The Girl with No Name Ch. 07

Among the uninitiated was a reserved young man called Káloyankt. He was from the town of Sevérckt nad Gorádki and spoke with an educated accent. Danka had caught his attention from the moment she entered the settlement. Now, with the others gone and little to distract the newcomer, he decided to invite her fishing.

Danka accompanied him, out of boredom more than anything else. Her feelings about going with Káloyankt were mixed. It wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted, but still, the idea of having a friendship with another follower greatly appealed to her. With several weeks now separating her from the year she had spent at the Temple, she wondered how she tolerated living that entire time with just one person to talk to. Also, she was curious to see what being with an upper-class young man would be like, compared with the wretched impoverished men of her youth and the self-centered dilettante Bagatúrckt. Káloyankt seemed relatively trustworthy and if things with him went badly, she could talk to Babáckt Yaga.

Danka followed Káloyankt along several trails to a pond that she already had visited a couple of times. Both Danka and Káloyankt were completely naked: even their feet were uncovered. They strolled in absolute silence, listening for any changes or possible dangers in their environment. When they arrived at the pond, they went swimming before sunning themselves on some rocks and preparing their fishing lines.

It turned out that Káloyankt had invited Danka on the outing because he needed to talk. He started by asking her about the house she had visited in Sevérckt nad Gorádki. Danka was evasive with her answer, but she gave away enough information for Káloyankt to understand that she had indeed been there. Then he surprised her:

"You know...that fortune hunter you were with...that 'master' Bagatúrckt...he was a friend of my father. When I was a teenager, I saw him...several times...at my father's house."

"Your father...it's your father who owns that house?"

"Yes."

"...and set up that room? ...and hired the servants?"

"Yes."

"So...then...you know...you know what happened to me with Bagatúrckt?"

"Yes. I don't need to ask you about the details, because I already know. I saw what went on in that room many times when I was a boy. I watched...never spoke up about it...never tried to warn any of the women. I watched my father and his friends...never did anything, but I always felt guilty about it. Then, last fall during the equinox...the Creator spoke to me...told me I needed to get out of the house....renounce my father and his fortune....go to the woods, and confront my Path in Life."

"Which brought you here?"

"Yes. Just like you...well, in some ways the same and in some ways different. I came here on my own, but I didn't know what I was looking for. I got lost, and Babáckt Yaga found me...just like she found you. And...serving the Ancients became my Path in Life."

"But you don't have your skull."

"No. I haven't atoned for my father's actions, so I don't have my skull."

"But really, what do you have to atone for? You didn't do anything..."

"...and did you? What did you do? You were a bystander who watched a dishonorable act and did nothing. You are neither guilty nor innocent. I am the same as you. A bystander. A witness. Neither guilty nor innocent."

The conversation was interrupted by a catch, a fine large perch that would feed them both. They landed the fish and returned to the settlement to cook and share a meal.

The next day was the day of the solstice. Danka had agreed to go with Káloyankt for a second outing. She wasn't interested in talking about Káloyankt's father, but she wanted to share some of her experiences at the Temple and get another person's perspective. Also, noting his interest in her, she figured she'd make love to him if he asked. She administered herself a dose of birth-control paste...just in case.

She followed him to the pond, admiring his naked backside as he walked. She resisted the urge to touch him as she realized that she was aroused and wanted him to take her. He seemed different from Bagatúrckt: hopefully sex with him would be different as well. They picked enough berries for a snack before going to the pond. They swam, frolicking with each other before returning to the rocks to dry off in the sun.

Káloyankt couldn't keep his eyes off Danka. She truly was a lovely sight: a woman at the very beginning of her youth, her body fit from her constant movement and evenly tanned from long hours outside, and fine delicate features that were so different from the usual drab appearance of a peasant-girl. Káloyankt found everything about Danka desirable, even her rough unrefined rural accent. She was a girl of nature, totally different from the sheltered indoor women inhabiting the fine houses of Sevérckt nad Gorádki.

