Triumph Out of the Bitter Taste of Ashes

Shemham -- ::blushes:: Thanks! Certainly better than the title \'fought\' over on a list I used to be on long, long ago. \"Evil Bitch Monster of Death\". ::smirks:: I think I like this one loads better.
The angels -- Thanks! : ) Will do.
Rilla -- Yes, it is dark and sad, but it won\'t all be. This (hence the title) is a story of picking up the pieces after things fall apart.
Mary Kay -- Thanks. : ) I\'ll try not to let the updates go for very long between. The rough drafts through 9 are done, and I\'m currently working on part 10. So if the muses balk, it should still be quite a while before there are delays.
Summitslord -- I hope the story lives up to your expectations. : ) I\'ll certainly try.
Daya -- again, thanks. More details on the school attack next chapter, I promise.

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Chapter Two
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\"Mum! Mum! There\'s a naked girl outside!\" Cecily Thomason ran full out toward the house. \"Mum!!\"

\"What is it, Cecily?\"

Cecily skid to a halt, the dust from the ground billowing up around her as her mum appeared in the doorway. She coughed, panting for breath as she repeated her news. \"There\'s a naked girl at the edge of the woods!\"

Her mom\'s eyes widened and she hurried forward. \"Show me.\"

Nodding, Cecily took off again, urging her mother to hurry. \"She\'s in a bad way, Mum.\"

\"Algar! Matthew!\" Mrs. Thomason roared, not breaking stride, continuing as soon as Cecily\'s two brothers appeared. \"Get my supplies. Quickly now!\"

The two ran off, the younger quickly falling behind. After that, Cecily returned her attention to where she was headed. The last thing the hurt girl needed was for her to fall over her own clumsy feet and not be able to guide help to her. Just this past year she\'d grown a full 6 centimeters, and all of a sudden she was constantly breaking things and tripping over nothing. It was *embarrassing*!

Almost to the edge of the woods, she pointed.

\"I see her,\" her mum replied, rushing ahead.

\"Good!\" Cecily replied, dropping instantly to the ground. She didn\'t think she could run another step, the stitch in her side seemed to agree with her. Unfortunately, she\'d have to.

\"Cecily Elizabeth Thomason, get off your bum and get over here!\"

Scrambling awkwardly to her feet, Cecily hurried to her mother\'s side. Looking down at the poor girl, Cecily really hoped her mother could help. It looked to her as if the girl had been put through a magic sieve . . . twice for good measure.

\"Here,\" her mother said suddenly, grabbing hold of her hand and placing it firmly on the girl\'s stomach, \"keep the pressure on. It\'ll slow the bleeding until I can repair the damage.\"

Cecily winced as her mother shouted for the boys, her voice filled with worry. She took a closer look as her mother removed her apron and spread it over the naked girl, no the woman, she wasn\'t as young as Cecily had originally thought. She was an adult, not a child like she\'d thought. One by one she carefully catalogued the injuries she could identify, paying particular attention to everywhere she saw blood. She wanted to follow in her mother\'s footsteps and help heal people. She was pretty good at it, even if she *was* only 10, and she was pretty sure the woman had gone through more than just getting herself beat up.

\"Mum?\" she asked faintly as her mother shouted out the boys again, directing the two to their spot.

\"Yes, dear?\" she asked absently, muttering words under her breath that Cecily couldn\'t quite make out.

\"Men did this, didn\'t they?\" she asked.

Looking ar shr sharply, her mother nodded once. \"Yes, though, that doesn\'t mean that women didn\'t have a hand in it as well.\"

Gathering her courage, Cecily forged on, \"they forced her, like the forest animals do, didn\'t they?\"

Her mother frowned at her, glancing at the swiftly approaching boys, before replying. \"Yes, and no.\"

\"That didn\'t make any sense, Mum!\" Cecily protested.

\"The animals of the forest don\'t force their mates,\" her mother said quietly, most of her attention on the woman she was working to save. \"Some have to work at dominating, to prove they\'re the best for the job . . . so to speak, but it\'s only humans that rape, child.\"

\"Oh.\"

The boys, winded, skid to a halt and dropped next to the three of them. Her mom set to work immediately, confidently applying poltices and external potions to aid the young woman in healing.

\"What was that spell you murmured earlier? What does it do?\" Cecily asked quietly, hoping she wasn\'t distracting her mother too much.

\"It\'ll protect her, child, for a little while.\"

\"How,\" Algar asked instantly. He\'d been happily learning spells from his mother for years now, and wanted to hear it all.

Cecily knew her brother was already more powerful the her mum. Her mum knew hundreds maybe even *thousands* of spells, but didn\'t have the power to cast most of them. She did have the knowledge to teach him, though, and he soaked up every scrap she gave him.

