Cursed

Kala pictured the rolling brown hills and green forests of her destination and tapped her stick on hard-packed earth, just as the clear cool lake near home floated through her mind, distorting the image.

‘Not again.’

An invisible dome and swirling breeze settled around her. The breeze became a full gale, flattening her face into a grimace. Air pressed around her like a giant hand squeezing the last drop out of a lemon. Then it let her go. She stumbled.

A sick feeling rose in her stomach. The grey rocks all around were unfamiliar. Heavy rain soaked through her tunic.

Queasy, damp and not where she was meant to be. What else could go wrong?

Angry raised voices filled the air.

A rock whistled past her head. She dropped to the ground.

Time to leave. She raised her travel stick to try again.

A small voice sounded close, ‘Please help me’.

Kala crawled towards the voice.

A crumpled figure in torn and dirty clothes looked up at her from amongst the grey rocks. Her skin was patterned with multi-coloured bruises and bloody wounds.

‘Please help me,’ she repeated in a croaking whisper.

Kala stared at the woman for a long moment. She fought a wave of irritation that pummelled her like a hundred fists. For a moment she believed the woman was to blame for her problems. The woman’s pleading eyes did not move her, but she couldn’t leave her to a mob.

Kala grabbed the woman’s arm, harder than intended, and pulled her further from the crowd, hoping the rain would obscure them from view. She dragged the injured woman with her, until the gem set in the top of her stick glowed green.

Kala closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and focussed steadfastly on the bank of the lake near home. Something hit her shoulder, but she held the woman’s arm firmly, willing herself not to lose focus. She brought the stick down with a loud thud.

Almost before the gale subsided, the woman collapsed in a heap on the grass.

Kala’s head pounded as if it would split open. She retched miserably with her hands on her knees. A wave of anger hit her, as if the diversion was the woman’s fault, not due to her own lack of focus.

She shoved the travel stick into a sleeve on her pack and turned her attention to her charge who lay curled on the ground, moaning quietly. Kala resisted a brief impulse to kick the woman and tell her to get up.

Horrified at her lack of compassion, she bent at the river’s edge. She splashed cool water on her face, trying to wash off her unexpected anger. The strength of her reaction surprised and frightened her.

Kala crouched beside the woman. She didn’t seem to be conscious anymore, not that she would know. Her powers of healing were limited if they existed at all. Through gritted teeth she grabbed the woman’s wrist, bent low and hoisted the woman across her shoulder. The effort of lifting almost double her usual weight was almost too much. She grunted and groaned and gritted her teeth. It didn’t help her headache. She stood slowly, briefly saw stars and willed her shaking muscles to cooperate.

Step after excruciating step she walked past fields of tall corn to the village. Anger assailed her, bubbling up and out of her mouth in a string of mumbled complaints.

Dripping with sweat and at the end of her strength, Kala finally reached the clinic. Bum first through the swinging door, she dropped the woman with a thump on the hard floor.

‘Ren.’

Her shout was little more than a squeak. She dinged the bell on the counter a few times before sliding her back down the wall to sit on the floor, panting.

Her cousin hurried towards her. Kala waved her towards the still figure on the floor, ‘I’m fine. She’s not.’

‘Who is she?’

Kala shook her head, ‘I don’t know.’

Ren knelt beside the woman and yelled, ‘Stretcher’.

‘My name’s Ren. I’m going to examine you. What’s your name?’

Kala couldn’t hear any response, but Ren kept talking to her while prying the woman’s eyes open and moving the stethoscope that lived around her neck to her ears.

Kala shrugged the pack off her back and let it drop to the floor. She propped her head on the wall, resisting further thought in favour of absolute stillness in the hope that the oceans of throbbing in her head would subside into still pools.

A nurse appeared and dropped a stretcher with a clatter next to the woman and soon wheeled it down the corridor.

Ren looked at Kala with concern. She checked her over quickly then picked up her discarded pack. She pulled out a full lunch bag and water bottle, ‘Kala, you exhaust me. Have you had anything to eat or drink today?’

Kala shook her head, an action she regretted immediately. Her head felt like it would split open. Her stomach threatened to eject anything she ate.

Ren put the pack down and headed back down the corridor promising to come back after seeing the patient.

Kala closed her eyes and focussed on trying not to hurt.

She opened her eyes some time later to see her cousin looking down at her holding out a mug and plate.

Kala had a long drink and put the mug on the floor beside her and started spooning rice and casserole into her mouth. She chewed a couple of times and spat little bits of rice as she asked, ‘Is she okay?’

Ren tidied the rice projectiles, ‘She will be. She’s tougher than she looks.’

‘I found her being chased by an angry mob. Keep an eye on her. There might be a good reason they were trying to kill her.’

Ren’s face took on the same disapproving frown she had when they were children when Kala had suggested they could skip classes and go swimming, ‘I don’t think there is ever a good reason for that.’

Her face softened, ‘But you’re right. We don’t know how she ended up in that situation. I’ll be careful.’

Kala rested her head in her hands, ‘I didn’t finish the deliveries. I got distracted and ended up in the wrong place again. I have to go back out.’

‘At least have a decent night’s sleep. You can do your deliveries in the morning. You are in no shape to be travelling again today.’

Kala knew she was right. Portal travel was taxing. She couldn’t manage another trip without resting first, ‘Okay.’

Ren patted her shoulder and headed back down the corridor.

Kala dragged herself up narrow stairs to her end of the attic; a small room with a small bed and a small closet. She fell asleep on top of the covers without getting undressed and slept until morning.

After breakfast Ren handed her a cotton bag, ‘I don’t know why I keep making you lunches. One day maybe you’ll eat without me standing over you. How are you feeling?’