Danka was not sure what to expect, but she was looking forward to having sex with Káloyankt. He was precisely the type of man she had been hoping to attract the year before. She sat quietly, waiting for him to begin. She had not yet discovered that women can initiate love-making just as easily as men.

Káloyankt began by running his hands over Danka's body. He kissed her, starting with her neck, then moved to her lips. He was hard by the time he kissed her breasts and sucked her nipples. She responded by running her hands over his back. From the beginning his bottom had excited her, so her hands moved to that part of her lover. She actively explored him, which was something she had never tried with her first lover. Káloyankt ran his fingers between the girl's thighs and over her vulva. She was wet and gasped with pleasure as he touched her.

Danka lay on her back as Káloyankt entered her. He thrust hard, over and over. His love-making was rough and vigorous, but that was what Danka expected. So far she had not experienced tender sex. She gasped with delight as pleasure overwhelmed her. For the first time in her life, she experienced an orgasm.

A few minutes later the couple was rinsing off in the water. They still had to catch their next meal, so the romantic moment of love-making transitioned to the practical task of sitting quietly and waiting for a fish. During the wait, they talked.

Danka talked about her year at the Temple and her lessons with the seminary student. Káloyankt was very impressed when she told him that in less than a year she had learned to read, write, do simple arithmetic, use the abacus, obtain a fundamental understanding of music, and memorize numerous hymns.

"If you could do all that in just a year, I think you'll learn alchemy very quickly. I know that as soon as she returns, Babáckt Yaga will start teaching you some of the recipes. You'll have to start learning the plants and formulas. She'll test you to see how well you can remember things. If your memory is good, you'll become responsible for tasks that are much more complicated."

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Danka Síluckt was beginning to understand that she was blessed with an exceptional memory and the capacity to grasp new ideas and concepts very quickly. During her year at the Temple she had been held back by having to direct all of her efforts into learning how to read. Having mastered that basic skill, during her service under Babáckt Yaga there was nothing to interfere with her ability to learn a wider variety of subjects. She could remember simple recipes after having seen them just once, so within a few days Babáckt Yaga had her studying recipes that were more complicated. She received instructions on how to measure temperatures, weigh ingredients, calculate time, and work with fractions. Babáckt Yaga watched as Danka prepared medicines, with no guidance apart from following a recipe book. She understood the importance of identifying plants: when tasked to go out into the forest and find ingredients, she always returned with exactly what was needed.

Working the gardens was not a challenge for Danka at all. Her previous experience as both a peasant and seeing the experimental Church gardens in Starívktaki Móskt prepared her for working the gardens in Babáckt Yaga's settlement. She already had a basic understanding of plant selection, so new ideas such as cross pollination and breeding plants for specific traits were easy for her to grasp.

Danka took pride in her work and her learning. She fully understood the importance of mastering potion-making and taking great care with the details of every recipe. She remembered the servant's words about her instructor: "...her alchemy is something to behold, because her potions can heal many of the curses Beelzebub the Destroyer has inflicted on us...many evil things can be healed...or simply prevented..." She was excited to think that the mystery behind those potions had vanished; that she now knew how they worked and even how to prepare some of them.

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In the middle of July, Danka and Káloyankt left the forest with Babáckt Yaga and four fully initiated Followers. It was the first time since her arrival that Danka would leave the woods or see anyone other than a Follower. The group walked directly south, taking several steep and perilous shortcuts to hasten their trip. Before exiting the forest they put on their uniforms. As soon as they emerged into the open, they mounted a wagon driven by two guards who were waiting for them. The Followers rode the rest of the distance to a small town called Nagorónkti-Serífkti and their destination, the settlement's church.

The Priest explained that an apprentice and three hired workmen had been on the roof making repairs, unaware that the beams were not strong enough to support the weight of four men. They fell through and sustained injuries ranging from broken bones to severe lacerations. The men were lying on cots in the main chapel because the Clergy had been afraid to move them.