\"It will hide her from anyone searching for her -- for a short while. It isn\'t very powerful, but it will, at least, give her time to heal and decide what she wants to do before she can be found. Of course, if someone really powerful wants her bad enough, they\'ll break through it easily enough.\"

\"Why not just take her into town?\" Cecily asked, worried that something might happen to them for protecting her. Her mum\'s words about someone wanting to find her, scared Cecily. It made her imagination run wild, and she didn\'t like the things she was thinking.

It was Algar who answered her. \"Because we don\'t know who did this. We can assume,\" he said, sounding like he was pretty bloody sure who it had been, \"but we don\'t know. No matter where we take her, we could be making the wrong choice.\" As he finished speaking, he looked suddenly hesitant, glancing to their mum. \"Right?\"

Their mother merely nodded, most of her attention still on the young woman.

Cecily, shuddered, Algar\'s reminder of the evil in their world entirely unwelcome on top of everything else. She was young, but she knew why they lived in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. She knew why her oldest brother, who desperately wanted to go to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, was home schooled. It was because, after their father had died, their mother had ended up married to a muggle. Her little brother was a half-blood. She didn\'t see why it was such a big deal, but evidently this He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, really hated muggles, and everything associated with them. That put them in danger.

She sighed. It really wasn\'t fair. Algar wanted to go. She knew that when her time came -- assuming she had the gift -- she wanted to go. Her mother was brilliant, but it wouldn\'t be the same as learning with all the other kids. It just wouldn\'t. She sighed again. Looking back down, she wondered if their patient was a witch, and if so, had *she* been allowed to go to Hogwarts or had she learned somewhere else?

\"Well, I\'ve done what I can,\" her mother said suddenly, rising slowly to her feet. \"Algar, help me get her back to the cottage.\"

Cecily watched uneasily as her mother and brother carefully lifted the woman and began the slow, long walk back to the cottage. She lifted her mother\'s basket, lost in thought. She wasn\'t entirely certain this was a good idea. What if the bad man came looking for her and found her here with them? He already wouldn\'t like their family. If he came, and found out they\'d helped someone he\'d hurt, wouldn\'t that put them in more danger? She spent the remainder of the trip pulled between worrying about what she\'d have done if it had all been up to her, and with making sure her little brother was keeping up. He was only five and forever running off when he shouldn\'t.

It was getting dark, and the dark was no place for a little boy. She shuddered as the sun set, the shadows deepening quickly. She wasn\'t exactly fond of it herself. She wished Algar and her mother could hurry, just a little, the growing darkness feeling suddenly like it was hiding all sorts of monsters, some that wore the shape of men.

By the time they got home, however, she\'d decided that yes, she would have still helped. She would, if it were up to her, limit the length of time to woman stayed, though. She would let her stay just long enough for her to take herself off. The best of both worlds, Cecily decided. She just hoped her mother saw it that way, too.

Quickly setting the basket back in its proper place, Cecily followed her family. \"Is she going to make it?\" she asked, worried.

\"Yes,\" her mother replied almost immediately, her and Algar carefully laying the girl on Cecily\'s bed.

**Why mine?**

She frowned at that thought, only half listening as her mother continued. \"She\'ll need a lot of help, but she should be all right.\"

**Why did I think that?** she wondered. **Am I that selfish?** Swallowing guiltily, she hurried out of the room. \"I\'ll start getting dinner for you, Mum,\" she offered. She wasn\'t usually that keen on helping with the food, but right now she needed to so something to wash away the sick feeling inside.

The rest of the evening flew by far more quickly than Cecily had figured it would. They\'d all taken turns sitting with the woman, alternately sponging her face, and holding her down when in her delirium she thrashed about. They also dodged items suddenly flying across the room, as the feverish woman\'s magic lashed out in response to the images she saw in her nightmares.

\"No more!\" she cried out, and Cecily jumped. It was her turn to sit and watch, and this was the first time the woman had spoken.

\"It\'s okay,\" she whispered, trying to be reassuring. \"You\'re safe now.\"

\"Safe, no. I let them-- I didn\'t tell-- Dirty now-- Didn\'t tell.\"

Cecily frowned. That hadn\'t made any sense. She wished she knew what the woman was talking about. \"Yes, you\'re safe. And you\'re not dirty,\" she added, wondering why that mattered at all. \"We cleaned you up good and proper.\"

\"Didn\'t tell,\" the woman murmured again, this time sounding far more frantic. \"I swear.\"

Cecily worried that she was going to start one of her fits again, and hurriedly leaned forward and gently petted her hair. Hoping it would help, she tried to reassure her the only way she could. She said she believed her. \"It\'s alright. We know you didn\'t tell. You did good. You didn\'t tell.\" To her complete relief -- not to mention surprise -- it seemed to help; the woman subsided back into a less restless sleep.

She stayed with the woman until her mother came to relieve her, not once having to do anything more than wipe the fever sweat from her face.


TBC
Kiristeen
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