The last embers are slowly dying as the cool October rain starts to fall. He can’t help thinking of that night.
That night when a toothache had nearly driven him out of his mind and he had gone to see her in his desperation – hoping that she could ease the throbbing pain.
Several others from the village used to come to her for help and advice, and that night he was the one in need of her magic powers. She had plunged a nail into the infected tooth sending icy pain through his entire skull – and then told him to find a cellar, and hammer the nail into a board wall at the very back in the dark to keep the nail, the board and the toothache well away. Sure, this woman had helped many a sufferer through the years.
And really, all she wanted to do was help – to help that poor young girl too, the one who wanted to get rid of the child growing in her belly, but who died shortly afterwards. She just wanted to help – and surely, the only difference between black and white magic must be whether you want something evil or something good to come of it?
Really, she just wanted to help.
They could have just banished her and taken her family’s possessions. With no physicians and no pharmacy, who will help them now, next time their fortunes turn sour?