New Beginnings, Chapter 8
At the Infirmary
As time went by Baron slowly regained his strength.
Rex spent the nights at the village Inn, and would come help the Doctor during the days.
He found it all rather interesting...
Winston would drop by every day to see how Baron was doing...
The Doctor had seen a lot over the years....
..but the whole situation with Winston was totally new to him.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day when I'd be welcoming a dragon into my infirmary."
Then he and Rex would get back to work...
...and he'd try not to stare.
Now that Baron was well on the road to recovery, Winston's role had changed,
from reporting on Baron's condition, to delivering letters back and forth,
...between Rex and Baron at the infirmary, and their loved ones and the King back home...
Baron would write to Naomi almost daily..
...and tell her how much he missed her, and longed to return home.
"Here you go, Winston...."
"Would you deliver this to Naomi, please?"
"I'd be happy to."
Hearing Something
The children had been helping their Mom with Winston's eggs, and had been taking turns carefully turning them over twice a day...
One day, as she was turning an egg, Paige thought she heard a small sound...
"I can hear something too. And this egg seems to even be moving a bit..."
Monica came over, "That's strange."
"Do you think maybe it's starting to hatch?"
"I sure hope not."
"Just put them back down carefully, and I'll send for Winston."
Winston had just returned from up north with the day's letters, when he heard that the Queen needed to see him.
"We have noticed little sounds coming from inside the eggs, and they even seem to have started moving a bit..."
Winston picked up an egg to listen...."You are right. I can hear something too."
"Does that mean they are going to hatch now?"
"Not necessarily. Saphira tells me that baby dragons can start moving and making little sounds a few weeks before they actually hatch. There's no way to know exactly when that will be, but it could be soon. So it would be a good idea for me to take them back home to our lair. Because you really don't want them to hatch here."
"No, I don't suppose that would be wise. But do you have someone to watch them at home?"
"Yes, Willie has offered to help me out if I really need someone." So he carefully put the eggs back into his cart...
The children were rather disappointed to see the eggs leave.
..to see the eggs leave,
Especially Ringo. He'd secretly been hoping they would hatch here, where he could watch.
"Thank you so much for looking after them for me. I really appreciated it."
"Maybe after they hatch...and have been trained a little...I can bring them back and introduce you to each other."
"Yes, we'd like that."
And he took his eggs home...
Another Egg-Sitter
With the eggs back at the lair, Winston contacted Willie, who had offered to egg-sit if he was in need of someone...
She brought along some knitting so she'd have something to do...
Then twice a day she would have to turn the eggs...
...which wasn't all that easy. They were almost as big as she was, and rather heavy and awkward to turn over.
She spent the days knitting, and turning eggs...
Good News
It had become routine that most days Winston would deliver a letter to Naomi...
"I have a letter for you from Baron.."
"Thank you, Winston. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am that you've made it possible for Baron and I to keep in touch during his recovery."
She opened the letter and started to read.
"He's coming home!"
"That's wonderful news!"
"He says the Doctor has declared him well enough to travel. But he will need to take it easy, and can't ride as long every day as he used to. So it will take the two of them at least ten days, or more, depending on the weather."
"I can hardly believe it. He's coming home!"
Going Home
Baron had wanted to go home from the moment he had regained consciousness after his surgery, but he also realized he was in no condition to travel. The day finally came that the Doctor declared that he had recovered enough to make the arduous journey home.
"Take it easy, son, and don't overdo.You've been through a lot, and it will still take some more time before you are fully recovered."
"I know you've been eager to go home for a while now, but it's a long way home."
"..and you can't ride as long and hard as you could before your accident."
"So it's going to take us a little longer than usual to get you home."
'Well better slow, than not at all', Baron thought.
Baron offered his hand.."I want to thank you, Doctor..."
"Thank you for everything."
"I owe you my life."
"I'm just happy I was able to help."
"Good luck, and safe travels. And do stop in if you are ever up this way again."
Starting the Journey Home
It had been snowing hard all morning before the men left the infirmary, but Baron was eager to get going.
"You feeling good enough to be doing this?"
"Definitely. I can't wait to get home."
"Well, you haven't been back in the saddle since the attack, so we'll take it easy, and I'll just walk the horses for a bit, so we can see if you are really ready for the long ride home."
Baron was feeling frustrated...
but realized Rex was probably right, and he should take it slow for a while...
After Rex determined that Baron was good to go, he mounted his horse and they travelled on for a few hours. It started to snow heavily. Yet they continued on.
"We should stop at the next village if this storm gets any worse."
Baron reluctantly agreed. "That's probably a good idea."
But before they reached the next village, the snow stopped, so they decided to go on. There was still enough daylight left that they'd be able to make it across the high mountain pass that lay ahead, and then they'd stop for the night on the other side. So Rex got down to lead the horses across the treacherous pass..
* next - Chapter 9
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