"There are horsemen coming!"
Svanhild walked out into the street to be able to see who was coming and she immediately recognized the armor of the men from Svangard. "Inside! Get inside!" she rounded up the boys and pushed them in through the door, latching it behind them.
"What about Father!" Leif exclaimed.
"We'll let him in when he comes, but those men are not searching my house again!" she said firmly.
"Why are they here?" Torstein asked. "They took Sophie! Do you think she wasn't the woman they were looking for?"
"I don't know," Svanhild said, sitting on a chair near the fire. Her husband was somewhere in town and she hoped he would make it back before the horsemen began tearing houses apart again.
"Svanhild!" a voice called. Then there was pounding on the door and he called again. "Open the door, Svanhild! It's Sophie! Sophie's here!" Svanhild leaped for the door and unlocked the latch. Her husband was on the other side and instead of looking worried or fearful, he was smiling. "Sophie's come back!"
"Sophie's back!" the boys exclaimed, rushing out of the house to find Sophie dismounting a very large war horse, not far from the house. She held out her arms as they ran to her and hugged them tightly.
"How are you?" she asked. "Where's your mother?"
"She's here!" Leif pointed to Svanhild as she stepped outside.
"We thought the worst!" Svanhild said, hugging her.
"We came because of the plague," Sophie said. "Has anyone in town been sick?"
"Yes, we've lost a few people in the last couple of days. It was just a fever, and then they started developing these strange lumps."
"It's the plague," Sophie said, calmly.
"The black plague," Eirik stepped forward. "Sophie saved our entire city from it."
"You did!?"
"So you were the woman from the prophesy!" Torstein piped up. "We thought they killed you and were here to find someone else!"
"No," she laughed. "And actually, they haven't killed anyone that was previously thought to be me."
"No kidding!" Sigurd said.
"They're still alive," Sophie said. "And married. But we've brought medicine," She explained what it was, and how to make more if they needed. "If you start taking it the moment a fever spikes, you'll have the best chance of beating it. At least a cup a day."
"What about the ones that have developed the lumps and sores?" Sigurd asked.
"None of our people got that bad," Eirik said. "We caught it early."
"Give them the water anyway, if you can." Sophie said. "It might take longer for them to improve, but hopefully they will."
"Thank you,"
Svanhild invited them to stay, to have something to eat, but they felt it was best, with the sickness that was already spreading around town, for them to be on their way. Sophie hugged the children, stroking baby Gurdy's hair and kissing her forehead before also hugging Svanhild and Sigurd. "Give them some of the medicine, even if they don't develop the fever," she said softly. "It might keep them from getting sick at all."
"Thank you," Svanhild whispered. "Thank you!"
"Goodbye!"
The men unloaded the barrels near the hall and gave instructions to the chief and his wife who were cautiously optimistic but thankful for the help. Then they rode out of town, hoping their efforts were enough to save the town. Sophie turned in her saddle and looked back at the village as they rode away, until she could no longer see them because of the trees. She turned back around and let out a sigh.
"You've done more than anyone could have expected," Eirik said, reaching over and giving her shoulder a squeeze.
She nodded. "I just hope it's enough." she replied.
"It's a lot, to them,"
Five days later, the small group rode back into Svangard. "You can't even tell anything happened here," he said.
"That's good, though. Right?" she asked. "Otherwise we'd be having funerals."
"Yes, it's good." he replied.
She sighed. "I am in desperate need of a bath."
"I think we all are," he grinned, "But you go on. We'll take care of the horses."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
He nodded as they reached the stables and dismounted. "Go on," he said.
The men who'd ridden with them helped unload the wagon and two young men who were taking care of the stables came out to care for the horses. Eirik was left with nothing much to do, so he wandered into the blacksmith shop at the far end of the lists to check on something he'd been working on before everything had happened and pulled him away from it.
"You think you could finish it tonight?" Laslo, one of the blacksmiths asked.
"It might take me longer than one night to finish it," Eirik said.
"The fire's already hot." the man shrugged. "I think you could do it."
Eirik shrugged. "Might as well give it a try,"
While he worked in the blacksmith shop, Sophie bathed and changed into a clean dress before walking to Sabine's house.
"Where's Eirik?" The woman looked around for him, but finally let Sophie in without him.
"He's off taking care of the horses." she replied.
"Did you just get back?"
"We've been back for a couple hours," she admitted. "I had to take a bath, I was so dusty and I may have to burn the dress I was wearing."
Sabine laughed softly and sat on her rocking chair. The little orange kitten jumped up into her lap and curled up.
"I see he's made himself at home."
"Who, Eirik here?" she smiled, petting him. "Yes, he sure has. But he's already started killing mice, so I guess you were right about him being a good........what did you call it?"
"A good mouser?"
"That's it." she sighed. "I spoke with the chief yesterday. He said we didn't lose a single person, thanks to you."
"I'm so relieved," she replied. "I wasn't even sure it would work, but I had to try."
"How do you know so much?"
Sophie laughed. "You'd never believe me."
"Try me."
Sophie took a deep breath, contemplating if she should. "I'm not from here."
"Obviously."
"I'm not from now."
"Oh?"
"I don't know how it happened, but I'm from the year 2016."
"I suppose they know a lot in 2016."
"You don't think I'm completely insane, saying that?" she was surprised.
Sabine shook her head. "Not really. I can tell you're out of place. A little. You've adjusted well. I can only assume things are very different where you're from."
Sophie nodded. "Very different. And they do know a lot, I guess. There's still a lot to learn, but they've pretty much wiped out the plague completely."
"That's good. What did you do in this future place of yours?"
"I was a pharmacist." she laughed softly. "I dispensed medicine to sick people."
"I'll bet that came in handy."
"It did. Yes. Very much so."
"Are you going to go back?"
Sophie's breath caught. "I don't know. I don't know if I can. I mean, I don't know if it's even possible. And I don't know if I can."
"I suppose it would be hard to leave Eirik?"
She nodded. "I suppose it would."
"It would devastate him if you left. Have you told him any of this?"
"Yes. I was down at the river and there was this blue, swirling haze. I saw the same thing when I came to be here. Anyway, he saw it and thought I was a witch." she laughed softly. "So, I had to explain."
"And what did he say about it?"
"Well, he witnessed it, so he couldn't exactly say I was making it up." she said. "But it seemed like a lot for him to process."
"That would be a lot for anyone to process." Sabine said.
"You don't seem all that surprised." she said.
"Well, I've been around a long time. I'm not saying I've ever heard this story before, because I haven't, but I've seen and heard a whole lot of strange things. Some can be explained and some can't. You seem to have an explanation for yours,"
"My biggest fear is that I'll be sent back the same way as I came here, just out of nowhere with no warning, and I won't be able to say goodbye."
"Yes, I can see how that could cause some concern for those of us here in town. Eirik would never stop looking for you, I think."
"He'd be pretty angry, I imagine."
"No. He'd be heartbroken."