The Chronicles of Harold the Healer Ch. 10

"And the mental trauma is so much harder to treat," Marcie added sadly. Harold nodded and was about to speak when their attention was drawn back to the stage.

"On a sadder note," Miranda said, turning to look at where the three were standing, "Healer Emeritus Marcie Parsons has been informing us that today is her Last Day. She has been having private conversations with many of us over the day, and I was wondering if you would like to come join us so that we can all say goodbye to you?" Marcie waved and smiled.

"Yes, I would like to come up," she replied, loudly enough to be heard on the stage, and the audience responded with polite applause. "Please help me up," she said quietly, and Harold and Leila each took one of her arms and helped her to her feet. "Please come with me," she added, responding to the unasked question. "You too, Harold, if you don't mind."

"It is an honour to help," he responded with a polite bow. The three of them made their way through the crowd around the perimeter of the gazebo to the steps.

"Don't be shy, Harold," Marcie grinned as he hesitated, and all three mounted the four steps to the stage. The applause increased as Marcie embraced the Mayor, Councilors, and even the band leader, then stood under the Amplify spell's ring. The audience rapidly quieted. "Ladies and gentlemen of Magwitch, I am ninety years old, and have no idea how it happened." There was a ripple of chuckles. "I came here almost sixty-five years ago, fresh out of Mage School, through a series of circumstances that I can't remember now, but were probably orchestrated by the Goddess." There was some gentle laughter. "I retired ten years ago when my granddaughter Healer Leila became available to fill the position, and she has done a standout job serving you." There was enthusiastic applause and Leila made a small bow to acknowledge it, smiling happily. She had had no regrets at all being able to return home when the opportunity had presented itself. The Capital was just too noisy and busy for this small-town girl.

"The man who accompanied me to the stage, and is now trying very hard to blend in to the post over there," she continued, pointing to Harold who had been indeed doing his best to fade into the background. Leila moved over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back, getting some laughs as he mimed fear. "He is Healer Harold Moser, the newest of the Order of St. Thrimble, the group of Healers who show up to help out from time to time." He waved to acknowledge the polite applause. "Of note, he is a fully qualified veterinarian as well as a Healer, with many years of experience with horses and various livestock." She was quoting now from Lakash Moto's introductory letter. This generated some murmurs of interest, followed by laughter at his exaggerated attempt to tiptoe towards the steps, only to be brought up short by Leila's clamping her hand on his shirt collar.

"It has been my pleasure to serve as your Town Healer for all these years. Magwitch has changed and grown so much since I came here, and I am glad to have played a part in it. Thank you, Goddess, for all that you have done to help us, and to you people for all that you do every day." The applause and cheers lasted for five minutes, leaving her blushing slightly and her eyes shining. "Now it is time for the music and dancing," she concluded when the noise had died away. Miranda caught the bandleader's eye, he nodded, turned to the band, and raised his baton, bringing the members to attention. A tall, well-muscled woman had joined them on the stage and the others made room for her under the Amplify ring. The very familiar, brief introduction brought Marcie's hands to her mouth, as the woman began to sing.

"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when. But I know we'll meet again some sunny day." Her voice was clear and strong, and the bandleader joined in, making a wonderful harmony. The audience also began singing along with gusto. The shine in Marcie's eyes overflowed down her cheeks and she turned to Leila for an embrace while Harold surveyed the scene thoughtfully, not taking advantage of the opportunity to sneak away. This song was commonly sung at funerals, often as the casket was being laid to rest in the grave, and he figured that the Mayor and others had thought it would be appropriate now for Marcie's farewell.

In his travels throughout the Kingdom, he had only been in a few other towns with this level of community spirit. Any place where the kids were able to run wild and free to learn things that they couldn't learn in a classroom and to make memories that would last a lifetime was a place to be treasured. It was only with the greatest reluctance that he had moved on from those other towns, but here in Magwitch he was finally able to stay a while, leave, and then return, again and again for as long as he wanted to. For the first time since he'd left Mage School, he had something to look forward to, and some place that he could call home. It was a strange feeling, something he'd never known he'd needed, and he suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, as though he'd removed his pack and had left it behind. He turned away from looking out at the crowd, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, to see Leila and Marcie looking at him with unreadable expressions, and he smiled weakly. He must have been broadcasting his feelings like a lighthouse again, he thought to himself with a sigh as the song wound up and everyone cheered and applauded as Marcie acknowledged them with the Very Respectful Bow.

