The Chronicles of Harold the Healer Ch. 07

"Some equally distressed Mages were pressed into service and rounded up the ghosts, which required very little effort aside from some boosts to give them some energy, once they were told what was going on and why. After a four-day trip, we were more than ready to beach the ship last night after nightfall and we worked our way up here. We discovered the joy of sea-sickness," she added, making a face.

"Four days? It usually takes about six, from what I can remember," said Dana, surprised.

"We had unusually favourable winds blowing steadily behind us for the entire trip," Giulia continued dryly. Dana facepalmed herself and shook her head. Deity intervention, of course. "So, we are really tired, recovering from sea-sickness, and you are about to be overrun by about two hundred and fifty Argosian ghosts, all of whom were highly motivated to get here. The rest of the crew went back to the follow-up cutter, but we were told to lead them here, and so we did. We will have to go to your Capital on the next coach and get a ride back on the next trader to Argosy."

"All expenses paid, of course," said Melia, rolling her eyes. "We didn't know that Macy was here, and are so glad that she is. She's the first friendly face we've seen around here."

"Oh, boy," said Dana, shaking her head in dismay. "I don't know how Harold knew to skedaddle. Maybe he didn't want to be in the same room with four women from his dark past who would be talking about what he did to them."

"Speaking of Harold, what about that memory you were having?" Melia asked Macy, grinning wickedly as the diner's owner made a face at her. "You did thank him for helping you out, didn't you?" Salacious interest was written all over the faces of all three of the women and Macy rolled her eyes in resignation.

"Yes, I had that in mind, but it didn't work out that way. The sneaky bastard seduced me instead. Me, a tough, seasoned Army Nurse who commanded a team of twenty Nurses and support staff, coordinated supplies and kept the various doctors and Healer Mages processing the steady stream of patients efficiently." Dana grinned.

"There's no shame in that. He's one of the best in the business and has turned my pussy from dead to a raging furnace of need more times than I can remember."

"You already know that the Joint Field Hospital was located in the main square near the centre of the city and was the centre of operations of the Multinational Operation for the Relief of Carcosa. The half-dozen Kingdom Healers, half male and half female, and four Argosian Healers, one male and three female, plus assorted Carcosan Healers who had been forced to hide and work underground and had attached themselves to the foreigners to catch up on techniques, were going in and out all the time. They traveled to and from various clinics scattered throughout the City and were always busy." Macy's audience nodded, remembering without difficulty despite the time that had passed.

"During the attack by the so-called Patriots, he had happened to be there and I was impressed by the ruthless efficiency that he and the other Mages had applied as they fought off several attackers with their staves until their Warrior had unleashed her power and had horribly destroyed them. She then marched out with Dana and the other Healer as point guards and started blasting anyone that looked like a troublemaker. Harold, who had broken the sword arm of one who had nearly gotten through and had swiped at me, tended to the two wounded Nurses and a wounded Argosian soldier who had gotten off her cot and managed to fight with her IV stand."

"'Well, I think that's all from the Department of Unnecessary Excitement,' he had said once they had taken care of everyone, as well as a few who had been brought in from the rapidly quelled riot outside. 'Want to come to the Mess Tent with me, Sergeant Struli?'"

"'Please call me Macy,' I had replied. 'And you might want to clean us up first. We might scare someone.' He had looked down and realized that, as usual during a fight, there had been blood splattered all over us. Not that the Mess Tent folks would have so much as blinked."

"'I suppose that I should,' he had sighed. 'Brace yourself.' Over the time that I'd been there, I'd been Cleaned several times by various Mages, and there was nothing like that feeling of having your body and clothes being scrubbed all over all at once. 'Damn, I can never get used to that,' he had said cheerfully as we had rearranged our hair and he had retrieved his hat, which had been blown off, and his staff. As you'll recall, the trouble had started in the late afternoon and hadn't been finished with until just after dinner time, so the crowd was slower to show up than usual and we had been able to get stuff while it was relatively fresh and get a good table."

"'Ouch,' I had said as we had sat across the table from each other. At his concerned expression, I had said, 'Thanks for taking out that guy who was going after me. I must have hit him awkwardly and pulled something in my back.' Or maybe it had been from dodging his falling body after the neck punch."

