*The Circle

“Well done! Well done!” Will stepped into the firelight, clapping. “Which one of you has the voice of an entire choir of angels? It could blow a hole through the top of the Globe. Now I will always have your voice in my head.” Rue crossed her arms and bent her head to the left. Will strode straight toward Rue and reached for her hand to kiss it, but she didn’t move.

The dogs roamed the grounds and growled while they stalked the healing circle. Will backed away from the circle and the hounds followed him with their eyes. He knew they waited for Rue’s command to kill him.

“Something wrong?” she asked. 

Will hadn’t counted on the dogs that were crouching toward him and moving low and slow, growling. Drool dropped from their teeth to the grass.

“Down.” Rue said. The great beasts growled, and slung their heads to the side. One sat. One turned in circles and lay down, and the last hid behind Rue. Will laughed at the sight of the huge beast looking around the small woman. 

Simon sat on the grass and looked down at his hands and felt the miracle still moving in them. His fingers were straightening before his eyes. The straighter they got, the less they hurt. He looked from Rue, the powerful healer with the deep black eyes, to the aged crones, to the stinking boiling pot. Simon’s eyes narrowed when he recognized Will. 

Will’s smile faded when his eyes found Simon’s. He knew the broken giant who sat gawking at his gnarly fingers. He owed his father two pounds and Douglas’d broken the wrong man’s fingers.

“How’re your hands?” asked Will while he kicked Simon in the hip. The great dog Will had found so funny when she hid behind Rue, rose and growled. Will stepped back when the dog stepped forward, “Call it off,” he said. 

“Go.” said Rue. The dog lunged at Will and knocked him on his back. The breath flew out of his body and was replaced by a dog that sat on his chest and her foamy mouth held his neck to the ground. Will could feel the edge of long, powerful teeth ready to break through the skin of the pounding vein in his neck. It wasn’t until Will wet his pants, did Rue give the command for the dog to rise off of him.

“Sturdy here didn’t like it when you kicked the giant when he was down. None of us did,” she said to Will. 

“What did you do to his hands?” Will asked.

Rue dismissed Will as if he were a child.

 “Let’s get you to your feet, Simon. You’ll feel much better now.” Florie and Rue each got under one of his arms and hoisted the tower of flesh, bone, and mind to his feet. “Stand up straight. There is absolutely no way you can hide, so you will display yourself. Be the magnificence you are, Simon,” said Rue. 

Simon’s face turned red. He had forgotten about the coins he’d scooped into his broken hand. They shimmered around the fire like fallen stars. Mary and Florie worked quickly to pick them up. Gold coins weren’t easy to come by, and their giant would need them.