‘Sore. I slept okay though. How’s our guest?’

‘Suni. She’s scared. Doesn’t want to be around people. I won’t have much time to spend with her – it’s vaccination day. But I’ll see if I can find out what she wants to do.’

Kala felt so grateful for Ren. She really didn’t know where she would be without her. Somehow she always seemed to need looking after and Ren always seemed to be there to do so. She gave her a quick hug, ‘Thanks for that. And for my lunch. And taking care of me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

With her lunch safely in her pack she headed out to find her first portal. The day passed without unexpected detours or delays and she returned as the sun was setting.

As soon as the vacuum let her go, she knew something was wrong. Acrid smoke smelling of burnt wood and plastic hung like fog over the village. Panic wrestled in her stomach and turned it upside down, fuelling her steps as she ran.

Her eyes were streaming with tears when she got to the charred remains of the clinic. Her lungs felt like they were in a vice, being constricted from the inside.

The village was quiet except for the cracking and popping of burning wood. Where was the line of people with hoses and buckets? When the bakery caught fire, the whole village turned up to help.

And where was Ren? Kala couldn’t fathom losing her only family and best friend. What if she had been in the clinic?

Voices floated towards her over the cornfields. ‘She’ll ruin everything! Find her!’

‘We can flush her out. Keep going.’

‘I see her, over there!’

Corn stalks were pushed over marking the path of a pursuit.

Kala ran alongside the field following the path and was about to run in when Suni and Ren stumbled out.

Relief flooded through her, ‘What happened? Are you okay?’

Some of her earlier anger came over her. She glared at Suni, 'What did you do?'

Suni's head dropped but she didn’t respond.

Ren’s eyebrows compressed into one line, ‘She didn't do anything. Can you take us to the cave?’

Kala transported them to a flat space in the middle of bushland. Kala had found this quiet spot one day by accident on one of her detours. The cave was dry and large enough for supplies, so they decided to use it as an emergency hideout. The entrance was hidden behind a narrow opening in a rock wall.

Once inside, Kala heated a kettle on a little stove for tea and raised an eyebrow at Ren, ‘What happened?’

Ren paced the small room, ‘People didn’t go home after the vaccination clinic. They stayed. They got louder, angrier. I locked the door. They shouted and banged on the door. They started a fire. We went out the back. I’ve never seen a mob form like that before.’

Suni spoke quietly, ‘It’s me. It has been happening to me everywhere over the last few weeks, ever since I accidentally knocked into a conjurer in the marketplace. She blew ash in my face and cursed me. She said I would be driven from society. She was right.’

Suni shrugged, ‘I was a teacher. I said hello to my neighbours and occasionally ate lunch with my colleagues. It was not spectacular, but it suited me. Now it’s gone.’

Kala threw a questioning look at Ren who shrugged. She made some dinner while Kala pulled out bed rolls.

After breakfast the next morning Suni cleared her throat, ‘Can I stay here for a while? I don’t have any way to pay you but maybe I could pick up some work. Something that doesn’t involve people.’

Kala nodded, ‘It’s fine. You can stay. I’ll ask around about jobs.’

‘Thank you. I appreciate it. What will you do?’

Ren sighed, ‘The clinic is gone, and there is no money to rebuild. There is no point going back, even if I wasn’t a bit annoyed at the townspeople for losing their heads, curse or no curse. I do some research work for a university. We’ll go there in the morning. I’ll also see if I can find out about what’s happening to you. I’ll take some samples before we leave.’

Suni voice wavered, ‘I’m so sorry your home, your work, is gone, because of me. Why are you are helping me? Don’t you want to hurt me?’

Kala frowned and examined her feelings before responding, ‘It was a bit unsettling to start with. I wanted to kick you. I don’t usually want to hurt people. It was odd. Out of character. I tried to ignore it. I’m sorry I got angry with you.’

Ren said, ‘It’s taken years of practice, but I try to leave personal feelings out of treating patients. It’s easier to do my best for people if I ignore what I feel about them and focus on trying to help them. If I felt like hurting you, I blocked it out well enough not to notice.’

Suni smiled for the first time, ‘I’m grateful for that.’

Kala and Ren promised to return in a couple of weeks with supplies.

The weeks passed as Kala and Ren found a place to live and settled into the bustling university town.

The cave was neat and clean but uninhabited when they returned.

They found a note from Suni and a neatly sketched map secured under the tea pot. It led them along a bush track towards sounds of hoots, chirps and growls, which got louder as they went.

They spotted Suni through a large chain fence, amongst trees and branches, surrounded by tiny fluffy-eared primates taking pieces of fruit from her hands. She waved and pointed to a low building bisecting the fence. Suni opened a door labelled ‘Wildlife Sanctuary’ a short time later. Her tanned face and bright smile made her look like a different person to the crushed figure Kala had found weeks earlier.

Suni looked at them with genuine delight, ‘I’m glad you came. Come in.’

As they followed Suni into a bright open kitchen and dining room, Kala realised with surprise that she wasn’t irritated, ‘You’re cured!’.

Suni’s eyebrows shot up, ‘Isn’t it great? I found this place walking one day. I’ve always liked animals. I wanted to look at them, but they went nuts trying to get through the cages to attack me. I ran away to stop it. The vet from here came after me. Said he recognised the symptoms. Where he’s from, it is used as a punishment. Live or die, you suffer for your crime. He said it wears off eventually but got me to breath in some smelly tree sap. I was okay after that.’

Ren smiled at Suni, ‘You seem happy.’

Suni became serious, ‘I am. I love it here. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I never thought preparing food and cleaning up poo could be rewarding. Getting cursed was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. But it led to the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s confusing. But good.’