Danka would later learn that the Priest had to make a difficult decision to request assistance from the Followers. Nagorónkti-Serífkti was settled by True Believers, the faction of the Danubian Church that least got along with the Followers of the Ancients. However, the Priest needed to help his men if at all possible and only the Followers had the medical knowledge to do anything for them.

Between the four men there were two broken legs, three broken arms, several broken fingers, and some serious lacerations. Babáckt Yaga was relieved, because all of the injuries could be fixed. She directed her followers' attention to the man who was bleeding the most, knowing that he needed attention first.

Danka watched as Babáckt Yaga set up some glassware and mixed several ingredients. Her assistants poured alcohol into a bowl and demanded boiling water and clean linen be brought to the operating site. The alchemist directed Danka to hold a mask to the injured man's face. He became sleepy, which would help keep him calm while his injuries could be sewn up. For the first time in her life, Danka watched an operation that actually closed an open wound.

The Followers, including Káloyankt, moved to setting the broken bones. Babáckt Yaga administered a drug she called opium to ease the pain and then applied her chemical mask. It was a difficult and grim task to stretch out the limbs and set them in wooden frames, but Babáckt Yaga seemed satisfied that the limbs would all heal, which was not always the case, depending on the nature of the fracture.

Danka was present just to observe, but she marveled at what she was witnessing, the actual repair of injuries. She had seen neighbors die from similar mishaps in her parents' settlement. It was a shock to find out those deaths could have been prevented had anyone among the day-laborers possessed the equipment and knowledge the Followers of the Ancients were using.

After making sure the patients had woken up, Babáckt Yaga issued some more opium and instructions for caring for the injuries. When the Priest asked her about payment, the alchemist responded:

"You know my payment, Priest. It's the same as always. The Ancients demand the blood of the desecrater. When desecraters pass through this town, you will send them in my direction and you will advise me."

"As you wish, Alchemist."

"I have another demand, Priest. It has been two years since I cut the children here. I trust you have not had any cases of the pox?"

"No, Alchemist, we have not."

"I brought my pox potion. At sunset I want you to ring your bell and gather all the people of Nagorónkti-Serífkti. I will cut any children or youth that were not cut two years ago."

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The townsfolk gathered in the church square as the daylight faded. Danka noted that many of the older people were marked with smallpox scars, but none of the younger people had suffered the affliction. The last smallpox epidemic in Nagorónkti-Serífkti had passed two decades before. As the townsfolk pushed their terrified children towards the church, Káloyankt explained to Danka that Babáckt Yaga had spent many years studying diseases and had learned some interesting details about smallpox. It turned out that cattle had a similar version of the sickness and that Babáckt Yaga had figured out it was possible to create an antidote for the human smallpox from the cow version. She did not dare tell anyone the antidote came from sick cows, because no one would have accepted vaccination. The public would be vaccinated, but in a way that was acceptable to the thinking at the time.

The Priest conducted a brief service and issued a series of prayers while the Followers prepared the vaccination knives and the solution. The residents needed reassurance that the Lord-Creator had approved what was about to happen to their children, so the event had to be preceded with religious fanfare. The unvaccinated children were marched in single file towards the alchemist and her assistants, accompanied by hymn-singing and holy fires.

Danka had expected to be a mere observer, or perhaps assist in a minor way. However, Babáckt Yaga ordered both her and Káloyankt to step forward, strip off their clothing, and kneel in front of the long line of children. She uncovered a small metal rod with a saw-tooth end, dipped it in a jar of ointment and placed it against Danka's left shoulder. Then she looked towards the sky and screamed:

"Beelzebub! The Lord-Creator and the Son of Man cast out your vile presence! Never shall you touch this lass with your evil pox!"

Danka winced as the knife tore into her skin, leaving a small bleeding cut. Babáckt Yaga whispered:

"Now you wear the mark that will protect you from the pox. Do not touch your shoulder. Stand behind me, with your left side facing the people so they can see your injury. Do not move until I give you permission."

