anna was quite relieved, but as Claudia grew stronger, Anna grew weaker.  It was as if Anna had only remained strong long enough to take care of her daughter.  Now that Claudia was taken care of, she felt like she didn’t have to be strong any longer. She felt something inside of her change.  There was surrender to her tiredness at long last.  It must have been how Jeffery felt she thought.  Anna knew that she was dying, but wasn’t sure she was ready to yet.  As she grew wearier the though of death became more and more welcomed.

         One day Anna was no longer able to do any of her house work.  She couldn’t get herself out of bed when Roger came to find her.

         “You are not well,” Roger said coming in and sitting on the edge of her bed.

         “No, I…I,” she stopped and closed her eyes.  She took a moment to draw another breath, which did not come easy for her.  Her usually rosy cheeks were pale. “It won’t be long,” she announced.

         “I will make you something to help ease your pain.  I cannot cure you of this particular malady though.”
        “I know,” Anna replied simply.  

        “You should not give up so easily.”  He stroked his long blond beard as his kind eyes studied Anna.  “Your daughter needs you.”

        “These past few months I’ve seen how she has taken to you.  She clings to you Roger.”

        “I am a friend�"a passing memory.  I am not her father,” he protested.  He did not understand why Anna was choosing to do what she was.  He did not want to be responsible.  He just wanted to move onward.  Yet something had kept him there that autumn anyway.  This woman and her girl had brought him such joy and comfort for his otherwise lonely soul.  It brought him a renewed sense of purpose. 

        “You are a kind man and I when I pass on I want you take Claudia and give her something Jeffery and I never could.”

        “What about your parent’s or Jeffery’s parents?  I am sure they would want to take her.”

        “They each have their own lives.  You can give her a better life.”

        “You do not know what you are saying,” he replied.  How could he give her a better life? What kind of life was it that he had anyways? Certainly wandering so was not fit for a child.

        “Promise me,” she said grasping his hand tightly with hers.  

        “I promise,” he said.  He wanted to make her happy and so he would do what she asked of him.

        In the days that followed arrangements were made.  Richard and Evelyn came to say goodbye as did Elsa and Fredrich.  Claudia held onto her mother as her mother slipped quietly away from this earthly life.  It was not long before Anna found herself drifting into that warm darkness.  She died knowing things would somehow work out.  They were as they were meant to be.