As Marcie embraced the Mayor, Councilors, and band members and leader, who all looked like they needed a handkerchief as much as she did, Leila moved the Amplify ring over the band and did what was necessary to transfer control of the spell to the entire group. Suitably diluted over the ten people, the side effect of making them horny would be minimal. The spell required little input to begin with because much of the power required was tied in from the Magic field around them. Darkness had fallen and many lanterns had been lit all over the park, placed on tables and hung from tree branches, and a gentle breeze from the south rustled the leaves of the trees as the crowd dispersed to finish the job of eating everything that was left on the tables, standing around chatting, and dancing in various groups scattered over the park. At Marcie's request, Harold and Leila helped her down the steps to a group of well-wishers who even had a chair for her to sit on.

"What were you thinking about on the stage?" Leila inquired as they made their way to a bunch of people who were dancing to the bouncy, popular tune that was being played. Harold directed her attention to the eastern sky, where the full moon, glorious in its apparent size, was rising.

"I realized that Magwitch is a place that I can call home," he replied quietly. "Would you care to dance with me?" he added with a gallant bow as the song ended. With a few words and gestures, the end of his staff glowed green and turquoise and he shoved it into the ground so that it would stay standing. He then removed his hat and plunked it on the end.

"I thought you'd never ask," she replied dryly, getting a grin in return. The next song had a jazzy opening, and then the woman began to croon.

"Say, it's only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea. But it wouldn't be make-believe, if you believed in me."

"A full moon on the Equinox. I have been feeling it in the Magic all day." They were looking in each other's eyes. "Mage School was a home to me, the first real home that I had had. I've been in a few places with a vibe similar to here, but there was nothing to connect me to them, and I always moved on, eventually. Here, the kids run and play without a care in the world. No war, no bandits, not much poverty that at least is obvious. Magwitch may not be Paradise, but I think that it's the closest to it that I have ever come. I want in." There was that smile again, the one that he so much wanted to see.

"Harold Moser, you are so different from all of the other Healers who have come through here. They have been polite and professional, but with the exception of Hendrix, have always left the impression that they were doing this job only for the experience and had no intention of staying on any longer than necessary." Hendrix and his hard, thick, squirting cock would always be welcome, but she could not see herself having a true loving relationship with him. "You have shown me a side of you that I've never seen from the others. Warm, funny, and also vulnerable. You trusted me and Gran with very personal stuff, and we're almost complete strangers. That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

"It's something about you. I feel that I can let my guard down and be myself. I don't know why." The moonlight had given her copper hair a silvery sheen and it was being teased enticingly by the breeze. His dark brown hair, already starting to go gray in places, was cut short and thinning on top, and with the moonlight also seemed to give him a silvery halo. The next song started with a gentle guitar solo.

"Come a little bit closer, hear what I have to say," crooned the band leader. "Just like children sleeping, we could dream the night away." Harold's eyebrows rose.

"I haven't heard this one before. What is it?" Their dancing, with dips, twirls, and gentle movements back and forth, had not changed.

"It's 'Harvest Moon', by Neil the Younger. It's an old song, actually. Very appropriate with tonight's Harvest Moon in the sky."

"Because I'm still in love with you, I want to see you dance again." They leaned forward, eyes wide open, and when their lips made contact, it felt like a spark leapt between them. After a few very long moments, they pulled away, seeing only each other and nobody else.

"I... I have never felt that before," he said softly. Their bodies were now pressed together and they moved as one, dancing to the music in the light of the moon. "I want to feel it again."