"'It was my pleasure,' he had replied after taking a big bite of whatever it was that he'd piled his plate with. I knew by now that working with Magic makes Mages hungry and he had been very busy. 'After dinner I can have a look at it and get you straightened out.' That was the bait, and it had seemed so reasonable at the time. We had talked shop as we were eating, and I had noticed the odd colour of blue with hints of green of his eyes. Blue is a colour we only see in people from the Kingdom and other northern countries who come on the trade ships, but his colour was one I hadn't seen before. We had used a mixture of Argosian and Kingdom Standard, as neither of use had been fluent in the other at the time. My stereotype of men being shallow, cock-centered, and boring had been debunked by his wit and genuine kindness." The others nodded.

"'It is strange,' he had said as we walked back to the Hospital tents. He had stopped to give some food to two hungry dogs and three cats that had been hanging around the entrance hoping for handouts. He had given them what he called Flea Buster, Worm Buster in the food, and a Cleaning, all of which had made them happier. 'Ours are the only jobs that depend on suffering. We get to look Death in the face when he comes calling and try to persuade him to try again later.'"

"'Not all the time, fortunately,' I had replied. His presence had been warm and comforting somehow, as if I'd known that I'd be safe with him nearby. 'Death is usually patient. She knows that she will get us sooner or later.' He had nodded as we entered an examination room and I had drawn the heavy curtain that served as a privacy door. 'Do I need to remove my top?' I had asked." Malia snorted.

"The blighter was good enough to get me to orgasm while fully clothed, and I have yet to figure out how he did it. This was not the case for the other orgasms." Her smile had a distinctly predatory look. "Or will be for any others if I can get my hands on him again."

"He just got officially married last night," Dana said. "I don't know if Healer Leila would discourage it or join in with you. They double-stuffed me yesterday and totally ruined me." The Mage could feel herself getting warm with the memory of Leila's Joy Buzzer doing its evil business in her ass while Harold's hot, thick cock was thrusting in and out of her pussy and sending sparks into her clitoris. Macy cleared her throat as they all shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"'Not if you don't want to,' he had replied with a smile, making some motions with his hands and saying some strange words that were familiar to me from their Healers and he summoned a Window. 'You've seen this before, I see. I'll add the Pain Tracer overlay and if you'll turn around, I'll see which muscles need attention.' I had turned around as asked. 'Please lift your left arm, then your right.'"

"'Ouch!' I'd said when I lifted my right arm."

"'Hmm, yes, a simple muscle strain giving you a few spasms. Easily fixed.' His touch had been gentle and cool as he traced the sore muscle, and then the pain was gone. 'You're all tensed up, though. I can see it in how you stand and move. Let me work on your neck?' He'd asked a question instead of stating intent, as I was so used to with my fellow medical workers, especially with women, and it had surprised me. He'd already hooked me, though I didn't know it yet."

"'See what you can do,' I said after a brief pause, with the overlapping sounds of the camp and the Hospital all around us. 'Consider it a professional challenge,' I had added spontaneously."

"'Hmm, I usually do well on challenges,' he had murmured. 'But be warned: I cheat by using a little Magic to help.'"

"'You'll need all the help you can get.' The challenge had been accepted when he had started at the base of my skull on the left side. After five minutes of gentle pushes and strokes, and several touches of warm and cold, I could suddenly turn my head fully sideways to look over my shoulders for the first time in ages. 'Whoa, how the hell did you do that?'"

"'You carry a lot of stress from responsibility and long hours. Your muscles were arranged in a sequence that we were taught to recognize and to unwind.'"

"'Do my back. Now.'" I laid stomach down on the padded examination table and gave him my best do-as-you're-told Nurse stare."

"And the trap was sprung," murmured Giulia, absently rubbing the crotch of her pants with her left hand, staring off into time and space as she remembered a very similar progression of events.

"'Your wish is my command, Nurse Struli,' he had replied with a self-satisfied smirk, and I suddenly realized that I'd walked into a warm, soft, loving trap and that there was no way that I wanted out. I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face with my pussy, but he was already doing things to my back that I'd thought not possible, stretching and pressing and sending little shots of hot and cold into muscles that I'd never known I had. It took him fifteen minutes to get me all straightened out, and even without touching my skin or my womanly areas, I was getting warm."

