Angel on earth

The torrential rain continued until the middle of the night, and Arnold Edwards also spent most of the night in the water before rescuing the medicine fields and gardens. While cursing and swearing that next year he would knock down the city hall to build a glass greenhouse, he and a few subordinates The children hired by the district warmed up the fire in the kitchen together.

Katya saw the cloud and came, and now made ginger tea and broth for everyone, and sat down to eat, with bread baked on the stove.After the doctor yelled and scolded, he held a cup of tea listlessly, stared at the flames for a while, scratched his hair, sighed, and went to arrange the harvested plants.

The maid leaned against the candle and struggled to read a history book written in Sinai.She learned to read and write in the clinic. Potosi has no international status, so the doctor chose to teach her the most common official language of the church.

She read:

"Laura de Sauron is the first female archduchess in the history of Aerys. From her mysterious origin, tragic girlhood to her final succession to the title, her legendary life experience has always been covered with a strange veil. And this The veil, or the shadow, its name is the "black ghost" familiar to the citizens of Aerys. After Laura became pregnant as the maid and mistress of Grand Duke Sauron, he appeared in Iris Castle, and obtained Sauron with his excellent medical skills. After the Sauron couple and their heirs died one after another, and Laura defeated other relatives to inherit the title, no less than ten people pointed out that the "Black Specter" seemed to have known Laura a long time ago, but they later retracted their confessions. In the following hundred years In the past, the royal power of Laura de Sauron has not been shaken in the slightest, and it is inseparable from this black wizard who is as thin as a skeleton and has gray temples. The principality has been in power for several years, and then quietly disappeared..."

Boys and girls devoured their bread and broth and kept their ears open for stories.They were all skilled workers, and when they saw Wuyun running faster than Katya, they followed her to work in the front and back yards before the doctor arrived home.Torrential rain in summer and heavy snow in winter are the things that the people of the Lower District hate the most, but for these children, it is also an opportunity to earn extra money and eat and drink in the clinic by the way.

Arnold Edwards came to Chalek in one spring. When he first came, he had no money. He bought a single-storey shabby house with a yard by the river. He planted a lot of medicinal materials by himself. It took a month or two before he started to make money; Not a few of his townspeople thought he observed the fasting ritual just to cover up the embarrassment of gnawing flower petals and leaves every day when he first arrived.At any rate, during that summer Dr. Edwards saved some money, and the Potosí storm came.After several fierce competitions, two teenagers and two girls stood out and won the job of helping doctors save plants; other children in the lower district secretly called them "chosen children", perhaps more than Mikhail Ku Para was also pleasing to God.

Just last winter, the doctor gave them a "pay rise"—doubling from eight coppers to one denier.But what everyone envies most is not this, but that they can learn a lot of knowledge every time they come to work, such as the properties of herbs and flowers, and their medicinal value; if the doctor is in a good mood, he will teach them some health checks and Massage push-pull technique.

There are already quite a few factories in Potosi. It is said that the capital decided to follow Noren's example and implement some kind of guild. At least those two teenagers will have an advantage when applying for apprentices.The grown-ups are tired enough doing their own jobs and making enough money to support their families, so they don't consider that although Dr. Edwards lives on the edge of the Lower Borough, the profession of medicine is different from other professions, and the city hall will never allow the Lower Borough Idiots from birth jumped into three classes; they only cursed the children for not being up to date, and then talked to them about the miserable life on the other side of the strait: it is said that there, a strong worker and his wife and children lived together for a day. Fourteen or fifteen hours of work can barely fill their stomachs. In Potosí, although they still have to cultivate the land for noble lords, at least the factory allows them to support themselves with their hands.After cursing the Siegfried Federation for trying to bring Potosi into its territory, he concluded that Potosi is indeed the most beloved child of the Sun God.

I worked until midnight, but the doctor still took care of me.On the second floor is Katerina's lounge, which is the guest room of this small building; the children sleep in the living room, and there are special blankets for them in the cabinet. The summer nights are not so cold. In winter, the doctor is even willing to burn a stove for them coal.Arnold mentioned that after Mikhail Kupala slept on the hard window sill, the four children all gave up fighting for the soft sofa and rushed to the window.

In the early morning, Arnold Edwards got up from the bed in a jerk, opened the balcony door, and the bed curtains and curtains rattled in the wind.Hastily put on the trousers, tucked the hem of the pajamas into the waistband of the trousers, and the doctor rushed downstairs with slippers on.Katya yawned and was making breakfast. Seeing his anxious look, she laughed: "Good morning, doctor. Don't worry about your sugar, I put a lot of it - if you don't eat it, it will be wasted. "

Arnold pouted, sat down on the sofa, and Katerina brought him hot tea.He took a sip and asked, "Did someone come looking for you last night?"

Katerina was stunned for a moment, then held the tray and said: "Yes, I was meeting with you at that time, and I came to the backyard to ask you. You remember telling me to wash my hands again, but you forgot the person who came to see you? "

"I was in a hurry." Arnold said casually, and a little annoyed, "I must have refused... I just remembered that such a heavy rain came in the middle of the night, so I must be critically ill... The sun is up, don't die because of me people."

Katerina said, "It's the mayor's servant, but not Afjay. He said someone had a fever—I didn't catch the name, and you said Dr. Carter was better at treating fevers."

