“Your first patients,” MacIan declared with a beam.
Children? This was not what I expected. But perhaps I could use them to get leverage. Children were easier to threaten, easier to get pitied and cared for. I rebuked myself for this thought.
“So many?” I wondered, more to myself than to MacIan.
“Kids tend to get sick. And parents tend to get worried.” A wink.
“But there’re no parents.”
“They have too much to do, we have to prepare for Lughnasa today.”
MacIan left me with no further explanation.
“But… what…?”
I tried to shout back at him, but he was gone already.
The kids stared back at me with round eyes, like a pack of prying and innocent puppies. Some pushed others further down the entrance, but nobody dared to come closer. Some whispering and laughter resounded here and there.