"He explained it to me once," said Dana, a little huskily, her right hand having found its way to her crotch. "The relaxation of muscles releases something called endorphins that activate the pleasure centres in our brains, both for men and for women. If he does things the right way, in the right order, you will be desperately needing that happy ending."

"'All done,' he'd said when he was finished. 'I have a couple of places to go this evening, and I'm sure there's lots of work for you as well.' The man had actually turned to go when I grabbed his belt and brought him to a halt, something I wouldn't have been able to do, pre-massage," said Macy thoughtfully, grunting as the middle finger of her right hand found its way to her hard, needy nub, already slick with juices from her fired-up pussy. This memory was the one she used most frequently when she needed to get herself off and no man was around to help.

"'Not so fast, bub,' I told him. 'There's something else that needs your attention.'"

"My pussy is on fire and you must put it out," Malia moaned in Argosian, her fingers busily rubbing and penetrating her overheating vagina, heedless of the open door and people walking by.

"Have you had any tea lately? No, but my period will start in a couple of days. Thanks for asking," said Macy, remembering looking in his eyes with some surprise at his thoughtfulness.

"Let's see what's in those pants," Giuliana muttered, clearly remembering what she had seen as his belt and buttons had surrendered without a fight to her desperate fingers. It had been perfectly sized, nice and thick, and glowing in shifting patterns of yellow and turquoise. It had been gobbled all the way to its root and she had then swirled her tongue around its sensitive tip, pumped out a large bead of pre-cum, and licked it off, making him moan raggedly. Or maybe that was from her as three fingers were now pumping in and out of her pussy. Dana was the only one with enough presence of mind left to get up, flip the sign on the door from "Welcome, we're open" to "Sorry, we're closed", close and lock the door, pull down its shade, then go to the window to pull down its shade.

"Get on the floor. Now!" she hissed as she hiked up her skirt, pulled down her soaked panties, revealing her half-blonde, half-gray untrimmed bush, so that she could do what needed to be done to her pussy without unnecessary restrictions. How many times had Harold done this to her, including when she had allowed his sperm in to create what would become their son Mark? How many times had Stan done this to her, those sneaky, loving, lecherous men?

"Fill... me... with... your... cum! Unngghhh!" Macy groaned, shuddering through a much-needed orgasm, followed in rapid succession by those of the other women. The room was silent, save for the sounds from the outside, something being chopped in the kitchen, and their heavy breathing. "Then, somehow, he got me to my bed, where he tucked me in and gave me a gentle kiss goodnight. I have never had such a good night's sleep."

"I didn't shout at anyone for a whole day," Melia muttered. "People thought I was sick."

"Now... I think I know why Harold ran," said Dana after about five minutes when her higher mental functions had finally restarted. "He seduced us, made love to us, and gave us what we needed. There would have been nothing left of him." There were affirmative grunts from the others. "I will Clean you up and get on my way." She Cleaned her underwear and sodden pussy, followed by the others, getting gasps and squeaks from them as the spell did its work. "Thanks for the warning about the ghosts," she said to the visiting Argosians. "I will look out for them and try to herd them somewhere safe, like the park." Already tired before their unexpected activities, Melia and Giuliana put their arms down on the counter, rested their heads on them, and fell asleep. As Dana opened and lurched unsteadily through the door, she heard Macy's voice from the back of the diner saying, in Argosian,

"Husband, you will stuff your cock in me right now and fuck me until you can fuck no more." The warm sun and gentle breeze helped to restore her thoughts to something approaching normal.

"If there are Argosian ghosts heading this way, I should probably go meet them and try to head off an International Incident." She turned south and started to walk. "I definitely didn't sign up for this," she muttered.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Marcie Parsons sat at her desk in her classroom and she and her twenty other classmates were paying attention to the front of the room. This was rather unusual for a warm, late-May morning with the classroom's windows wide open to try to keep the room cool. Their teacher, Ms. Franklin, was writing notes on the chalkboard as the ghost of another teacher was telling them stories about events and life in Magwitch that had happened about fifty years ago. Ms. Tarken had retired from teaching as the school's principal and the students had recognized her because portraits of previous principals hung in the hallway outside the office. She had been waiting for them when they had come inside, and apparently this had been her classroom all those years ago.