"So do I," Leila replied, a little breathlessly. His eyes looked like dark pools in the moonlight, pools that she wanted to dive into and never surface. "But if we do, we will be naked and fucking in full view of the citizens of Magwitch within a minute. I would rather keep that activity behind closed doors."

"A Healer does need to maintain at least a semblance of decorum," he whispered as the song was coming to a close. "Here I was, thinking that the most difficult temptation to resist that I had ever faced would be the pie that we made." They reluctantly broke apart as the song ended and everyone applauded. "Speaking of which, we should rescue your pie plate so we can bring it back."

"We'll also have to rescue Gran," she said, looking over to where she was still sitting by the gazebo. The crowd of well-wishers had diminished significantly, but there were still a few. "She must be exhausted." It took them about five minutes to get to the table where they'd left the pie, and it was no surprise that there was not a crumb left on her plate, or any of the others. They Cleaned everything on the table and the one next to it, took the plate and the crate that had held it, and walked back towards the gazebo arm in arm. The crowd was thinning out as people, mostly those with children, were gathering their things, finding scattered family members, and heading home for bed.

"There you are," said Marcie when they arrived. The singer and band finished the last number to warm and enthusiastic applause, and they began packing up too. "The Last Day has been the longest. I think that I said hello and goodbye to everybody in town and the area around it. There are more people here than you'd think." They helped her to her feet.

"Who is the lady who was singing tonight?" Harold asked as said lady walked down the steps and waved at them with a cheery smile. A large, broad-shouldered man was waiting for her, and he also waved.

"She's Marjorie Turner. She and her daughter Caroline are blacksmiths and her husband there is Sam, the veterinarian, a smith as well, and farrier." Harold smiled and waved back at them as they were turning to head for home. The band members each paused to say a few words to her before leaving. "Let's get home before you have to carry me." It was a slow walk home, partly due to Marcie's fatigue, which was worse than she had been letting on, and partly because she wanted to look around at everything one last time, telling Harold random facts about who had been in this store some years ago. Nobody was in any hurry, as the night was pleasantly cool and the Moon gave everything a magical silvery glow.

"The strange thing about the Westlands," Harold said as they approached the corner where their house was, "is that it has such a low profile in the Kingdom, despite being one of its most important regions because of all the food it supplies. I've been all over, and nobody, myself included, has spoken of it. I've met the occasional person from the Westlands..." He paused as he racked his brain, trying to remember. "Hey, did you ever know a Lydia Caron?" he asked Marcie. They were now standing outside the privy, while Leila went in to use it.

"Why yes, I remember her. A nice person, but a restless spirit. She left town a few years ago and never came back. Where did you meet her?"

"Up near Svend, a couple of months ago. She was working in a traveling fair." Leila exited and Marcie entered the privy. "And she was nice," he added innocently, earning a hard stare. He took his turn after Marcie emerged, and when he stepped out after doing what had become very necessary, he saw them standing together, looking at the Moon.

"While I was at the fair, I had a very entertaining and therapeutic fight with a true master of the art, Healed a horse's hoof, helped a ghost cross over, died, got sent back, and had my brain fixed by a local Deity." They were now standing outside the kitchen door and the two women stared at him with surprise. His hat cast his face in shadow, with only his eyes being easily visible.

"What's it like? Death, I mean," Marcie asked hesitantly as Leila unlocked and opened the door.

"It's strange," he replied pensively as they entered and he cast a Mage Light so they could see. "A door opened from thin air and I walked into what looked like a reception room. There was a woman behind a desk and she was working on some sort of keyboard and looking at something rectangular, calling up information about me, enough to know that I wasn't supposed to be there yet. I expect that you'll go somewhere else after you, uh, check in." She nodded as they removed their footwear and Harold propped his staff in the corner and hung his hat on the coat rack.

"I expect that I will die in my sleep," said Marcie as they walked the short distance to her bedroom on the left. The door, which was slightly ajar, was pushed open. The curtains were open and the moonlight was shining on the floor at the foot of her bed, whose head was on the left wall. She walked in, then turned to face them. "Do people's spirits wear what they were wearing when they died? What should I wear?"

