Page 68 of All In Good Time

“This be Fenella,” Nick said, introducing her to the group.

“Fenella, we have a question fer ye about the treatments ye’ve been giving Rory,” Dr. Ferguson said. He was obviously aware she was worried about what he wanted to know, so he kept his tone warm and friendly.

“Sir, I’ve been treating young Rory with a daily salve that I rub into his wound.”

“Can ye tell me what’s in this salve?” he asked.

“Well, sir, there be many ingredients.” She began to list them, but Edna cut her off.

“We were wondering if you had included oleander in this salve.” Edna laid a comforting hand on her back.

“Aye, ma’am.” She was looking worried again.

“Thank you, Fenella. We’re going to request that ye stop applying the salve. I’m sure ye didnae ken that if ye use it on an open sore or wound, it can be poisonous.”

Fenella’s face went pale. “No, ma’am. I didnae ken it.” She turned to Nick. “I’m so sorry Laird. I would nae do a thing to hurt any of ye.” She was practically in tears now.

“’Tis alright, Fenella. Now that we ken the problem, we can fix it,” Nick assured her.

“I’ll nae use the oleander again sir.”

“Good. Ye can leave us now, and dinnae fash. We ken ye had no evil intent in treating Rory.”

“Nae, Laird. I’ve been with yer family since ye were all wee ones. Yer Ma will tell ye.”

“I ken ye have. As I said, we’re not holding ye responsible for this. Ye meant no harm. Ye can leave us now.”

Fenella practically ran from the room.

“Where was Fenella running off to?” Kat asked as she entered the room.

“She’s upset about Rory.”

“Did something happen?”

“Aye. We’ve just discovered that the salve Fenella’s been using on his wound contains oleander.”

“Isn’t that poison?”

“Aye, ’tis if used on an open wound or sore or if taken internally.”

Kat appeared shocked.

“She didnae do it to harm him. She really felt she was helping,” Edna said. “Someone should go after her to see that she’s alright.”

“I’ll go,” Kat said.

“Reassure her that it was a simple mistake,” Dr. Ferguson said. “Each time the poultice was applied, a small amount of poison entered Rory’s system. His symptoms were such that it would appear he was falling ill, but not that the poultice was causing it.”

“I’ll do me best.” Kat left the room in search of Fenella and the others gathered around Edna and the doctor.

“So, what’s next?” Sara asked.

“Now that we ken the problem, ’twill be up to me to heal him with me magic. We dinnae have an antidote for the oleander poisoning. Hopefully he’s nae so far gone that we cannae turn him around.”

“I’m coming with ye,” Aisla said.

“Having ye with us will certainly be a help, lass. Ye can hold his hand and tell him how much ye need him to come back to ye.”