"Is being a ghost fun?" she responded to Billy Booth's question. "No, not really. It's lonely, sad and boring, not fun at all." There were murmurs of surprise from her audience. Not wanting to forget what was happening, Marcie and (at Marcie's whispered request) her best friend Donna Parker, were scribbling notes in their notebooks. "Sure, we can walk through walls and frighten some animals, but we can't touch or feel anything. We can't be seen or heard by anyone unless we make the effort to be visible like I am now, and it is tiring for us. I have found that I can only do it for about 10 hours, and then I need to sleep, and when I wake up it can be years later. We find that we are soon forgotten by those who were special to us as they move on with their lives and we are stuck drifting around, not knowing what to do with ourselves." This got sympathetic murmurs from the class. Marcie raised her hand.

"Yes, Marcie?" asked Ms. Franklin.

"Ms. Tarken, my Mama and Papa are both Healers and they have talked to me about ghosts and told me that we don't have to be afraid of them. Papa says that you are probably Magical and that nobody knows why some people become ghosts after their bodies die instead of crossing over."

"We don't know either," the ghost replied, looking at Marcie with interest. "Ghosts can see each other and we will get together to talk, trade stories, and maybe gossip a little." There were some chuckles at that. "There is little in common about how and where our bodies died, what we did for a living, or even whether or not we wanted to die when we did. The only thing we have in common is that we appear to be stuck here with no idea about how to cross over. Even your local Goddess does not know, and she has tried to help some of us from time to time." That got their interest.

"Can the Goddess see you even when we can't?" asked Donna.

"She sure can. She's a very nice lady and always stops to say hello when she's around," replied Ms. Tarken. "She loves you all very much, by the way, and wants to see you healthy and happy. And she wants Ms. Franklin to know that she is doing an excellent job teaching you." This made their teacher blush and her eyes become bright with barely suppressed tears. The students were happy and excited for her recognition.

"But why are you here with us now, Ms. Tarken?" Marcie asked thoughtfully after the hubbub had died down and her teacher had regained her composure. "It has been amazing to see you and hear the stories you've told us, but it will make you tired." The ghost's long look at her, that seemed to look into her, was a memory that Marcie carried with her for the rest of her life.

"The Goddess told me that one of the few ways that she knows of a ghost being able to cross over is if the Wild Hunt scoops them up as it rides by. That seems to be its primary purpose, aside from giving the Great Gods a chance for a little fun, or so she says. She told us that the Great Hunt will be passing over Magwitch later this afternoon and has been telling the local ghosts, and they have been spreading the word. So, expect to see a lot of ghosts today. Please welcome them and make them feel at home." Surprised chatter became rapid movement as the lunch bell rang and everyone made to get up.

"See you after lunch," said Ms. Franklin, officially freeing them and they boiled out the door, with Marcie and Donna being last, deep in conversation. At the door, they turned to look at the teacher and the slightly shimmering ghost of a teacher.

"Ms. Franklin," said Donna, her long, blonde, slightly curly hair moving slightly in a breeze that blew from the windows through the open door, "you have been asking us to think about a class project for us to do and present at the end of the year. What if we were to try to talk to the ghosts and write down their stories so that they won't be forgotten? We could get the whole school to help."

"Well, maybe the senior year classes," Marcie added. "Maybe the whole town, if we can spread the word like we did for Mama and Papa's wedding." The other two looked at each other, surprise written clearly on their faces.

"Marcie and Donna, in all the years that I have been on this earth, that has been the kindest thing that I have ever heard," said Ms. Tarken, smiling gently. "Go then and spread the word. I think that the ghosts will be more than happy to tell their stories to anyone who will listen. Run, before they get too far!" The girls vanished into the chaos of the other classes filling the hallway. "There is something about Marcie that tells me that she is going to be an amazing person when she grows up." She would never know, but she was correct.