"I think that they do," said Harold. "If the Goddess told you that you'd die tonight, she might be there to greet your spirit and be with you when the door opens. Wear something for her." Marcie smiled and nodded, a far-away look in her eyes.

"It's been a good life. I know that I've made a difference by being here and, in the end, that is really what it's all about, isn't it?" Harold and Leila were standing next to each other and had unconsciously put their arms around the other's waist, and they nodded. They could feel peace and calm radiating from her, accepting that it was time. "There is one thing that you two can do for me to help send me off. Something that you've been wanting to do all night."

"What's that, Gran?" Leila asked, shifting a little nervously and exchanging a glance with Harold.

"Go into your room, remove your clothes, and make love to each other. Magic happened tonight as you danced under the Harvest Moon on the Equinox. Make some more magic tonight, and make me feel it." Her eyes got a mischievous twinkle. "Doctor's orders." She closed the door.

"Doctor's ord - mmph!" Harold started to say, but Leila's lips on his and her tongue in his mouth and his in hers made further speech impossible. After they finally had to break off the kiss, they stood in the hall, holding each other tightly, breathing hard.

"What has happened?" Leila whispered, looking up into Harold's eyes. "I haven't felt this way before. I did not want that kiss in the park under the moon to end. Now I don't want to let go of you."

"I don't want to let you go either," he whispered back, kissing the tip of her nose gently. "But if we want to get any sleep tonight, I should go into the guest bedroom there," he indicated the room with his head, "and make myself comfortable." He made no move to do so.

"There is a much more suitable guest bedroom just down here," she replied, returning his impish grin with one of her own. She pulled away, revealing that her breasts and crotch were glowing brightly with her turquoise and yellow colours, and that there was a very promising glowing bulge in his pants. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled the unresisting Mage the few steps down the hallway and through her bedroom door, which was firmly closed. In no time at all, their clothes were piles on the floor and they stood there looking at each other. The curtains were open and although the moonlight didn't shine directly in, there was enough light to see the non-glowing parts of their bodies. She ripped back the blankets on her bed, got on and opened her legs.

"What, no foreplay?" he asked as he quickly got on the bed and into position.

"This whole evening was foreplay," she growled as she grabbed his cock and put it at her swollen, needy pussy. They both moaned as he sank it in to the hilt in one thrust. "What are you doing?" He was rocking gently, trying to not slide that wonderful, hard, thick cock in her.

"If I start moving, I'll come too soon," he whispered, looking a little wild-eyed.

"I don't care! I'm almost ready to explode! We can take our time the next time!"

"There will be a next time?" They moaned again as he began gently thrusting, and she immediately clamped down on him.

"More times!" she moaned. Her entire lower body felt like it was on fire. "More fucking! More..." her eyes opened wide, looking deep into his. "Loving."

"A lifetime of loving," he panted back. "Oh, the magical Moon!" Leila's vagina clamped down on Harold's cock, which responded by spraying her cervix with three high-pressure squirts of cum as they wrapped their arms around each other and did their best to make their two bodies into one. After regaining some of their senses, they rolled sideways so that he was lying on the bed and not her, with his softening cock still inside, basking in the afterglow and gently nuzzling each other. "A lifetime of loving," he repeated blurrily as his odd blue eyes stared into her blue eyes.

Mage women are taught early on how to control their bodies, so that they do not need to use the contraceptive tea. Of all of the cocks that had delivered their loads to her door, she had not wanted to have a child with any of them. Hendrix came the closest, but even though he was a decent man and an excellent Healer, they both felt that lack of a click between them. But with Harold, she could feel that he had crossed the mysterious line and had fallen in love with her. And she realized that she had fallen for him. Despite his past full of adventures, he was still a kind, loving man. Pella and Ramon had had firsthand experience of that; they had told her their story of being rescued by a Healer during that terrible day more than once, but what a coincidence that it would have been him. There was one last thing that she thought as her brain slowly shut down into sleep: she had ovulated today. And she briefly focused, opened her door, and joined her long-awaited mate in sleep.