As
my earlier posts feature herbs and the lore surrounding these age-old
plants, I’m sharing several herbal related excerpts from my recent
release, historical fantasy romance novel The Bearwalker’s Daughter.
Set among the clannish and superstitious Scots-Irish in the Allegheny Mountains,
the story is similar to others of mine with a colonial frontier flavor
and also features Native American characters, with the addition of an
intriguing paranormal thread.
Remember, the herbs didn’t have to originate in America for the
settlers to use them. They brought seeds, cuttings, and rootstock with
them from the Old World and learned about native plants from the Indians.
This first excerpt is from the old Scots-Irish woman, Neeley’s, point of view:
A
brooding darkness hovered over the McNeal homestead. Of that, Neeley
was certain. And she sensed from where it came. She needed all her
wisdom now to prevail against it.
She’d limped stiffly through the home
sprinkling a sweetly aromatic decoction of angelica root into every
corner, the most powerful herb for warding off spells and enchantment.
Then she’d hung a bough of rowan wood above the doorway to lend
protection from evil. The leafless branch dripped with clusters of
orange-red berries, pleasant to behold as she sat by the hearth.~
And later in the chapter:
Her needle winking in the firelight, Neeley
sewed the blue fringe on the cape collar and around the long hem. The
fragrance of angelica, the most sacred of herbs, rose from the linen.
She’d sprinkled a decoction of the holy root over the cloth to bring
protection to the wearer. Jack would need all the defense he could get.
As for Karin, her innate goodness would aid her, but Neeley wasn’t
taking any chances. An herbal bath of angelica mingled with the
purifying power of agrimony, redolent of ripe apricots, awaited the
girl. Jack too, if Neeley managed to coax him in.~
This excerpt is from the heroine, Karin’s, point of view:
Neeley rose stiffly from her chair and shuffled forward, her stooped
figure a head shorter than Karin’s. “You’ll want my help, John McNeal.
Fetch the woundwort, Karin. Sarah, steep some comfrey in hot water and
bring fresh linens. Joseph, the poor fellow could do with a spot of
brandy,” the tiny woman rapped out like a hammer driving nails. Old, she
might be, and as wizened as a dried apple, but Neeley took charge in a
medical emergency whether folks liked it or not.
Sarah dashed to the cupboard to take down the brown bowl. Karin flew
beside her and grabbed the crock reeking of salve. Sarah snatched a
towel and they spun toward the hearth as the men made their way past the
gaping crowd. The stranger lifted his head and looked dazedly at both
women. Karin met vivid green eyes in a sun-bronzed face stubbled with
dark whiskers. A fiery sensation shot through her—and not just because
he was devastatingly handsome.~
The two following excerpts are from the hero, Jack’s, point of view.
The
matriarch called Neeley bustled into the room with a steaming basin of
what Jack supposed, from the herbal scent wafting in the mist, was a
medicinal wash.
“Thomas, see Sarah gets to bed and brew her a cup of betony. That’ll calm her,” Neeley directed.
“Come on, Sarah. You’ll do better with a rest and some tea.” Thomas
helped his stepmother to her feet and guided the unsteady woman from the
room and through the assembly clustered beyond the door. Murmurs of
sympathy accompanied her departure.
Then Neeley set the white porcelain bowl on the washstand and
squinted down at Jack like a hen hunting for spilt grain. She gestured
with bent fingers at the girl peering from behind John McNeal’s bulk.
“Karin, come closer. You’re my hands, lass.”
Her eyes, too, Jack suspected.~
And
later in that scene:
“Dulls the pain right well,” Jack managed, hiding a grimace. Even her
soft touch stung like the devil, but he wouldn’t push her away for
anything.~
I interweave herbs and other plants through all of my stories, though some more than others.
***Striking book cover by my daughter Elise~
***The Bearwalker's Daughter is available at Amazon in kindle for .99
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