Babáckt Yaga cut Káloyankt's shoulder in the same manner, and screamed the same chant to the Roman Christian God and his son. The naked initiates quietly stood behind their mistress, as proof she was not about to do anything to the local youth that she would not do to her own followers.

For the rest of the night, Babáckt Yaga cut the shoulders of children and shouted: "Beelzebub! The Lord-Creator and the Son of Man cast out your vile presence! Never shall you touch this child with your evil pox!"

The accompanying pain from the procedure and screaming of each patient were interpreted as confirmation of the casting out of a curse, not as a simple medical procedure.

As she watched the proceedings and resisted the urge to touch her throbbing shoulder, Danka was able to look upon religious ceremonies and spiritual fanfare from a totally new perspective. Babáckt Yaga spent the entire night lying. Her Pagan beliefs did not accept in the divinity of the Roman Son of Man, and for her using the Roman name Beelzebub to refer to the Destroyer was an insult to the Danubian cosmos. She didn't believe in her own theatrics, but she had to perform for the people so they could accept what she was doing to their offspring. Babáckt Yaga had her own faith and her own world-view, but that view was not accepted by the True Believers. Faced with a practical task that she needed to accomplish, she hid her beliefs and put on a performance that met the spiritual needs of a town of Christians.

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By the end of the summer Danka had embraced her Path in Life as an initiate of the Follower of the Ancients. She remained intimidated by Babáckt Yaga but at the same time deeply admired her. The old woman's knowledge of the world seemed limitless. She was anxious to share with others, and Danka had become her favorite student. The girl learned fast and her ability to remember new ideas and information was exceptional. So, Danka's daily life became one of constant learning, mostly of things that were practical and could help people in the real world. She started reading Babáckt Yaga's translations of foreign scientific works and frequently used a dictionary to look up and learn complicated words she did not understand. Whenever she came across any strange word or concept, she wrote it down and memorized it.

Danka spent some of her time alone reflecting on what had happened between her and Bagatúrckt. The trauma from her ordeal with him was fading, but she came out of the experience changed. The best comparison she could think of was her hometown Rika Héckt-nemát and the flood that took place decades before. The town, the people, and the Rika Chorna river were there before the flood and remained after the flood, but when the river changed course, the area was not the same after the waters receded. Eventually life went back to "normal", but "normal" preceding the flood differed from "normal" following the flood.

So...how was Danka different after her own flood, the one that swept away her virginity and much of her naivety? Her ideas about love, trust, and finding happiness through another person certainly changed. Before Bagatúrckt she had believed that her happiness depended on finding it through another person. She also had been convinced love and sex went together. By the end of her first summer in the forest her emotions were hardening, making her less vulnerable to the whims of the men in her life. She also understood that love and sex could be separated: in fact often the two had nothing to do with each other. She took that lesson to her relationship with Káloyankt, that she could have sex with him without necessarily being in love with him.

She spent the summer making love to Káloyankt whenever they had a few minutes to spare. She enjoyed her time with him, but as the summer progressed she realized her feelings towards him were ambiguous. She couldn't figure out why that would be, because she admired him and knew that had she met him just a year earlier, she would have been desperate to marry him. However, in the settlement of Babáckt Yaga, marriage was not a priority for any of the Followers or the initiates. They had a multitude of other worries and just didn't think about such things, so neither did Danka. It was clear that Káloyankt was deeply in love with her, but he too adhered to the unspoken custom of the Followers; that as long as he was working in the forest, marriage was not a priority or something to be discussed.

Still, Danka did enjoy the sex. Babáckt Yaga showed her a book from a place called India that had pictures of different sexual positions. She was eager to try them during her escapades with her lover. He obliged, happy to be with a woman that constantly had new ideas and wanted to try new things. However, the constant experimenting with new positions planted a subversive idea in Danka's thoughts. Káloyankt was not the only man in the world. What would having sex with other men be like? Did different men have different styles of making love? Was there any difference between making love to a young man and an older one? Between a noble and a farmhand?