"That's right." Arnold breathed a sigh of relief, "Fever, Carter is better than me, and I always give the mayor's better."

The children had been washed and dressed in dry clothes for breakfast.Katerina didn't say anything, and ran back to the kitchen to watch her fried eggs.During breakfast, the doctor disappeared again, but Katerina didn't care. While reading the history book in Sinai, she told the children to eat quickly, so as not to delay the doctor's consultation.

Among the four children aged seven or eight, there was a boy named Denier, who had the same name as the silver coin in Potosí.He was the smartest one, and Arnold even tried to take him on as an apprentice several times, but finally gave up.Anyway, when everyone was fed and drunk, and Katya and the four children were standing side by side in the kitchen waiting for their paychecks, Arnold actually counted out thirteen copper coins for him.

Denier clenched the copper coin tightly, looked at the other three children who were also in a daze, and bit his lip.But his eyes were only red for a moment, then he raised his head and asked seriously: "Doctor, what did I do wrong today? Is it the wrong picking method, or sorting, or placing—"

He listed a lot of questions, and Arnold kept looking at him seriously, and only laughed out loud when he finished speaking. He turned around and took a wooden box: "Go back and ask your father to drink less alcohol. Can the medicine be cooked? "

"... Yes!" Denier hurriedly stuffed the copper coins into his clothes and hugged the medicine box.Before leaving, he asked expectantly, "Doctor, can I come to you as an apprentice in the future?"

Arnold waved his hand: "Let's talk about it. ——Dr. Carter, are you looking for a woman during the fasting period? You can tell it at a glance. You should go to the confessional for two hours."

"Bah! You damned miser."

Dr. Carter, who stepped into the mud puddle as soon as he entered the yard, cursed, changed into a pair of slippers at the door, and followed the doctor into the house. He could vaguely hear Arnold asking if he came to return the medicine.Katerina arranged the umbrella, locked the door so that it would not be rattled by the wind, and then briskly went to the kitchen to make tea.

The four children trotted in the light rain and disappeared into the street.

In the humid heat of summer, the coolness of the night has not yet receded.There was still some light rain in the morning, and the ground was muddy, with flowers, leaves and garbage flowing everywhere.And it looks like it's going to come down in a little while, and if the Church isn't a fool, they should tell their precious saints to move these clouds before the Inns bursts its banks.

Dr. Carter had the build of a Vice-Federate and the face of Aerys, with ginger hair tousled early in the morning.He took a sip of tea, rolled his lips in bitterness, and said, "Help me press my neck. ——Mayor's wife has been called by the Lord."

Arnold looked out the door and window, stretched out two fingers, and said with a sneer, "So you come to my place for refuge."

Carter took out a glass bottle from his pocket and threw it to him: "Two silver coins? Why don't you grab them? They should have died long ago, thank the Sun God. Besides, it has nothing to do with me. I, a good person, did my best. It can only be said that it is retribution."

Arnold caught the bottle, unscrewed the cap and smelled it, and put it in his pocket with satisfaction.Carter exclaimed: "Scrooge! Do I still steal from your cupboard... Cold tea without sugar!"

"Eat less sugar." Arnold expressionless, pinched his shoulders and neck a few times, pretending not to hear his comfortable humming, and sat down on the sofa next to him, "Eat like a mayor Such a fat man might run out of breath after two steps."

Carter ate a biscuit, wrinkled his nose in distaste, threw the biscuit into the trash can, and laughed loudly: "If I didn't know that the rain was terrible last night, I would have thought you did it!"

"What?" Arnold asked, and immediately reacted, raising his eyebrows, "Kozlov died too? Isn't his wife the one who got sick?"

Carter shrugged, and Arnold pursed his lips: "Congratulations."

Carter said: "It's heartless. Anyway, I have taken care of you for so many years."

"Aren't you in a hurry to announce the good news?" Arnold muttered, refilled his cup of tea, waved to Katya and asked her to clean the consulting room and bathroom, moved his buttocks to Carter's side, and raised his legs, "say Tell me. What's the matter?"

"Okay, okay. Last night, Yeva had a fever. She first came to see you, and then told me to come over, right? I'll state in advance that I'm still very medically virtuous. I tried my best and gave her some blood. , I took the medicine, and I got better at that time, so I went back. I saw the following thing when I went to buy bread in the morning, er, I heard part of it.”

Arnold raised his eyebrows: "Are you still pursuing that baker?"

"Get lost," Carter said, "at seven o'clock in the morning, a few wool merchants from Cala Town went to the city hall to make trouble, saying that officials colluded with the army and robbed their goods. The amount involved was very high, and several One hundred gold coins. Captain Garnier sent someone to find the mayor and asked him to go to the city hall. You know that Fedor, his wife has a high fever and nonsense, and he has been tossing all night. He wants to find an excuse Run away. Uh, 'One-eyed Nina' you know, the one who sells donuts in the market, the mayor took a detour to find her. I think everyone just looked at him because they couldn't stand Kozlov In the past. The butcher stall next to her changed its owner. I heard people say that the original butcher had worked there for more than ten years, and suddenly changed to a pair of strong brothers. Normally, someone should pay attention Something was wrong, but no one stepped forward to remind Kozlov... In short, as soon as Fedor Kozlov greeted One-Eyed Nina, the two butchers chopped off his neck and stabbed him in the chest, killing him gone."